By Robin Fillner – SALUD Program Guest blogger traveling in Quito.
Next, we went to a nearby town where the celebration of Inti Rayme was in full swing. The indigenous people celebrate their own version of the summer solstice with drinking Canela – a fermented lemony, sugary alcohol. They drink for a whole week nonstop! Wow! They wore chap-like pants with lots of fur. Llama possibly? In addition, wear pink masks, originally to make fun of the sunburnt Espanolas, or masks of demons and wolves, and dogs, and such. They also wear lots of mirrors, thought to protect them by capturing the souls of men inside. Each town celebrates just a little differently due to the different tribes of people living there. In one town, the riot police were in full swing just in case fights broke out.
As if the whole day wasn't great already, we took rooms in a hacienda outside of Imbaburra, a town known for it's white buildings. This place was more of a resort. The main building was centered around a courtyard of begonias and table with umbrellas. I actually had a room with a bathroom-shower inside and a huge bed all to myself. There was a chandelier over the bed! None of us in the group were expecting such luxury. And this was all included in the price of our program. Down a little path between more small buildings of rooms was a sauna, spa, and steam room. My eyes wouldn't let me go though, they just wanted to be closed and in bed.
Dinner was equally amazing, in a grand house in the middle of who knows where. We could see the southern cross and the big dipper in the same sky on the walk to the house. We talked a lot that night and it was interesting to hear about the interests of those in the group. Most of them are in Osteopathic school, which focuses more on holistic and alternative medicine. None of them, except the Anesthesiologist of 20 years of course, had really had much experience in the hospital except me. So we traded stories and discussed our intentions for the future. Most of them are really interested in traveling and want to do study abroad as much as possible.

By Robin Fillner – SALUD Program Guest blogger traveling in Quito.
Next, we went to a nearby town where the celebration of Inti Rayme was in full swing. The indigenous people celebrate their own version of the summer solstice with drinking Canela – a fermented lemony, sugary alcohol. They drink for a whole week nonstop! Wow! They wore chap-like pants with lots of fur. Llama possibly? In addition, wear pink masks, originally to make fun of the sunburnt Espanolas, or masks of demons and wolves, and dogs, and such. They also wear lots of mirrors, thought to protect them by capturing the souls of men inside. Each town celebrates just a little differently due to the different tribes of people living there. In one town, the riot police were in full swing just in case fights broke out.
As if the whole day wasn't great already, we took rooms in a hacienda outside of Imbaburra, a town known for it's white buildings. This place was more of a resort. The main building was centered around a courtyard of begonias and table with umbrellas. I actually had a room with a bathroom-shower inside and a huge bed all to myself. There was a chandelier over the bed! None of us in the group were expecting such luxury. And this was all included in the price of our program. Down a little path between more small buildings of rooms was a sauna, spa, and steam room. My eyes wouldn't let me go though, they just wanted to be closed and in bed.
Dinner was equally amazing, in a grand house in the middle of who knows where. We could see the southern cross and the big dipper in the same sky on the walk to the house. We talked a lot that night and it was interesting to hear about the interests of those in the group. Most of them are in Osteopathic school, which focuses more on holistic and alternative medicine. None of them, except the Anesthesiologist of 20 years of course, had really had much experience in the hospital except me. So we traded stories and discussed our intentions for the future. Most of them are really interested in traveling and want to do study abroad as much as possible.

