Piscacucho

Hola!

 We arrived last night to our homestays in Piscacucho, after a 45 minute drive through beautiful scenery down into the mountains. Once we arrived, we were supposed to meet our homestay families at the school. Everyone greeted their family with a hug and a piece of lemon cake and of course Audrey and I’s family didn’t show up to get us. Finally we met the family, who are so sweet, where we were greeted by the parents, the 8-month-old baby Yamil, and the two brothers Juan Paul and Joseph. We all stayed with our families for the rest of the night to get settled in and comfortable around each other, good for me because I don’t speak Spanish. The next day was our workday and we taught classes, designed a mural for the outer wall of the school, played with kids, and worked on building a sidewalk. We are trying to adjust to the food but after every meal we end up snacking on bars (running on short supply J). Last night we met up with all the kids in the town at the school’s soccer field and played an intense game of “futbol”. It was fun to see how we all came together to play something that everyone loved. Before bed, Audrey and I took our first shower at the homestay with a bucket and ladle. We are really taking in this amazing experience as individuals and as a group. We miss all of you and can’t wait to share our memories! (Love you fam)

Lila Sohr

Hola!!

We are now at our homestays and starting to experience the culture of Peru, although it is taking a little bit of time to adjust. Kathleen and I are staying with two little boys, Franco and Yefereson, and their parents. We didn’t know Yeferson’s name for about a day and we have yet to meet the father. Our mama is incredibly kind, and Kat and I are working on our Spanish, which we think is improving. The food is interesting. I’ll just leave it at that. Yesterday was our first day at the school and we are already bonding with the children here. The mural is coming along, with the help of a wonderful artist named Miguel. Last night we all went to one house for a game of Uno, which we enjoy just as much as the kids do. The scenery here is incredible and every time you look around it takes your breath away. We miss you all very much!!!

Rachel

Piscacucho

We arrived at our home stays about 5:00 pm on Wednesday afternoon.  The families met us at the school and we walked to our respective houses.  The girls are all very close to each other.  The boys and the adults are down a different road but everyone is within a mile of the school.  The weather during the day is sunny and warm.  The wind picks up in the afternoon and it becomes cool.

On Thursday morning we began our work project of painting a mural on the outside wall of the primary school.  We also helped the teacher in the kindergarten. 

Every one is well and adjusting to their new living situations.  Lila and Rachel will update Thursday in more depth tomorrow. 

Day 4

Hello everyone!!                                                        Ollantaytambo june 25.

Today we started out the moring with banana pancakes and then headed over to weave baskets. The room was all open with only benches to sit on and work. There were three people that would help you build the baskets and we all made our own. We took selfies with Gdaddy (Eubanks). It was great. After a three hour session of building baskets we headed back to the lodge to play hacky sack and hang out. Finally we went to a restaurant in the plaza, which is really close to our hotel and all got to pick our own sandwiches out. We also got to try purple corn juice, which was interesting. After lunch, we are headed off to the homestays. We have an hour bus ride and then will get to our homestays to go to bed. We are all thinking about the parents! We miss you all!

Audrey

Hola!!!

Last night we had some very fun interesting group bonding. Emily started us off with some surprisingly really good opera singing. G-banks (Mr. Eubanks) tried to follow that by singing one of his favorite folk songs. Then, we finished our bonding with a group song of “Lean on Me.” This morning Audrey and I had the job of waking everyone up! I started off my day by falling right off of the bed, which made Audrey laugh very hard. When I woke Rachel up she shared with me that she woke up in the middle of the night to a dog trying to climb on her bed (don’t worry a small harmless dog). After everyone was up and packed we had a delicious breakfast of banana pancakes! Then, we headed to basket weaving. I think it is safe to say that we expected the weaving to be a lot easier than it really was. G-banks really struggled with this activity. Meredith’s basket was very well made thanks to the one on one assistance she received from one of the basket weavers (shhhhh). We all had a lot of fun making the baskets then putting them on our heads for lots of pictures. Now we are sitting at lunch. We really like this restaurant because it has American food haha. After we ordered we all went to look at the markets for Peruvian clothes. Peter and I bought “fabulous” (-peter) matching blue alpaca sweaters for a good price thanks to Peter’s bargaining. After lunch we are headed to our homestays for the first time. We can’t wait to meet our homestay families! We are all very happy, healthy, and missing everyone at home!

