Our theme this week was culture. We began with a lecture by author Eduardo Arroyo, a scholar who studies the ethnic diversity of Peru. We learned that the Criollos are descendants of the Spanish and populate Lima and other cities along the coastal plain. The Andinos are the indigenous peoples who originated in the Andes mountains, while the Amazonicos are from the rainforests of the Amazon River basin. The Cholo culture, in contrast, blends Andean, Christian and Western influences.

We formed travel groups of 4-5 students to visit the Museo de la Nacion (National Museum), one of Lima's premier collections of ceramics, textiles and other artifacts from the prehistoric period. The museum features an exhibit on medical practices during pre-Colombian and colonial times.

We have been reading recently-published literature by women authors from a collection entitled "Fire from the Andes". Professor Elias Rengifo helped us understand the breadth of Peruvian literature by describing the major epochs, from the pre-Hispanic to the Colonial to the Republican periods. Professor Rengifo teaches at San Marcos National University (Universidad Nacional Mayor de San Marcos). Founded in 1551, San Marcos is the oldest university in the Americas.

After our weekly Goshen Tambo meeting, we walked down to the Promenade overlooking the ocean. The students met individually with Jerrell and Celia to discuss possible service assignments. While they waited for their interviews students had a chance to relax or walk down the long, windy set of stairs that leads to the ocean. Several members of our group initiated a conversation with soccer players from a local team and decided to accept their challenge.

The week came to a close with a field trip to downtown Lima. Celia walked us around the Plaza de Armas, identifying historic buildings and explaining their significance. We ate menu lunches at La Merced, an historic restaurant near the Plaza. We took a detour on the way back to our bus and ended up touring the Convent of Santo Domingo, a welcome oasis of calm in the center of a bustling metropolis. The buildings of the convent face a garden courtyard and fountain. And deep inside these buildings we found artwork and chapels dedicated to two native saints of Peru. Saint Rose of Lima was a well-known nun of the Dominican Order, the first Catholic in the Western Hemisphere to be declared a saint. Saint Martin of Porres was a tireless servant of the poor and the sick. He is often pictured holding a broom, since he considered all work to be sacred, no matter how menial.

When we returned to the bus our driver, Juanito, was ready for the last leg of our tour. He shifted the bus into low gear and we climbed the steep road up to Cerro San Cristobol, a 200-meter hill next to downtown Lima. The ride was a thrill, especially for those with a window seat on the down-slope side of the road. It helped to know that Juanito makes this drive several times a week. And the view from the top offered a 360-degree panorama of Peru's capital.