Stammtisch

Every-other week, Luis and Verena, the FUBESTs student assistants, set up a "Stammtisch" for us. Stammtisch doesn't have an exact translation to English, but it basically means either a table reserved for the regulars or a reservation that a group has on a certain day.

For us, it means that every-other week, Luis and Verena choose a bar (usually they try to choose very different ones), invite their friends, all 75 FUBEST kids, and our tandem (conversation) partners. This usually ends up being about 50 people.

The first time we had Stammtisch, we were in smaller groups at a bar in Kreuzberg, close to where I live. It was a rather small, expensive bar, that I probably wouldn't have gone into otherwise. Since it was at the very beginning of the program and we were only about a third of the group at a time, it was a good chance to get to talk to people.

The second Stammtisch was at "Clash Bar," also in Kreuzberg (you can see I live in a hip part of town). This was a much larger bar, in the punk/metal scene. Also a cool location, my favorite part probably being the beer called "Tod und Totschlag" (or a similar name meaning death and murder). They also had a pool table and some foosball ("kicker") tables that we occupied for quite some time during the night.

Last night we had our third meeting, at a Hookah bar in Friedrichain. The place was decked out with pillows and stages to sit on, but seemed rather unauthentic. There was a wide variety of cocktails, all pretty expensive, a kind of unfriendly staff (all though, with 50 people, I don't really blame them) that was all German, and nicht-so-gut Hookah. In the end, it was still fun to get out and talk to everyone in a casual setting and meet some of the Germans that got stuck there. I definitely look forward to the coming Stammtisches and what new locations Luis and Verena will think of.


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A post script:
In other news, I am going to Leipzig tomorrow and staying the weekend. However, the BVG (or metro-transit of Berlin) has decided to take a "Warning Strike" starting at midnight tonight and lasting until 3 p.m. on Saturday, since their contract is about to be rewritten, and they obviously have some demands. Although it won't affect our train, I have no idea how I will get to the train station tomorrow! I hope that they don't strike again soon, since getting anywhere without public transportation will be a hassle... (But if they do, it will sure make for a good blog post.)

Typsich!

On Sunday, I felt very German. Since I am taking a theater class, that is taught in German, we have some mandatory plays that we have to see throughout the semester. Of course, the class would not be complete without the arguably most well-known piece of German drama, Goethe's Faust.

Yesterday, we had the opportunity to go to the Deutsches Theater and see a production of the first part of the work. Not only did it seem very German to be going to the theater on a Sunday evening, but we were also seeing a quintessential piece of German literature being preformed, that all Germans have to read in school.

The play was also portrayed, in my opinion, in a very German way. First, it was a very modern production - hardly any set, props, or noteworthy costumes. They also took a lot of interpretation into their own hands; from having Faust rock out at a disco to Mephistopheles making lots of lewd gestures and sounds to blood-covered Gretchen committing suicide at the end. These were of course supposed to be symbolic of various things that happen in the text, but were still very strange compared to the original. Finally, there was just a lot of yelling between the characters, with everyone seeming angry at each other all the time, which wasn't what I got from the reading of the text.

All in all, it was a rather bizarre two hours. Nevertheless, it was good to get out to the theater and to say that I have seen Faust in a German playhouse, of which the productions these days are probably all that strange. It was also interesting to see the crowd, which was mainly young people; perhaps German students also studying the play. I also think these type of plays are something I might have to get used to, if I am going to have to go to them all semester.

Lange Nacht der Museen

...or Long Night of the Museums...

For what I understand, a couple of times a year, there is a 'long night' at the museums in Berlin, where not only are they open until 2 a.m. and an entry to all of them only costs 8 Euro for students, but there is also special exhibits, performances, and shows. This was obviously too good of an opportunity to pass up. So, at around 7 p.m. on Saturday night, we headed out in the rain and wind to soak up some culture.

We started at the "Kultur Forum," where there are various galleries, centrally located next to Potsdamer Platz. There, we saw an exhibit by Heinz Hajek-Halte, a German photographer who was one of the pioneers of Montage and combining images on film. It was really interesting to see his photos, not only because they were really well done, but also because his work has had such an influence on photography that you see all the time. We also meandered around the Gemalde Galerie for a while, but the older artwork isn't my favorite, so we moved on.

