Today we started the day off right: with chocolate and banana pancakes! After breakfast we took a short but very beautiful hike up to the old granaries overlooking the town. These ruins were very important to the Inca people, whose agricultural practices were highly advanced for their time. We had gorgeous views of Ollantaytambo and the surrounding valley, and it was an excellent first activity of the day.
Upon returning to our home base of El Tambo, we continued with our second and final day of our conference to get ourselves oriented to the country of Peru. Today we watched a documentary on the rise and fall of former Peruvian president Alberto Fujimori, who is now in jail for corruption and other charges. We also heard from Molly Belsky, Katie Slavik, and the Viacavas on the theatre, environment, languages, and dances of Peru. We are feeling very excited to get to know this country for ourselves!
The definite highlight of the day came at 5pm, when our host families started to arrive. There were tentative introductions and we played a bit with the kids while Fanny spoke with the families. Then we finally got to meet them! Everyone gave short introductions and then we were paired up! Everyone is off now to spend their first night with their families, feeling equal levels of excited and nervous. We can't wait to get to know the wonderful people who have opened their homes to us!
-Molly Blesky
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