Catching Up

Its been quite some time since I've gotten a chance to fill everyone in on life here in Peru. My last entry was about Christmas so I guess I'll start from there!

A few days after Christmas, David and Kori (2 other YAVs) had family come in and they decided to go do some touring in other parts of Peru. Since my friends weren't coming in til the 30th, I decided to go with them. We took a bus about 3 and a half hours south to a town called Pisco. We set up a tour for the next day of a national park and the Islas Ballestas. They showed us pictures of what we would be seeing, but none of them did justice to what we really saw. We saw this giant form of a candelabra etched into the side of a sand dune that had been there for hundreds of years...probably done by aliens of course. Then the boat took us out to the islands. Here we saw hundreds of sea lions sunning themselves on the beaches, many different species of birds including pelicans and penguins, and learned how to harvest guano, the bird poop, from the island to sell to other countries for fertilizer. Then after some time for everyone to try some ceviche, the national dish of raw fish soaked in lemon juice, we headed on our bus tour of the Paracas National Reserve. This park used to be a rain forest millions of years ago...now it is a vast desert that our tour guide told us he got lost in with a group of tourists before. We got a chance to visit a rock formation known as "The Cathedral." As with much of the coastline here in Peru, there is a huge cliff overlooking the beach. We walked down a path to the beach and then got to go inside a small cave and discover the reason they named it a cathedral. Our tour guide told us that when the tide is high the water bouncing off the walls of the cave makes a sound similar to a pipe organ. We then climbed back up the mountain to see the overhead view. Then after a break for lunch in a small fishing village, it was back to Pisco to chill. The hotel where David and his parents were staying had a rooftop lounge, which was a table with some chairs, so we hung out up there at night and caught up on happenings in the states and shared a little about what was going on down here with us. The next day we returned to Lima and I awaited the arrival of Jim and Jane!

It was hard for my to wrap my mind around what was really happening. I was actually going to see someone that I had known for more than 4 months! I still didn't really believe it was real until I saw their smiling faces through the glass windows. Boy were they in for an adventure! The best way to welcome them to Peru, was definitely a cab ride to the hotel. I have gotten so used to the traffic here that it was a lot of fun watching their reactions to the way our cab driver was driving and the way everyone else was driving too. We got back to the hotel pretty late, and after some catching up, and a lot of "I can't believe you are actually here"'s we went to bed.
We spent the next several days discovering different parts of Lima, finding out that absolutely nothing is open on New Year's Eve or Day. We tried to visit several museums, and even see the changing of the guards at the palace, but it must have been like the one day that it doesn't happen. Tuesday was the day that we came out to my barrio (neighborhood) to see where I live and meet my family. It was really a great afternoon. We ate lunch, played some games, and shared stories and pictures. It was also probably the longest afternoon of my life. While Jim does speak some Spanish, I spent the afternoon translating English into my poor Spanish. By the time the afternoon was over, I couldn't think in Spanish or English!

Wednesday we spent with Eduardo in Lima Central doing some shopping for gifts and things and then we meet up with Kori and went to visit the zoo. We got to see animals from different parts of Peru including some of the tiniest monkeys I have ever seen! We were there as they were putting the animals up for the night and got to experience something that I've never heard before. As they were trying to get the lions in their sleeping quarters, they started roaring. There were 3 lions total and it sounded like we were in the middle of Africa.

Thursday was the start of another adventure. I had such a good time in Pisco and Paracas that I knew I had to take Jim and Jane while they were here. We went down that night to find a place to stay and to book our tour. I had planned on staying at the same place where David stayed but it was full. Luckily, 3 gringos with backpacks stick didn't have much trouble attracting attention. Apparently we looked like we needed a place to stay, as soon as we stepped out of the taxi we were surrounded by people telling us about their hotel and about tours to take. We found a place and a tour and then grabbed some dinner and got rested up for the next day. While the tour was good for Jim and Jane, I was a little disappointed having been there only a week before with different tour guides, both of which I ran into. But it was still fun to get to share it with Jim and Jane. After the tours we packed up and headed to Ica, about an hour further south where we were to meet up with David and Kori that night. After meeting them for dinner, we headed out to Huacachina where we were to sleep for the night. Huacachina is like an oasis. It is a lake in the middle of a desert where there are lots of hotels. We got our rooms and then arranged the next days activities, dune buggy rides and sandboarding! Now, I had read about such things in my trusty Peru tourist guide, but I had no idea what we were in store for. I imagined the car taking us over the sand dunes at a leisurely pace to the places where we would be sandboarding down. Boy was I wrong. I'm not sure how fast we were going, but it was better than any roller coaster I have ever been on...EVER. And then the sandboarding. I've never tried snowboarding, and am not very good at skateboarding, but I thought I'd give it a shot. And it want much like you would expect...not very well. We got 2 "small" hills to try it out on, then it was on to the big guns. The last one we did was HUGE. You could walk to the edge and barely see the slope...straight down. It took a lot of thought and praying before I went down, but it was extremely fun! If you ever make it to Peru, I definitely recommend it!

We then spent the afternoon touring some places where they make wine and pisco. Our first stop was a place that was completely mechanized, from the pressing to the fermentation, to the bottling. From there we visited two more that were completely done by hand, er, foot. They held big festivals in the summer months where everyone would jump in and stomp on grapes...yes, just like the "I Love Lucy" episode. From there it was back to Lima.

Sunday was spent back out in Comas where I live for what can best be described as a wedding shower. Eduardo's brother is getting married in April and all his family came over for a big party which we were invited to attend. They played some games and opened some presents and we all shared some words or well wishes to the lovely couple. Afterwards, Jim and Jane got to experience a little bit of a Peruvian worship service. I was glad that they were able to visit one of the churches that I work in and get to meet the absolutely wonderful people that I get to work with each day. Monday was also spent getting to know 2 of the Compassion sites that I work with and some of the people and kids there. It was really great for me to get to share that with them, and while all the touristy stuff was fun, the best part of my time with them, was when they got to see what it is that I am actually doing here.

Monday night I had to say goodbye to Jim and Jane and try to assure them that it wouldn't be that much longer til August when I would see them again. It was really good to get to spend some time with them and get caught up on things that were going on in their lives and the life of our church. They were able to bring me letters and some gifts from home that made me realize again how much support I had from my family and church back home. It also gave me a renewed sense of mission to complete the things that God, and all of you, have sent me here to do. Starting with Sunday...when I will give my first sermon in Spanish! Thank you all for your gifts and prayers!