Rain, Rain Go Away

It’s hard to believe that it is July. In only 5 days, we will be heading back to the United States. I’m going to be really sad to leave my family, and I already know I am going to be emotional.

Today, we were supposed to be working with the rest of the group on building the school in Occoruro, but the weather was not cooperating, as it was pouring and freezing outside. As a result, project was cancelled, and we just rested at home instead. At 9:30am, we went to the office to complete our check-out survey with Eliza. It was pretty simple, as we completed a survey to note our experiences and talked about different topics regarding our time in Peru. For example, we had to talk about what we will miss most and what klind of culture shock we think we will experience upon returning to the United States.

After this reflection, we had a reflection with Emily, one of the staff members from DukeEngage. We completed another survey, which addressed topics ranging from our academic plans to how we think this trip will impact us.

In the afternoon, we visited Qoricancha, the sun temple of the Incas. It has a very interesting history, as the Incas used it as a religious center before the Spaniards destroyed much of it. Today, it is mainly a historical center, but there are still priests and religious figures who use it for the original purpose of the Incas.

We also went to the Artisan Market, a place that sells all kinds of traditional gifts and handicrafts. I loved looking around, as they had things ranging from traditional Inca knives to carvings to tapestries. I ended up buying a couple of cool handicrafts, such as an Incan calendar tapestry, alpaca slippers, and a couple of hats. From here we went directly to Jack’s Café, one of the best sandwich places in town. I have been here before, so it was nice to experience it again and to see how my opinion might have changed over the last seven weeks. It was good, but I still think I prefer the Peruvian restaurants to American food, especially in Cuzco.

Tomorrow should be a fun day. Aside from being the start of our last weekend in Cuzco, it will also be the last chance for me to spend a lot of time with my family. Our departure is coming up really fast, so I want to make sure I make the most of the last few days with the family.

Reflection and Project Show-and-Tell

It’s strange to think that a week from today, I will be back in the United States. I’m already feeling a little bittersweet about the entire experience, since it will definitely be hard to leave my host family. I feel I have really formed a lasting relationship with them, something that will be hard to leave. Nevertheless, I will be glad to see my family for the first time in eight weeks, and my siblings for the first time in almost four months.

Today was our turn to show the Urubamba volunteers what we have been working on during the past seven weeks. However, first we had to share our presentation with the community. Overall, it went really well, and I definitely feel that we have learned a lot about how to make effective presentations. Today, we engaged the community members quite a bit, and I definitely feel that this helped them to feel included and to understand the information. I was really excited about being able to show them how to use sunscreen, and from the feedback, it seemed like they found this to be quite funny. I’m not sure if that was the actual intent, but I’m fine with whatever helps them to learn.

Afterwards, we took the Urubamba volunteers around the community and showed them the different projects. For the first time in a while, I felt a great sense of pride knowing that we accomplished so much to help this community in the past seven weeks. I really feel that we have worked on projects that will have a lasting impact, and hopefully it makes their lives easier and healthier.

In the afternoon, we had Spanish class before having a final reunion with our teachers to say goodbye. They have been really helpful in teaching us the language and helping us to immerse ourselves in the culture, something that I will truly miss. They were also really kind to give us each a personalized card and picture. I will never forget either of the teachers, and hopefully we will be able to keep in touch via email.

In the evening, we had our final salsa lesson of the trip. Since I missed the last one, I was a bit behind and rusty, but I was able to catch up relatively quickly. We learned a couple new moves today, all of which were pretty difficult. It was kind of tough overall, but I really feel that I learned a lot throughout the course. Hopefully I will be able to keep up my knowledge of salsa through practice and teaching other people.

When we got home, we were all tired, so we just went to sleep. Tomorrow, we will be working on building the school in Occoruro with the Urubaba volunteers. This will be our last day of work with them as well as our last full week in Cuzco, so I really want to make sure everything ends cleanly and on a good note. It will be tough to leave Occoruro, but at least I feel good about having helped them over my time in Cuzco.

City Holiday

Today is a city holiday in Cuzco, so we didn’t have to go to work. As a result, I was excited to have the opportunity to sleep in a bit, and I ended up waking up around 11am. After a quick breakfast, I said goodbye to the host family and went to go mee the others in the office to work on our presentation for tomorrow.

The last presentation in Occoruro will have four components: Timeline of nutrition, malnutrition, sun exposure, and a recap. We split ourselves up into groups to work on each of these topics, and I worked on the sun exposure section. Specifically, I worked on researching different ways that one could protect him or herself from the ultraviolet rays of the sun. These included: wearing a hat, using sunscreen, seeking shade, limiting time in the midday sun, and covering the skin. I feel that my work is interactive for the community, so hopefully all goes well tomorrow.

In the afternoon, we all had a joint Spanish class. It was pretty relaxed, and we got to see our teachers for the second to last time (tomorrow is our last class). I was glad that we got to work together, since we very rarely have classes as a large group.

In the evening, I was still a little tired from the Macchu Picchu trip, so I turned in early again. I feel that by tomorrow, I should be completely back to normal and ready to fully enjoy my last week in Cuzco.

