We arrived in Urubamba almost a week ago and have been really busy ever since. We took a 4:30am flight out of Lima and after touching down in two other cities arrived in Cuzco at about 8am. Our gracious host Connie was waiting and whisked us away to her and her family´s campsite at the foot of one of the mountains that surrounds Urubamba. There lies the Nevo House which is a cute little cabin with a full kitchen and two bathrooms recently constructed to house us volunteers. The land is a wonderful sanctuary from the world where we can relax and study or read a book in peace after a day of volunteering.

We started on our projects almost immediately. Amanda with her reproductive health campaign and me with my dental health campaign. They keep us busy during the day while our evenings are spent taking Spanish lessons and studying. The biggest obstacle for us is learning to speak Spanish well enough to communicate with the people we are working with. There is no shortage of opportunity to practice our skills and by the time we leave we should be pretty well versed.

This past weekend we visited some of the many ancient ruins in the Urubamba Valley including Ollantaytambo and Pisac. Both of these places were amazing. It is mind boggling to think of how these ancient civilizations were able to construct such elaborate structures on the sides of the mountains. To walk in and around them fills you with awe as well as sadness that the structures and the people who built them were destroyed for greed and conquest.

The biggest market in the area is in the town of Pisac. It attracts many tourists looking to buy ¨authentic¨ alpaca and llama wool products as well as locals buying and bartering their goods. We loved the market. We spent hours walking around trying to see all that it had to offer. We ended up buying a few gifts for our family and some things for ourselves as well.

The week is flying by and we hope to have another exciting adventure to talk about this weekend.

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