Day 12 Peru, Machu Picchu

Today was our last full day in Peru, and we all woke up around 3:45 to start the trip to Machu Picchu. We met in the lobby of the hotel at 4:15 and headed to get in line for the busses up the mountain and got on the busses around 6. The ride was dark but still beautiful, we winded up the mountain and saw the sunlight start to creep in and show the clouds that were covering the top of the mountains. Once we got to Machu Picchu, we entered and walked a little to the first point were we watched the fog slowly creep away and we could finally see most of Machu Picchu as the sun rose. We continued to walk around and take pictures at different points as our guide explained more about all the architecture. We headed back down to the town of aqua calientes for lunch around 10:30 and we ate at a typical peruvian restaurant and some of us went and got ice cream at a place we had gone the previous night. We then all boarded the train around 1 back to olleytatambo where we got in a van back to our hotel in cusco for our final night. We all started packing our things for our departure tomorrow and most of ate dinner in the hotel which was a yummy end to a good day! - Rachel Carter

Day 11 Peru to Aguascalientes

The day started when we boarded yet another van. We stopped at a silver shop where we learned the difference between real silver and it’s less authentic doppelgängers. We had a few minutes to walk around the local market and check out alpaca products before we boarded the van and continued traveling. We later arrived at the temple of the sun. It was very well preserved and the bricks were smooth and intricate. After hiking up the 280 steps, we then looked out across the local neighborhood, as well as the two valleys: one leading to Machu Picchu and one leading back to Cusco. At the summit of the temple, we learned about the power of the temple. On the winter solstice every year, the sun peaks through the valley and shines directly at the top of the temple. This is why the locals considered it to be a holy place. Afterwards, we stopped for lunch at a  restaurant near the train station where we had trout, beef, and pasta. The meal was also accompanied by Chicha Morada, a purple corn drink. We had a little bit of time before our train ride after eating, so many of us went to get ice cream.

   The train ride was quite luxurious. The seats were very comfortable, and we were treated to carrot cake and drinks on the hour and fifteen minute ride. Many of us played cards while some just looked at the beautiful nature racing by. Once we had arrived at the Macchu Picchu Station, we hiked through the tourist-populated marketplace to get to our hotel where we stayed before traveling to the world wonder the next day.

Tommy Sliskovich

Day 10 Peru, Inti Raymi Festiival

Today, our group decided to travel to Saqsaywaman, a local archeological site to witness the culmination of Cusco’s annual Inti Raymi festival. This festival happens on or near the winter solstice, and it’s main purpose is to honor the sun and re-enact a native tradition that existed before the Spaniards came. Throughout our whole stay here we have seen all different types of people parading through the streets, and even some familiar faces on floats(Iron Man, Thanos). There were thousands of locals who we walked with, and it was a little bit hard to find a place to be able to see the festival, but we found a nice spot where we were able to get a glimpse of some of the traditional dancing. Throughout the whole festival, the announcer was speaking quetchwan, the native language before colonization. Local people were also selling things such as food, water, soda, hats, umbrellas, and anything else we could’ve wanted/needed. This festival is so important to the locals because it is a way to preserve their history and some of their traditions from before the Europeans came and brought their own religions. This was truly a wonderful experience to be apart of.

- Hope Sanders

After getting to sleep in, we woke up and traveled to Saqsaywaman for the annual Intiraymi Festival. Hundreds of thousands of people travel to saqsaywaman every year to be able to enjoy the traditional Peruvian culture presented, which are mostly dances and music. To get to the festival, you must hike uphill which took us about an hour to an hour and fifteen minutes including breaks on the way. When we finally reached the top, it was hard to find a place to watch the festival because of all the people, but eventually we found a spot and were able to see a little bit of the performances. Their music has a lot of drums and flute sounding instruments. The drums set the tempo of the music while the flute instruments mainly played the melody. After we left the festival, we hiked down the mountain and went back to the hotel. We got ready for our fancy dinner which had live Peruvian music and dancers. Overall the experience was a combination for fun, entertaining and interesting. -Keli Flanagan

