The rest of our student trip to Peru was spent in between Cusco, Ollantaytambo and Machu Picchu (Aguas Calientes). We spent a total of 5 days here, and although there were some surprises, the time there was truly exceptional.
We arrived around mid-day to Cusco. I think some students finally believed that we would be high–really high. Altitude in Cusco is no joke, as the city sits at about 11,000 feet. I was concerned I would have a hard time, as I have had in the past, but for me it was typical head ache and some minor stomach issues. Meh.
Our hotel, Ninos Hotel, was beautiful although a bit of a walk from the city center. Students were eager to explore the city within the first two days. We walked around Cusco quite a bit, visted Coricancha, and did. lots. of. shopping. An immense amount of shopping. I was completely and utterly blown away by the amount of shopping done by our 15 travelers. They came ready to buy for their loved ones, wow.
Despite a couple travelers having somewhat expected bouts of altitude sicknesses or stomach bugs, everyone did quite well in Cusco. Most students were decently adventurous with food, especially in the beginning when homesickness for food favorites hadn’t sunk in yet.
It was at the point in the trip, however, that I started to lose steam on pushing for Spanish interpersonal practice and interaction. It’s not like some students didn’t want to engage, but others were more clearly not as… enthused. I get it, their minds were getting tired as the novelty, to a certain extent, was wearing off. I myself was also getting tired… chaperoning 15 students in two languages (although, ahem, I did not do this alone–shout out to Shelby and Alex!) is quite exhausting! I definitely learned lessons for next time on how to pace myself, how to select and/or prep students in a better way for a more prolonged exposure to language than they are used to.
All that being said, I think the linguistic highlight of the trip was actually the day we went to Machu Picchu. We had originally planned on a Peruvian, Spanish speaking tour guide to bring us through Machu Picchu. I will admit, when Shelby confirmed that our tour would be in Spanish and that it was 2 hours, I midly panicked that students would just check out and thus, not enjoy this amazing day and opportunity. However, I was underestimating both my students (sorry guys!) and our tour guide (shout out to another Alex!).
Alex was wonderful. A natural. This man should be a comprehensible input teacher because the amount of cognates he used in his speech was incredible. He came with visuals. He spoke slowly. He enunciated. Basically, I was enamored with his teaching style. He was bascially doing a real life picture talk of Machu Picchu, AT MACHU PICCHU. What more could I want for my students?
The best part? Students said afterwards, “Profe, I actually understood that tour!” Two whole hours of input and students rocked it! I was so proud at these (mostly) intermediate learners! I say mostly because I had a couple advanced level students in there and a heritage learner 🙂 Although the visit to Huaycan was my favorite day for personal reasons, for professional reasons the day at Machu Picchu took the cake. In a way, I felt validated as a teacher and allowed myself to enjoy the feeling of language success. I had a role in these students’ abilities to understand this tour, in Spanish, in Peru, at one of the coolest places on Earth. Yes’m!
After the high of Machu Picchu, we wrapped up another day and a half in Ollantayambo and Cusco and then it was back to the U.S. of A. This was a bittersweet goodbye for me… after four years at my school with these students, I am off to a new school. It was tough, but man, what a way to go out!
And lastly… a quick plug: if this trip sounds like an amazing opportunity for you and your students, please check out my dear friends Shelby and Karilynn’s company Unlocked. Support small business and women owned by traveling with them! It was incredible! Additionally, I am working with Unlocked to offer a Peru trip for Spanish WL/CI teachers or ELL/Bilingual Spanish Teachers. If you are into that, get in touch!
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Diec18cho: Ideas for Episodes 2, 3 & 4!
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I love field trips. To me, there is nothing more gratifying as a teacher than seeing your content area come alive and interact with students outside of the classroom. The fact that my school (I’m new this year) embraces field trips as an important part of learning is so encouraging. Not all schools share this…
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