Study trip to Peru
02/03/2025
Greg Mott of the University of Findlay and Dr. Paul Neufeld Weaver of Bluffton University pose with their host family during the UF study trip to Peru,
Findlay benefits from Bluffton connection
Dr. Paul Neufeld Weaver ’81, director of global education and professor of education and Spanish, Bluffton University, and Greg Mott, director of intensive English language program, University of Findlay, co-led a University of Findlay cross-cultural experience in regions around the “sacred valley” of Cusco, Peru.
Neufeld Weaver and Mott, along with ten University of Findlay students and faculty, spent the fall 2024 semester preparing for the trip before spending ten days in Peru where they visited a Quechua indigenous village, Montaña de Colores (Rainbow Mountain) and Machu Pichu.
Due to staffing changes at Findlay, there was a scare that the trip was unlikely to happen as there was a search for a primary leader for the trip. As a result of the anticipated merger between Bluffton and Findlay, Mott reached out to Bluffton for help.
“We called Bluffton looking for someone to lead this Peru trip,” said Mott. “We learned that Paul was on sabbatical and has had extensive experience in Latin America. It was destiny. We are very fortunate at Findlay to have this connection with Bluffton.”
For this experience, Neufeld Weaver instructed the course at UF in which he implemented Spanish practice as well as cultural reports to prepare for the group’s time in Peru.
“It was interesting for me, as the director of Bluffton’s cross-cultural program, to see the way that Findlay does it,” said Neufeld Weaver. “There were quite a few differences between the two programs, although the overall objective is the same.”
In Peru, the group spent a day with a Quechua family. Those of the Quechua villages are descendants of the Incan Empire. The family showed the group their farming fields where they plant potatoes and fava beans and the process of turning alpaca and sheep wool into tapestries.
“Each of the students were paired together and stayed with host families,” said Mott. “Once our itinerary was met for the day, each student would go home to their host families where they were provided with different sets of experiences.”
One challenge the group faced was scaling the more than 16,000-foot Rainbow Mountain. Even with proper planning ahead of time, everyone in the group ended up sunburnt to some degree but reaching the summit was the crowning point for many students.
“The biggest highlight for me was Machu Pichu,” said Neufeld Weaver. “It is one of the seven modern wonders of the world and is beautifully preserved.”
Neufeld Weaver had previously visited Machu Pichu in 1982, shortly after graduating from Bluffton.
Mott and Neufeld Weaver have hopes for both Findlay and Bluffton students to be able to experience these kinds of trips together in the future.
This trip is just one example of the partnerships and shared resources the two universities are able to collaborate together on with the merger of the two institutions.