Day 9 Peru Apu Winicunca

Day 9- we got up at 2 to leave at 2:30 for the mountain. Our 3 1/2 hour bus ride in darkness where we tried for more sleep was attempted on perhaps most ridiculously bumpy road ever. After the first 3 hours, we stopped to get breakfast where it was even colder, and dogs we saw had frost on their backs.
     Apu Winicunca, 5,200 meters at he highest point, more commonly known as the rainbow mountain, was only discovered about 25 years ago when because of global warming, the snow melted and the colors were seen for the first time. The colors are made from different minerals, such as quartz for white, iron for red, lime stone, and so forth. A small part of our group chose to walk to the mountain and back, and the rest of us took horses led by locals. For those of us walking, it was truly a fantastic feat, as the hike was very difficult and on the way up there were some falls, and many breaks were taken as the thin air required. Even for those who were on horses for most of the way up, it was a hard climb. The first peak was incredible, and we then made our way to the highest peak, which is perhaps one of the most spectacular views in the world, with the rainbow mountains and snowcaps on each side.
After a long walk back to our van, we were all extremely tired, combined from the long walk and our 2 AM start to the day. The ride back was a quiet and exhausted one, but we all knew just how worth it the experience was.
- Lucy Bowman

Day 8 Peru Last School Day

        Our final day volunteering with the sweet students was filled with lots of smiles and many tears. After a pretty early morning wake up we left our home stay after eating the final meal carefully put together by our hosts (bread, avocados, and fresh pulpy orange juice). After a short bus ride my group of ten experienced the happiness of a little festival put on by the school leading up the Inti Raymi festival this Sunday. Kids everywhere danced, ate popsicles and guinea pig, and ran around the little play place enjoying their Friday afternoon. Colorful flags adorned the area accompanied by equally colorful clothing on all the little boys and girls. Each of us soaked in our last moments with the kids; playing, running in circles and singing, and sitting to watch the dances the students had worked to perform. When the time came that we all had to say our goodbyes, the hugs and tears started overflowing. The goodbyes to the kids we had bonded with all the five days we were at the school and the kids we had just met today were equally as hard, and our hearts were just filled with thankfulness. The last goodbye to the wonderful community at that school will be remembered as joyful. We left in tears and gratitude, knowing that the impact the children and teachers had on each of us will be carried with us always; that school has a special place in our hearts. After leaving, we gathered our bags at the homestay and moved back to Niños Hotel. Coming back tired and out of breath, people settled in and split off into little groups to go to lunch, and then we convened back together for a debrief at Máximo Nivel. Happy to receive our certificates of achievement for “working with kids” and soon learning about our 2:00am wake up time for tomorrow’s hike of rainbow mountain, we all left and either went to the marvelous alpaca shop, dinner, or just back to the hotel to rest for tomorrow’s big hike.
-Maggie Quick

Day 7 Peru School then ATV’s!

Place holder for post! :-/

Day 6 Peru School then Dance Lessons!

The day started off slow, a lot of use weren’t feeling too well but thank the Lord that our home stay was able to give us an ample breakfast to give us energy for the day. After breakfast we separated in our respective school groups and headed off to our volunteer programs. In my classroom with Sofie, we got to learn (very minimally due to the language barrier) about Cuscanian history. It was still enticing and was most likely a key part of the schedule due to the upcoming festival. Different from the first two days of volunteering, Sofie and I found ourselves hard at work copying down cursive sentences about a national park in Peru for the kids to copy down as a part of their writing homework. We were interrupted by P.E. time where the kids seemed to work on their speed and jumping ability. They had an interesting format set up, a green line of cloth was set much above the kids between two soccer goals, and the kids would have to run up to the line and jump as high as they could and attempt to touch it, only on kid succeeded. The day ended quick with the kids learning geometry as Sofie and I completed our calligraphy task. We then headed out to lunch and were able to paroozle the city before heading to dinner. That day I was able to see a plethora of art work from the student at an art college very close to us. The art was very native based and seemed to fit with what has happening in preparation for the festival. We then ate dinner at homestay and proceeded to a club (don’t worry parents, no drinking was allowed nor happened) where we had Salsa, Bachata, and Zumba lessons. The entire experience was exciting and although everyone was tired, we all felt a live. We returned to the home stay around midnight and went to be right away to prepare for our next day at the school.