A Return to Normal Life

Today marks the completion of my trip to Macchu Picchu. Although I am sad that it is over, I had a great time overall. I will try and keep in touch will all the great people I met on the trip, and hopefully it will be something I remember for many years to come.

I woke up this morning at 4:30am, in order to make it to the train station by 5:00am for boarding. The train was really quite impressive, as it had nice fabric seats in booths of four, just like anything you would expect from a European or American train. It was quite dark when we first left from Aguas Calientes, but once the sun started to come up, I had some great photo opportunities. Seeing the sun rise up over the mountains and the generally impressive landscape was amazing, and I wish my explanations could do the scenery justice. We arrived approximately two hours later in Ollantaytambo, where we took a bus to Urubamba.

Although I really didn’t want to work today, I felt that I should end my time here in Peru on a good note. Thankfully, today was the day that we visited the projects of the Urubamba volunteers, to see what they have been doing and what impact they have had on their respective communities. It was all really interesting, especially being able to see the greenhouse the Environmental group worked in. Additionally, it was cool to see the different stove design that they use. However, I was still exhausted by the end of the work day, so I slep tall the way back to Cuzco.

In the evening, we had a salsa lesson, but I was feeling really tired, so I just went straight to bed. Tomorrow is a city holiday, so we will be hanging out together and preparing our materials for our last big presentation in Occoruro on Thursday.

Inca Jungle Trail -- Day 3

Waking up today at 4:00am was really tough, but we made sure to get up so we would be one of the first groups at Macchu Picchu. We left the hostel at 4:30am to start our ascent up to Macchu Picchu. It was still really dark outside, so we had to use our flashlights extensively. We walked from Aguas Calientes to the first checkpoint for Macchu Picchu, which took about 20 minutes. Next, we stated our ascent up the long flight of stairs on the way up. Looking back, I probably wouldn’t do this again if I had the option to go back. Don’t get me wrong, I thought that it was really rewarding. The only thing was that the climb up was 1869 stairs, which was extremely exhausting. Adding to the exhaustion was the fact that we completed the stairs in only 47 minutes. In fact, by the time I got to Macchu Picchu at 5:45am, I was already exhausted. We rested for a bit before starting our tour of Maacchu Picchu at 6:30am. Our tour guide was another guy from Lorenzo Expeditions, Wilbur.

Our tour of Macchu Picchu was really cool, especially since it was really cloudy, contributing to a mystical feeling. Watching the clouds float by and obscure Macchu Picchu before leaving Macchu Picchu clear later was something I will never be able to explain sufficiently in words. Our tour lasted about two hours and covered most of the major sites at Macchu Picchu. After the tour, we relaxed for a bit before starting our trek up Macchu Picchu Mountain.

The Macchu Picchu Mountain is one of the tougher climbs in the area. Most people who climb a mountain at Macchu Picchu climb Huayna Picchu, which is the easier climb. However, the Macchu Picchu Mountain gives a better view, and also is higher than Huayna Picchu. It took us an hour and fifteen minutes to climb to the summit, and there were a great deal of stairs once again. Along the way, there were multiple viewpoints, each offering a different angle of Macchu Picchu. At the beginning, I didn’t think that the view was going to get any better, but each viewpoint was more impressive than the one before. The consequence of all this climbing was that we were extremely tired once we reached the top. However, it was completely worth it. I felt like I was literally in the clouds, and the aerial view of Macchu Picchu and Huayna Picchu was absolutely amazing. The was a flag on the top of the mountain and a small hut, and we relaxed up there for about 40 minutes before starting our trek down the mountain.

The girls in our group had told us that they were leaving to go back to the United States tomorrow, so they left Macchu Picchu right after we descended down Macchu Picchu Mountain. I’m not sure if I will ever see any of the people in our tour group again, but I can at least keep in touch over Facebook. I said goodbye to the girls and then walked around Macchu Picchu a bit longer with Corey. We had already seen everything through the tour and our climb up the mountain, so we made one last pass through the area before leaving to go back to Aguas Calientes. I was pretty exhausted from all the physical exertion today, so I decided to take the bus back to Aguas Calintes rather than descending the more than 1800 stairs.

When I arrived at the hostel, Corey and I went out to grab a bite to eat. Something I found to be really interesting was the practice of being able to bargain at restaurants in Aguas Calientes. For example, our meal we wanted was going to cost 45 soles per person. However, through a little bit of bargaining, I was able to get the price down to 25 soles. We both ended up getting a mixed grill plate, which had trout, chicken, steak, French fries, and salad.

After dinner, Corey had to catch his train back to Cuzco, so I said bye to him for the last time. Hopefully we will see each other again, but if not, Facebook should be helpful. I relaxed and took a quick shower in the hostel and even took a little nap before going out to eat again later with John and Derek. This time, I had an Alpaca steak. Although this sounds kind of strange, I assure you that it wasn’t bad. Alpaca tastes very much like beef, except it is much leaner. You can think of it kind of like lamb in a way. Afterwards, we grabbed some food for the train ride back home. Since we have a train tomorrow at 5:30am, we promptly went to sleep when we returned to the hostel.