Peru 2019

Inca Ruins, 3 sites pictured...                           Market pics at the very end of this page... On Friday, Lisa, Paul, two hostess sisters and I drove out of Cusco to visit four Incan ruins.  Lisa's host sister is a guide and very knowledgeable about Inca history.  I am blown away by the ingenuity and precision found in these sites.  The Inca architectural design philosophy was elegant:  Simple, Solid, Symmetrical.  In these concepts they built massive features meant for defense, while their creative beauty and intelligent designs give the feeling of high architecture, far ahead of its time.  Sadly, the Spanish were unable to live simultaneously with the Inca who held different beliefs.  Pizarro and his Conquistadors crushed the Inca population and destroyed and looted their wealth.  The Spanish Inquisition could not tolerate the Inca, yet the Inca did not simply give way, many gruesome battles were fought in the attempt to push the Spanish out of Peru.  Stories of bravery

Many pictures from today, yet, it's too late to download, etc. I had a great birthday meal prepared by my host papa and a cake with candles baked by my hostess mama.  My host brothers and sister came for a beautiful lunch and then I headed into the city for museums, browsing the markets, watching the dazzling mountain sunset over the city, people watching, followed by a late dinner of Peruvian sushi...many culinary wonders. If the rest of the Lopez team is having anything like I am experiencing, the feeling of being adopted by a Peruvian family, and being immersed in this superb place, we will have so many stories about which to share.  I am very much looking forward to reconnecting with the crew on Sunday, as we head into the mountains for our service projects. On Friday, we are heading to several Incan ruins, which are fairly close to Cusco. More pics to follow.

Here is a hilarious Cusco video which will make anyone smile: Lama rides in a cab This morning, I went to school with my homestay mama Zenaida, she is a language teacher at Santa Rosa School where four of our kiddos are this week.  I was able to spend a few minutes with them this morning before class and they had rapid fire stories of their families and what they've been doing.  They all said it was scary for the first hour or so, then they felt right at home.  I was able to sit in the same language class with Matteo and they were learning about presenting in front of an audience.  After a handful of kids presented their narratives, they worked in small groups to write a new narrative from the point of view of an animal, which they presented to the class.  What a treat. After class ended, I headed out for a wander in Cusco old town.  Imagine 500 year old Spanish architecture built on top of 800 year old Incan foundations.  The Temple of the Sun or the House of the Su