Welcome Home

Ollantaytambo – it’s hard to pronounce, harder to spell, but you’ll love the quaint charm of this thousand-year old Inca city. With original Inca cobble-stoned streets and spectacular mountains covered in the remains of ancient fortresses, there’s something to marvel at in every direction.

On your runs, leave the cobblestones as you explore this quiet end of the Sacred Valley on miles of rolling dirt roads, taking you through wide-open pastureland or below the imposing gaze of 19,000 ft snow-capped mountains.

Between all this, relax in your own homestay with a local Peruvian family – more on this below.  With so much going on, you’ll be ready for a good night’s sleep each evening. It’s a setting you won’t want to leave and won’t soon forget.

Language

Whether you’ve never spoken “Hola” or you’ve been taking Spanish for years, there’st tons to gain from the Spanish Immersion Program week (and, seriously, we’ve had students who have literally never taken a Spanish class; yes, you can do this and it will be fun.). You’ll receive 25 hours (5 hours per day for 5 days) of instruction from professional and experienced teachers at the Awamaki Spanish School. Classes will be split up by ability and will have a maximum of two students per teacher.

Don’t worry, it won’t be all worksheets and reading. While part of your days will be spent in a traditional classroom setting, we believe in practicing conversation – listening and speaking – in addition to writing. You’ll spend a portion of each day with your teacher on walks around Ollantaytambo town, through the markets, and around the various ruin sites, all the while practicing your Spanish comprehension and speaking (and learning about this amazing place!).

And don’t forget about your homestay family – though they’re used to English-speaking visitors and can communicate enough to get by if need be, you’ll be speaking Spanish with them at home, at meals, and sitting around the TV watching Spanish game shows in the evening.

Even your group leaders (and, hopefully, your trip-mates) will speak to you in Spanish while you’re out on runs in the mornings or walking back and forth to school in the afternoon. Don’t worry if you’re nervous about not being able to communicate – it’s all part of the fun!

Athletics

One of the many benefits of taking part in the SIP week is the ability to spend another week at altitude. Not only do you get an extra week of training, but you’ll give your body an extra week to adjust to the 9000+ feet above sea level and the lack of oxygen. Thus, by the time you get to Pisac and the rest of the group is just arriving, you’ll already be hitting your stride.

Spanish Immersion Program participants will have the same ability to exercise daily, with group runs/bikes leaving in the mornings each day. For other-sport athletes, training can be accommodated, though Ollantaytambo is a smaller town than Pisac and lacks the fully stocked gym we have there.

Adventure & Immersion

Delve into Spanish, Andean, and Inca culture as you settle into your homestay in Ollantaytambo. The “I” in SIP stands for “Immersion” and our goal is for you to totally immerse yourself in this amazing place and these amazing cultures. Learn from your home-stay family about their lives in modern-day Peru, ask your teachers about the history of the region, or talk with your group leaders and trip-mates about what you’ve learned. Be it food or language or dress, you’ll be an expert by the time you say “hasta luego” to Ollantaytambo at the end of the week.

Homestay & Lodging

As part of the “immersion” experience, you’ll stay in the house of a local Peruvian family during your week. Our homestays are arranged through a local non-profit which partners with families in town who are trained and accustomed to hosting foreign visitors.

You’ll generally be placed in a home with one fellow Strive participant.  Each family is unique but many have large, multi-generational families, from older “abuelitas” (grandmas) down to the youngest children – and pets.

Your room will likely be a very basic, but comfortable space. All homes have electricity, though only some have hot water. Still, whatever you’re missing in basic comforts will be made up for in warmth from your Peruvian family and all the home-cooked food that you can eat  – or maybe more.

This schedule is flexible and will change from trip to trip, based on the wants and needs of each particular group of students. We are always tweaking and altering our itineraries – particularly the weekend day-trips – to best suit the individuals of each trip and to account for the inevitable unpredictability that comes with travel in a foreign country. This is a sample schedule of what programs in the past have looked like. Your trip will likely look similar, but remember, this is YOUR trip and we design the trip around YOU.

Day 1: Leave home and meet your group and flight chaperones in Miami International Airport before flying as a group to Lima, Peru, the sprawling coastal capital city, and spending the night in a quiet hostel near the airport.

Day 2: Fly with your group and leaders up to the Andean city of Cusco (keep an eye out the window for giant snow-capped mountains!) before our private driver will take us to your new home Ollantaytambo. Spend the afternoon getting oriented, meeting your homestay family, and letting your body get used to the altitude before your first day of class.

Day 3-6: Immerse yourself! Wake up early for a run with the group along dirt roads with spectacular views of 19,000 ft Mt. Wakaywilka. Then, head to class for your morning session focusing on grammar, reading, and writing. Take a break for lunch and head home for a home-cooked meal before going back to school in the afternoon for your conversational work. Get outside and see the town while you practice speaking with your teacher. Take the afternoon to relax or get in a core or stretching session before heading home for a delicious home-cooked dinner from “mama”. Enjoy some “family time” playing cards, watching TV, or whatever the evening might entail before getting to bed for another full day tomorrow.

Day 7: Enjoy one last day of classes and say “adios” and “gracias” to your teachers and families. We’ll leave Ollantaytambo in the afternoon and meet up with the remainder of the main program group who will be arriving in Pisac this afternoon.

• Tuition includes: All lodging and meals at Peruvian Home-Stay, beverage with meals, 25 hours of intensive 1-to-1 or 2-to-1 Spanish language classes, training supervision and coaching, domestic airfare and other ground transportation, excursion entry fees, training facility entry fees, group tips for in country assistance.

• Tuition does not include: International airfare, or airport departure taxes, overweight luggage fees, snacks and beverages outside of meals, personal spending, massages and sports therapy services, internet or cell phone access fees, tips for additional assistance.

• Full Program Payment Due: March 1

• Payment Plans – Payment plans are available upon request. Simply contact us for details. We’re happy to help you and your family work out the plan that will make your trip a possibility!

  Financial Aid – We have scholarships and financial aid available for qualified high school applicants. Please visit our Financial Aid page for more details

View our frequently asked questions here