Last Weekend

Today was quite the lazy day. Since we have finished Spanish classes and have only one more day of work in both Occoruro and the schools, we have little work to do. I still woke up pretty early this morning to watch the women’s final of Wimbledon. After eating some breakfast, I just relaxed for a while before going over to Jina’s host family’s house to make pancakes with the group.

Later in the afternoon, we all went to the black market one last time to look around. I have already gotten all my gifts, so I was just browsing. I also spent some time talking to Luis about how application to college in the United States works. I feel bad that he didn’t know that you could just apply to a college in the United States, even if you don’t live there. I thought that this was universal knowledge, but it’s tough to see that this isn’t even widely known in Peru, even in the English institute that he currently attends. He has told me on multiple occasions that his dream is to study in the United States, and I think it would be great if he could realize this dream. We spent some time talking about different things you need to do, and how to best go about doing them.

In the evening, we relaxed again and watched a movie.

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.