Students in Cusco Airport

Hello friends and families  of Ensworth School. The students have arrived at the Cusco airport for their early flight to Lima. 



We will continue to monitor the flight and let you know if there are any delays. The flight schedule is below: 

LAN Flight 2016

7/5/2013 Depart Cuzco (CUZ) at 7:40 AM

7/5/2013 Arrive in Lima (LIM) at 9:05 AM

LAN Flight 2604

7/5/2013 Depart Lima (LIM) at 12:40 PM

7/5/2013 Arrive in Los Angeles (LAX) at 7:20 PM

American Airlines Flight 1360

7/5/2013 Depart Los Angeles (LAX) at 10:50 PM

7/6/2013 Arrive in Nashville (BNA) at 4:45 AM

Please call 303-679-3412 with any questions. Thank you for your continued support of this program! 

Erin Lasky 

Director of Operations

The Final Day

July 4, 2013

Ciao, people at home, this is the last blog post brought to you by William. I was given the task to wrap up the trip and I’m scared it will not be easy. Peru has been an amazing and enlightening experience that I can already look back on and say I have no regrets. From seeing what it is like to live in a village with homestay families, to enjoying amazing Incan ruins such as Machu Picchu, this trip has been everything I had hoped for. Yes, there were obstacles to endure, but in retrospect, I think it made it all more worthwhile. During our trip, we were challenged with an 18-mile hike, the crazy Andean altitude, and a few other minute things that didn’t go quite as expected. We all learned to “roll with the punches” that the craziness of Peru can bring. Along with the challenges, there were many great moments that every one of us enjoyed. My most memorable was after a hard day of working on the kitchen at the school, we were all on our way back home and two kindergarteners, one boy and one girl, came running up behind me and grabbed my hands. As I walked them home, I saw one of the trains on its way to Machu Picchu pass by about 5 yards away from us and the thought hit me about how lucky we were to have our experience. Anybody is able to go to Peru and see all of the great sights it has to offer, but we had a chance to see first hand what it is like to live in the situation that these people are living in, but it is not only that. We got to see the love that all of these people have for each other and the happiness they share, even with how much less they have—all while making an impact on the community that will last many generations to come. It truly was an amazing experience to which every person in our group contributed, and for that, I say thank you to all of the parents for allowing us niños to come on this trip. Lastly, Mr. K and Mrs. Wallace would like to remind you all that our flight is American Airlines number 1360 arriving in Nashville at 4:45am on Saturday, July 6. Can’t wait see you all and happy Independence Day! –William

July3, 20|13

July 3, 2013

This is Aison coming to you guys from Ollantaytambo. It’s been a long time since the last blog so now it’s my job to do all the catching up. After a long day in Ollanta (and losing my camera) we woke up early Sunday for a hike in the Andes mountains, starting in the village of Patacancha all the way to a hot spring about 18 miles away. The first day we covered tons of ground, at least 12 miles. Everyone really stepped up to the challenge on this hike, and even the slowest of us got to lead at some points. We also saw many sights, such as the snow-covered mountain peaks from 12,000 feet, and rolling hills littered with Alpacas and Llamas. That night we camped out in the freezing cold with little but our sleeping bags and each other’s body heat to warm us. Luckily, we had some top-notch cooks to help make our day a little better with a great lunch and dinner.

The next day we were able to sleep in and complete our hike to the hot springs in Lares. Everyone was relieved to have a few hours off to relax after non-stop hiking. On the way back to Piscacucho that night, we had a bit of a strange experience. Our bus ride was delayed over an hour due to a truck that had fallen on its side in the middle of a one-lane road. After we were back on the road, we stopped in Ollantaytambo for a great dinner in a neat little café. I speak for everyone when I say it was refreshing to have a more American meal one night. After dinner, we slept for the last night in our homestays, and the next day we were greeted by a nearly finished kitchen and a thankful community. All of the students got to commemorate

Machu Picchu

The students on their way to Machu Picchu!

A day in the city....

A day in the city......or something like that.

