following the water truck Just 50 years ago, Lima’s population was close to 1 million. Today the greater metro area is approximately 8.5 million, or nearly one in three Peruvians. The stories behind that spectacular growth are sometimes tragic: earthquakes and floods that decimated communities drove people…
high above the Urubamba Valley The Urubamaba Valley is just to the north of Cusco, and it’s perhaps better known as the Sacred Valley of the Incas. We spent several days visiting the towns and archeological sites in this area. First up was the small…
at Tipon Just outside Cusco are several interesting places from very different eras that we were able to explore during our visit. We started at Tipon, a 500-acre complex of hillside farming terraces and water channels carved in stone that the Incas took control of and developed…
too many rocks + mud = a sticky situation We took some time to get to know the Cusco area though two service projects. We spent last Friday in the small town of Huacarpay helping move rocks for the Cutípa family, which is still rebuilding a wall…
Salvador shows us around town Our week of travel started in the Andean city of Cusco, a UNESCO world heritage site that is considered Latin America’s archeological capital. By the 15th century Cusco was at the height of its importance as the capital of the Inca Empire,…
Our visit to Machu Picchu coincided with two interesting anniversaries. First, 2011 is the centennial of Yale University professor (and later U.S. senator) Hiram Bingham’s discovery of the so-called “Lost City” (we learned that Machu Picchu was far from lost to the locals, and even appeared on a…
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…
on the tightrope Our service this week was at Casa Hogar Juan Pablo II, an orphanage south of Lima that is home to 64 children. A mission of the Catholic Diocese of La Crosse, Wisconsin, Casa Hogar receives all its funding from U.S. donors and follows…
at the top On Friday an hour-long bus ride delivered us from the concrete and noise of Lima to the small, rural village of Quebrada Verde in the coastal mountains in the district of Pachacamac. During the humid winter months, the “verde” in the village’s name makes…
Tim’s host mom, Eliana, is an artisan who specializes in creating jewelry from natural materials. She came to talk with us a little about her work, and then she introduced us to some of the types of seeds from the Peruvian jungle she uses to create items, including pona, wawa,…
