What better place to start my adventure exploring the world’s culture than my heritage, Peru? Peru is located in South America and their primary language is Spanish. However, Spanish was brought from overseas with the Spaniards. A tribe of people known as the Incans used to live in Peru before the Spaniards and spoke a language known as Quechua. They were known as the tribe of gold as the kingdom had many riches, primarily gold, which they made many artifacts from. The artifacts were made in honor of their Gods such as the Sun God, Inti. They worshipped their Gods through various ceremonies and wearing the colorful outfits, which is still seen today in more rural areas. However, much of the Incan empire and its innovations have decayed. Cuzco, which used to be the capital of the Incan empire, has now become a tourist attraction where people try to show what remains of the Incan empire.

One major landmark that still remains is Macchu Picchu. While it not known what Macchu Picchu was exactly, some ideas are a royal retreat, a nunnery, or the last Incan city. After all, Macchu Picchu was where the Incans held their final stand against the Spaniards. This is also where a large amount of their gold reserves was held at the fall of the Incan Empire. What made Macchu Picchu such a prime area was that it was located on the mountain so they had the high ground to protect themselves with. Furthermore, they had a healthy supply of food with livestock and terraced farming. However, the magic of Peru is not lost. In Cuzco, people still fly the Incan flag (which was a LGBTQ flag with Inti located in the center) and celebrate their traditions. Band will play in the streets while shops set up the market to barter (if you do not look Peruvian, be careful in the market as the store owners will increase the prices because they will believe you do not know any better). They also have many different fruits and ingredients that can only be found in Peru such as the Lucama and the granadilla. In fact, Peruvian cooking is very popular as Peru is known for its chicken and other dishes. Overall, Peru has many different cultures in its borders whether it is making dye from plants in the mountains to singing in the streets with a mariachi band, Peru is a place everyone should visit at some point. One disclaimer is that people will call Peru economically unstable, but as with many other places, it is still a beautiful place to visit and after you will never be the same.