Lauren Erb, my Wisconsin buddy, and I got to catch up about our last month of ministry during our long bus ride.
I would like to begin this post by thanking all my Spanish teachers- Senora Miller, Senora Dominquez, Senora Brickner, Senor Gerenscer, Senor Breining, Senora Armancanci-Tipacti- am I missing anyone? Probably. Please know that I sincerely thank you. My whole squad thanks you. This is why…
Monday night we began our journey. I was so excited to go home. That’s right, home. Month 2 of the World Race and I’m going home.
Home to Peru, that is. Did I get you? This is my fourth time back to this wonderful land. I’ve served on medical missions teams for the past three years in Lima and Chincha and am thrilled to be back. After a month in the jungle, I’ve got a little bit more Ecuadorian pride flowing through my veins, but Peru- yeah, it feels good to be home!
So we began our first big country shift by taking a bus from Huaticocha to Quito, then Quito to the Peruvian border… only about 15 hours- no big shake. Before crossing, everyone must get his or her passport stamped to exit the country. This process took about 2 hours.
I had been dubbed translator for the day, so I went first. The security officer asked lots of questions, especially about if and when I was to return to Ecuador. “Ojala…algun dia.” “God-willing…some day.” That’s the typical response I’d give anyone. That’s when he dropped the bombshell.
“Can I have your number?”(in Spanish, of course)
WHAT!?! You’re a border security officer. You’re supposed to be protecting our safety not picking up all the white chicks! I’m sure I made some smart remark about not having a phone and promptly turned around to warn my fellow squad-mates about the creeper. Apparently “cute” to him is defined as: pasty white with a sunburn, nappy hair and greasy face from a night of travel on a bus.
At any rate, for those of you keeping track at home, the current tally for marriage proposals/getting asked out on a date is 2-0.
Crossing the border is when it gets fun. The bus dumps us off and tells us to walk “that way” over the bridge. Sure enough, there was a bridge with a big Bienvenidos a Peru sign over it. Good. We’re going the right way. I don’t really want to be wrong at this point, because I have 40 people behind me with their packs strapped on. Many are sick and many haven’t slept much on the bus.
We travelled with our teams and were on our guard as we passed through a giant market. Heads turned to see this line of gringos tromp through their town. As expected, we were bombarded by people wanting to “help us” but our game faces were on.
This is when I want to thank my Spanish teachers. After crossing the border, we knew we needed to stop at customs (only 2 miles down the road) and then make it to Tumbes, the next town on the map. In Tumbes we would get a hostel room to house our stuff for the day, get food and rest before getting on another over night bus to Trujillo, where our ministry site is for month 2. While in Tumbes, we needed to get money out, new SIM cards for team leaders phones and buy bus tickets for the overnight bus. A lot of work to do in 8 hours when you’re sleep deprived…
But, we did it. And I translated every last word of it. I was in the Spanish groove and even impressed myself with some of the words I was pulling out. So, a big ole GRACIAS to those of you who have helped teach me this wonderful language.
We had a secure hostel room where no equipment was stolen, we got people fed, the SIM cards for the phones work and the double decker bus showed up right on time.
On Wednesday morning we were in Trujillo, Peru where our contacts met us to bring us to our respective sights. Weary from traveling, we welcomed our new home with open arms.
I’ll tell you more about it in my next post. But, we made it! We successfully crossed over from one country to the next and it feels good to be home!
Click here to see a video of the whole excursion: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gGeB3MTKz-I
Quick note: sketchy internet this month. Ive got to save everything to a flash drive and bring it to an internet cafe that is also very sketchy. Im going to do my best to keep you updated but there wont be as many pictures. No news is good news. So far so good- manual labor to build a childrens home, garbage dump ministry and working with kids at a day care camp. Im going to be very buff by the end of the World Race!
