Sun Temple & Despacho Ceremony

This morning started with the musical chirping of roosters in the glowing shine from the morning sun. I only woke up however to Ms Williams rapping on the door with a cheerful, "Good Morning! Breakfast will be in 20 minutes!"

So, half asleep, I got out of bed, got dressed, and head to the dining hall with a full night's rest and anticipation for the day's activities. After breakfast, we circled up on the lawn in the middle of the hotel to play a game. Basically, Randal would name a potentially uncomfortable situations that we may encounter in Peru. Then, we would go to one of the, 'zones' based on how comfortable we would be. There was the Comfort Zone, the Stretching Zone, and the Panic Zone. After a few prompts explained why we were doing this exercise. He explained that even though we feel safe and sturdy in our Comfort Zones, we will only learn and grow once we step into our Stretching Zones. We need to have things that make us feel comfortable if we enter Panic Zone so we can return to the Stretching Zone. Once the activity concluded, we started heading to the Incan ruins close by, also known as the Sun Temple. The walk was pleasant although I was huffing and puffing due to the altitude making us really tired with the trek.

Arriving at the temple, we were first greeted with a market full of souvenir llama hats and then greeted by Monica, our tour guide. She gathered us just below the temple, introduced herself, and began to talk about Incan history. At first, she explained that when the Spanish arrived, the name of Ollantaytambo was originally, "Tampu" (or "resting place") but the Spanish changed the name. We also learned how precise their building skills were and how they made and transported the stone blocks. Once we made t to the top, the view was magnificent! We could see the quarries for the granite embedded in the mountains across from us and snow caps far off in the distance. But closer, in the unfinished temple, we saw how the Incas ensured the strength of the structure. They would carve pegs and divots into the stones so they would fit together like legos.

After a long morning of hiking and learning, we headed to the plaza for our next activity where we would find out more about Ollantaytambo.

By: Nora

When we got to the plaza, the chaperones explained the rules of our scavenger hunt. We split up into groups of 5 and each person was assigned a specific role whether it be navigator, time keeper, safety patrol (making sure everyone was safe), water duty (reminding everyone to drink water) or task-holder. There were 5 tasks that we had to complete around town and in different shops. We had around 45 minutes to complete the 5 tasks. Completing the tasks relied on all the jobs mentioned above and also using Spanish vocabulary and conversations. After going around and completing all the tasks, we met back at the plaza with our group (Alexandra (me), Nora, Margot, Kira, and Rachel), finishing first. This was a fun exercise as it was sort of a race, producing healthy competition and helped improve everyone's independence, Spanish, knowledge, and navigation of Ollantaytambo, which would be increasingly important in the coming days.

After the scavenger hunt we took a hike to a grassy area where we would experience an exciting Despacho ceremony. From the leaders of the Despacho ceremony*, we learned the purpose of this ceremony. It is to give back to Mother Earth (the Pachamama) in exchange for all the gifts we receive from her such as food, resources, space, and so much more. As we listened to the tranquil music of the pan flute, drum, and maracas, and smelled the scent of burning incense, we all took an offering from the tray they passed around. 

One by one we then handed the offering back to the leader, who explained what each object meant, before placing it in a small hole that he had dug into the earth. Then they handed out 4 cocoa leaves to each of us and had us stick them together with llama fat instructing us to put our intentions for the trip into them before also placing them in the hole. When everyone had placed theirs in the hole, the ceremony leader covered the hole with dirt and poured both a Peruvian drink and wine over the hole, chanting as he did so. Once the ceremony was complete, we all danced with each other, teachers and all, and celebrated.

At first we were all a little reluctant but soon we got comfortable and stepped from out of our Comfort Zone into our Stretching Zone and had fun. Overall, the Despacho ceremony was a really neat experience that was very new and was a great way to immerse ourselves in Peruvian culture. It also helped us really appreciate all the gifts we take for granted that we get from Mother Earth. 

By: Alexandra

*http://www.incaglossary.org/appj.html