0 Comments
The group safely made it to Lima, and we are now at our gate awaiting boarding call to Miami. As of now, our flight is on schedule for departure at 10:55 PM. The kids are so excited to be reunited with their families soon!
We are at Cusco airport. We are just about to board our plane to Lima. We will keep you posted along the way, especially if we experience delays. All the students are looking forward to meeting their families at DIA!
To close our trip, we celebrated all that we learned and experienced throughout the past two weeks. Students spent the morning with their homestay families taking in the last few hours of their time together. Around noon, we came together with the families to share a feast. To kick off the celebration, the dance and music groups performed the Away Poncho, a traditional dance of Ollantaytambo that explains the process of making a poncho. It was incredible, and we look forward to sharing the video! The art group then presented their atrapasueños, dream catchers, to the whole group. They were so proud that they made enough for all the students plus the homestay families and adults within two days. At this point, we were ready to dig into the feast! The families brought yuca, choclo (corn), potatoes, chicken, pork, and of course, cuy (guinea pig). It was so special to have a meal together as a whole community.
From the celebration, students returned to their homestays for games and a final light meal. We closed our evening together with a final circle. Students benefitted from the chance to reflect and express what this experience means to them. On behalf of the group, this trip has been "amazing, incredible, indescribable, memorable, and unbeatable!" We, the teachers, are so thankful to have had this opportunity with this group of students. We were humbled by their love, adventure, and willingness to learn. We are now busy packing and preparing for our journey home. We will do our best to update along the way. Here is our flight information 1) LA2064 25-NOV CUZ-LIM 5:47 PM TO 7:13 PM; 2) AA0918 25-NOV LIM-MIA 10:55 PM TO 4:38 AM; 3) AA2445 26-NOV MIA-DEN 6:58 AM TO 9:28 AM. With love and appreciation, Ms. Garcia and Ms. Fernandez This morning after a yummy pancake breakfast, we hiked up to some Incan ruins. By the time we got there, we were breathless because of the elevation even though it is was not big of a hike. Elder, the local healer, told us that it is shaped like a puma, which represents the earth and everything that lives on it. Similarly, we learned about the condor and how it represents the cosmos. Also, how the Incas would make doors to connect to the other dimensions. When Elder finished telling us about the ruins, we were able to take in the scenery. We also did a WLS activity at the site called Trip Map. Randall led us through this introspective and reflective activity.
After, we hiked through the Andes back to Ollantaytambo. It was such a pretty hike, and it took about two hours. The whole time we could see the mountains, and on the way, we saw a couple of condors. Elder played the flute on the hike down. Once we got back into town, we ate as a group at a restaurant. We had a huge and delicious lunch. We then got to shop in the market for about an hour. Eliana's homestay -- My homestay mom is nice. Every time we see her, she is super welcoming and gives us a big hug. We have another homestay family member, which is our neighbor. Every time they want to come over to see the cat, she is ok with them just coming in and holding the cat. My homestay sibling is shy, but once you get to know her, she is really funny, sweet, and good at cards. The food is always good and not too heavy or too light. Overall, it has been fascinating to learn from their culture because it is so different from ours. Eliana's message -- I hope Phil is fluffy again. On Friday, we took a bus up to the mountain town of Patacancha. In this town, the main language is Quechua, and the community lives using the knowledge and wisdom of their ancestors. When we arrived, it was interesting how welcoming they were. They greeted us with music and flowers. Then they lent us their traditional clothing so that we looked like part of the community. After, we had to dance our way up to the local leader's house, where we continued the dancing. We learned about a few dances, one of which involved a goose. It was cool to learn about their culture because it is so different from ours. After dancing, we had tea. It was interesting to learn about the natural plants they use for ingredients versus tea bags. Then we had lunch in the local leader's home. After that, they showed us the whole process of making textiles and clothing. To start, they shear the alpacas and sheep. Then they have to clean the wool with natural soap, made from plants. Once it is cleaned, the wool is made into a thread through a spinning process. Then they put that in a pot with things found in the area to create over fifteen colors! We got to dye some of the string ourselves. After that, we got to make bracelets with local weavers. We learned a simple technique that most girls in the community learn before the age of nine. It was a really cool experience!
