Helluva trip

       It seems like just yesterday I signed up to come to Peru. Looking back on it I had no idea how much fun it was really going to be. I only knew two (Julie and Miles) of the nine students going before we left but, I quickly made friends with everyone. Even, Little Simon gave me a run down of Thomas the Train & Co. before we boarded the plane. Its easy to say this was an experience of a life time and I cannot thank Dr. Brown, my parents, and grandfather enough for allowing me the opportunity to take this trip.

       I am going to do a brief recap of some of my five favorite things that we have done:
5) Exploring the different restaurants in Jesus Maria: The first two weeks of our trip we had a great time eating at all the different places close to our hostel. The pizzeria and their staff was always a go-to place if all else failed. The Don Corleone and the dessert pizza could make any day better. The Taco Stand was also a hit. I wont name any names but, one member of our group ate there six times in a row. A tip when eating a taco there is not to pull all the plastic wrapper down at first. Sorry for the blurry picture but this is our students with part of our favorite wait staff at the pizzeria.

   
4) The trip to and from Machu Picchu: The sight seeing between Ollantaytambo and Aguas Calientes was like nothing I had ever seen before. The mountains in that region are just massive. The train ride back was really nice also and almost as eventful as the way there. On the Perurail train that we road on there was a little dance/model show. Here is a picture of the three actors in the show.

3) San Cristobal: The day we went to San Cristobal was eventful and I wont go into full detail since it was one of my previous blogs. The sights that I saw while I was on the way there were somewhat life changing. One thing I left out of my last blog was the background I put on my laptop after I signed up for the trip. Here it is and just know the real thing is not quite as nice looking.

  (http://www.flickriver.com/photos/crystyna/3282603655/)

2) The people on the trip: I was lucky to have such a great group of people to join me on this adventure. There was hardly ever a cross word between anyone and on a four week trip that very impressive. Matt and Joey have become to good friends of mine. I would have never seen half the things I did without those two and I truly appreciate it. The are the three amigos in the Inca Great Cave on the backside of Huayna Picchu.

1) Machu Picchu: The whole trip I kept telling myself that this was going to make everything worth it. I was right. If you have ever been to the Augusta National before it reminded me of that. The site was enormous and so well kept. Everyone seemed to know it was once a sacred place and treated it likewise. I also enjoyed climbing both Huayna Picchu and Machu Picchu Mountain.

WAYNAPICCHU and finally going home :)

Saturday was our last day in Aguas Calientes, and sadly our last chance to visit Machu Picchu. The first day we took it easy on the hiking so we could rest up for our hike up Wayna Picchu. Saturday morning we caught the bus at 7 AM and made it to the Waynu Picchu entrance right at 8. We barely got in for our scheduled time, so we were the last two people to get in for the first round of hikers. Waynu Picchu, which means “young peak” in Quechuan is actually the higher of the two mountains. It is approximately 2,720 meters above sea level. The top of Waynu Picchu Mountain was said to have been the residency for the high priests and local virgins of the Incan Empire.

                         

The hike up the mountain was very strenuous and definitely a workout. It was very chilly outside, yet we were all drenched in sweat from the steep slopes of the stairs going up to the top. The hike consisted of several stairs and even a few caves! This was very exciting..but also a little bit scary. I’m still not really sure how we made it through. After finally making it to the top, we HAD to take a green towel picture. The view from the top of the mountain was spectacular. We waited up top for about 30 minutes, and then started to make our way back. The hike down may have been has painful as the way up. By the time we got down, the three girls who were left on the site went straight to the buses.

                                          

We also were able to see the site from a completely different view. You could clearly see the shape of the Machu Picchu. There was a definite split between the side of agricultural terraces and the urban city. The Incas constructed the city in the shape of a condor. As you can see from the pictures below, the upper half including the terraces shows vertical symmetry. You can easily make out the wings, and even observe where the head would have been placed. This particular view of the condor  is not as commonly observed.

The ancient condor shape has the upper right corner of the top as the head, with its body turned the opposite way. This is the depiction of the condor in flight. The view from the top of Waynu Picchu, which has recently been discovered, is a profile shot with its wings folded up.

                                   

The guardhouse at the top of the site is also of significance, which could have been used for ceremonial significance. At the middle of the open square by the guardhouse, there contains another rock which slants outward toward the downward slope of the mountain. This would have also been used for more sacrificial purposes.

