Livin' on Cusco Time

Yesterday was a good day. We played AWANA games with the kids at the school (AWANA's is a church program for kids and we brought some of the game supplies to Peru with us). The kids loved playing the games and I enjoyed watching as the the third graders very carefully practiced the three legged race by tying shoe laces together, the "jefes" among the children loudly and persistently instructed the others, and the four year olds simply dragged around a rope for tug of war. After playing, we all piled into a van and serpentined up small dusty roads clinging to the side of the Andes. We drove along these hair-pin roads high into the mountains to see an old mountain resort from the 20's that had fallen into disrepair. The resort was breathtaking, and the views magical. Being there was like stepping back in time. With its pillars, seclusion, and whiskey bottles left from the workers, the resort felt like something from a Hemingway novel, though that may change as local missionaries are working to turn it into a Christian resort. We continued for a while longer to visit a small town high in the mountains. It was hard to believe that people could live and that a city could thrive in such seclusion-yet the little stores and children playing soccer on the plaza seemed to prove they could.

Today I gained a clearer understanding of the meaning of the phrase"Peru Time". We woke up early to catch a bus back to Cusco around 10:o0, the ride back to town is about an hour and a half generally so we planned to get lunch and tour the city. We waited at the orphanage until about 1:30 when, greeted by the cheers from our entire team, the bus arrived. We then set out for our journey. After about two miles the driver got out to putter on the axle-probably not a terribly good start to a drive through the Andes. We then continued to drive quite slowly (probably due to the problem with the axle), stopping several times to brake for traffic blocks, a common happening due to the huge chunks of the highway that have been washed away during the rainy season. Finally, around 5 we made it to Cusco! I love it here, the hostel is very neat and homey, its owners kind, and the cafe downstairs looks like it will be fun to work in. The hostel is located on a plaza in the touristy section of Cusco. Mrs. Dyer, one of the missionaries we are working with says it is the more bohemian section of town, and Ben and I are looking forward to checking it out. Cusco seems to be an interesting beautiful city, with tiny twisting roads, fresh markets, and red brick homes. I am sure I will love living here.

Pictures of the city, hostel, and Machu Pichu to follow.

Pictures Paint a Hundred Words

Day Two and Three

I am typing these words from a small clay brick cabin in a valley of the Andes Mountains about two hours by bumpy switchbacks from Cusco. It is dark outside, dark in way that it isn’t at home. There are no street lamps and the only light comes from the sparkly clear web of stars. Not only are these stars strikingly brighter than any I have seen before, they are in fact different stars, I guess one can see different constellations in the southern constellations than in the northern but I am sad to say I don’t know enough about stars to be able to tell much difference. Through the window I can hear a single panpipe’s breathy tone played by a neighbor orphan who must be trying to pass a long winter’s evening, no small feat as it is completely dark here by 6 o’clock at night. By day’s light you can see the white and blue plastered walls of the school and farm buildings, dusty roads along glistening irrigation ditches, bright red poinsettias (growing naturally!), and the bright faces of about 200 children. It is in a word a magical place. We arrived in Cusco after a terrifying but breathtaking plane ride through the Andes. Immediately upon deplaning the dusty foreign landscape and startling altitude assured me that I was in fact in a foreign place. The two-hour drive to La Casa del Aquila provided a good introduction to the place I will call home for the next month. We passed through little market streets smelling of fresh bread and slaughtered chickens, along steeps switchbacks, and by countless alpacas, horses, and cows. Upon arriving at the orphanage we took a tour and enjoyed a meal of fresh produce meat and rice (basically what we will eat at every meal-simple, good, and healthy). Today we introduced some AWANAs games to the kids-I am happy to report that the pleasure of tug of war is cross cultural the kids loved it. My dad also ran a health clinic. He saw about 35 people with ailments ranging from stomach aches to dog bites and was able to provide care and comfort to many very grateful people. I enjoyed playing with the children and using my limited Spanish. I have found a little three-year-old friend, Rosalinda. She was basically attached to my hip all day, and her mother tried to convince me to take the little girl to America, part of me was very sad that I couldn’t. This afternoon we worked to clear an area to build a small home for the cook at the farm. I think Ben enjoyed using a machete. All in all it was a good day. I know this is a long post, but it seems that so much has happened. I love it here and feel very blessed for the opportunity to come my prayer requests are:

· That the people here would find the hope and of Christ.

· That the children we played with could know true joy.

· That the patients Dad say could be healed and comfortable.

· That we could continue to find ways to help these people.

· That everyone would continue to feel well.

Lima, Peru!

Just a quick post from gate numero ocho in Lima, Peru. We arrived here safely late last night, and made it through a labyrinth of customs and immigration relying on a combination of rote "airport-memory", adrenaline induced Spanish, and luck. After catching a few hours of sleep in a nearby Ramada hotel, we ate some breakfast, fresh fruit, stale sweet bread, and room temperature whole milk, and miraculously maneuvered our way through the airport maze again. So far the generic international feel of the airport has lessened the impact of being in a foreign country. In true global fashion there is a McDonalds, Papa Johns, and Dunkin' Donuts in the terminal. And, as Mom has demonstrated time and again, if you speak slowly and use enough hand gestures most people still understand if you speak in Spanish. Really the biggest difference is simply that all the signs have bigger Spanish writing above the English translation and that all the prices are in Soles (the local currency there are about 2.75 in each dollar). But I am sure that the impact of being in Peru will hit as soon as we walk out of the generic bubble of an international airport into Cusco.

El Viaje a Peru...the Beginning

Duffel bags stuffed with jump ropes and Spanish children's books have overtaken the den. A big red suitcase sits on my bed stuffed with long underwear, jeans, and sunscreen. Spanish translation guides, travel books, and boxes of imodium litter the kitchen table. It is nearly time for a journey to Peru.

As many of you know, my brother Ben and I will be spending about a month in and around Cusco, Peru volunteering with local missions and learning more about this place and the people who live there. After months of preparation, we will begin our journey tomorrow at 1 o'clock. Tomorrow, my family and I will be flying to Lima, Peru and, then continuing on to Cusco on Sunday. Upon arriving in Cusco, we are planning on driving out of the city a bit to La Casa del Aguila, a farm and orphanage. For several days we will volunteer there, playing with the kids, running a medical clinic, and basically doing anything else we can to be a blessing to the people living there. Then after a trip to Machu Pichu, my parents and younger brother Nathan will fly back home and Ben and I will return to Cusco where we will stay for the next three weeks. While in Cusco, Ben and I plan to work in a coffee shop run by local missionaries, volunteer with an after school program for local homeless children, and attend language school.

So that is basically what we are planning for our trip. But, as it will ultimately be God and not us who charts the final itinerary of our journey, I am sure that the actual events of our trip may be quite different than these initial plans. I am also sure that this trip will be more right than anything I could have planned. As the story of our journey unfolds, I plan to document it with pictures and posts here on my blog. I hope that you will join us in Cusco by reading about the people and places we encounter there and by praying for us. As we begin our journey I have a few specific prayer requests:

• That we would be able to genuinely show God's love to the children we will be working with.
• That the local missionaries we are visiting would be encouraged and blessed.
• That my family and I would be safe and that we would get along well while we are traveling together.
• And ultimately that God would direct our paths and teach us what we need to learn.

Well I think that's all I have to say on this side of the hemisphere. I will write again from Cusco, Peru. Hasta luego!