From there, we headed to the Automobil Forum on Unter den Linden, where in the midst of Volkswagens, they had a Pot Art exhibit. They had some interesting pieces by Andy Warhol, Roy Lichtenstein, and Keith Haring (to name some big names), as well as pieces by less famous artists.

After a brief stop, we continued on to the Deutsches Historisches Museum (German History Museum). The museum is divided into two parts: the permanent collection (in the old Zeughaus) and the temporary exhibits (in the new I.M. Pei building). Since the permanent collection is much too large to see even in a whole day, we just went to the temporary exhibits, where we look at changing landscapes of Berlin and the Portuguese exploration of the world.

From there we headed back to the Zoologischer Garten, where the Aquarium was also open. It was especially nice not to have to feel as if we had to see our moneys worth here, since it was very crowded and kind of like any other aquarium. We did learn some German vocab though based on the animals that we saw!

Our final stop of the night was the planetarium in Prenzlauerberg. There were supposed to be two star and laser shows at the planetarium (one at midnight and one at 1 a.m.), and getting there right before 1, we realized that it was already full. Luckily the people who work there are pretty awesome, and decided to do a third show for us. Although we had to wait for about an hour, this was definitely the perfect way to end the night. It began with a basic overview of some winter-night constellations; since it was in German, it was a little hard to understand but overall good. Then came the laser show. They had some pretty advanced laser-techniques in my mind, and since they had nothing else after our show, we got an extra-long show. The lights, the music, and the fog machine is something I would definitely recommend seeing when in Berlin. The planetarium seems like a cool place...

The coolest thing about the whole idea is that there is no way, even in one night that you could even think of going to all the museums that Berlin has to offer. Now I have seen quite a few, but there are still so many more that I need to go to!

Grüne Woche

This past Thursday, instead of having class, we took a field trip to the "Grüne Woche" (literally Green Week) Expo, that is a huge expo dedicated to agriculture and food. It happens only once a year in Berlin, and happens to be the biggest of its kind in the world. Since we went as a group of students, it only cost us 4 euros each to get in.


[my ticket]

When we entered, we had free range to go wherever we wanted and do whatever we wanted, as long as we wrote a one-page reflection on what we did for class on Monday. We started out by going through a hall of wine and beer from all over the world, and also local German products (mainly meat and cheese). The expo has become known as the "Fresse Messe" (or Eating Expo) to the Berliners, since a huge part of it is all the samples that vendors give out as well as all the food you can buy there.


[lots of cheese...]


[that is a lot of kinds of beers]


[:( meat...]

Although it is described as an agricultural fair, they have everything from food and wine (and beer) to animals and farming techniques to household products to gardening and home improvement. So, we continued on to the gardening section, where we were totally astounded by the gardens that had been set up inside and the amount of time that must have been put into the expo.


[part of the huge indoor garden space]


[a waterfall...]

We then headed into the halls that had vendors representing individual countries. Lots of different nations each had booths where they we selling not only foods, but also different crafts.


[Canada had a stand, but not the U.S.]

Ukraine also had their own hall, which could only be described as somewhat depressing. As we walked around, the vendors at the stands did not seem happy at all to be there, not to mention that it was crowded and kind of shabby looking. So much so that some other FU BESTers that we met there were only looking for their way out. It was also a large contrast to the section that Russia had, which was open and lighter, with thoughtfully planned out booths and sections. A reflection on the real world perhaps...


[Ukraine]


[Russia had their vodka in a pump bottle...]

We then finally came upon the section that we had been searching for - all the animals. They had one hall with house animals, which included lots of different kinds of house pets and a show with dogs catching Frisbees, but no puppies to play with.


[Doggies doing tricks]

They also had a section with farm animals, where of course I had a blast! They also took the opportunity to promote "Bio-essen," which is like organic food, but with much stricter guidelines.


[COWS! My favorite farm animal!]


[Annie and Jessica enjoying some great free samples!]


[An entire horse-show ring was set up]


[a very shaggy horse]


[the very happy bio-pigs... free range and healthy and so happy about it. Very sad to think of the wurst that they will be put in that is being served at the next stand over, but the Germans didn't seem to think so]

We got to the show right when it opened around 10, and by 12:30, it was already too crowded. There were sections where you simply couldn't walk because there were so many people, many of them being inconsiderate to other people walking around them. There were more sections with different countries (including bigger ones from France, Italy, the Netherlands, and Switzerland), a whole room with different typical foods from all the German states, more stands with wine.


