Walker- Today was a wonderful day that started with an early morning. As we woke as the sun rose, we saw the mountains surrounded by clouds. Truly, Ollantaytambo has some of the most beautiful views that we have seen during our trip and throughout our lives. After breakfast, which consisted of delicious Peruvian pancakes and mango juice (yes, be jealous), we headed off to the school in the town that we are helping to construct. Work today consisted of many separate things from making a walkway with gravel and rocks, painting the interior and exterior of the school with primer, sanding wood to make tables, taking down some trees, and many other acts of service and work. Afterwards we went to a welcoming ceremony at a local colegio, or a high school. There we ate delicious food, and many of us played sports with some of the school boys. We played both soccer (final score 32-2) and basketball, which was essentially taking it to our turf. It also rained very hard while we were playing. Then we came back to Ollantaytambo, where I write this to you. We are currently at a basket weaving session, where we all have the opportunity to weave a basket and experience the everyday life of an artisan. Later tonight we will eat dinner with our host families. Then off to bed! Overall, the trip is very exciting to this point. I won’t say anything about the future of our trip because it seems to change every 5 minutes.

Emily:  The trip has been an amazing experience so far. Everything has been fun and exciting. We woke up early this morning for a pancake breakfast. We then spent our first morning at the preschool. Some of us painted, others separated dirt from rocks to create a pathway or sanded pieces of wood for the legs of some tables. We were able to rotate job to job so we wouldn’t get too bored or worn out.

For lunch, we ate at a high school in the area. We had a choice of trout or chicken, I chose chicken but those who had the trout said it was good. After eating, the guys started playing soccer with some students. Naturally, the Peruvian team slaughtered the Americans. The game then switched to basketball, and we began to take the lead so we integrated the teams. About halfway through the game it started to rain, and continued until we got back Ollantaytambo.

As soon as we got back, we all gathered and walked about 5 minutes to my host family’s house where we’re weaving baskets. It’s really a lot harder than I thought it would be.

Right now it’s about 6:00 and everyone’s finishing up his or her baskets. In a few minutes the other eating group is going to head to their host family’s house for dinner. I’m not sure of the plans for tomorrow, but I’m sure it will be fun!