Hey everyone, just checking in. I got back from Lima with no problems (and even was able to have a conversation with the LAN agent about luggage in Spanish!!!).  I am leaving tomorrow for the Inca Trail trip, which I am really looking forward to.  Everyone who has either gone on the four day hike to Machu Pichu (as I am going to do) or simply taken the train there has come back with outstanding reviews of the experience.  My camera is charged and I am taking a notebook to record my impressions so that I can share them as soon as I get back into the land of the connected.  Hopefully it will not rain too much…

Our group is going to be comprised of nine people from countries such as South Africa,  Australia, Canada, Switzerland, and the US.  We had a meeting tonight  where our guide outlined the trip and it sounds fantastic.  On day 1 we hike 15km with a change of altitude of about 700m.  On day two we actually will cross two different mountain passes so we are hiking up and then down and then up and then down again before reaching camp.  This is supposed to be the most challenging day although we pass several ruins where we will stop and tour.  The third day is almost totally downhill (which can actually be more difficult than going up!) and we end up camping at a camp sight where everyone who is hiking the Inca Trail converges on the last night before going to Machu Pichu on the final day.  The maximum number of people starting on the trail is 500 so at peak times this camp can apparently be quite crowded  (thank goodness it is not the height of the tourist season as we will probably have less then that.).  At 5:30 am we will leave for Machu Pichu, along with everyone else, to head for the sun gate, a spot that overlooks the site as the sun comes up.  After watching the sunrise we will have a two hour guided tour which should take place before the day tourists arrive by train.  After several hours of free time to wander around on our own we will start the trip back to Cusco in the late afternoon.  Overall it sounds like a fun challenging trip.

Teaching English. We were all intensely focused own the subject here. Carrie captured this without anyone noticing.

In the meantime I showed up at my English class on Monday and it was really nice how my students greeted me.  They were really excited to see me back.  I have a feeling that my last day here, in about a week and a half, is going to be really hard.  We have such a good group and work so well together part of me wishes I could stay and see them through an intermediate level, at least.  But… I have to go back to reality soon.  We have a few new volunteers at our project as Carrie has moved on and Laura’s last day was today.  Matt, who has been there now almost two weeks, will be at this placement for about four months so he is soon to become the corporate knowledge and the guy with the long term experience.  He will be working with my group while I am gone this week.  I will work with my girls one more week as we try to set up pen-pal relationships with some students in the US with the help of a teacher friend of mine in Utah.  Hopefully that will work out and give the girls some long term practice with using the English language.

It is hard to believe that I am nearing the end of my trip.  The weeks have flown by and as those of you who have been following regularly know I have been able to do a lot of different things. It has been a great experience so far.  I cannot wait to share with you the Inca Trail and my impressions of Machu Pichu.  Talk to you soon…..