Final Thoughts

Even though everyday feels very long, it's amazing how fast the time goes by. I feel like we could take 100 trips to Peru and come back learning 100 things each trip. One thing that changed my thinking is that I always looked down on the Spanish for taking over this wonderful culture in the 15th century. However, our guide on the last day said "The best gift is the present". He thanks the Spanish as he told us that if it weren't for them, he wouldn't be who he is today. He calls himself a mestizo which is a mixture of Spanish and Indigenous blood. He is right, the British or the Portuguese could have come to Peru and based on what they did to the Indigenous population, the Inca and the Ayamara culture could have been completely wiped out. However, as we saw during the trip, this is not the case. The Inca and Ayamara culture have blended with the Spanish customs to make Peru the wonderful country that it is today.

Our main tour guide Efrain did a wonderful job of giving the students the foundation in the museums in Lima with what they would see over the rest of the country. The students have come back with wonderful practices and perspectives of the pre Colombian communities. A few of them didn't want to leave and others want to go back. A few students even said they did not know what to expect but after the trip, they are more thankful for what they have and won't always take what we have for granted.

This was a wonderful group of students to travel with and we hope that they continue to see the world. We had a wonderful discussion about traveling in the virtual world vs actually experiencing it first hand. Every student said they would not be able to touch the stones at Machu Picchu, climb Wayna Picchu, take a swim in Lake Titicaca, try on the clothes of those in the Floating Islands, or mediate in Sillustani if they had done this virtually in the classroom.