Fellow STRIVErs, friends, and family members. Greetings! Intern Riley here. It’s a beautiful, brisk evening here in Ollantaytambo – I’m sitting in a terrific little cafe called “La Esquina” (“The Corner”) in the main square watching the sun set behind the hillside ruins as I type. In any case, after several days of traveling and acclimatization, the first batch of eight STRIVE students, interns, and group leaders have settled into the Sacred Valley and kick-started the week-long Spanish Immersion Program. Homestays and Spanish lessons with the Awamaki Language school are well under way and apart from a few minor hitches, we’re relishing every minute.

Kyler, Malcolm, Laurel, Tyler, Rob, Craig, Olivia, and I add only a few more gringo and gringa faces to an already curious mix of locals and foreigners. There is no doubt, however, that even amidst a constant stream of tourists and trucks (one of the only routes out of the Sacred Valley into the northern jungles passes through Ollanta’s narrow alleyways), this ancient Incan town retains both its quaint charm and sense of tradition – not to mention the breathtaking beauty of the Andes on our back doorstep. Indigenous peoples dressed in splendidly woven and dyed ponchos make hikes anywhere from two to eight hours long from high mountain communities to peddle their wares and fresh produce at the market place. Local Peruvians and ex-pats alike color the shop-fronts and residential neighborhoods – all of which are built directly on top of or in the shadow of Incan stonework – with music, vigorous haggling, street futbol, and general merriment. The rest of the population is filled in by a constantly shifting demographic of Western and Asian visitors who are drawn by the very characteristics they have inadvertently accentuated just by being here – a mix of old and new traditions, foreign and local cultures, all layered on top of an underlying natural and historical majesty. Never before has so small a place inspired so much thought, wonder, or consideration of what it truly means to call it home.