When we woke up on Monday, we had to pack up our rooms. Some students left behind clothes to donate. We were efficient packers, so we had some time to hang out at the hotel together before heading out. We did complete program evaluation surveys for WLS before leaving. Once we loaded all our things on the bus, we headed out to Urubamba for lunch. It was delicious! We ate a buffet-style Peruvian restaurant, and Molly was very grateful for the desserts. We loaded up the buses again, and we continued on to Cusco. At Cusco, we had some time to do last-minute shopping. The prices were better than Ollantaytambo, so a lot of us took advantage and bought presents for family members and friends. The one downside to the market is that you have to pay two soles to use the restroom. No one liked that.
At the airport, we had to say goodbye again to our awesome WLS faculty. They all traveled with us to send us off. It was tough saying goodbye. We are so grateful for all they did for us and welcoming us into their community. Then it was time to start our long travel day. There isn’t much to say about all the layovers and switching planes. We had fun entertaining ourselves with a Speed championship tournament, in which Ms. Fernandez got out in the first round. There were limited food options in some of the airports, but thankfully, we found a cafe that had Pringles. We are close to getting home now, and we have mixed feelings about it. We are excited to see our families, pets, and beds, but we are also going to dearly miss Peru. The community there was incredible. Even though it was smaller than Denver, you never felt alone. -Molly and Andrea LA2000 19-NOV CUZ-LIM 7:42PM 9:14PM
LA2476 20-NOV LIM-LAX 1:50AM 7:45AM UA2049 20-NOV LAX-DEN 10:47AM 2:07PM As of 9:53 AM GMT, all flights are on schedule. Our final flight is through United Airlines, and we arrive at gate B42. Once we get off the flight, the group has a quick closing-activity. Then we will reunite with families. The kids are very excited to see their loved ones (and pets)! 6:13 pm GMT - The entire group is through security, and we are waiting at the gate. The first flight is on-time and confirmed. 11:53 PM GMT - We made it to Lima! We’ve gone through security and found our next gate. Our flight to LAX leaves at 1:50 am. We will be picking up our bags in LAX before re-checking them in for our final flight to DIA. 7:28 AM PST - We landed in LAX! Only one flight left! 10:03 AM PST - We are boarding the plane for our final flight home! The kids had to rush a bit to make it, so they will be hungry once we arrive! Through teary eyes, we sit down to write about our last full day in Ollantaytambo. Today, we spent the full day with our homestays. We left our hotels at 9 am and stayed until 1 pm to go see the Pachamanca ceremony -- the Earth oven and cuy (guinea pig). On the way, Adela treated the group to an ice-cream. We were thankful because the Earth oven took over an hour to cook the food. We all met back at Full Moon Ecolodge at 3 pm for our feast. Ethan thought the guinea pig tasted like chicken. Hannah thought it was like a dry chicken. Right when Jake, Grant, and Joe woke up, they ran back in to let Ethan know that his homestay grandma was already at the hotel asking about them. Ethan (plus Joe, Peyton, and Andrea) helped his homestay grandma set up her shop by the Sun Temple ruins. They played Sorry and had a dance party. It was a very fun last day! So much fun, that it was hard to say goodbye. The first goodbye was fifteen minutes, and then we reunited with them to take pictures, and we said goodbye again. And then one more time. It wasn’t easy leaving Sebastian and our grandma. Hannah loved that when she arrived at the house, the family was excited to see the SMA group and had planned out the day. They first went to the soccer field and played for a good chunk of the morning. It was really fun because he kept hitting it out of the fence area, but the game restarted really quickly. After they returned from the feast, the homestay had llama hats for each SMA student as a gift to make sure we wouldn’t forget them. We took pictures with the hats as a group, and then played Jenga for a long time. During dinner, the group went to visit the family’s relatives at different shops. When it was time to say goodbye, it was tough. Everytime we went through a doorway, we would hug. At the last door, neither one of us wanted to let go. And they were so appreciative of our SMA students past, present, and future. They still remember my brother, Kevin, and the host families love spending time with us. To close our night and WLS program, we had our final ANCHOR with the whole group. We started a little later so that we could spend more time with our homestays. Once we turned off the lights and lit the candle, the tears started to roll. It was a beautiful experience, but also sad because we were all emotional at the