I turned 22 years old while traveling from D.C. to Peru for my first Geographic assignment. This is at once a dream and a terror for me. My first real day of the National Geographic internship I was so nervous I couldn't eat breakfast. The same went for the day I took the all-night flight down to South America. I saw dawn peek over the horizon upon arriving and I settled into my hotel and then wandered around Cusco, trying to fend off  a bit of altitude sickness. After having lived in Washington D.C. for a few weeks now, coming to a place that is so full of life took me by surprise. There were young people practicing Canco, a traditional Cusco dance, and a couple so caught up in their passion that the rest of the world seemed to melt away. Now I sit in my hotel room listening to the sounds of Cusco. The cars, the horns, the dogs, the beautiful lilting tune of flutes dancing through the streets at night. Tomorrow I will rise early to catch a train to Aguascalientes, where I will settle for the next couple days.

Teenagers practice Canco, a traditional dance in the city of Cusco, Peru.
Photograph by Matt Eich

A couple oblivious to the world.
Photography by Matt Eich

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