Another sunset in paradise

I believe it was sometime in the first month that I was here in Peru that I had a conversation with another YAV about sunsets. Libby is serving her year in Belfast, Ireland and had posted some pictures taken from her window of a beautiful sunset. At that point, I was just wishing to see the sun here in Lima, which didn't really come out for another month or two. She assured me that one day the sun would come out, and I would be able to see a Pacific coast sunset. A few weeks back the Peru YAVs had a retreat and stayed in a beach house in the northern part of Peru (link to pictures is below). It was a great time of sharing stories, looking inside ourselves, and, oh yeah, swimming, catching some sun, and playing volleyball! We each took turns at night preparing the evening meal and doing dishes. One of the best parts of the day, was taking fifteen minutes to all go out on the beach together and watch the sunsets. It seemed like each day they got more and more colorful and beautiful. This was what I had been waiting for! Being able to think back on the conversations and happenings of the day and just be still, listen to the waves and watch God's painting on the sky change with every passing second. I took so many pictures, but they can't even begin to do it justice. There was just something calming about watching the sun slowly melt into the ocean on the horizon.

I thought that that was about as good as it got. But I was wrong. It wasn't until I got back here to Lima, that I really experienced a sunset. It was my first day back to work after our "spiritual retreat" and I as really ready to get back into it. I was feeling a renewed sense of my call to be here, and I hadn't spoken much Spanish for over a week and was afraid I was losing it. I was expecting a pretty normal day. We went and played soccer in the morning, which has become a pretty normal thing. I was excited too because I had had a whole week to practice with some pretty good soccer players. Too bad it didn't make any difference. I still got beat by the 13 and 14 year olds. Granted, they have at least 5 years of experience on me, but still, it doesn't feel too good for them to fight over which team Jamie has to play on. I'm just waiting for the day they invite me to play some basketball so I can show them that I am not horrible at everything! The afternoon wasn't as normal as I was expecting because this was the week of their EBDV, which is like VBS. It was fun to be able to participate in that with them, even if it was for just one day. As I was getting ready to go, the tutor that I work with asked me if I wanted to go with them to visit a member of the church for her birthday. Always up for a fiesta, I joined in. This particular church is already pretty far up in the sierras (fancy name for mountain without trees), but this woman's house was even further up. As the 12 of us settled into her little "salón" I look out her window and could see all Carabayllo below. As we sat around singing hymns and choruses, sharing words of encouragement, and passages from the Bible, the sun set over the "pueblo joven" (new town) where I live and I couldn't imagine seeing a more beautiful sight in all my life. I was pretty sure when I left the beach that it would be a long time before I saw another sunset like the ones we saw there. In fact, I remember saying on Friday night before we left that this was the "last sunset" we'd see. But as I sat there singing praises to our Creator with my Peruvian brothers and sisters, watching the sun set over one of the poorest places I've ever visited, I felt a new love for this place that will forever be a part of me, and the people here that call it home.

Photos from Mancóra:
http://unc.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2112076&l=78da4&id=2717014

Photos from the baby shower (commentary to follow):
http://unc.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2112049&l=32df4&id=2717014