-Ilyas Adam Clouse

Day 5 Peru School, First Salsa Lesson!

Today was filled with a lot of fun and experiences, just like our days in Peru so far. This was day 2 of working with our kids, and even though it was still hard work, I felt more settled in the routine and knew how to help more. I definitely have picked up some Spanish just from being in the classroom setting, and in Peru. (Even though I have never taken Spanish before.)
I had the privilege of sharing my solo "Iris", from this years Spring Dance Concert with the school. It was an experience to dance in jeans, a t-shirt, and sneakers on a cement playground! Whether or not the kids will remember it, I think they enjoyed it. We also did a little dancing all together at the end to get everyone involved.
We had lunch in a sports bar cafe, and were free to meander in the afternoon. Then we went to meet the textile ladies, who Ellen from Maximo Nivelle had recommended to us. They greeted us with hugs, and ponchos to take pictures in. Most everyone found sweaters to their liking, and all in all it was a successful shopping trip!
And finally to end our day before dinner, we went to a salsa lesson! Given, we were a bit late from getting lost in the textile shop -- but jumped right in and had fun anyways. We got to learn some solo steps and partnering phrases.
And one more thing I'll mention: a stray dog followed us all the way from the salsa lesson to our homestay! He barked at anyone who got to close, and weaved between us the entire time. I called him Miles because the latin word "milites" means soldier/guard. We had to leave him outside though, for obvious reasons.
With sore feet and full hearts, we returned to our homestay to prepare for another day.
- Emma Maurer

Day 4 Peru First school Day & San Blas Church

    Today was our first day volunteering in Peruvian schools with children ranging from 3-9. We were split into two groups and sent to two different schools: one boy-girl school and one all-girl school. To get to our schools, we took the local bus which was a full immersion into the Peruvian day to day lifestyle. At the schools we were paired up and put into classrooms to assist the teachers in anyway they needed and manage the class which most of the time consisted of about 30 kids. Personally, I helped a teacher cut out handouts about the intireymi festival coming up this Sunday and I assisted students one on one who needed help with their assignments. Even after only having helped for one day, I can already feel my spanish improving from learning from the teachers lessons and talking with the kids. - Megan List

   I was at the other all girl school. We started the day by learning how to use the bus, just as the other group did, and it was quite an experience. There were a variety of people including small school children around age six, as well as working professionals. However, the bus we take is quite popular, and as many people as possible crowd in, which can occasionally make standing and communicating difficult. We are learning to manage it and it should go more smoothly tomorrow, since we know what to expect. Once we got to the school we divided our group of volunteers into pairs and we each were assigned a classroom. I had a wonderful group of third graders. When we walked in they were learning about the construction of a newspaper article and how to incorporate the 5 Ws. While they were doing this Hope and I went out to get breakfast for the kids. They gave us large containers to fill with rice and tea and the girls were very excited when we brought it back, this meant it was time for recess. After the girls received and ate their rice, we played a variety of games with them such as monkey bar races and freeze tag. They then showed us to their gym class area and preformed a dance for us that they are preparing for te upcoming festival. When it came time to return to the main classroom, the teacher surprised the children with a trip to the neighboring church so that they could practice and observe what they had been learning in their religion class. The day ended for the girls at 12:30 so that the boys could have school after them. We helped a few of the girls find their parent, and then tackled the bus again. -Grace Jackson

Once our volunteering ended around one, my group went to buy some amazing churros while waiting to meet up with the other group for lunch. After lunch we took a tour of the chapel in the San Blas neighborhood. The chapel was beautiful with an altar covered in gold leading and a magnificently carved wood pulpit. The San Blas neighborhood is know for it’s shops and Peruvian goods, so after seeing the chapel we split up into small groups and wandered around before making our way back to our homestay for supper around seven. Megan List

Day 3 Peru, Homestay & Cooking Class

Sunday in Peru

First off we went to our homestay. Then after we settled in, we went to San Pedro Market to get ingredients for our cooking class. In the market, we drank papaya juice very sweet but also very good. While the chef, Yuni, bought fruit for dessert we waited around the market. After getting vegetables and fruits we bought meat and saw whole chicken with feet and guinea pig. Guinea pig is a special occasion treat hat Peruvians eat sometimes during holidays. Then we walked to Maximo nivel to cook and walked by the parade that was happening in town for the upcoming winter festival. After cooking we had free time and walked around town and shopped and looked at the local culture.

