When we arrived at the Fundación Almeria school and greenhouse complex where Kathy and Juli are working, we found them sorting a small mountain of beans, some in the pod and others in hiding. Both Juli and Kathy grew up on farms, and the location here in the highlands, far from the smog and crowds of Lima, surrounded by hills that welcome hikers, seems to fit them well. Kathy said that she raised her fists and shouted “yes” when she arrived.

They gave us a tour of the greenhouse complex first. They showed us where they had planted tomatoes and peppers and lettuce, on a wooden doubledecker frame that looked a lot like a bunkbed (on one bed, for example, they planted lettuce on the lower bunk, and peppers on the upper). The food grown in the greenhouses is served to children from the community, who attend classes here as well.

For Juli and Kathy, the 15-minute walk from the greenhouses to their host home follows dirt roads, with adobe houses on either side, and often a pig or a cow or a rooster in the yard, tied up by a leg to keep it from wandering. They’ve gotten to know the rooster at their house pretty well. Their morning alarm clock, which actually sleeps in a room under their second-floor bedroom, goes off around 4:30, 6, and 7, they said.

Evenings they usually retire early to their room and read or write, sometimes having to schooch near the single lightbulb in the room. Nights are cold, and the walls let in the fresh air. On the far side of the bedroom ears of corn are piled against the wall, ready for when the family needs it.

Kathy and Juli live with the grandparents of their host father, Nilton. Their host mother is Eufemia, and three boys round out the family: Nilton Cesar, 13, Yemmi, 11, and Yhosed 4.

Once in a while, the brothers stop by to watch the family's TV, which is in Juli and Kathy's room. Sometimes, for better or for worse, the Goshen students have had to put aside assigned readings to study the nuances of love and heartache on Peruvian telenovelas (the boys' choice in programming). When the TV signal fails, as it sometimes does, one of the boys will give the television a whack, and the picture returns.

Kathy and Juli are also teaching English at the Fundación Almeria school: 1st, 2nd, 3rd, and 4th graders, in different classes, three days a week. They invited us into the classroom. Among other things, they taught greetings (How are you? I'm fine. And you?) and animals (chancho = pig). We also sang “Heads, Shoulders, Knees and Toes” together before the class was over.

Sitting next to the outdoor kitchen stove at the greenhouse, we enjoyed a healthy lunch with Juli and Kathy and volunteers from Spain, as well as the regular workers, managed by Baltazar, a big Goshen College fan (he mentioned how much he enjoys wearing his college T-shirt, a gift from a student a year or two back).

Juli and Kathy traveled back with us as far as Izcuchcaca, about 20 minutes away by kombi van, where we found some pastries in shop on the main street and walked around the corner to eat them in a park. Then they were off to an Internet café (there’s no Internet at the greenhouse), and we were off for Cusco.

In only their first day on the job at Clinica San Juan de Dios in Cusco, Diana and Ellie were in high demand. Picture a room full of children in wheelchairs and walkers, about 40 of them, all wanting to see and feel some of that warm midday Cusco sun. For almost all of the children, the only way outside is courtesy of a staff member or a volunteer.

At best, there were about five people available to help out during the time that we were there. Two of them were Diana and Ellie, and they were kept busy wheeling children by turns along the outdoor loop, which wound through a playground. A favorite stop was the merry-go-round with a wheelchair ramp. Each ride also came with kisses and hugs.

Four weeks from now, it may be difficult for Diana and Ellie to say goodbye to the children, if the early signs of bonding are any indication. The clinic, which began in 1982, serves children and adults in need of physical therapy and rehab.

This is the first time, we believe, that Goshen students have served here. The clinic has a steady supply of volunteers during the high tourist season in July and August, but come fall, there are fewer hands to help with the children.

Across town, Melanie is also working with children, in a classroom at Aldeas Infantiles SOS, a preschool and much more. Aldeas Infantiles describes itself as an international “social movement.” Its core vision says that “every boy and every girl belongs to a family and grows best with love, respect and security.”

