Jordan Bailey is originally from Redlands, California but now calls Boulder, Colorado his stomping grounds. He has been living off and on in foreign countries (especially Latin America) for the last six years. His first experience came when he studied abroad in Australia for one semester. 
Katie’s passion for other cultures and volunteer work, as well as her travel fever, have led her to live in Britain, France, China, Mexico, Guatemala, Puerto Rico, and Costa Rica as well as led her to travel in over 50 countries. Katie is from Santa Cruz, California, although she seldom finds herself there. 
A travel junkie by nature, Jennifer looks forward to her summers with Global Works. She spent two and a half years in Peace Corps-Paraguay where she got to know the locals and worked in education extension. Welcome Global Works travelers, parents and friends. We are excited to share with you trip updates from around the world. As our main office receives updates from the trips we will update the page as we receive news from the field.
The Peru / Ecuador Group has arrived safely and their trip is off to a great start! We will be posting in the next few days with further updates and photos. Stay tuned…
Update # 1:
Hola desde Peru! Our travel experience was long and arduous, but allowed our group of 20 to create a strong bond from the start. We all met at the Miami airport, and after several hours of hanging out with the group, we found out that our flight was postponed until the next morning. After one night at a luxurious hotel in Lima, we finally boarded the plane and landed in Cusco! Our first night in Urumbamba was spent at the cozy hostel called Samana Wasi. We enjoyed home cooked meals, as we sat at a long table and got to know each other better and spoke spanglish. During our time at the hostel we also had meetings in the spiritual meditation room. In this room we all brainstormed ideas to create a group contract, which outlined our expectations of how to make our trip the best possible experience for us. We decided that our team slogan would be “Let me see you sweat,” and most other rules dealt with respecting our new friends, families and locals. In order to get excited for our homestays, we performed situational skits of what may happen in our new homes with our homestay partners.
We visited Pisac Market next, where we bartered and got to take in the culture of Peru. The market was extremely busy and crowded, full of artisans selling brightly colored hats, fabrics, clothing, bags, jewelry, food and even live chickens! The Peruvians were very friendly, but also would go to many lengths to try to persuade us that their product was better than the rest. Many of us got great deals through good bargaining skills and speaking Spanish, while others felt it was mean to ask for a lower price than the artisans were asking for.
Another fun adventure we got to experience was white water rafting on the Urubamba River! Even though it is the dry season in Peru, there was a short sun shower. The water was freezing, but the mountainous scenery and adventure of the rapids made up for our shivering. Our guides were full of energy, splashing us, and sharing with us their knowledge of their towns, plants and animals. We even learned a song in the ancient Incan language, Quechua.
Before we knew it, we were off to start our community service and meet our homestay families in Urubamba. We broke up into two groups; one group worked at the local school, and the other took an hour long hike to make silver rings. Even though it was our first day working, we accomplished a lot at the local school. We moved large rocks with a wheel barrow and sledge hammered them to create gravel for a new classroom; we sanded the main door to the school and a kiosk so we could paint them later; and we repainted lines on their volleyball court. During our time at the school, we got to put our Spanish to use as we played with some of the younger students during their recess. Up in the mountains, a kind-hearted family welcomed us into their home to teach us how to make rings! We each took turns to heat and shape our rings, which we would receive the following day. During our lunch break, we had the pleasure of meeting all of our host families at the school. We were each greeted with a kiss on the cheek. Then each family took their new hijos (children) home for a home cooked meal! After lunch our families walked us back to school to continue our work. After a long day of work, our families picked us up, and we spent our first nights with our new families!
Today, Wednesday, June 30th, we started a new project at an elementary school in Ollantaytambo, a nearby town. With the help of some locals, we are building a playground for this school. We look forward to the rest of our service work and week getting to know our homestay families!
