Hey all – the Collegiate Gang’s here – Luke, Will, and Andrew!

 

Last Sunday we began our hike of the Pisac ruins overlooking the town. We traversed the mountain side for two hours, covering switchbacks and the ancient Incan terraces. As we climbed, the Sacred Valley opened up in a vast panorama with dramatic backdrops and scenery. The dust kicked up by our feet glistened in the morning sun. We ascended to the main complex of ruins and continued our explorations in small groups. Among the impressive relics of the Incas perhaps the most spectacular were the aqueducts which continue to function to this day. After our descent we enjoyed the lively Sunday market of Pisac.

 

The next few days we finished our teaching at the local school, while enjoying the scenery of Pisaq on our morning and afternoon runs. Thursday we labored in the sun in one of STRIVE’s most ambitious projects clearing: the overgrown track at the local school.  With pick-axes, shovels, rakes, and fire we attacked the vegetation with no mercy. Despite our efforts, after seven hours of work there remained sections of the track still overgrown, but signs of improvement were evident. We took an intermission from our hard labor on Friday to venture to Cusco to aid a center for young children. On Saturday we returned to our labor in Pisaq again with our project of remodeling an abandoned building next to the track with the hopes of it becoming a future STRIVE center. Although the color scheme was questionable we made immense progress and hope that the room becomes a center for the children of the community. Today we learned a lot about our STRIVE mates as we witnessed two of our peers kill guinea pigs with their bare hands which we would later eat. After a visit to a local ruin site in the city of Calca we returned to the guinea pig farm and feasted upon the Peruvian delicacy enjoying not only meat but also brains, livers, and lungs.