In this issue:

• Eye On: Peru
• CQ Capers: QuestPoints Reward Program
• Teachers Talk: Grace Gorman
• Travel Tidbits: Museums of European Civilization
• Multicultural Corner: Community Service in Ecuador

EYE ON: PERU

Peru is home to the Norte Chico civilization, one of the world's oldest, and their ruins dot the coastal areas of the country. Until recently, not much was known about this ancient people, but recent archeological excavations at earthen mounds in the coastal valleys of Supe, Pativilca and Fortaleza have shown evidence of their existence more than 5000 years ago. The National Museum of Archeology, Anthropology and History of Peru in Lima has developed an extensive collection of artifacts from this amazing time period that will excite your history students.

Peru's other famous Pre-Columbian inhabitants, the Incas, are one of the largest tourist draws to the country. Lying 50 miles from Cusco, the ruins of Machu Picchu are a World Heritage Site that display the architectural genius of the Incas. Being tucked high in the Andes Mountains doesn't just make the trek to Machu Picchu more adventurous today, it actually kept the Spanish Conquistadors from destroying the site centuries ago. Today, visitors are invited to ponder the true purpose of this Andean jewel; was it a temple to Incan gods or a retreat palace for Incan rulers like Pachacuti and Atahuallpa? Either way, a visit to this ruined city will undoubtedly be a once-in-a-lifetime experience for your class.

Once the capital of the Incan Empire, Cusco is one of the only Pre-Columbian cities still inhabited in the Western Hemisphere. Although the Conquistadors quickly built over much of the Incan city, an earthquake in the 1950s exposed many of the original foundations that are now part of the fabric of the modern city. Today Cusco's outstanding architecture is an eclectic mix of Incan and Colonial Spanish structures, a combination so unique that the United Nations granted Cusco the prestigious World Heritage Site recognition in 1983.

Peru's tropical latitude, topographic variations and ocean currents make this country one of the most ecologically-diverse in the world. Organized treks take visitors through many of Peru's ecological zones, but none is more sought after than the Amazon Rainforest. Setting off from the northern city of Iquitos, the Gateway to the Peruvian Amazon, visitors sail some 50 miles down the Amazon River to one of several eco lodges that have sprung up in recent years. Here is a rare opportunity for your students to experience one of the most remote places in the world where indigenous peoples continue to live a tribal lifestyle and unique animal and plant species thrive.

Leaving the Amazon and heading up to the Altiplano of southern Peru, you'll land at Lake Titicaca, the highest navigable lake in the world! Here the Uros Indians, who preexisted the Incas, created a series of floating islands out of totora reeds. These islands could be moved when hostile tribes approached and therefore served as an excellent form of protection. Around 3,000 descendants of the Uros are alive today, and a few hundred still continue to live on the these floating islands, where your and your students are most welcome to step foot.

If you don't get excited by lost civilizations, world-famous archeological treasures and tropical rainforests, then we know what you must really want - cerviche! Because of Peru's diverse climates, this traditional Spanish dish, consisting of seafood marinated in citrus juices, takes on a different character as you move from one region to the next. Compare cerviche from the arid coast to that from the tropical rainforest; the concept is the same but the tastes are worlds apart

For more information on how you can organize an extraordinary educational travel program to Peru, contact Alessandra Taddeucci

CQ Capers

QuestPoints Reward Program

Culture Quest is proud to announce the debut of our new QuestPoints Rewards Program, our way of thanking teachers for choosing Culture Quest Tours as their educational travel company.

Group leaders can earn QuestPoints two ways:

Earn 1 point for every dollar your group spends on a Culture Quest travel program. For example, if you're taking 12 students on a travel program with a program fee of $2,000, you will earn 24,000 QuestPoints.

You can also earn 1000 QuestPoints by referring a colleague who organizes a Culture Quest travel program.

QuestPoints can be redeemed for either:

*Free airfare anywhere in the world. Jet off to New York, Rome or beyond. The choice is absolutely yours.

*A student travel scholarship on any Culture Quest travel program. You can make the difference in a special student's life.

Best of all QuestPoints never expire!
Contact CQ for complete details.

Teachers Talk

Grace Gorman

Hi Barbara!

Everything was near-perfect for the Paris trip! The weather was 100% perfect -- the first time I've gone when it was actually spring-like. Not a cloud in the sky for all 5 days! I finally got to sit at sidewalk cafes and walk in the gardens.

The ONLY problems were very, very small ones. We did have a couple pick pocketed, and I have a gripe or two with two restaurants (but nothing major). All in all, everything went better than I could have hoped!

I do want to get started on next year's trip whenever you can get to it. I'm thinking London, March 7-12, 2008 with airfare, lodging, two dinners, breakfasts, 4-day tube pass, tickets to the London Eye, Thames Cruise, and a double-decker hop-on hop-off tour. There's no rush, of course. Get to it when you can!