The recipes for the dishes we made:

Lomo saltado
Steak, tomatoes, cilantro, onion and peppers
Marinate steak in soy sauce
Cilantro chopped
Peeled tomatoes
Chopped onions
Sauté in hot pan steak, pepper, re add beef then tomatoes then onions
Cook down
Cook with cilantro for one minutes

Pasta with milk and chili paste with cheese

Causa

Named because war with Chile and neighbors gave them food called friends
Chicken mashed potatoes with yellow pepper and onion avocado
Boil chicken till cooked
Shred and mix with mayo and onions
Potatoes boiled and mashed with yellow pepper and lime and oil and mix
Put into pan when dough like
Put chicken on top of potatoes
Another layer of potatoes
Then layer of avocados and chopped peppers

- Mia Ingram

Day 2 Peru, Cusco Tour

“For our second day in Cusco, we took a five hour bus tour to visit the major Incan religious sites of the city. We were picked up in front of the “Choco Museo,” or Chocolate Museum, and drove to four of the major religious sites located primarily in the mountains. We learned about the Pachakuteq, an important figure who changed the world through his 30 year success in government and expansion of cultures. Once the bus tour was over, we drove back to the city to visit the “Convento De Santo Domningo Del Cusco” and the “Basilica Catedral.” After the tours, we were able to roam the city freely and finished the night at a delicious Italian restaurant. It was incredible to see the city at night with people surrounding every sidewalk and street. Success!” - Carmen Martinez

Day 1 Peru 2018, Arrival and Horseback Ride

After a restless overnight flight from Dallas to Lima and only a little bit of sprinting we caught our last flight and landed in Cusco a little before 8:30am. At the airport we met Ellen our field manager from Máximo Nivel for our volunteer work who loaded us and our many bags into a bus to our hotel. The streets of Cusco were thrillingly narrow and beautiful comprised of cobblestone roads and many people. Hotel Niños was a refuge from the busy streets. There were two large, open air courtyards with rooms on both the ground and balcony levels. Each room was named after an orphan that the owner of the hotel had taken in after she moved to Peru. Once there we set our bags down in the two rooms that were ready and waited in the courtyard for our orientation. We were served coca tea, a staple of Cuscanian life, and a cure for altitude sickness. After we had finished, Ellen led us through the streets of Cusco, pointing out roads and plazas and explaining the dancing that surrounded us. Boys no older than 10 or 11 lined the streets dressed in colorful costumes and armed with dances memorized to perfection. It was mesmerizing. Our tour ended in Maximo Nivel’s headquarters for a “quick” orientation presentation. It was easily the low point of our day. Once Ellen finally corralled us all into the right classroom she dropped thick folders of paperwork in front of each of us to read and sign. Not the best idea for teenagers running on a maximum of an hour of sleep. The following PowerPoint was meant to be interactive but asking us to read things only led to stumbling over words and delirious laughter, irritating Ellen and dragging the presentation on. It took so long that we barely had time to eat lunch before our horseback riding tour through the Andes at two. Stress levels were high and motivation was low. That, however, changed when we got off the bus at the farm. It was beautiful, nestled at the foot of the mountains and by the barn we found a puppy. Needless to say that took up a bit of time. We finally mounted and were off. We followed a worn foot path through the Andes and our tour guides accompanied us on foot, sorting out any horse’s attempt at a jailbreak or passing. The view of the town below us and the mountains around us were breathtaking. We rode for about 3 hours stopping twice to see Devil’s Balcony and the Temple of the Moon, both ancient Incan locations. We also got to witness a traditional Incan blessing to Mother Earth. By the time we returned the sun was setting. But we still had a trek down the the town that included a stop to see the statue of Cristo Blanco. By the time we made it to the restaurant for dinner it was dark and cold. The food was good and the three musicians who came in played traditional music were incredible. We made it back the Hotel Ninos around 9 and crashed. It was a long, stressful, exciting day and introduction to Cusco, Peru and it was a relief to finally sleep. Can’t wait for the rest! - Natalie Titus
Natalie Titus