Taking risks and living on the edge. This is what characterized summer for six students from Manhattan High School who chose to leave their comfort zones and travel overseas to an unfamiliar place.

These teenagers were given the opportunity to test their acquired skills they had learned from Spanish class and lept at the chance. In order to do this, they went on a trip led by their Spanish teacher to various places throughout Peru, including Lima, Cuzco and the Sacred Valley. While there, they witnessed historic Incan ruins, visited museums, observed the famous architecture and journeyed to the famous Incan city of Machu Picchu.

According to the World Heritage Centre, Machu Picchu is known for its extensive trail and road systems, irrigation canals, agricultural terracing and breathtaking setting amidst the Andes Mountain Range.

“My favorite part was definitely Machu Picchu. I mean I don’t think you can compare to how amazing it is,” said Spanish teacher Lindsy Clark. “It’s just this little nook in the middle of the mountains where you drive up a huge hill and then suddenly it’s there.”

Getting to the top of Machu Picchu involves a train ride, bus ride, long lines and eventually a hike to the top. Though it may involve a lot of work, it has proven to be worth the effort and hastle.

“It was amazing. It’s hard to describe until you’re there,” trip participant senior Cailey Perkins said.

In addition to the trip to Machu Picchu, this group experienced several authentic markets where they were able to truly test out the extent of their knowledge of the Spanish language.

“I would say I definitely became more comfortable speaking because I had to,” trip participant senior Kendra Geisbrecht said, “Even here one time, I was in Dillon’s after I got back and I accidentally bumped into someone and I started to speak in Spanish.”

The students that went on this trip were also able to stay in a variety of hotels, even some that had a special community touch to them.

“When we flew to Cuzco, we stayed in a really cute cottage hotel kind of thing where it was each separate rooms,” Geisbrecht said, “It was beautiful. It looked like something out of a movie.”

EF Tours allowed these students and their teacher, as well as the rest of the larger group they were traveling with, to experience Peruvian and Incan culture while not being in charge of where to stay and eat. While MHS does allow these trips to happen, they are not MHS sponsored. Therefore, the participants of these trips cannot fundraise at school and must make other arrangements.

“I travel with a company called EF and they do a lot of the arrangements. So the transportation, the hotels, the food arrangements, all of that’s taken care of and we have a tour guide 24 hours a day with us,” Clark said. “I really like that part and it gave me a lot of confidence to take students. At the same time, it was still an adjustment for me because I don’t have kids of my own so to be kind of a mom for nine days was a whole new experience for me.”