During our first week in Peru’s capital we began learning about local criollo culture. Celia Vasquez, our study coordinator, described Limeno greetings, habits and cuisine. James Plunkett, an American businessman who migrated here 48 years ago, taught us about Peruvian politics and economics. Father Eduardo Arens spoke about Jesus’…
We returned to Peru’s capital after our time of study, service and travel in the Andes and were greeted by Celia, our study coordinator, Alicia, our program assistant, and twenty-one eager host families. We introduced the students to their new family members, shared coffee and sandwiches, and snapped photos before…
Machu Picchu is one of the “New 7 Wonders of the World,” a list that includes the Great Wall (China), Petra (Jordan), Christ the Redeemer (Brazil), Chichen Itza (Mexico), the Colosseum (Italy) and the Taj Majal (India). Scholars believe that Machu Picchu (“Old Mountain” in Quechua) was a refuge…
The Inca culture is known worldwide for its epic architecture. Temples, palaces and fortresses were assembled from massive stones cut from nearby quarries and fitted together like a puzzle. We visited two classic examples: Sacsayhuaman and Ollantaytambo. Sacsayhuaman is a huge complex perched on a hill overlooking the city…
Our theme this semester is, “A Changing World; A Changing Peru”. In order to appreciate where Peru is going, we need to know where it has been. If we had a time machine we could travel back to the era before the Spanish Conquest to see how Andean people…
There are many ways to gain understanding of a culture — lectures, workshops, service projects and learning tours. Juan Carlos returned for a second time to teach us more about Andean spirituality. Catarina, an agronomy professor at San Antonio Abad National University in Cusco, described the political, social and…
Happy Mother’s Day! Feliz Dia de La Madre! Mother’s Day is an important holiday in Latin America and the students surprised each host mother with a rose and hand-made card to celebrate the occasion. Our Peruvian host mothers want to say thank you to all the North American mothers…
Every culture must find a way to feed and clothe its members. During our time in the Andes we have tasted many dishes and observed how people protect themselves from the elements. To learn more, we took a day-trip to the town of Chinchero and a nearby archaeological site…
We began our first full week in Peru with lectures, workshops and language classes. Pastor Celestino welcomed us to the church where our classes are held and spoke about the history of the Mennonite Church in Peru. He recounted the experiences of missionaries in the 1980s as they overcame…
Our second day of orientation took place in the city of San Jeronimo, nestled high in the Andes Mountains. We first flew to Cusco, then took a bus to the San Jeronimo Albergue, a retreat center owned by the Peruvian teachers’ union that hosts educational groups such as ours. …
