Jew in Peru

When I´m dating at home, I make it a point, no not a point, but I do my best to avoid Israeli guys at all costs. I have a lot of bad pre-conceived notions about Israeli men being forceful or rude or just overall don't make great dates. Not really very open-minded of me. But everyone has their things that they look for or avoid.

On Monday I took the train to Aguas Calientes in order to do the day trip to Machu Picchu on Tuesday morning. I was travelling by myself, but had met a girl on the train ride up who was in a similar situation, except she was going to Machu Picchu as soon as we got to Aguas Caliente, and not waiting for the next day. We met up again once she got back later that night, and stopped by the ATM before heading out to dinner. While we were waiting in line, we struck up a conversation with a guy in front of us. He was cute. I mean REALLY cute and Israeli. Leave it to me to find the Jews in Peru. He was a little dirty and smelly, he had just got into the town from a 4 day hike on the Inca Trail and I still thought he was really attractive. We talked to him for a while, and invited him to go to dinner and drinks with us later. But he was tired and wanted to shower and had to get up at 4 am to finish his trek up to Machu Picchu. So he didn´t come out with us that night, and I honestly didn´t think I´d see him again.

I got up to head up to Machu Picchu around 5 am, got there around 6:15 or so, and who is the first person I see when I get off the bus? The Israeli. He was with his Inca Trail group, but he said hi as I passed, and I replied in kind, but I didn´t want to stop and talk since he was with his friends and such. So his group was behind me as we headed up the first trail that leads to the point where most people watch the sunrise over Machu Picchu. I stopped on one of the landings to take some pictures, and he stopped as well, and struck up a conversation. When he found out that I was there by myself (he thought I had gone yesterday with the girl from the train) he invited me to join his group. Of course I´d rather join his group than tour Machu Picchu alone. So, I went up with him to join his group and he introduced me to his 3 friends he had done the Inca Trail with. I felt a little uncomfortable, and like I was intruding into his group. All his friends are from Israel, and they were speaking Hebrew the whole time. Of course I felt self conscious, like they were talking about me or something.. damn should´ve paid more attention in Hebrew School! The whole tour Israeli guy was very nice. He would walk with me, and we talked a bit. If I stopped to take a picture, he would wait back with me. He would translate some of the things he was saying to his friends, and we had a great time on the tour. After the tour, I wasn´t sure what to do... Should I go off on my own, should I tag along with his group...? I went with them to find the bathroom, and we stopped at the cafe area to have a bite to eat. His friends were very nice, and we talked about Israel and the US, and I felt more at ease around them. His friends were going to climb Huanya Picchu, the large mountain that is traditionally seen behind the lost city of Machu Picchu. He was going to go and invited me to come with, but then I said that I don´t climb mountains. The whole fear of heights thing. He then decided he was too tired to climb the mountain too, and he would walk around the ruins with me some more. So we walked around the ruins some more, and talked for about another hour. But I could tell he was really hurting from his 4 day trek, and he was going to walk back to town of Aguas Calientes, which I had no desire to do, and had already bought my bus ticket to get back.

He is staying in Cusco for the next few weeks, which is where I am staying with my friend, so we exchanged phone numbers and email addresses so we can meet up to do a hike in the near by town of Pisac tomorrow, possibly. I doubt anything will come of me meeting an israeli boy in Peru, maybe I´ll see him again before I leave on Saturday. And he´s talked about coming to visit on his way back to Israel in September. He´s going to stop in NYC for a few days to visit a friend. We´ll see. He´s cute, and fun, and I really enjoyed his company. Go figure, me and jew, in peru.