Posts from Buggy and Alex!


Yesterday we woke up in our hotel, Las Orquideas in Ollanta, around 5. Everyone ate some breakfast there (bread, yogurt, granola, juice, tea, and coffee) until it was time to leave and walk down the street to the train station. Inca Rail's slogan advertised a "mystic experience," which I can't really tell you much about because I was asleep for most of it. We did get to pass by the school in Pizca Cucho and see the mural which was pretty cool and Grace made sure to tell half the train that we were responsible for it. Once we got off the train, we took a 25 minute bus ride up to Machu Pichu. I'm pretty sure hiking was an option but no one was interested after the nine-hour one to Peruvian Shores. I'm sure plenty of people have said this, Machu Pichu was honestly one of the most incredible places I've ever been. We had a tour guide with a little green flag who Kennedy completely discredited after the tour was over, but we all liked his flag and the way he said "Did you know that you guys?" after every couple sentences. Also, couple of our lunches got confiscated on the way in, but everyone was cool and shared and we had a solid lunch in a spot out of view of the whistle-blowers. After we left, we took another train ride back and this time I got to drink some the the peach juice that I really hope is sold in the states because that stuff is seriously so good. Dinner was at a pizza place in the square where I've been told we ate seven, but I'm just going to say a ton. Morgan decided she wanted some cake afterward and led us sprinting to the nearest place. (To my father who constantly accuses me of exaggerating, she LITERALLY sprinted). Back at the hotel, we played sardines, kind of like Hide-and-Go-Seek except you hide with the people you find. Some of the hotel employees pitched in and made things even more fun. The night ended when we found Henry and Alex up on the roof, looked at the stars for a while, and then went to bed. All in all, it was a solid day.

-Buggy Stallings

Two days ago on Tuesday was our last day in Piscacucho. We started off by finishing up our service project at the school, which included painting the kitchen and bathrooms, cleaning up the plaster that was left over, and playing with the kids. Me and Henry then went and packed our bags back at our home stay and walked with Gil and Sarah back to the school for the Pachamanka with Maquise and Josue. The Pachamanka was sort of like a feast in which all of our families fixed food like guinea pig, beef, chicken, potatoes, and rice. The best part was when Beto, Adela's brother who we worked with at the school, brought Coke and Inca Cola. After the Pachamanka we said goodbye and took some pictures with our families and the kids. Then we went to the weaving community at Patakancha which is supported by Kennedy's NGO. We bought goods from them and then went back to Ollantaytambo. Once we got back we went to dinner and ate chicken or pasta which was pretty good. Then we all went back to the hotel we had stayed in the first day in Ollantaytambo and went to bed. - Alex

Greetings:

I heard it was 107 in Nashville.  Here I have on long pants and a long sleeve shirt over my short sleeve shirt because the north wind is making it quite chilly.  Overall the weather has been great.  It gets quite windy every afternoon for some reason.

Parents:  You can be very proud of your children.  We have the most cooperative bunch of students here.  They have been flexible, supportive of each other, hard working, into each program that they have attended, and taken their responsibilities very seriously.  They have done a fantastic job on the improving the school.  They have used their talents to bless others.  They have laughed together and gotten along so well.  There is not a "bad apple" in the bunch.  Thank you for sharing them with us.

I felt like a real Peruvian today.  When we broke from the school to return to our homes for lunch, my family was in the field picking squash.  Squash here is the shape and texture of a pumpkin.  The father (he's been at his job out of town up until now) was here as well as their two sons from Cusco, daughters-in-laws, and a couple of other workers.  I got to work side by side with them.  They would cut the squash from the stem and put two or three in a large bag to be carried up to the house.  I assume someone is going to come by and take them to market.  They laughed at me at first because I didn't have the technique down to carry the bags on my shoulders instead of my lower back.  I finally got it on the 4th or 5th bag and I told them in english, "I've got it!".  They didn't understand a word I said just as I don't understand any thing from them, but it was a great experience.

Happy Anniversary to Kathy tomorrow.  Thank you for putting up with me for 19 years.  I miss you and the kids very much.

See everyone on Saturday.

Greg Eubanks

So yesterday was Day 9 and it started off at Peruvian Shores, the hot springs we went to after our nine hour hike. We had pancakes with caramel drizzle for breakfast and they were really good. After that, we packed up our tents and all of our overnight clothes and got onto the bus that was going to take us to Ollanta. The ride was three hours long but we got sack lunches that had hard boiled eggs in them. The egg smell might have been what had made almost everyone feel carsick. Once we arrived in Ollanta, we had time to relax before our next activity, and so everyone sat in the shade and had gelato. Our activity was at Kennedy's office in Ollanta and we had to split ourselves up into three groups, the Presidents, Vice-Presidents, and Secretaries. In groups we had to sort through and organize ten cards that addressed different world wide issues that need to be solved, such as hunger, sanitations, economics problems, women's rights, etc. Each group had different ideas about what global issue was more important but as a whole we decided that Happiness would be the by-product when or if these issues were fixed.

 Right after that we went to dinner Puka Rumi for the second time on the trip and had "make your own burritos," which were delicious. We then played 20 Questions about people in the Ensworth community on the way back home to Piscacucho. Once in Piscacucho and after Sarah, Alex, Henry, and I had successfully finished our long trek back to our homestays, Sarah and I helped teach our dad and sister English before going to bed early.

Gil Green

Yesterday we spent the entire day hiking. We all woke up around 5 in the morning to catch our 6 o'clock bus. After our hour and a half bus ride we arrived at the beginning of the hike. There we met our 11 horses that were going to carry our stuff for us on the hike. We then began the 9 hour hike. The start of the hike was downhill and we all didn't think much of it, until we began the uphill part of the hike. We hiked uphill for 3 and a half hours, from 12,000 feet to 15,000 feet; a lot of us dealt with altitude sickness and headaches. When we finally reached the top we were all exhausted, but we still had 4 hours of downhill until we reached the hot springs. We stopped for a long lunch after about 30 minutes of downhill. From there we hiked about 3 and a half more hours. Finally we reached the hot springs right around sunset. We all set up our tents and then showered for the first time in about 4 days and got in the hot springs. We had spaghetti for dinner, although a few people went to sleep before dinner because it was so late and everyone was so tired. Although everyone was so glad we made it to the hot springs in one day instead of two.

-Grace