After visiting Patacancha, we drove down to visit a church, one of the oldest churches in Peru. It was partially made by the Incas, and the walls were the original Incan architecture. The mountain views from that point were gorgeous. After learning about the history of the church and the two main celebrations, we were dropped off at the entrance of our hiking trail. We hiked in the afternoon at our campsite. We passed by even more Incan ruins and spectacular views. Once we arrived, we made camp our home and played games. We ate an early dinner, and it was really good! After dinner, we spent hours around the campfire. We sang songs, told stories, and played games. Some people star-gazed because the stars were so bright. We could even see the dipper! Later on, we roasted marshmallows and played charades, movie-themed. It was so fun to see everyone energetic! It was a great day in general. Ava's homestay -- My homestay family has been very kind and welcoming to me. They make delicious food for me twice a day. I've really started to connect with the family, especially since we play games and cards every meal. One night, we bought all the ingredients to make pizza. Then Nate, one of the other students in my homestay, made a pizza for the little sister. It was really sweet. We all sat at the table to eat and talk, and it was a really nice moment. Something that is really cool about their house is that part of it is original from Incan times. When you exit the house, you can see the original Incan water system that they use. It's really cool to see that every day. I really like my homestay family. They are very welcoming, and I've learned a lot from them. Ava's message -- I miss you guys, and I can't wait to see you! Grant's homestay -- Our homestay family is cool. They have a son, daughter, mother, and older sister. But we haven't seen the older sister that much. Both the brother and sister are open to talking to us and communicate a lot. They have a dog, Gogi or something like that, who is quite odd. The dog is very energetic, but it tries to eat their chickens. One day, we were playing cards when all of a sudden, we looked outside and the dog slapped the chicken. Feathers went everywhere. We thought the chicken might have died. It didn't. But so far, our homestay has been very kind and welcoming to us and everything we do. It's been great having them as our homestay family. Grant's message -- Love you Mom and Dad. See you soon! Morning!
The group is gearing up for an adventure packed two-days. We are heading up to Patacancha, a weaving community in the mountains, this morning. After our visit, we will be hiking to our campsite. Tomorrow, we will be hiking down to Ollantaytambo. Therefore, we will be away from WiFi until tomorrow afternoon. Friday's bloggers are Grant and Ava. Saturday's blogger is Eliana. Thanks! SMA and WLS team in Peru Today, students returned to the NGOs from yesterday -- Awamaki, AyniWasi, and Kuska School. At Awamaki, students worked on marking items with price-tags to prepare them for the online store and the physical store. At AyniWasi, students practiced the Wilderness Medicine techniques in the field at a local community within the Sacred Valley. At Kuska School, students worked on a bike parking sign, the mini-lot itself, and assisting the English classrooms.
