Highlands Travels to Peru for Art, Culture, and Community Service

 

After two years of planning and fundraising, 43 travelers including 33 students, 6 teacher chaperones and 4 adult family members traveled to Peru for 9 days on an EF tour of art, culture and community service from June 17-25. We toured the cities of Lima and Cusco as well as the Sacred Valley where we visited Machu Picchu and participated in a service learning project. 

 

We began our experience with a city tour of the capital Lima that included stops at the Parque de Amor and Parque Kennedy (Parque de Gatos) where we had a delicious lunch including Peruvian ceviche, fresh tropical juices, and Inca Cola. After lunch, we visited the Plaza Mayor where the Government Place is located, the Franciscan Monastery with a tour of the catacombs, and the Museo Larco to learn about pre-Incan weaving, mining, and ceramics. The next day, we traveled to Cusco for an Italian-Andean lunch, where some of us tried guinea pig (cuy) pasta and alpaca steak. In the afternoon, we learned about pre-Incan ceramics in the Sacred Valley and painted our own tile with the acclaimed artist Pablo Seminario, who exhibits his work around the world, including the Smithsonian in Washington, D.C. 

 

One of the highlights of our trip was a guided tour of the UNESCO World Heritage site of Machu Picchu, where we learned various theories about its purpose, antiseismic architecture, an advanced drainage system to prevent erosion, multi-layered terraces for farming, and religious ceremonies. Many students enjoyed shopping and eating in the quaint town of Machu Picchu Pueblo, while others played soccer at the stadium with local children.

 

We then traveled to a remote rural village called Huilloc situated at more than 12,000 feet for our community service project. We worked with the non-profit Awamaki and supported a women’s weaving cooperative to build an artisanal center. The women greeted us with a necklace of flowers, muña (Andean mint) tea, and quinoa soup. Our students worked alongside the women, children, and a foreman in a human chain to pass rocks down hill to build the walls of the structure while others carried bags of sand and gravel uphill to mix concrete. We were scheduled to stop working before lunch on the second day, but the students insisted we continue after lunch to finish what we started. 

 

While in Huilloc, we also had the opportunity to support the women by buying their weaving wares at a fair trade price and share with the children some fruit and bread purchased at the local market that morning. Our Highlands students loved practicing their Spanish and playing with the local children. The community experience in Huilloc was eye-opening, challenging, and meaningful for all. 

 

After working hard in the community during the day, some students mustered the energy in the evening to play volleyball and soccer with the locals in Ollantaytambo where we stayed for several days. Mrs. Yoder also led a small group of students one morning to tour the local ruins while in Ollantaytambo. Then we started our journey back home with a stop at Pisac Market near Cusco for shopping where many bought baby alpaca sweaters and hats, silver jewelry, flutes, and more. We also tried guinea pig as it is traditionally prepared accompanied by one of the 4,000 varieties of potatoes available in Peru and a popular purple corn drink called chicha. 

 

We continued on to Cusco for a guided tour of the Sacsayhuaman Fortress and experienced the Inti Raymi (winter solstice Festival of the Sun) with parades and celebrations. Our final night in Peru was unforgettable with salsa dancing, a chocolate museum tour, parades in the Plaza Mayor, and dinner at a Peruvian steakhouse where many ate alpaca meat. We spent the next two days traveling by plane from Cusco to Lima to Miami to Pittsburgh. 

 

We extend our deepest gratitude to our exceptional EF Peruvian Tour Directors Geraldine Coll Cardenas and Giscard Condori for their expertise, flexibility, humor, and compassion and our EF Experience Specialist Bailey DeTesta who prepared us for travel. A special shout out to our supportive teacher chaperones and adult family members on tour as well as our remarkable students and their families who embraced this life-changing experience.

 

We would also like to thank our sponsors whose generous support enabled us to transport our group to the airport and to print t-shirts beautifully designed by Natalie Dickerson. 

 

Pitt Specialty Supply, Inc.  

Tarentum Area Lions Club 

Rhoads Orthodontic Specialist 

Sunoco - Freeport Road 

Lovely Loomz by Lishh 

Fazio's Pizza and Italian Food 

Perkz;Limited.Time.Only. 

All-Seer's Eye Oracle

 

Trina Colberg, German Teacher

Michelle Dickerson, Social Studies Teacher

Laura Fleischer Proano, Spanish Teacher

Kristen Gettens, Library and Media Specialist

Carolyn Kremer, ELA Teacher

Renae Yoder, Art Teacher

 

Dean Besterman

Carsten Colberg

Anna Crowell

Natalie Dickerson

Quinn Dickerson

Gráinne Dignam

Landen DonGilli

Brayden Dunbar

Brody Dunbar

Preston Foster

Gabrielle Godfrey

Ty Hall

Dean Hoover

Lydia Kremer

Alexxia Latour

Ryan Maloney

Cainen McCann

Mckaylah Myers

Seth Navigilia

Thomas Naviglia

Beckham Ochoa

Liam Oddis

Maxwell Peppler

Sydney Peppler

Abigail Pomaybo

Lorenzo Proano

Liam Roberts

Calleb Ruggieri

Jayla Shleton

Nicholas Trischler

Brooke Walker

Lillyani Wilson

Nevaeh Wurmb

 

Jennifer Callen Naviglia

Randall Gettens

Jennifer DiPerna

Nancy Peppler