One of Gig Harbor High School students, Cristian Porras (11), a member of the Guatemalan National Team attended the fencing world cup in Lima, Peru. This is one of the many world cups in the fencing season. Cristian has attended many international events but this not only is one of his bigger tournaments that he has attended but also one of the most challenging. In his pool round Cristian had to fence Rubin Mattia from Hungary, Maximo Azuela from Mexico, Richard Li from United States, Carlos Florez from Ecuador, and Alex Mahran from Spain. Cristian was able to go 3-2 in his pool round only losing to Richard Li and Rubin Mattia by one point each. In direct elimination Cristian faced Francisco Naranjo from Chili who he beat 15-7. In the round of 32 Cristian faced Richard Li and he lost to him 7-15. Overall this was a good tournament in which Cristian was able to get a lot of experience, this will allow him to make the adjustments for other tournaments coming up in 2024. 

Not only did Cristian compete but he was also able to explore Peru and all of the great things the country has to offer. His favorite food was ceviche, among other things that he tried was rotisserie chicken which was also something that he really enjoyed. Another thing that he tried which is unique to Peru is Alpaca. He really enjoyed all of the food but the main highlight of his experience was going to Machu Picchu. Even though it was a long journey for Cristian to get to this place the views and the history and meaning of the journey was all worth it. “Even though I have seen many cool places in the world and experienced really cool cultures, this one sits at the top. The views and the history and all of the things the Incas were able to do even though they had limited technology is mind-blowing,” Cristian stated. Cristian has other tournaments coming up next year at other cool places and he hopes to explore them and experience their cool unique cultures.