Cate

Walking the streets of Ollantaytambo (they did get out of the way of the vehicle :) )

Tour of the ancient Inca temple from the 1400's

Playing in the courtyard of the hostel

Arriving at the Cusco airport on Monday afternoon

Enjoying gelato

Celebrating Audry's 17th Birthday!!

Well day one was blast once we arrived, beginning our Peruvian adventure at a buffet in Urubamba.  It had a nice outdoorsy peaceful atmosphere going on which was a good warm into Peruvian life.  We then traveled back to the Full Moon Bed and Breakfast to gather information, discuss the upcoming events, and to bond as a group.  After our meeting was finished and our fears and expectations were addressed, the group stayed up for a rousing game of psychiatrist with Lila Sohr struggling greatly and Greg Eubanks coming in with some hidden skill.  You could feel us becoming closer as we joked and laughed the night away.  The group then got goodnights sleep and prepared for day 2.

            Day 2 started off with a nice breakfast prepared at the full moon.  The bright spot of the day was having a birthday in our midst, shout out Audrey Sohr for being 17.  With our stomachs full we headed off to hike the ruins of Ollantaytambo.  We were guided through the ruins and though going up the stairs was quite strenuous, it was well worth it at the end of the day.  We had more team building in the ruins, discussing why each of us was here and learning about the WLS mission.  We went to eat a delicious lunch and headed back to the bed and breakfast.  Later a shaman came to give the group his blessing, praying over our goals and us.  He gave advice to each of us based on what we said our hope was.  The ceremony was a very beautiful and though provoking, leaving me and the rest of the group with ideas to think about.  The day was a very good reminder of the difference between ours and Peruvian culture, observing the behavior and economy of the town markets and produce alley.

David Allen

Driving out of Cuzco reminds me of driving around downtown San Francisco with the steep streets and winding turns. The weather has been perfect so far and the best part about the humidity is that there isn’t any. When we arrived at Urubamba for our lunch we met three parrots, a handful of kittens, and one extremely cute girl. We then headed to Ollantaytambo and found ourselves in cozy bed and breakfast. We stayed up late that night and played a variety of very confusing games. We bonded as a group and got to know each other well by struggling through the games.

            The second day started with waking the girls up to the sounds of some amateur flutists. After breakfast we headed up to the ruins of Ollantaytambo. Getting to the top of the ruins was something we had to earn by climbing the steep and jagged stairs. We had a meeting in the ruins and discussed our mission and why we are here. We had lunch of the usual rice, chicken and mixed vegetables. Then we were treated to some local ice cream for Audrey’s birthday. We went back and had some down time but my group toured the city and bought lots of local items. The highlight of the day for me was the blessing by the Shaman and finding out things about myself. This whole trip is changing each one of us and making us all adapt to the culture. We all are missing home but cherishing each and every moment we have in this incredible country.  

Peter Srebnick

Students are in Cusco!

Hello family and friends of Ensworth - Peru! The students and faculty have arrived in Cusco and are on their way down into the Sacred Valley. They will stop in Urubamba for lunch before heading onto Ollantaytambo for the evening. They will start updating the blog this evening. Please call the office with any questions - 303-679-3412.

Erin Hawk
Director of Operations 

Ensworth Students ready to take off!

Arrival in Lima

We've arrived in Lima and checked into an overnight hostel. Everyone is well and very excited about the adventure. Leave for Cusco at 10:10 AM Monday.