June 26 and 27

Note to parents and friends: We will be on our overnight hike through the high Altiplano Region on June 28 and 29th. On those days we will not be able to update the blog, but will do so on the 30th.

June 26, 2009
Chilca, Peru
James’ Blog

Hello Nashville,

I hope all is well there, everything here in Peru is great. Today was our second full day of work here in Chilca and it left us all tired and sore, but eager for more because our work is beneficial to the school and people here in Chilca. Our work today consisted of: hauling adobe bricks closer to the building site, stripping bamboo of its exterior covering, moving many rocks that are to be used in the floor of the building, and cutting down cacti and cutting off their spikes. I spent a majority of my time with the cacti which proved to be a pretty hard job. I had to climb up a steep hill, axe in hand, and chop down some of the most vicious cacti I had ever seen or been around. Chopping the plants down was the easy part, on the other hand moving these individual cactus plants was extremely difficult. I couldn’t grab the cactus and just throw it down because the spikes tore right through my gloves, so I had to maneuver a rope around each one and swing it down like there was a lasso on the end. Once we were all done with our work day, everybody went back to their host family’s houses and proceeded to eat their lunches and rest. I finally got to shower after two days in Chilca, and it was refreshing even with the freezing cold water. Today we had to members of our group go down from illness, being Garrett and Sam, but I am sure that both will recover by tomorrow. Right now we are taking vans back to Ollantaytambo to make some pottery which should be fun. That’s all for now, see you all soon.

James

June 27th
Hello it’s Sammy J.
The trip has been an adventure, that’s for sure. Today we are working on the adobe cafeteria building. It is pretty tough work but nothing to cry about. Everyone is having a pretty good time, the food here is really good but sort of repetitive, I can’t wait for some Mazatlan. I am getting pretty dominant with my Spanish but I have a lot to improve on because we have a lot of awkward silences at the table. I don’t think I have gotten used to waking up to a bunch of chickens running into the room. Tomorrow we leave for our hike into the mountains, it should nice to get away for a little while. After our two day trip into the mountains, I only have 2 more days of working on the adobe and its all fun and games after. I have learned a lot of different things so far and think I will definitely appreciate everything once I get back. Love you family adios.

From Kennedy, Country Coordinator

A screen set up for sifting dirt. Behind it, the site of the future cafeteria.

Jose Quispe, a curandero from Ollantaytambo, prepares the offering to the Pachamama (Mother Earth) that we will bury at the site of the building to bring safety and success to our construction project, and prosperity to the life of the building.

All decked out for rafting!

Hi All! Thanks for checking in! The group is settled in Chilca, enjoying their families and working hard. We have had beautiful weather and a great turn-out on the worksite from the community. Local students and parents show up to help each day. Because of their help and the hard work that Ensworth is putting in, we are progressing significantly on the project. I am posting some pictures from the trip. Thanks for reading!

From Pearce

Hello civilized world it’s Pearce. We arrived in Chilca for our homestays two days ago and tried to get settled in. Yesterday was our first day of work at the school. We are building a cafeteria for the students here and although we arent going to have enough time to finish it, everyone in the town is beyond happy to have us here working. After the ceremony they had for us which was very interesting to say the least, we started our service work day 1. First we had to move adobe bricks, rocks and dirt from the area were the cafeteria will be built. We also moved a truck load of rocks from the road down to the site, we made this easier by forming a massive assembly line. The food here is for the most part good, we have had soup in my house for almost every meal except for last night. I am rooming with Sam and we both thought it was the best meal of the week, that is until Sam got sick last night. We don’t know exactly what he has but it is some sort of minor stomach bug, probably from eating the tomatoes last night which I did not eat. The weather is very odd here, it can be hot or cold during the day, but if the sun is out you better make sure to put sunscreen on because it will burn you. We had a little bet that if Garrett, Bryce and Sam got buzzes, I had to go completely bald from the little hair I had to begin with. They got their buzzes and I got mine too.I have to re-apply sunscreen every 15 minutes while working so that the top of my head will not burn, but don’t worry Mom, it is already starting to grow back, just very slow. After our work yesterday we had lunch with our families and then played soccer with some of the local boys. It was very fun but it got very cold and we had to stop when the sun started going down over the mountains. It gets dark here very early because we are completely surrounded by mountains which some even have some snow on. We have our second day of service work today and then another one tomorrow before we go on an overnight hike in two days. We then come back to our host families after the hike for three more days of service work. Its been a very eye opening experience so far and I cant wait to see what the rest of the week holds in store for us. Adios until next time, Pearce.