end. We are all excited to head home, but we are not ready to let go of this trip. It was wonderful to hear how the trip impacted each other, and what we plan on bringing back with to SMA/Colorado. When we turned the lights back on, we had a huge abraso (hug). Many of us will not forget this experience. Also, we are so thankful to our parents for allowing us this opportunity! -Ethan and Hannah Today, the camping group woke up and had french toast for breakfast to get some energy for the next activity -- a hike of Inca ruins. They were amazed by the age of the ruins and the colorful rocks. After cleaning up the campsite, the group hiked down five miles to Ollantaytambo following the working water canal of Inca times. The trail paralleled the road for most of the two hours. No words can describe the beauty -- we will have to share the video that Javier took! Our entire group got back together for lunch Puka Rumi, which means Red Rocks. We had make-your-own burritos, which were really good. It was great to have everyone back together. Given our active day, we had a lot of time to rest this afternoon. It was good for the sick and injured people, and also for those exhausted from the hike down. A group of students went down to the soccer field with Johan and Ms. Fernandez for friendly-ish game as there was a bottle of Inka Cola on the line. Grant was a tough goalkeeper, Emily Rodriguez had incredible gymnastic-style saves, and everyone had fun playing. We even had a few locals join in to play. Students enjoyed their second-to-last dinner with their homestay family. Lia’s highlight was playing board games with her homestay brother before dinner. All the other siblings had left for a party, so he was excited to have someone to play with. Gracen’s highlight was getting to spend time with her homestay family and have a nice dinner. -Lia and Gracen Today, we had breakfast and gathered up all of the bags we had packed last night to put them in the bus for Patacancha. The drive was about an hour out of Ollantaytambo, but the road we took is relatively new. Before, the Inca descendants had fled Ollantaytambo into these more remote mountain areas to avoid persecution from the Spaniards. For hundreds of years, these communities had very little contact with other societies and were able to preserve their culture. Now, the road provides both an easier form of access to trade, healthcare, etc. and a culture shock. Adela mentioned that there are some communities that use their traditional clothing less and less because of the clothing donations they receive. Once we got up there, the local community welcomed us with music and cheering, and they put flowers in our hair. They were all dressed beautifully in the traditional clothing from their culture. They were so kind that they had set out traditional clothing for each of our group members! We all wore the warm and colorful alpaca attire, which helped keep us warm and dry. Then the community leader asked us to gather in a circle for more introductions, and then everyone introduced themself in Quechua. We tried our best to pronounce, “my name is,” followed by our English name, and we think they appreciated it. After going around, the community leader announced it was time to dance. They led us in the ceremonial goose dance where Joe and Grant had geese tied to their backs in blanket-sacks. The community leader reviewed the steps, and we danced around the circle. Not long after the song ended, another began, and we danced in the center in smaller groups. After both dances, it was time to learn about their long tradition of making blankets and clothes. They showed us the raw fibers of alpaca, llama, and sheep, and how they treat the fibers to make threads. They also showed us the natural colors versus the dyed with natural ingredients. In the months of December, January, and February, Peru is going through their summer months, but in the high mountains, it is known as the rainy season. For those three months, it is very hard for the community to find work outside the town as the road is easily flooded. Therefore, men, women, and children all help pick and treat fibers to create threads. At this point, the rain picked up significantly, so we had to move to a nearby shelter. The community leader continued to explain that even though everyone helped create the threads, only the women would weave. Girls in the community are taught the first weaving technique at the age of seven. And it was shocking to hear that if a girl didn’t know how to weave, she would not find a husband! Weaving is clearly a very important part of their community and culture. Even the town name comes from a story of a elder woman who weaved in the mountains. They are well known for their weaving skills. Each person in our group was assigned a “teacher”, a woman from the community, to help us learn the simplest weaving technique. It wasn’t that simple! We