[Trying to stand behind a cut-out from the Netherlands, and even standing on my tippy-toes, I am too short! My brother Thomas told me that they are on average the tallest in the world, and based on this I sure do believe him...]

It was really great to go to the Grune Woche, not only for the loads of free samples, but also because it was cool to be part of such a huge thing that happens in Berlin. I can definitely understand why it is so popular, although we did end up leaving simply because there were too many people there!

The "Swedish" Church

Back in D.C., we go to church at the Augustana Lutheran Church when they have services in Swedish, provided by the Svenska Kyrkan i Utlandet (basically the overseas Swedish Church). The actual Swedish Church that is closest to us is in New York, where they have a church, a library, and a little coffee shop.

Here in Berlin, I found out that they not only have a congregation, but they have a church building, also with a library and community room, as well as a Swedish School. Knowing this and being part of the Church in D.C., I felt I had to go and at least check it out.

Since they have service on Wednesdays and Sunday mornings, I thought it might fit my schedule better to go on Wednesday. So today, I headed out at 5 from the FU BEST building to go to the service at 6. After wandering for a while, I came upon the Church with twenty minutes to spare. I had time to look around at the very nice new building that they have and look what other activities they have going on. They actually have a Norwegian priest as well, who does some services in Norwegian for their community in Berlin.

At around 5 til, I went and sat in the Church and waited for the service to start. When the organist came around and gave us the pamphlet with the process of the service, I read it and was shocked and humored at the same time. There on the front, it said that it was the weekly service in Norwegian. All the prayers and psalms, everything was going to be in Norwegian. I had the urge to just walk out of the chapel, but it was too late.

As the service went on, I realized it was OK. Although I didn't understand all of the Norwegian, it is very similar to Swedish and I understood most of it. The service also followed the service that I am used to. I still couldn't help but think that a seemingly normal trip to a church that I should be familiar with turned into such an adventure! I think I'll try to go to a service again when I know it is in Swedish. Either that or I'll start learning Norwegian better.

That whole study part...

Although I realize that am in Berlin on "Study Abroad," my broad assumption after Chile was that study abroad was more the abroad part (i.e. experience the life) and not so much to study part.

However, life here in Berlin is quite different. I feel like I've done more school work and home work here than I did for the entire last six months. I am not sure if it is because the Germans take their University studies more seriously or because some of my courses are in English, but a lot more is definitely being expected of me here than there was in Chile!

Exploring!

Since we only have German class in the mornings (9-12), and we have most afternoons and evenings free if we don't have one of our content courses, so we have been doing quite a bit of exploring the city.

On Monday, David and I went to explore Mitte after our history class. Both being history nerds, we reflected on the immense history of the city as we walked around. Although it was only maybe about 4 when we got there, it was already starting to get dark. But, the Brandenburger Tor is very nicely lit up at night.


[Brandenburger Tor at night, photo courtesy of David]

Two days ago, David, Sal and I realized that we had a couple of hours of daylight left (it gets dark very early here), and to take advantage, we went to Schloss Charlottenburg, the summer residence of Queen Charlotte. Although I had been there last spring, it was kind of nice to see the castle lit up (since it was dark by the time we got there).

Yesterday, Annie, Jessica, Christy, David, Eric and I went to the East Side Gallery. Right by the Spree River, there lies an old section of the Berlin Wall which is now open to artists to come and paint.


[at the East Side Gallery]

However, there is also a lot of graffiti that gets written over the artwork, from people writing their names to stenciled commentaries.


[stenciled graffiti over the art]

Most of the graffiti has a political message, sometimes very clear, sometimes less clear.


[focusing on important dates in German history since the end of the war]


[more art...]

When we got to the end of a section of the wall, we realized that there was a lot more graffiti on the other side of the wall. Although perhaps we shouldn't have been back there, we found some really cool art work, that hadn't been defaced, and was in a very different style.


[ALIENS!]


[pretty classic graffiti]


[art or vandalism?]

In my opinion, this side of the wall was much cooler, mainly because it seemed like more free expression, but also because it hadn't been 'vandalized' by other spray paint or markers.

It is pretty fun to just wander about the city, choose something that we haven't seen and just check it out. It leads to some good adventures and some good pictures; hopefully there will be more coming...

Classes! (Already?)

