A wonderful experience

        As we get ready to finish our stay in Peru, I can think of the many wonderful moments we have had these days, both in Lima and now in Cusco. And how privileged we are to enjoy what nature and culture have created in this country.  The beauty of nature, the beauty of the culture. But at the same time, we have been able to learn so much.  Learn from each other in the group, learn from the presenters, learn from the different people we have met, learn from the many places we have visited.  School leadership, geography, school life, government role, wealth, poverty, coastal malls, Andean valleys, the variety of topics, knowledge, and of course the food!  And with them the many contrasts that make Peru an amazing place. As one of our group members put it, this trip has led "to experiences that I will never have again."
     
        During our last days in Peru, we have had a chance to visit one of the new Seven Wonders of the World--Machu Picchu.  In prior postings, you have had a taste of this magnificent Inka site, both through the narrative of the group members as well as through their eyes--and their cameras--capturing every single angle that can just start to communicate to you the beauty of this place. Similarly, the ruins of the sacred place of Sacsayhuaman, just outside the city of Cusco. As thrilling, yet in a different dimension, the Spanish legacy in the city, with its layout, its churches, and what it meant--the destruction of any reminder of the Inka culture and the further humiliation of building on top of sacred places. All in all, a coexistence of two worlds--or more.

       --Oscar A. Aliaga

Cusco peasants with llamas.

Stephanie and Ashley enjoying the handcraft market.

Church tower with the city in the background.

The Peruvian cuisine. Eating at a modern restaurant with original Inka walls. Ashley, LaRhondolyn, Deborah, Stephanie, and Meredith.

Another example of the mixture of Inka and Spanish structures.

The street leading to the traditional Cusco section of San Blas.

A typical street in the historic center of Cusco.

LaRhondolyn with the Card symbol next to the Archbishop's house.

Peasant woman and child, in Cusco.

A panoramic view of one of Cusco's jewels--Qoricancha, and the Iglesia de Santo Domingo complex.

Sarah in Sacsayhuaman.