Thanks for everything regarding the Paris trip. It was truly magnificent.

Grace Gorman
Foreign Language Chairperson
St. Vincent-St. Mary High School
Akron, OH

Travel Tidbits

Museums of European Civilization

For the last thousand years Europe’s diverse cultures have mixed and mashed their way across the lands and into each other’s lives. Here are some of the many museums focusing on European civilizations, past and present.

The Norwegian Museum of Cultural History – Norway

Three prized Viking ships and the remarkable items that were buried with them bring visitors from around the world to this museum. Ships like these were actually the first to cross the Atlantic and reach North America, centuries before Christopher Columbus.

The National Archaeological Museum of Athens – Greece

Considered one of the finest museums in the world, its collections focus on the budding Greek culture from Prehistory to Greek Antiquity. Because of the vastness of the Greek civilization, artifacts in this museum actually originate from all over the Mediterranean world but all are remnants of Greek culture.

Museum of Roman Civilization – Italy

With artifacts dating as far back as the Etruscans, this collection walks the visitor from the birth of a republic to the transformation into empire and finally the fall of a superpower. No trip to Rome would be complete without seeing the models of ancient Rome on display here.

Alicante Provincial Museum of Archaeology – Spain

While holding artifacts found all over the Iberian Peninsula, this museum has one of the best-kept Moorish collections and explores the few centuries when Spain was a Muslim state before it evolved into a Catholic one.

The Vatican Museums – Italy

Clearly one of the most influential institutions throughout European history, the Catholic Church was also the patron to centuries of artists. Founded in the 16th Century, this collection of museums is home to works of art by Michalangelo, Da Vinci, Giotto and many more. The Sistine Chapel reigns as the highlight of any visit.

National Jewish Museum and Archives – Hungary

Prior to the Second World War, Europe’s Jewish community was thriving and Budapest was home to a substantial Jewish population. This museum traces the history of the Chosen People from the initial Diaspora into Europe, through centuries of pride and persecution, and finally to the tragedy of Hitler’s Final Solution.

Auschwitz-Birkenau Memorial and Museum – Poland

At Auschwitz and Birkenau, one of the most important and shocking factors of the Second World War comes to life for visitors to remember and learn from. It is often said that those who cannot remember the past are doomed to repeat it; the barracks, railroad tracks and gas chamber at these former concentration camps starkly remind the world what unchecked power and prejudices can actually do.

The Museum of Communism – Czech Republic

Czechoslovakia was at the forefront of the Communist take over of Eastern Europe. So it is fitting that the museum dedicated to the period from 1948 until the 1990s is in Prague. The collection focuses on life under the one-party Communist regime, along with its culture, propaganda and strict judicial code. Here visitors will get a strong understanding for why the ideology had such a significant following, as well as what citizens had to do to defeat it.

Deltapark Neeltje Jans – The Netherlands

While not a museum of civilization in the traditional sense, this exhibition shows how the low-lying Netherlands is able to combat the effects of rising sea levels by a system of pumps and levees. As the effects of human impact on the global climate accelerates, a deep worldwide understanding is needed to combat the consequences of global warming. Instead of a museum looking at the past, Deltapark Neeltje Jans is one focusing on Europe’s future.

Contact us today to help you organize a student tour to many of these amazing places.

Multicultural Corner

Art of Community Service in Ecuador

Art-Based Student Volunteer Opportunities
Are your students looking for a different and enriching summer experience in Latin America? Maybe the Art of Community Service, sponsored by the Multicultural Youth eXchange, is the ticket.

The Art of Community Service is a unique art-based residency program that pairs American high school students with their foreign peers as they develop and execute a community art project like a sculpture garden.

The ACS program is focused on self-expression and cross-cultural interaction - not individual artist skill - and its goal is to demonstrate the powerful effect that collaboration has in forging friendships and advancing social change.

For the past two summers, MYX accompanied American students to the remote Costa Rican island of Chira where they worked closely with local teens to create a large-scale mural at the island's main port (2005) and construct a library for one of the island's three schools (2006).

The library project was especially beneficial to Chiran students. Using wood and other natural objects found on the island, American and Costa Rican students constructed new bookshelves, re-painted worn out furniture and created an indoor mural, transforming a once neglected and characterless concrete room into a cheery and inviting study center.

Now in its third season, MYX will return to Chira to construct an outdoor community space, and it will also make its maiden voyage to Ambato, Ecuador, an Andean community two hours south of Quito. Here, American and Ecuadorian students will work on an outdoor mural at Cristobal Colon Elementary School, transforming a dull concrete space into a colorful playground.

MYX's ACS program is designed for students finishing grades 8-12. No art experience or Spanish language skills are required although Spanish proficiency is preferred. Each trip can accommodate a maximum of 15 students, and registration is first-come, first-served.

For more information, click here

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