InDepth: Yachay Wasi – An Institute of Progressive and Responsible Education

A New Focus, a New Direction

Following the new trend of this blog, I will focus on sustainability amongst the social enterprises in Latin America (specifically Peru for now).  Each week I will profile certain innovative organizations that can be considered leaders of their fields in the country (or globe) spanning across the social, environmental, and combined fields.

Yachay Wasi: An Institute for Progressive Education

This week’s spotlight is an organization focused on the field of education and the environment that is based out of Arequipa, Peru: the institute of learning, Yachay Wasi.  The institute was founded and is run by Ashoka Fellow and “social entrepreneur,” Juana Loayza since the early 1990s.  The focus at Yachay Wasi is on progressive pedagogy methods, primarily in the sciences, that integrate environmentally and nutritious consciousness into their method of teaching.  They work with a network of numerous teachers and primary/secondary schools, providing teaching materials, techniques, and several workshops and projects related to their mission.

They cover the subject areas of the sciences, mathematics, environment, TICs (computer courses), sexual education, and nutrition.

What Yachay Wasi Does

Part of what makes Yachay Wasi so fundamentally progressive is their unique method of teaching that they spread to educational institutions. Their method focuses on students being active learners, teaching themselves and each other in the classrooms and being more hands on.  The teacher is there to facilitate the learning process and provides about 30% of the learning experience, while the other 70% is done by the students.  What this method does is involves the students and sparks their interest for learning.  Instead of being passive listeners in class, they are actively involved in the learning process and often learn the subject matter quicker and more effectively.

As I already noted, Yachay Wasi works with a vast network of teachers to train them in how to employ this teaching method in their classrooms.  Yachay Wasi regularly holds workshops with teachers to work out problems and figure solutions for their classroom.  The institute also regularly visits classrooms to observe how their method is being implemented and help when needed.

Yachay Wasi’s work does not stop at simply spreading its model; they are also intricately woven in several other projects and programs.  The environment is a central theme to the organization and in these workshops with teachers they teach them how to be environmentally conscious teachers.  Discussions are held with students about the environment, “green” classroom materials are provided, and teachers are shown environmentally green art projects (including how to recycle paper, creating lamps out of old bottles, etc.).  Yachay Wasi is also involved in a project called Escuela Viva (Green School), focused on planting and maintaining trees in schools.

- Volunteers learning to recycle paper -

Their projects also include nutrition, conservation of water, sanitation and overall health of children, and many more.

Who They Reach

Yachay Wasi works closely with numerous teachers and schools throughout the region of Arequipa.  They work in a wide range of schools (primary and secondary) in the city and in the poorest neighborhoods of the outskirts.  They work with a wide array of poverty levels, working to improve the standard of living and educational value of all children.

- Yachay Wasi’s outreach in Peru -

Although their primary reach is the Arequipa area, they also have spread their methodology and reach throughout Peru and internationally.

How Yachay Wasi Stands Out Above the Crowds

Yachay Wasi stands out in my mind (and others: they have received numerous awards and recognition) as a leader of the social and development field for several reasons.  At their base and foundation, their core mission is simple and forward thinking, yet upon closer look, one realizes how complex and far-reaching they truly are.  At their core, their method of teaching is simple and works well; it provides results amongst its students and quickly.  The more you look into the organization, the more complex it truly is: reaching students around the nation (even internationally), interweaving environmental awareness and nutrition to education (a subject matter that is crucial these days), and involved in constant investigation for new solutions and innovative projects for radical social change for the better.

Yachay Wasi is a forward thinking, outside of the box organization that is progressively advancing the world of social development in Peru.   Their reach and effect is limitless, and given the right resources and environment, I believe will be a huge agent for change in the coming years.

There’s more to come on Yachay Wasi this week; here’s a preview:

InAction Yachay Wasi: Four university students from Redlands, California, USA recently volunteered with Yachay Wasi; here is a recap of their experiences and a brief overview of the volunteering experience of Yachay Wasi.

AfterThought Yachay Wasi: A brief analysis of what volunteering meant to the organization,  the students, and sustainability.

An Equally Rewarding Experience and Just the Beginning

This experience was truly a rewarding one for all those involved, and inspiring as well.  The students, the coordinators, and the leaders of the organizations took away from this many positive aspects.

The students left inspired by the work of many innovative and progressive leaders of the social development front and learned a great deal about the distinct and diverse culture that Peru has to offer; they took with them a part of what is the spirit of Peru.  These students were given the resources and tools to continue and ignite efforts in other areas, and possibly returning to Peru in the future.  This was a life changing and eye opening experience for a vast majority of the students and I’m confident that for them, this does not end with the month of May, and the seeds have been planted for future change makers.

The organizations hosting the students took much away from this experience, many of whom had never dealt with volunteers before.  For the leaders and participants of these social organizations, it was an amazing cultural exchange for them personally, and the locals in communities with whom they work.  It opened their eyes, and their hearts, to others out there with a passion for learning and compassion.  For them, to share an in depth look of their organizations gave them an even stronger sense of pride and validation for all their hard work, sweat, and tears to reach where they are today.   Many of the projects, initiatives, and exchanges we did during this trip were completely new and untested before so for those involved in the planning process, this was new ground in different aspects.  This overall trip was so positive that it also left the organizations inspired to continue such unique cultural exchanges and interactions with students, volunteers, and foreigners.  For many, this is just the beginning to even bigger projects.

As can be seen by the title of the course: “Beyond Spanish: Sustainable Volunteering in Peru” and even the title of this blog “Sustainable Scholars,” the underlying theme of this course/experience has always been sustainability.  The efforts, experiences, exchanges, and knowledge sharing does not end here and now. Continued support and development will always take place, inspired by this course, in some form.  In terms of this blog, it does not end now that the students have returned to the USA, returned to their normal lives and routines.  I will continue this blog as a space to promote sustainability and recap over the past 4 weeks with photos, videos, and more detailed accounts.  Each week I will provide a spotlight on each organization we participated with, providing more detailed information on the organization and their efforts, detailed accounts of the students’ experiences there, and analysis. This is a creative space that will grow and develop over time and until the next trip!

To all those involved, I offer my greatest appreciation for opening your eyes, ears, and hearts to making this a truly successful experience.  To all those reading, I cannot thank you enough for your support and readership.

A Morning to Reflect Outside

8:48am on a tuesday morning, sitting on a table outside in my yard with Peruvian music playing and my dog sitting at my side.  

It has been a little more than a week since we’ve been back to North America.  To be honest, it has been quite difficult to get accustomed to this country again.  I have seen the ‘otherside’ of the world in which we all live on. What am I going to do now,  with all that i have seen and been through?

Of course, many of us have learned about the poverty and hardships many people of this world deal with on a daily basis.  But have we actually been moved or impacted in ways to actually want to do something about it? On this trip to Peru, I have seen, felt and have been fully awakened by all events of being in a third world country for a month.

Pictures and little events have been flashing and playing in my head throughout the days I’ve been back.  This must be the constant reminder that Peru is with me no matter where I am and what I am doing.  

- The girls of Centro Yanapanakusun singing in the van, on the way back from playing in Saksaywaman in Cuzco… 

seeing how happy they were then, now, in the present.  How could they be so happy, when they have dealt with what most of us would label traumatizing events.  No family, no documentation, constantly working with nothing in return, if this mental abuse wasn’t enough-most of them even had to deal with  being abused physical. These are my inspirations.  You must now live in the present moment, for it is when you feel most alive.  You will not get far if you keep looking in the past, or too in the future.  Celebrate what you have now, because it too will pass, like all things.  

Everyone and everything I have interacted with and seeing has impacted me no matter what.  Some I have made a deeper connection with than people who actually speak the same language as me.  

The children of Lurin Chincha, grabbing my hands and running with them on the sand, seeing them dash into the lagoon to play on the broken bridge.  Colorful clothes, dancing legs, energized little bodies, mouths that won’t stop talking, laughing and spraying me and Jim with the water.  Running, laughing, watching, interacting, getting fully evoked into their lives.  These are experiences that beat a weekend sitting on a couch moving up to a next level on a video game.  Children whose neighborhoods are filled with crime and drugs, but instead take a day to play with and show foreigners their land and their lives.  I have visited so many places where drugs are infused in neighborhoods, but instead the kids walk 2+ miles to school just to get out of that lifestyle.  2 miles to get out of an area, they are that young and they realize what they don’t want, they realize they are important and they want something better, so they work harder to achieve more.  These are my inspirations, once again.

4th morning of the Inca Trail.  Being released at 5am to finally run up to Machu Picchu.  About 45 minutes in, about half of the group ran ahead of me, and half the group was walking behind me.  There I was running at my own pace, dodging the rock crevaces of where my foot could get stuck, and hearing animal noises and rustling every so often behind bushes and rocks.  As I was racing the sun the humidity level was creeping onto my skin, I kept running as so many thoughts entered my head.  I couldn’t believe I was on the same path that Inca/Quechua people used 500+ years ago.  I was running in their footsteps, this is what they felt and what they saw.  This is what I had wanted to see for 4 years of my life, and I couldn’t believe I was finally living my dream.  