Very unlike Chilean life, a mere five days after our arrival in Berlin, we already had our first day of classes. On Monday morning, we can into the building and had to find our name on lists that were posted outside each classroom, which told us which class we were in. I ended up being in Intermediate 2, whereas I had hoped to place into a higher level. [Although after a semester of 100% Spanish, I'm not sure what I expected.] But as long as the credits transfer for my German major, I'm not too concerned at it would be a good review for me.

All the students in the FU BEST Program have to take a language course, worth 6 credit hours. Then there are various "Content" course, all but one are taught in English, that we can choose from for our remaining course load.

On Monday, I had one of my content courses, which is 20th Century German History - obviously a very interesting class with lots of material to cover. The Professor has chosen to teach the class thematically, meaning that each week we cover a particular theme, that may not have to do with a specific time period on the 20th Century (such as Gender and Sexuality or Democracy v. Dictatorship). We also have been tasked to visit three different museums in Berlin (the German History Museum, the German-Russian Museum, and the Film and TV Museum); all of which I am very excited about seeing.

Later this week, I will have my two other content courses (a Theater class taught in Germany and a Cinema class). And unlike Chile, I only have a week to choose whether I want to stay in these classes or not. Basically, I think I am in all the classes for the long haul...

Berlin Tour

This morning I woke up early (for a Sunday) and went to Unter den Linden to go on a tour with Dirk - the program director - as our guide. We started off at Pariser Platz, right in front of the Brandenburg Gate (below).



Dirk gave us an explanation of the significance of the Gate, how the landscape of the area has changed since the end of WWII in 1945, and what the other buildings in the area are, including the new U.S. Embassy.

From the Gate (which was in the old East), we made our way over the the West, passed around the back of the Reichstag to the new buildings that have been built to house the offices of the Reichstag members. Dirk explained that these new buildings reflect a lot of the new German sentiment in their architecture. For example, the division of the city and the people into two separate states as well as the desire for politics to be open to the people and ready for examination are reflected in the style of the buildings.


[buildings that lie in the old East and West connected by bridges]

From there, we continued to the front of the Chancellor's office, where we will be visiting later in the semester. Here, Dirk was keen to point out the low security that the Germans have outside such an important office, in comparison to somewhere like the White House.


[Chancellor's Office]

We continued to the front of the Reichstag, talked about the history of the building, and then continued down Unter den Linden. In front of the main building of the Humbolt University, a very famous university that lies in the old East, and the reason the Freie Universitaet was built in the West, we paused to look at the different buildings that were built by Fredrick the Great, showing his impressive tolerance for things like culture (the Staatsoper, or state opera, building), religion (the Catholic Church in a Protestant Area), and education (the Univeristy and large library).

From there, we continued onto Museum Insel, and briefly went over the different Museums that are located there. We also spent some time looking at where the old Palace used to lie. After WWII, it was somewhat destroyed, but the Soviets decided to tear it down, since it was a symbol of aristocratic oppression. In it's place, they built a very communist building for the use of everyone, a palace to the people. Unfortunately, the palace has a lot of asbestos, and has to be torn town section by section in a very slow process. Eventually, they plan the reconstruct the outside of the palace, but with a new inside that will be 'for the people'. We were also able to go by an organization that is trying to raise money for the reconstruction, that has an excellent model of what Unter den Linden looked like before all the buildings were destroyed at the end of the war.


[Map of Berlin for Orientation - click to make larger]

From there, we passed by where Hitler had his main Chancellery buildings, which also included his bunker complex where he committed suicide. Although there is a board with information about the complex and history, there has been an effort not to have too much there, so that it will not become a shrine for neo-nazis.

We ended our tour at Potsdamer Platz, where the wall used to cut through, making it a wasteland during those years. However, before and after the wall, it is a commercial center, now housing the Sony Center, an IMAX theater, lots of restaurants, and a shopping mall. A pretty cool place to see, although defiantly a very modern, touristy kind of Berlin feeling to it.


[Me and a giant giraffe made of Legos at Potsdamer Platz]

After our tour was over, Annie and I found some lunch underneath Potsdamer Platz. Our new Berlin favorite is the falafel in bread, the vegetarians answer to the ever-popular Doner Kebab- a common street food brought to Berlin and Germany by the many Turkish immigrants.


[my second falafel in less than a week in Berlin...]

