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.

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.

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.

 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.

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.

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

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!

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.

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.