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| With Erin, Jessye and Jill at Machu Picchu |
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| My last day at the school with Nancy, Luz, two students, and a caregiver |
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| With my precious host family |
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| Out with Sandra & Maite, friends from Spain |
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| Summit of Machu Picchu Mountain |
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| With Simi on our Sacred Valley tour |
This week I spent the majority of time being a tourist! I spent monday, tuesday and wednesday at the school. I feel like I have finally developed relationships with the students and the teachers there! I made a list in spanish (with a little help) of various fine motor activities that are culturally relevant and helpful for their students. On tuesday night, i went out with my spanish friends and got to try a pisco sour, which is the drink of peru and was quite delicious. On wednesday after working at the school, one of the teachers took me to experience a peruvian wedding. I sat through a traditional catholic mass in spanish at one of cusco's beautiful cathedrals. I even went to the reception for a bit and had tasty treats and drinks. At every table there was a bottle of rum, whiskey, champagne, and wine. I left at 10:30pm before the liquor was even opened! I met celeste (one of the directors of Manos Unidas) out to listen to some typical music from lima and go dancing for a bit. So many people were out to celebrate Dia de Peru, which was actually the following day. I spent my day off relaxing and doing my laundry. I also went out to a big lunch with my host family. My friends came on Friday morning and I took them on a walking city tour of cusco. On Saturday we continued the city tour in the morning and walked up to cristo blanco and sacsayhuaman in the afternoon. It was a difficult trek up for people who are not acclimated to cusco's altitude if 10,000+ ft, but they did great! On Sunday we did an all day tour of the sacred valley. We visited 3 different ruins, a market, and a demonstration of Incan culture. It was super informative and beautiful to see. Then on Monday we headed out in the first train to Aguascalientes so we can spend the day at machu picchu on Tuesday. This experience was really great to end my month in Peru on. There were definitely some frustrations and miscommunications with the whole tour which is very typical, but we did get an entire day in such a beautiful creation and I got to share it with friends. This experience was an entire metaphor on life and that it is certainly not easy and often will be injustice but if you look for it - there is so much beauty and there are so many people around you to share it with you!
I was able to return the school on my final day in cusco. The kids and teachers presented me with a gift and showered me with nice words. It was really good to get a little more time with them before I left. The smiles on the kids faces are truly a joy to see and I am continually encouraged by the compassion and dedication the teachers have for the kids. My sweet host mom took me out for lunch before I left and walked me to the airport and waited for me while I stood in line for an hour to check my bags. It was hard to say goodbye to her because she has very much been my family this month. She has been so patient with me as my Spanish has developed and was so hospitable to me in her home. These experiences always leave me feeling so incredibly blessed to have this opportunity and also to have been given so many comforts living in the USA. I leave with an overwhelming sense of gratitude for the people I have met in cusco and welcomed me with open arms as well as my friends who flew to another continent to travel and tour incan ruins with me.
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