Voladora: Peru Fights

There are many ways to visit Machu Picchu...This is how we like to do it!

Notes from the field from Peru:

07/26/2010
Saludos!

Today we left Pampallaqta, the community that has become our home over the last three weeks. We are both sad to leave all the wonderful relationships and experiences behind and also excited to travel to Lake Titicaca.

In our last few days in the community, we were able to reach our goal of finishing the roof of the community center – it looks terrific! The community was also very excited and held a ceremony to celebrate the completion. They decorated the entryway of the center with a big wreath and flowers, kind like a wedding trellis. They also placed the traditional symbol of a cross and two ceramic bowls on the apex of the roof for good luck. The cross had symbols of a sun, a hammer and chisel, a rooster, a ladder, and a flag of Peru and represents the workers and God. The two bowls on either side of the cross are painted with Incan symbols and designs. The combination of the cross and bowls represents the blending of two cultures represented in Peru: the Spanish and the Andean indigenous.

This past week, we also continued to go to the local school every day to teach English and basic computer skills and play with the students during recess. We loved being with he children but also realized how hard it can be to keep an elementary school classroom disciplined and on-task!

In the final days, we were challenged by the community to one last soccer game, U.S. vs. Peru, and lost miserably. We also taught some community members how to play ultimate frisbee. Our leaders Sam and Andy led us in an acro yoga workshop and we learned how to both “fly” ourselves and “fly” our group members. Some of us have been practicing these acro yoga moves on our own time as well.

Yesterday we celebrated our despedida or farewell from the community. The first part of it actually took place inside the community center. Most of the town was there, including our local contact Karina, our host families, and the mayor and other local leaders. As a token of appreciation, the group had created two big cards that said “thank you” in Quechua and Spanish. We had also prepared a few songs for the community, “Lean on Me” (the a cappella version) and “Every Little Thing is Gonna be Alright” by Bob Marley. Some of the group taught the community a Shakira dance to a song that has been on the radio constantly since we arrived. Everyone also had a chance to speak and share their experience with the community. After that, we all had lunch together, exchanged gifts with our host families, and finished the party dancing!

07/19/2010
Hello from Peru,

We continue to enjoy life here in our host community of Pampallaqta and the surrounding areas. Last weekend, we took a hike based out of the community to visit nearby Incan ruins. Throughout the hike, we were dwarfed by the snowcapped peaks towering above the Sacred Valley and have come to really appreciate the beauty that surrounds us. Later in the weekend, we settled in to watch the World Cup finals with Peruvian popcorn. The popcorn is made very similarly to popcorn at home but it was extra special because it was made from local corn that has much bigger kernels. The soccer fervor was apparent in our own community as well, and some of the community members challenged us to a game. Bolstered by some local talent, we won 5-0!

This past week we did a lot of work on the community center. We made 728 more adobe blocks by mixing the mud ourselves. Now, we are moving forward with the roof of the center and started raising the wooden trellises today. Our goal is to complete the roof by the end of the week.

We also began a secondary project with an elementary school in a neighboring community. They had invited us to come to their “sports day” on Thursday, and we spent the day playing games with the children. We played soccer and taught them games like tunnel tag and snake tag. They taught us their own favorite games as well. They also taught us a traditional dance, and we taught them the Macarena! Today the first group of our students returned to the school to start teaching English. Both our students and the school children are extremely excited about this! Teachers at the school have also asked us to help teach the children learn computer skills. The local municipality gifted the school with some heavy-duty children’s laptops, but the teachers don’t know how to use them. We will start these classes tomorrow.

On Saturday, the group went to Pisac, one of the three major cities of the Sacred Valley during the time of the Incan empire. The town was celebrating the Fiestas de Pisac in honor of the local patron saint. The members of the local communities were dressed in elaborate costumes and performed traditional dances. We also visited the Pisac ruins and were, once again, treated with spectacular views of the valley below. While at the ruins, we ran into Flavo, our guide from the Lares Valley trek! Saturday night, we stayed in Ollantaytambo, and the group was thrilled to take the first hot shower in weeks!

Before heading back to the community, we ate breakfast at Hearts Café, one of our favorite eating spots so far in Peru. The café is run by an NGO that supports work with children and women’s health issues in the communities surrounding Ollantaytambo.