Everyday, so many other images, and moments recollect in my head, and I think how lucky I am to have been on this learning experience of a lifetime.  This experience has pushed me mentally, physically and intellectually.  I have never taken education, or life this seriously and have never understood how learning could be as fun as it has been.  I feel like I have found another puzzle piece in this life.  I now have goals and aspirations to help this world and so many people.  I know it won’t be right away, but the first step for me is learning and becoming a more knowledgeable being.  

At this time and moment, I feel more connected to myself than I have ever felt before, I feel closer with the world, by coming in contact with all people I have met in Peru, I have spoke with, understand and have lived in a different culture.  I have cared and still am caring for Pacha Mama more than I ever have.  I feel connected with life, earth, myself and others.  What amazing lives each of us has, and what amazing things our lives will bring.

A majestic experience

As I sit back and reflect on this May travel course: Beyond Spanish, Sustainable Volunteering in Peru, so many thoughts come alive, I want to share with everyone what it meant as a faculty member of the University of Redlands to work with the group director, Andreas, to take  14 students, and have the joy of sharing this with Kostas. I feel like Jasmin, like it is surreal, like it never happened, but like her, and the rest of the students something very real happened inside.

 I see this May travel course to Peru as one of the most enriching travel and teaching experiences I have ever had. I must say, that I do travel frequently, as part of my research, poetry readings, conferences, and as part of being a global citizen. I constantly travel to  Greece, Germany, and Ecuador. And we have done many May Travel courses to Ecuador.  Yet, this May Course has been totally different, in many ways. First, it was conceived by Andreas Vailakis as a bridge between a university, in this case we were privileged to be the University of Redlands, and The Ashoka Foundation. The coordination and preparation for this course was extensive in Andreas’ part. The logistics were beyond complicated.. At first, I thought it would be so difficult to execute it. It required quite a bit of planning and coordinating with different venues. The more I listened to Andreas’ enthusiasm about the different Ashoka Fellows and what they do as social entrepreneurs I knew this course had to take place. The Ashoka Fellows and the people working with the Non Governmental Organizations are individuals dedicated to improve the living conditions of people in many directions.

I started learning about Ashoka and the Fellows. On a daily basis, Andreas will tell me about the different projects and  Fellows. And I realized that an opportunity like this does not come to your door often, and that the students of the UoR would be able to have the most unique opportunity in their academic and personal lives.

 Now, that we have returned, and I am able to process some of the projects that went on during this period of four weeks. I am amazed!!!!. The Fellows demonstrated that every day actions impact society at large. These are social leaders changing the world one step at a time.There is no talk about changes, about thinking “outside the box.” There are people implementing real changes, with little resources. The most valuable of them, their leadership and strength, their belief that changes do happen. Besides the Fellows, there were also people involved that helped make such an extraordinary course, such as the Director of Ashoka, and all the people that work in the office, the Director of the TINIS (All the projects of reforestation by making childdren aware of their environment. Also the people involved with the Center of Domestic Workers in Cusco, all the children in the projects contributed to make this course the most satisfying experience I have had at the University of Redlands in twenty years.

I had the opportunity to see students learn through direct experience: where else would they learn, what it means to harvest potatoes all day long. I know it was not easy, but now, every time they see a potato they know it takes a lot of work just to have potatoes, and that harvesting food is a long process, and when it appears magically at our table, a lot of labor went into that harvest. When the students sit under the shade of a tree in the dessert, they know if that trees belongs in the desert or not, and that  through effort and care, that tree is there. Some students in this course are going to be future educators, and they learned that education doesn’t happen through bureaucracy, but through action and dedication. They met teachers that used to walk for ten hours to get to a school. And they also learned that some kids walk for hours to get to school and they don’t mind because they want to learn.  This alone was a big inspiration to our students, now they view their learning in a totally different context.   They met teachers that were trained in the Yachay Wasi method, and succeed in the classrooms. They saw first hand what collaboration really means. They saw that teaching is not just being in the classroom, but also beautifying the environment where children learn. They also learned that by painting posts or rocks, that the yard where the children play will be a better place for them to be, and whatt they left behind is for the children to enjoy.

 Our students also experienced that children are children no matter where they are, and that their innocence and happiness are always present, even if they live in poor conditions, even if they have very little to eat. They still want to play, they still want to laugh, and that they are eager to learn.  They experienced first hand in the Non Governmental Organization in Cusco what it means to be seven or eight years of age and have to work for a living with no wages. But at the same time, they learned that when people want to change these situations, like the people at Yanapanajusun,  situations improve,  now these girls have a home and the support to learn and improve their lives. These girls have a radio show to inform other girls in their situation that their lives could change, that they have rights. This is what our students learned from these girls. They also learned  that education is not a given, and they learned to appreciate what they have back at “home.”

Throughout the whole trip, Andreas planned it  in such a way that each activity in the trip had a social meaning or social awareness. Visiting Cusco, the Inca trail, and Machu Pichu  could be a tourist experience, but no, we stayed at a NGO, we interacted with the girls at the Center, learned from the porters about their culture, some students learned Quechua, and I would say they know more than I do now. They saw Machu Pichu with other eyes.  This was a total different way of seeing. And this enriched our experiences much more.  Also, we supported in a very small ways each project, and they supported us by opening their doors and letting us be part of that.

It was not about visiting a country and seeing the country, it was like Andreas said”Seeing Peru from the inside out.” I have never seen a country in this way, and seeing it with those eyes, I didn’t need to teach my students, my students were learning at all times. Some resisted, some were looking for comfort, and comfort areas…but at the end, they all learned what a great learning experience they were able to have by just building a bridge and crossing it.

 They learned constantly about intercultural relations,they learned about themselves, their own possibilities along the side of their own limitations,  they learned more Spanish, or in some cases, like Chelsea, she learned Spanish. They also learned what it means to serve selflessly, not an easy task, I know, but they did. They realized at the end that the impact that they wanted to make was just an abstaction.  It was more meaningful to open their hearts and let the process happen. By the end they learned that they have been impacted by the children and the people who do this all year round. At the end of the trip, they learned as well about their physical selves. After being four days in the Inca trail, they met the goal of reaching the Gates of Machu Pichu to see the sunrise, and all of them made it. They were able to conquer so much in such a short time, they were able to acquire the perfect balance of sound mind and sound body.

This is the most MAJESTIC EXPERIENCE I had in all my twenty years at the University of Redlands. This was a crowning moment, to be able to facilitate this much learning in such a short period of time. And most important of all,we all learned. It was a learning process for all of us involved in this project. We all learned that a university without walls is a magnificent place to learn. And Andreas’ determination of this project became a reality in the four weeks that this course took effect. And without a doubt, seeing Machu Pichu, one of the world’s seven wonders, and finsihing this course was a MAJESTIC EXPERIENCE.

new eyes

It’s been a week since returning from Peru, and the trip almost seems surreal.  I know that we went to Peru and that we had all of those wonderful experiences, but at the same time it feels like we didn’t.  The only proof I have, besides the plane tickets and pictures (which seem like they could be fake), is a new feeling, a new perspective.  I know that I went to Peru, because I have noticed a change within myself. 

The smiles and singing voices of the girls from Yanapanakusun have shown me how to be happy, despite life’s hardships.  The wisdom and dedication of people like Juana and the other coordinators of programs we visited have shown me that the desire to change the injustices of this world is more powerful than one might think.  The willingness of my peers to be open to and excited about new experiences has shown me that all you need are an open heart and mind to be given some of the greatest gifts in life – appreciation, love, and care.

I’m not saying that I’ve come back ready to fix all of the problems in the world.  I’m just saying that the people I met, the places I visited, the experiences I had in Peru have left an impact on my life.  Now, what I choose to do with that influence is up to me.  Whether I choose to act on these novel feelings and ideas is yet to be discovered.  However, I know that in some sense, whatever I do now will have been influenced, to some extent, by my experiences in Peru.  Though they seem like a dream, they have had an impact on my life, and I know that I will be forever grateful for them.

Machu Picchu and the niñas de hogar

I am back in Lima and am excited to got back home and reunite with family and friends. I hiked Machu Pucchu and that was the hardest thing I have done physically in quite a while. It was a 4 day hike and each day was different terrain and weather. I have a scar on my heel and a bruse which I cannot explain how it got there. I miss Machu Picchu and the view. It was soo beautiful. We went to this one part of Machu Picchu called Cloud Forest and it was magical. The clouds just chilled on the mountains and it felt like paradise. I could get use to living in a place like this. I love Cusco! I think Cusco should be the capital.

