area of research...it's a few hours from Cusco (I've heard 6 by car). There's a research station hopefully built there by now and I'll be on of the first to get to use it. I do have my portable sun shower all ready to go. 

Some of the gorgeous orchids I'm going to study 

Kosnipata Valley- where I'll be doing research 

My year away from home

I figure this might be the easiest way to keep track of the year I'm about to spend in the cloud forests of southeastern Peru. Most of my friends and family are excited for me, but they probably still consider my adventure more than they could handle. The skinny is...I'm taking a year off from grad school to join the Andes to Amazon project and study orchids in the cloud forest. 3 weeks until I leave, and I'm getting excited