Authored by Hannah Williams-Inman
As part of a Global Studies trip, I had the opportunity to go to Peru for 2 weeks (!!!) over spring break this year. To say the trip was amazing would be both an understatement, and inadequate in properly conveying some of our extraordinary experiences – let’s just say, I now understand why some people consider Machu Picchu to be a “bucket list destination.” And to make things even better, I got to go with my HUSBAND. I mean, come on.
While you may not have the added perk of getting to travel with your spouse, I cannot recommend highly enough applying to chaperone one of these trips. Now, as anyone who knows me will understand, I do have a bit of camp-counselor energy going on, so the idea of gallivanting around a foreign land with a bunch of teenagers actually just sounds like a fun side gig to me. Chaperoning a global studies trip is definitely not a vacation, but holy cow if I didn’t feel like the luckiest girl in the world to get to be a part of this experience with this group.
There’s something so interesting about watching kids grow up, and, having never been a parent myself, the trip to Peru was the first time I got to watch teenagers (definitely still kids) be mini-adults. As a middle school teacher, I only get to interact with kids who are deeply in their tween-ness; my students are so far from being an adult that they’re almost regressing. I don’t really ever see glimpses of almost-adult, and it’s because developmentally, it’s just not time for that yet. Some of them haven’t even started puberty in the 8th grade. Middle school is a different time. Our Peru trip, though, a mixed group of sophomores and seniors, was such a new experience for me, because traveling with people who can (mostly) take care of themselves was REALLY FUN.
One super fun part of this trip was our time in literally any market in any town. We got to send the kids on their own (in groups of 3, of course) for a few minutes, and would come back together and share stories from their time shopping. Y’all. These kids had the time of their trips trying to haggle with these Peruvian street vendors. The way they were so excited about each deal, each bargain that they struck, was truly adorable. And I’m over here, quaking in my boots because the haggling gives me anxiety. Bless them and their uninhibitedness. And before you ask, yes, the uninhibitedness also extended to the amount of (their parents’) money that they were spending… Packing for the trip home was an adventure.
Something else that was sweet and surprising was the way our kids felt about the homestay portion of the trip. I was astounded to hear, as we traveled home, that the kids’ favorite part of our 12 days in Peru were the 5 days we were in the town of Arequipa, when they were staying with host families. Forget Machu Picchu, endless Incan ruins, and all possible forms of transportation with more than two wheels – these kids LOVED getting to be a part of la vida arequipeña for a few days. They got to see cool spots, visit cool restaurants, and be in a cool place with someone their age who could tell them about life. What a way to experience the broadness of our world, and have their hearts and minds opened to something different. We are so fortunate at SA to be able to arrange trips like this, to help raise global citizens and curious learners. They formed such sweet friendships, made lasting memories, and some are already planning a trip back to Arequipa this summer! There were so many airport tears, it was fortunate we were 2 hours early for our flight.
The kids also surprised me with their immense capacity to care about each other, and to care about us chaperones. As Fearless Leader Philpott says, we became a “travel family.” I think they really understood that this experience would be different for each person, and had a knack for knowing when someone needed extra support. They were not exclusive or selfish with their time, tried to include each other, and were open to the new friendships they would form. We had a few chaperones not feel well at different parts of the trip, and the students even made an effort to check in on and care for the adults, as much as they cared for each other.
Most impressively, these students were positive and uplifting, even through some particularly grueling and busy travel days. We had a group of 16 teenagers that really and truly had great attitudes, from beginning to end. We traveled for the first week with our own personal tour guide, Augusto, and he took excellent care of us, shepherding us to sometimes three different destinations in a day, such as, for example Machu Picchu (again, luckiest person ever).
At Machu Picchu, the visitors center is sort of halfway up the mountain. We took a bananas bus ride to get there, which is another story. You can probably imagine. Then, you walk up infinity stairs, climbing, basically, to a lookout spot. From there, you (should) get an INSANE view of the ruins, before walking back down actually into the ruins for the rest of your tour. That day, we hiked up the mountain, and it was cloudy. Almost no visibility. It could have been really depressing, to be honest.
Augusto and some other tour guides told us to give it time, and the clouds would clear up. Spoiler alert – they were right, and we ended up having a beautifully clear, and swelteringly hot, day at Machu Picchu, with sunburns as our souvenirs.
The reason I’m rubbing this day in your face, though, is because Augusto, all while we were anxiously hoping for the clouds to part, was busy crafting an… instagram reel. The video is adorable, and features candid photos of our group smiling and having an amazing time despite the cloud-concealed ruins, being positive and not letting the lack of visibility ruin (ha) our time. They were so excited each time a cloud moved, every time we could see a little bit more of the ruins. Some of our first photos are hilarious to look at now, because, compared to how it would look 30 minutes later, you could barely see any part of the ruins.
We would find out later on the trip that he called this video “The Power of your Smile;” he would tell the kids that their positivity and good spirits were what ultimately moved the clouds, and, you know, I think he may have been right.
Anyway, I could keep you here all day, regaling you with stories from the tour de Peru, but I will leave it with one last plug for the Global Studies Department. If you can make it work/find the time/get all the sub plans together/do all the things, you should consider applying for the faculty travel grant! And, my own personal piece of advice is this; apply for the trip you would never/could never plan for yourself. We saw so many important and amazing things on this trip, we traveled so efficiently and were led so expertly by Emily, and it was all to a place I would have never really considered on my own for a “vacation.” Again, the trip was definitely work, but what an awesome “work trip” to be able to go on, to come back with new insights about the world, myself, and the awesome kids and adults we got to travel with.
*This message kiiiiind of sponsored by the global studies department by way of covered travel costs 😉 LOL*