Welcome to the first group of high schoolers! This Thursday the Pisac group packed up and headed over to Ollantaytambo where we met the high schoolers doing the Spanish Immersion program: Aidan, Alex, Arika, Peter, and Owen! During the program, the participants live with Peruvian host families for 5 days and attend 4 hours of Spanish class daily. Out of the interns, Grace also chose to participate in the program. Right when the high schoolers arrived we exchanged our hellos and they were escorted to the houses where they’d be living for the next few days. Later in the afternoon we all regrouped at our hostel to lead the high schoolers through orientation. After a couple hours of getting to know each other, the high schoolers (and Grace!) headed back to their host families to rest after a long day and get ready for their first day of classes!

While back at the hostel the interns had a relaxed day doing some lesson planning and other preparation for the weeks to come, those in the immersion program stayed quite busy! They woke up to breakfast made by their families and then went off to their first two hours of lessons. The lesson topics ranged depending on each student, some examples including basic vocabulary or preterite tense. Lunch time called for a yoga session for the interns, but for the rest they returned to their host families for another delicious homemade meal. Post lunch the high schoolers returned for two more hours of afternoon lessons before the interns came to pick them up for their first run in Peru! After the high schoolers finished their first run in Peru they were treated with some of Romeo’s core routine. The high schoolers returned to their host families for dinner while the interns enjoyed chifa for their second dinner in Ollantaytambo.

Saturday started with a morning long run for Isabel and Sarah. After interns finished their runs they hiked up to the ruins that were in perfect view of the hostel. The hike required a big lunch at the market before heading out to adventure around the town and explore the local stores. Later on some of the interns went for a second run while the high schoolers enjoyed their first run of the day. Once the crew returned from their runs, Sarah and Romeo had set up a strength circuit for the interns and high schoolers participated in. The group enjoyed a few rounds of the local Peruvian game of sapo after strength training. The night came to a close with the high schoolers returning to their home stays for dinner while the interns enjoyed another night dining out.