Berlin Underground

Yesterday, after our placement exam and tour of the FU campus, we got a tour of the Berlin Underground. And I don't mean underground like music scene, but rather, bunkers that were used in WWII and the Cold War for civilian protection.

Verena and Luis, the two student assistants at FU BEST, took us across town to Gesundbrunnen, where and organization called Berliner Unterwelten runs tours of an old bunker complex that was used during WWII and the Cold War.


[Thomas, our tour guide for the bunkers]

We began in one of the gas locks, which would have been used when a there was a gas attack on Berlin, to get gas out of that chamber so that people could safely enter the bunker. But, gas attacks were not used on Berlin in WWII...


[The gas-lock doors]

Our guide explained to us the history of the bunkers, and also interesting facts about how they were operated, how they wouldn't have held up had they been directly hit by a bomb in WWII, how they definitely would not have helped against a nuclear attack, and how they only protected 10% of the population of Berlin.


[Walking through the bunker...]

One of the cooler parts of the tours was a demonstration of how the phosphorus covered walls worked as glow in the dark paint. Some rooms and most of the signs used this paint in the case of a black-out, so that people could still find their way in the dark.

Another pretty interesting part of the tour was how the bunker was connected to the subway station. At one point, we left what looked like a normal door from the bunker and ended up right at the U-Bahn station. We then walked through the station and into another door, which basically looked like it could be a door to a mechanical room, that lead to the other part of the bunker. Just makes you think about how many underground bunkers and tunnels there can be all over Berlin...


[Walking from the normal subway station into another part of the bunker]

Back in Berlin

So here I am, back in the city that captivated me last spring.

Yesterday, I got into Berlin with Annie, who also goes to UMBC and happened to have the same flight from Dulles that I had. At Tegel airport in Berlin, we met up with Sarah, and all tried to make our way to the FU BEST building with all our luggage on public transportation, which was quite a feat.

Once we finally made it to the building, we had a brief introductory session, where were told what we had to do that day, and given a plan for the remaining orientation days before school started. I then had to hang out at the building until someone from my host family came to pick me up.

At around 3, Marliese, my host mom, came to FUBEST to pick me up and we drove home to Kreuzberg. Although it was nice not to have to lug all my stuff on public transportation, I did have to carry all of it up four flights of stairs to our apartment. The apartment is on the 4th and top floor of the building. The main part of the apartment, where the kitchen, bath, Paula and Marliese's rooms are, is on the top flooor. The other part of the apartment, where there are two rooms from Gaststudenten, is on the floor below. Across from this 'apartment' is where Paula's father lives.

After I got my bags unpacked, I was able to shower, relax a little bit, and talk to the family. At around 7, we had dinner. Since Paula is also a vegetarian, most of the food that the family eats is vegetarian. After dinner, I was basically ready for bed, since it had been such a long day, and slept all through the night!

A switch has got to flip...

I have about two and a half days before I am on my way again after a three week sojourn in the U.S., and only about a week and a half of it being at home; the other part of it being in the Grand Canyon and Arizona. (For more details about the Grand Canyon trip, you can see my pictures here or check out my Mom and Dad's blog.)

On Tuesday, I head out from Dulles Airport with the final destination being Berlin, Germany, where I will be spending the next four months studying at the Freie Universitaet Berlin, with the FU BEST Program and two months after that doing something that I haven't figure out what it is yet.

Although I have been to Germany before, know where I am living, know what family I am staying with, and know what classes I will be taking, part of me feels much more unprepared for this experience than I was for Chile. But, I think that this is really just a hindsight observation, when I really think about it, since coming to Chile I didn't know what the plan was for orientation or our time in Santiago or even when we were getting to Valparaiso. In that sense, perhaps I do know more than I think I do.

The other fact is, that I feel like I haven't really had enough time at home. I've been running from one thing to another, trying to recap the last six months, while having all the holidays, seeing friends, and trying to prepare for the next semester. Perhaps it would have been a little bit better to have just a little more time at home, but now I have to flip the switch and get into a new mindset for a new place and a new experience!

The Inka Trail Days 3 & 4

Day 3 is the longest day of the trek, in terms of kilometers, although it takes you downhill and over mountain ridges, giving spectacular views of the Andes. (Although, it was rather cloudy when we were hiking and probably could have been a lot more spectacular than it was.)


[Me, Jed, and Sarai at camp in the morning, with a beautiful view of the valley.]