07/12/2010
Hello from Peru!
We have returned from our amazing trek, and we are now in the midst of working hard in our homestay village.

The Lares Valley trek was challenging but amazing. Our guide, Flavio, was full of great knowledge about Incan history and spirituality, and he started our journey by making an offering of coca leaves to the spirits whose presence is still strongly felt in this regions. As we walked we were surrounded by stunning views of the Andes including waterfalls and canyons. We hardly saw any other people, just llamas. We soaked in hot springs. Our group hiked up to 15,675 feet to Sicllakasa pass, the highest point on the trek. Some of us found the trek very challenging, but everyone made it through.

On Day 4 of the trek we got up at 3:30 in the morning to make sure that we would be some of the first to enter Machu Picchu to climb Wima Picchu. We would have to say that Machu Picchu rates in our minds as the most amazing ruin in the ENTIRE WORLD! The quality of the stonework is genuinely not to be believed. We couldn’t fit pieces of paper in between massive stone blocks that must weigh several tons. A memorable moment was looking down on the city from Wima Picchu while the group’s leaders, Andy and Sam, “flew” everyone acro yoga style.

We descended from Machu Picchu only to find pizza waiting, another if not quite so spectacular highlight. After one well-earned day of rest we headed into our homestayes. Which is where we find ourselves now. The welcome party our community threw for us was awesome -- people greeted us on the street and showered us with flowers as we entered the village. We had a feast and a dance party and then headed off in pairs to our new homes. We were immediately impressed by how much the community members had done on our building project prior to our arrival. We have started our work and already the walls are head high. We’re all working very hard preparing dirt to make adobe blocks and laying bricks. Fortunately our blocks are quite a bit smaller than those at Machu Picchu and weigh a whole lot less. That’s it for now. More soon.

07/02/2010
Saludos desde Peru!

The group arrived into Cusco where our second leader Andy met us and immediately introduced us to the culture with a taste of granadilla (brain fruit), a local delicacy. We loved eating “brains!” Before heading to our orientation site, we took a stroll around the main plaza in Cusco and soaked in the beauty of this amazing city where indigenous and urban Peruvians, expats, and travelers mix against the stunning backdrop of the Andes Mountains.

We then hopped onto our bus to travel a few hours to Chacchapata where we settled into our hostel located on the family farm of our local contact Karina. We spent a bit of time exploring the farm and enjoying the animals (sheep, dogs, and cows) and then ate a hearty home-cooked meal of quinoa soup.

During our first full day there, we attended the Ollantay Raymi Festival. During this celebration, the indigenous groups from the mountains gather together at the Incan fortress in Ollantaytambo – hundreds of feet up a terraced mountainside – and act out the ancient Incan story of a prince trying to steal away a princess. They wear traditional costumes that they have made from handspun wool dyed with natural plant dyes, and at key parts of the story, they emerge like a blast of color as they dance out from behind the green terraces. It was absolutely breathtaking. The students had a chance learn and participate in some of these traditional dances accompanied by Andean flute and drum playing.

Later that day, the group hiked around the ancient ruins in Ollantaytambo where homes were made of huge stones transported from a mountain one hundred miles away. The Incans created waterways that travel for miles from the city up into the countryside. It has been amazing to be in the Sacred Valley.

The next day, we hiked from Karina’s farm to Pumamarca where the Incan military had their fortress. The military used to live deep in the mountains and created canals so that the snowmelt would travel down the valley to Ollantaytambo. During this hike, the group decided to take some time to quietly reflect on the trip so far. Surrounded by the distant sounds of the river below and the beautiful mountains of the Sacred Valley, the group spent time in solo meditation and commented that these moments were the icing on the cake of this spectacular day.

The following day, we went to a local primary school and spent time with the 4-6 year olds. We played “duck duck goose” and learned a local game in Quechua. In the afternoon, we traveled to a community with traditional weavers. They showed us the whole process of weaving, from the sheep to the loom. They even sheered a sheep to show us how the process begins! Then we saw how they make the dyes, spin the wool, and bring it to the loom.

Today we begin Lares Valley trek! The next time we write, we’ll have visited Machu Picchu.