Hola from Peru!!  We just finished our week of Spanish classes this Friday and it was a great week of learning for all of us.  We spent Saturday the 4th, in Chincheros.  This was a beautiful plaza.  Chincheros is a Q’echwa word that means city or place of bright colors.  There were many farming terraces there and they had a bell tower and a church.  Another place that just completely took my breath away.  After our visit there we had the best lunch so far at a buffet in the mountains.  They had bilingual parrots too!

We then headed out to the Ollantaytambo fortress, where the Incans fought their last battle against the Spanish.  This place was gorgeous.  There were over 300 steps up to the main platform.  When we got there we saw stones that were over 2,000 lbs.  It was crazy.  The tour guide stopped at the main level but 4 of us continued to the very top which was an 8 inch gravel path to one of the best views I have seen.  The charter buses at the bottom looked like ants.  It was incredible.  We headed down the mountain, hopped on the bus, and napped on the way back to Cuzco.

On Sunday, we had a free day.  Scott and I went with our host mom to the “best Cuy restaurant in all of Cuzco”.  Cuy is whole, deep-fried, guinea pig.  It was the best meal I’ve had so far, and the best meat I’ve tasted in my life.  We headed back home and Moira had offered to take the group back to Sacsayhuaman if anyone wanted.  The Ebersole brothers, Moira and I went up there and spent three hours going around and checking out the unique architecture.  We then hiked to the highest peak in Sacsayhuaman and watched the sunset.  It was beautiful.  We are starting our volunteer work on the 6th and we are all looking forward to it.

– Mitchell Derrow