Study Abroad Experience

Magdalena Angulo, Jesus Casillas, Ileana Delgado
LIMA
• Lima was our first stop in Peru, it was a quick visit
because we arrive late at night, we stayed at a
hotel called “Castellana” and in the morning we
started the short tour in lima we visited several
places such as: El parque de los enamorados
(lovers park), Huaca Pucllana, Plaza de Armas. It is
a big and beautiful city with a terrible traffic. I
found very interesting that at 2 A.M. there are
people playing chess, jogging, clubbing, and
walking.
LIMA
Huaca Pucllana
El Parque de los Enamorados
Catedral
San Francisco
Plaza de Armas
PIURA: OUR HOME
• After getting to know a bit of lima, we flight to Piura were we
stayed the most time in Peru. There we met a Peruvian family
who gave us home and food, we met other Peruvian students
at UDEP. We also got to visit other local town such as
Catacaos, and even a beach called Mancora which is the
most visited by tourist in Peru. Overall we developed a strong
friendship with UDEP students.
UDEP
• In this university we took the class of sustainable engineering but also some
classes about the history, geography, and engineering in Peru. We visited
some industries such as: Represa de Poechos, Refineria de PetroPeru,
Ecoacuicola, Cana Brava. At this university we met students with the same
objective as us, getting a degree, struggling day to day to achieve their
goals; even though it was another country with different culture, students are
the same. But most of the students we met in the class, were brilliant students,
chosen by their GPA’s to take the class. We worked with students from
different majors . It was a beautiful university with a lot of green areas.
UDEP AND NATURE
• The thing that made UDEP unique, in my opinion, is
that it was a really ecofriendly campus; it was a
great area to have the sustainability class. You
could see the wild animals interact among the
student body and the wilderness was everywhere
around campus.
SUSTAINABLE ENGINEERING
• This class was the reason for the study abroad in Peru, we
learned the principles of green engineering, and the life cycle
assessment. We learned how since the design of the product,
we can choose the best materials that are friendly with the
environment and will not harm the earth. The class gave us the
tools to construct a prototype of a product friendly with the
environment and constructed with recycled material.
SUSTAINABLE ENGINEERING COURSE
• 12 Principles of
Green Engineering.
• Sustainability.
• Ces Edupack 2012.
• Hannover Principles.
• Project Presentation.
REPRESA DE POECHOS
This was the first place we visited, this visit was focused on
civil engineers, the construction. We learned that this dam
is very vital for the community around Piura since it
provides with an irrigation system to all agricultural areas
in Piura and Piura is know for their agriculture.
PETRO PERU
• The second visit was a refinery located in Talara
which was about 3 hours far from Piura. This visit was
focused on industrial engineers. We got to see the
process, and the monitoring of the process.
CAÑA BRAVA
• This industry created ethanol and the most
interesting fact learned in this visit was that they
used the residuals of the cane to create their own
energy needed by their process, and this was very
relevant to the course we took of sustainable
engineering, because it is one of the engineering
principles.
CATACAOS
• In Peru we made the Sunday our family day, were
we got to know more about each of the members
and treat them better. One of those sundays, they
took us to Catacaos a town near Piura where you
can find artisans.
MANCORA
• Being in Peru and not visiting their beach is the same as not
being, that’s why we planned a visit to the beach most visited
by tourist, and we received help from the university of Piura
with the transportation. It was a relaxing experience after an
intensive course.
CUSCO
• After Piura, our next flight was to Cusco, which is a little more
than 4,000 meters over sea level. This gave some students
some sickness but later on we all got used to it. It was funny
seeing the flag from Cusco because in our country a flag with
the rainbow colors is used to identify the homosexuals. In
Cusco, the colors mean as a symbol of the off spring of the
Inca's gods, the earth and water. Here in Cusco we got entries
to museums, catacombs, and the beautiful ruins, which we
were about to lose due to the fact that the guide left us
behind.
SOMETHING DIFFERENT IN CUSCO
• There is a lot to see and do here.
• Food in Cusco is different to the food in Lima and Piura.
• Cusco is a tourist spot. Great place to buy souvenirs.
CUSCO
WE GOT LOST..
• In our first day in Cusco, we got lost. During our first visit exiting
a building we got distracted by the local sellers and the tour
guide did not wait for us. We were lost in Cusco. Well actually
our guide left us but that didn't prevented us from still visiting
our next and last stop of the day: Sacsayhuaman. We all took
a cab who was more than happy to take a group of young
students.
PISAC AND OLLANTAYTAMBO
• The next day, we went to some other ruins outside
of Cusco and gratefully, with a lower altitude. The
first one we saw was Pisac. These ruins were
beautiful! They were located on top of a mountain
which also gave us a gorgeous sight from the town
of Pisac. After this site, we went to Ollayntaytambo
which was equally beautiful and almighty as Pisac.
ARCHAEOLOGICAL OLLANTAYTAMBO
Inca archaeological site.
The most amazing Inca
constructions are found in
Ollantaytambo.
SOME MORE PICTURES
Scenery
going to
pisac.
Ollaytaytambo
expressed well
the perfection of
the inca’s
architecture
FROM OLLAYTAYTAMBO TO AGUAS
CALIENTES
• We stayed for a while at ollaytaytambo waiting for
the train that would take us to our final destination:
Aguas Calientes. Since it was dark already, there
wasn’t much to see but that didn't’t prevent us to
walk around aguas Calientes once we were there.
AMAZING AGUASCALIENTES
Aguascalientes is also referred
as Machu Pichu Town.
It is an amazing town that is the closest
point to access Machu Pichu.
It serves as a terminal for the PeruRail.
MACHU PICCHU
The final stop was Machu Picchu, one of the wonders
of the world. Cusco and Machu Picchu were the
most interesting and beautiful places of the trip,
because it was interesting how the Incas constructed
their homes, with rocks how they cut them and gave
them shape, how they made a kind of Lego shape in
order to insert a rock with another rock. And their
precision was so perfect that not even a sheet of
paper fits between the rocks. We were able to notice
also the sustainability in their construction because
they worked with the environment and used the big
rocks as their base for construction.
MACHU PICCHU
MACHU PICCHU II
---We were
awake by 5 to
see the dawn at
machu picchu.
We climed for an > hour to have a
greater view of the
scenery.
--Llamas, llamas
everywhere!
Most of the ruins
were build to
mold to mother
nature, not by
destruction. --
MACHU PICCHU
BACK TO EL PASO
• Finally we got back to El Paso, with a lot stories to
tell to our family and friends, a lot of pictures to
show but the most important, now we could tell U.S.
about the Peruvian culture, such as their food, their
tradition, and the music they like to listen. We got
back to El Paso with great memories, with a
knowledge of sustainable engineering, and ready
for our next study abroad.
TIPS…
• Don’t’ buy souvenirs during excursions. You could
get lost.
• Cusco is an excellent place to buy souvenirs.
• Travel light.
• If possible take salsa (valentina), Mexican candies,
and tortillas to Peru. You will miss Mexican/
American food.
• Bring confortable clothes and shoes; you'll get
blisters after spending the day walking and hiking.