Inti Raymi Play

The children had a play at school in honor of Inti Raymi. They reenacted the legend of the foundation of Cusco in which the sun god (kid with his face in the sun) sends his two children (the boy and girl in front) to civilize and teach the primitives living in the Sacred Valley near Cusco.The girls being taught by the sun god's daughter how to spin threadKids wearing the native costumeWe sure enjoyed the performance! From left to right: Hannah, Richard, David and Sydney.Gonzalo and Yefferson with their darling costumesTy with Joel David

Inti Raymi

June 24 is the winter solace in Peru. On this day the Incans would celebrate Inti Raymi, the pagan worship of the sun. In Cusco they have a reenactment of this festival, starting at Qorikancha and moving up to Sacsaywaman. We were able to see the beginning of the festival at Qorikancha and it was pretty cool!The temple of Qorikancha

The king speaking to his peopleThe king's main wifeAfter all of these people march up to Sacsaywaman they have a celebration during which they sacrifice two llamas and drink their blood...no joke, they really do.

We've been able to make a lot of progress on the house this week. The men working on the house found out that Terry, the wife of the executive director of Eagle-Condor, will be coming to Salcantay next week so they began busting their butts to get the house finished. With our help we've been able to get lots done.

We spend a lot of our time nailing bamboo to create the ceiling. When we finish nailing up the bamboo the men plaster over it. Then we get to sand and paint.

This is what our walls consist of...wood, bamboo, then plaster...

Llama!

Okay so it's actually an Alpaca, Llamas are less furry but whatever. We were working on building our house when this Alpaca appeared and we just had to take some pics. I know I look terrifying but how often do you get to hang out with Alpaca's in Peru?

Father's Day Celebration

Wednesday the kids had a Father's Day celebration for their dads. The celebration started by making cards with the kids in class. The children plastered their cards with feathers, glitter and foam shapes until there was no more possible room to glue anything else. We had fun making cards with them.Later that day the women made a massive pot of soup for the village. We were all joking that it looked like a witches brew, and the women looked like witches stirring the pot.The celebration began with music and dance. The 5th and 6th graders put on a pretty cool dance all wearing their traditional costumes.Here are some traditional Peruvian outfits.

Chillin' with the Children

Wednesday afternoon we had fun playing with the kids at the school in Salcantay. That night there was a Father's Day performance so the children were practicing their dancing. We went and danced with them and had lots of fun.Adorable Delia (our favorite) and Yefferson practicing their dance.When I was trying to take a picture of Delia and Yefferson, cute Louis Miguel jumped right in front of the camera!

Once you start spinning these kids you're in big trouble because they never want to stop!David, Hannah and Richard being tackled by children.The kids love hanging all over the interns.

BBQ Sauce

Tyler and I went on a hunt for BBQ sauce and were fortunate enough to find some. We sure are grateful for a little taste of home. I was so excited to smell that delicious smell that I got it all over my face!