Update #2:
June 30: After our toils in construction of the playground we headed through the heart of cultural Ollantaytambo and enjoyed gourmet empanadas and Peruvian sandwiches. We were just finishing our lunches on a street above the market square when we heard the uncanny natural chime of the wind pouring through the three valleys and it filled our lungs with crisp cool air. With a meal firmly in our bellies, our trek through ancient Ollantaytambo had begun. We met our friendly guide Eduardo and throughout our entire walk he gave us insightful information pertaining to Incan life and architectural genius. Some of the most unique information he gave us was the many ways in which the Incans sought to emulate the images of animals and plants in city layouts. Furthermore Eduardo explained the cleverly incorporated faces in the mountains peering down at ancient Ollantaytambo. Our group proceeded to the top of the mountain and saw the gorgeous sights of all three central valleys. The two large features that dominated the top of the mount were the temple of the sun and the temple of the moon. Eduardo demonstrated the communicative abilities of the crevasses within both temples, which utilized echoes. As our tour neared its end we saw the washroom of the princess with a cleverly built system of heating water via sunlight. The tour of the majestic city was over, but our adventure was still in progress. We were reminded of this when Wilbur arrived eagerly waiting to hear about our many stories of the day. The Peruvian sun had shown its last light when we arrived back in Urubamba. Though the time did not show it, we were all fully exhausted from a full day when we arrived in the comfort of our homestays. For dinner, many of us enjoyed traditional Peruvian or Quechan food and headed to bed early.
July 1st : Our first benchmark was the trips progression into July. On this day we woke early in the morning and visited the school in Ollantaytambo where we geared up for another day of service. When we finally arrived for our second day of construction, we immediately went to work sanding down each log we had previously stripped of bark. These will be used as fence poles. Simultaneously, members of our group dug holes for the playground equipment to be placed. None were prepared, but all rose to the occasion when our group lugged playground equipment a distance of roughly one mile. When everything was in order, the group painted all of the delivered objects, creating a Kodak-type finish to our long and arduous morning. We returned to our home stays in Urubamba for lunch.
Later in the day we went to the local school to teach an English lesson and participate in numerous sports against the staff of the school. Upon our arrival to our friendly families and after our dinners, many of us engaged in Spanish conversation using a series of homestay activities we received from Global Works.
Update # 3:
Hola familia y amigos! We have been working hard here in Peru, from building playgrounds to hiking up mountains. Friday started off with us heading back to the playground for our final day in Ollantaytambo.
First, we repainted all of the playground equipment to give it a thicker and fresher coat. Julie came up with the idea to decorate the equipment with hand prints, since she was already completely covered in pain , to give it a little extra flair. We then ended up re-designing everyone’s shirts with paint wars, which quickly led to many casualties of color. Charlie put his massive height to great use as he lifted others in the group on his shoulders to paint the equipment that was too high to reach. Julia and Jessie helped paint the swing set a bright yellow, and Alana helped paint the soccer goals green, blue and yellow to give it a more playful feel. During recess, Miguel and Bobby showed off their soccer skill to the kids as they all scrimmaged together.
Other people in the group were helping build the fence around the playground and paint it. Tracy was our leader in this, as she dug many of the holes for the posts and then placed them. Luke and John worked their biceps and triceps as they pushed and pulled the cement mix to create a perfect balance of gravel, cement mix, and water. Anna then transported the cement to the holes and placed it around the poles to keep them in place. All the poles were then painted blue, green, and yellow to complement the equipment.
After several hours of living up to our motto, “Let me see you sweat”, our hard work paid off. We were able to admire the work we had accomplished as a team and the thankful faces of all the students of the school reminded us all of why we are here. One boy was particularly thankful as he sat on a rock and watched us work all day and got the pleasure of being the very first to use the brand new swing set. All the students lined up in columns to thank us for what we had done. A fifth grade boy recited a poem in Spanish for us, and then two 1st graders did a beautiful dance. The girl was dressed in a lovely white dress and the boy had on a cute cowboy outfit, complete with the hat. After, we stood in front of the students and teachers as we were handed warm Peruvian hats. With his advanced knowledge of Spanish, Krishan went up and gave a few words of gratitude on the groups’ behalf. Once all the students left, we were served delicious bunt cake as well as the amazing, bubble gum tasting Inca cola. We returned home and were able to watch the end of the Ghana versus Uruguay game of the World Cup.
After lunch, we all challenged our balance and grip as we journeyed up a mountain to the very top. On our way, Zach, or Zetah Perro, entertained the group with his lovely sing alongs. It was a strenuous hike but very rewarding as we walked to final steps and saw the breath-taking view of the valleys and mountains surrounding us. Everyone took their turns taking pictures on the mountain and then took a group photo to show our accomplishment. Just as the sun was setting, we started our decent down the mountain with Carly leading the pack. However, half way down night started to fall leaving us with head lights and our ninja night vision skills to make it back down. It was a true bonding experience, with all of us having each others’ backs, literally. Many rescues were made, and everyone made it down safely with a huge sense of pride and support.