Many of the children who attend the preschool come from homes with a single parent, invariably a mother, who is hardpressed to earn enough money to support her children. The school tries to help by providing education, childcare, and healthy meals. On the day we visited, we found Melanie helping to maintain order in a lively cafeteria, and seeing that children brushed their teeth afterward.

Later that evening we shared a meal at Nonna Trattoria, a restaurant that is run by the wife of the man who works with Diana´s host sister. Got that? The pizza, baked in a wood-fired clay oven, was the best that we have had in Cusco.

While we were there, the three women competed for what amounted to bragging rights over who wore the most clothes to bed. If you wonder whether it’s cold at night in Cusco, here´s the proof: Ellie said she wears two shirts, socks, long sweat pants, and sometimes mittens and a coat. And she uses five alpaca blankets and a comforter.

Diana wears two pair of socks, two pair of pants, two longsleeve shirts, two T-shirts, a sweater, and a purple fleece; and she uses five alpaca blankets and a comforter.

Melanie wears two pair of pants, a T-shirt, two sweatshirts, socks, mittens, and a chuyo wool hat – “and then I mummify myself in a blanket and crawl under two more blankets and a comforter. It´s pretty much a ritual. You can ask my mom. Eventually you can get a pocket of heat in the room.”

One of the highlights of the first two weeks, Diana said, was attending a combination birthday party for her brother Lucho, 30, and a Father´s Day celebration for her host father, Luis. After dinner, which included roasted pig, the family sang huayno songs, a kind of folk music from the highlands, as well as more urban and coastal tunes.

“We moved the table aside and all danced, a room full of relatives and me,” Diana said. “They made a lot of jokes in Quechua, which I didn´t understand. It was a lot of fun.”

One of the days, we had a chance to visit with Diana´s parents, Luis and Angelica, who served us a snack of fruit juice, a delicious combination of pina, fresa and papaya, and crackers. Luis brought out his guitar and played several folk tunes from the region, a gift of song, he said, for our despedida, with this being our third and last group of students. In another gift without price, they slipped on our fingers rings shaped from stone that Luis had brought back from Machu Picchu years ago when he worked there.

We also had a lovely visit with Ellie´s family, including her host mother, Eduarda, and her sister Jhoseline. We were sorry to have missed host brother Elvis, who has guided every one of the Goshen groups on its tour of the Sacred Valley of the Incas and Machu Picchu. He was away, leading another group during our stopover.

At Melanie's home, we received another warm welcome, as well as a dish of vanilla ice cream with mermelada de saúco, a topping that tastes like blueberry jam. We also received a tour of the home, which her host mother, Kely, a trained architect, has painted with artistic flourishes.

Grace shares a journal entry:

Differences

• In my Lima host family, it takes much longer for the men to get ready than the women.
• A “pinch” of salt in Peruvian cooking is much more like a tablespoon.
• While in the U.S. I would prepare cucumbers (pepinos) and potatoes (papas) by cutting them into large chunks and leaving the peel on; this practice is not customary in Peru. It sure gets a big laugh, though!
• It is not considered rude or discriminatory to call someone fat, skinny, ugly, Chinese, or Japanese, or to mimic other ethnic-racial stereotypes to their face. Peruvians call it as they see it, and tend to confront issues head-on.
• Hanging your undergarments out to dry on top of your apartment complex for the entire city to see is not considered scandalous; however, walking home from a dance rehearsal wearing knee-length gym shorts will incite fits of laughter, hollers, snickers, kisses, and cat calls.
• Somehow my affection for rich foods like butter, yogurt, and cheese is perceived as strange and abnormal, but my host family’s copious consumption of mayonnaise and Inca Kola with every meal is perfectly acceptable.
• That sauce that looks deceptively like honey-mustard? Yeah, it’s not. In fact, it is actually ají, a spicy hot pepper sauce.
• In Peru, Hall’s brand cough drops are literally eaten as candy. When I tried to explain to my cousin how we regard them as medicine in the U.S., he laughed and said, “That’s silly. Everyone knows they’re for refreshment.”
• The idea that anyone would have a religious affiliation other than Catholic, or, heaven forbid, Evangelical, is rather difficult to explain.