After the trip we went back to the city and had breakfast with the young girls that work at Yanapanakusun. They were amazing girls. They had escaped abuse from houseowners and you wouldn´t have know it if you weren´t told their background. I had a lot of fun with them and we sang to Rebelde songs but I had to leave a little after that. I was amazed at how hard they work. They help with the tourism hotel and then at 5pm they go to school. That is soo crazy for me to even think about.

I am soo sad to leave Peru. I am going to miss all the people I met here and the sky. I wish I could come back soon but I know that will probably not happen. On the  upside I am glad that I am going back home tomorrow and getting to eat real Mexican food.

Ciao

Yanapanakusun

Last couple of days everyone had the big D. We have better days now. Today we flew from Lima to Cuzco and are staying at the Ashoka office here. We were instantly welcomed and one of the ladies served us lunch and I realized later that she was a social entrepenuer. She is very awesome. As she was informing us about the different programs they do for young women that leave the rural areas to come to the bigger cities in search of opportunites it reminded me a lot about issues in America. The racial tensions, the ice raids and the inhumanity that people are put under to experience. I am in a different place yes…but social ills are global. It was interesting to see this understanding in the eyes of another person as well as refreshing. There are problems in Latin America but those same problems exist in other places. We need to wake up people…whether it be with a stick to the head or cold water to the face while we sleep. How can we be that blind for soo long. I have always had trouble communicating with people that don´t want to listen, don´t care, or have a narrow-mind. I hope that with the experiences I have had and will have here I grow-up and become a stronger person. With one person as passionate as they are about something who knows what might ensue. I have dreams that my voice will echo and shake some cords. That one day people will listen and speak even if they have never spoken before. They will say how the taxista and the begger have the same rights as the manager and the doctor. They will realize that they are people and deserve respect and love. Every single person deserves this and more. Only through understanding this can their be the action. I hope you realize that I am talking about you. Ciao

¡Lo hice!

It is a bittersweet time when such a wonderful and inspiring experience comes to an end and yet the familiar friendliness of home is so close.

After we left Lima about a week ago, we went to Cuzco for a couple of days to get used to the altitude but took the opp0rtunity to support a local organization, CAITH, that helps rehabilitate young girls that have been tricked into becoming unpaid workers. On our first day, the girls gave us a tour of the city, and their admiration for the city that has been a prison for most of them was incredibly inspiring. They have overcome so much and yet still have so much joy in their hearts.

We did some touristy stuff and saw the beautiful plazas in the center of the city but of course, we had to leave another impression on Cuzco: we had dinner at a restaurant that uses its profits to support young Peruvians by teaching them professional skills that can help them to better support themselves in the future.

After Cuzco, we headed out to the Sacred Valley and the village of the porters to see how the men live that carried all our necessities on their backs during the hike. We helped cosecha (cultivate) some potatoes and then we all reaped the benefit of the work and had the potatoes for lunch. They had been cooked in a pachamanca, an underground ¨stove.¨ The night was freezing but some of the porters´wives made us some hot soup and they all taught us how to dance. It was kind of odd because it looked more like fighting than dancing but our guide made sure that all of us joined in and had a good time.

The next day, we began the Inca trail. When I saw the horses and the burros at the beginning of the trail, I started to reconsider whether I could really do this and whether one of them would be saving me in the next few days but I left them behind. The next four days were a blur of exhaustion, pain, and just plain dirtiness. No showers or toilets for four days was tough but not as tough as four straight hours of uphill hiking on the second day. I told myself that I would take a picture kissing the ground when I finally got to Machu Picchu but I was too tired to bend over when I got there. Although I was exhausted and extremely sore when we arrived, I knew I had earned that visit to one of the most sacred places on Earth way more than those lazy tourists that came on an air conditioned bus. ; )

I wanted to give up so many times on the Inca trail but I didn´t have much of a choice and I wouldn´t have been able to forgive myself if I had given up and been a coward. Now that I am all sweet and clean and have toilets and a bed, I´m really glad I did it. I never expected that I would do something so physically rigorous and come through it with a strength I never knew I had.  

This past week has mentally and physically tested me more than anything I have ever done and during this entire trip, I have realized both what my heart and body can accomplish. Te amo Peru. Te extrañare mucho!

Macchu Picchu (I thought I would be original with the title)

The Inca Trail and Macchu Picchu was quite the experience.  The day before we started the trail, we toured around some Inca (to be politically correct, Quchua) sights, and that night we stayed at the porter´s village.  The coolest Inca sigh we saw was Moray, a circular terrace structure the Quechuas used to acclimate food crops.  Its really hard to explain, google image it and youll understand.  At the bottom of Moray, the temperature is 15 degrees warmer than the top.  They took the seeds of the best foods that grew on the bottom level and moved them to the next level up, and did it until the seeds were all the way at the top and completely acclimated.  They also did the opposite; they took crops that grew in the mountains and started growing them at the top level and acclimated them to the warmer temperature, so that they could grow the highland foods in the lowland.  They pretty much genetically engineered their food.  I thought that was so cool.  There was also an inexplicable drainage system at the bottom.  After Moray, we went to the campsite and it started raining.  We harvested potatoes while our lunch was being prepared, and then we ate lunch.  We ate cuy (guinea pig) again.  This time, it was cooked over a fire instead of being fried.  It was still delicious, the skin was all crispy, I would describe it as being very pork chop with crispy skin-like.  After lunch, we set up out tents in the rain and then we went on a little hike to the top of a hill to see the sunset.  It was beautiful, and we took many pictures.  That night, there was lightening in the distance between two huge mountains, it was beautiful.  After the lightening show, we went to the porters village for dinner.  We had soup, and every ingrdient in the soup was grown by the people in the village.  There was potatoe (of course), quinoa, lima beans (or soy beans we arent sure) and pumpkin.  It was good, and the aji that night was very cilantro-y and fresh.  The next morning, we got up at 6 and started the Inca Trail

The Inca Trail

We got up and had breakfast, and during breakfast the porters took down our tents.  It turned out that that first time we set up our tents was the only time we had to do so, the porters ended up carrying, setting up, and taking down our tents every day.  The trail on the first day was tame, it was not too dificult.  We stopped at an Inca site and the guide started asking us questions about the clash between the Quechua and the Spanish.  I felt like I was in a Guns, Germs, and Steel discussion group.  We stopped for lunch, and then continued on until our camp site.  That night, we had a pep talk for the second day.  The entire trip (and even before), we had been told of the difficulty of day 2.  We were told it was 80% uphill, and that we werent stopping for lunch because we needed to just get to camp.  So, we went to bed very nervous.  The next morning, we woke up early and ate breakfast and we set off for the trail.  And yes, it was really difficult.  I felt like I was in the Fellowship of the Ring, because of the difficulty and the scenery.  I also had moments of feeling like I was in Jurassic Park.  When we finally eached the top, Adrian and I ate the most delicious bon o bon (South American Reeses) ever and we just relaxed for an hour waiting for the rest of the crew to arrive.  The rest was a downhill breeze, it took about 30-45 minutes.  The uphill portion took 5 hours.  That night, I slept amazingly and the next morning we woke up and ate breakfast before the longest day of the trek.  That day ended up being awesome, I had some coffee (which was temporarily beneficial because it gave me a great burst of energy, but long term bad because I was hurtin for a bathroom later) and was totally on top of everything.  The scenery that day was GORGEOUS, there were huge green mountains everywhere with misty clouds covering there tops and snow-glacier mountains in the background.  I decided to actually use my camera that day (I was saving the battery for Macchu Picchu).  At the end of the day, we went to some awesome ruins and then we went down to our campsite that had ligit hot showers and an indoor bar.  We cracked some cold brewskies and put our feet up and relaxed after our showers, it was awesome.  That night, we decided that the next day we wanted to get up at 3 AM so we could get in line first at the checkpoint. and later get in line to cluimb Huayna Picchu (that big green mountain in the postcard pictures if Macchu Picchu)  So we got up at 3 the nxt morning, ae breakfast, and we were the second group in line for the checkpoint.  The checkpoint gate opened at 530, after an hour and a half of waiting, and we were off.  Andreas, Bre, Adrian, Meghan and I decided that we had to run if we wanted to get in line to cluimb Huayna Piucchu (they only allow 400 people a day to do it).  So we ran for 41 minutes and reached Macchu Picchu at 611.  I was soooo tired, we ran about 3 miles and it wasn´t like we were running on a road, there were stairs that we had to climb on all fours.  I felt like Smeagle going to Mordor in that part in the Return of the King when they clumb those steps by Minas Morgul.  That givs you an idea of what he steps where like.  OK maybe not that intense, but they were still really steep.  So we arrived to Macchu Picchu, and I had never seen anything so peaceful.

