My Class

Here's the 32 students I got to work with for a month! I had so much fun working with these kids! They threw a surprise party for me today because it was my last day of volunteering. They brought cake, drinks, and lots of snacky foods. It was very hard to leave the school today! I'm really going to miss all of them!

Pakchanta

This was a three day and two night backpacking trip to a small village called Pakchanta. Most of the people we encountered on this hike only spoke Quechua which is one of the original languages of Peru. I went with two other volunteers, a guide, two cooks, and three horses. It was spectacular!

Sunday's Adventures

The top three photos are in Ollantaytambo which is forty eight miles northwest of Cusco. More farming terraces like in Tipon. Very cool!

The two bottom pictures are in Moray which is forty two miles northwest of Cusco. More farming terraces, but these terraces are believed to be an experimental farming center for the Inca. They planted different crops on the different levels during different times of the year.

Saturday's Adventures

The top three pictures were taken in Pikillaqta which is 20 miles northeast of Cusco. It is a Pre-Incan city built of stone slabs and mud mortar. It is crazy to imagine people living there so long ago.

The two bottom pictures are in Tipon which is about 14 miles northeast of Cusco. Amazing site! This is an example of Inca farming terraces. There is also an irrigation system throughout these terraces. They were very intelligent people!

The Main Volunteer House

This is where the volunteers usually hang out! This is the Amauta Spanish School where volunteers eat, take Spanish classes, and just relax. The first volunteer house that I posted on my blog is Amauta 2 which is just where more volunteers can stay (it's also the house that I stay at).

Still Enjoying My Trip

Hey! I'm still enjoying my stay in Cusco, Peru and meeting lots of cool people. There are people from Holland, Germany, Korea, Brazil, France, Switzerland, and only a few Americans. It's pretty cool how we all get along and usually hang out with a different group every night for dinner.
Teaching has been a great experience as well! I've been helping the students a lot with math and also correcting their papers. It's probably weird for them to have an English speaking person correcting their Spanish, but I'm a lot better at reading and writing Spanish than speaking it so it works. The students are very curious about English and about my family. They are very smart and love to ask questions. The last couple days I've been talking more in Spanish and am kinda remembering some things from my classes in college. I need to stop worrying about trying to speak Spanish perfectly and just SPEAK! 
This weekend I might be going to some ruins in Sacred Valley and then go to Machu Picchu on my last weekend (saving the best for last). I'm sooo excited!
Hope all is well with everyone! Thanks for all your posts on my blog and for your prayers!  

All of Cusco

This is a view of Cusco from a church just above the volunteer house. Pretty spectacular! The top photo shows the main plaza with the two churches. I walk through the main plaza everyday to work.