Similarities

• We have sweet tooth cravings just the same.
• We coo over newborn infants and baby animals just the same.
• Brothers antagonize sisters just the same.
• We idolize music, movie, and sports stars just the same.
• Husbands demonstrate love for their wives by surprising them with flowers after a long day of work just the same.
• Adolescent girls scream in terror at gory horror movies just them same.
• Lovers neck in moon-lit parks just the same.
• Laughter warms a family meal just the same.
• Soap operas are just as ridiculously plotted and over-acted (cue the cheesy, over-dramatic music!)

Here are the rest of the photos from our June 10-13 trip, from Machu Picchu and Ollantaytambo .

Our first stop in Cusco was the Hospedaje Ayahuasca, which has been a comfortable hospice home for at least four groups of SSTers. We climbed four flights of steps, pausing to remember along the way that our elevation was now 3,326 meters, or about 10,912 feet. Pouring hot water over dried leaves, we made cups of coca tea, which locals say is the best way to get acclimated to the higher elevation.

In the afternoon, we visited Qorikancha (Quechua for “Golden Courtyard”), once the richest temple in the Incan empire. The stone remains of the temple, having survived several earthquakes, including a monster that leveled buildings across the city in 1650, serve as the foundation for the colonial church of Santo Domingo. We also saw some Incan ruins on the outskirts of Cusco: Puco Pucara, or “Red Rock,” probably a resting point for travelers, and Qenqo, or “Zigzag,” which has a nifty cave.

That night we sat around a long table for pollo a la brasa (picture being served half a roasted chicken and a small mountain of french fries with dipping sauces), celebrating Melanie’s birthday at the end of the meal, when the waiters brought in a surprise chocolate cake.

The next day we went to hilltop ruins of Saqsaywamán, which means “Satisfied Falcon,” and which guides, including ours, Elvis, pronounce with the mnemonic “sexy woman.” Elvis told us that the Spaniards tore down many of the original Incan walls, using the exquisitely carved stone to build their homes down below in Cusco.

Down the road, we watched Pedro, an Andean healer, perform a traditional blessing ceremony. The offering he wrapped up for burning included anis, coca leaves, corn, thread, seashells, rice, and an impressive variety of cookies and other sweets (pachamamma, the mother earth diety in the Incan belief system, clearly has a fondness for sugar).

On the main plaza, we visited the Cathedral, which took almost 100 years to build, beginning in 1559. As with so much else here, the Spaniards used an Incan foundation, in this case a former palace. The cathedral holds a rich repository of colonial art.

From there, we drove down in the Sacred Valley of the Incas, taking advantage of a roadside photo-op. We arrived hungry in the town of Pisac, where most of us had squash soup and spaghetti in chicken sauce for lunch, followed by shopping in the market. We visited the Pisac ruins next, known for agricultural terraces and great walking trails. Our second day ended after dark in Ollantaytambo, population 2,000, elevation 2,800 meters (9,186 feet).

The train left Ollantataytambo at 7 a.m., bound for Machu Picchu – well, actually, for Aguas Calientes, a little town at the foot of the Incan mountaintop citadel. We boarded a bus for the zigzag climb to the top. We arrived just in time for the group to gain entry to the rugged and steep trail that leads up Huayna Picchu (“Young Peak,” in Quechua), a peak that overlooks Machu Picchu (“Old Peak”). This trail is limited to 400 hikers per day, and we contributed 20 of 24 students to the total. At the flat-rock summit, the vantage point for photos is hard to beat.

Later, all gathered on a lawn terrace at Machu Picchu, Elvis shared something of the history of the site. He said a 10-year-old boy, Pablo, led Hiram Bingham to the citadel in 1911. The boy received 1 sol coin; Bingham received the title “discoverer” of Machu Picchu. He also took away hundreds of pieces of pottery, gold, silver, and other remains, much of which ended up at Yale University. Peru is negotiating for their return.

We had time to explore Aguas Calientes as well, since we had a late evening train ride back to Ollantaytambo. Many students tried out the natural hot springs from which the town draws its name. On Friday morning, a bus took us back to Cusco.