Macchu Picchu

So we took our candid Macchu Picchu pictures, and then we put our stones that we picked up on the first day f the trail and left them in the sacred area where the Quchua put their stones when they took pilgrimages to Macchu Picchu.   Even though we had arrived to Macchu Picchu, we could not relax ye.  We still had to get our tickets for Huayna Picchu.  So we ran down the stairs to get to Huayna Picchu, and Andreas used his walking stick to beat away the lazy tourists that took the bus and train.  Apparantly, we got alot of looks from them, but I was still i hardcore hiking mode and was only looking at the ground.  All the other tourists were all clean and nice looking in their winter clothes, we were sweaty and disgusting from the trail.  I hadn´t shaved in 5 days.  I just wanted to tell the other tourists ALRIGHT LISTEN YOU HAVE NO IDEA WHAT I JUST WENT THROUGH TO GET HERE, GET OUT OF MY WAY!!!! So we were told by our guide, Herlin, that we were to wait until 8 AM to get in lin for Huayna Picchu.  So we went down at 8 and got in the back of the line.  I was so hungry, keep in mind that I ran 3 miles and hadnt eaten since 330 AM.  I put my head down and thought about carne asada fried for about 20 minutes (french fries topped with cheese, guacamole, sour cream, carne asade, and hot sauce) . Then we miraculously got tickets for Huayna Picchu.  Out of the 200 people they let on the first climb (there is one at 8 and one at 10) I was number 197.  We got lucky, that 530 AM run really paid off.  SO we climbed Huayna Picchu, it took about 30 to 40 minutes.  It was very steep, there was a lot of all fours Smeagle style climbing.  When we FINALLY reached the top, it was so worth it.  We got to see Macchu Picchu from a view that few people ever get to see it, and we relaxed on the rocks.  Adrian and I had anther victory bon o bon, and it tasted so good.  We then climbed down Huayna Picchu, and we FINALLY got to eat.  It was the best empanada I have ever eaten in my entire life.  I was so hungry.  Words cannot express how hungry I was.  After, our tour began.  I was having major ADD during the tour.  There wer llamas everywhere, and whil Herlin was telling us a long story I was distracted by the 3 llamas frollicking in the field to the left.  One was a baby, it was so cute!  After that, I took some llama pictures.  I touched this one llama, and then I went up to the other one on the same terrace.  It was eating away, but every time I appraoched it it walked a little further away.  I was terrified it was going to spit at me (Cynthia got spit on by a llama in Huaraz), and it liftd it´s head up in my direction and I flipped out.  But instead of spitting at me, it just gacve me this hillarious look.  It was chewing (llamas look SO FUNNY when they chew) and it looked like it was asking me “dude, what are you doing leave me alone” anyways I started cracking up and I walked away because I figured it was done dealing with my crap.  Later, we went in a sacred room and Herlin was explaining stuff to us.  In the distance, I saw a Llama walking through the ruins, so I decided to leave the room to check that one out too.  When we were at the top, we saw the sacred sundial.  In the distance, there were these two llamas racing back and forth on a terrace.  Everyone was like what are those llamas doing, they were straight up racing on their own accord.  Anyways Macchu Picchu was really cool.  My favorite part (besides interacting with llamas) was the temple of the condor.  I took a really touristy picture there.

Ay Pacha Mama Mio… MACHU PICCHU!!!

1 day  small pueblo in the sacred valley & 4 days of the inca trail

1st day we stopped at Moray and saw the upside down pyramid that the Quechuas made so they could grow their crops at different altitudes it was really neat.  It was a little walk down to get to the center of the pyramid and you had to step on rocks that would protrude out of the andenes and walk down to each different leval.  When we got to the center of Moray we sat in a circle and Antonio our tour guide told us that there were many theories as to why the middle of Moray was so fascinating.  He said that it is not a theory, but it is true that Moray never over flowed and never became a type of pool, the Quechuas made the very bottom or center a type of drain so the water would easily be pulled into the Earth.  Also, he said that if you ever were to over flow the bottom layer of Moray you would be able to see all of the constellations which I found really interesting! Then we drove to a salt flat where there were thousands of salt beds and they exported that salt to Asia and many other countries.  Lastly, we ended up in a small pueblo in the Sacred Valley and set up our tents and had almuerzo con the ayudar from quechua women y men! we helped them pick potatos from out of the ground, collected them and put them in a big bag.  Then we sat under a big tent and ate potatos they dug up from a natural oven they made from just dirt and coal. They uncovered the dirt with their shovels and we ate the potatos and soy beans.  We also ate cuy (my second time)! It was an amazing experience eating with Quechua and seeing your meal being prepared from the earth without any type of preservatives, every food we ate came from what we were standing in front of.  For dinner we went down into the small pueblo and actually entered one of the machu picchu porter´s casa.  It was made out of mud and bricks and a dirt ground.  “Kay, I am going to give it to you. My frens, No facilities where we are”  So i had to use the baño in the dirt outside.  We ate sopa the quechua ladies prepared which was a broth with the potatos and beans we had picked earlier that day! A musician came in the little house and started playing a harp looking instrument and the quechua people showed us how to dance.  It was really funny and so much fun seeing us trying to dance with them. 

INCA TRAIL

There are so many things that I want to talk about.  It was an intense trek, and everyone was sore after the four days and 3 nights, but it was worth every second of the aches and pain.  The scenery changed from desert to rainforest to cloudforest as did the climates.  I couldn´t believe we were actually walking on the same path that was made more than 500 years ago.  We passed by many ancient structures and on the 3rd day we arrived at the largest andenes i have seen! It was beautiful and only me, alyssa and antonio were there.  You could see the urubamba river, many mountains including the machu picchu mountain but no Machu Picchu… yet.  On the 4th day we woke up at 330am, had a quick breakfast and walked down to the checkpoint.  Once it opened at 5am we showed our ticket and ran past the first group ahead of us and booked it down and up the rocks.  At one point I ended up by myself running along the crooked path and climbed the rocks on my hands and knees up the wall.  It was an AMAZING feeling passing by the bushes and trees hearing weird animal noises in the dark jungle atmosphere and rainforest scenery.  Alas… THE SUN GATE!!! First glimpse of Machu Picchu and I could feel a rush of blood running through my head.  I couldn´t believe THEE MACHU PICCHU was right in front of me about 20 minutes away.  The sun began to rise as Machu Picchu became clearer, there were barely any tourist at the sun gate with me so i shot a lot of pictures… cont.

The Road to Machu Picchu Commences…

Today we all head out to the Sacred Valley to start the journey to Machu Picchu. After an afternoon and evening with the porters in their village, we start the Inka Trail tomorrow morning. It will be a 4 day trek through the Andes to finally reach the sacred ruins. We are all pumped and ready to go!

¿Donde esta Elyssa?

Back in Lima. Nice to have something familiar but a little bittersweet to not wake up at our beautiful site in Marcara.

I last blogged on Tuesday so there´s been a lot that happened since then. On Wednesday, we went to cosecha papas (cultivate potatoes) which means we hiked up to the side of a mountain and with metal instruments yanked potatoes out of the ground while hanging onto the side of the mountain. I appreciated much more where my food came from after that trip. After our work, we had a little picnic (with potatoes of course) and hiked to a waterfall nearby. By the time I got there, I was exhausted so I got into the freezing ice melt and cleaned off a little bit. I couldn´t feel my toes for a little bit but it was worth it. We climbed back down and went to some ruins that were built about 2000 B.C. and then played a game of futbol with the locals. It was a very busy day.

Thursday, we went to the school in Vicos to do some lessons in two of the classrooms there that had special needs children who because they have a lot of family issues are a little behind in school. We played Duck, Duck, Goose (Pato, Pato, Ganzo) with them and did math and a project for creative thinking and a little therapeutic art. Then we got the saddest question ever, ¨When are you coming back?¨ None of us wanted to answer that one but we were happy that they wanted us to return.

Friday was another cosecha day but with corn. You wouldn´t believe how many different varities of potatoes and corn there are. One type of corn is called La Sangre de Dios (Blood of God) because the yellow corn is striped in red. After tying corn together so it was easier for them to dry, we walked over to a local afternoon party where they were so friendly to us. They gave us food and wanted us to dance and we had a beer with the traditional authority there. He was pretty tipsy by the time he got to us because everyone had wanted to have a beer with him. Then, we walked back to get dressed for our goodbye dinner with Beatriz, Erasmo, and Jacinto. We gave them a poster with the Urpichallay logo on it with notes from us and a soccer ball with our goodbyes.