On Saturday, we took a long, scenic bus ride on our way to a traditional community called Misminay. The ride was made even more entertaining with Isabel’s CDs of Spanish music that she kindly brought us. When we arrived at the village, we got to see how the villagers built a traditional earth oven for the potatoes. Then, we took a few tries to successfully build on ourselves. Jordan, Katie, and Jenny split everyone up into pairs to go work with a villager and work for an hour. With her villager, Sonia got to have the fun experience of riding a burro. We were all assigned to learn 5 words of Quechua and then had the opportunity to share them with each other. Some of the words were: unu-water, asno-burro, sara-corn, waka-cow, and wasi-house. The villagers made us a great lunch consisting of the potatoes from the earth oven, as well as chicken and soda. When we finished lunch the people of the village performed a traditional ceremony to bring good luck to their weaving. They also showed us how they were able to dye the wool for weaving. We tested our Spanish skills as we conversed and cheered during the World Cup game between Spain and Paraguay. We left the village and went on a brief hike down to the Moray ruins of the Incas. Our guide explained to us how the Incas cherished earth, and somehow found a way to make each circular terrace 5 degrees Celsius colder. From above, the ruins looked like two giant bulls eyes. We hiked down to the center of the ruins, some of using the steps and others jumping. Kevin, as usual, was the first to make it to the center for he is almost always the first to go. We took many photos of funny poses as we jumped off the terraces.
When we got home, we all got ready for Katie’s birthday party. It was held at one of the host families polleria, with all of the tables connected so we could sit together and chat. We were served a delicious cake and then shown a traditional dance by two 10 year old children dressed up in traditional outfits, each holding a handkerchief. Katie then got the chance to show us her moves when she danced with the principal of the school, Wilbur. The handkerchiefs were passed around to all of us and we got the chance to dance with the locals and each other.
Sunday was family day and we all spent the day with our host families seeing the city or just hanging out. At 7 we all met up at Pizza Wasi, a restaurant owned by another host family. Each family sat together at a table and enjoyed delicious pizza and chicken. Jenny then gave us paint pens so that we could draw on the kids. However, that didn’t exactly happen when we each realized that they were also fun to use on each others’ faces. Everyone ended up completely decorated in pink, orange, green, blue, purple, and even black from head to toe. Each pair of students gave a sweet speech to their host families telling them thank you and reminiscing on their week together. Dancing then commenced and Martha and Nicole were able to show off their sweet dance moves and they rocked out.
Today is our last full day with our families, and we will remember them and what they have taught us forever.
Update #4:
The voice of our younger sisters’ generation, Taylor Swift, once said: “I don’t know how it gets better than this.” In this one line, Swift summed up the hearts and minds of everyone who traveled on our trip through Peru (and now Ecuador)!
The day started off as usual, waking up at around 7 and getting breakfast from our homestay mothers and fathers, however, Monday, July 5, turned out to be anything but usual. The group finished what they started at the school in Urubamba by painting the courts and murals and leveling the ground. After a half-day of hard work, we got to relax under a tent while the appreciative adolescents and their teachers sang songs by Shakira and then danced to Miley Cyrus. After their performances, we were invited to partake in their quirky games and contests. Krishan represented the U.S.A. with his unique skill of successfully sorting kids with letters to make Spanish words. One game stood out from all the others because it taught us a very valuable team-building lesson. Cleverly disguised as musical chairs, the twist was that everybody stayed in and had to figure out a way to find a spot to “chair” with each other. Later that night, we all got some experience in ceramics as we carved and painted square tiles. Showing off her artistic side, Carly’s colorful ceramic tile mesmerized us with its vibrant glow. When we had had enough fun with our clay, we went back home to eat our final home cooked Peruvian meals with our families and spend our last night with them.
Pack Time! The next day, we said a sad farewell to our families and were off to a preschool to paint the school and build a greatly needed bathroom as the cherry-on-top community service project. Bobby showed off his macho manpower by moving boulders in order to make way for the new bathroom. As we were eating lunch, John and Luke (Mario and Luigi) finished and perfected their epic, elaborate, 3-minute-ish handshake. Our community service finished, we set off on our second activity, which was a tour of a native weaving village. The tour concluded with a short shopping session of the beautifully handmade crafts. Julie, Martha, and Alana all got decked out in Pocahantas headbands. Little did we know that the bus ride to and from the village would be filled with large twists and turns, leaving Kevin on the “edge of his seat”. The long day ended with a late night train ride to Aguas Calientes on which the exhausted group snuggled together, the cutest being Julia and Jesse.
