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Study Abroad Update

Hey, everyone! I just got news this weekend after doing my phone interview that I was accepted into my Study abroad and service-learning program in Cusco, Peru this coming Summer. I will be gone for over two months! I will most likely do some study abroad updates if anything interesting happens between now and then, but I do plan on making a separate blog to post about my adventures.

For now, I'm still figuring out my budget and waiting on scholarship decisions to come in. The cost of the program is expensive, so I made a go fund me at this URL: http://www.gofundme.com/k11txc
If you can donate and/or share this link, it would be much appreciated!

Source

Here's what I plan on doing while I'm in Peru:

  • Visiting Ollantaytambo, a beautiful city with palace ruins from the old Incan stronghold during Spanish conquest. It's also one of the first stops on the Inca Trail
  • I would really like to do the full Inca Trail Hike, which lasts four days, but I will definitely be doing a partial hike.
  • I know I will be going to Machu Picchu at least once and maybe even a second time after the program officially ends. 
  • Trips to Puno, the Sacred Valley, and Puerto Maldonado are on the itinerary.
  • I'd love to go to other places like Nazca or Cajamarca, but It's more likely that I'll visit Lima on the way back home. Hopefully, I can take the scenic train from Huancayo to Lima. 
  • There's so much food and drink to try! Chicha, chicha morada, Chifa (Chinese-Peruvian), Papas rellenas, Papas a la Huancaína, tallarines verdes (special Peru pesto), and I will probably try guinea pig at some point...
I'm still planning where I can go and what I can do, so if anyone has any ideas, let me know!
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Comments

  1. Laura MorriganMarch 3, 2015 at 6:40 PM

    Wow, it sounds exciting! Have a great time!

    ReplyDelete
  2. LeslieMarch 5, 2015 at 9:04 PM

    I adored Peru. The people were nice, the food was fantastic (well, maybe not the guinea pig.... there isn't much TO a guinea pig), and it was very beautiful. Cusco was a delight. Puerto Maldonado was... well, it was my connection hub to go up the Tambopata River to get to a research station, so I don't really remember much about it except that it rained like crazy.
    Advice: Buy the sugared brazil nuts they sell in the airport in PM. They taste like magic and dreams. Take a second day at Machu Picchu and climb up to the guard tower on Huayna Picchu. They say it takes an hour, they're lying, it takes more than that but it's super cool. Watch hummingbirds in Agua Calientes (one of the hotels has lots of hummingbird feeders, they're everywhere, and nectar bats come feed there at night), and bring some tip money for the cute girls with llamas and the dude at Sacsayhuaman dressed as the Inca.
    And believe me on this: the mosquitos are NOT SCREWING AROUND. Take bug repellant. It is your friend.
    You're going to have such a wonderful time!

    ReplyDelete

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