each got to make a bracelet out of the wool they spun. We were also invited to have lunch with the community. We hiked up one of the hills, and we split into two homes. We had a delicious quinoa soup followed by a plate of chicken with a sort of risotto made out of barley and oats. And of course, we ended lunch with tea. Except this time, instead of using tea bags, we picked mint leaves to add to our mugs. Once we were done, we headed back down to return our awesome outfits and browse through the market they had set up with their handmade goods. It was sad to say goodbye, but we needed to load up the buses to get to our hiking trail. It was an hour long hike with beautiful views of the Andes mountains and towns. On our way up, we saw a lot of cows! Once we made it to the campsite, we had a few minutes to get settled in our tents before we had journaling time to reflect on our original goals for the trip as we are days away from the end. It’s crazy to think we’ve been here almost two weeks! Then we had some free-time to hang out and play games as some of the adults prepared dinner. We ate in two big tents, which we used as our dining halls. Our camp menu was soup followed by chicken, french fries, rice, and vegetables. For dessert, we had a cake and sang in honor of Gracen’s 14th birthday. To close the night, we did our A.N.C.H.O.R. activity around a bonfire and roasted marshmallows. Overall, this was one of our favorite days because we were so immersed in Peruvian life and culture. The people of Patacancha were so open, and they made us feel so welcomed by sharing their culture with us.
-Madeline, Ana, and Hadley The SMA group is leaving Ollantaytambo this morning and heading to Patacancha. We will be visiting a local weaving group and learning about this beautiful community. We will be spending Friday night in our tents and returning to Ollantaytambo Saturday afternoon. Ms. F will not bring her laptop on this trip, so the blog will be updated late Saturday evening. But the camera will be out to snap memories!
Today, we went to Sacred Valley Health. The instructors guided us through many activities that taught us about the challenges they deal with on a daily basis. SVH, also known as Ayni Wasi in Quechua, mainly care provide healthcare to families and empower women in Ollantaytambo and other remote communities. Their mission is to help the people who usually don’t have access to healthcare because of the language barrier, lack of transportation, or financial strain. In the morning, we did several team building activities such as icebreakers, snowball activity, and human knot. With the human knot, the added twist was that we weren’t allowed to talk to simulate the language barrier between Spanish and Quechua. Also, we built a shelter that would help us survive from the incoming tide. We ended the morning with skits that focus on the four pillars of Sacred Valley Health -- education, access, preventative health, and empowerment. Joe's group’s skit focused on education, and they created a game-show called, “Test Your Knowledge.” Julia's group’s skit focused on education and public health. They created a skit that showed the ripple effect through a mom teaching her children positive, hygienic habits. After our homestay lunch, we went back to Sacred Valley Health to learn about Wilderness Medicine and M.A.R.C.H. (massive bleeding, airways, respiratory, circulation, and hospital). We went through four stations -- how to safely evacuate someone who can’t walk, how to create a splint, how to create a tourniquet, and how to deal with hyperthermia, hypothermia, and lightning. Julia’s favorite activity was the splint info session because the instructor taught her how to make a splint out of materials that she could find in her backpack or using the backpack itself. Joe’s favorite activity was learning how to evacuate people because now he can pick up people safely. He was even able to lift the taller instructor. Julia’s highlight with her homestay family is that the kids love to play games. The kids love to play hide-and-go-seek every evening after they return home from school. And the food has been amazing! Before the trip, she was nervous about the food, but she has been truly enjoying it. Her homestay family has also helped her love tea. She drinks two to three cups of tea a day now! Joe loves that his homestay mom is Adela’s grandma. His highlight is all the inventive games that Sebastian can play with a soccer ball. The food is better than he thought, but if he’s honest, he still struggles to finish it. They are both excited to go “glamping” tomorrow, so they are heading off to pack! -Joe and Julia PS - Madeline hopes her mom had a lovely birthday! Today, we went back to Manco Inca 50582 Elementary School for the third and final day. The principal and the director of the school also helped us. All the parents of the students were there to help