In April of 2019, 15 nervous Spanish students and five tired chaperones arrived in the dry, warm air of Lima, Peru. They spent the night in a comfortable B&B, then continued on their long airplane journey to Cusco. After traveling for over a day total, the students arrived, exhausted, in Cusco. I was one of those students. We spent Saturday resting and getting to know our host families. We would be spending the next two weeks living with a Peruvian family and our chosen roommate. Sunday was visiting Cusco, and resting more, hoping that we wouldn’t get altitude sickness.
On Monday, we started our classes and volunteering. After being separated into groups of five or six at the Spanish school, we began learning tricky Spanish word forms, such as the imperative tense. After two classes with different teachers and one snack break to explore the streets, we set off to eat lunch with our host families. Then we continued on to volunteering. The kids at my project, San Nicolas Urraca, were loving and playful. They enjoyed American games such as Spot It, and also enjoyed teaching us games such as Plic-Plac, the Peruvian version of Hopscotch. Twice, we enjoyed going to a nearby playground, where the kids would enjoy colorful slides from dizzying heights, and bouncing around on the trampolines. The following weekend, we visited Machu Picchu, and hiked the nearby summit Huayna Picchu. Machu Picchu was fascinating, filled with interesting ruins and misty fog. Later, we started to climb Huayna Picchu. It was a much shorter hike than i thought, only an hour each way, but dangerously slippery and steep. At one point, we had to crawl up a set of stone steps! Fortunately, we also arrived safely at the top, which presented an amazing view of the Urubamba River and Machu Picchu. After stumbling back down, we checked out of our Aguascalientes hotel and headed back on the train to Ollantaytambo. It was exhausting, but it was worth it! The rest of the week whipped by with Spanish school, volunteering, and HOMEWORK!!! Soon, we were saying goodbye to kids at the project for the last time. After assuring them that we would definitely return in the future, we said our final goodbyes and left them with heavy hearts. We flew back to the US full of new Spanish vocabulary, pictures from the kids at the project, and new appreciation for our privileged lives in America. It was definitely a once-in-a-lifetime experience In April of 2019, 15 nervous Spanish students and five tired chaperones arrived in the dry, warm air of Lima, Peru. They spent the night in a comfortable B&B, then continued on their long airplane journey to Cusco. After traveling for over a day total, the students arrived, exhausted, in Cusco. I was one of those students. We spent Saturday resting and getting to know our host families. We would be spending the next two weeks living with a Peruvian family and our chosen roommate. Sunday was visiting Cusco, and resting more, hoping that we wouldn’t get altitude sickness. On Monday, we started our classes and volunteering. After being separated into groups of five or six at the Spanish school, we began learning tricky Spanish word forms, such as the imperative tense. After two classes with different teachers and one snack break to explore the streets, we set off to eat lunch with our host families. Then we continued on to volunteering. The kids at my project, San Nicolas Urraca, were loving and playful. They enjoyed American games such as Spot It, and also enjoyed teaching us games such as Plic-Plac, the Peruvian version of Hopscotch. Twice, we enjoyed going to a nearby playground, where the kids would enjoy colorful slides from dizzying heights, and bouncing around on the trampolines. The following weekend, we visited Machu Picchu, and hiked the nearby summit Huayna Picchu. Machu Picchu was fascinating, filled with interesting ruins and misty fog. Later, we started to climb Huayna Picchu. It was a much shorter hike than i thought, only an hour each way, but dangerously slippery and steep. At one point, we had to crawl up a set of stone steps! Fortunately, we also arrived safely at the top, which presented an amazing view of the Urubamba River and Machu Picchu. After stumbling back down, we checked out of our Aguascalientes hotel and headed back on the train to Ollantaytambo. It was exhausting, but it was worth it! The rest of the week whipped by with Spanish school, volunteering, and HOMEWORK!!! Soon, we were saying goodbye to kids at the project for the last time. After assuring them that we would definitely return in the future, we said our final goodbyes and left them with heavy hearts. We flew back to the US full of new Spanish vocabulary, pictures from the kids at the project, and new appreciation for our privileged lives in America. It was definitely a once-in-a-lifetime experience In April of 2019, 15 nervous Spanish students and five tired chaperones arrived in the dry, warm air of Lima, Peru. They spent the night in a comfortable B&B, then continued on their long airplane journey to Cusco. After traveling for over a day total, the students arrived, exhausted, in Cusco. I was one of those students. We spent Saturday resting and getting to know our host families. We would be spending the next two weeks living with a Peruvian family and our chosen roommate. Sunday was visiting Cusco, and resting more, hoping that we wouldn’t get altitude sickness. On Monday, we started our classes and volunteering. After being separated into groups of five or six at the Spanish school, we began learning tricky Spanish word forms, such as the imperative tense. After two classes with different teachers and one snack break to explore the streets, we set off to eat lunch with our host families. Then we continued on to volunteering. The kids at my project, San Nicolas Urraca, were loving and playful. They enjoyed American games such as Spot It, and also enjoyed teaching us games such as Plic-Plac, the Peruvian version of Hopscotch. Twice, we enjoyed going to a nearby playground, where the kids would enjoy colorful slides from dizzying heights, and bouncing around on the trampolines. The following weekend, we visited Machu Picchu, and hiked the nearby summit Huayna Picchu. Machu Picchu was fascinating, filled with interesting ruins and misty fog. Later, we started to climb Huayna Picchu. It was a much shorter hike than i thought, only an hour each way, but dangerously slippery and steep. At one point, we had to crawl up a set of stone steps! Fortunately, we also arrived safely at the top, which presented an amazing view of the Urubamba River and Machu Picchu. After stumbling back down, we checked out of our Aguascalientes hotel and headed back on the train to Ollantaytambo. It was exhausting, but it was worth it! The rest of the week whipped by with Spanish school, volunteering, and HOMEWORK!!! Soon, we were saying goodbye to kids at the project for the last time. After assuring them that we would definitely return in the future, we said our final goodbyes and left them with heavy hearts. We flew back to the US full of new Spanish vocabulary, pictures from the kids at the project, and new appreciation for our privileged lives in America. It was definitely a once-in-a-lifetime experience
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