We have safely returned from a busy week of travels in Cusco, the Sacred Valley, and Machu Picchu. On Friday the students departed for their service locations on overnight buses. By Saturday they had all arrived at the homes of their new host families. The Blog entries will pick up again, starting with the students’ last days in Lima, and then continue with entries for the week of traveling on the road to Machu Picchu.
On the afternoon of June 4 we had an optional field trip for students who wanted to see a traditional Andean dance with scissors that will later be featured in Yawar Fiesta, a famous Peruvian novel the students will read while on service.
On Thursday the students prepared in Spanish classes for a despedida party to bid farewell to the Lima host families and thank them for 5 weeks of loving care. Originally anxious, 5 weeks ago, about being adopted into new families, the students now expressed reluctance at having to depart those whom they have grown close to, and soon beginning a new chapter with yet unknown families.
On our optional trip to see Andean dancing an regional group warms up outside the arena.Performers from the Ayacucho region must keep a pair of scissors clanging while they dance.Dancers compete against each other with a variety of acrobatic maneuvers.Christy and Hans enjoy a traditional “pachamanca,” cooked underground with hot rocks.Later we listened to Quechua musicians playing Huayno music, …… while a lady and a horse danced, …… and the final act was bullfights (but where the goal was not to kill the bull).Caleb and Alia serve chicha morada for the Thursday night despedida for host families.Each student brought and served the food to their host family.Meredith and Anja with Meredith’s host family.A traditional dance from the Peruvian jungle.Our Spanish teachers sang a song.Later, a dance from the coast of Peru.Families applauding student performances.Ana’s Spanish class performed an act.Then Irene’s class did a dance.The most popular performance was from Moise’s class, a skit about the students’ daily bus rides.Every semester the host parents of Joshua dance for this event …… but this year their host son had been to practices and danced in place of the father.The final performance was a hymn sung by the students.After the performances a dance instructor invited everyone to get up …… and dance with abandon.Young and old alike joined in.
