40 HULA GLUED HULA students quarantine together in Peru in spring 2020. On March 12, 2020, the group of students at Harding University in Latin America (HULA) were told that their trip would be cut short due to the looming COVID-19 pandemic. Instructor and Director of HULA Jeremy Daggett scheduled one last trip before the students would be sent home. “We spent a whirlwind weekend traveling to remote parts of southern Peru, an island community in the middle of Lake Titicaca at 13,000 feet above sea level, and even went through a pass at 16,000 feet, then to descend into the Colca Valley at 11,000 feet,” Daggett said. They arrived back in Arequipa five days later to a statewide order requiring all foreign travelers to leave within 24 hours or they would be quarantined for two weeks. As they boarded their plane to Lima on their trip back to the U.S., a fog descended around the plane. Junior Layne Pace said Arequipa was a desert climate, so the fact that there was fog at all was an unusual weather phenomenon. “We sat there for around four hours, and we began to doubt that we would make it out of Peru,” junior Peri Reagan said. “At that point, we were upset about the circumstances of having to leave; we didn’t realize the distress the rest of the world was in.” The state order kept the students in Peru over two weeks longer than they thought they would be after assuming they would be going home on March 16. “We never knew it would be for two weeks, though,” Reagan said. “The whole time we had our bags packed ready to leave again.” The group spent two weeks quarantined in Arequipa experiencing in-person classes while the main campus switched to online learning. “Through quarantine we played lots of games, baked plenty of desserts, ate some really good Peruvian food, studied, went to class and exercised.” “It was simple and very special,” Pace said. They were allowed back into the U.S. just over two weeks later while Peru remained under quarantine. “Here I’d like to tip my hat to Audra Pleasant and the team,” Daggett said. “They were phenomenal. Every step of the way they were considering all sorts of logistical possibilities, alternate planes, interfacing with the U.S. State Department and families of the students.” story by Kassidy Barden Pile on the dunes! HULA students gather on an ATV in Huacachina Village in Paracas, Peru. The natural oasis was formed by air and sand. | photo courtesy of Layne Pace to PERU
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