Sunday was a long but interesting day. We had breakfast at Beatriz´s house as usual and then we took a comvi to Huaraz to take a tourist bus to Pasculori?, a beautiful snowy mountain but when we got there, we had just missed it so we decided to go to Chavin, ancient ruins about 2 and a half hours from us which had been our original plan anyway. The bus ride was long but beautiful with a mountain side that had a small canyon shaped like Peru and a lake in a valley of mountains that looked so beautifully undisturbed, just chillin in nature like its beauty was completely common. When we got to Chavin, we had lunch and went through the ruins pretty quickly because we had to make sure we made it to our bus to Lima but we got some good culture, lots of pictures, and we all went into the underground tunnels (without bumping our heads or falling, which was difficult). When we were done, we stopped by the Chavin museum and checked out all the artifacts that were found in the ruins and what their significance was. When we got back to the bus, there was a lot of drama. The bus driver forgot to tell some of the people on our bus what time they had to be back and when we couldn´t find them, the bus driver didn´t want to leave them but our bodyguards fought him and the other Peruvians on the bus because we had to catch our bus to Lima. They thought Erasmo, our Urpichallay friend, was our tour guide and told him he was a bad one because he had gone so fast and he was a disgrace because he was choosing Americans before his own people. It got a little crazy.

But we made it back in time to catch our bus and made it safely to Lima. That night, 4 of us got sick, including me, and we all laid in bed all day yesterday after seeing a doctor and getting a ton of medication. We´re just trying to rest up before we go to Cuzco tomorrow morning and then head to Macchu Picchu.

Hello everyone!

My last couple of days in Macara were a lot of fun. On thursday we had a good bye diner and exchanged gifts. Then on friday we did coshecha de maiz. This was probably the most fun thing I did besides painting the sink. It was soo interesting peeling of the husk and discovering what color corn you were going to get. There was such a huge variety of corn that I don´t think I can go back to the States and just settle with plain old yellow.

Then on saturday we decided that we all wanted to go somewhere but didn´t and coudn´t decide where. Finally once we got to Huaraz the option to go to the ruins of Chavin became a possibility so we went. The ride there was 2.5 hours..soooo long! But it was definately worth it. There was this like ceremonial square with the 4 directions. The space was planned out very well so that on times of the full moon or equinox the moon and or the sun would align themsleves according to the 4 different sides. Then there was a laberinth that we went into. This is probably one of my life goals. I had read soo much about them from Borges and finally getting to be in one was really exciting. I am also very proud of my group for not getting lost forever in this laberinth. Very good job!

Getting back home was soo difficult though. We ran into a problem. The other people in the bus were not back and we had no idea where they went. We waited for an hour and drove back and forth. We wanted to leave them because we had to be back at a certain time to say goodbyes, pack,  and get our bus. The other people on the bus started to argue with Erasmo and Jacinto because they kept telling the bus driver to leave them.- In the end it worked our because the both went to go find the students or whatever they were and brought them back to the bus. We barely made it to dinner with Beatriz. We were a little late but it was okay.

Its really funny that we always go out somewhere with Erasmo and we are always late to dinner or skip lunch with Beatriz. At the ruin site for some reason the people thought that Erasmo was the tour guide. I don´t blame them he did have a vest, a camera, and Jaci who had a friggin´tripod. I guess I won´t foget these last moments me and the group had with them because it really showed how much they cared for us.

Now I am back in Lima! The bus ride here I was in first class and it was the best. I have pics of me chillin´like a villin. I didn´t feel so hot the whole day yesterday but something that made my day was getting to see everyone back and hugging. I was wonderful. I just wana hug them all. Also I got to see the Van Gogh exibit! It is glorious. The artists in the local area got inspired from his life and work and did homages of his art. I didn´t think I would get to visit a museum here. I definately want to one day work in a museum or in a library. Not to necessarily help people find things but so that I could creep around and see as much as possible.

Now it is Monday morning and it´s time for me to reflect on the volunteer experience for a big presentation that I have tomorrow with the Ashoka fellows and my peers. This should be a good time for all of us to see what is really important in this life and what steps we need to take to make this world a better place to live for all.

Ciao

Arequipeño Pizza Thought

Last night was our last dinner in Arequipa.  We made pizzas with los niños Isabella y Annapala.  Juana´s daughter Cathy bought the ingredients green olives, purple olives, onions, bell peppers, bacon, cheese, ham, tomato sauce and the pizza dough.  We each prepared the different foods so they would fit nicely on the pizza, separated them into bowls and then started creating our 3 different pizzas.  When the first pizza was finished being created we placed it in the oven, still a little undercooked.  We cooked it again and each had a slice.  Then the oven ran out of gas only after the first pizza  was made.  It took us some time to realize that the oven was not broken but it just ran out of gas.  We sat at the table joking around and having fun.  About half an hour later Juana and her husband, Oscar returned with more gas and Proffe and Costas.  We all sat at the dinner table eating pizza and laughing, having warm conversations over wine and playing with the children while enjoying a music CD of  Arequipa instruments. 

It might have been the Arequipan wine going to my head, but this is when I realized that my experience was like the pizza we had just made.  The ingredients sitting in the bowl were what Juana had taught all 4 of us volunteers about Yachay Wasi.  I was the pizza maker, I decided what ingredients or methods I have learned from Yachay Wasi I wanted to carry on and what I thought was important to me and what made sense.  So I would add those components or ingredients onto my pizza.  The pizza serves as what I will do after I return from Peru.  It would be baked and sometimes it doesn´t always turn out as we expected so we wait a little while it´s okay if we feel frustrated, but we reflect and see what went wrong.  Then we try again, we try again and when it is improved we can repeat it by making more pizzas and sharing it with people.  For ‘happiness is only real when shared.´  Just as we try and try with our pizzas, ask for help, have some time to rethink what went wrong, try again and share it over and over.  Good or bad, the outcome is one that you only learn from.   Usually if you try things over and over again, you will learn from mistakes and you can share your past knowledge on to many others.  When this information is carried out the world will become a better place; by having more people caring more about eachother and of the world.  Knowing this, shapes you into a person who has learned.   

Anyways other than my pizza enlightenment, this night reminded me of Christmas Eve at my house when uncles and aunties, cousins and all of close family comes over to my house and just enjoys themselves and eachother´s company.   Memories being brought up and laughter following soon after seemed to be the pattern of the night.  I feel like I got the full experience of the Peruvian culture, being a member of Yachay Wasi and RED, learning how to communicate in ways other than language and knowing I will return to the US with a vast amount of knowledge and insight. 

This morning the taxis came to pick us up at 530am juana and oscar came outside to say one last goodbye.  After kissing oscar and juana on the cheek and giving a hug she said this is your house please come back soon.  I got into the taxi as it drove away I shouted te amo! As Oscar wiped back the tears Juana shouted yo tambein!

 I have learned, gained, found more of myself and more than just knowlege, but also a family in Arequipa Peru.

Vuelta del burro al Trgio, vuelta a Lima.

Llegamos a Lima dia domingo por la manana. Dia nublado con algunas chispitas de agua. Dejamos Arequipa atras con muchos buenos amigos y muy lindas memorias.

Back to Lima!

Today,  we returned to Lima from Arequipa.  The flight was nice, but I didn´t get as much sleep as I wanted to.  I am really sad to have left Arequipa, Juana´s family was SO NICE.  They all really made me feel like I was truly at home, and I will sincerely miss them.  On thursday, we learned about Yachay Wasi´s method of teaching and encouraging good nutrition to children.  They have a cool method of doing so, they give a rating to the lunches the kids bring to school.  The rating method is called the stoplight of nutrition.  A lunch that has soda and is not balanced receives a red card, an alright lunch receives a yellow card, and good lunch (a lunch with all the food groups and no soda) receives a green card.  The problem with this is that some families are so poor that they cannot afford to make healthy, balanced lunches.  That night, Profe and Costas came and they took us out to dinner.  We went to a nice Peruvian restaurant and Profe and I got to ordered sopa dieta de pollo (chicken soup for bad stomach), and it was good.  But everyone else ordered exotic things.  Jasmin got rocoto relleno stuffed with alpaca, Adrian got honey glazed alpaca, and Costas got pepper crusted alpaca.  I must say, the pepper crusted Alpaca was the best.  The next day, we went to a school to see the application of Yachay Wasi´s stoplight of nutrition.  We went to a rural school and helped out the children with washing their hands, we also served them jello.  Some kids had soda in theur lunches, but the real problem was that some kids only had fruit for their lunch.  It was sad.  The real sad part is that it is impossible to know if the children eat during the afternoon break in which they return home.  Later that day, we had our closing ceremony at the Yachay Wasi building.  The people said such nive things about us, I got a little emotional.  I am going to miss them so much.  That night, we went out dancing.  I don´t really fit in to the latin american dance club scene, they dance a lot differently (with much more finesse), andf the beat of those reggaeton songs are all the same!  Chelsea and I left the club early because we werent feeling good.  The next day,  we toured around the city with Profe and Costas.  It was fun, except Jasmin left her camera in the cab.  That afternoon, I to0k a nap and then I played with the niñas for a while.  They are so funny, we watched Charlie and the Chocolate factory.  That evening, we all made pizza and said our goodbyes.  This morning, at 530 when the taxis came, Juana and Oscar said their goodbyes.  We left them a bag of reese´s, warheads, Iberia candy and sourpatch kids.  Juana is going to be really happy when I send her reese´s big cups.