Today we left our homes for a day in the town of Ollataytambo.  We were all so excited to get back to relative civilization.  Our day included a tour of the ruins and the annual festival play of the story of the founding of Ollytaytambo in the Inca days.   It was a wonderful cultural opportunity.  The play was in Cechuan, the local dialect, so it was hard to grasp, and the sun was blazing hot, but we still had a great time.  After the play, the group got to pick a lunch place with our country leader help ADELLA .....guess what we chose......PIZZA.  Now the kids are having free time shopping, and I am at Adella|s house for a .....shhhhh....hot shower.  Tomorrow we head into the mountains for our overnight hike which will go up to 12k feet and end at a natural hot springs.   The stomach issues seem to have subsided so hopefully we are past that.  By the way, did I tell you that there are SIXTY guinea pigs living in my home stay kitchen.......ahh yay ya......  Kids will be back on the blog most likely Monday night after our hike.  We love them! Senora W

Day Five

Hola, it’s Annie. In the last few days my homestay partners and I have gone through some really different experiences in our home. Last night Sara, Anna and I walked in the front door of our house and found our “mama” walking towards the door telling us we were going to milk a cow. Although we were a little hesitant we followed her out of the door into the fields. We walked around in the dark for about 30 minutes, jumping at every sound we heard. We helped our family milk the cow, and then brought it home to drink with dinner. Today, we started our day with a basket-weaving workshop. Every student got the chance to weave their own basket for about 3 hours. We learned that William has a hot shower at his house and we are all giving him a hard time for it. After the workshop we had a lunch break then came back to the school to work. At the school we all hammered bamboo to put on the roof of the kitchen, then found rocks to make the floor. Fam, if you’re reading this, love you all and can’t wait to come home to a meal other than soup.

Day Six

Hola familias. It’s Andrew, or Gringo as most of the population of Piscacucho likes to call me. These past six days have been a ride. We’ve woven baskets, played futbol with the little niños, and rafted in sub zero degree water. So far today we have laid the last of the adobe bricks, established the logs as the structure of the roof, and currently we are placing the bamboo on top the logs. The trip has been a blast consisting of random stampedes of the Peruvian children and sincere bonding between our two cultures,and we’re constantly distracted by the little ninos and ninas seeing as they’re only a step away from where we are working (it’s too hard not to). I haven’t stepped in manure yet so that’s got to be a plus; all in all this trip so far has been a culturally eye opening and wonderful experience.

P.S.-  The mountains---- muy beuno

Hola – Es senora Wallace.  The kids are doing great and for the most part strong and healthy.  We have had a few stomach upsets, but so far so good.  Knock on wood if that is your thing please!   Yesterday the group had a bit of a low as the “honeymoon” of the homestays wore off, and kids were tired and longing for more familiar foods.  Plus our work day was very hard yesterday and the sun was blazing strong at this altitude.   But today, everyone bounced back with wonderful attitudes and we have done more work today than the rest of the days combined.   The team has been a total work machine today.    Today the instructors stepped back, and we put the kids totally in charge of the work with the Peruvian construction crew.  It has been amazing to watch them divide the labor, decide when we break, and negotiate the language barrier (no one learned the words for a level or ax pick in class!) Tomorrow we head to a festival in Ollantaytambo for a full day and return to our families.  Sunday and Monday, we will head out for our overnight Andes hike.   I am so excited to have a night in the mountains.   Anyway – you kids are really doing well.  I am so proud of them.  If my kids are reading this – I LOVE YOU AND MISS YOU!  And you too Paul! J

Day 4

¡Hola,  soy

Anna! Right now, we are all staying with native Peruvian families in a small village called Piscacucho and though at first I know we were all a little apprehensive, I think all of us have learned to become accustomed to the wild dogs, stray horses, and energetic children running around. Today, while starting our first real day of work, I looked down at the soccer field and saw a horse running around the field and the children playing didn’t seem phased at all. Right now, we are all working to build a kitchen for the school so the kids can have a big lunch each day. Speaking of lunch, the food here has been surprisingly good! Everything that Hilda (said “Ilda”) makes for Sara, Annie, and me has been very fresh and natural. We eat a lot of chicken, and last night while we were playing Uno with Joseph and Jean Paul at the dinner table before we ate, Ilda brought in a dead chicken and told us it was our meal for tomorrow…and it was. The chicken is fantastic, but the guinea pig we ate was definitely not my favorite. The families loved our gifts that we gave them, and they were so thankful, especially Ignacio, the father, for his Leatherman and said it would be helpful for work. It’s been a few days without a shower but thanks Mom for the baby powder and wipes to at least disguise my disgusting hair. So far, we have gone rafting in freezing water while we were in Ollyantaytambo (I definitely spelled that wrong woops), played soccer with the kids, listened to a bizarre yet cool Shaman ceremony, and right now we are peeling bamboo for the roof of the kitchen. Today was the first sunny day we’ve had which gave us the chance to finally see the snow-capped glaciers, which are a pretty awesome view for when we’re working. I miss my family and I’m missing my bed, especially since our guide Diego has warned us of lice and bedbugs in the past, but I am having so much fun here and the beauty of the village/country is surreal. Tonight, like most,