I was in Aguas Calientes, Peru, in July of 2008, at the base of Machu Picchu.

I had tried to hike it earlier that day, but due to a concussion and altitude sickness,

I couldn't make it to the top with my friend Emmy.

It's something that still weighs on me, that I made it through a five-day hike through the Sacred Valley, but my body wouldn't let me do that last hour and get to one of the most famous peaks in the world.

While Emmy hiked Machu Picchu and took photos for me along the way, I went to a local internet cafe. And the first thing that I did

was look up movie reviews for the newly released Mamma Mia, which was coming out that day in the

United States while I was concussed in Peru. When my mom picked me up a few days later from the airport, my face was a mess.

The concussion was from a blown tire on a bike that I had flipped and landed flat on my face.

She was horrified by the look of me.

She had taken the day off work to pick me up and spend time with me.

She asked if we should go to the doctor.

I said no that I had fallen a week ago and was fine and healing. But could we please on the way

home stop and see Mamma Mia? With my suitcase still in the trunk, we sat in the cool dark

theater and I watched the movie,

and it was everything my self-pitying Aguas Caliente's heart wanted. Merrill Streep was singing on a cliff,

hot men were dancing in swimming fins, and there was enough glitter on screen to feel as though

you were covered in it when you

walked out.

Mama Mia is a jukebox musical based on Abba's greatest hits.

It hit the stage in 1999 and became a movie in 2008.

The movie grossed $611.4 million against a production budget of $52 million.

It became the highest-grossing movie directed by a woman, Philippa Lloyd, and held that record for nearly 10 years.

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