Day 18: Reflections and Delicious Alpaca

 ¡Hola familias!

    For our penultimate day, we had a calm schedule full of reflective activities. After breakfast in the hostel, we all sat down and did a full round of "Rose, Bud, Thorn", sharing our responses out to the group. It was an opportunity to be vulnerable about our experience during this trip. We then had free time to walk around the town of Ollantaytambo and look at the shops, restaurants, and beautiful views of mountains and ruins sites. 

    Afterwards, we ate lunch in the plaza. They served us different types of meats, all on hot rock slabs, sizzling and ready to eat. The dishes were composed of chicken, beef, veggies, and alpaca meat (which Claire thoroughly enjoyed). They were accompanied by sides of salad and french fries with ketchup and ranch sauce. 


Lunch at La Serranita Peruvian Restaurant

    In the afternoon, we had a Rock, Paper, Scissors contest that Tyler Hinkie won and then did another reflection activity. Around the hostel, Dr. Garvey and Mr. Chang placed sheets of paper with our names on them. We then went around writing compliments and admirations on each person's paper. After, we each randomly took someone's paper and read their compliments aloud to the group. This exercise helped each person understand the impact they had on the group and gave people a chance to anonymously compliment their peers. After the exercise, we were given more time to explore the town, including the artisanal market outside of the plaza. Hundreds of artisans and merchants had set up their booths and were selling goods on the street. The students got more opportunities to practice their haggling for various alpaca scarves, jewelry, and bags; each came back with a big haul of goods.

    Finally, we ate dinner in the same restaurant we had lunch. We enjoyed delicious hamburgers, and chicken sandwiches accompanied with french fries. We are finishing our day with a relaxing hangout in the common area of the hostel. Some are indulging in a good book while others compete in a friendly game of Citadels. 

A "Friendly" Game of Citadels

We look forward to reuniting with our families and sharing our experiences. See you soon!

¡Buenas noches from Andrea and Claire!


Popular posts from this blog

5/16 Pre-trip meeting

Image
Greetings!   We are very excited to go on this learning adventure in Peru with the group! On Friday, we got to know each other a lot better with a bunch of quick-fire questions as each student took turns sitting in the "hot seat." We went over some key aspects of the trip including some highlights on the packing list (water bottles, chapstick/lotion/sunscreen, shampoo/soap, gloves!)  Students also established group norms and had some quiet time to reflect on their goals and write a letter to themselves (as seen in the photo below!)  Going forward, students are excited to take turns updating this blog with our adventures in Peru! -- Mr. Chang and Dr. Garvey
Read more

Day 3 Arrival in Zurite

Image
  ¡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...
Read more

5/19 Arrival in Cusco

Image
Hola! This is the Peru group’s blog, today written by Oliver and Yuna. It was our first day, full of flights. We’re all wiped out and this day was hilariously unpredictable. Two of the three bags carrying surveying equipment for our host community of Zurite have not yet joined us in Cusco. Students not having phones proved challenging on two separate occasions. First, on the plane to Panama, there was no in flight entertainment without phones, so we had to actually talk and sleep. Second, in the Lima airport, Claire decided to find our gate for us without waiting for the rest of the group. By the time we got to Cusco, we were all knocked out by three full flights. The flights themselves were exhausting. Our first and third flight had no entertainment, making the hours seem much longer. Had we had our phones, we could have enjoyed some time for ourselves exploring the wonders of social media…but you guys know what Mr. Brown said… But we got to our hotel safe! Tired, but intact. Our tour...
Read more