I blinked and… Peru happened. Sweet gracious Peru went quickly. Here is a quick run down of what we did. The first two weeks were were in Chepen working with a local church. The first week we painted in the church and the second we did Vacation Bible School. The pastor and his family were so kind and hospitable and made us awesome food. Which was rather impressive because pretty frequently the water and/or power would go out, which I feel would make cooking a bit challenging. Additionally, we went to the market and I had a flashback to my college anatomy lab. So much organ meat– it was pretty nast. So if one can make delicious meals from the quite literally raw ingredients, I find that rather impressive. Also while in Chepen, we went to some prayer meetings and did a youth event. Overall, it was a great two weeks and I continue to be amazed at just how kind and welcoming people are to us. Our third week was spent in Trujillo with two other teams. We did some painting, some work in the corn fields, and most exciting some brick making. Nothing like burning off all the rice calories you consume by stomping in the mud beneath the blazing sun. We were working at a children’s home that is getting ready to open. The bricks were for building a wall around the home. It was a good week. We had some nice worship sessions on the roof and there was beautiful scenery all around. And now thanks to an awesome internet connection at the San Salvador airport, here are some pictures and a video:
This is the front of the church we worked at. It was very nice and I much enjoy the indoor/outdoor relativity of buildings here. If there is a roof over your head, I guess you’re technically inside, but you’re really still out side because nothing is ever really closed off or sealed in. However to enter this church, there is a little doorway opening to the gate. And this little doorway opening is probably only at the 5 foot 8 mark. I happen to be more like 5 foot 8 1/2 maybe 5 foot 9. This caused a bit of an issue because it sort of looked tall enough for me to fit under it, but it certainly was not. Therefore, I would not always remember to duck and proceeded to bash my head on it on more than one occasion. One night I was brushing my teeth and when I looked in the mirror, I was like why is there blood in my scalp? Oh right, bashed my head on the gate. Super, that was so fun.
These are a few of the girls at VBS.
Some of the boys at VBS.
Estrella and me hanging out.
This is my team with Milton, one of the guys from the church. Funny story. So Milton and I were chatting as we walked back from a prayer meeting and I was saying how I needed to find a new watch because mine was dying. (I’ve had the same watch since 8th grade, so after 11 years it was definitely time for a new watch). Anyway, he offered to go shopping with me the next day to look for a watch. So, the next day we wandered all around Chepen in pursuit of the perfect watch. Not gonna lie, there was not quite the selection I was hoping for. Digital watches with indiglo– not really an option. But nonetheless, I found a pretty fantastic white Puma watch that I felt worthy of the 40 soles investment. So, I made my purchase. However later in the day, I realized that my watch was like 45 minutes off and then I would fix it and it would get off again. Argh, not my beautiful new Puma watch. I mentioned this to the pastor’s wife Martha the next day, and being that she is awesome, she was like it’s fine we’ll get it fixed for you. Sweet. Next day my watch has a brand new battery. Good, it will work now. Or not. It was doing the same thing and really just not working. So they graciously took the watch back for me again. The following day the pastor said he had to exchange my watch for me and handed me my new watch. Instead of a beautiful white Puma watch, I now sport a stellar pink pretty pretty princess watch with a sparkly crown on the face. Not kidding. I really do wear it proudly and chuckle when I look down at my wrist.
Here we are stomping in the mud to make the bricks.
The finished products.
In honor of Scamper, my childhood guinea pig, I had some cuy. And yes that is the claw still on it. It was actually pretty good once you got through the thick skin that was mostly de-haired. It tasted like chicken.
For whatever reason, there were several people who were not big fans of the cuy. I happened to be rather hungry on this day from all the stomping in the mud, so I ate mine and like 4 other people’s too. It was delicious.
A few squad members noticed that there scalps were itchier than normal and soon came to realize that they had lice. So this is a picture of us eating brownies and ice cream as a part our delousing party. Because what are friends for if not to scrub your scalp with some de-licing shampoo. I have remained lice free so far, and let’s just hope it stays that way.
Here is a picture of a rice field outside of Chepen. There was beautiful scenery everywhere. Mountains are just cool.
Hope you enjoyed the pictures and here is a little video from the rooftop of the house we stayed at in Chepen.
