VCU students got a chance to experience the sights, sounds and tastes of Peru last week at a celebration of Peruvian culture in the University Student Commons.
The event was held so that students who participated in VCU’s annual summer-abroad program could display their work and share their experiences from a month spent in Peru.
“It’s amazing – one of the best trips I’ve been on,” said Erik Gonzalez, an art student who spent four weeks in Peru during the summer semester. “And I’ve traveled a lot.”
The study-abroad program in Peru is a joint operation conducted by the Office of International Education, the Department of English and the School of the Arts. Students fly to Lima, where they can take courses from a number of disciplines and immerse themselves in Peruvian culture. Last summer, 19 students from VCU took the journey.
The trip costs about $2,600, not including tuition and airfare, and is offered every summer semester.
Students who participated in this summer’s program flew to Lima on May 26, and from there traveled to the ancient Incan capital of Cuzco. From their base in Cuzco, students got a chance to explore Peru’s rich cultural heritage and many important historical sights. Most of the students participated in a four-day hike along the Inca Trail to Machu Picchu, an ancient Incan city that was rediscovered in 1911.
“When you travel, you expose yourself to all kinds of questions,” said Javier Tapia, an associate professor of the Department of Painting and Printmaking. Tapia, who has been leading students on study-abroad trips to his native country of Peru since 1996, said that bringing up these questions is important to the artistic growth of students.
Students who studied abroad got to showcase their work Wednesday in Virginia rooms C and D of the Commons. Oscar Contreras, a photography major who traveled to Peru last spring, organized the event.
Photographs from the trip were projected on one wall of the room, and in another corner, Peruvian music played softly. Around the perimeter of the room, booths were set up for students to display their photos, paintings, drawings and other works created during the trip. A traditional Peruvian dance was performed, Peruvian food was offered and poetry inspired by experiences in the South American country was read.
A poster at the entrance of Virginia room C summed up the group’s experience: “The learning curve? Tremendous. For some, the first ride on a plane. For others, the first time outside the United States. For all: a four-week immersion in the culture . with the shared goal of experiencing and distilling the essence of Peru.”