Tuesday marked exactly one month since we arrived in Pisac. Just as we have started to develop consistent daily and weekly routines, we now find ourselves in a time of transitions. On Tuesday morning, half of our intern group plus Tyler left for the Spanish Immersion Program in Ollantaytambo. Paul, Lindsay, Sarah, and Catriona will be studying intensely over the next several days to improve their Spanish skills while Addy, Kate, Alie, Aleza, and Scott remain in Pisac with Alejandro to continue our service work. This week has been more low-key and relaxing, and we are planning a weekend getaway in anticipation of Sunday, when the rest of the interns return and, of course, the high schoolers arrive.

Classes have remained more or less the same at Divino – Kate and Scott are teaching one class a day this week as are Aleza and Addy. Alie is playing the role of the floater, helping with whoever needs her on any given day. At this point in the trip, we know most of the Divino students quite well, which is one of the most rewarding aspects of the program. Not only is it easier to cater our lesson plans to various classes’ ability levels, but we are also interacting on a very personal level with the students – even when we see them outside of school!

The Strive Center classes have been quite different the past few days, as we have had to compensate for missing almost half of our teachers. Larissa has been there every day this week to help out where she can, and Alejandro stepped in to tutor a fairly advanced student 1 on 1 as well. We have been getting a consistent turnout of about fifteen kids, which is a manageable amount for the five of us plus Larissa and Alejandro. It’s great to see the same kids coming every single day – and even showing up ten or fifteen minutes early, eager to learn!

This evening (pending no flight delays), Melanie will arrive in Pisac and finally round out our intern group. The rest of us will have a couple of days to get her caught up on life in Pisac and Strive basics before Sunday, when the biggest transition of the summer will take place. Once the high schoolers arrive, our roles will change and we will take on much more responsibility as mentors and leaders. This is a challenge we are all looking forward to!

Before that, however, we are planning a mini retreat on Saturday night to escape from the madness that will be the Virgen del Carmen Festival here in Pisac (think music, cannons, and rowdy Peruvians 24 hours a day). We found a beautiful house on a hillside outside of Calca that we are renting for the night (at a very reasonable price). As Addy put it, “We are pampering ourselves” with hot showers, an oven, and other amenities that our hostel does not (always) have. We plan to do our long runs on Saturday morning, and then ditch Pisac for the quiet countryside. More on that experience will certainly be detailed in the next post.

For now, saludos desde Peru!
Scott