by shoveling dirt and planting new grass. Kaitlyn saw her homestay family there. We got half of the stage done, and we think that they finished after we had to leave. But we were able to help make the cement for the stage, which was cool! In the classrooms, the SMA students helped the Manco Inca students finish their Christmas trees. They also learned how to sing Jingle Bells and other Christmas carols. Understandably, they had a little trouble with some of the lyrics, but they made it work. We also got to play with them in recess today. They are really good at volleyball and soccer. The kids kept coming up to us asking us to play with them. Even though we were trying to leave, they would pull our arms to go play with them. When we were leaving, one of the students noticed Blair’s lacrosse shirt as he was also wearing a lacrosse shirt. With Andrea’s translating skills, they understood each other and chatted about their lacrosse highlights. And when we didn’t have a translator, we made it work. We feel like we’ve improved our Spanish or at least our creative communication skills. They were all so sad to see us leave. They kept asking if we would come back to help and play with them, but we had to stay goodbye. Adela coordinated for four community leaders to speak to the students today. First, they all met at the main square, and then divided into small groups to different coffee shops. Students had questions prepared for the community leaders. At the end, students prepared a short recap of the afternoon to share out with the rest of the group. As students listened to the different stories, they also enjoyed an afternoon snack. Kaitlyn had a new experience with the hot chocolate. It was much darker than she expected! Addi also had an interesting experience with the hot chocolate because it was past repair with sugar. Kaitlyn heard Lorena speak about her work with the indigenous communities in the Cusco region. She mainly works on creating websites and an internet presence for these communities. She moved here eight months ago from Mexico City to help this population. And her dream is to be able to do the same thing but in her hometown. Addi listened to Ana Maria, one of the homestay moms, shared about her organic garden for her family and tourists. In the past, she was a teacher and learned multiple languages. Her biggest goal is to ensure that everyone has access to good, organic produce for a healthy long life. Kaitlyn had a great night at her homestay because Rodrigo brought a few friends with him for dinner. They had a blast playing games like Nervous and making string bracelets. Addi had a fun time in her homestay because she taught her host sister how to play BS and ghosts in the graveyard. Each night they walk to buy bread for dinner. Tonight, they made sure they bought the little sister’s favorite kind. -Kaitlyn and Addi Today, we went back to Manco Inca 50582 Elementary School to work on the three projects -- making crafts with the students and working on the dining hall. This time in the classroom, we made a single christmas tree out old, recycled 2-liter bottles. It is still incomplete, but the kids had fun! They also created beautiful ornaments to decorate the tree. Plus, the group tomorrow will get the opportunity to help them finish. The groups that worked outside worked really hard today! We are almost done with the stage as we got almost five rows of rocks placed, hammered, and leveled. The stucco group finished the walls today as well! We even had some of the students work with the school kids on sanding and painting the bench. One of our favorite things about working at the school is the fact we always arrive right at the start of morning recess, so we get to play with the kids. Ainsley loved playing soccer with the young kids. Isabel played a different version of “duck, duck, goose” that the kids taught her. In the afternoon, we had the two groups participate in basket weaving and visiting the Sun Temple. Both Ainsley and Isabel went to basket weaving today. The family that helped teach us were Vilma and Pancho. Pancho explained the process, which was passed down through his family for generations. The first day, he has to wake up around 4:30 am to head to the mountains to pick the branches, which is an eight hour round trip. The next day they have to pick all the leaves off the branches. The following two days they have to separate all the branches based off length and girth. Then he spent the next five days creating the base of the baskets for our group. In the past, they have taught student groups the whole process, and we are so thankful that they are willing to work with us two afternoons. They are the only family in Ollantaytambo that makes baskets by hand. They were very precise with the process. If we made a mistake, they would help reteach us the right process and help us make great baskets. We really appreciate