From Creed

Hello it is Creed. Two days ago we left from Ollanta and met our host families in Chilca. Its amazing here. I can’t believe the conditions many of these people live in. No hot water, some don’t even have flush toilets. I am staying with Bryce and Corey. We got to know our host family pretty well at dinner the first night. We have two little brothers Fabian Agosto 14, and Juan Diego Who is 5. The next day we started our work. Before we began we had a little ceremony to bless the work site. This man came and made some gift with some pretty bizarre stuff in it. He had a llama fetus and marshmello bunnies among other things. We each got to choose our own cocoa leaves that went into the gift. I was confused the whole time so it was probably a bad explanation. We began moving rocks in an assembly line which worked well. After work we played soccer with many of the local boys. That was a lot of fun. Sam caught a small stomach bug and isn’t going to be working with us today. He gets to sleep instead. We are working right now, moving more rocks and making the adobe. This afternoon we are going to be doing some ceramics back in Ollanta. Our leaders, Jason and Alecia are great. Peace.

June 22nd and June 23rd

Ollantaytambo:

Hola parientes. It’s Candace from beautiful Ollantaytambo and we have just finished our evening activities of mafia. I successfully took out about 6 of your sons and daughters. SORRY. Well actually it’s just a game, don’t freak out, Mom. We are all doing marvelous and having a blast. Sarah, James and I found access to the roof of the Hostel that we are staying in and the view is amazingly breathtaking. The stars are brighter than I’ve ever seen. We are currently in a valley that is surrounded by the Andes. We have had so much fun today even though all we have done is travel. We ate dinner at a local restaurant and had shredded chicken on top of a potato with white rice. It was muy delicioso. We are all bonding, practicing our español and drinking our filtered water! Much love to the states. Later.

Hi everyone! We miss you all already. We are having a fabulous time! We arrived in Ollantaytambo today and it is BEAUTIFUL. We had about an hour and a half bus ride from the airport to our two-night stay at a Hostel. When we landed in Cusco it was so pretty. There were mountains and villages everywhere. Dogs are always roaming the streets and the way people drive here is crazy. I think we can all agree that we have not stopped laughing and are all becoming closer by the minute. We have already tried some new foods, and so far they have been fantastic. Tomorrow is supposed to be the coldest day of the year: thank goodness we switched our rafting days! Love you mom, dad and family! : )

See you soon!

Hayden

Ensworth Blog 6/23/09

Ollantaytambo

Hey this is Corey. Today Candace, Olivia and I went on a scavenger hunt to find our way around town. During our journey, we met two kids named Cableene and Maria. When we first met them they acted like they knew us all along, and showed us everywhere we needed to go, and even brought us to their house. We had been walking for about two hours, then Cableene and I came across an ice cream store. We were really hungry and he emptied my pockets out! I had a blast and also got to practice my Spanish because he spoke no English. It was difficult at times, but lots of fun. I am looking forward to meeting my new family and living the lives they live everyday. I miss you mom and dad!

Hey hey hey. Garrett up in here! Today we went on a tour to see the town and the Incan ruins. They were awesome, and the views were amazing. Then we had some free time. Sorry mom, I got a buzz, along with some of your very own children…Bryce and Sam. Bryce and Sam look rather swell…However, I resemble that of three naked mole rats. Then we started our scavenger hunt. My team consisted of Megan and Sam. We were off to a rough start, until we found the school. This time around, we were invited to play soccer with true life Peruvians. We struggled to say the least. We returned to our cozy little hostel, and went over leadership. Can’t wait to see what’s to come…Much love, Garrett Morris Carmichael.

Hey parents this is Megan. Today we started off with breakfast at our hostel. Afterwards we went on a tour through the town and up into the Incan Ruins. We were very high up and there were gorgeous views so we took many pictures. We then went to a restaurant for lunch to have burritos that were delicious. We were put in groups of three, mine being Garrett and Sam. We only went to two places and gave up and went to play soccer with a bunch of locals. It was a team of guys that were a few years older than us. They were all very nice and good at soccer. As soon as we arrived they invited us to play with them. We didn’t do very well but it was still very fun. After we went back to the hostel to talk about leadership. Today was a fun and exciting day. Love you mom, dad and family. Megan