Farming and Alcohol

Hey so I was in Tuyu yesterday and picked some rocks and painted a sink. The paint was really toxic and once it gets on your hands you have to use paint thinner to remove it. But if you do it burns. Very funny stuff.
Today I was once again in Tuyu. Its kind of like a pre-school/day care. Me, Toni, and Elyssa picked, cleaned, and painted some rocks and later we played pato pato ganzo with the kids. They were soo cute. When we were about to leave they all gathered and were going to play themsleves. I am beginning to think this game is being over used but it´s okay. Different schools and different children.
I am not soo excted for tomorrow. We are all picking patato´s and on friday we are doing corn. I am gona be soo tired. I wana know the farmer´s way of life though.
Last night was fun. We sang some songs either english or spanish and had a fire going. We could have lit a tree on fire. I drank this really strong sugar cane alcohol and something else I don´t exaclty remeber. I think Toni was right when she said it is a bad call when we are drinking the stuff we are using as lighter fluid. It took at least a good minute or two for the buring sensation un your throat to go away. People over here get down man. Especially right now. Everthing is in its optimal fertile mode and that means farmers are happy.
Well I´ll keep you posted on what happens with the potato picking.
Jaa mata

P.S. I have sent out 3 postcards..one for Erikka and one for FIE. It will take 15 days for it to get there and by that time I will probably be back.

Shacsha!

On Friday we had a little gathering in Urpichallay for Mother´s Day. It was soo cute…the fellas cooked for the ladies and they recited poetry in quechua. We had some really sweet wine. I am not much of a wine person but this was the best Later on we all danced and it was really fun watching the natives dance to their songs. Its really fun looking…they push each other with their hips and stomp their feet really fast. Well I guess you have to see that^.^ Then on Saturday we went hiking in ¿Huascaran? I think and it was intense yal. Anastasiya…remember when we hiked 2, 500km in San Gregornio…well my friends…we started off at a 1, 500km elevation and ended at a 4,600km elevation. I have no idea what made me finish that hike, it had to be a miracle because then afterwards me, Yetty, and Andreas walked 1 lake and a half. Crazy times. I think it was good though..need to get in condition for Machu Picchu! We then went to Carhuaz for some ice cream but on the ride there from Yungai there was a really drunk man on the convi (bus) trying to strike a conversation but I couldn´t understand a word haha. Then a guy started to flirt with me because I made a joke and smiled at him. Maybe it came off the wrong way but the whole ride to Carhuaz was awkward. There was a really cute boy in front of me and I think those guys were his relatives, he looked really embarassed.

So anyway. I had been wating 3 days for Sandra to give me a massage and finally last night I got one. It was soo good but some parts were a little tender and it hurt. I think Elyssa got some incriminating photos. That should be interesting.

So today is dia de las mamas and we surprised our host mom with a thankyou card and some chocolates, her favorite. Then this morning me, Toni, Sandra, Yetty, and Elyssa hiked up a near by mountain for a good 30 to 40 minutes. Right now I am in a near by  town called Huaraz and saw a lot of local dancers do their traditional indigenous dancing. There were two main groups that I saw: the Shacsha and Atawalpa. It was a lot of fun watching that. There was a lot of people in the Plaza and all outside the Cathedral. Well I am at this internet cafe now and it is the nicest one I have been in so far. Some are hella sketch. In every single one you go into there are people huddled in the corners on the computer and when you walk in they just stare at you.

I have to say I am missing the greater group, my momy, and Redlands peeps. Yal have grown soo much on me. Well like they say here, Ciao.

My third day in Macara

I thought I was suppose to be in Huaraz but I guess not. I am in Macara staying near the Ashoka Center. I have been eating at my host mom, Beatriz´s house, and I have to say that Peruvian food is soo good. Today we just had Aji with chicken. It is the best! I am going to learn from Beatriz so that I can make it for a cultural dinner

Lets see my first day in Macara was a very long sleepy time day. We didn´t do much at all because Beatriz was worried about us getting acclimated to the high altitude. Outside my window…yes I called window there is the beautiful view. Andreas you were soo right. Nsyway we can see la cordillera blanca which is huge. It is a huge mountain capped with snow. Some of the men got the idea of making white hats because the mountain literally lokks like a hat.

On Tuesday we all decided the day before that we did not want to be seperated and go to different schools. THis day we spent getting to know the different schools and the different needs that they have. Thanks to Karina it al came together. Our interests matched with the things that the teachers wanted to get done. We went to 3 schools: Tuyo, Vicos, and Huashcar. These are the different schoools. The kids were sooo chibi and Kawaii!!!! (small and cute…very cute) It´s going to be rough saying bye to all this cuteness.

Then today we just volunteered at Tuyo. The teacher there wanted to get a kitchen built and a garden done. What you and I think of kitchen is not what kitchen means over here. Well it is but it is soo different. The kitchen at this school is outside and is made out of adobe. It is also very tiny. Unfortunetly today the person that was going to manage the building of the kitchen wasn´t there so insted we helped clean up her classroom. We cleaned and pimped it up a little with the children´s drawings.

Even though we didn´t get to start the kitchen and tend to the garden the teacher was very glad that we helped her because she just doesn´t have the time to do al these things. She manages this school that consists of 2 classrooms and she is in charge of teaching the kids the essentials within 9-1pm because the government doesnñt allow teachers to work full time. It was definatley a trip. I couldn´t believe how different my education was compared to the eduction system of a third world country. Every moment that I experience there is this immediate clash and difference that I see. It is really hard to know all of this and see how the business of everyday life goes for Peruvians.

Well till the next time. Love you all and I am soo glad that I am loved by wonderful people ;D

Back in Lima

Elo everybody! Went with the group to a place called Ica. Once there we had some really tasty food and met some really wonderful kids. Volunteering in Ica was really special. The younger chillies were shy but some were really outgoing. We drew on paper plates for mothers day and then walked over to the beach, Not all the kids were there because apparently it was a holiday! There were only half the kids there. There were like 7 kids for every volunteer! Anyway we then walked over and saw why not everyone was there. They were walking the Jesus from the water. I don´t know the significance of this but it was pretty legit. They had musicians parading and people dancing. Then came the goodbye´s and that was the hardest.

After travelling and volunteering the whole day we did some more travelling and went to Fucking Huacachina! ( Saying this for effect because there is a sick drink named like this) Sooo we knocked the hell out and the next day just had a chill day. We had breakfast, swam at the pool and chatted. I read a book that later got wet but its cool…its just Ann Frank. Later on we all went on a dune buggy tour and went boarding! Like a little girl there said ¨It was the most chevere time I have ever had!¨

Later on we walked the town and went bar hopping. Fun Times!

Now I am glad to be in Lima and relax a little before travelling tonight to Huaraz (where I will be for two weeks volunteering with the Ashoka Fellow Beatriz Rojas). I am excited for today and hope that the group great to enjoy themselves before we all spread out into smaller groups.

Later ;D

First day in Lima!

After a 14 hour flight and stopping at Guatemala and Costa Rica I finally made it to Lima. I had missed my tuesday night wednesday morning flight because I thought it was on wednesday night thursday morning. So my whole wedenesday was spent me running around in LA trying to get myself together and over to Peru. The funny part about all this was my mom´s phone call. She told me that she got a call from Sara in Study Abroad that why was I not in Peru. And right as this was happening I thought…this has to be a nightmare. I probably dosed off and now this horrible nightmare is happening. But no it was all true.

All in all I am here now and I am glad my mom, dad, aunts, and Sçandra came through for me. If not I wouldn´t have even been here in Peru right now.

First experience here in Peru was getting to talk to our driver Hector. He was really down to earth and we ended up talking about the existence of God, theory, and religion. It was soo nice getting to talk and hear someone out on important things like this one. I always catch myself offguard when people ask me if I believe in God. I always say yes but when it come to blind faith and believing the bible I just can´t go that far with it. The driver talked about the big bang and how the universe has always existed without God but then I think about how its impossible for it to exist without some force making it so. I was in a dead end when it came to Jeses relationship to us and God. If God knows everything then why would he sacrifice his one and only son for people that might always be evil. It makes no sense. There was a whole lot of things that I have to reevaluate in my life. I don´t want to be a hipocrite. I just want to know that under my terms of leading a good and happy life I can cause some sort of happiness onto others. That is all I want to be able to do in this life. Maybe its not unselfish but I would like to think that I respect other people no matter their religion and what God they follow because in the end it should all lead to some greater good. Isn´t that what religion is all about? Maybe its just a way of us admiting that we don´t know all the mysteries that are out there.