 Our final days have consisted of traveling and working on our last research paper of the trip. I was very glad to be back in Lima after the unpleasant experiences in the hostel in Aguas Calientes. I'm extremely happy to be returning home tomorrow morning, and can't wait to see all of my friends and family! I'm very grateful for all of the new people I've met on this study abroad program, and will have to keep in touch once everyone returns back to Milledgeville. Peru has been such an unbelievable experience that I will never forget.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Huayna_Picchu

http://tampu-tocco.com/en/machu_picchu_architectural_shape.php

One Majestic Day!

The day started with a little more ache in my bones. Today we would return to the sacred site of Machu Picchu. Unfortunately the sun would not make an appearance due to the high cloud coverage. This alone allows me to appreciate being able to visit the site twice because I was blessed with an amazing sunrise the day before. I started the day by observing parts of the site I was not able to see in the prior day. We descended through the terrace platforms admiring the irrigation techniques used by Incas. The platforms were packed with technology from the inner materials used within the terraces to the canals and pools. The lower side of the site contained complex rooms linked with narrow doors and passage ways.

Huayna Picchu

The smaller group congregated outside of the Huayna Picchu entrance prepared for the climb. The trek began with signing in followed by a decent before the climb. Just like Machu Picchu Mountain, Huayna Picchu was nearly all steps. There were an abundance of tourists compared to the prior climb on Machu Picchu. The trail used switchbacks to guide us skywards. Dr. Brown pointed out how hard it would be to create such a path and that the Incas most likely obtained the stones from a source closer to the mountain. Also, the stones at the bottom were bulkier and carried more weight compared to the stones at the top.

The Great Cave and The Temple of the Moon

The summit was not flat. After some intricate ruins, we crawled through a cave and climbed a ladder onto some uneven jagged boulders. We had reached the top of Huayna Picchu! People were sprawled out in all directions on the rocks taking pictures and enjoying the view. Twenty minutes went by fast and the site official told us we need to disperse from the summit. Matt, Michael, and I were quickly on our way to The Great Cave. The path veered downwards on the wrong side of the mountain and I was quickly apprehensive. After the steps became so small that I couldn’t help skipping a few at a time, I realized we had gone further down than we first started from. We kept on until we came across a ladder. The group after a pause decided to push on to this cave we were seeking. The ladder was steep and slick due to the rain that was starting to fall. Nearly an hour passed of descending the mountain before we saw the ruins which we found was The Temple of the Moon and The Great Cave. We got our picture taken from the attendant on guard, and I received the long awaited knowledge that we would not ascend from the route we came. The sign with the arrow read an hour and a half yet after a sweaty 45 minutes we could see the entrance to Huayna Picchu. What an adventure it had been. My whole Machu Picchu experience has been an unbelievable journey. I cannot wait to return one day to see this majestic scene!

Viva Peru!

~JH...Signing out

Made it to Huarez

After weeks of studying and looking at ancient ruins one question has repeatedly popped into my head; with all the labor required to build grand cities and roads, what kind of economy did the Incan Empire have? I look at these sites from Pachacamak, to Saqsaywaman, to Machu Picchu and wonder how enough labor was ever supplied to complete such a task. Slaves may have helped but Analee Newitz explains in her article that evidence suggests they were well fed and that a market economy did not exist in the Incan empire. 

To my knowledge no attempt of communism has ever been successful, but the Incan empire might have been the first. As we have read, textiles and ceramics were used for trading, but no trading existed between the Incan People. There was also no currency. My understanding of how wealth could be gained or lost without currency or trade confuses me. At the same time the Incas payed a very expensive tax. This tax was there labor, and the things they needed were given to them in return for their work 

(http://io9.com/5872764/the-greatest-mystery-of-the-inca-empire-was-its-strange-economy)

Even if adequate research existed, there will always be the debate of communism in the Incan empire, not to mention slavery. It is known that the Incas were a conquering society, but how did they treat there newly conquered people? How much of their engineering and building success can be attributed to forced labor? It almost feels sacrilegious to ask, but when staring at Machu Picchu, could we be admiring the work of slaves. I’m glad to know there is no evidence of malnourished slaves, but with no written records how sure can we be. The Incas are admired as the greatest ancient civilization in South America, but I imagine that perspective would change if evidence of forced labor surfaced. 

