Everyone made it up and on time to our 4:30 am meeting time to depart on the train to Machu Picchu. (This group continues to impress!). Traveling by train is always a transformative experience. As we neared Machu Picchu, the sun began to rise, slowly revealing to us that the landscape had changed dramatically from a more arid region to rainforest. And after transferring from train to bus, which took us to the entrance of Machu Picchu, we quickly saw the transformative power of this place, and why it is a World Heritage Site. The feeling of history is palpable in the air, and the sheer beauty of the place is difficult to describe (maybe done best by Pablo Neruda in his poem "The Heights of Machu Picchu") and is certainly not done justice by the many iconic photos of the ruins. In fact, there were many geographical aspects of the place we were surprised by, not to mention the many historical, anthropological, and architectural facts we learned that surprised us. Machu Picchu certainly left its impression on us. After a long day at the ruins and some time exploring Aguas Calientes, we headed home on the train and ended our evening by playing "Watermelon" (one of our favorite group games), holding our ANCHOR session (in which we share aspects of our day), and returning to homestays for dinner.
I, Kyle, who is writing the blog tonight would especially like to thank our WLS team (Jorge, Lauren, Adela, and Leda) and Coach Dunn for their incredible work today (and throughout this trip, but particularly impressive today) to make sure that we arrive on time, don't miss trains, that we are well-fed, safe, and challenged to learn and grow in new ways. They are an impressive group of leaders. And our students continue to lead in impressive ways. Our student leaders for today, Ben and Collin, will add a few more thoughts about Machu Picchu tomorrow.
In closing, the students wanted to wish their fathers a Happy Father's Day (Lexie says, "Hey, Tim"). They are so appreciative of you letting them have this opportunity.
Tomorrow we go to work with our NGOs. More to come on that!
I, Kyle, who is writing the blog tonight would especially like to thank our WLS team (Jorge, Lauren, Adela, and Leda) and Coach Dunn for their incredible work today (and throughout this trip, but particularly impressive today) to make sure that we arrive on time, don't miss trains, that we are well-fed, safe, and challenged to learn and grow in new ways. They are an impressive group of leaders. And our students continue to lead in impressive ways. Our student leaders for today, Ben and Collin, will add a few more thoughts about Machu Picchu tomorrow.
In closing, the students wanted to wish their fathers a Happy Father's Day (Lexie says, "Hey, Tim"). They are so appreciative of you letting them have this opportunity.
Tomorrow we go to work with our NGOs. More to come on that!