By Kayla Allen
One of the many reasons Costa Rica continues to grow in popularity is the fact that at the end of its last civil war Costa Rica abolished its own military. Central America, which is so rich and diverse with both culture and breathtaking landscapes, has been plagued with civil unrest and not always the picture of what most people would like to do on their summer vacations. While in recent years traveling in Central America has become far more safe, nothing inspires a sense of peace as much as a country who not only abolished their army but who also took those dedicated funds and funneled them into security, education and culture. What could be more inviting than that?
Costa Rica is now enjoying the benefits of earning the nickname "the Switzerland of Central America". Some say that tourism is fast becoming the country's highest annual contributor to its GDP.
Along with the abolition of the military came other happy contributors to Costa Rica's growing success.
In 1948, the 44-day civil war was the bloodiest event in 20th-century Costa Rican history with more than 2,000 dead. At its end new articles of their constitution were rewritten to eliminate the fraudulent aspect of elections which plagued its government's past. The new constitution also gave its Black population and women the right to vote. Due to its new democracy and the United State's aid in its civil war, Costa Rica and the US became allies further boosting its economy.
With a newly empowered people and government, and a growing economy Costa Rica has become the country it is today where families from all over the world can discover new cultures, learn a new language and truly enjoy everything Costa Rica has to offer.

By Robin Fillner – SALUD Program Guest blogger traveling in Quito.
I can't really figure this keyboard out very well. In Espanol they don't use very many apostrophes and I would have to push some alts and controls and some numbers to get to it… So I apologize for the mist punctuation.
This weekend was really amazing! The Salud group took a hired bus around the Otovallo valley, which I had already visited and told you about a couple of weeks ago. But, we went to so many more places with our guia (guide) Juan F. He took us to Calderon, where the village is famous for making dough figures. Yes, they make little figurines out of dough and then bake them and paint really bright colors on them.
Then we continued on our journey through a town called Cayambe, passing by an incredible snow capped mountain called Guayllabamba. There are several rose farms there grown for export to mainly the United States. Did I mention that roses are about 1 dollar a dozen here? In Cayambe, we tried bizcochos which are little sticks of yummy buttery bread that are meant for a spread of "caramelly" milk and sugar. After about five each, we visited a cemetery across the street where a funeral was just held.
I think it's interesting to view death, wedding, birth, eating, etc.. rituals in other countries because these basic parts of life are so pertinent to each culture. At the cemetery they had dressed the tombstones, usually crooked crosses, with wreaths of silver foil and black flowers. Then, we went to Otovallo and visited the artisan market for 2 hours. The sun was directly overhead and extremely hot. I immediately bought a wooly hat to cover my part. It was too late unfortunately and I had already received a sunburn. I also scorched my eyes. Like snow blindness, but market blindness. It really hurt and even today, two days later, I still see a haze, although it is improving quite quickly.
Then we had lunch in a family home with an incredible view of the valley and a huge mountain. The meal was delicious and they even did their best to cater to us veggies. But, the real deal came when cuy, or guinea pig, was served head and all. We all took a little piece, fur still attached, and tried to separate it's little bones from the scarce meat. Well, needless to say I was really grossed out by the whole thing and only had a microscopic piece. It was like greasy chicken.

in Montevideo.. Last Entry By Lawrence Selby – Guest blogger traveling in Montevideo.
My host parents in Montevideo, Ana and Ricardo, keep a small scrapbook with notes, pictures and postcards from all their student guests (children). It's customary for each student that stays with them to write a small note in the scrapbook before they leave. Looking at the scrapbook is pretty interesting. They have had guests from all over Europe and the United States with an age range of 18 to 72. Ricardo loves to tell me about all the ¨chicas lindas¨ from Switzerland. Maybe it's because I play along with his jokes. Below is a copy of my entry into the scrapbook. I may not be able to type the accents and symbols unique to Spanish (or at least not used in English) correctly, but I will try. On second thought, maybe it won't be so difficult after all since I've been able to find them on the keyboard: (letters with accents).
A Ana y Ricardo (mi madre y padre en Montevideo),
Me gustaría agradecer a ustedes por todos. Pude vivir con ustedes y su familia una única y marvillosa experiencia para mí. ¡No es posible que no recuerde tiempo que pasé aquí, especialmente la comida excelente (muchos gracias Ana) y las malas palabras que Ricardo me enseño (muchos gracias Ricardo y "andá a cagar")! Tal vez un dia cuando yo puedo hablar español bien, nosotros podemos hablar otra vez y yo podría agradecer mejor. ¡Hasta aquel tiempo, quiero salud y felicidad por la familia Ortega!
Me llamo Lorenzo. Soy de Nueva York, Estados Unidos y trabajo en sistema ingenieria. Yo estoy estudiando en la escuela de idiomas aqui por 4 semanas. Estoy contento con todos: la ciudad de Montevideo, la escuela, mis profesores, y especialmente mi familia aqui en Montevideo. Buena suerta.
Su hijo de E.U.,
Lorenzo

