¡Viva Peru!

Oh. My. Goodness........what a trip! I have SO much to tell and don't even know where to start. I just took a group of 14 students down to Peru for a humanitarian aid expedition. It was an 11 day trip and we went with Generations Humanitarian, a non-profit organization based out of SLC. I really had no idea what to expect - it's a different type of trip than what I am used to, plus I've never traveled with students, not to mention out of the country. Everything was AMAZING! It was a really great experience for the kids. My friend Beth (my roommate in Spain back in the day) also came with. So much fun to have her along. She also served her mission in Peru.

This is the group pre-departure at the SLC airport. Yes, we all wore matching shirts for the next 48 hrs.

The flight in to Cusco was the crazy yet funnest flight I've ever had. Because Cusco sits at such a high altitude and is nestled in a little valley with monstrous mountains all around, the pilot has to land at much higher speeds than usual to maintain lift. The pilot dropped in elevation significantly within seconds - it's the feeling you get when your heart drops in free fall from rollercoasters, etc. I loved it! Plus, he made the sharpest turn ever. Cusco is the ombligo del mundo (center of the world) and the oldest inhabited city in the Western hemisphere. Pretty amazing.

Upon arrival we were greeted by some native women who threw flower in our hair, gave us water bottles we proceeded to use for the next week and a half, and sold us coca leaves to help with the altitude (over 10,000 ft.)

We then proceeded to eat the most delicious meal of the trip with chicha morada (corn drink), choclo y queso (corn and cheese), quinoa soap, and alpaca. Yes, alpaca, a specie of the llama. It was very tasty!

We left Cusco behind, to visit another day, and drove through the Sacred Valley of the Incas to our destination of Urubamba where upon we stopped in Pisaq on the way to shop for 2-3 bartering-exhausting hours. Oh, but I loved it! Exhausting only to those who do not delight in squeezing out the cheapest price possible for something that took the seller at least a week to make and who needs the money a lot more than you do. Yes, I'm a sick person. I see bargaining as an art and even skill. My students, however, could not appreciate this as they saw the great need for money in the eyes of the seller. They will never learn to be good bargainers if they give up after a certain point. I, however, bargained with a certain man for at least 10 minutes over a bag in which he had a monopoly - the only person in the whole market selling one even remotely close to what I wanted. He did tell me I was a good bargainer and he even thought I was from Argentina. Mission accomplished, even if I hadn't gotten the bag (which I did, by the way. You can see it in the photo below on my shoulder).

The next day, Friday, we went to the Sunflower Orphanage were we were going to be working the next few days. We were greeting by all the kids, they did a traditional dance, we took a quick tour of the facilities and then we began work. We hiked up past the orphanage to an old Incan terrace and began digging ditches for the water line. This water project as been in the works for about 2 years and we were about to witness the fruition of many months of labor. The goal was to bring running water from a fresh water spring about a mile away from the orphanage. Previously, they had been trucking it up once a month and depositing it in an underground reservoir.

The boys at the orphanage were always working and digging with us. I think "my kids" were amazed what hard workers they were and what they could do without water, sandals, and no breaks. I fit right into the Peruvian element sporting my Chacos. Turns out I accidentally left my tennis shoes in the car. Of course, the most important thing to bring...... Saturday was also a work/digging day. We seemed to get a lot more accomplished the second day as the kids were used to working at such high altitude and we just had a better system going once we figured it out.

The A team. We had to dig our way through a stretch of solid rock. We got skills.

During lunch and after work (9am -5pm) we got the chance to interact and play with the kids at the orphanage. We did everything from play volleyball, soccer, football, frisbee, card games, tag, arm wrestle, do the girls' hair, paint nails, paint faces, or just chat. These kids were just starving for attention and loved having us there.

My favorites were Christofer, Rodrigo, Romario, Joel, and Yeri.

On Sunday we went to Sacrament Meeting. It was so neat. We were all sitting there in the chapel waiting for church to start and then all the orphans walk in in their Sunday best and come sit by all of us. Little Romario couldn't keep his eyes open and ended up falling asleep on my arm.

That afternoon we hiking part of the Inca Trail. Our bus driver, Octavio, drove us to the top of one of the peaks and then we hiked back down into town. It was nice to be outside and enjoy the scenery without digging ditches and not being able to breathe. The Andes Mountains are amazing! They jut straight up and always have clouds hovering over their tops because they are so tall. The sides of them are covered in terraces from the time of the Incas. They literally farmed the sides of these mountains. The word "Andes" actually comes from a word meaning "terraces". You can see why, too. A few parts were pretty dangerous with drop offs on the side a couple hundred feet long. Cuidado!

At the bottom, our guide, Juan, showed us his goat farm - he provides goat to some restaurants in Cusco. The baby ones were adorable.

