Highland Weaving!

So since today was all hiking I left the laptop back at the hotel. That means this is from my phone so it's going to be short (I don't have the love of phone texting that the students do...) 

I wanna to tell you all about yesterday and our workshop and hike. Yesterday was probably one of the most eye opening and interesting days we have had yet. We hitched a ride from Ollantaytambo up to a village several miles up the mountain. Here we learned about traditional weaving which has a rich history of over 5000 years. Unfortunately due to machines and technology no one buys these awesome pieces anymore and when they do, they pay a fraction of their value. Threads of Peru is a NGO which helps facilitate the sale of textiles to other countries so that these women can continue their tradition while making enough money to survive. We sat in and saw every step involved in the making of their traditional textiles (except the shearing of the alpaca.) All the ladies were very nice and gave great demonstrations. I can tell you I felt much better about spending a lot on one of their pieces instead of bartering down a street vendor who clearly got his sweater from some factory along with 100 others. All the kids loved the process and the heart involved in this weaving technique. I'm sure many of you reading this will be receiving a gift from these weavers.

After the workshop we went on a BEAUTIFUL hike back to town. It was great to stretch our legs and prepare for the hike to Machu Picchu. All in all, we had an awesome day!