Anyway it was a good car ride to the hotel. Later me and Sandra hit the city and walked around a bit. Then we hit up a bar. Got ice cream and were not allowed back in the bar with it so we hung out outside. Then there was a band…idk who they were but they played a song by Linking Park I think..maybe not but it was a good song. K good nite people. I will report back with more adeventures.

Peace

Finally have fast internet…I mean internet in general!

We just arrived in Lima today from Huaraz (another 8hr bus ride) and finally have fast internet 0r internet in general!! Since we haven’t had consistent internet.. i will post some past events now.. So I arrived in Peru for the first time on May 2nd about 1am…after a confusing fiasco with flights from a semester of studying abroad in Spain and a 13hr delay in NY. My first impression of Peru was created on my flight from Texas to Peru. A man sitting next to me (who’s family lives in Peru) began to tell me about Perhuanas (kids who beat people and take everything they own), must have donuts that are sold on the beach, and beers that are shared by pouring a shot of beer in a cup and passing both the glass and the bottle around the party. Andreas laughed when I told him these things upon my arrival and we dismissed these claims..but none the less im still watching these little ones! Although, the last one turned out to be semi true. We started celebrating Mother’s day on Friday, when Adreas was in Huaraz with us, and everyone would take a glass and pour a little beer in it, drink it, and then pass them both on. (So my source isn’t that crazy after all) This was extremely unusual, especially compared to the US where people are so obsessive over their own beers. Once actually arriving in Lima my jaw dropped; I was not prepared for what I saw. It was completely different than the US and especially Spain. I had gotten so use to people walking around town in heels and all dressed up in Spain, but that is not the case here, almost the complete opposite. The living standards here are crazy and would never even be considered in the US. None the less I can, for the first time, honestly say I have hit culture shock!

Cosecha Papas

On Wed i learned what it meant to harvest potatos. We left Marcará at 8am and got to this tiny town in the foothills of the Cordillera Blanca. From there we hiked to Agustine´s chacra and prodeeded to hike up the mt to where the potoatos were. It was such a sight. The area was so beautiful- green and surronded by snow capped mts. The five of us plus 3 otheres (Erasmo, Lucho, y Maritza) from Urpi harvested papas till 2 in the afternoon! It was interesting to learn about all the different types of papas, and that they all dont look like the ones we eat at home. There were papas that were small, oddly shaped, and all different colors. It was a long hard day, but so rewardng! Agustine feed us a lunch of papas, then we hiked up one of the surrounding mts to see a beautiful cascada (waterfall) and some acient ruins that were built 2000 yrs before christ was even around! Then it was back to Urpi for a much needed shower and then to Beatriz´s for an awesome dinner! See you all in Lima!

The Past Two Weeks

Ok so apparently the last post that I thought I submitted did not go through. The past two weeks feel like they have flown by. Coming to Huacachina I did not expect most of what happened. From not being able to understand what some of the people at my school were saying to not understanding what the other girls in my group were saying. In Ica we had worked with three different groups. We went to Huaranga Mocho, an elementary school every morning and painted pots, sanded wood, painted signs, played with the kids, and taught them some colors in English. At San Antonio we painted a swing set and some tires and at Santa Vicente we painted a playground and some flower pots.

Our one weekend off we went to the Islas Ballestas and saw some pelicans and sea otters. We also went to see the Nazca lines and were comforted by the fact that every two months there is a plane crash. Nancy didnt end up going on the plane with us, Alyssa passed out, and Chloe and I were taking pictures while the pilots were yelling at us what we were looking at.

We also went to the most well known winery, Tacama, and made friends with one of the guides. He made us Pisco sours and Chloe and I bought nine bottles of wine…hopefully they´ll make it back to the states or else there will be a lot of drinking at the airport.
The last night we had with the people from Tierra de Niños we went out to celebrate and ended up going to a club where it was only our little group and another group of four girls dancing. Chloe and I proceeded to the next club, The Who, to dance the night away and have fun.

Today we left Huacachina in a rush saying our goodbyes to our host mom and Chelin…and of course buying chocotejas (chocolate covered dulce de leched with some pecans/orange and lemon peel/raisins in the middle). We went to Lima in a nice bus that was sort of like an airplane. Then we finally arrived in Lima and had dinner at an Arab place that also had hookah and yummy food. We played Jenga for a while and then went out to look for other places to dance at (little success without paying for a pitcher of something). We went back to the same little bar that we went to before we left for Huacachina and danced for maybe five minutes until we realized how sweaty and hot it was in there. Overall not too bad of a night.

Poco a Poco

Poco a Poco

Speaking spanish…  Since stowing away your native tongue (english for most) in the United States, have you found yourself struggling to communicate in front of an eager audience of hispanoparlantes who only comprehend español? If so, join the club.  I have lost track of how many times I’ve found myself in this situation – frustrated – and defaulting to saying, “¿Cómo se dice?”  However, whenever the opportunity resurfaced to use those fledgling words or phrases, it felt rewarding to be able to express myself in a much smoother manner while incrementally building my speaking confidence.  The learning process can be so bittersweet.

The setting…  Huancayo is the 3rd largest city in Perú by population at 324,053 inhabitants and rapidly expanding.  Interestingly, within just an hour drive to the north of Huancayo, one can arrive at the city of Jauja, the original capital city of Perú.  Like the jungle city of Satipo, Jauja shares the trait of not having been encountered by the Spaniards.  Therefore, neither has a “Plaza de Armas” and in addition to spanish, many residents among the two cities speak indigenous lanuguages:  Quechua, Ashaninka, and Aymara.   Huancayo proper is a bustling city of commerce and agricultural hub.   It is heavily service oriented.  Services range from medical to legal to financial to smaller, tienda and micro size operations. From sun-up to sun-down there is a constant echoing of taxi horns and flow of the young and old, including college kids, family members, faithful church goers, etcetera, uniting to pass time in the heart of the city at Plaza Constitución.

The food…  No need to ask about potatoes or ají because you already know the answer.  Papas fritas, puré de papas, papas al horno, papas a la Huancaína, the list for papas spans to ∞. The same can be said substituting camote. For those that prefer to spice up a dish, ají too is always available.  To reduce the guilt after washing down 2 pounds of papas, a glass of freshly made jugo de papaya or surtido makes you feel a little healthier.  Cuy is widely available, but I haven’t garnered the courage to try it yet. On the other hand, I am still alive after trying my first serving of alpaca.  Wouldn’t you be hungry enough to eat just about anything put in front of you after a 4-hour roundtrip hike up to the Nevado Glacier at an elevation of over 5300+ meters above sea level?  It had a flavor that reminded me of pot roast (beef).  I must admit, it was akward to look the way of the remaining alpaca as we left the alpaca restaurant/farm knowing we had just feasted on a fellow family member. On a brighter note, I’ve learned that if you find yourself energy difficient at day’s end, sipping a Pisco Sour is a great way recharge.

Volunteer site… There is no shortage of passionate social entreprenuers at J.M. Arguedianos’ Centro de Capacitación.  Having celebrated 25 years of excellence in 2009, Ricardo Soto and company are working as diligently as ever and achieving incremental success in fighting for Peruvian childrens’ fundamental right to equal access to education.  The entire office officially convened on my 3rd day in Huancayo to welcome me to the team.  I presented a bottle of white wine from a Mendoza winery that I purchased in Buenos Aires as a gift for Ricardo as a token of appreciation.  To my surprise, within seconds, 14 glasses appeared.  Everyone become thirsty all of a sudden and Ricardo was delighted to share his spoils.  We then had a brief discussion about the vision, mission of the organization, and what I would be undertaking during my time in Huancayo.  There are 4 central projects, each of which, works in harmony with the others to achieve the mission:  micro-credits, cultural inclusion, school municipalities, and the inclusive rotatated school fund. I have assisted in coordinating and delivering workshops for students (estudiantes escolares), teachers (docentes), and school principals (directores).  It’s trully an innovative process, whereby micro-credit loans of 100 soles per month are loaned to select rural families that lack sufficient resources to send and sustain their children in a school setting.  The loans help cover basic items such as uniforms, writing utensils, paper, and food. The loan process involves shared accountabilty from a varied cross section of the community in which the loan recipients live.  Students, teachers, families, and principals within a community work together to ensure proper functioning of the program which has a 97% payback rate.  The key players in this process are the students, as young as 10 years old in some cases, who decide who should receive the loans, monitor the recipients’ progress in school, and handle loan repayments from the parents of the loan recipients.  Parents are responsible for repaying the loans monthly at a simple interest rate of 2.5%.   Because most of the recipients are rural campesino farmers, if they fail to earn enough to repay in soles they are provided the flexible option to pay in agricultural products.  These goods can then be sold and converted to cash.

My focus…I have been working closely with the Fondo Rotativo Escolar group to generate new ideas on how to increase the value of the fund.  For example, in 2003 there were 8 schools participating and 80 students who recieved loans. As of 2009, there were more than 49 schools and 1,207 students benefiting from the Fondo Rotativo Escolar.  The challenge remains to be locating new long-term fund donors from private and/or public organizations.