Going downhill on the mountains, we also got into more jungle terrain, and although it seemed more like a rain forest since it was rather damp the whole day. I started my trek at the very beginning of the rainy season, and although it was really beautiful and wonderful, I definitely would like to do it again in the dry season when maybe it would be even more spectacular.


[All of us at the first ruin]

We got to see two ruin sites on Day 3, one that was right before lunch time, where the whole group got together so that Maria could give us a proper tour of the ruin and give us some history as well.


[Maria giving us a history lesson]


[Beautiful flowers growing on the ruins]


[Playing in the ruins...]

Later in the day, we had the option to either take the shortcut or take a longer path that would lead us to more ruins. Since we were already so far ahead of everyone else (we had basically been running down, passing everyone, including porters), we decided that we should go to the ruin. That was a great decision. Since the ruin is off the beaten path, there is definitely a different atmosphere and feeling to the whole place. As we got there, I almost felt like Hyram Bingham himself, discovering the ruins for the first time. It also seemed so much more open and free to explore and do what you like, rather than be told what to do. Although Machu Picchu was impressive and amazing, I still think this ruin was my favorite of the four days, simply because it was so calm and almost better taken care of, making the third day my favorite of the whole trek.


[Making it to the ruin]


[Jed and Seth running down the stairs to give perspective of how massive it really was.]

Since the 3rd night was the last night that we would see our cook and our porters, we had a special ceremony where the guides got to say a few words to us and we all got to say a few words to the porters. Although everyone went around and used the Spanish they knew to say thank-you, Sarai and I had longer speeches. In the end, I was chosen to thank them and give Juan Carlos, the cook, the tip that we had collected for all the porters. I simply expressed my amazement in the work that they do, which I knew we all felt. Sarai also bought them each a beer from the cantina that was by the campsite as a thank you, which we think they appreciated a lot.


[The last night, everyone in the dining tent]

Day 4 of the trek is Machu Picchu day. We got up very very early (3:30 I believe), to pack up our stuff and eat breakfast. We were out of camp by about 4:45, only to get to the final control station, only to have to wait until 5:30 when it opened. Luckily though, we were first in line, which we knew meant we would get to the Sun Gate first.


[Sarai and I at the Sun Gate]

I was the fifth person to get to the Sun Gate, of which I am very proud, and also very happy, since it meant that we got to take lots of pictures in peace and quiet before everyone else arrived. The Sun Gate is a distance away from Machu Picchu, but it gives an excellent view of the Machu Picchu Mountain and the road that goes up and down from Machu Picchu.


[Machu Picchu and the road]

It was so exciting to finally get to the Sun Gate, since we had a beautiful view of Machu Picchu, and our goal was literally finally in our sight. We hurried down the trail and made it to Machu Picchu, with a beautiful view of the city, and the sun shining down on us.


[Me and Machu Picchu!!]

As we waited for everyone else in our group to arrive, we took lots of pictures and just took in the amazing city that was at our feet.


[Playing in the ruins again...]


[All the girls at the top]


[Me with Maria and Isai at the top!]

After we got our guided tour from Maria around Machu Picchu, we had the chance to climb up Winaypicchu, which means Young Peak and sits right behind the city of Macchu Picchu. Although we had been hiking for four days, we knew that we had to get to the top so that when people saw our photos and asked, "Yeah, but did you hike up there?" we could say YES! Being the hiking overachievers that we were, we raced up and down to the top, which, including the pictures that we took at the top and looking around for a bit, only took us an hour, when the climb itself is supposed to take an hour.


[Me at the top of the top!]

When we got down, we decided that it was about time to head into Aguas Calientes, the town that lies at the bottom of Machu Picchu to meet with Maria and Isai to get our tickets back to Cusco. We had a good lunch of Pizza in Aguas Calientes, reflected on our last four days, and walked around the town for a bit before getting on the train back to Cusco.


[Final meal together in Aguas Calientes]

I loved these four days, the hiking was amazing, the group that we went with was amazing, our guides were amazing, and I honestly don't think my experience could have been better. In the beginning, I was debating whether or not to do the hike, since it was kind of expensive ($350 dollars just for the four days) for a student budget, but now I think that all the money was worth it and I recommend it to basically anyone who is going to Machu Picchu. As Alli Fischer said, it makes getting to Machu Picchu so much more worth it in the end, and you really do feel like you have accomplished something great to get to an amazing place.