Even after a very early wake up at 5:30, the group was way too excited to be cranky because that day we went to the historic city of Machu Picchu. As our Colombian friend Miguel said, “Machu Picchu was la bomba!” The misty morning walk in the city left us in wonder as to what to expect but, once the sun came out and the fog cleared an absolutely massive and beautiful piece of history stood before us. Following a long but interesting tour through Machu Picchu, free time was given to us for our own adventures. Cara and Anna, undoubtedly the bravest of the group, took some of our friends on a short, but sweet hike to the Incan Sun Gate. We could tell they’d been through a lot judging from all the dirt on their backs. Meanwhile, Nicole made our human pyramid picture complete be being the topper at the top of Machu Picchu! We all had a unique experience in one of the new ancient wonders of the world. Isabel especially felt accomplished after getting a picture with a llama and finally completing the scavenger hunt from her mother that she was not allowed to come home without.
The hikes and histories of Machu Picchu left us all tired and hungry so we were rewarded with an outstanding buffet at Inca Wasi back in Aguas Calientes. We pigged out on pizza, lasagna, potatoes, cake, and so much more. The free time that followed was also full of fun, highlighted by an intense arm wrestling contest between Zach and Tracy, leaving Zach’s arm and pride a bit sore. That night, the group took trains and busses to the city of Cuzco.
The next day we got to sleep in for a few hours in order to be well rested for a ridiculously fun day in Cuzco. Our adventures started with a group scavenger hunt that forced us to explore a beautiful plaza in the center of the city. Los Conquistadores de La Plaza, Los Caballeros, Las Mariposas, Los Guinos, and Zach and The Pussycats all faced off in an intense battle of resources and wits, with Los Conquistadores coming out on top. Then we went to an Incan History museum and a large indoor market where Sonia got her shop on. The activities were capped off by salsa lessons from Charlie, the Hebrew speaking salsa instructor from Colombia (No joke). The kids and leaders got into pairs and danced with Peruvian flair. The night ended with a delicious dinner in a restaurant designed to look like a child’s playhouse and a good night’s rest for a very early wake up the next day, which was full of planes rides and traveling. In the air, we each said our silent “goodbyes” to Peru and loud “hellos” to Ecuador!
We are now in the middle of two days of travel (Bus, plane, plane, bus, boat, bus, boat, bus) and Global Works is going to the Galapagos!
Update #5:
After a day of travel we settled into our new hotel in Quito, and were then rewarded with a delicious dinner at Crepes and Waffles, a local chain with a variety of sweet and savory crepes. With food in our bellies we packed our special Galapagos duffel bags and prepared for the next day of travel. The next day marked the beginning of our Galapagos trip with a bright and early wake-up call at 4 AM! The two days of travel were tiring but our sleepy eyes were opened wide once we arrived to this unique island. Our first impression of the islands was of how well they are protected. Right as we got off of the plane we all had to spray our hands, bags, and shoes with disinfectants. Once we were sanitized we checked in to our new beachside hotel on Isla Isabela. After our first night we arose to an adventurous day of sightseeing and hiking. We went on a 10.6 mile hike to a volcanic crater and through a lava field to a view point of the southern part of the island surrounded by ocean. Our informative guides taught us about the previous eruptions, the latest in 2005, and how the islands were formed by tectonic plate movement and volcanic eruptions. We ate packed lunches and then after 6 hours of volcanic adventures we returned to the hotel just in time to see the final minutes of the last World Cup game. Then, to the excitement of many of the kids, we went to the BEACH! It was everything we had hoped for and we spent the rest of the day swimming, riding waves, and playing a friendly soccer game against the locals. When we all tired out, we came back to the hotel for dinner and Spanish activities! A game of Scattegories really got all of our minds flowing with Spanish words. With the success of the game we were rewarded with a walk to ice cream! Tired from the hike and tummies full of ice cream we packed for the adventurous day ahead and were sound asleep by 10.