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I still could not be happier with my decision to study abroad. This trip has taught and stretched me in ways I could have never imagined. Living alongside 8 classmates, sleeping, riding, and eating with them everyday has been an awesome way to get to know knew people. The memories made here will never be forgotten. Michael and I were talking last night about the first few days we were here, and the simple memory of trying a granadilla for the first time stood out from the first day. There has been times when everyone has not liked the particular situation they were in, but a trip like this makes you persevere because you can't just quit and go home. 

This class has definitely stretched me as well. I have never been one to ponder art more than a few seconds, but this class has forced me to think beyond the initial thoughts and find reason and purpose in what I am looking at. I know now when visiting places, I will probably be more interested in the history, rather than just going to say I have been there.

It seems like we left Atlanta a long time ago, but at the same time it has flown by. I am thankful to Dr. Brown and everyone else who made this trip special. I hope the group has a safe flight tonight and receives some much needed rest. Davis, Joey, and I arrived in Huarez this morning around 6:15 and are now settled into the hostel. See y'all back in Midgetville. 

Winter Solstice in a Georgia Summer

All trip we have been leading up to the trip to Machu Picchu and late on Thursday night we finally arrived. We stayed in a hostel in Aguas Calientes, which is at the base of Machu Picchu Mountain. We got up at 5:00 am on Friday morning to catch a shuttle bus to the entrance gate. I was amazed that even with the travel problems caused by the landslide the day before that there was still a long line to get into the site. Since we had been "training" for this day for the past three weeks we were able to briskly walk past a lot of the people on the way into the site. I made sure to stop and get a picture of the trapezoidal doorway that frames Huayna Picchu.

My main focus that morning was to get to the Temple of the Sun. Its hard to miss the Temple of the Sun when looking at a map because it's the only room on the site with a semicircular wall. On the wall there are three windows, one of which the sunrise came through at a prefect angle on Friday, the winter solstice (June 21). The light that came through the trapezoidal window made a rectangle which was split in half by a rock in the center of the room. I am doing my senior project on the probability that this occurrence happened on accident. The Incas seemed to have done nothing on accident and I hope to use some prior classes in Probability & Statistics to show this is true.

        After meeting back up with the rest of the group we got on own private tour of part of the site by our very own Dr. Ryan Brown. The most interesting thing that he pointed out were various large rocks throughout the site that were carved by the Incas to look like the mountains in the distance. The Incas thought of the mountains as deities and so these might have been seen as idols of the different mountains. The largest of these was called the Sacred Rock and it was a popular photo spot of most of the tourist. The best part was the Dr. Brown pointed out that this one was not as great a fit to the outline of the neighbouring mountains. He suggested it may be a better fit to Salcantay, which is the highest mountain in the region and is just outside of Cusco.

In the afternoon, Matt, Joey, and I of course went exploring the site. We hiked up Machu Picchu mountain which has an elevation of 10,112 ft. The hike to the top was mainly stairs but, the 360* view from the top was priceless! (760) After we got down to the Inca trail which eventually leads into the site, we hiked to see the Inca Bridge. This was one of the most impressive things at the entire site that we saw. Just looking at the cliff made me nauseous. The wooden bridge itself is small but, the work to lay the stones on the side of this rock face must have cost some of the workers their lives. The combination of walking around the site in the morning and hiking the mountain in the afternoon wore all of us out. I think we all were asleep that night the earliest of the whole trip.

Huayna Picchu

Visiting Machu Picchu was a dream come true, but being able to go back allowed me to truly soak in what I was looking at. I looked around and saw people who were there for their first day, and was entertained seeing their experience like mine just 24 hours before. There is something indescribably special about Machu Picchu. Even without the ruins, the natural beauty is unmatched, but combined with the exactness of the building and planning by the Incas make it an overwhelming experience. 

We set out on day two eager to climb Huayna Picchu. Step after step we climbed knowing that the summit would be worth it. Along the way we stopped to admire the amount of work that had to be exerted to build such a stairway. Stones carried, cut, and placed on a shear cliff where one false move sends you falling to your death. I wondered why the Incas felt the need to build such a complicated pathway to the summit of the smaller of the two most immediate mountains at the site. Later, A little research made me realize that a high priest actually lived at the top of Huayna Picchu. Squeezing through caves, Brushing off the sweat, and panting every step of the way we finally summited and the view was better than expected. Machu Picchu was a cool summit, but this one was better knowing that most pictures of the Machu Picchu site have Huayna Picchu in the background. 

