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May 26th, 2018 - Ashley Schenk

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May 26 th ; Horizons final day in Peru. Today was a little overwhelming. We started the day off finishing our service days on the farm, then we had the afternoon to ourselves, followed by our farewell dinner. Most of the afternoon was spent packing, and spending time in our host families. When it came time for the farewell dinner there was a lot of feelings and emotions swarming the room. Some were happy to be going home after a full 3 weeks, some were upset that the trip had flown by so fast and it was already time to go back, and many, including myself, were somewhere in between. I have spent the past few days back and forth between wanting to go home, and wanting to stay here forever, but the welcome dinner put my emotions at ease. We all enjoyed a nice meal, and during dinner many of us were avoiding the fact that it was our very last one together. When the meal came to a close we all had a chance to share some final thoughts, there were a few tears, some laughs, an...
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May 25th, 2018 - James Donaghy

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Today we had an interesting, exhausting, and laborious day at an organic farm on the outskirts of Cusco. Though it was a very educational experience and I got to hold a lot of guinea pigs, I really appreciated the dinner I came home to after our amazing salsa class. Halfway through dinner I realized that it was my last dinner in our homestay. I cannot express how grateful I am from having a great set of guys to live with the past few weeks, and the best part is when we come together for dinner. Dinner time in our home is not only when we come together and eating Papa Jesus’ (our host dad) delicious food; rather, it is when we all reflect on our day and talk about all the things we’ve done. Today was even more special because I was able to coordinate and invite our instructors Josh and Ronnell to dinner, where I’m sure they ate the best food they’ve had since being in Peru. Per usual, Papa Jesus was running late putting the food on the table which allowed Ronnell to finally watch...
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May 24th, 2018 - Cayla Yannuzzi

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When I woke up this morning, I wasn ’ t greeted by the usual honking of horns and sounds of cars on the busy street by my homestay. The streets were eerily empty. This was because of a transportation strike that occurred in Cusco today in protest of rising gasoline prices in the city.   The normally busy streets had not a single car and instead the streets were full of people walking, biking, and children playing. These strikes caused us to not be able to do our service learning today but instead we got a completely free day. When explaining this to our homestay family over breakfast, with the help of google translate, the older son of the family invited us to play soccer with him and another little girl in the family. Tabitha and I quickly agreed, excited to engage with our family. Around 10 in the morning we walked the empty streets discussing our favorite sports and made it to the concrete soccer field not far from our home. Our teams were divided up two vs two, ...
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May 23rd, 2018 - James Vogel

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It’s okay to not be okay. Today is May 23 rd . It’s the day after my 21 st birthday.   I was woken up by Chris telling me that breakfast is done and we got to go soon. I stood up found some acceptable clothes for the day and shuffled myself down stairs. We hurry to Papa Jesus’ car and sit in the normal seating arrangements, one in shotgun, four in the back, and one in the trunk. Everyone in the car was worried that this would be the first day that we are late, I was worried that the bumps might get the best of me. Fortunately, we arrive on time. The class proceeds with that last guest lecture of the program, he talked about current culture in Peru including Chicha music, which is mixture of traditional Peruvian music and modern pop music. Our professor played a remix of “Baby” by Justin Bieber being sung by a popular singer from Peru in Quechua. We had our last debrief together and it was powerful. I’ll be willing to say that everyone got a little teary-eyed. I know I fe...
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May 22nd, 2018 - Sarah Wolfe

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Today was Crunchy’s (James Vogel, aka Crunchy) birthday. A few of us decided that we wanted to head to the plaza early and eat at KFC for dinner before we went to the bar. We had a lot of fun, especially those of us who ordered things that aren’t on the menu’s in America. But eating at an American restaurant in Peru got me thinking about the “McDonalds on every corner” idea and Peru’s economic dependence on tourism. It still amazes me how much Peru relies on tourism. It’s the fourth largest source of income for their economy! The U.S. has touristy spots, but our economy isn’t dependent on tourism to the level that Peru’s is. Thus, I’ve been struggling to find comparisons for the new environment I am in here. I can’t help but think what would happen should a natural disaster hit Peru like it did in Puerto Rico. If no one came here to visit, what would happen? I would find the thought incredibly scary if I lived and worked here and my income depended on it. I was also amazed by...
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May 21st, 2018 - Brandon Sosa

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Today we returned from our Puno excursion and slept half the day to rejuvenate. After the wonderful lecture on Self-Efficacy, I stayed at Don Estaban Café where I was able to have nice conversations with Cayla, Braden, Dante, Ariel, Jakob, Bri, and Lauren. After the café, we embarked on our trips back to our homestays. The walk home is something I learned to appreciate. Car horns blaring every 3 seconds, having to dodge cars speeding toward you left and right, crowded sidewalks filled with everything from street vendors to sleeping strays. This is the average 37-minute walk home for me down Avenida de la Cultura from the ISA office to my homestay in San Sebastian . Taking this stroll every day, you will see something new every time. It is a nice walk mainly because it is away from all the touristy areas, this allows me to experience the real Cusco. Walking down the street, I can see the interactions between the locals either be it at a meat shop or just honking their way thr...
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May 20th, 2018 - Kylie Keifer

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I started off the day not knowing if it would be good or bad. We had another hike and the one from the day before I couldn’t finish on my own, so I wasn’t looking forward to yet another one. But, even before we left the island of Ama ntani I tried to look at the bright side of things. I was stepping outside my comfort zone being here and I get to see so many beautiful sights while here. Now the hike up the hill on Taquile wasn’t as bad as the day before but I still had to stop multiple times to catch my breath, but it was so worth it. Looking down at the lake during the day was amazing. I even stepped further outside my comfort zone and sat on the edge of the cliff even though I’m scared of heights. After the hike and some relaxation on the top of the hill we went on to see a traditional wedding ceremony for the Quechua people. For this ceremony Jake and Ashley stood in as the bride in groom. It was cool to see how men and women change their clothing styles based on age and mari...
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