Adventures in Cusco and a meeting with Peter Frost

Exploration continues from the "navel" of the world!

We currently find ourselves perched high among the clouds in Cusco, elevation 11,000 feet. Cusco was the capital of the Inca empire and the reputed navel of the world. It remains an important city in modern times, but the highlights of the city certainly are found in its past.

Our exploration of Cusco began at Saqsaywaman, the Inca fortress that sits on a butte overlooking the city and is built of enormous stones. Here, we met our National Geographic expert, Peter Frost, who took us on a day-long tour of the ruins. Saqsaywaman played an important role during the conquest, as it was an Inca stronghold in Manco Inca's rebellion. In time, the Spainards were able to use their advantageous horses, metal amour, and firearms to capture the fortress which, according to Mr. Frost, was one of the most significant turning points in the fight for Peru. Mr. Frost followed up the tour with a private meeting with the Archeology On Assignment team to discuss their projects and offer his expertise.

The next day our exploration continued with Mr. Frost to Qorikancha, a Spanish cathedral literally built on the foundations of the most sacred of Inca shrines. In the afternoon, the group was able to observe a shaman ritual. Shaman are Andean spiritual leaders who are considered to have the ability to communicate with higher powers. Our shaman performed a ritual to provide safety and enjoyment for the remainder of our journey through Peru and a safe return home, in addition to a fruitful journey throughout life. So we have that going for us… which is nice!

It is difficult to encapsulate our days prior to Cusco in a single blog, but highlights include hiking and camping in the high Andes, peaking at an elevation (according to our GPS) of 14,737 feet. Teddi from Ohio wrote in her journal that , "the scenery was phenomenal and the little children rushing to greet us by the roadside made the hike worth it. Prisitine lakes, glacial streams, herds of alpaca, traditional huts, and sweeping grasslands stretched as far as the eye could see and up into the clouds." Our campsite was conveniently located among a series of hot springs. Sawsan from Abu Dhabi reflected that, "before we knew it we were taking a dip in the hot springs in Lares, reflecting on a long day whose every minute of exhaustion was well worth it."

In other days, we also explored the ruins of Moray, the salt mines of Salinas, and were treated to a demonstration by a woman's weaving cooperative in the small town of Chinchero where they practice age old weaving techniques.

Additionally, we continue to break out into our On Assignment teams and have begun to focus the bulk of our energies on our final projects.

Goodbye for now,
Joseph, Brenna, Sarah, and Mark

Cusco unaffected by earthquake

We spoke with the expedition leaders early this morning in Cusco and the group was completely unaffected by the recent earthquake, which was centered far from Cusco, near the Bolivian border. The group is fine, enjoying their time in Cusco and looking forward to their final excursion to Machu Picchu.

A meeting with National Geographic Expert Peter Frost

Days are passing quickly here in Ollantaytambo, the living city of the Incas! We met Peter Frost, our National Geographic expert at the gateway of the ancient fortress of Ollantaytambo bright and early this morning. Peter gave us a two and half hour tour of the region’s ruins. We toured agricultural terraces, residential areas, sacred temples and a handful of ceremonial baths. At each place, Peter pointed out interesting highlights of the Incan architecture—from engravings, to cursive stonework to the highly sophisticated irrigation systems that served the area.

After having a few moments to wander and take pictures in the old ruins, Peter led us out into the main square of town and along some of the streets that have survived since Inca times. He pointed out the new stonework placed atop the old carefully carved blocks that serve as the base for many of the contemporary residences in town. Peter pointed out a gate that would have, in ancient Inca times, indicated the residence of a kinship group of higher class. We wandered into the courtyard and were invited into the house of a senora who brewed chicha (a traditional Peruvian drink brewed from germinated corn). We crowded into her sunlit, one-room kitchen to hear an explanation of the brewing process. “I was surprised that she was so open to letting us into her home and business, especially since she essentially had her entire livelihood contained in that one room,” said Caity from Maryland.

After lunch, we visited various artisan workshops in town. The students were able to choose between a 3-day instruction in ironworking, woodworking and ceramics. Students spent about two hours completing a handicraft with local artisan masters Teddi from Ohio said that, “the ironworking experience…was the bomb diggity.” And Katie from California said of her ceramics workshop: “It’s really interesting with Eduardo [the ceramics instructor] because he understands when to help us and when to let us do our own thing. Even though he’s much better than we are, he still has confidence that we’ll make something pretty.” Students will be able to pick up projects—ranging from key chains, to bowls, to door latches—on Friday.

We have a two day hiking and camping trip planned for Wednesday and Thursday of this week. We’ll be walking along lakeshores and the perimeter of alpaca farms on our way to natural hot springs at Lares. We’ll be sure to update photos when we return!

