2019 Red Mountain Peru Program
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Peruvian Llama Kissing
SATURDAY/SUNDAY- Traveling through an airport to another country alone,
MONDAY- Exploring the town of Cusco with many to bargain for the best deal possible, hunting for the lost treasures, with great love for the city of Cusco, exploring the Saqsaywaman ruins, first experiences of a dance class, the celebration of Mikayla’s birthday,
TUESDAY- Touching the world’s softest animals, enjoying alpaca at lunch for the first time, and the celebration of Domonic’s birthday and the competition for the lowest price possible for a blanket, meeting and living with a Spanish speaking family,
WEDNESDAY- Going to a multi school facility with primary and secondary schools, from playing volleyball with the students, wandering into classes to talk about the US.
THURSDAY– Going to the Inca ruins learning about how the valley heat in order to cook food with water, riding and crashing on a beaten path on bikes, learning about weaving that takes 1 month to make a single blanket.
FRIDAY- Taking a train for the first time for many of us. Going to Machu Picchu, French kissing a llama, and enjoying the outdoors
Leaving it all behind but many experiences of the future to come !
Adventures in Machu Picchu
Written by Bradon Schield and Ryan McGraw
We started off today like the rest of the days at the homestay, waking up, getting ready, and then eating breakfast with our homestay mom and whatever other members of the family stopped by. Today was Día de la Bandera and in the plaza we watched part of the ceremony. Afterwards, we headed for the train that would take us to Machu Picchu. The ride was beautiful, as the tracks followed a river and the scenery changed from rocky and dry mountains to lush rainforest mountains. We arrived finally in Aguas Calientes, a small town at the base of Machu Picchu. After the 30 minute bus ride to the top we arrived at the ancient Inca city of Machu Picchu. We took in the classic view from the top of Machu Picchu, and took a lot of pictures. We learned about the history and discovery of Machu Picchu from our tour guide Greco, and how different people interpreted the evidence to find out the purpose of Machu Picchu. We then began to descend into the different sections of Machu Picchu with the different buildings and open grass areas. We explored many important places to the ancient city such as the Temple of the Sub and the plaza in the middle. After exploring we began the hike back to the entrance to the ancient ruins and took the bus back down the winding road to Aguas Calientes. Once we got back into the town, we ate dinner which comprised of both American and Peruvian food, based on how people were feeling. Right after dinner we were able to walk around the market and look at all the interesting things they were selling. We then boarded the train to head back to Ollantaytambo and get in the vans to drive back to Cusco. The van ride was very bumpy but everyone had fun making jokes and laughing the whole way.
Breakfast & School
Written by Logan Sanchez
Breakfast was really good today because we had eggs, the best strawberry jelly I’ve ever had(mainly because it had whole strawberries in it) inside of some bread with butter, and our host mom went out and bought us some oranges and made homemade orange juice for us since we had told her the night before that we liked it. That was really nice of her to do that. I also had a lot of fun today at the school. I spoke a lot of Spanish to the students and they surprisingly understood what I was saying. Plus, they also said that my Spanish was really good, which took me by surprise. I was able to talk a lot with them just about almost anything I wanted to talk about in my life that they asked about, and that was a great feeling. His day was amazing and I can’t wait for the days to come.
School Experience
Written by Jacob Santiago
Today was really fun! We went to a school and talked to the little kids, and older kids too. A lot of the little kids liked arm wrestling and were very hyper. It was a really fun experience being in the classes and seeing how they’re different from classes in the US. After classes I played volleyball with some of the kids at the school which was really fun too. Also a little girl in one of the groups beat all the boys in arm wrestling which was funny and awesome. And the homestay mom has just been super nice to us.
Mountains and Llamas
Written by Sara frost and Micayla Berglund
Today we started out going the Camelid farm, the family which llamas belong to, and saw that were different types of llamas, alpacas, vicuñas and guanacos. Some had really shaggy hair. It was really cool to go on the drive to Pisac after our stop at the farm because of the amazing view. The mountains are looming over you at all times with their majestic beauty. We also got a chance to buy handcrafts and souvenirs at the amazing market in Pisac.
We then headed off to Ollantaytambo, the host community where we’ll be spending the next couple days. It was pretty scary to go and meet the family, but after a couple hours in our new homes we started getting to know our families. It was fun to talk to the host mom about all of my family and the things that we do in the US. It is certainly a learning experience trying to understand all of what they are asking and talking about, but I look forward to increasing my Spanish capabilities. Our host family has a white puppy and also a white kitten that are both so cute and fun to play with. After today we are looking forward to the next adventure that tomorrow will bring!
Salsa-ing in the culture
Written by Cate McBride and Amanda Adams
Today was one of the best days ever! We started off with a delicious breakfast; the juice was the best part. It was freshly squeezed orange juice infused with papaya. I (Cate) discovered I love papaya and that it’s probably my favorite fruit now! After breakfast, we began an intense scavenger hunt around the city. We split into smaller groups and were let free to go roam.
I (Cate) met a friendly musician, Marcos. He was very friendly and wrote my group (me, Maycie, Mikayla) a song about us. He walked around the city with us for a while, and then we parted ways and continued with the rest of the search. Another fun thing was finding where the head of the cow was for the photo hunt (it was in the carnicería of San Pedro).
I (Amanda) found the most rewarding part to be watching my group members get more comfortable with the language. During this, we met a group of artists who then became our tour guides for the day. They were even willing to make a human pyramid with us for one of the scavenger hunt items.
After that, we stepped out of our comfort zones and into our salsa dance lessons. It was such a great experience! “I never knew I could dance like that!” Amanda Adams said when asked about her experience. We can’t wait to come home and teach my friends how to salsa!
Finally, we went to the Saqsayhuaman ruins which was such a sight! Our favorite about it was part was sliding down the huge rocks and taking pictures with the view.
During dinner, we continued to bond as a group and played a lot of games. It was also Micayla’s birthday today so we got her a cake and sang feliz cumpleaños to her. Finally we went back to the hotel and shared our highest and lowest moments of the trip so far with the rest of the group. Overall it was such a great day!
Planes and ‘pacas
Written by Macie Wagner and Sierra Bailey
Even though we were all pretty tired from traveling, today was super exciting! Flying over the mountain range was so beautiful, and seeing the mountains once we arrived in Cusco was even more breathtaking. Our hotel is perched upon the top of a lengthy cobblestone staircase, making the walk quite a journey, but the view of the valley below us is definitely worth it. The city tour we went on showed us how Peru integrates its history into the present by preserving and restoring some of the architecture of past civilizations. Our tour guide, Greco, also showed us around the cathedral, which itself was full of preserved ruins. Overall, the whole city is so new and exciting while also being full of history on every corner. Not to mention, we got to see some pretty cute alpacas and they were very soft. Cusco seems to be quite a lively city with people always moving about; however, it was nice to settle down in our quaint hotel at the end of the long and busy day. After a good nights rest, we will all be ready to tackle on the day and all of new experiences!