Before flying back to Lima, we said goodbye at the airport to five students in the group who are staying on: to Diana, Ellie, and Melanie, who will live in Cusco during the service term; and to Juli and Kathy, who will work about an hour and a half away, in Katiñaray. In about a week, the service visits begin, with photos and news notes to follow.

Just as every group of SSTers takes on a wonderful personality of its own, so too does every mix of host families. And so when those two groups come together after nearly six weeks for an evening despedida, it’s bound to be a one-of-a-kind farewell party.

The families began arriving soon after 7 p.m., welcomed to the Seminario by posters and streamers that students had hung earlier in the day. A slide show captured some of the highlights of the weeks in Lima, including meeting families for the first time, swimming with sea lions, and visiting the home of the artist Víctor Delfín.

Celia greeted the families, opening the formal part of the program. Then followed the first of several musical numbers. We enjoyed hearing a mixed ensemble, a women’s choir, and the full group of students. Family members sang along with the full group too, after a brief coaching session on the song. Students in the advanced Spanish class worked up an impressive lip-synch rendition of a favorite pop tune, that included bringing Oswaldo, their language professor up on stage. Since Oswaldo had to teach a class that evening, Duane stood in for that ‘surprise’ part of the song.

Laura Schlabach and Melanie Hershberger shared some favorite word associations, compiled by the whole group as students thought of favorite memories with their families.

We invited families to come forward in groups, first recognizing those families who had hosted students in every semester of the program in Peru (six semesters and counting); then those who had hosted students for five semesters; and so forth. As the families stood up front, their respective sons and daughters presented flowers to the host parents.

Duane “Carlos” and Karen thanked the families for all that they had done, beginning with inviting students into their homes, with mucho cariño, or love. Kate and Emily thanked families, in part, by serving Inca Kola and other soft drinks during our intermission.

Yes, while the rest of us ate bocaditos and desserts, more than half the group of students disappeared. Downstairs, they were putting on dance costumes. When they returned, fully outfitted as folkloric dancers from the Andean highlands, they put on an impressive display, led by Pedro, their dance instructor over the past couple of weeks. It’s fair to say that the crowd went wild. There was lots of picture-taking during the performance and afterward, as families members and friends posed with the dancers.

The program ended with the introduction of Alex Naula and Julia Adams, who are set to take over in August as directors of the Goshen College program in Peru. Blessings to them and to all who participate in the program in the year ahead!

We also presented gifts, took pictures, and listened to the song, Color Esperanza (sung by Diego Torres) one more time. Of course we had to sing along!

Mervi brought in lunch for the last time, so we also had a chance to thank her for all the wonderful meals she has prepared...

And then we had the afternoon to prepare for our FAMILY despedida! Once again, time to formally say "thank you" before we head off to Cusco and our service assignments around the country.

Erica shares a journal entry:

Usually on Saturdays our class takes field trips to another city, or we have some kind of activity. On a recent Saturday, however, we had no obligations, and so a few friends and I decided to take advantage of the day and shop for Peruvian merchandise until we dropped.

I met Stephanie at the Primavera, after withdrawing a large sum of money as secretly as is possible in a huge mall with hundreds of people. Anyway, we caught the right bus and without question arrived at the right location in Miraflores. We met up with Ellie and went to a deli for lunch. I successfully ordered a grilled ham and cheese sandwich and a bottled water sin gas (without bubbles).

At the restaurants here, you have to ask for the check. So after the girls enjoyed some churros (a fried-dough pastry, filled with a sweet manjar blanco cream), we got the bill, and we were on our way. Two things struck me about this visit to the restaurant. First, I understood the menu even though everything was in Spanish. Second, I was able to communicate successfully with our waiter. What a HUGE difference in my Spanish from my first week here!

Following this, my next challenge awaited, changing money. There are several money changers nearby who stand on the street and wear bright green vests. So I walked along the sidewalk asking each what the exchange rate was. Several would say S2.80, (2 nuevo soles, 80 centimos to the dollar) and then as I walked away, S2.81, or S2.82!!! So I settled with S2.82. I checked each bill to make sure it was not a fake, as secretly as possible, of course, and we were on our way to the market.

