CITADEL MAYMESTER IN THE ANDES: CUSCO, PERU

SEARCHING FOR EL DORADO

9 May – 29 May 2004

 

Program Description: Three weeks of summer study in Cusco, Peru.  Courses taught by native Spanish speakers and by the program director at the Academia Latinoamericana de Español, an academy accredited by the Peruvian Ministry of Education.  All participants will attend classes five days a week, four hours a day, with instructors of the institute.  Supplemental classes given by a Citadel professor, Dr. Grant B. Staley, for two hours a day, one day per week.

 

Course Credits: A maximum of three hours in Spanish toward the completion of the foreign language sequence: credit for SPAN 201 OR 202.  Students who have already satisfied the 201 & 202 course requirement can obtain credit towards a 15 hour minor or a 33 hour major.

 

Requirements: Eligible candidates must have completed at least Spanish 102.  If students, upon application, are enrolled in 102, their instructor must testify to the Director that their grade is a C.  Students must also have at least a 2.0 GPR in order to be eligible.  Students satisfying the aforementioned requirements should have completed a Spanish course no longer than six months prior to the beginning of the program. They must also have attained a grade of C in the Spanish course completed immediately prior to participating in the program.

 

Cultural Excursions:

            Saturday, May 15: Day trip to the Sacred Valley (Moray & Ollantaytambo), a huge system of circular platforms in four holes of an even depth of 495 feet.  It is believed that this was a center of agricultural experimentation where seeds were produced to adapt to different ecological steps.  Every platform represents different types of weather.  Its watering and drain systems are still functioning!  After lunch (included) we will continue our visit to Ollantaytambo fortress where the Incas fought their last battles with the Spanish invaders…a spectacular sight!  We will visit a home of one of the residents of Ollantaytambo and discover how their living conditions and decoration hasn't changed in centuries.  Return to the Academia.

            Sunday, May 16: We will visit Pisac Indian market.  All over the Andean highlands, scattered in the Sacred Valley of Urubamba and its mountains, one will find numerous markets displaying everything from wool textiles, native fruits and fresh vegetables to jewelry, ceramics, baskets, wood carving, native paintings, embroidery, tools and even animals!  The market in Pisac is one of the most well known markets in Peru.  It is a rich cultural site where locals meet with their friends and relatives to catch up on news and practice the ancient art of bargaining.  Your senses will be captured and you will feel as if you've stepped back in time.  Lunch in Pisac and return to host families for supper.

 

Saturday, May 22: A magnificent, unforgettable trip to Machu Picchu (full weekend--including overnight hotel in Aguas Calientes and all meals).  Early morning transfers: Cusco – train station; Cusco – Aguas Calientes by train; Aguas Calientes – Machu Picchu by bus. 

(5:30: Early wake up and transfer from host families to Cusco train station for our fabulous Machu Picchu train trip--a breath taking four hour train ride).

Lunch in Aguas Calientes at Inka Terra restaurant.

Orchid tour around this sub tropical area.

Optional visit to thermal baths (not included, cost about $3.00).

Overnight and dinner in Aguas Calientes.

            Sunday, May 23: After breakfast, with our private anthropologist guide, we will visit the Macu Picchu ruins early in the morning (thus avoiding the massive amount of tourists).  In order to get the most out of the trip to Machu Picchu participants will want to participate in morning or afternoon hikes with naturalist guides.  Individuals who are at least in moderately good physical shape should be able to participate in all of the hikes

(no problem for Citadel cadets!).

            Lunch at the world-known Sanctuary hotel (right next to Machu Picchu ruins).

            Bus back to Aguas Calientes and return to Cusco by train.

            Transfer from station to host family for evening meal.

            Saturday, May 29: Fly from Cusco to Lima.  Tour the capital before departing Lima airport for home at about midnight. 

 

Food & Lodging: Students are housed with Peruvian host families in Cusco where they receive breakfast, lunch, dinner (full board), and laundry services.  One of the primary goals of the trip is to learn about other cultures and an excellent method of doing this is to live with a family.

Each student will have a private bedroom.

 

When:

 Arrival: You must arrange for your own flight to and from Lima, Peru, and arrive there on Sunday, 9 May 2004.  You will transfer from the airport to Hotel El Carmel (prepaid) in the residential district of Miraflores.  Overnight in Lima.  Early the following morning you will transfer to the Lima airport and board a flight to the city of Cusco (this flight and all additional traveling and hotels prepaid).  Your host family will be waiting at the Cusco airport holding a sign with your name on it.  You will be taken immediately to the home of your host family where you can relax and begin adjusting to the altitude of Cusco, over 10,000 feet above sea level.

Departure: On Saturday, May 29, you will have breakfast with your host family after which you will be picked up and transferred to the Cusco airport.  Upon arrival at the Lima airport you will be picked up for a tour of the city, a visit to a shopping center and an Indian market and lunch on your own. You will transfer back to the Lima airport at approximately 22:30 for your flight home. You should arrange for a flight departing the Lima airport for the United States at approximately midnight, Saturday, May 29, 2004.

 

Cost:  $2200 per student plus roundtrip airfare from USA - LIMA

 

Included: Registration fee; city taxes (not individual airport taxes); pre departure materials; twenty days of homestay / three meals daily and laundry service; Lima – Cusco airport flight and pick-up and Lima - Cusco airport return; boleto turistico (to enter the archeological sites in Cusco and the Sacred Valley); excursion to Machu Picchu including train trip and hotel; all school services in Peru; all Citadel fees for Summer School.

Not Included: Airplane ticket from United States – Lima – United States.

Tips; extra beverages; snacks; souvenirs; lunch in Lima; airport taxes in Cusco, $4, Lima $4 and exit fee $25.  Each participant will pay this tax individually upon departure.  No tourist is permitted to leave the country without payment of this tax so it is crucial to remember to save funds for this purpose.

 

Payments: $100 non-refundable deposit by January 30, 2004.

       $1100 deposit by February 13, 2004.

$1000 balance by February 27, 2004.

 

Director, Maymester  in Peru 2004:

                 Dr. Grant B. Staley, Modern Languages

                 Email:  grant.staley@citadel.edu

                 Phones: office, (843) 953-6806

                                Home, (843) 406-1711

                                Dept. Secretary, (843) 953-5065