Study Abroad with UNA
south america
Machu Picchu
Machu Picchu…. All I can say is wow. The journey began at 3:30 this morning. My alarm clock sounded as I rolled out of bed and into my clothes. I brushed my hair and teeth, and I was out the door. To say that my host family is the most amazing would be a complete and total understatement. Jorgito and Monica, my Peruvian parents, woke up with my roommates and me to see us off. The bus pulled away from Basilica Café at 4:00, and we embarked on a journey that we’ll never forget. We rode the bus to a … // Read more
Shaman Healing
Riding through the Peruvian countryside on horseback is an awesome experience. The view is one that I will not soon forget. The mountains in the distance and the beautiful forest surrounding me were quite stunning. After riding for a while our guide took us to these really awesome caverns. He told us a great story about an Incan myth, then we got to climb through the caverns. I wasn’t feeling well, however, so I wasn’t able to fully enjoy it. Our guide took us to two more caverns but I was feeling so bad that I sat out while the … // Read more
Sacsayhuaman – Ancient Ruins with a Twist
A natural Incan-made slide, and you can slide down it? Yeah, I’m definitely going to do that. Saqsayhuamán, is an Incan Archaeological site that the most famous Incan Patchaqutec built out of respect for the sun for “assisting” them in a battle that they won. The site overlooks the city of Cusco and you can see for miles around at the top of it. Our group went to Saqsayhuamán on a weekend excursion. We learned a lot about the Incan’s and about how they built a lot of their architecture. They had to bring the stones that they used to … // Read more
Let’s Salsa!
Salsa class was so much fun! I am so grateful to be able to have this experience. We all met at 6:30 on the roof of the school to begin our class. The teacher introduced himself and his partner, and told us to organize into lines. We started off by learning simple salsa steps. There were four steps, and they were all pretty easy. After learning the steps, it was time to dance with a partner. Of course, I get Kayla because she is the tallest girl in our group. After dancing for a little while, the girls went around … // Read more
Lake Titicaca
Lake Titikaka is so unbelievably beautiful. The boat ride there is so peaceful it could put you to sleep in seconds. As our tour guide was giving us facts about our future destination, all I could do was stare out the window of the boat and imagine what was next. It only took about 30 minutes to make it to the amazing man-made floating Uros Islands. And they were exactly that – amazing! When we stepped off the boat onto the island, we were welcomed with open arms. One by one we got off the boat to the Uros people … // Read more
‘Resurrecting’ an Ancient Culture
After an early morning of visiting the Uros islands of Lake Titicaca we drove up to the Peruvian ruins of Sillustani. The ruins were incredible and carry a lot of history, but what really amazed me about this place were the views. Sillustani is actually situated on a peninsula and I’m pretty sure that we had just as much fun running around looking for the perfect spot for our next set of pictures. Many of the chullpas, or the tower-like tombs at Sillustani, have been destroyed due to centuries of lightning and normal wear and tear; however, in normal Peruvian … // Read more
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