Global Education
Greetings from Perú
Greetings from Peru! Today marks our first full week in the Sacred Valley. Our time here has been filled with lots of adventure, laughs, and Spanish speaking. Each day of the GEO a different pair of students are chosen to be leaders of the day. At the end of the day, those leaders have write a summary or our experiences. Below you can find summaries from this past week. Enjoy!
Our arrival- Days 1 to 3
Our journey to Peru began last Saturday, when we boarded a bus from the Circle to Boston Logan Airport. We are a group of 15 students and three faculty members. The journey from Groton to Ollantaytambo proved to be a great way to get to know each other. We first flew from Boston to New York, and then from New York to Lima on a red-eye flight. When we landed in Lima, we were greeted by one of our travel coordinators. He surprised us with a custom made t-shirt commemorating our GEO. We quickly put them on, and spent the rest of the layover getting our first taste of Peruvian food, as well as playing games. After a few hours, it was time to board our next and final plane, this time to Cusco. The flight was short and filled with beautiful mountain views. At the Cusco airport we were greeted by our wonderful hosts, Balbina, Pancho, Paulina, and Fernando. They made a handmade sign welcoming our group. This set the tone for their warm and generous hospitality throughout our time in Peru. After our initial hellos, we settled into our bus and embarked on the final leg of the journey to the town we've called home, Ollantaytambo. Along the way, our tour guide Fernando taught us about the historical, geographical, and political context of the region. We also sipped on a local tea that helped us acclimate to the high altitude of the region. As night fell on Sunday evening, we finally made it to our hotel and home base, a wonderful spot called Tumy House. Tumy House sits right outside of the city center of Ollantaytambo. The town itself is considered one of the oldest living Incan towns, meaning that many of the inhabitants of the town are descendants of the Inca people and continue to carry out their traditions. The town sits in valley surrounded by beautiful mountains, which are dotted by ancient ruins.
On our first full day of the GEO we started our day with an orientation. Señora Viacava led us through some Spanish speaking skills and taught us more about Peruvian customs. Armed with a pamphlet of helpful Spanish phrases and a map of the town, we embarked on a scavenger hunt in groups of three. We were tasked with finding important spots in town such as the police station, the money exchange spot, and the train station. It was exciting to explore the town on our own and practice our Spanish. That evening, we played soccer with locals at the nearby park. After a delicious dinner of quinoa soup, rice, and chicken, we watched a documentary about Peru and settled in for a well-earned night of rest in our hostel.
Ella & Asante- Day 4
The following day, our tour guide, Fernando, toured us around the "graneros" in Ollantaytambo. Los graneros are ruins that are visible from our hostel and were once used by the Incas for food storage. We ascended mountains while learning about ancient Inca food storage systems and words in Quecha (the Incan language still spoken today) such as "haku" (let's go) and "treke" (trade). That evening, we finally met our host families. We were nervous but excited to get to know the families we'd spend the next two weeks with. Señora Fanny called our names one by one. We introduced ourselves and were met with warm embraces from our hosts. That night, we each went our new homes for dinner and our first over-night stay.
Tionbre & Ava- Day 5
The following morning we fueled up and ate breakfast at our homestays before gathering at another Incan ruins site in Ollantaytambo. We ascended the religious ruins level by level. Our lovely tour guide, Fernando, taught us about the different architecture techniques and materials used to construct each of structures. We learned about how water-proof clay mortar was created and how the Incans stacked stones differently depending on the superiority of the people using each structure. We also learned about the religious customs of the Incas and how this structure was used 500 years ago. We climbed higher and higher, admiring the view of Ollantaytambo and taking photos along the way. After our excursion, we dispersed to our homestays for lunch before regrouping for a ceramics lesson. We learned how to make a simple pot and used our hands to mold various dishes and figures. Asante created a clay model of a wave, while Ava created a mini surfer to go along with it. Ella molded a small clay cup and Kaysan worked on a bowl. After the lesson, we headed back to our home base, Tumy House, and played a few rounds of the game mafia; to end the night off, we returned to our homestays for dinner and to rest up before tomorrow’s hike. ¡Vamos a subir la montaña!
Quinn & Olivia- Day 6
Teddy & Leila- Day 7
Back
Our journey to Peru began last Saturday, when we boarded a bus from the Circle to Boston Logan Airport. We are a group of 15 students and three faculty members. The journey from Groton to Ollantaytambo proved to be a great way to get to know each other. We first flew from Boston to New York, and then from New York to Lima on a red-eye flight. When we landed in Lima, we were greeted by one of our travel coordinators. He surprised us with a custom made t-shirt commemorating our GEO. We quickly put them on, and spent the rest of the layover getting our first taste of Peruvian food, as well as playing games. After a few hours, it was time to board our next and final plane, this time to Cusco. The flight was short and filled with beautiful mountain views. At the Cusco airport we were greeted by our wonderful hosts, Balbina, Pancho, Paulina, and Fernando. They made a handmade sign welcoming our group. This set the tone for their warm and generous hospitality throughout our time in Peru. After our initial hellos, we settled into our bus and embarked on the final leg of the journey to the town we've called home, Ollantaytambo. Along the way, our tour guide Fernando taught us about the historical, geographical, and political context of the region. We also sipped on a local tea that helped us acclimate to the high altitude of the region. As night fell on Sunday evening, we finally made it to our hotel and home base, a wonderful spot called Tumy House. Tumy House sits right outside of the city center of Ollantaytambo. The town itself is considered one of the oldest living Incan towns, meaning that many of the inhabitants of the town are descendants of the Inca people and continue to carry out their traditions. The town sits in valley surrounded by beautiful mountains, which are dotted by ancient ruins.