their patience in teaching us. It was cool seeing how easily they could twist and turn the branches to transform what first liked a bit like an onion into a beautiful and useful basket. A member of the WLS staff guided Ms. Fernandez, Ms. Muniz, and Ms. McCall around the town in the evening to visit all of the homestays. Ainsley’s favorite moment was when the teachers visited her homestay. At first, they didn’t notice the family’s puppy, Bizcocho. He is about three months and absolutely adorable! All the teachers’ jaws dropped when they saw how tiny he was. Very hard to not pet him! Isabel’s favorite moment was her homestay family because she asked for their mailbox to potentially ship them something later. She had to communicate in different ways by pointing to a recycled ice-cream tub, but it didn’t quite get across. But they both tried really hard and shared lots of laugh in between. And she learned a new card game called Nervous, which she is excited to teach her family once she returns. Isabel taught Rodrigo how to play Troika, a card game. Today, we went to Manco Inca 50582, the local elementary, to start our community work and continue the St. Mary’s Academy partnership. Before we started working, the principal came to talk to us about why the lunch room was important to them. Currently, the kids are eating in their classrooms or courtyard, which gets really hot in the summer months. The cafeteria would provide shade for the child and an area for them to bond, and it will be a multi-use space, which is why we are building a stage. We broke out into three groups. Our big outside project was helping them build a cafeteria area for their students. The first group worked on laying stones as the foundation of the stage in the dining hall. Maggie was really proud of how well the group worked together throughout the morning. There was a lot of camaraderie and helping each other out instead of competing or “belly-aching”. Anja loved how everyone was participating and helping out. Everyone found something to do that helped the group make progress. The second group worked with stucco by laying and smoothing cement on the walls. The two groups made great progress to set us up to complete our goal within the next two work days. The last group worked in the fourth-grade classrooms. We used the bottles that we collected around town during the chasqui challenge to create Christmas tree decorations with the kids. Grant really enjoyed the challenge of finding different ways to communicate with the young students given the language barrier. “After helping out with community service, we went to our homestay to eat a delicious and nutritious lunch.” - Grant Our afternoon session included two different activities -- basketweaving and the Sun Temple in Ollantaytambo. Anja went to basketweaving, and her first impression was that it would be an impossible task. Thankfully, the family who taught them the trade was extremely helpful, always coming over to them and assisting them. Maggie and Grant went on a tour of the Sun Temple, just a fifteen-minute walk from our hotels. The Spanish thought that the Incas worshipped the Sun as a god because of the temple at the top. In reality, they do not worship the sun, but instead, their religion focused on the natural elements and Pachamama. Since the Spaniards couldn’t read the Incan language, they named the ruins the Sun Temple. From the top, we could see two profiles of indigenous gods, one of which is Tunupa. And all the mountains are called Apu __ in respect because the mountains watch over the valleys as its protectors. On the same mountain, there are storehouse ruins that the Incas built with windows on the front and back to allow the wind to keep the potatoes and jerky. At the top of the Sun Temple, we could see in the distance mountains covered in snow and a glacier. In Quechua, the mountains are called Willka Weqe, which means sacred teardrop because of the water it provides. When the Spaniards came, they renamed it Mt. Veronica because the top of the mountain looked like an arm movement used in bull-fighting that is called the Veronica. Also, the Incas set up an irrigation system taking the water from the glacier all the way down for basic needs and agriculture. All the excess water flows into the river to Urubamba that flows into the Amazon. In all, it was a productive, educational, and fun-filled day! -Anja, Grant, and Maggie We are SO thankful for our later wake-up today. But more importantly, today is/was Chloe’s birthday! In the morning, the girls in her hotel room woke her up by singing happy birthday to her. And a few of the girls made her make-shift birthday gifts. At her homestay, the family celebrated her birthday at dinner with a cake and lots of dancing. She had a second cake back with us during A.N.C.H.O.R. as well. This morning we went on a hike to the Incan ruins, and we had a “seminar” of sorts with