2025 Peru Menlo Abroad

Hi parents!!  Today we kicked off our penultimate work day by splitting into three groups, each assigned to a project: continuing to map water canals through Zurite, pruning and weeding baby pine trees at the tree nursery, and finishing up our signs for the trails to the hummingbird terraces and the cave paintings.  The group that worked on the water canal map walked up to the reservoir and followed one canal for about a mile and a half before realizing that we had forgotten to plug in the SD card into our GPS, meaning none of the data was saved. After retracing the steps and continuing our descent, we ended up all the way down the mountain in the neighborhood known as Miami (which is not quite the same as the city in Florida). From there we twisted and turned along the dirt roads, trying to keep track of the canal which was now buried underground. Along the way, we were joined by dogs and saw the only taxi-cab in Zurite; it was definitely an adventure. After the 6-7 miles of ...

We are so back! This is Keira and Nuria once again. This morning we dressed up in all Menlo gear for our cultural exchange day with the local high school. We ate our typical breakfasts and then headed to Don Tomas' to meet up before heading to the school. Once we arrived they performed a dance in traditional costumes and a song in English. We displayed our American spirit through our performance---it included the National Anthem, an American football play, a dance to Party in the USA, and a mosh pit to Fe!n. Claire also performed an original song in Spanish and then we all gathered together to sing Riptide with the guitar.  Kuka Saru dance Nationalism. After the performances, we got paired with buddies in what they call the 4th grade of high school (equivalent of 11th grade in the US). Part of their school work is harvesting corn from the fields to then sell. We went up to the field and they taught us how to cut down the corn stalks and dehusk them. All of our buddies were so chatt...

 Hey. It's Jacob and Tyler again, and we are writing for quite possibly our most tiring day yet. Arriving before 8 AM, all the students were instructed to go back to their homestays to get more layers, as we were promised a ravenously chilly mountain top in the afternoon. We set off, walking well past the Tree Nursery that had previously left us breathlessly tired on our Day 4 post. While cloudy and chilly, everyone took off a layer or four on the way up. We reached our first stop, which was to monitor trees that had been planted by previous RFI volunteers to ensure that this first step in the sustainable reforestation process went smoothly. We worked in pairs to take a census on living trees while counting the graves of trees that had sadly died. We ended up finding a survival rate of 91.6%. Plus, most of the dead trees were found below the first bush line, leading us to hypothesize that the grazing cattle and livestock in the nearby area had caused many of the tree deaths (each g...

Hola, familias; this is Andrea and Yuna!     We started off our day by eating breakfast with our homestay families. We met at Don Tomas's house promptly at 8 am to start our double work day on our restoration projects, but not before an epic stretch session. Each group worked on a different project. One group in each session painted signs that will be used to guide travelers through the as yet unmarked hiking trails to the Hummingbird Terraces and the Antasaya cave paintings. We had lots of fun designing and painting the signs while playing music. Yuna's sign for the hiking trails My group (Andrea's) started off the day by going to the vivero (tree nursery) where we pulled weeds and pruned trees. The hike up to the vivero was challenging, but the work was pleasant and our view was mesmerizing.  The view from the vivero When we got there, the director greeted us and gave us a demonstration on how he takes care of the hundreds of baby pine trees under his care. First, ...

 Hola familias...Lana and Oliver here! After a day, evening, and night yesterday of exploring the unique streets of Pisac and visiting the potato farm, we were ready to head back to Zurite. Some of us packed up early in order to get coffee and pastries and ate a hotel breakfast of eggs, bread, fruits, and avocado. Leaving Pisac around 9:00am, we headed out for a 2 hour scenic but windy, car ride back to Zurite.                                                                     Views of the mountains during the car ride We passed by Sacsayhuaman and Cusco, getting a view of our previous Cusco hotel. Arriving in Zurite around 11:35, we spent the rest of the morning recovering from the turbulent car ride and prepping our dance for the high school event on Friday. Choreographed by st...

Hola, Families! This is Julian and Matthew writing from Pisac, Peru. Today we set off on an exciting journey to the bustling town of Pisac as a quick break between our days of work. We began our day at the  usual time of 7am for breakfast. For us, this was eggs, avocados, wheat bread, an assortment of fruit, and tea. Then, everyone walked over to Don Tomas's compound to meet up before we left for Pisac at arou nd 9am.  After an exciting car ride filled with music and chatter, we arrived in the bustling town of Pisac. We were greeted by a variety of locals and tourists, many interesting shops, including ones filled with colorful native clothing, plus a beautiful background of mountains that nearly touched the sky. After a short walk from the main thoroughfare, we arrived at our hotel, nestled in an alley filled with colorful plants and small shops. There, we set our bags down, played some games in the courtyard, and then enjoyed a lunch which consisted of a yellow chicken curry...