On our first full day of the GEO we started our day with an orientation. Señora Viacava led us through some Spanish speaking skills and taught us more about Peruvian customs. Armed with a pamphlet of helpful Spanish phrases and a map of the town, we embarked on a scavenger hunt in groups of three. We were tasked with finding important spots in town such as the police station, the money exchange spot, and the train station. It was exciting to explore the town on our own and practice our Spanish. That evening, we played soccer with locals at the nearby park. After a delicious dinner of quinoa soup, rice, and chicken, we watched a documentary about Peru and settled in for a well-earned night of rest in our hostel.
Ella & Asante- Day 4
The following day, our tour guide, Fernando, toured us around the "graneros" in Ollantaytambo. Los graneros are ruins that are visible from our hostel and were once used by the Incas for food storage. We ascended mountains while learning about ancient Inca food storage systems and words in Quecha (the Incan language still spoken today) such as "haku" (let's go) and "treke" (trade). That evening, we finally met our host families. We were nervous but excited to get to know the families we'd spend the next two weeks with. Señora Fanny called our names one by one. We introduced ourselves and were met with warm embraces from our hosts. That night, we each went our new homes for dinner and our first over-night stay.
Tionbre & Ava- Day 5
The following morning we fueled up and ate breakfast at our homestays before gathering at another Incan ruins site in Ollantaytambo. We ascended the religious ruins level by level. Our lovely tour guide, Fernando, taught us about the different architecture techniques and materials used to construct each of structures. We learned about how water-proof clay mortar was created and how the Incans stacked stones differently depending on the superiority of the people using each structure. We also learned about the religious customs of the Incas and how this structure was used 500 years ago. We climbed higher and higher, admiring the view of Ollantaytambo and taking photos along the way. After our excursion, we dispersed to our homestays for lunch before regrouping for a ceramics lesson. We learned how to make a simple pot and used our hands to mold various dishes and figures. Asante created a clay model of a wave, while Ava created a mini surfer to go along with it. Ella molded a small clay cup and Kaysan worked on a bowl. After the lesson, we headed back to our home base, Tumy House, and played a few rounds of the game mafia; to end the night off, we returned to our homestays for dinner and to rest up before tomorrow’s hike. ¡Vamos a subir la montaña!
Quinn & Olivia- Day 6
Today the group, led once again by Fernando, scaled the Pumamarca mountain to reach our campsite for the night. We fueled up with a snack before lunch, and then enjoyed a delicious dinner at our campsite. Along the way we took part in a Quechuan tradition of offering coca leaves to the mountains and the Earth. When we arrived at the camp, we practiced our slingshot skills, pet Grincho the alpaca, and played lots of games, like fútbol and Uno. To end the night, we roasted marshmallows around a fire while enjoying the view of the stars. We are super excited to finish our hike and reach the Pumamarca mountains tomorrow.
Teddy & Leila- Day 7
On Friday morning we were awoken by Fernando and his rooster call at the ripe hour of 7 a.m. From there, we packed our bags and got ready to hike to the Pumamarca ruins after breakfast. We hiked for about 20 minutes through the steep mountainside by our campsite to finally reach the beautiful ruins. The views were incredible, and George even flew his drone around the ruins at a height of about 11,000 feet. From there, we returned to the campsite and had snacks provided to us by Pancho, which included everyone’s favorite fruit, the granadilla. We all said a said goodbye to our friend,Grincho the alpaca, and then we began our trek back to Ollantaytambo. Fernando took us in the opposite direction of where we had gone previously, and we were able to admire the view of the river along the path. We stopped for a brief soccer game at the local primary school. Asante’s team won 3-0. The hike continued, on a gravel road surrounded by enormous mountains. At 1:30 we ate a traditional Peruvian meal cooked by chefs from the Pumamarca campsite. We hiked for 90 more minutes until we parted ways and went to our separate homestays.
Kaysan & Abby- Day 8
Kaysan & Abby- Day 8
Today we each spent the morning with our host families. Each of us enjoyed well earned rest and spent some time washing our clothes from the past week. George enjoyed watching soccer with his host father, Pancho, and Kaysan enjoyed cooking with his host mother, Violeta. At 1:00 p.m., we all met at the Full Moon Lodge in Ollantaytambo and had "Pachamanca," a traditional Peruvian meal cooked under ground with blazing hot stones. After that, we returned to our homestays and went our separate ways until our Groton group meeting at 5:00 p.m. in Tumy Hous, where we shared our stories of eating snacks from town, working in an artisanal market with our host parents, or just taking a nap. We also answered a few reflections questions about our trip so far, like what we were grateful for and how we could improve our Spanish further. We are excited for tomorrow's celebration of Father's Day! We can't wait to get a chance to call home during our group meeting at 5:00 p.m.
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