Until then, Sarah, Mark, Joseph and Brenna

¡Hola de Ollantaytambo!

We have arrived in this magnificent historic town at the base of the Andean mountains. Ollantaytambo is steeped deep in history and was one of the most important Inca temples/forts. Our hostel here is quaint and provides a nice jumping off point from which to explore this wonderful sierra setting. Now that we have a base for the next week or so, we have been able to break out into our On Assignment teams and have begun to focus on our projects. Our photographers, writers, and budding archaeologists are busy working on everything from the secrets of capturing culture in a photo, writing their personal traveler manifestos, and exploring and discussing the Inca outposts scattered around town that were used to warn of approaching Spaniards. In fact, Ollantaytambo is famous as the site of one of the greatest victories for the Incas in their roughly forty year war to defend their empire from the invading conquistadors.

On our second day here we were treated to a reenactment on the stone terraces of the Ollantaytambo fort. The dramatic event told the story of the Inca General Ollantay (note the name) and his prohibited love for the Inca king´s daughter. This enormous production happens only once each year and the celebration is called Ollantay Rymi.

For the rest of the day, On Assignment teams continued with their projects. The first two photographs posted below were taken by students (Zoe from Minnesota and Jennifer from New Jersey, respectively) in the On Assignment Photography project. Below is a travel manifesto written by Laura from Virginia, in the On Assignment Writing project:

"Tourism has in many ways been the history of my travel experience. I have heard it said that 'the best tourist views the world from their own doorstep' and I can attest to the validity of that statement. Thus at times it has seemed to me that authenticity of experience and personal connections with locals are the defining characteristics of what one might call true travel. This experience can at times be a quest for one´s self, as much as the favorite dining spot of locals or the culturally significant landmarks of a nation. The strange irony of this search for self lies in the requirement of gaining distance not just from the physical home, but from all that is familiar, all that has shaped who we are so as to be further molded by new experiences. Yet this distance cannot be so great as to exclude our past from our present and certainly no meaningful experience can be left out of our future. In this way travel becomes a sort of migration not just to the place but through time, spanning each period of our lives, and if we are lucky, the world. This dependency of travel on history is evident, as often the things that make the biggest impression even on the average tourist are the onces that have transcended ages of human life. From the colosium in Rome to the Forbidden City of China and the Al-Hambra of Spain to the Incan terraces of Peru, where I now find myself, the ancient is often the quintessential aspect of a place and a culture that never forgets, but likewise never stops evolving. So, like time, the traveler´s journey can be difficult to define and impossible to finish."

Saludos from Lima

Dear Parents, Families and Friends,

Hello from Lima! We've just spent our first full and exciting day in Peru and have much to report. We started the day off at the Parque del Amor, a pedestrian park that overlooks the seashore at the Costa Verde Beach (just a short walk from our hostal). There, we explored a small stretch of the Peruvian Coast, got to know each other a little better and enjoyed a lunch overlooking rolling waves, the die hard surfers and the incoming mist.

From the beach, we bussed to the laboratory of our National Geographic contact, the renowned archeologist, Dr. Guillermo Cock. The two hours we spent wandering his laboratories, where he studies the excavated remains of pre-Columbian Incans (from pottery to textiles to mummies!), were the highlight of our day. Dr. Cock generously unveiled some of his most interesting and gruesome finds and spent time answering all of the questions we came up with. We were even able to view, thanks to Dr. Cock, one of his most recent and notable projects—the oldest remains of a person killed by firearm, an indigenous man shot during the Spanish conquest. The personal narratives and national histories seeped into the very bones that Dr. Cock works with are exquisite.

After saying goodbye to Dr. Cock, we took a ride to the beautiful Museo Larco which offers the best collection of pre-Columbian Incan artifacts in Peru. Gold, silver, ceramic and wooden artifacts are displayed in maze-like floor to ceiling shelves and we roamed over the impressive two story collection observing thinly hammered precious metals, drinking vessels sculpted to look like sea shells and a myriad of stone amulets made to look like plants, animals and their ancient owners.

We finished our day with lunch on the Parque Central, the central plaza of Miraflores, the architecturally beautiful and culturally hip neighborhood where we're staying. Over comida typica (traditional foods of Peru) we watched residents and tourists stroll by in the shadow of the beautiful colonial municipal building and cathedral.

We have an early flight to Cusco tomorrow morning and will proceed on to the village of Ollantaytambo by bus. We'll write more in the coming weeks.

Hasta luego,
Sarah, Mark, Joseph and Brenna

The group has arrived

We've received word from the expedition leaders that the group has arrived in Lima.