The next day began with a traditional breakfast of pancakes promptly at 7:41 AM. As we rushed through it, excited to begin our day, we were fitted into wet suits and fins, preparing for snorkeling! Once we were ready we walked to the pier where three boats awaited us to take us out to sea! Before snorkeling we took a detour to a National Park, another island formed from volcanic rock, to view some endemic Galapagos animals such as iguanas, lava lizards, blue footed boobies, penguins, crabs, birds, and sea lions! We watched as the sea lions played and swam in circles around our boats catching fish and blowing bubbles. Our guides informed us of the many minerals covering the rocks such as liken and sulfur- which we originally thought to be bird poop…oops. Finally after the sight-seeing we jumped in and snorkeled around a bay where we saw huge turtles, sting rays, star fish, puffer fish, sea urchins, and marine iguanas. We then moved on to another snorkel site where we had to swim single file through a canal made of lava rock! As we swam through the narrow canal lined with brightly colored crabs we were only a meters distance above nearly 50 white tipped (non-aggressive) sharks! We the returned to our boats, caught in the thrill of swimming with sharks, and headed back to the hotel for a quick buffet lunch, just in time to jet off to our next island. After a two hour boat ride to Santa Cruz Island we hopped off the boats and settled into this unique and friendly island. We visited the Charles Darwin Research Station as soon as we got here and were able to view many endangered turtles. We even got to say hello to Lonesome George, the last living turtle of his kind. This evening we dispersed within the fun town of Santa Cruz for delicious dinners in groups of four throughout various restaurants. After dinner we came back to our new hotel and enjoyed many rounds of pool before heading off to a well needed sleep.
Update #6:
After a great 45 minute walk to Tortuga Bay, we arrived at the beach. The scenic view was breathtaking as we all gathered together. Many of us played soccer with the local guides for a good hour and a half, competing and showing off all of our athletic abilities. Meanwhile, others were swimming in the ocean and tanning on the white-sanded beach. Once the game ended, we all got in the ocean and decided to have some fun jumping and diving in the waves. After swimming we walked back to the town where we stopped to buy ice cream. We returned to our favorite restaurant in the Galapagos where we enjoyed a traditional Ecuadorian meal. On the two hour boat ride to San Cristobal we slept and enjoyed the unique view. After we settled into our new hotel for the night and walked around exploring the island, we went to dinner.
The following day we woke up at 7 am and got ready for snorkeling. We then took a half hour boat ride to Kicker Rock where we snorkeled through the channel. About 20 feet below us were hundreds of black-tipped reef sharks and eagle rays, all swimming in the same direction. We also saw a couple Green and Hawksbill sea turtles. Once we reached the end of the channel, some of us decided to go back to the boats, while the rest kept on swimming around the outside of the rock, which was covered in green, blue, orange, white, and red algae, as well as tons of fish and crabs, and several sea turtles. Once we were all back on the boats, we headed to a nearby beach for a couple hours of football, tanning, and beach games. After eating stir-fry on the boats, we headed back to San Cristobal, where we dropped off all our gear and headed out to the Interpretation Center, a museum about the formation of the islands, past inhabitants and the people who live there now. We then went on a short hike up Frigate Hill, where we saw frigate birds flying all around us, and took some great photos with the ocean and San Cristobal in the background. After about half an hour, we walked back down the hill and hung out at a small beach, where we watched the scenic sunset while eating ice cream and taking pictures with the sea lions. We went back to our hotel, and after a quick shower, headed out to dinner at a local restaurant. As we shared our last dinner with our local guides, we had the fun experimenting new foods, like the chicken soup with the foot in the bowl which brings good luck! It was a sad good bye for everyone but a fun last hoorah in the Galapagos.
Our guides gave us some time to buy souvenirs for our loved ones. We all split up into groups of 4-5 people and spent two hours walking around in San Cristobal. Once we had all gathered back together, we left for the airport on a bus and left for the mainland a few hours later. When we arrived to Quito, we went back to our previous hotel where we had stayed before. After our flight we all decided to go out to eat at a nice Vietnamese restaurant named Uncle Ho’s. We went back to the hotel and packed for our next trip.
The next day we got to have a later wake up at 9 am, giving everyone the opportunity to rest up. We went on a gondola up a mountain and then had a short walk to a lovely point on Pichincha where we could get a better scenic view of Quito’s mountains. After taking many photos, we descended and walked to lunch in the middle of town. Following lunch we walked to a La Compania de Jesus, a church covered in gold, and had a tour of the beautiful baroque architecture and paintings. We then got on the bus through the beautiful Ecuadorian countryside and arrived at a scenic crater lake, Cuichocha, for dinner and unique Ecuadorian entertainment and games.
We are all are excited to come home but we are also sad to be separating from our new friends and ending our exciting adventure.
Team Global Works Peru/Ecuador