The markets here are so fun, however very overwhelming. This market was basically a huge building with many open rooms filled with jewelry, fabrics, clothing, or other knick knacks. There is a vendor in each room and they jump off their stool and try incredibly hard to lure you into their store. Naturally, I was drawn to all the soft alpaca scarves and fabrics. The colors range from vibrant to a more antique style.

I was obsessed with the fabric until I came across the fluffy alpaca. I fell in love instantly with a figurine about 10 inches tall with the fluffiest, softest alpaca hair, but I resisted and we moved on. I saw several more of these, but resisted. And then we entered a store, mostly like all of the others. It had fabric, knick knacks, and the alpaca figurines. My first instinct was to touch the soft fur, and the saleswoman was instantly by my side.

These were so much softer than the others, but they were 30 soles here. She asked me if I spoke Spanish, and I answered yes. So she told me that these were alpaca, very soft and VERY nice. I told her that at the other store they were cheaper. She reduced the price a little, but we continued on our way. On our way back out of the market, we passed the store again and the lady was waiting at the entrance. She shouted out a cheaper price.

And so the bargaining began... She got out a calculator and we each took turns putting in our price. She convinced me to buy two, a boy and a girl. She showed me how cute they were when they kissed. We were all rolling with laughter after she did anything she could to convince me to buy them, from making them kiss, to making their hair as poofy as possible, to making them talk to me, to rubbing their hair on my cheek.

I bought the two for 40 soles, and we were both happy. After we took a picture together, we were on our way. So my day was full of bargaining in Spanish. At the end, I was so proud of my bargaining skills and I realized how much my Spanish had improved since my first week here. My market experience really made me feel good about all I have learned in the past month!

We thought you might like to see a few photos from our Goshen Tambo sessions, which have taken place every Wednesday since the students arrived:

For those who haven't read the blog from previous groups, following is a reminder of why we call the Goshen apartment, “Goshen Tambo.”

The Quechua word Tambo is from the time of the Incas. A "chasquitambo" in Quechua was a resting station for the Incan runners who ran messages and other items across the empire. The runner, or chasqui, would come to these resting places, or Tambos, every 15 - 20 k. along the Incan highways and byways and switch runners; the fresh one waiting to resume the journey with the message or whatever the previous runner had been carrying.

Wednesday gatherings are like a Tambo in that they provide a resting place and refuge from the intensity of SST. Goshen Tambo includes lunch and worship, which is planned each week by a different group of students, along with time for group discussion, reflection – and plenty of rest and relaxation!

Lunches are generally prepared by Mervi (Juli's host mother), who helps introduce us to many traditional Peruvian foods.

Once each term, we've allowed the students to vote on a meal. Generally it's been a combination of foods they've been missing from home, and the common theme each term has been a request for salad. This term, however, the students surprised us, and along with salad, they voted for grilled cheese sandwiches and tomato soup!

Since cans of tomato soup aren't plentiful in Peru, this meant a trip to the market to buy LOTS of Italian tomatoes to make homemade tomato gouda soup. Along with the sandwiches and salads, it was a pretty big hit!

This term, we had to wait until week four to celebrate a birthday, which happened to be Lane’s (May 26th). His request was for something light – like angel food. The closest we could come to that was a ‘chiffon’ cake, which went very well with fresh strawberries and whipped cream!

A little over a week later, we also celebrated Melanie with a chocolate cake, and more whipped cream, just before taking off for our Cusco trip. We made a big improvement in our singing of happy birthday in Spanish by this second round!

Our next celebration will take place when we return from service, since we will have several birthdays to catch up on at that point (Jill just celebrated hers on the 16th).

For our last Tambo session, Mervi also demonstrated her technique for preparing arroz con leche,or rice pudding, Peruvian style. We had to wait for it to cook, but it was worth the wait. We are grateful to Mervi for all the hard work and TLC she puts into making meals for us, bringing them all the way from Callao each week!