By Lawrence Selby – Guest blogger traveling in Montevideo.
I've settled into an evening ritual with my host parents. When I'm not out during the evening, we all watch television together. At 8 pm, we watch the news and at 9 pm there's an Argentinean soap opera on. Then, twice a week at 10 pm, there's another Argentinean program that we watch which is a sort of dance version of American idol. I still don't understand most of what people are saying but I'm able to pick out a lot of words and phrases now. It's like I can feel the gears grinding in my head when I recognize a lot of familiar words being thrown together rapidly. Sometimes when I think about it seems comical to me, especially since I'm a TV snob and would never watch these types of programs back home.
The picture of the three of us sitting there together and laughing at a silly Spanish soap opera is funny. Meanwhile, most of the time I'm not sure that I even understand what I'm laughing about. We have coffee sometimes, and Sr. Ortega teaches me malas palabras (dirty words). It's a different sort of bonding experience.
Daphna had suggested that I watch the news to help "train my ear" to better understand people speaking at a more normal conversational pace. In a previous job, I had friends from Italy that used to watch "Friends" during the evenings to help improve their English. Sometimes during lunch, they would surprise me with questions about English that I wasn't expecting. One time my friend Enrico asked me to explain what the term "High Maintenance" meant. I was so impressed because earlier in the year we had been doing words like ¨fork¨ and "tray". After I explained it to him as best I could, he then wanted to know if the term applied to both men and women! I thought about it for a bit and then told him, "No, Enrico. Only women are high maintenance!" Anyway, this gives me a sort of benchmark to aim for. When I can understand terms like "high maintenance" in Spanish, I'll know that I've finally arrived.

By Jim Kane – Guest Blogger.
I'm getting excited to head back to Peru in just a couple more weeks. One of my favorite folkloric festivals in all of South America takes place each July in the small town of Paucartambo, about 3 1/2 hours outside of Cusco. It's called the Virgen del Carmen festival and it fills the town for three days and nights with music, dancing, fantastic costumes and general revelry. I'm lucky to be attending for the third time this July 15th and 16th, and I certainly hope it's not the last.
Besides the festival, two more events are making me eager to return. First, I get to continue building on the more important local partnership I've ever developed in the four year since founding Culture Xplorers – hosting our 2nd annual CX Weavers Awards in Chinchero on July 14th.
This annual event, inaugurated last year, involves my wonderful local partner Nilda Callanaupa, as well as hundreds of indigenous weavers in six participating communities from across the Sacred Valley. They work for three months to submit a piece to the judges and compete not only for significant cash prizes, but also for the honor to represent their communities at our celebration ceremony in Chinchero.
There, the top three weavers from each community come to receive their medals, cash prizes, framed certificates of achievement and to share lunch, laughter and tears of joy with the visitors who have come from the U.S. and Europe to honor them
Finally, this July's trip will be unique for another reason. Dr. Charles (Chip) Stanish, a renowned archaeologist and one of the world's top experts on the ancient civilizations of the Andes, has agreed to spend a few days with me and our small group in the Lake Titicaca region of Peru and Bolivia. I can't imagine having a more amazing guide on the Island of the Sun, where Chip lived and worked for nearly two years!
Knock on wood that altitude sickness doesn't derail anyone, including me!