In case you are wondering who the other Program Leader is in Pisac, Perú - I am, Cristo Mendoza!

Hola. My name is Cristo Mendoza. I am a native of Mexico, who moved to the U.S. when I was 15 years-old. I have been teaching Spanish for 16 years at the middle, high school, and college level. I currently teach Spanish I, III Honors, and AP Language & Culture at Saint Mary's Hall in San Antonio, Texas. I love teaching Spanish and learning new languages. I usually spend my summers in both Mexico and Spain. I love traveling and learning about new cultures. I have lived in various places in Mexico and I also spent two years in Madrid, Spain. I am a College Board Table Leader training teachers grade AP exams, regularly work as a consultant for the Educational Testing Service (ETS) and Pearson Hall, creating assessment materials related to language instruction and national exams. As a TExES assessor, I am in charge of evaluating educators seeking language certification in Texas. 

My experience is extensive taking students to study abroad in both Mexico and Spain. This is my second year as Program Leader (PL) with CIEE. I was a PL last year in the first-ever high school language and culture program in Guanajuato, Mexico. I am excited to share my experience in Perú, as this is also CIEE's first year with the high school language and culture program. I visited Perú when I was in college, so I have been enjoying learning about all the new updates in this beautiful South American country.

Here I am in Pisac (where our program is), a town of about ten thousand people, and located about 35 kilometers from Cuzco, Perú.