In the summer of 2018, the worlds of a few students here at LCHS will be introduced to a new culture and a world unfamiliar from the one they have known. They will do this by traveling down south to a new land, seeing the wonders of the world, and hearing a different tongue spoken around them.

Ms. Mousa, one of the Spanish teachers here at LCHS, will be taking a group of students to Peru for a once in a lifetime opportunity to explore the world for themselves. While they are down there, not only will they be gaining knowledge on the Spanish language itself, but they also will be able to understand the history and culture of the nation.

Mousa already knows what the group will be doing once they get down there.

“We’re going to be in the Andes Mountains, and we [will] arrive in the capital. We’re going to tour the museums and downtown Lima, and then from there we’re going to see Kusco and that’s in an area they call the Sacred Valley. From there, we will be participating in local activities that will include making pottery and weaving baskets and ponchos, because that’s what the women there do to make money. We will also be participating in a service learning project,” explained Mousa.

While this will be Mousa’s first time leading a trip, she is no stranger to traveling abroad.

“I have not been to Peru, but I studied abroad in Venezuela which is also in the Andes Mountains. I’m not really nervous, because they [the company that is sponsoring the trip] will provide us with a tour guide that is with us twenty-four seven. They will make sure we get where we are going and get our meals. There are lots of other schools that do it, and it’s something I’ve always wanted to do,” said Mousa.

The company that is helping with the trip, Educational Tours, offers trips all over the world to multiple countries, and when picking the destination Mousa was torn between two: Costa Rica and Peru. In the end, Peru was chosen.

“Costa Rica is really nice, but it’s a place where you can easily travel to. You can go on a cruise there and it’s not like a big deal, but is a place where you’re not going to have many opportunities to travel there in your lifetime. It’s a once in a lifetime trip, it’s got Machu Picchu, which is one of the seven wonders of the world, and you don’t just get that opportunity that often. So I just figured, why not?” Said Mousa.

Many things will be uncovered when they are there, but Mousa thinks that trip will open many student’s views on the world around them.

“I think it will be for sure eye opening, and just being able to see how other people’s live makes you appreciate what you have. Sometimes you think ‘aw man I wished I lived in this huge house and have all these nice things,’ but then you see these people who make pottery and sell it for a living and live in these small houses. It really does change your perspective,” said Mousa.

The trip is open to any student no matter their proficiency in Spanish, and they must see Mousa for more information.

“They [the students] need to come see me, Mr. Correa, or Ms. Rios, who are also going on the trip. We will get them information for the first parent meeting and get communication setup from there,” said Mousa.

This trip down south is sure to present many with an opportunity never before imagined by some here at LCHS, who perhaps thought they would never go abroad. With this journey, however, a few lives might get to see the world and be exposed to other ideas than the ones they have grown in.

*Neither LC Schools nor LCHS is sponsoring this trip in any way. Any LCHS employees participating in or organizing this activity, are doing so as private citizens, not as representatives of the school system.*