When Becker senior Maria Moore signed up for a Global Leadership Adventure service trip to Peru earlier this summer, little did she know her biggest task was just getting there.

Moore decided to participate in the GLA service trip after hearing a good review from a friend of hers about the program.

“I just decided I wanted to do something to help people,” Moore said.

When she signed up, she was offered two destinations to choose from — one in Peru and the other in Hawaii. She chose Peru for the fact it was a cheaper route and she felt there was a bigger need in South America.

Moore did some fundraising by visiting some local businesses in Becker and writing letters to others. She raised $4,000 which paid for everything but the tickets which she paid for herself ($2,000). With the monies secured and the destination pinned down, Moore started packing and planning for the trip in early July.

Airport Conundrum

By Monday, July 22, Maria was ready to leave and she was dropped off at the airport by her mother with plenty of time to spare to catch her flight. She had not ever flown alone before so uneasiness set in as she waited for the announcement of her flight boarding.

That would take a while.

After six hours at the Minneapolis terminal, Moore found out her Delta plane trip to Atlanta was canceled and she’d have to wait for another flight later. She was supposed to leave at 6 p.m., but it all got delayed until 10 or 11 p.m. Now, her connection from Minneapolis to Atlanta to Lima to Cusco was compromised. Plus,  she worried about her one checked luggage bag that had all her clothes she planned to wear for the two-week trip. She was told the bag was on its way to Atlanta and will arrive in Cusco when she gets there.

After many long hours of waiting for a new flight out of Minneapolis, Maria was eventually told her flight got canceled. She called her mom, who came and picked her up. Maria’s flight was non-refundable. In the meantime, she kept checking for a new flight and found out there was nothing available until Thursday.

This flight, when she finally boarded, was set to land in Miami and then connect to Lima and Cusco. However, Maria’s bag never showed up. She kept checking with the airline and they promised they’d try and track it down.

However, even though Maria finally made it to Cusco, her bag never did. She had just two outfits to wear for the remaining time she was abroad.

Cusco, Peru

When Maria reached the village she was destined for, she realized she had missed several days due to the flight issues but she jumped right in to help out. The main goal of the trip was to help the village build a community center where families could host activities, do basket weaving, make coats and enjoy things indoors. Maria and her group helped the construction teams by sanding logs and making bricks.

Some of the days, Maria was able to go sight-seeing, do white water rafting and try different foods. Cusco is also the home to Machu Picchu, one of the seven modern wonders of the world.

“I wanted to try anything and everything,” she said. “How they live, how they sleep, how they eat. I wanted to experience their culture.”

Moore said she ate alpaca, which she said was “pretty good.” She also tried guinea pig, which she exclaimed was “not good.” She did say, however, she liked the potatoes she was served.

The weather in Peru she said is typically always dry and warm during the days. Many of the visitors experienced bloody noses from the dry air as well as the changes in altitude on their hikes. While hiking, Maria said the group would buy lots of breads and tea leaves because they learned the mothers of the village use the tea leaves for cooking and bread is a expense some families can’t afford. So on the hikes, the youngsters would line the trails hoping to get a chance at bringing home some bread to help feed the family.

Moore and her group also visited markets where she talked with the vendors and asked them how they made a living and how they made the items they were selling.

“It was interesting to hear their stories and was fascinating how different their culture is from ours.” Maria said.

Moore said the villagers got around mostly on foot though some had alternate transportation. The women wore long cresses with long sleeves and they spoke mostly in the Spanish language.

Three guides were part of Maria’s entourage, one was from Peru, another from Guatemala and another from Asia. The 15-16 young travelers in Maria’s group had some experience with the Spanish language as well as Maria, who has had two years of Spanish education.

Favorite Experiences

Maria said one of her favorite experiences on the trip was when they handed off the bread to the young kids from the villages.

“We saw their joy in their faces, which was especially nice.”

Maria also enjoyed the opportunities to just talk to people, learn their language and learn their culture.

“We gained so much appreciation for their history, their dancing, their way of life and their habits,” she said. “I’m so grateful I got this chance to experience all this.”

What’s Next?

Maria plans on taking another service trip somewhere else in the near future. She knows the fundraising will be  a challenge once more but she says its worth it. 

As far as the airport experience and the late departure, Maria says she’s not upset and was never scared being alone for so many hours before departure. She says she was just frustrated.

“Yeah, because of the mess ups at the beginning, I missed a few days where I could have been around the people of Cusco for a while longer,” she said. “I went with an open mind and would not change anything for the experience I attained.”

Oh, and Maria’s checked bag? She found out it had never left the Minneapolis Airport and she was able to retrieve it when she arrived home. 

About GLA

Global Leadership Adventures offers high school study abroad programs where students engage in service-learning in Belize, Brazil, China, Costa Rica, Cuba, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Fiji, France, Ghana, Guatemala, Haiti, India, Indonesia, Morocco, Peru, South Africa, Tanzania, and Thailand.