July 4th, 2009 Final Post

7/4/2009

Hola amigos y parientes…it is Eva and it is currently 10:15 on Saturday night. We are down to our final hours here in Peru. As we were enjoying Indian cuisine off the plaza in Cusco, it suddenly occurred to me that today is our independence…Happy 4th! I imagine as I am typing this, most of you are watching fireworks and eating popsicles on a muggy Nashville night which feels so far away from where we are now. Although, in only 24 hours, I realize that we will be boarding a plane and ending this journey we began together 2 weeks ago in the Nashville Airport.

I will give you a quick (brevity has never really been my forte) rundown from me on the last few days. Garrett and I rose from our sick beds and returned to work on Tuesday where we brought much life to the job site; starting a sing-a-long to Grease and other show tunes as we peeled bamboo. Wednesday we finished up our work and had a huge celebration, called Patacancha, with our host families and other members of the Chilca community. It was quite a feast and all cooked over hot stones. We had plates piled high with a variety of meats and potatoes which we ate with our bare paws. It was some serious carnage. Thursday we said our goodbyes to our Peruvian families and friends and departed for Ollantaytambo. In Ollanta we visited the local high school and then drove up to Patchamanca, on a road that is only about 10 years old, to see a weaving village up in the mountains where the people continue to live as they have for hundreds of years. It was pretty amazing to witness and their work was unbelievable.

Yesterday we arose at 4:15 am, grabbed some pan (bread) and caught the 5:30 train to Machu Picchu. There are truly no words for that place. I am not even going to try but we did take lots of pictures that I hope will at least bring some of it’s magic to all of you. We returned to Ollanta around 7:30 where a dinner of trucha (trout) and cui (guinea pig) awaited us. Let me tell you folks, they cook that little pig up whole down here…put it on a plate with teeth, claws and all. I will be forever haunted by Garrett and Creed making that little head sing to me “Eva Lea eat me please” or something along those lines. This morning we got up and hit the road for Cusco. We had Indian for lunch which I know sounds strange as we are in Peru, but everyone was ready to mix things up a bit especially as last night was clearly the chart topper when it comes to the Peruvian cuisine experience. After lunch we went to Qorikancha and the Basilica Catedral. Jason, our fearless and fabulous leader, had a last meeting with each of the kids and we went for our cena final (final dinner).

Tomorrow Molly and I will take the crew back to Lima, where it all began, and start our journey homeward. Though it is difficult to fully process right now, this experience has been pretty incredible for us all. We have stretched ourselves way beyond our comfort zones and we will return home with broadened perspectives because of it. We have eaten the food, lived the culture, spoken the language and invested a little piece of ourselves in a tiny Peruvian village whose people we will not soon forget. I am so very proud of our students and you parents should be too. You have raised them well! They have been open minded and gracious. They have met challenges, faced fears and rarely complained. Together we have worked and laughed and bonded over everything from experiences at the latrine to the education crisis in developing countries like Peru. Our appreciation for others, our similarities and differences, has definitely deepened as well as our appreciation for our families and our opportunities back home. I am so thankful for our time together and though it is sad to see it come to an end, we are all very excited to get home to each of you. Mom, Dad and Max I love you and I will see you soon! Until we all meet again at BNA…buenas noches…Eva