Leaders: Jenna and Michael

Photographers (and blog authors) Ryan and Brittani

To start our second day in Lima, we went on a city tour with a guide named Rocio. Our first stop was at the archeological site Huaca Pucllana. It was an Incan ceremonial site that was partly destroyed soon after the arrival of the Spanish and the Catholic religion, but is being restored currently. The rest of the tour included more sites where official government activities now take place, but ceremonial Incan temples once stood. We then toured the San Franciscan monastery. There was a lot of religious art depicting the glory and the sacrifices of many Catholic missionaries and other bible stories. We also got to walk through the underground catacombs, where the bones of many wishing to be closer to God in death lay.

After leaving the museum, we headed to Puro Peru, a gourmet buffet. As you can imagine, we were craving a few ribs, and missing our mummies. There, many of us tried new foods exclusive to Peruvian culture like chupe, chichamorada, and lucuma ice cream. We next visited the Museo Oro de Peru. Inside were many ancient artifacts, mostly from the Incan empire. In contrast to what we had seen at the monastery, the Incans mummified many of their dead in belief of a second life. We were able to see the mummified bodies of high officials from more than 1300 years ago. In addition, Incan tools and dress were on display throughout the museum. Upstairs we spent some time looking at the museums extensive weapon collection from around the world spanning multiple eras of warfare.

Before we got back to the hotel to rest before dinner, we traded in our American dollars for some Peruvian so(u)les. No deals with the devil necessary.

Pun credit to Sam Crozier

Main Square Old Town Lima

Main Square Old Town Lima

Main Square Old Town Lima

Main Square Old Town Lima

Main Square Old Town Lima

Main Square Old Town Lima

Main Square Old Town Lima

Main Square Old Town Lima

Main Square Old Town Lima

Main Square Old Town Lima

dessert time

With our guide Rocio

Victor - our wonderful driver for the trip

Inside the Museo Oro de Peru

July 29th Day 1

Leaders of the day: Ade and Danny
Photographers: Jenna and Micheal

This morning we went to Manchay, a community outside of Lima. This is a community of about 40,000 people living in a relatively small area of land. A number of philanthropists have invested time and money developing this community, and in a sense this community is a model for economic development in impoverished areas. The presence of the church also has a powerful effect on the state of education in the region and the availability of health centers. We met with Father Lyn, a local priest, who gave us a tour of the community and showed us a senior center, some local schools, health centers, and churches funded by the church.

 During the tour, Matt stumbled upon a soccer game and asked if he could join. Thus, Groton students Jenna, Stefano, and Matt crashed a local soccer game. The rest of the students cheered on as their peers played with the locals.

 We stopped at the Pampa de Amancaes restaurant for lunch before continuing our journey to a beach, where Sam and Lilly decided they wanted to dip their feet into Pacific waters. Then Senora Viacava took us to look around the different towns of Lima, Miraflores and Barranco, and we saw El Parque de Amor, which included a statue that Matt thought was two wrestlers but was actually a statue of two lovers kissing. Mr. Das ushered us away promptly. For dinner we ate at Mangos in Larcomar, an underground restaurant with a nice ocean view. After dinner we saw fireworks for the Peruvian holiday “El Feliz Veintiocho”, Peru’s independence day which is similar to America’s Fourth of July.

Much thanks to Pedro Pablo Kuczynski (Suzy’s dad) for organizing our trip to Manchay.

 Hi mom and dad I had a wonderful first day and Peru, I hope you guys are doing well. Love you – Michael You

Hi Dad, Mom, and Chris, I had an amazing first day in Peru! Love and miss you both lots! xoxoxo –Jenna Blouin

School compound in Manchay

Manchay handicap school

Manchay

Manchay

A few new friends

soccer game

Manchay

Manchay

In the hotel Lobby

Lunch time

On the pacific ocean

Arrived safely in Lima

The journey from Groton to Newark took four hours and we were at Newark airport at 10:30 AM. Everyone arrived by 11:00 AM - thank you parents - and we were able to check in with time to spare. The flight was fairly uneventful and easy and it was great seeing Fanny Viacava at Lima airport. We had a half an hour drive from the airport to our Hotel, Leon De Oro, and everyone is now in their rooms. The phone number here is 511 242 6200. My room number is 201 and Fanny's is 401. Tomorrow the global camera will go into action and I promise to have some photographs up.

Trip starts on 28th July

Watch this space for postings