As we are finishing up our second week in Arequipa its interesting to see how our experiences in our first city in Peru has been to the rest of the trip in Ecuador. Coming into the city it was clear that the basic weather and terrain was much different. Arequipa is a high desert it is very dry and about 700′ feet above sea level. It is also the most modern city we have been to it had numerous malls and many american food chains and department stores. It was nice having these amenities after extended stays in more rural areas like Pucara.
The first week for my half of the group consisted of Spanish classes where we would study with two seperate teachers in 2 hour blocks. After that we either had a free afternoon or a group activity which consisted of tours of the churches, walking around the plaza de armas, visiting a monestary, or trying authentic Cevichella. The second week the groups switched and we worked in a volunteer construction site at a girls home on the other side of town. The first group there worked on constructing the house and doing the initial mudding while the second group worked on reinforcing the house, providing insulation, and painting.
-Ciaran