Exploring Peru!

We have come to the end of our exploring of Peru and are preparing for our time treating the people of Lima, Peru! We are soaking up the very limited wifi that we have in the nunnery that we are blessed to stay at! Please forgive us for the lack of blog posts, wifi has been hard to come by. Over the past couple of days, we have done quite a bit of traveling!

We spent our first official day in Peru exploring Cusco. Not only did some of us indulge in Peruvian cuisine, but we also did some shopping in the local markets.

Our second day was spent exploring Southern Valley. We were on a 4-hour bus tour, stopping at 3 different sites throughout the tour, exploring Incan ruins. It was intriguing to learn of the history; it was also difficult to fathom the length of time that the walls and structures built by the Incans have been standing tall.

On our third day, we made our way to Machu Picchu!! We caught an early morning train (this being most of our first experiences on a train) from Sacred Valley to Machu Picchu. After arriving, we had to wait in an extremely long line to catch a bus that took us to the starting point of our hike. The line was so long that we were afraid we would not make it in time for our hike...but we are so thankful we did!! We hiked Huayna Picchu, which was a challenging yet a beyond rewarding experience. It took approximately an hour and a half to climb 2,667.58 meters above sea level (m.s.n.m).  We took countless pictures that even though beautiful, could never do the views justice. After our descent, we had a quick lunch and then began a 2-hour tour of the Incan ruins of Machu Picchu. We learned that the ruins were discovered accidentally and were abandoned when the Incan people caught word that the Spaniards were approaching their land. We also witnessed 2 proposals while there!

Saturday morning we had the opportunity to explore the markets in Cusco before being driven back to the airport to fly to Lima. We were thrilled to have witnessed a parade that filled the streets celebrating Santa Rosa. The costumes were colorful and elaborate; the music was loud and joyful. When we arrived in Lima, we were picked up at the airport by Erin, a PT who has lived in Lima for 4 years working for MMI. When we arrived at the nunnery that we will be staying at for the first week, we were taken to our bungalows. Shortly after, we were served a delicious dinner.

Sunday morning, we had breakfast and met the 4 students from Arcadia University that we will be working with for the 2 weeks. We then traveled to Shalom for a church service and to later set up the facility for our first 3 days of treatment. It was a long day filled with organizing donated equipment and toys, but it helped build our excitement for our first day of treatment.

Throughout this week, different students will be posting on the blog about their experiences in the clinic. We are blessed to be serving God and the people of Peru. Our mentors are thoughtful, helpful, and admirable. We are grateful to have the opportunity to grow spiritually, personally, and professionally.  Thank you for your continued prayers and support!

Alyssa Cirillo