Meet the Expedition Leaders

2008 Peru Expedition Leaders, left to right: Joseph Lambert, Sarah Bryan, Mark Pommer, Brenna Casey

Archaeology & Ancient Culture
Sarah Bryan. Bates College, B.A.; School for International Training, M.A. candidate. Sarah graduated cum laude in Spanish from Bates, where she took extensive coursework in Archaeology and Education and received her Maine Teaching Certification. She was a teaching assistant on an archaeological dig in Brunswick, Maine, and spent a summer as a research assistant for the Maine State Archaeology Lab, where she was part of a team investigating the possibility of an Earthwatch project on the Maine coast. Sarah lived with a host family while completing an advanced Spanish program at the Academia Latinoaericana de Español in Cusco, and later returned to lead a group of high school students on an educational and community service program to Peru. She has traveled widely in Latin America and served as a volunteer for the Escuela de Enseñanza Especial in Ciudad Quesada, Costa Rica. She sang with the Winneba Youth Choir in Ghana, West Africa, received a scuba certification in Fiji, and participated in an Independent School Alpine Climbing Society expedition to Argentina’s Aconcagua, the highest mountain in the world outside the Himalayas. Sarah teaches Spanish and directs the Outdoor Education and International Student Programs at Hebron Academy in Maine. She is fluent in Spanish.

Writing
Brenna Casey. Boston College, B.A.; University of Notre Dame, M.F.A. Brenna is a nonfiction writer currently based in Indiana. She recently graduated from the University of Notre Dame's M.F.A. program in Creative Writing, where she received the Sparks Fellowship. While there, Brenna served as Managing Editor for the Notre Dame Review, taught several Academic Writing Seminars, received the university's Distinguished Graduate Student Award, and facilitated a writing group for adults at the Center for the Homeless in South Bend, Indiana. Brenna's love for travel and travel writing flourished during college when studied at the Universidad de San Francisco in Quito, Ecuador. While living in Quito, Brenna also volunteered at the Center for Working Boys, teaching classes for working children and their parents. She has traveled extensively throughout Latin America, including a trek along the Inca Trail. This year, Brenna received an Honorable Mention for the prestigious Associated Writing Programs (AWP) Intro Journals Contest in Creative Nonfiction and was also nominated for the AWP George Garrett Prize for Community Service. She is currently at work on a cartographically-themed book of nonfiction. Brenna led Putney Student Travel's Ecuador community service program in the summer of 2007. She is fluent in Spanish.

Photography
Joseph Lambert. Montserrat College of Art, B.F.A. Joseph majored in Photography and Graphic Design at Montserrat and received the Annual Talent Award for achievement in photography. He was a contributing photographer for the History Channel production, History’s Mysteries--America's Stonehenge, and is the photographer and co-owner of Sunrise Publications, publisher of America's Stonehenge: An Interpretive Guide. In 2006 Joseph moved to Buenos Aires, Argentina, where he worked as a freelance photographer and web designer. He has traveled and photographed in many countries around the world. He led Putney Student Travel programs to Australia/New Zealand/Fiji and Alaska, was a resident advisor and photography assistant in the Excel at Bennington program, and taught Travel Photography in the Excel Oxford/Tuscany program. Apart from photography Joseph’s interests include music, cooking, film, drumming, and cultural studies. During the year he designs Putney Student Travel’s print and web publications and coordinates Putney’s programs in Australia, Oxford/Tuscany, and Argentina. He is fluent in Spanish.

At Large/Special Projects
Mark Pommer. Butler University, B.A; Columbia University, Ed.M. Mark's love for travel began in high school when he spent a summer playing soccer throughout Europe against local teams. During his years at Butler, he tutored Latino students in inner city schools and served as leader of an after-school youth program, leading week-long backpacking trips through the Appalachian Mountains. He spent a semester studying literature in London and a summer studying Spanish in Mexico. At Columbia, Mark studied Child & Educational Psychology and provided psycho-educational consultation at a high school in Spanish Harlem as well as in Costa Rica. He has traveled extensively in Western Europe, New Zealand, Latin America, and Southeast Asia. Mark led Putney Student Travel community service programs to Costa Rica and Ecuador. He currently lives in Jackson Hole, Wyoming, where he works as a high school psychologist, ski coach, and service learning coordinator. Mark is an avid skier, snowboarder, backpacker, fly-fisherman, and photographer. He is fluent in Spanish.

Welcome!

Welcome family and friends of National Geographic Student Expeditions participants!

We have created this blog in order to keep you updated on the progress of your child’s National Geographic Student Expedition this summer. We hope that occasional updates throughout the expedition will help keep you informed about the activities, projects and successes of the program.

The expedition leaders will post entries approximately once per week during the program. The leaders’ first priority is the students and the program. If updates are infrequent, it is likely due to the group’s very busy schedule and inconsistent internet access. Please know that any important issues that arise during the program will be discussed and resolved with leaders and parents by phone, not through the blog.

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Best wishes from us all at National Geographic Student Expeditions