Located at about 3800 meters above sea level in the Andean region of Cusco, there is a community of indigenous Qechuwa people within the famous Parque De la Papa (The Potato Park) of Peru. And I have been there!
It was 6 in the morning, I pushed through the 5 layers of blanket on me, put on my coat, and walked out to brush my teeth. I got down the wobbly ladder making my way through the piercing cold and dry wind while second-guessing my choice to be in Peru for a month with 9 fellow students from different parts of the world and 3 instructors, none of whom I had known before. At that moment, I just wanted to call my parents and maybe even go home. Well, I couldn’t because cell phones and other internet-enabled devices were not allowed on the trip.
Just in time, my homestay mother ran toward me with a bucket of warm water that cost her the firewood she could have used to cook lunch for the entire family. After I freshened up, she wrapped me in her best blanket and served me my favorite herbal tea in Parque De La Papa. Her younger daughter Lus Clarissa held my hand and we went out to play football.
I stood there for a brief moment, holding the ball in my hand, looking at the beautiful adobe architecture of the house I was living in, the amazing people I was living with, and the magnificent hills surrounding the place. I was grateful that I could be there at that moment. I didn’t want to go home anymore. I wanted to get to know my homestay family better, I was excited about the conversations I would be having with my friends and instructors at lunch, I was eager to know what we were doing next, and I was ready to make the most out of this experience.