Day 3

A couple of housekeeping items occurred to me this afternoon in regards to this blog.  First, you will see a "comment" button underneath each post.  Feel free to write a comment and I will deliver this to the kids.  Second, click on the photos to see them full screen.  For some reason, I am having trouble getting these to upload smaller...
We just left Maddie and Skylar's homestay where we had a wonderful dinner of Pollo, arroz, and pappas fritas, which was followed by some soccer in the courtyard.  As we left, Maddie and Skylar were going to play spoons with their brother Edu, which they taught him last night.  Your children might return asking for some tea after a meal; this is a Peruvian custom that many of the kids have adopted.  For lunch, we ate with John and Shaun and their homestay mother Lucy and her daughter Ellianne.  We learned from her that there are many families in Ollantay who want to be and apply to be host families, but they don't meet the criteria.  I believe all of the families with whom the kids are staying have had at least three other children from past trips stay with them.  These families take their job very seriously and know how to make the experience work well for the kids.  The St. Anne's students are handling these experiences beautifully.  They understand how generous the families are being to host them and they are taking great strides to connect with parents and children to show their appreciation.  I know you are proud of your children for what they are doing, but, I have to say, you would be blown away by how gracious and mature your children are acting.  We are feeling a lot of pride for how well they are representing themselves.  Now to the day's events...
We gathered this morning at 8 am, and after sharing stories about the homestays, food, beds, etc., The day began with a goofy game led by Carver (who is going by Roberto, because his homestay family struggles to say Carver) where the kids had to act out on command a palm tree, Charlie's Angel, or an Elephant.  There were a lot of laughs.  Then we got day packs ready, loaded up on snacks and set out on a walk to Pinkulluna, one of the Inca Ruins in Ollantay.  It is not knows for sure exactly what these ruins were, but it is believed they were seasonal food storage located on the side of a mountain. The highlight of our day occurred when we got to the top; a band that is a part of the festival that going on in the village was playing at the ruin.  They asked us to dance while they played so they could film it.  So, for about 4 minutes our group grabbed one another's hands and danced in the Incan ruins ont eh side of a mountain!  Afterwords, Kristina aptly commented that, "This is like a dream.  We are dancing to music played just for us in an Incan ruin."  She was correct! It was a wonderful and surreal moment where the group came together beautifully and thoroughly enjoyed the moment.  The hike down took a while; we stopped at more ruins, a cave, and did another curriculum piece: the stages of group dynamics. 
When we returned to town, the kids headed back to their houses for lunch with the families.  Many of them got a little bit of free time before they were required to be home, at which time they shopped for panchos, bracelets, hats, and junk food.  We made plans to meet at the soccer stadium, and to our pleasant surprise many of the host families joined.  We had a heated match where the stars of the game were the locals; in particular, Will and Roberto's homestay father, Rosario, had at least a hat trick, Shaun and John's homestay brother dribbled circles around us all, and the man who owns the hostel where we stayed the first night, Carlo, helped Angela and me save face for all of the trash we were talking.  Wow we have met a lot of folks here! It was another great moment, where the kids realized that playing soccer in a mountain town in Peru does not happen to them every day. 
After soccer, we gathered for the ceremony led by the Incan Shaman.  I feel confident in saying that all of the kids did not know what to expect going into this, and they certainly experienced a once-in-a-lifetime moment.  The Shaman is an elderly man who walked out of the mountains this morning with one of his assistants to meet with us.  He told stories, talked about the [lost] ways of his ancestors, made connections to Native Americans or indigenous people in the US, and empowered the kids to do great things in their lives and to change the world!  It was powerful and the kids participated beautifully and appreciated his words.  The ceremony took longer than we expected, because the Shaman ended with a hug circle that the kids did not want to stop.  I think they all enjoyed giving and getting some hugs!  The day ended here and everyone went back to their homestays for dinner. 
Tomorrow we will meet in the plaza at 8 am and then go with an artist where we will make some Peruvian ceramics.  It is the final day of the festival; we will see the final dances and try to have dinner as a group.  We want to be considerate of the families and allow them to participate in the festivities! 

Angle, Susan, Adele, and have been blown away by your children.  They are doing so well and getting the most that they can out of every experience they encounter.  Hasta manana!