Family Vacation

I had a wonderful vacation with my family.  I am so thankful that they were able to come.  It was great to show them where I live and my school.  And, of course, I loved going to all the ruins (we went to 11 ruins in 9 days!).

            Unfortunately, the plane that was supposed to get my family to Cusco on Friday October 26^th was canceled, so they had to spend a day in Lima, but thankfully they were able to (relatively) easily get here on Saturday morning.  Almost immediately after they arrived, I took my family to my host family’s house where Fortunata had bought a cake and made her special buttery hot chocolate.  Ricardo, Fortunata, Chaska, Mariska, my mom, dad, Matthew, and I all sat around the table and they sang happy birthday to Matthew and me.  I was excited that Matthew was able to experience a Peruvian birthday - complete with taking a bite out of the whole cake.  He was only slightly mortified given that he was so tired.  I was thrilled that my dad was able to easily converse with my host family and ask them questions (and understand the answers) that I haven’t been able to ask because of my limited vocabulary.  After cake and hot chocolate, I showed everyone my room and my parents marveled at the view of the mountains from the patio.  Then, my dad and I walked around the market while my mom and Matthew took naps.

            I am not going to go through all of the minute details of our trip, but I will highlight some of my favorite parts.

            On Sunday, we went to Moray, which is an Incan ruin consisting of circular terraces used as an agricultural laboratory by the Incas.  It was beautiful, even though I was terrified by the “flying staircases” which were just rocks protruding from the terraces - only connected at one side and very narrow - so that you could walk from terrace to terrace.  We also went to Salineras, which is a salt mine that has been working and being used for hundreds of years.

            On Monday, we went to my school where we were able to watch my teacher teach for about half an hour and then read to the kids during their recess for half an hour.  We brought lots of books to the school and it was fun to see how excited the kids were to look at the books.  Thanks to everyone that helped my parents buy these books and games to give to my school.  What a wonderful gift for the kids and me!  My parents brought an entire suitcase full of books, puzzles, games, and lined paper of which I am going to bring in a little of each day to my school.  After visiting my school, we went back to my house thinking we would just pick up my suitcase, but Fortunata served us papaya juice and, after my dad gave her a couple of flashlights as a gift, she brought down from her room several gifts for my family.  I was shocked by this kind action.  We spent the next hour talking with her and Ricardo - it was so nice to be with my family and my host family.

            Tuesday was Matthew’s birthday and we climbed the beautiful ruins at Ollantaytambo.  Then we were of on the Peru Rail train to Aguas Calientes, which is an awful, ugly, overpriced town.  Matthew said it was the Wisconsin Dells of Peru, while my dad compared it to Las Vegas.  It’s only redeeming value is that it is the entry point to Machu Picchu.  And that definitely made up for it.  We spent the day Wednesday hiking around the beautiful Machu Picchu, which my Mom described in her blog post.

            Something that always strikes me about the ruins we visit is that they are even better than the pictures.  Other places that I have visited, I have seen beautiful pictures before going and then been disappointed when I got there - that has not yet happened in Peru.  And there are some beautiful pictures of these ruins, especially Machu Picchu, but they do not live up to what you see in real life!

            Thursday, we walked around Ollantaytambo, an Incan city, and then headed for Cusco.  Friday was a big ruin day - we went to six!  We got a taxi that took us to each ruin (Tambomachay, Puca Pucara, Q’enqo, Sacsaywuaman, Pikillakta, and Tipon) and waited for us while we hiked around.  It was a long day - 9:30 am to 5:30 pm - but it was definitely worth it!  It was cool to see the differences between the ruins.  Especially because we went to a pre-Incan ruin, Pikillakta, dating between 500 and 900 A.D. and the rest were from between about 1300 and 1500 A.D. and from the Incan empire.

            Saturday, we went to Chinchero - a city close to Cusco - where we were able to go to an award celebration for weavers from more than 10 different communities at the Center for Traditional Textiles.  We met Nilda who started the organization, which helps promote and teach traditional weaving so that the local art can continue.  We had a big lunch with the artisans of lamb soup, chicken, potatoes, and a beat salad and did lots of shopping.  Then we went to the Chinchero ruins where we were able to go into a Spanish church that had been built on top of Incan terraces.

            Sunday was our shopping day!  My mom and I did so much shopping at various markets in Cusco we felt like our feet were going to fall off by the end of the day and our heads were going to explode from all the bargaining, but it was really fun!  We also went to the Koricancha, which is the sun temple of the Incas that the Spanish built the Santo Domingo church over.  The Inca walls were revealed after a 1950 earth quake when some of the Spanish walls crumbled.

            Monday morning we got up early, had breakfast, and said goodbye.  My family had an easy flight to Lima and I had an easy bus trip back to Pisac.  It is nice to be back in Pisac and I was given a very warm welcome with big hugs from Fortunata and Ricardo.  Both Fortunata and Ricardo made sure to remind me that the election is Tuesday and ask if I had voted - I assured them that I had sent in my ballot for Obama and they were relieved, but still nervous - as am I.  Fingers crossed for Tuesday!  I rested this morning and had Spanish classes in the afternoon.  It poured all afternoon and night on Monday, which is very lucky given that there were only two days that it lightly rained for a couple hours while my family was here - we had beautiful weather!

            And Tuesday morning I went back to my normal schedule.  I am so glad my family was able to come and visit and I can’t believe that I have now passed my halfway point of being in Peru.  I only have seven weeks left - and I still have so much to do!
           Now go vote if you have not yet!  I am hoping my ballot actually gets to the U.S.