Peru Trip and Christmas Break

These past few months have been very busy, I first wanted to do a re-cap of the multiple trips I took in November and December. In November I turned 25 and decided to take a two week celebration trip to Peru to explore the Sacred Valley and Machu Picchu. Peru was absolutely amazing. Besides gasping for air like a suddenly weighed 500 pounds, altitude is no joke, it was an amazing experience! The first part of the trip we explored the Sacred Valley and got to see a bit of local culture. We then set off on the Inca Trial hike. We spent four days on the Inca Trail, camping in tents along the way, then two days exploring Machu Picchu. I am so glad I decided to do the Inca Trail, you see so many more sites than going by train. I am also so happy I choose to do it that way because it meant the first time I saw Machu Picchu was at the Sun Gate, which gives you a wide sweeping view of the entire site and surrounding mountains. It was a magnificent end to the Inca Trail and beginning to exploring Machu Picchu. Below are a few of the pictures from the trip.

Jungle Birthday Cake. 25!

Flying from Lima to Cusco

The salt mines in the Sacred Valley

At the top of the first pass; 4215 meters

Very early morning wake up to see Salcantay

Salcantay is the highest peak at 6,271 meters of the Willkapampa mountain range which is part of the Peruvian Andes. One of the reasons I chose to do the five day Inca Trail hike instead of the four day was to be able to see this peak (weather permitting, it the photo it is slightly hidden by cloud cover).

One of the many Inca sites along the Trail. 

Arriving at Machu Picchu 

At the top of Mount WaynaPicchu; 2,667m

Inca stairs

Machu Picchu Mountain

I also went back to the United States for a week to spend Christmas with family. It was bittersweet due to how short the visit was and how long I will have to wait until I see them again, but my projects in my community were calling. I have been extremely busy as several projects I have are taking up speed, which is what I will devote the next post to!  

New Year's Eve walk on the beach

Babies



Full moon

Two pretty exciting things happened in October; I held a youth workshop in the school and I saw baby sea turtles hatch on the beach.

At the beginning of October I went to visit another volunteer who lives on an island off the Pacific cost. For four hours that evening I helped count and release baby sea turtles that hatched in the nursery as well as monitor the beach for nesting mothers in order to collect data as well as relocate the nests. Unfortunately poaching does occur as locals want the eggs to eat or (illegally) sell, but with the help of the Peace Corps volunteer and a local government agency the community is learning about the opportunities and benefits of conservation and ecotourism.

 

 

At the end of October I held a workshop in the school for 37 7^th, 8^th, and 9^th graders. This workshop aims at helping kids to understand their strengths, articulate their goals, and plan for their futures as well as provide valuable information and education about reproductive health. The five closest Peace Corps volunteers to my community came over to help me facilitate, we all felt the Elige Tu Vida (name of the workshop – Choose Your Life) was a success!

 

 

 

 

 



Gracias a Dios Por Arroz

In September I went to a birthday party for a one year old who was born the day after I arrived in site.

The classic Panamanian birthday meal; arroz con pollo. Delicious!

I made a list of some of the things I found this month with mold on them. I just don’t know how to express that mold attacks truly everything here. Things with mold on them; Inside of my stainless steel water bottle, the stickers on the outside of my water bottle, the rubber soles of brand new Chacos, money (yes, US legal tender is molding), any and all articles of clothing, books, my plastic dry bag, Tylenol (I opened an individual pill packet and the pill had blue spots of mold all over it), my headphones, my hammer, and the tape I put on the handle of my machete. I’m not exaggerating when I say everything molds.

Below are some pictures of some toucans I saw eating fruit off a tree right outside my house.

sunset rainbow view from my front porch

 

Corn

September 22, 2015

The month of August involved a lot of corn. I was able to learn how to process fresh corn to make delicious bollos; a boiled corn meal of a sorts. 

 

After the fresh corn is harvested and cleaned, the kernels are separated from the cob.

 

The kernels are then ground into a corn meal, for lack of a better word.

 

Salt is added and the mixture is spooned into the reserved husks.

A natural fiber harvested from the trunk of a specific tree is used to tie around the husk to prevent the corn mixture from spilling out.

 

After being boiled for about an hour, a delicious corn patty-like bollo is promptly devoured.

 

At the end of the month I went to the farm of this same family to help harvest dry corn; used for soups, seeds for planting the new harvest, and chicken feed.