WOW!

That is really the only word that can explain this past week. I'm trying to post a bunch of overdue pictures but it isn't working very well so stay tuned!
The past seven days were full of volunteering and fun of course! At the school (Huacarpay) we finished building an apparatus for the SODIS project and are launching it tomorrow. We are really hoping this works out but the water tank they have (in the picture) only contains so much water each day and usually runs out from watering the plants in the greenhouse at about 11 AM. We are going to look into the problem with this tank and ask Volunteer Abroad to further investigate this if we can't figure it out before we leave. We work at this school from about 9-1 and then come home (hence why I've been able to do so many other things). We are working there for a couple more days. I'm finding it hard for us to make a huge impact in the three short weeks that we are here, as two other girls that have been here for 3 months have had some issues with this as well since things in Peru don't always happen in the speediest of fashions. However we are finding a lot of things that future groups can work on at the school. Here is a picture of the cutest little girl, she only speaks Quechuan, and her mother helps out with cooking at the school. Such beautiful children here!
Thursday, Evan, Caitlin and I met up with my two friends Sarah and Kaitlyn that go to X with me (from Calgary and Bar Harbour, Maine, respectively) and went to a soccer game. It was Cusco's Cienciano vs. a team from Uruguay for the Copa Sudamericana. The stadium was wild, the hooligans set off fireworks and flares a lot and if you stood up to go to the bathroom or take a picture you got reamed out by the most hardcore fans I have ever seen! Cienciano won 2-0 so it was great to see some goals.
On Friday we took a tour through the Sacred Valley on our way to Machu Picchu. We had a private car for $12 US each and the driver was pretty much like a tour guide, he was so proud of his country and gave us great background information on the agricultural ruins of Maras, the Salinerias (salt ponds) and about Urumbamba.
We stayed the night in a place called Ollantaytambo where we had to catch the train at 5:30 AM to get to Aguas Calientes (the town at the base of Machu Picchu, 2070 m above sea level). On Saturday we went on a hike up a mountain called Puticusi (2500) which overlooks Machu Picchu. It was full of such steep slopes that in some places we had to climb up 25 m ladders made of wood. This believe it or not was the most difficult hike of the weekend!
The next morning we got up at 3 AM and began the trek up to Machu Picchu (2400 m). It was so erie hiking up 2000 stairs in the dark, but it was so worth it as the first 200 people get to go on another hike up Wayna Picchu (2700 m, which also overlooks the ruins of Machu Picchu). It is difficult to explain how amazing the site was, and there is so much history you could read books upon books about it and still wouldn't know everything. We barely ate anything all day and decided to run down the mountain instead of taking a $7 US bus (you know the funds are running out when...) in time to get to an amazing buffet where we stuffed ourselves.
We made it back to Cusco this morning by taxi for 13 soles each (5 bucks for a 1.5 hour ride, sweet!) and drove SO fast through the barren mountains that reminded me a lot of around Osoyoos and the Anarchist Summit in parts.
So I'm really looking forward to my last two weeks here, seems like I've been here longer though!
Lauren