Personal growth…Adjusting to the idea of taking a more social rather than purely financial approach in my decision-making has been a good learning experience for me. The Arguedianos have challenged me to balance both the social motives of an NGO against capitalist motives. We have both collaborated and learned a great deal from one another in only two weeks through healthy discussion and via the sharing of alternative viewpoints.  Again, it’s worth revisiting my default pocket phrase from the beginning paragraph from a different perspective.  The growing challenge faced by J.M. Arguedianos and other aspiring nongovermental organizations is, “how does one say” to the general public that you need their financial support, while at the same time needing to replicate some of the financial strategies of private institutions to ultimately become fully self-sustainable.  Thankfully, since 2003, Ricardo Soto and his staff are incrementally taking steps towards achieving sustainability.  In the near future, they will hopefully be able to operate without outside help.  By that time, I hope the same can be said about my spanish speaking capability.  Still, more work is needed until the day arrives when all available school children in the lowest economic regions across Perú obtain equal access to a quality education – translation –cuando no hay ningún niño que se dejes atrás.

Suerte,

Julian

ps – from what I’ve read thus far, I’m glad to know you are all enjoying yourselves and making the most of your experiences – see you Sunday.

A Recap of Everyone’s Last 2 weeks

To avoid any confusion, here is a breakdown of the last 2 weeks:

On Sunday/Monday of the 2/3 of May all of the students divided up in their groups and set out to their volunteer sites, organizations where they would be working, and their new homes for the next couple of weeks.  Each group was paired months before with an Ashoka Social Entrepreneur.  The division went as follows:

5 students went to Beatriz Rojas’ organization Urpichallay in Marcara (just outside of Huaraz, at the base of the majestic, snow-capped Cordillera Blanca Mountains) that works closely with local Andean farmers and schools in the surrounding communities.

4 students went to Joaquin Leguia’s Tierra de Ninos in the desert/agricultural region of Ica, whose project works closely with children, bio-diversity, education, and values.

4 students went to Juana Loayza’s organization, Yachay Wasi, in Arequipa – the colonial city of the south of Peru surrounded by green pastures and snow-capped volcanoes.  The institute works closely with schools, children, the environment, and unique, progressive pedagogical methods.

1 student went to Ricardo Soto’s organization, Centro de Capacitaciones JM Arguedianos in Huancayo – the industrial city, filled with culture, tradition, and unparalleled scenery.  The organization works closely with schools providing children an opportunity to attend schools and empowering youth in the communities.

Each student and group became part of the team of the organization and focused their time learning about the organization (and what makes it so unique and innovative) and working hard in different areas of need where they could provide help.  Each experience was unique to the locale, organization, and the student.

During the 2 weeks the students worked hard Monday – Friday in offices and on the field.  During the weekend each group took advantage of their surroundings and visited destinations around their temporary “homes.”  Some visited the Islas Ballestas and the Nazca Lines,  hiked the Colca Canyon, trekked the Huascaran National Park and the majestic Laguna Llaganuco, and visited glaciers and the outskirts of the jungle.

Today, Friday, was the students’ last day with the organization and their time volunteering.  All students will meet back in Lima by this Sunday where everyone will have a few days to unwind, explore the city a bit, prepare for Cuzco and Machu Picchu, and prepare their presentations of everything they experienced and learned over the past 2 weeks with the rest of the group.

It has been a world of experiences and it will be great to hear about everything!

initial education and final plans

So, today is Friday, and we only have one more full day here in Arequipa.  Time seems to have gone by more quickly this second week.  Since Wednesday, we have learned about how to promote proper nutrition to children between the ages of three and five years old.  Thursday morning, Cathy (Juana´s daughter) and Susan (the lady that showed us how to recycle paper) gave a presentation on their nutrition program for young students.  They developed a grading method where the colors of a stoplight are used to rate the quality of the meals their parents prepare.  The students use cards with the colors red, yellow, or green to teach their parents how to prepare well-balanced, nutritious meals.  A red card means that the meal is seriously lacking in some essential part.  For example, there might not be any protein, or all of the food could be considered junk food.  When a parent receives a red card, their children are informing them that a major change has to occur.  A yellow card means that the meal is not terrible, but that it still lacks something or it isn´t healthy enough.  This could be a meal that contains a drink with too much sugar.  A grade of yellow tells the parent that they are doing a fairly well job of feeding their children, but there is still room for improvement.  A green card means that all of the essentials are provided, and that the meal does not contain chatarra (junk food).  According to this program, a meal with a grade of green would contain carbohydrates for energy, protein for maintenance, and a healthy beverage.  In addition to teaching about nutrition, the initial education program focuses on improving the efficacy of the education during this age.  Students are encouraged to play with toys that help them develop fine motor skills.  There is also a part of the program dedicated to educating parents about proper disciplinary methods and the development of healthy habits.  Cathy says that habits are the concrete form of values, and I agree.  For example, if you take care of yourself, you are demonstrating that you have respect for yourself.  We were able to observe the nutrition portion of the program today with Profe.  We visited an initial education school, and arrived just when the children were getting ready to eat lunch.  They all washed their hands, and all responded with a grade to the meals while they were being passed out.  It was nice to see that they were all learning about nutrition, but sad at the same time, because some of the children only had bread and water for lunch.  The school was beautiful though, and all of the children seemed happy to be there.

Tomorrow, we are planning on giving Profe and Kostas a tour of the city.  It should be lovely!

Mas fotos………que no llegue a poner en el blog.

Bueno, las ultimas entradas en este bendito blog han sido fotos. Dos fotos. Pensaba crear una galeria de fotos de casi todo los 20 eventos que hemos participado aqui en Arequipa con Yachay Wasi y demas. Pero, dos fotos. Lindas fotos pero poco. Tuve un problema con el sistema y no se dio. Disfruten la que hay.

Hoy dia,  14 de Mayo, marca el fin de nuestro programa y participacion con Yachay Wasi aca en Arequipa. Mi experiencia con Yachay Wasi yArequipa me ha brindado un lindo recuerdo, y un gran regalo a mi vida como personas y ciudadano del mundo. Ahora empieza otra linda experiencia, la de llevar en mi corazon todo lo que he aprendido y pensado en esta hermosa ciudad, con esta gran institution y todo la gente de que estubo a mi lado por estas dos semanas.

Gracias

“Each of us is the way we are.. unique, and that is a marvel” -Juana Loayza

 

Within the past few days me and jim have gotten sick from eating pollo mollejas off the corner of our casa.  I had a fever and chills last night, so I wasn´t able to have cena con Proffe y Costas.  My stomache y la cabeza have been feeling un poquito quesy but espero I´ll be mejor al poco tiempo. 

Anyways, hoy hemos visitado una escuela primaria.  Los niños were around ages 4-5.  We observed  how Yachay Wasi´s nutrition method was brought into the school.  First, the teacher went around seeing which foods the children´s parents packed for them.  Then they would get a verde, amarillo or rojo card depending on the valor nutritivo of los niños almuerzo.   From my observations, the children were packed healthy foods, sus padres les proporciono una gran cantidad de frutas… como manzana, uba, naranja, platanos y fresa.  Then we went outside and played with the children on the swings and jungle gym.  I was asking them what color their pantalones was, in español y ingles.  They knew rojo y amarillo in ingles! So that was really good.  Much of the schools we have been to have been teaching their students ingles, because they say that it is the universal language.  The school we went to had many many plants and was very green which is a gift, in such a dry desert.  The teacher said that sometimes the children don´t eat lunch, which gets the teachers scared because they don´t even know if they eat at home.  Many of these children do not live in wealthy areas, they live in little brick shelters, which we have passed so many times.  It its sad to see such bright children living in a poor unhealthy living situation.  North America has so much to learn about South America.  I wish we weren´t so segregated, and were willing to help different countries, cultures and people more.  What an experience, what an experience this has been so far, everyday is something new and opens up my mind and my appreciation for life everyday.  viva la vida.  Why is it that people with the most do less than people who have the least, and why do people with the least see more than people with the most?

Later, we came back to Yachay Wasi and had a closing ceremony.  Everyone went around and reflected on what they got out of being here for 2 weeks, how special it was to interact and get to know one another and what they will do to pass on all this information, new methods, new understandings and education.  It was  a beautiful night, everyone spoke their truths and it was very touching.  They gave us a gift, which was a little purse from Colca cañon y a certificate.  I appreciated working with everyone in Yachay Wasi for these past 2 weeks, and I know that we will remain friends for a long long time.  I have learned and grown so much, muchos gracias Juana, Edwin, Susan, Jose Carlos, Cathy, Pacha Mama y Yachay Wasi.

Be a student so long as you still have something to learn, and this will mean all your life.

-Henry L. Doherty