In the afternoon, students returned to their cultural activities from yesterday -- dance, music, and art. The dance group continued to practice the dance of the Ponchos, a traditional dance of Ollantay that tells the story of how ponchos are made. The music group continued to rehearse their piece to accompany the dance group. Both groups will perform at the community feast on Sunday. The art group continued to work on the atrapasuenos or dream-catchers in English. The group learned more difficult patterns -- the spider web and the tree of life. The artists will present these dream-catchers as gifts to the group on Sunday. Mary Sarah’s homestay — I like my homestay. The people in it are really nice. And my family is really caring. And the meals that they give are really good. The daughter is really sweet. And I’m practicing my Spanish with them. I love playing games with the daughter. I really like learning about how different their family works when preparing for a meal. The daughter usually goes right ahead and sets the table without being asked. She is always there to help out when needed. I’ve also noticed that some of the meals are similar to the meals I have at home. And some are very different such as quinoa soup. I like it! Mary Sarah’s message — Hi, family! I miss you very much. I’m having a blast! I can’t wait to see you, but this is a great experience. Jane's homestay -- The kids in my homestay always make me laugh. When they try to say something in English they laugh and just go with it. We play a lot of card games like Uno and Spoons. The dog is really funny when he chases his tail because he goes really fast. The food is really good. We have had a lot of rice which is good because I really like rice. Every time we finish our food we sit and talk and play more games instead of just leaving the table. I like that we are able to do that. When we finish eating we usually play soccer with my homestay siblings. Overall, my experience has been really fun and I really like it. Everybody is always so happy and there is never a dull moment. Jane's message -- I am excited to see you, and I love you. PS - Tomorrow's leaders are Grant and Ava. Today, we started working at our chosen NGO. Abbi's NGO was Kuska School. Kuska school is located at the end of town and is a far walk, but it is a beautiful walk where you get to enjoy nature. Kuska is a small school that has its classes inside and outside, so the students are close to nature. My group worked on building a bike rack for the school. We made the bike rack out of wood pallets. We had to sand down the pallet, then paint it green. David and Grant leveled the ground for the bike rack. We had to stop to let the paint dry. At this point, we worked with the students who were in the English class. We practiced speaking English with them. They asked us questions in English, and it was a fun activity. After class, we played games with the kids. We played Sharks and Minnows, Duck, Duck, Goose, and Where is My Water Bottle. We bonded with the students playing these games.
This afternoon, we did a WLS activity called Calling Cards. They were about how you describe yourself and how people describe you. Randall showed a presentation about the differences between the right side and the left side of the brain. He explained that some people are more logical or rational versus others are idealistic or focused on relationships. After the conversation, we did a gallery walk, and we read through multiple cards. We wrote down the ten things that called to us the most and three things that did not appeal to us in any way. The cards had things like, "solving problems, building trust, overcoming obstacles, creating dialogue, etc." Then we had to choose the top five cards that called to us. Out of those, we had to see if there was a pattern or category that appeared more than others. The categories were things like "enterprising, social, realistic, artistic, etc." Then we went outside and grouped ourselves in those categories. Randall went around and told us what each category meant. Our last step was to move if we felt that a different category fit us better. Riley thought the left brain described her better than the right side, the artistic side. Then we went to our cultural activities: dance, music, and crafts. Riley went to crafts and made dream catchers. Elder, the local healer, taught us about their history. He said that they originated in the indigenous nations in North America. The nomadic peoples of the Lakota and Navajo tribes would create these for when they traveled to "virgin lands" because there was more energy there. They believed that when you sleep, your soul leaves your body and travels. That's why they would put dream catchers to catch the bad dreams and allow the soul a safe journey. Tomorrow, our group of five students is going to finish making dream catchers for the whole group. Since we all graduated from the first level, he will teach us the spider web design and maybe the tree of life. Abbi's homestay -- My homestay family is welcoming and very humorous. We play Uno and Connect Four, and my homestay sister is very hyper and funny. My homestay mom is very understanding. My homestay dad is very creative. Today the electricity went out, and we had to make candle holders for the candles. The dad helped us make them. Overall, my homestay experience has been good, and the food is excellent! Abbi's message -- I miss you, and I can't wait to see you. And Dad, I hope you will get me a hamburger when I get back home. Riley's homestay -- My homestay is fun! The food is very different, but it is really healthy and good. The grandmother is very caring, and she puts us before herself. For example, she won't eat until we have all eaten. We love playing games with Sebastian. We talk to the mom, Josefina, about the culture and the differences between America and here. Riley's message -- Hi parents and brother! I miss you guys, and I'm excited to see you guys on Tuesday. Mom, will you take me to Cafe Mericado? Love you! PS - Tomorrow's leaders are Jane and Mary Sarah. |