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 [...]

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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. [...]

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¡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 [...]

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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 [...]

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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 [...]

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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 [...]

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¿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 [...]

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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 [...]

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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 [...]

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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.

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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 [...]

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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 [...]

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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 [...]

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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 [...]

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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 [...]

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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 [...]

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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 [...]

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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 [...]

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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 [...]

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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 [...]

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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 [...]

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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 [...]

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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 [...]

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“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 [...]

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method, Colca, paper, schools, trees, what else???

Since our work with the schools last week, we have learned about the Yachay Wasi method, hiked Colca Canyon, recycled paper, visited schools, and pruned trees…  It was a treat to hear about the Yachay Wasi method from one of its creators.  Juana told us that she, along with James Glos and Betty Barbachan, developed a teaching method in the [...]

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Fotos

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the enthusiasm of education

Mardes:  Went to 2 different schools today.  The first one, we sat in on a chemistry class Professor Hugo was teaching.  Proffe Hugo also works with Yachay Wasi. The class consisted of a  cemented floor and small tables and chairs.  The children were dressed in nice uniforms and the students really liked us being there.  I was [...]

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Arequipa 3

Well, these last three days have been intense.  Monday, we recycled paper.  That was actually pretty fun, time flew.  We were just finishing our first break when it was already time for lunch.  After we made the picture frames, Chela and I got massages.  They were only 25 soles (including tip) and the blind man [...]

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