Michael, Joey, and I left the summit in search for the Great Cave. After a long descent fearing we would have to return the same way, we finally saw some ruins adjacent to the great cave. I now know that we stumbled upon the Temple of the Moon. Caves were thought to be entrances for the gods, so of course the Incas regarded this place as a special site. It is thought that this was used as a place of worship, while others believe the structure was a place for ceremonial bathing (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Temple_of_the_Moon_(Peru)).  I am glad we did the hike down to the cave. At first I didn’t think it was worth the walk, but the true rainforest feel and the solitude away from the crowds made the hike worth it. 

Leaving Machu Picchu again wasn’t easy, but riding on a train made it a little easier. My first train ride proved to be much better than riding the bus. I thought the train staff was entertaining and would recommend riding the train to anyone going to Machu Picchu. I feel so lucky to have been to Machu Picchu and have already told my family that they have to go someday. 

The Climax

Holy Cow! We made it. After all the things I promised I would never speak of again. Although we arrived late into Aguas Caliente by way of train tracks, I was chipper and ready to go when the 4:00 am alarm sounded. We received our tickets and soon were standing in line along with a hundred other folks from across the planet. We all had the same goal in mind: Get to Machu Picchu before sunrise of the winter solstice. The bus driver showed his expertise on the one-ish laned switchback roads. Around forty eyes stared at the red font clock centrally mounted at the front of the bus. It was around 5:30 and there was absolutely nothing to see outside of the windows. Soon we were inline getting our tickets checked and the race was on. Michael, Matthew, and I scurried up the switchback path to the top of the site. Michael gave Matt and me guidance on where to stand and what to look for when the sun arose over the peaks. Matt was the first soul at the temple of the three windows and I was the first tourist at the Intihuatana. Four Peruvian Ministry of Culture officials were set up behind a roped off area with their extensive camera equipment to get a certain shot. The solstice sunrise would allow the square stone to cast a triangular shadow. Unfortunately the roped off area was the best place to observe the shadow and I only obtained a meager view upon first light. Intihuatana lines up inbetween Machu Picchu mountain and Huayna Picchua mountain. After rushing down to Matt’s post, I was able to sneak a glimpse at a rock casting a shadow of a llama. The Temple of the Three Windows casted sun on a slab of stone which projected a shadow nearly straight backwards. We quickly hurried to the Temple of the Sun where Michael was observing the sun entered through a central window. The light formed the shape of the window and was perfectly cut in half by a line in a rock where the sun hit. Michael informed us that slowly the block of sun would move so that it would not be cut. 

The long awaited winter solstice sunrise!

While standing above the Temple, we spotted Dr. Brown and the rest of our group congregated towards the center of the site. We walked around trying to take it all in while still focusing on alignments and specific features around the ruins. We came across a jutting stone out of a wall which resembled the head of possible condor or bird. The most striking features were the repetition of rocks resembling the mountain peaks behind them. The Sacred Stone seemed to mimic the summit of the mountain directly behind it. Other small stones served some resemblance yet not as conclusive as the Sacred Rock. Dr. Brown managed to find a high window in a series of rooms that if standing in the corner of the rooms, one could see the peak of Machu Picchu Mountain or Huayna Picchu Mountain. Another interesting observance was a massive rock leaning on a smaller rock. It was believed to be sacrificial and had cuts to drain blood or water from whatever lay atop. Later we returned to the Temple of the Sun and Michael was right! The sun was almost completely off the slab that initially cut the casting in half.

Machu Picchu Mountain through the Window

The Top of Machu Picchu Mountain

Later Michael, Matt and I decided to go forth and climb Machu Picchu Mountain. It was the longest set of stairs I have ever continuously climbed. Each step was uneven and higher or narrower than what is considered safe. Two hours after starting the climb, I peaked out to see the glorious landscape in a 360 degree view. The summit was full of people eating and drinking but one thing was common with everyone; they were all relaxing. I threw my bag down, grabbed some rock and began sucking down large gulps of water. After my colleagues joined me, we took some pictures and enjoyed the view all while catching our breathes. Machu Picchu is extraordinarily a spectacular place. I am so grateful for being able to see this new wonder of the world especially on a day like the winter solstice.  I cannot give the Incas enough praise for their miraculous feat!

Viva Peru!

~JH

Waynapicchu! && Goodbye to Peru :(

Saturday morning we got up around 6 am to head back to Machu Picchu and climb Waynapicchu. Waynapicchu is a mountain that overlooks the city of Machu Picchu, and standing tall at 2,693 meters, it marks the north end of the site. 

Matt, the giant, squeezing through the cave.

