The Beautiful City of Ayacucho!

Plaza Mayor with the Mountains of Ayacucho in the distance.

The Shoulder Sack is the best way to carry children!

Little did we know that we would fall in love with Ayacucho and the many treasures of Peru when we were first planning our independent study there.  We had planned for months and studied about the area, but it wasn’t until we arrived and got to see the beauty of the Andes Mountains and got to know the wonderful people that we fell in love with Ayacucho!  It’s one thing to read about a place and a completely different thing to experience it and the people that live there!

Children playing their instruments in the parade!

We were all Bonner Scholar students at Berea College and at the time wanted to complete one of our ‘summers of service’ volunteering at medical and dental clinics in another country.  We thought if we were going to complete a summer of service in Ayacucho, we might as well also complete an independent study there so we all decided focus on a different subject.  I decided to shadow a dentist at the Centro de Salud in the San Juan Bautista district of Ayacucho while another one of my fellow Bonner’s decided to concentrate within the laboratory of that Centro de Salud, while my other friends shadowed doctors.  From the moment we flew into Ayacucho, and viewed the Andes Mountains from the window of the plane I was in love with the thought of our upcoming adventures in a new place of the world!  

Read more about Ayacucho on the Treasures of Traveling Website!

-- Luke Keeler

Experiencing the Bullfight in Socos!

The mountainous terrain and beautiful vistas of Socos!

While living and working in Ayacucho, we decided it was time to explore the small rural village of Socos, Peru, high up in the Andes Mountains with an elevation of 11,200 feet above sea level to be exact. At this point we had spent a decent amount of time in the hustle and bustle of the urban center of Ayacucho and we wanted to be surrounded by mountainous countryside with less motor vehicles and motorcycles so we went to visit the small and remote village of Socos!

Gathering in front of the church in Socos, Peru.

It was a treat to say the least!  The long journey in the back of a truck with people and animals and really anything that could fit back there was an experience in of itself.  We thought when we arrived it was going to be a low key experience, but Socos was having a bullfight in the village so the village was packed with people who were there to see the fight and have a good time at the festival!  Now, you have to remember, this is not like the bull fights that occur in Spain where

The mountainous terrain and beautiful vistas of Socos!

they actually kill the bulls.  In Peru and at this bullfight, they were just playing with the bull, but they did not kill it.  The matador had his red cape to entice the bull to attack and after each session the matador spent with the bull, they also had multiple clowns to entertain the crowd!  They were hilarious to watch while they were antagonizing the bulls and running away from them.  Some of the clowns didn’t run fast enough and had a run in with the bull’s horns, but they were prepared and had lots of padding on their rear ends!

Read more about Socos and the bull fight at Treasures of Traveling Website!

-- Luke Keeler

The Journey from Ayacucho to Huancayo!

The Mantaro River runs through the valley along the road from Ayacucho to Huancayo!

When living in Ayacucho for the summer, I decided to travel to Huancayo to visit another college friend who was living there for the summer and the easiest way to get there was a 12 hour bus ride through the Andes Mountains. So one weekend, I decided to visit her and venture out from Ayacucho to experience the long, bumpy bus ride and let me tell you, what a ride it was!  I think the bus ride through the Andes Mountains from Ayacucho to Huancayo is one of the most exciting ones I had the pleasure to experience and I had quite a few. It was a rough, unpaved road and it was in very poor condition most of the way.

Read more about the journey on the Treasures of Traveling Website!

-- Luke Keeler