Juan also pulled out this old Incan mummy out of this rucksack just hidden under a rock on his property. No big deal, right? You can see the elongated head as well as his skin on his back still. Amazing. Juan found him with pottery, jewelry, etc. while building the pasture for his goats.

We then proceeded to pull ourselves across the river in a cable car - no bridge. What adventures!

That night we took all the orphans out for ice cream in the main plaza. This was heaven for them! A big deal. We even had piggy back races. Yeri and I came in at a close second place. I think he had one too many scoops of ice cream......

Monday was a HUGE day because.......we.....went.....to......MACHU PICCHU!!! I have always wanted to go here and never thought I ever would, seriously. What a day. It was a 2 hr. train ride to Aguas Calientes, the town at the base of the mountain and another 20 min. bus ride up to the top of the mountain peak. It's a very narrow road with lots of switch backs and we almost head several head on collisions with the bus coming down. What a thrill.

Machu Picchu was just what I expected. I was not disappointed in the least. If you ever get the chance to go, take it. It's location is breathtaking.

We took some pictures when we first go there.

Then we were off to explore. Of course, the kids wanted to befriend some llamas first. And when I say kids, I automatically include myself in that category.

We started with a short hike to the Inca Bridge. Just before reaching the bridge, you have to cross a narrow path while holding onto a rope because off to the right......aaaah! Several thousand foot drop off. The stairs on the other side of the bridge mysteriously disappear. Weird....

Our next hike was to be to the Sun Gate, a gradual incline to some more ruins where you can see Machu Picchu from a distance. The book to sign in - if you don't sign out, you either got lost (doubtful) or fell to your death.

After killing ourselves hiking straight up (literally) stone stairs, we finally got a view down below. We were high enough up that we could see the trail to the Sun Gate far below us. How the heck did we end up on this trail? It was the most physically exhausting thing I have ever done. We had already been digging ditches for 2 days and my legs were shot, plus it was straight up, plus we were at such a high altitude that we could barely breathe. Does breaks every 5 minutes sound outrageous? Try it yourself and you'll tell me otherwise! Well, we made some friends with some Chileans who told us we were headed for the most spectacular view ever, just another 30 more minutes of hell was all. Fortunately, one of girls agreed to press forward. I'm so glad she did because I'll never regret it. Yes we had 1 and 1/2 hrs. of this....

BUT, the view from the top was well worth it.

Only 6 of us dared brave this mountain, much much taller than Machu Picchu itself.

Because we didn't plan on spending 2 and 1/2 hrs. hiking Montaña Machu Picchu, as it's called, we only had 45 minutes to explore the ruins. It was enough time for me as I've seen dozens of ruins already all over Mexico, Europe, and China. As for my students, let's hope they saw enough to get exploration ingrained in the blood.

I had a delicious dinner of Lomo Saltado, my favorite Peruvian dish, back in Aguas Calientes. The train ride back home was another story.....15 bug bites all over my feet itching like crazy.

On Tuesday the rain prohibited us from returning to the orphanage to work. We took it easy at the hotel for the morning and were finally able to head over in the afternoon. We finished digging the last stretch for the water line.

That night, we brought pizzas to the orphanage for dinner and then had a glow stick dance. It was one of the funnest dances I've been to. Van, our director, in all of the 50+ expeditions he's led here has never seen anything like this. The kids loved it. My students ended up cutting open the glow sticks and sprayed it all over the floor and each other. You can imagine what it looked like - AWESOME!!! We also put on the hip-hop, opened up the circle, and showed each other our moves.

Wednesday morning was the hardest day of all. It was time to say goodbye to the kids at the orphanage. We had a little farewell ceremony where we sang some songs, shared our thoughts, and gave gifts to each other. Little Ronald said it was just like Christmas morning. One of my students was able to make a quilt for each orphanage, which we brought down, and then one of the mothers brought American candy/goodies and toys for them. Christmas indeed!

It was time for the water inauguration! There were 3 separate groups to bust open a jar of chicha (corn beer), very typical in Peru for this type of thing, while everyone else threw flower petals in the air.

The time came to turn on the water and they asked me to turn it on. I felt so honored. I gladly turned the water on. It was official - the Sunflower Orphanage finally had clean running water. Impure water kills more people in Peru than war. It was amazing to see this 2 year project finally finished!

To celebrate we ate some Cuy (fried guinea pig) - a typical dish in Peru. It was very salty, but fun to try.

And then donkey races!

Here we have the winning team with the happy donkey. After being kicked in the rear that many times, I don't think I'd be a happy camper either.......

