The following post features student writing. 

Hey, families and friends! Happy 4th of July from Peru!

We started off our morning in Pisac at our hostel, Pisac Ayllu. After a very (very) long and scenic bus ride through the mountains, we arrived at Qenqo, our new home for the next few weeks. Upon arrival we were met by many different local people who showered us in flowers, kind words, and hugs. As our welcoming ceremony continued a few brightly dressed men delivered speeches in both Spanish and Quechua, the native Peruvian language, and a friendly woman sang a lovely song to us. Later on we were given a demonstration of the complex process that results in the vibrant Peruvian fabrics that many of us know and love. The process includes shearing wool from sheep, stretching it out to create yarn, and also dyeing it by soaking it in hot water with flowers to create natural colors which can take hours depending on the desired shade. A few of us even got to help the weaver with the final step of creating the fabric by passing balls of yarn back and forth and then knotting them off around a nail. We got to spend time with some local children and learned some of their games including a tug of war type game. Unfortunately it got dark very quickly and the temperature dropped significantly and as we are unaccustomed to the cold we had to stop playing and go inside the school, where we will be spending most of our free time, to warm up. Our fourth day was a success and we are excited to start work tomorrow!

– JiJi K. & Chelsea F.