an activity called “True Colors.” This activity helped us learn more about our personality. We got four cards that had character descriptors on them, and each had a different color. Then we gathered in corners based on the colors -- red (empathetic), yellow (idealist), green (traditionalist), blue (logical). We heard what each color meant in terms of personality and leadership style. Then we put those to the test. The opposite sides of the brain (the opposing colors) were given a prompt of planning a vacation with limitless funds, and they then had two minutes to decide what to do. Emily was green, and she was surprised by, “how perfectly it fit [me].” The second prompt was to look at a picture and then report the details. Joe (blue) gave a whole list of details while Isabel (red) described the potential conflict/relationship between the people in the picture. Again, it was spot on! After, we had some journaling time, and a few of us climbed up the mountainside. We went back down to the town to have lunch with our homestay families. After lunch, the real fun was the scavenger hunt -- chasqui challenge! We broke teams, received a map, and started running around the town. Some of the challenges including making empanadas, learning about cuys (guinea pigs) and getting them inside a box, corn husking, dancing with Adela, cleaning socks, playing Peruvian-tether ball against Johan, visiting a church, and collecting water bottles for bonus points. Emily’s favorite part was making the empanadas -- they were so good! Bella’s favorite part was figuring out how to use the map with her small group and get back to base on time despite being confused. At night, we had dinner with our homestay families and then led the A.N.C.H.O.R. session. We are very appreciative of the care of our injured peers. We are excited that tomorrow will be our first-day doing service at the elementary school. Some were concerned we might not get to be with our homestay families given service hours, but we will! We hope everyone continues to feel better and stay healthy. One obscurity from today was how many different ways there were to climb up the mountain from the Incan Ruins today. And our reading was about following your dreams. -Bella and Emily Robles There was a 4.0 earthquake in Cusco, Peru at 6:11 am this morning. Thankfully, we didn't feel anything in Ollantaytambo. The kids slept through it, and we are all now getting ready for another wonderful day. We are all safe and accounted for!
We had another early wake-up today because we went to Machu Picchu, and we had several trains and buses to catch. It was crowded getting to train, but the ride was worth it. We were able to see the starts of the Amazon Rainforest and several mountains. Once we got to the Machu Picchu train station, we had to rush to get to our next bus. Thankfully, we made all our buses and trains today! Once we got inside Machu Picchu, we got to explore ruins, see llamas, and climb lots of steps. Jake’s expectation was that Machu Picchu would be on a large flat space, but we soon realized how mountainous the area is. We had a lot of fun taking pictures with the llamas and naming them. Jake’s favorite was Lars. Blair loved taking artsy photos all day. But we really enjoyed our circuit of Machu Picchu thanks to our awesome tour guides. They were so knowledgeable, and they gave us lots of backstories. Even though many attribute the discovery of Machu Picchu to Hiram Bingham in 1911, it was discovered by locals long before. His connection to National Geographic is what led to the 1911 “worldwide” discovery. The city’s name is not even Machu Picchu, but it is known as that because no one has been able to translate the Incan language. So they used the name Machu Picchu because that is the name of the tallest mountain behind it. We also learned a lot about the Incan peoples and how they used the land to shape their society instead of shaping the land for their society. The mountains really matter to the culture, and you can tell because they have several rocks that are carved in the shape of the mountains. They also had lots of rocks left as ceremonial structures or foundation if they couldn’t cut it down. And a lot of the things were connected to Pacha Mama, Mother Earth, and the four elements: fire, wind, earth, and water. One of the things we learned about the Incan peoples is that Machu Picchu was only for the upper class, the aristocrats, to visit. That’s why the main entrance to Machu Picchu is quite tall as the kings were always carried through the doorway. And that all of the entrances and windows have more of a trapezoid shape instead of a rectangular shape to prevent damage from earthquakes. They also took advantage of the surrounding lands by creating terraces into the mountainsides to allow for irrigation, soil stability, and agriculture. Everything was so thought out! And it is still standing even