The hike up the mountain wasn't too bad-since we went so early, the weather was still cool which was nice since it kept us from over-heating. There was, however, one part of the hike  that was a little harder to get around, and by around I mean through- we crawled through a cave in the middle of the mountain! It made me wonder why the Inca had built such a path, without any answers coming to mind, I asked Keri if she knew of any theories. The first, she said, could have been for pilgrimage reasons. The other reason would have been just because they could; as I mentioned in my last post, mainly everything the Inca did was backed by nature and their philosophy, thus it doesn't seem too far fetched that they built on the mountain in order to display their power and human vs. nature beliefs. I also thought of a sight Dr. Brown absolutely wanted us to see- the doorway entrance to the urban sector of Machu Picchu. As the picture below shows, Waynapicchu is centered in the middle of  the entrance way and its enormity is displayed, surely by no accident on the Inca part. This graphic display of power is very persistent throughout Inca architecture. 

Entrance to Machu Picchu opens up to Waynapicchu Mtn. 

On the way down from the top of Waynapicchu, we spotted Dr.Brown and had one of our daily lesson plans. He had us take a close look at the shape of Machu Picchu- in the shape way Cusco is in the shape of a puma, we were able to see how Machu Picchu was shaped like a condor. Also of interest is the watchhouse at the top of the agricultural section; it overlooks the city and it is positioned so that it looks over both entrances to the city. However, we were able to come up with another hypothesis for the use of the watch-house. As I mentioned on my last blog, the Inca had stones that were tilted for the draining of blood; one of these stones is placed right behind the watch-house, we can thus infer that maybe there was another use for this house, perhaps a ceremonial one.

Our time at Aguas Calientes slowly came to an end as we enjoyed our last coffee and pastries at a local coffee shop in order to get the wifi needed to post our last few blogs! 

I am saddened that this trip is about to come to an end- I can honestly say I would do it again in a heart beat, and probably to Dr. Browns' surprise, I wouldn't change a thing about it (And no, I'm not forgetting our 2 hour hike to Aguas Calientes). I feel incredibly blessed to have been given the opportunity to come on this trip, I am also thankful for everyone who made this trip one of the most memorable experiences of my life.

Julie

Last Blog

We are nearly done with our adventures in the beautiful nation of Peru. I just want to spend this blog entry recapping everything we've done and what some of my favorite things about the trip were:

5) Museums

We visited many museums in Lima and Cusco, all of whom seemed to have blended together in my mind, so I just decided to group them all into the category of "museums." I got to see many exciting things and learn a lot about pre-Colombian (and post-Colonial) cultures. From pottery to textiles to the foods of ancient peoples, I saw it all in these museums.

4) Basilica Cathedral of Lima

The Cathedral of Lima that we went to was one of the most humbling things I've ever seen. While not a particularly religious person, I was overwhelmed with emotion at the painstaking measures the architects and artists went through to construct paintings, sculptures, edifices, and garb because of their devotion to a belief that they hold dear to them. Upon entering, one can just feel the serenity and calmness of the cathedral, which I believe was one of its many purposes.

3) Cusco

I couldn't really divide this one into any smaller categories. I just loved the entire city of Cusco. There were constantly festivals going on every day in the Plaza de Armas, which was my favorite place to hang out while we were there. The random llamas and alpacas one would see just walking around on the side of the road were quite a sight to see. The natives in their Quechuan garb gave me a sense of cultural awareness. And of course all of the vast history of the city with its being the capital of the Incan Empire. I just had so much fun and got so much enjoyment out of traveling to and living in this city, and I definitely can't wait to save up enough money to come back to visit it again!

2) The Lima Zoo

I've always loved animals, so when I found out we were going to a zoo I was ecstatic. It was a ton of fun and I got to see a lot of exotic animals not necessarily native to South America but amazing to see in real life nonetheless.

1) Machu Picchu

As was probably easy to guess, the number one spot on my top five goes to Machu Picchu. This was truly an amazing and overwhelming sight to see. And to be there on the day of the winter solstice was absolutely incredible and a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. Not many people out of the billions in this world can say they've visited one of the great wonders of the world, but I'm glad that I've had the opportunity to say that I'm one of the few who has.

This has been the greatest trip I've ever taken and I am already counting down the days until I come back next year to see it all again!

Stories to Tell the Kids

We're reaching the home stretch of this study abroad and there are some mixed feelings about it ending. While I'm excited to go home and see my friends and family again, I'm also not ready to leave.

