Teaching ESL in Cusco Peru

While Peru is a great place for anyone who wishes to explore the past of a country with lots of fascinating sites, such as but certainly not limited to Machu Picchu, it is also an interesting place to experience the culture and daily life of a people and Cusco is a great place to be based. The heart of the old Inca lands there are many, many interesting tours to take in the area and further afield. Cusco is geared toward tourists and it is very easy to find a tour that fits one’s budget and preference. For example, I did a day trip of the Sagrada Valle (Sacred Valley) that took in half a dozen very interesting sites together with an excellent buffet lunch for less than $20 as well as another day tour of the ruins south of Cusco for around $10 (lunch extra but I had a lovely grilled trout for $6). There are no really cheap tours of Machu Picchu for tourists (who have to pay in dollars) unless you do all the arrangements yourself (and that is possible once you get familiar with how it works or have assistance from a local-I ended up taking a tour for $250). The Amazon is well worth a visit but again most tours are somewhat expensive (for 2 nights I paid $320 but I felt it was money well spent). Lake Titicaca where most people spend a night with a local family on one of the islands can be done for around 180 soles (about $60) if you buy your own bus ticket, book a “cheap” hostel in Puno and then hire a local tour from Puno. I, however, chose the easy way out and paid 280 soles for a tour “originating in Cusco” and all the arrangements made for me. As the road to Puno is quite picturesque, I took a day bus there and a night bus back (one can get buses with seats that recline 160 degrees so I did manage to sleep on the night bus).
Clearly, I greatly enjoyed the tourist side of Cusco and Peru but the absolute highlight of the trip was the 3 weeks I spent through Projects Abroad, teaching ESL with a local teacher and staying with a Peruvian family. My fellow teacher, Edith, was an absolute jewel. I taught for 45 years before I retired 3 years ago and during that time I did not know a teacher better than Edith. She really knows how to make the class work to the advantage of the student using truly innovative methods that really motivate students, even those who are not keen. She took maximum advantage of my being a native English speaker and was completely open to any suggestions I made that she felt were useful. I’ve seldom seen anyone, especially a teacher, who was more open to any critique, e.g. like any person speaking in a second language, her pronunciation was not always that of a native speaker but she never hesitated to invite my help. My first day at school she took her students to a restaurant as a reward for their efforts and treated me as well. The second day at school, she had a two hour break and took me to a nearby park made from a wetlands with the theme, Guardians of the Galaxy: a small lake with a paved walk around