though it was built thousands of years ago. After visiting Machu Picchu, we stayed in Aguas Calientes for a few hours to wait for our train. We had some time to shop in the nice, little town before enjoying a pizza dinner. On our final train back, we had lots of fun entertaining ourselves with some pretty intense card games. We, Jake and Blair, closed the evening by leading the A.N.C.H.O.R. session. -Blair and Jake This morning, we went to the Valle Sagrado School. All of the kids were really welcoming and patient with our Spanish skills. There was a big pile of bottles at the school that they recycle and use for other purposes. We went to two or three of their classes and observed everyday life. It was a really refreshing experience with a great community that helps kids grow. Overall, we enjoyed the experience. Later, we met our host families and had lunch with them. It was really fun to get to know them and play games with them. Chloe's birthday is right after we go to Machu Picchu, and her host family is planning a birthday party with dancing. In Emily Rodriguez's host family, the little girl learned how to play UNO at her school, so they all got to play together, which was really fun. The food was amazing, and Emily's family had the best orange juice in the world. They also had corn with huge kernels, which they ate by ripping off one by one with their hands. When we all met back after our homestays, it was clear we all were very well fed and taken care of. We all are so happy with our families! After lunch, we had a “despacho” ceremony, which means giving back to mother earth. There was fire, music, llama fat (we didn't like touching that), and coca leaves. The coca leaves represented the four elements, which are fire, earth, water, and air. The llama fat held the leaves together. It wasn't religious, but it felt spiritual, sacred, and peaceful. At the end of the blessing, we had to close with a celebration! We hugged each other and then danced. After the ceremony, we went back and had dinner with our host families, which was, again, delicious! Our host families don't speak much English, so we got to practice our Spanish. We didn't understand some of what they were saying, but the way they said it was beautiful. Our first full day was great, and we can't wait for another one! -Chloe and Emily Rodriguez Today, we met our World Leadership School (WLS) Instructors -- Adela, Rachel, Johan, and Javier. Adela is so kind, and she lives right in the community. Rachel, our WLS coordinator from Washington, DC, has lots of energy, which keeps the group’s spirits up. Johan is a kind and calming presence. Javier has a great sense of humor, and he knows how to communicate with us. He finds good lessons and ways to put things into perspective for us.
After arriving in Ollantaytambo, we had some time to get settled in our hotel rooms. Then we gathered together and did a couple of activities to get to know everybody, the new staff, and our surroundings. For dinner, we went to a local restaurant for a buffet style dinner. The food was REALLY GOOD! At the end, they gave us a Yerba Mate tea to help with the elevation change. Once we got back to the hotel, we went through our first A.N.C.H.O.R. activity. Something we will do every night to close the day. A is for appreciations such as we were thankful we arrived safely, had a great dinner, and our staff. N is for news of the next day’s activities so that we stay in the moment. C is for concerns so that we could ask all our questions like what to wear the next day. H is for hopes like getting to know the school community and children and the host-families we are going to meet tomorrow. O is for obscurities like the differences between our worlds and cultures like the windy, cobble-stone roads and the number of street dogs. The community vibe is also more connected and safer because there were a lot of young kids playing soccer at night in the plaza. R is for reading from a WLS Compiled Readings booklet filled with quotes, poems, short stories, and news articles to wrap the day and give us closure. We are super excited to get some rest and meet our homestay families tomorrow! -Peyton and Caitlin The SMA group made it Ollantaytambo a few hours ago. The group is doing well and excited to begin their adventure in Peru!
WLS Staff Due to a mechanical issue, our flight from DIA to LAX has been delayed. Students are doing a great job of connecting with their new "buddy" and playing card games.
5:15 pm and we are back on track! The group boarded, and we should be departing for LAX shortly. 9:12 am in Peru! We’ve landed in Lima, and we are checking in for our final flight! 4:00 pm (Peru) -- We've arrived at our hotels in Ollantaytambo! Students are taking a short break to unpack and get settled before we hit the ground running with our program activities! Stay tuned for tonight's blog post from Caitlin and Peyton. |