When I first arrived in the airport I was pretty anxious. I didn't really know the people going on the trip with me and I was worried about getting along. As we sat waiting for the plane, my fears started to drain as I listened to everyone talk. During the plane ride I sat next to Amanda, my future roommate for this trip, and, as we both cried over Les Mis, a friend. After sharing a room for three weeks we've become really close friends, even if I may have annoyed her by singing the same songs over in the mornings.

Our stay in Lima really brought our group together as we explored the town and chilled in the hostel lounge. Lima holds some great memories from this trip. I will be able to tell my children about the time that I chose to go with the guys to Cerro San Cristobal instead of with the girls to Miraflores. That was a decision I wouldn't take back for several reasons. The first being that I got to know the guys better than what I would have if I hadn't gone with them. Second being the view from the top. You could see the majority of Lima, but it was so large there were some parts that couldn't be seen. Other stories to tell from Lima would be the time I got over my fear of the ocean for an afternoon to get surfing lessons or when the group of us went to a water fountain park and got soaked.

We didn't spend as much time in Cuzco as we did in Lima, but it was still fun. It was a cute town that reminded me of ski villages up north that I've visited. I enjoyed exploring the ruins of Saqsayhuaman and the history of the Qorikancha caught my attention. While most of my free time was spent doing work or sleeping, I enjoyed the times that Amanda and I just chilled out and the night that Joey taught us a new card game that we played for several hours.

Ollantaytambo was another cute small town with more cool ruins to climb through. Spending the short amount of time as we did there gave me a new appreciation for how available hot water is back home after not being able to have hot water for a few days. I feel the places we stayed in Ollantaytambo and Aquas Calientes were good choices for the trip. They weren't perfect. The water didn't get hot, the towels were damp, we had to share toilet paper, but they were livable. Sometimes it's good to stay in places that don't meet our standards because then we appreciate the conditions we're used to more afterwards.

The trip to Aquas Calientes is definitely a story to tell the kids. If they ever complain about walking somewhere I'll just whip it out and say "That's nothing compared to the time when I was in Peru and had to take a five hour bus ride on the edge of mountains, hike 7km at night with my luggage on train tracks and almost got hit by a train just to get to my hostel for the night." That'll be a trump card. While I probably wasn't thinking this at the time, looking back it's an experience I wouldn't trade in for a train ride. It is one of those life experiences that can't be planned and end up being one of the fun plot twists in my life's story.

That trip was definitely worth it to see the sun rise on the solstice at Machu Picchu. It was an awesome sight to see the sun light up the ruins and I hope someday my kids will have the chance to see it. While my legs were jello after all the steps of the site, I enjoyed being able to explore it. Climbing Wayna Picchu was another highlight of this trip. While climbing it left be dying from lack of oxygen, the view at the top was amazing. I took some pictures, but like Dr. Brown said, they couldn't capture the awe inspiring view of the mountains.

In just a few days this trip will come to an end and I'm both excited and hesitant. The things I've experienced during this trip will stay with me through my life and it's the people on this trip that has made the experience worthwhile. These people started out practically strangers to me and after three weeks together have become some good friends. While this trip may be coming to an end, I hope these friendships that we have made don't when we get back to the USA. If anyone would ask me if I would do this trip all over again, I'd say yes in a heartbeat.

Farewell Blog

So we are back to Lima, where it all began. It is weird to think that our study abroad is almost over. I'm sad to say that I missed out on our last big adventure of climbing Huayna Picchu because I was feeling under the weather. Other than that I think this trip was an amazing success, albeit difficult at times. I am also sad to say that we didn't get to work with quipus as much as I would have liked since it is part of my senior project I was a bit discouraged, but getting to look at all the textiles, ceramics, and ruins were truly enlightening.

I'll  admit I didn't get a lot of the connections between the different museums we were going to at first. All the different cultures and symbols overloaded my brain. Luckily it all finally started to click once we went to Cusco and saw a lot of different museums that finally brought together all the different groups and/or time periods we had been looking at. I kind of addressed some of this in a previous blog.

Of course I also had a great time with the people.

  

 

 

Even though the class was split into two "groups" (the sophomores and the seniors) we all still had a great time together. I'm glad to have made new friends that I will get to see in Milledgeville as well as a few who will sadly be graduating in December. Through all the museums, ruins, scarry car rides in lima and on mountain tops, and walks along railroad tracks at night I can say that I have truly made memories that will last a lifetime.