Friday, May 6, 2011

26th-30th Day Adventures

Sorry I lost track of blog posts in Peru so I'll sum up the end of my trip. From Ollantaytambo we boarded a train to Aguas Calientes, the city around Machu Picchu. Machu Picchu was breathtaking. We were lucky that the sun came out and the clouds went away so we got to see the whole thing with nothing obstructing our view. We toured it for a few hours and there were so. Many. Stairs. I was dead by the time I left. The rest of our trip after that was spent in Cusco. Cecilia, Katie, and I had our big spa day that was the greatest day ever. I went to my first discoteca and had a great time!
On Saturday, everyone took a plane home but I didn't leave til the next day. All of their flights were around midnight. I was in my hotel, which was at the airport, at around 11 pm when I heard sirens and screaming. I look outside and I see more than 200 people running out of the airport. I was so scared! I tried calling the front desk but that didn't work. I tried calling Juan but that didn't work either. I didn't know Cecilia, Katie or Luke's phone numbers and I had no way of making sure they were ok. I ran down to the front desk to ask what happened. Miley Cyrus arrived...

25th Day Adventures

The grand opening of the library was today. We packed up our stuff and pulled down the tents then made our way over to the school around lunch time. For about 30 minutes we taught the kids English and played games with them. Then, it was time to feast. The villagers prepared us a huge meal of guinea pig, potatoes, vegetables, and chicken in about 7 different dishes. The guinea pig looked gross but I decided to actually give it a chance when I tried it. It tasted nothing at all like chicken and was not good.
After our incredibly long meal, we inaugurated the library. A bunch of different people made speeches in Spanish and then Nisty gave a short speech in English, thanking the villagers for allowing us to be there. The five of us kids then each put our hand on a hammer and together we smashed a clay pot hanging in the doorway. To all of our surprise it was filled with corn beer, chicha, and went all over us.
The beers were then brought and we served one beer to each adult in the village. After everyone had had their fill they started to dance. Shortly after that we had to leave and go to Ollantaytambo. It was sad to say goodbye to everyone and the kids.

24th Day Adventures

Today we finished up the roof to complete the building. I helped carry shingles down the hill to the school and hand them up to the people on the roof. There wasn't much to do except throw mud at the walls and throw clogs of dirt at the ground. It didn't take long til it was totally finished. Nothing else interesting really happened today.