9. If there is one thing you would want others to know about Peru, what would it be?

     If there is one thing that I would want people to know about Peru, it’s that pictures don’t do it justice. Go there yourself and enjoy the sights. The scenery is absolutely breathtaking. Here are some examples. Enjoy.

8. Explain being an American abroad. What types of conversations have you had about being “American” and how that has made you feel about your identity

    As an American, I already have a reputation before I even enter another country. I am expected to be rude, loud, brash, and ignorant. Personally, I did not feel as though it affected my behavior when I was studying abroad. I did not feel the need to go out and try to buck that stereotype. I hope that just by acting like myself I would show people that the American stereotype is not always the case. We can be respectful and show the world that sometimes we do know how to behave.

7. What surprised you most about the engineering practices of the Incas? How do you think their culture and their interactions with other cultures affected their society and choices of creation of buildings/water ways/etc.

     What surprised me the most about Incan engineering was their ability to move massive stones for miles across hills and valleys. It took massive organization of manpower to move 70 ton stones such as we saw at Saksaywaman. That scale of organization is amazing to me for a time when long distance communication was much slower and more difficult. Also, they were able to accomplish this without a written language. Instead, the Incas used quipus, a series of knots, to track information. Unfortunately, the knowledge of how to read quipus was lost and is still a mystery today.
     Another amazing aspect of Incan accomplishments was that they advanced so far without much outside influence. Due to the geography of the Andes Mountain Range and Amazon Rainforest, the civilizations of the Andes grew without help from outside civilizations. The Incan culture developed over time from its local predecessors, as we witnessed at a Wari aqueduct and at a museum. They slowly learned how to adapt to their environment over the years until the Incas mastered it.

6. What are the current economic and social issues in Cusco? What are some of the political issues being talked about? As an engineering in the future-how do you think this would influence you if you were to conduct a program here

     One night at dinner, we talked about politics with Mamatia. After explaining how none of us were Donald Trump supporters, thankfully, she told us a little bit about Peru’s political situation. The country is currently in the middle of a presidential election which is scheduled for its second of two rounds on June 5. One of the candidates is Keiko Fujimori, the daughter of former Peruvian president Alberto Fujimori. President Fujimori is currently serving a 25 year prison sentence for embezzlement, bribery, and human rights abuses. Mamatia explained that Peru’s government has a long history of corruption and that it is still a problem today. She did not really seem to favor any of the candidates, citing different problems with all of them. I find it interesting as I have very similar feelings of disfavor for the majority of candidates in the American presidential election.
     As an engineer, I would be careful in conducting a program in this country because of the possible political instability. However, I did not notice any serious political tension in this country. I doubt that I would have to cancel any future programs in Peru do to political issues. 

5. What type of environmental issues are happening in Peru? How do you think this affects engineering practices?

     I did not notice any pressing environmental issues while in Peru. However, the people of Peru have adapted their lifestyle around the environment. Roads twist around mountains, going back and forth. Houses are built into the mountainside despite the difficulty of building on such a steep slope. You can go all of the way back to Incan times to see how they built terraces into hillsides for more farming space. The Peruvian people adapt to their landscape, rather than destroying their landscape to fit their needs. One day our bus was driving around a mountain and the winding road took at least half of an hour to travel a mile around the hill due to all of the switchbacks. I thought to myself, in America we would have drilled a hole through this tunnel and built a bridge across the neighboring valley to save travel time. Thousands of tons of dirt would have to be moved in the process, desecrating the beautiful landscape around it. It led me think about the need for sustainable engineering in the future. As a prospective civil engineer, it is very important to build for the future as the buildings and roadways I build are expected to last for decades. I am so moved by the beauty of the landscape of Peru that I cannot understate the importance on preserving the environment on any building projects I will be a part of in the future.

4. Are there issues of race and class discrimination in Peru? If so, please explain what has been reported about that and what you witnessed.

     During my stay in Peru, I did not witness any sort of racial discrimination. I cannot conclude that racism is not present in the country since my stay only lasted for two weeks, but it did not seem prevalent in Peru’s society. However, there was some evidence of social discrimination. Much of the lower class lives in the hillsides of Cusco rather than in the valley, as they cannot afford the houses there. They are then forced to build their houses on the steep and unstable hills on the outskirts of the city. Here, heavy rains could create landslides that would wipe out entire communities. Meanwhile the wealthy live far more comfortably in the valley below without much fear of losing their house to a natural disaster.

3. Explain the different cultures in Peru (Cusco region) and their social and economic situation in the country

     The most interesting part of Peruvian culture in the Cusco region to me was the mix between Spanish and Incan culture. Throughout the city, you can see the juxtaposition between the two cultures. Many of the buildings in older parts of the city are Spanish construction built upon an Incan foundation. For example, the Sun Temple Qorikancha, was a Spanish church built over an Incan Temple. After a catastrophic earthquake destroyed most of the Spanish architecture and revealed the Incan structure underneath it, the city of Cusco decided to renovate the location to display both cultures. Spanish influence is predominant in the city in everything from language to the heavy majority Roman Catholic religion, but the Incan roots to society are still present in Peru. The locals revere their traditions and make sure to maintain old customs such as Incan clothing and dancing. I loved witnessing the blend of the two cultures during my stay in Peru.