In two days, I will take fifteen of my best and brightest students to Peru. To say I am excited is an understatement…

I lived in Lima, Peru from 2009 to 2019, and had been in and out of the country in the two years prior to 2009. My history with Peru is now long and personal, as I met my husband there and my son was born there. Peru, in a nutshell, had a major influence on who I am today: it taught me the importance of community, trust and cultural heritage. After running a non-profit in the beautiful and complicated community of Huaycán, and living in Lima, Peru is my second home.

After moving back to the U.S. in 2019, I started teaching Spanish and I longed for a way to connect Peruvian culture to my students’ lives. I worked to incorporate Peruvian culture, including a field trip to get cajón lessons, into my school’s curriculum. We studied Incan history through Cusco and Machu Picchu. We explored famous dishes like Lomo Saltado and Causa. Yet, of course, what I wanted to do the most was to bring them there!

Thanks to an administration who is supportive of student travel, I worked with my good, and very talented, friends Shelby and Karilynn who run Unlocked, LLC, to create a personalized itinerary for my students. We had 36 students apply, but only offered 15 spots to ensure a small group, high quality experience. You can see the itinerary here.

What am I most excited for on this trip? Not only will it be great to see old friends and introduce my students a new culture, a new way of living, a new everything, but I am also attempting to lead this trip with comprehensible input. For about half of these students, I have taught them for 2-3 years utilizing CI methods and now, I get to bring CI methods to “real life” interactions.

Stay tuned for how it goes!