Take Your Breath Away
This week was a whirlwind. I felt like I wasn't really standing still until I was standing on the shore of Humantay Lake and could finally catch my breath. While Cusco is amazing in so many ways, it can leave you feeling beaten down at the end of the week if you aren't careful.
I thought that taking classes while being in a foreign country would stop me from being able to see everything I wanted but it's actually really nice having a routine every week. I start off my morning with Spanish and, I'm not going to lie here, it's a lot like the other twenty Spanish classes I've taken. I think it's difficult to teach a language course in a completely different way but I've really enjoyed learning the vocabulary that's specific to Perú.
After Spanish, I head over to Biodiversity of Perú, which I think is significantly more interesting. It combines my love of animals with my love of learning about new places and it's amazing to be able to walk out of the classroom and see women on the street selling one of the 4,000 varieties of potatoes you just learned about. It's one of the most immersive classes I've ever taken because everything you're learning about exists in the very city you're living in.
While having a routine is great, it's the unique experiences that really make my study abroad everything I've wanted it to be. I'm someone who can't go too long without running through a forest or being on a mountain top or else I'll lose a little bit of who I am. The Andes are legendary for their ability to make people feel small and that's something I really needed this weekend.
The journey to Humantay Lake started at 4:30 AM with our tour guide forgetting my friends and I outside of the dorms. After a call to the agency they sent a taxi to drive us to Mollepata where we hurriedly shoved bread and juice down our throats before we rushed off to Soraypampa where the actual hike began. Mules loaded down with backpackers' belongings walked alongside us as we started the climb and Peruvians offered their horses for a small fee as we passed them on the trail. The hike was pretty steep but it felt so good to be breathing fresh air again that you hardly noticed the incline. Fog crawled in and out of the valley, teasing us with breathtaking views of the surrounding peaks. The lowing of cows added an eerie feel to the trek as the noise bounced off the hillsides. Suddenly, huge snow-covered mountains rose up out of nowhere as we rounded a bend; so tall their peaks were entirely shrouded in clouds. Humantay didn't seem like a real place until you were standing on its shore and only then did the grandeur of the lake hit you. The water was a deep blue until you climbed up a bit higher and saw its true turquoise color. It felt so good to just stop for a second and breathe everything in that you forgot how hard you'd worked to get to that view. You know that feeling when you're standing at the base of a mountain and you're just awestruck by the sheer immensity of it? That's one of my favorite feelings in the world and one I think I'm going to keep chasing.
I thought that taking classes while being in a foreign country would stop me from being able to see everything I wanted but it's actually really nice having a routine every week. I start off my morning with Spanish and, I'm not going to lie here, it's a lot like the other twenty Spanish classes I've taken. I think it's difficult to teach a language course in a completely different way but I've really enjoyed learning the vocabulary that's specific to Perú.
After Spanish, I head over to Biodiversity of Perú, which I think is significantly more interesting. It combines my love of animals with my love of learning about new places and it's amazing to be able to walk out of the classroom and see women on the street selling one of the 4,000 varieties of potatoes you just learned about. It's one of the most immersive classes I've ever taken because everything you're learning about exists in the very city you're living in.
While having a routine is great, it's the unique experiences that really make my study abroad everything I've wanted it to be. I'm someone who can't go too long without running through a forest or being on a mountain top or else I'll lose a little bit of who I am. The Andes are legendary for their ability to make people feel small and that's something I really needed this weekend.
The journey to Humantay Lake started at 4:30 AM with our tour guide forgetting my friends and I outside of the dorms. After a call to the agency they sent a taxi to drive us to Mollepata where we hurriedly shoved bread and juice down our throats before we rushed off to Soraypampa where the actual hike began. Mules loaded down with backpackers' belongings walked alongside us as we started the climb and Peruvians offered their horses for a small fee as we passed them on the trail. The hike was pretty steep but it felt so good to be breathing fresh air again that you hardly noticed the incline. Fog crawled in and out of the valley, teasing us with breathtaking views of the surrounding peaks. The lowing of cows added an eerie feel to the trek as the noise bounced off the hillsides. Suddenly, huge snow-covered mountains rose up out of nowhere as we rounded a bend; so tall their peaks were entirely shrouded in clouds. Humantay didn't seem like a real place until you were standing on its shore and only then did the grandeur of the lake hit you. The water was a deep blue until you climbed up a bit higher and saw its true turquoise color. It felt so good to just stop for a second and breathe everything in that you forgot how hard you'd worked to get to that view. You know that feeling when you're standing at the base of a mountain and you're just awestruck by the sheer immensity of it? That's one of my favorite feelings in the world and one I think I'm going to keep chasing.
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