We spent the afternoon, evening, and night in Cusco. We stopped at the hospital to drop off some new born kits to the mothers who just had or who were going to have a baby. It was amazing to see. Six ladies to a room, not very clean, not state of the art, etc. In fact as we walked up the stairs to the maternity ward there were fresh drops of blood on the floor. Whaaaat the heck? One lady was about to have a c-section and all they could do for her was give her aspirin. Can you imagine? It was amazing though. These mothers gladly accepted us into their rooms and even handed over their hours old baby to us to hold. Can you imagine just handing your brand new baby to a stranger?

I LOVE the main plaza in Cusco! It's beautiful! I've never seen such a beautiful plaza in all of Mexico or even Europe. There were 2 churches, beautiful architecture, a fountain, and even flowers. We had a fun night exploring and bargaining.

As Wednesday was the hardest day, Thursday was probably the worst day. Van said we had a 6 hr. bus ride down South to Puno that ended up being more like 9 or 10. Just imagine, a bus full of 14 students......Miss Anderson, or rather Kristina (that's what they called me on the trip. Haha!), how much longer? How am I supposed to know! Oh, the joys of teenagers! I love 'em. We did stop at the highest point of the road, though, about 14,200 ft.

We also stopped at the ruins of Racqui and drank from the eternal spring. Now that I'm back in the States, everyone at school is telling me that my voice is stronger. It must have been the water!

Upon arrival in Puno, we were greeted by the entire population of the city and then some! The pre-celebration of Candelaria was in progress with dancing, processions, and fireworks.

Friday morning we had bicycle races down to the dock of Lake Titicaca (titicaca means grey puma by the way). Van told the drivers that whoever won got 10 soles, a little more than $3. They were eager to win, so they drove like madmen! Beeping their puny horns and sailing through cross traffic. Beth and I passed Van at the last second (who never says he's lost), only to see 2 other groups had already arrived! Rigged.

We then took a 2-story boat out to the floating islands, Los Uros. Lake Titicaca is the highest navigable lake in the world, at about 12,500 ft. and there are people who live on islands made out of reeds. Not only the islands, but also their homes and even boats.

They gave a demonstration of how they make the islands. They cut chunks of mud and tie them together, while anchoring them to the lake floor. They then stack reeds on top about the height as the mud. That's it! They're good to go. They can then build homes on top. Only about 7 families live on each island so they are fairly small. If there is ever any disputes or disagreements, they contact the "police" (a saw - literally) and saw the island in half. That solves the problem! It's amazing. When you are standing on the island, you can actually feel yourself rock back and forth slightly, like you are on a boat. Of course, periodically they have to replenish the reeds so the island does not sink so they move their homes, place some reeds down, and move it back. Crazy!

I love the bright neon colors the women of these islands wear.

We went to the Mormon island and handed out school supplies (the purpose of our visit) to the children. The adults all pulled out their hymnals and proceeded to sing some hymns.

We next visited the church, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. I felt like we were in Tonga or Samoa with all the reeds. It was incredible. They have solar panels for electricity.

For some adventure and delight, we jumped off the top of the boat into the freezing cold waters of Lake Titicaca. Yes, I have swam in the highest navigable lake in the world!

There was no time for a shower after that as we flew straight from Juliaca to Lima. We had a 5 hr. layover there, so we met Jaime and his wife who took us to eat dinner at Larcos Mar, an outdoor mall (like the Gateway) right on the beach. Too bad it was already dark by then. Flying from Lima back to the U.S. was craziness. We had one hour before our flight left, yet there was no gate number assigned. Finally it posted and we found out the incoming flight was going to be 3 hrs. late. That would make us miss our connection to SLC from LA. So they bumped as all (amazing they had room for 20 of us) to the San Francisco flight that was scheduled to leave in 10 minutes. We booked it to the gate and made it, although I had this fear that we had left a student behind. Like Home Alone, you know. I walked through the plane at least 3 times to count everyone. In that 1o minutes we had to switch flights, they also switched our luggage. Which was very impressive. Ok, not all of it. Mine and 3 others didn't make it on the flight. We were supposed to switch airlines upon arrival in the U.S. as well so our luggage wasn't tagged to go to SLC. Oh great. We were in San Fran, but our luggage was in LA. There was nothing we could do until we got to SLC. We filed our claims and had to sit back and wait. Some got their luggage the next day. Of course, I didn't get mine until 4 days later. Just imagine opening up the bag with a wet swimsuit from Lake Titicaca. Delightful. I didn't care, I was just glad to have everything back!

Oh boy, such an amazing trip! I hope you add it to your places of things to do and see after reading about our adventures. My kids/students learned so much and they keep expressing it. I'm glad things worked out so nicely to set this expedition up and that things turned out better than I had hoped for on the trip. ¡VIVA PERU!