We all got up today at 6:15am because we were going to visit the old ruins of the palace of Pachacuti. Pachacuti Inca Yupanqui was the ninth King (1438-1471/1472) of the Kingdom of Cuzco. In Quechua, Pachakutiq means "He who remakes the world". During his reign, Cuzco grew from a hamlet into an empire that could compete with, and eventually overtake, the Chimu. He began an era of conquest that, within three generations, expanded the Inca dominion from the valley of Cuzco to nearly the whole of civilized South America.

The couple that we met on Tuesday were taking all of us there to visit. It was a long drive in the middle of nowhere (well there were farms...). It was freezing that morning!!! But the drive and temperature was worth it. We got to see something that was hidden from tourists. Only a few doctoral students got to see it and study it. We were told that the ruins were in much better shape the year before, but when they hired workers to restore it, instead they destroyed more of it looking for gold and other valuable artifacts. They had also uncovered skeletons in the past year while digging more of the ruin. I was amazed at how perfect the construction was and how perfect the stones were placed on top of one another. There was even a bath for the royalty that was still intact and functional!!! Unfortunetely, there was a 17th century house on top of the palace. When the Spaniards arrived and colonized, they built over much of the Inca ruins. I thought to myself how amazing it would be to work on a project like this...

On our way back, Jeremy, Spencer, Caitlin, and I were heading back to Maximo Nivel. We had still not eaten breakfast so I decided to buy a sandwich over there for...2.50 Soles! I was meeting with Ryan. Ryan was an English speaking employee that was working at Maximo Nivel for three months now, and planned to stay for another year. He was staying with his wife who was an Engligh teacher over here. He was going to accompany me and Caitlin to our project. We had to take a bus (Arco Iris) all the way to the end of the line (20 minutes away). The bus cost 0.60 Sole. Buses here a really safe, but very unofficial (no map, pay when you want). I could tell that we were reaching an impoverished area, because the road did not exist after awhile. We were heading into the montains, where most of the poverty exists.

After getting off at the last stop, we had to walk some more up the mountain. It was a 10 minute walk further. During the walk, I noticed roosters, pigs, dogs, and a donkey. We heard and saw a group of dogs fighting with eachother because one of them wanted to fornicate with another, but I guess the other dogs (probably male) did not want to. Aren´t all species the same...

We finally got all the way up to a school (and community center). Caitlin and I were going to be voluntering in the kindegarden classes. After presenting us both to the teachers and kids, I joined the 5 year old class and Caitlin joined the four year olds. They were all really cute!

I did not know what to do, so I decided to stay in the back of the class for a while and observe. I noticed a smell of gasoline in the room. The floors were made with an old wood, and the chairs and tables looked very dirty. There was no chalkboard only a small white board where we could use markers to write. Each kid was seated at a table in groups of threes. There were 12 kids in all. Each of them had there name written in front of them on the table. The teacher started the class by going over the legend of Manco Ccapac and Mama Occllo, probably something they learned all week. It was great being in the class because I got to learn as well (especially since the teacher was talking really slow with the kids...).

The kids then were asked to draw what they thought Manco Ccapac and Mama Occllo looked like. I was asked to go around and write there names as well as the names of Manco Ccapac and Mama Occllo on their papers. It was an excellent opportunity for me to get to know the kids. I had already picked favorites. There were some REALLY cute ones... I noticed that some of the kids had some skin peeling off as well as decaying teeth. Others had what seemed to look like freckes but did not look normal. It was probably from malnutrition. The kids were a bit shy with me at first, but it did not take them time to get comfortable with me.

At 10:30am, kids stopped to eat. Most of them brought bananas, oranges and other such fruits. There were a few that had gronola bars and yogourt. After snack time, the teacher told me that they had to brush their teeth. I thought that was so amazing that they were teaching hygiene in the classrooms, until I noticed that the kids did not have their own toothbrush. The toothbrushes were all mixed in a jar, and every kid took any one of them. I was given the task to put toothpaste on their toothbrushes. I noticed some kids coming back a second and third time, probably because thay just wanted me to do it again for them.

After snacktime and toothbrushing, it wsa recess. I asked the teacher if the kids had any balls to play with (by the way the teacher, Margoth, spoke no English, everything was in Spanish). She showed me the game room, which was practically empty, and it housed two mini footballs and a few little hard plastic balls that seemed quite dangerous. I thought to myself how perfect it will be when I bring a soccer ball tomorrow! The boys wanted to play with me more chasing me around the 14 foot by 14 foot playground. I played catch with four of them at the same time, but they preferred to just whip the balls at me all at the same time.

After recess, we when in and teacher started singing with the kids. The songs she song were the exact same songs as in North America, only in Spanish. Frere Jacques, Itsy bitsy Spider, just to name a few, were sang. I ws asked to teach the kids the English version of Frere Jacques but I told the teacher I only knew the French version. So we sang the French version, then the teacher proceeded to teach the kids the only English song she knew: Are you sleeping, are you sleeping, brother John, brother John...in her very broken English.

The rest of day consisted of learning words and how many syllabals they have. I got to add more words to my Spanish vocabulary as well. One of the kids, Jacob, was getting really energetic with me, jumping on me in class. Another child, Yerverson, was sleeping at his desk...

At the end of the day, Margoth thanked me and introduced me to the other teacher, Kacy (who was with Caitlin). We decided to all grab the bus together. I learned from them that Education and Malnutrition were two of the biggest concerns in Peru. Although public school is free, most students who have money go to private schools, with better teachers, better supplies, and a better education altogether, leaving the public schools with practically nothing since the government cannot support them.

When we got home, a bunch of us decided to play a game of monopoly while having popcorn. Jeremy, Barbara, Caitlin and myself played with the game that we found in the house. We were not up for going out because we got up really early that day and were all really tired. I was feeling much better (because of the pills I was taking).

After monopoly, Kevin, Spencer, Caitlin and myself enterd into a heated debate about what is good and what is evil as well as the history of USA´s foreign polocy in the 60s to the 90s. It all started because Kevin had gotten his laptop stolen and started criticizing the locals. I believed that in poorer countries, there was no other alternative for them. It ended on a lighter note with talk about funny movies. I really enjoyed learning about points of views of others.