On Saturday, we took the children of Inti on a fieldtrip through the Sacred Valley and finished off the day with the first annual Inti Olympics (we hope it’s a reccurring event), which pitted 6 teams against each other in 6 grueling matches.
There were a few blips along the way. It took us some time to convince Inti that one bus seating 33 people would not be enough for a projected 60 children and 11 teachers. Math is a bit different in Peru as somehow they believed tripling up the kids in the seats would solve the problem. After a bit of time, we convinced them that we really did not mind paying for another bus. Thank you all who donated and made this possible!
Here's Walter, sporting his official Inti Olympic shirt (4 days later and he still has not taken it off or the medal he won) and the kid's excitement on the bus . . .
We made a few extras, so all the professors crammed into kid size T Shirts too.
From there, we traveled from Inti to Chinchero to Ollantaytambo. Many of the children saw the Sacred Valley including the ruins at Chinchero and Ollyantaytambo for the first time. The professors taught the children about the history as well as the different products that these markets sell - maybe, the children at Inti will start making some of these as well.
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We stopped for a snack in Urubumba. Amazingly, neither Jackie or I got sick from eating Tuna at the side of the bus.
We returned to Urabamba for the Olympics. Amazingly, the teachers took the events very seriously really wanting to know exactly who won each event.
We began with spoon and ping pong race, which Inti decided to add a twist by making the children carry it in the mouth.
Potato Sack race . . .
The crowd watches eagerly . . .
Sponge Relay (you have one bucket filled with water and you have to use a sponge to fill the other bucket 15 meters away).
Bobbing for Apples . . .
Water balloon toss (Amazingly, Inti was dead set on having one child throw each balloon at a time in order to fairly judge who wins and keep it organized. I was a bit puzzled that a group that thought one bus would be enough would be so organized when it came to a water balloon toss).
In the end, the yellow team took home the gold (the excitement of finding out your bring home the gold)
While light blue took home silver and there was a tie for third between red and green, which naturally was resolved through a tug of war match where red was able to pull out the bronze medal.
The agony of defeat for Team Green . . .
The winners circle with their medals . . .
There was some free time for jump rope and a soccer game too.
We finished off the day with dinner - chicken, potatoes, sweet potatoes, and salad. The chicken had been marinating in sauce in a aluminum pot for 32 hours outside of the refrigerator. Apparently, aluminum neutralizes salmonella (a Peruvian secret). Again, amazingly, neither of us got sick. Mavel gathered up scraps from the children's plates to bring home for another meal.
The drive home was much quieter as most of the children slept. It was an action packed 10 hours of fun.
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