Peru!

Even though Italy's not happening next year, I'm pretty excited about this shorter trip I'm going on in late December, just a few days after Christmas. A small group of students from the Spanish Department and I are going to Peru for ten days to explore this beautiful country! I made my first payment yesterday, so it's definitely happening. Btw, I'm minoring in Spanish, if ya didn't know already!

We will be staying in Lima but will be traveling around to different surrounding areas. We will be flying to Cuzco, taking a boat trip around the Ballestas islands, attending dinner shows about their folkloric dances and culture, touring Inca ruins like Machu Picchu, seeing various museums, etc.

What I'm most excited about is hiking up to see the lost city of Machu Picchu. In case you're not familiar with this place, the Incas started building it around 1430 A.D. but it was abandoned a hundred years later at the time of the Spanish conquest of the Inca Empire. This city was forgotten for years until the American historian Hiram Bingham discovered it again in 1911!

I was feeling hesitant about going for several reasons, but ultimately I really want to do this. I've always had such a longing within my soul to travel around the world, learning about new cultures, and seeing firsthand all these beautiful places I've read so much about. College is such a great opportunity to study abroad and travel-- I definitely want to take advantage of this as this may be my last chance in a while. The best part is the professor who's leading this trip is my professor whom I had for Beginning Spanish I and II back in the day. I love her! :) And also, Rachel Martin's friend Renee is going, too!