Stepping off the plane into Cusco, everyone took a deep breath of excitement and realized that their breath really wasn't that deep. At 11,200 ft up in the air, we were about to experience some of the most difficult work we've ever done and still have a blast doing it.
Our goal for the trip was to complete a greenhouse from the ground up with the eight of us from Michigan along with four fathers in the community. Day 1 we jumped right into it, but only for half of a day. After moving 30 pound adobe bricks and digging trenches, we began to realize how much the altitude really effected the work, and it would have been hard enough anyways! We practiced stretching and yoga led by Lizzie during our breaks, and made sure we stayed hydrated.
Once the foundation was filled in, we began to layer the bricks (adobe) and mud (barro). Working with the fathers was a great learning experience in communication. Our group varied in their levels of working Spanish, so we picked up on a lot of nonverbal communication but also improved immensely with Spanish to better communicate with the fathers.
By the end of week 1 we made pretty significant progress on building the greenhouse, practicing our Spanish, and even on our strength and conditioning. We challenged the fathers and other community members to a soccer game on Friday. Although we did not win, it was still a great end to the week, and we were all looking forward to the next!
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