Art brings beauty to our lives. Religion brings meaning. These two topics were our focus this week.

Victor Delfin is an extraordinary artist, an 81-year-old creator of sculpture, paintings, carvings and other graphic images. Delfin opened his home to us, offering us a peak at his work and insight into his world view. He describes himself as more an activist than an artist, a community member who is as comfortable at a political rally as he is in his studio. And what a studio he has, a multi-storied blending of form and function perched atop a bluff that overlooks the ocean.

We hated to leave Delfin's charming world, but within an hour of our departure we were immersed in conversation with students at Cenfotur, a college that specializes in the travel and hospitality industry. The Peruvian students we talked with relished their chance to interact with Americans, and we enjoyed hearing about exotic destinations in the Peruvian highlands, coast and rainforest.

Cuisine is a practical art form, and the dishes we have tried bring together fresh ingredients and rich flavors in a distinct style that is gaining admirers. Our visit to Cenfotur finished with a chance to don chef's aprons and hats and participate in cooking classes. Six lucky students learned how to prepare Mazamorra Morada, Arroz con Leche and Arroz Zambito, three traditional desserts that all of us had a chance to sample afterwards.

Dance is a ceremonial art form, one that inspires admiration and invites participation. Nelida Silva offered a colorful description of traditional Peruvian dances, finishing her lecture with a clip from a movie inspired by her life. After her talk, Pedro Farias demonstrated a variety of dances with his graceful partner. They then taught us how to emulate, as best we could, their amazingly athletic moves.

Religious life in Peru has been influenced by Christianity since the Spaniards arrived almost 500 years ago. But religion in Peru is diverse, a unique blending of indigenous practices, Catholic theology and an emerging evangelical movement. Carlos Aburto is a professor of church history at the Instituto Superior de Estudios Teologicos Juan XXIII. His lecture described how the the religious cosmology of the Incas was transformed by their adoption of Catholic beliefs and practices.

The intersection of these two different world views was brought to life by visits to the Monastery of San Francisco, site of a chilling collection of underground catacombs that served as a burial site for prominent church leaders, and the Museum of the Inquisition.

Our week ended with a fantastic voyage to Islas Palomino, home of 8,000 sea lions. Invited to slip into wet suits and visit these creatures at closer range, we plunged into the cold Pacific and moved as a group with a bit of hesitation, or was it disbelief? The lobos marinos gathered around us, entertaining our group with flips and splashes. We soon acclimated to the water and lost our fear of these fun-loving mammals. Where else in the world could we swim among the sea lions, experiencing for a moment the exhilaration of sharing the deep blue ocean with a creature that is perhaps not as different from us as we had imagined?