Peacemaking, Dancing, and Cultural Patrimony

Our week began with a lecture by noted scripture scholar Eduardo Arens. Arens, a Catholic priest and author of such books as The Bible without Myths and The Gospels Yesterday and Today, spoke with us about the challenge of active peacemaking in the context of Peru.

After that the SSTers put on their dancing shoes (or went barefoot) during our folkloric dance workshop with Pedro Farias, a professional dancer who introduced us to three Peruvian dances—one from the coast, one from the jungle, and one from the mountains.

On Tuesday we heard from Mariana Mold de Pease, an activist and historian who talked with us about the preservation of Peru´s cultural and historical heritage, particularly in the case of Machu Picchu. Her lecture was well timed: On Wednesday morning we boarded a plane for Cusco, the archeological capital of South America.

We are touring some amazing sites during our visit and we´re looking forward to a few days of service in nearby towns. We´ve got a busy schedule, including our visit to Machu Picchu next Tuesday. We´ll post much more—including photos from our trip—after we return to Lima next week. In the meantime, here are some pictures from the first part of our week.