Wow, so much has happened in the last 5 days! I’ll just start by saying that I got over the altitude sickness pretty much the next day. I woke up feeling better- a full night’s sleep was exactly what I needed. Since then, I’ve been able to enjoy these all-important first days here, some of which have been kind of overwhelming, and others absolutely incredible.
On the 17th most of the other members of the program arrived, and we were slowly introduced. I think we have a great group (all 9 of us), and we all seem to get along very well. It occurred to me the other day while I was talking with the other student who is living with me, that we’re all not only going to be learning about Peruvian and Cusqueñan culture, but also about the culture that each of us comes from, since we’re from all over the U.S., including New Jersey, California, the Chicago area, Texas, Wisconsin (obviously), and others. It’s been really fun getting to know everyone.
On the 18th we had our orientation to the program, led by Eliza, our ProWorld site coordinator, which was pretty short, but informative. We got folders full of information about various things, one of the coolest of which is a listing of the various internships we can choose to participate in while we’re here in addition to taking classes and traveling, etc. There are a few that I’m definitely interested in- but I have to investigate a little further before I make any decisions. All of them sound very rewarding, so it will be hard to choose.
After orientation Eliza led us from the hotel where we stayed overnight to the Plaza de Armas, which is a huge cobblestoned center packed with tourists and Cusqueñans alike, with different shops, retaurants, café’s, and so many other things to do that you can’t take it all in at once. There’s a huge fountain in the center and two very old Churches (I forget their names), and lots of side streets to explore.
We stopped and waited for the trolley to arrive- we were going on a trolley tour of Cusco city. The trolley itself was old and wooden on the inside, and there were historical photographs of Cusco hanging on the interior walls. The tour took us all the way up to Sacsayhuaman, a site of Inca ruins that sits above Cusco city on one of the surrounding mountainsides. We didn’t go into the site, but I know it’s on our schedule to go back there and actually enter and explore it a bit. Just the drive past it was enough to amaze me- it’s beautiful.
After the tour we went out to lunch as a group and then headed back to the hotel where we waited for our host families to come and pick us up. My housemate, Becca, and I met our host mother Nancy, and then grabbed our things and headed home with her. She is very kind and caring, and she told us that she’s been hosting students from ProWorld for 5 years now, and guessed that she’s had about 30 of them, counting us. Her son, Oscar (who they call Oskitar because he’s Oscar Jr.) is 13 and very shy, but he’s slowly warming up to us as we get to know him and learn how to live with his family. Nancy’s husband, Oscar, isn’t home much because of his job, though we’ve met him a few times and he seems very friendly. Their house is small, but cozy- it’s really very nice- and they seem to be a very laid-back kind of family. I’m very happy to be living with them for the next four months.
On the 19th (Friday) we had our academic orientation to the CBC (Centro Bartolomé de Las Casas) where I and three other students from the ProWorld program will be taking classes entirely in Spanish. The rest of the group is taking classes at USIL (Universidad de San Ignacio de Loyola) where all the classes except for Spanish class are taught in English. We met all four of our professors for each of the four classes we will be taking (Development, Art and History of Peru, Intensive Spanish, and Politics of Latin America) and let’s just say that I cannot wait for classes to begin! I don’t have long to wait now because they actually start tomorrow. Becca and I got lucky because we’re within walking distance of both of the schools- it’s maybe a 10-15 minute walk- which is nice because then we don’t have to spend as much on bus fare or taxis.
We’ve also gotten a taste of the night life here in Cusco- some of us from the group met up on Friday and Saturday night and investigated some local bars (though I didn’t have anything to drink) and discotecas, which ended up being really fun.
Today we took a guided tour to Moray another site of Incan ruins, and to Salineras, where Andean farmers still use pre-Incan methods to harvest salt from the water that flows down out of the mountains, and which contains 80% salinity.
The city is a bit overwhelming for me at this point. I’m not really used to so many people all at once moving so quickly from place to place. It’s going to take some time to adapt to the rhythm of Cusco, but I feel pretty confident that I’ll catch on. I’m sorry there aren’t any photos to go along with this post- I totally forgot to upload them onto my computer before I came to the ProWorld office to use the internet. Next time, for sure.
And now I just need to do the homework for my first Spanish class at 3:10pm tomorrow (yes, we have homework already), and then hopefully get to bed earlier than the last few nights.
Cusco is beautiful. I’m so happy to be here.
Caitlin
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