More Than The Memories

My Peru experience was really amazing. I had so many experiences that I'd love to ramble on about forever, but I'll keep this review short. My best memories from Peru were reaching the top of a 16,000 foot pass and feel the life-giving wind rush by me, fishing for piranhas on the Amazon River and playing soccer at sunset with the indigenous Shipibo people in the hot and humid Amazon forest, organizing shopping lists and buying enough food for fifteen hungry trekkers for five days all while speaking Spanish, and experiencing the sunrise over one of the seven Wonders of the World: Machu Picchu. My Dragons experience in Peru gave me so many great experiences, but it also gave me so much more than the memories. It introduced me to some of the most authentic people in the world who didn't measure happiness by wealth and success, but by relationships with your family and community. It showed me how much I have yet to learn, both about the world around me and myself. It showed me large-scale issues of poverty, resource extraction, and civil rights. It also revealed to me how much that I, as a curious traveler and not an ignorant tourist, have to learn to make myself a more responsible global citizen.

As I walked over the hill that early morning in August, panting from the mile sprint up stairs I’d just completed, all I saw were misty clouds that populated the mountains. Slowly, sunrays began to peak over the mountains, and with their arrival the clouds seemed to disappear, revealing Machu Picchu. The image is stuck in my mind today.

My group visited Machu in our last week in Peru, culminating a trip in which we’d fished for piranhas on the Amazon River, played soccer under the sunset with the indigenous Shipibo people, and visited a hot springs resort in the cloud forest. We’d spent ten days trekking in the northern Andes where we crossed paths with two individuals and studied Spanish language and Peruvian culture in the Sacred Valley. However, as I look back on my Dragons experience, I think about the internal growth I experienced instead of my external experiences.

I remember the relationships I created with my fellow Dragons. I reflect on the lessons I learned as a guest in another land and attempt to emulate the kindness and hospitality I received in my daily life. I flashback to the views of the Andean mountains and the faces of joy, amazement, and appreciation of my group. But most importantly, I recall the discussions and moments that taught me what it means to be a global citizen and how small actions can keep alive the lessons I took from Peru and make the world around me a better place. Finally, Dragons gave me a community. A community of like-minded, curious, passionate, and courageous students and instructors who truly want to make an impact in this world. This is what I will take away the most from my Dragons experience.