Hola! This is Hadley and Katie live from Zurite!!! Today was a rest day after all of our hard work cleaning the reservoir and clearing the trail to the hummingbird terraces yesterday. Despite that, we still woke up bright and early for our usual 7am breakfast. For us this consisted of bread, avocado, corn mate, mint tea, and maize tostado. After that, we all met up at Don Tomas' house for our daily check in and game plan for the day. Today, we took a short bus ride to the lecheria (dairy cooperative) where we were shown how Don Ramiro and Doña Lydia  make their five different types of cheese from the milk their cows produce. We learned how they pasteurize the milk, add in a mixture of cultures to separate the cheese, then put the cheese into the molds. At the cooperative, they make about 50 rounds of cheese each day which weigh around 1200 grams and sell for 20 soles each. After that, we visited their cows in the pastures and also got to see some baby cows.  Beautiful vie...

Students were out late today (Sunday) with their homestay families, too late to post a blog. But they hope to post two for tomorrow. Stay tuned…

Hi! This is William and Aakarsh writing from Peru! Today most of us settled into our daily morning routine. For us, that meant a shower before our 7am breakfast, and after packing our bags we headed to Don Tomas’s compound at 8am.   Today was a long work day not only for us but the community as a whole. Each year, the sediment from the canals during the rainy season causes tons of dirt to accumulate in the reservoir, and today’s job was to remove all of the excess. With the help of many local community members and a CAT tractor, we were able to remove almost all of the dirt using various different techniques such as buckets, wheelbarrows, and directly shoveling it out.  After that came a very special lunch, where Don Tomas, Doña Gladys, and other family members directly brought lunch up the mountain for us to be able to save time on such a busy day. Everyone enjoyed the flavorful chicken and fresh vegetables that they so kindly brought us, and this was our favorite meal ye...

Hi! This is Keira and Nuria writing to you from Zurite! Today most of us woke up nice and early and enjoyed breakfast with our homestay families---a lot of us had bread with cheese, jam, eggs, avocado, and choclo (Peruvian corn). After, we all met up at Don Tomas's house where we had a dance competition to decide which service activity each group would be doing (Team Shakira won). Once the winners were crowned we split up into our separate groups and headed to work.  One group went to the reservoir where they used Jacob's GPS device to start tracking the water canals throughout the village. They planted trackers along the way to get the most data possible. The next group, walked up to the Tree Nursery where they worked on weeding the garden beds and pruning the pine trees. Once these trees are grown, they will be planted in the forest to help with the retention of water. Finally, the last group stayed at Don Tomas's house and prepared signs to hang up along the trail we are...

  16 de Mayo: Reunion antes del viaje. ¡Estamos muy emocionados de emprender esta aventura de aprendizaje en Perú con el grupo! El viernes, nos conocimos mucho mejor con un montón de preguntas rápidas mientras cada estudiante se turnaba para sentarse en la silla caliente. Repasamos algunos aspectos clave del viaje, incluyendo algunos puntos destacados de la lista de equipaje (botellas de agua, bálsamo labial/crema del cuerpo/protector solar, champú/jabón, guantes). Los estudiantes también establecieron normas grupales y tuvieron un momento de tranquilidad para reflexionar sobre sus objetivos y escribirse una carta a sí mismos. De ahora en adelante, ¡los estudiantes estarán entusiasmados de turnarse para actualizar este blog con nuestras aventuras en Perú! - Sr. Chang y Dr. Garvey

Talented students were given 5 minutes to prepare a dance...here's the result!  Which group would you vote as the winner?

  Hello from Peru, Jacob and Tyler writing today. We started the day off with a wonderful breakfast made by our host families at 7 AM and adjusted to waking up in a new bed and new home — at least for these two weeks. Many were surprised by ice cold showers this morning, but we have now thankfully learned how to use the hot water adapters in Zurite. We met up at Don Tomas's compound at 8, and then stretched, where we learned Dr. Garvey is extremely flexible. We set off for the mountains, as each day has had hikes of increasing difficulty and magnitude. We first hiked to a major reservoir that supplies Zurite with the majority of its water. Once we got there, we were shocked at how empty the reservoir was, because we could see almost no water inside. We then trekked to the trailhead for the Hummingbird Terraces and Cave Paintings. There, we learned about the importance of sustainable tourism and relished in the majesty of these two historic sites with the kindest people you'll e...

  ¡Hola desde Zurite! We started off our morning bright and early with a 7 AM breakfast meet-up where we got our itineraries and homestay families! From there we reflected on intentions while we ate pancakes, meatballs, pineapple, and watermelon. Once we were officially packed, we set off to Zurite. It was a gorgeous ride as we picked out landmarks along the way before arriving to a gorgeous celebration welcoming us to the community. Representatives from the homestay families dressed in their traditional clothing and gifted us with dried flower petals and "serpiente" necklaces in place of flowers to accommodate the dry season. From there we toured the village in a dancing circle with live music following us! Once we learned about Zurite's history like how the Conquistadors took over, the recent landslides, and finally how Zurite is growing as a community now, we headed back to Don Tomás's house for a delicious lunch! We all had cuy (guinea pig) for the first time as w...