Hola Amigos!  It's Ella.  Today is day 7 of the Peru trip; the end to a fantastic first week.  This morning, our group split up into two parts -- one part of the group stayed back to see Incan ruins and the other part hiked up to the Incan quarries.  I chose to go on the hike, which meant that I woke up at 5:30 am to start scaling the mountain by 6.  The hike to the top took about 4 hours and it was long, hard, and hot, but beautiful.  Despite zig-zagging paths and lots of dust, we were completely surrounded by mountains with a view of Mt. Veronica, an icy blue, snow-capped mountain in the distance and the winding Urubamba river below us.  The hike was breath-taking... both literally and figuratively.  After many short breaks for chocolate and water, we reached the top around 10:20 and were rewarded with vast views of small Ollantay and spottings of goats and condors.  We stayed at the top taking pictures, eating sandwiches, playing cards, and napping for about an hour until descending back into the trees and breaking at a "Piscina de Inca," or "Incan Pool" to cool off our feet and relax for a few more minutes.  By the time we got back into the town of Ollantay, it was 2:30 pm, leaving us some time to wander around the town or take a break at a Cafe before the 5:00 meeting where we all gathered to recap our day before returning to our families for dinner.  But, our day did not stop there -- we were all invited to Chanel's little sister, Cusi's 10th birthday party at her house where we ate cake, danced, and played hide-and-go-seek.  It was a wonderful way to end a great day and left us all happily tired and ready for bed to prepare for another exciting day tomorrow.