Day 3 in Peru was full of twists and turns! Eva and I woke up this morning to the sound of cars racing by our window and roosters crowing- kind of an interesting combination! After a big pancake breakfast we took off for the Sacred Sun Temple and toured around for about 2 hours. It was shocking how out of breath we felt after only a short flight of stairs. The tour really focused on the aspects of Incan architecture and masonry- super interesting! We then had a huge lunch- burritos with tons of chicken and fresh veggies. The food so far has been fantastic, and so healthy and fresh. After lunch we gave the kids a little time to shop at the local markets and then reconvened in the afternoon for a scavenger hunt around Ollantaytambo. They did great- and really embraced the Spanish language, recruiting locals to help them in their search! Following the scavenger hunt we talked about leadership styles and engaged in some team building activities. We had another big dinner of pata cancha, which is sliced sirloin with rice. Tomorrow we raft the Urumbamba River and head to our homestays in Chilca! All is well…Thanks for checking in and we will post again soon…Molly

Ensworth Arrives in Cusco

Hello parents,
I just spoke to Jason Hunter, World Leadership School instructor, and he confirmed that everyone and their luggage arrived in Cusco and are now en route to Ollantaytambo. Over the next few days the students will raft, hike and get a thorough introduction to Peru before heading to Chilca to begin their homestays and service work on Wednesday. The students should begin blogging over the next day or two. Please call me on 303-679-3412 if you have any questions.
Thanks,
Ross Wehner

Ensworth off to Cusco

Hello parents,
Quick confirmation that the Ensworth group left about a half hour ago for the airport in Lima, and will now take their flight to Cusco. All their luggage arrived well and they had a big breakfast, featuring watermelon, at One Hostal in Lima. Alecia Berman-Dry and Jason Hunter are awaiting them in Cusco to begin their trip! We had a conference call with instructors and the ground coordinator, Kennedy Leavens, last night to review all preparations and everything is set for their arrival.
Ross

dia uno!

Dear Loved Ones,
Olivia is writing about yesterday, so I will write about today. We woke up at the One Hostel, had delish pan y fruta for breakfast and we are about to get on a bus to go back to the airport to fly to Cuszco to meet Jason (yay) and our other leader woman who I have never met. We will then take an hour bus ride to Ollaytantambo where we will stay at the cute little Hostel that we stayed at last year. Here, we will have our safety debriefing and explore the beautiful village! I am so excited about the remainder of this trip and look forward to posting again in the near future!

Sending Peruvian love to all!
Sarah

Day One; One Hostel

Hello Parentals, Olivia speaking... I hope all is well. We are having a blast. So far we have had a 45 minute flight from Nashville To Atlanta, the plane was tiny and very hot. After that we had a four hour layover, including an intense game of hide and go seek. We got on our flight from Atlanta to Lima, Peru. On this flight my row was Coach Wilson, Coach Lea, Myself, Garrett Sam, and Creed. To start off the flight the movie playing was "Confessions of a Shopaholic." Most of us slept during this movie. We woke up to dinner being served. Since we were in the back of the plane. the only food left was chicken, those who were at the front had the choice of pasta or chicken. The next movie playing was "He´s just Not that into you." We watched some of that, but then Garrett Sam Creed and I got bored so wearted a game of Who am I. After this flight landed we walked into mass chaos. It was thrilling. We found our bus driver and got on a bus to head to our hotel. The bus ride was around 30 minutes. We got to our hotel, One Hostel, and unpacked and went to sleep. Now Sarah is going to blog about our upcoming adventures of June 22 2009.

PS Mom and Dad I love you, along with the other parents!!

Olivia :)

Prepararing to Go

It's Wednesday, and we have only a few short days before the Ensworth trip to Peru begins. Students and families are making decisions about what to pack and finishing up the readings for Three Cups of Tea by Greg Mortenson, and High Noon by Jean-François Rischard, World Bank vice-president for Europe. The faculty instructors are busy assigning students to homestays, checking and rechecking details, all the while getting packed themselves. All the last minute details are being attended to by World Leadership School staffers.

In Cusco, which is not far from Ollantaytambo, we're expected to have partly cloudy weather on our day of arrival, at around 71 degrees...but at night it drops down to about 36, so pack those long johns! We'll make sure to update this blog as much as we can, at least every other day. Each student will have the opportunity to post at least once. In the meantime, you can get a glimpse of some of the adventures awaiting us all by watching the Groton School's video of their Peru trip from 2008.