I know it’s hard to believe, but month 9, in Peru, is coming to an end. In fact we leave in just a couple of hours for Chile. So as always, here are eleven things about my month in Peru. Enjoy!
1. Pack mules. They are a real thing.
We were sent to the mountains for a week. With all our food that we would need for the week and all our water and our packs. Little did we know that we had a 20 minute hike down the mountain to get where we were staying. Thank goodness for 2 mules to carry all of our things down for us. Making me understand where the term “pack mule” actually comes from.
2. The more I see of the world, the smaller my world gets.
We had been in our town, Cajamarca, for no longer than 10 minutes, when someone hears my team talking in English and asks where we are from. Turns out, the guy is from Richland, Michigan, which is a school about 30ish minutes away from my hometown. My high school played his school in sports, and he happens to know a girl I grew up with. And his mom worked at the hospital in my hometown. Small world. And seemingly getting smaller the more I travel.
3. Jesus loves worship no matter how it sounds.
Many of you have read my last blog. But the Lord taught me a ton this month about worship and how He doesn’t care what it sounds like. But to make a joyful noise no matter what because we want to worship Him from our hearts.
4. Layers are key, especially in the mountains
Everyone wears layers. The women wear skirts, but then about 4 skirts underneath that and sometimes even some velour pants. Luckily, my mom had brought me some warmer clothes when I saw her in Ecuador. But we all pulled out all our layers and pretty much wore the same clothes all week in the mountains because it was so cold. The sun would come out allowing us to take a couple of layers off, but would put them back on as soon as the sun would disappear each evening.
5. Insulation in houses isn’t a thing.
The wind blows. And even though you may have all four walls on your house, it blows right through it and seems to find all the cracks and holes. And since insulation isn’t a thing in houses, it means putting on all the layers.
6. Guinea pig – where’s the meat?
Yep. I tried guinea pig. It’s a delicacy here in Peru, just like it was in Ecuador. I thought I had escaped it by not trying it in Ecuador. But coming to Peru, I was in for a rude awakening. Especially since our host family were raising them on top of their roof to sell for people to eat. Well, our host mom thought we should experience guinea pig at some point, so she cooked it for us one day for lunch. The few things I have to say about it is that it tastes like chicken. And hardly has any meat on it. Which to makes it not worth it to eat. But needless to say, it was a new experience, and one I don’t feel the need to repeat again.
7. Sometimes you show up to church only to find out your team is responsible for running the show.
One of our main ministries this month was going to different churches and speak and share testimonies. One church that we went to was out in the middle of nowhere. And when we stepped foot in there, was told we were supposed to run the whole church service. Including leading worship. Well, Shannon, our awesome team leader, stepped up to the plate and just did exactly what we had seen done in all the other churches we had been to. And that was that. It was just unexpected…like most things on the race.
8. Lights & stop signs doesn’t exist.
Well, they may exist, but doesn’t mean they are followed. Traffic is crazy in Peru. Some of the craziest traffic I’ve experienced on the race. There are no lanes. Or stop signs. Or continual traffic flow around a round-a-bout. But everyone goes when they want to. They don’t really stop for pedestrians. It’s just crazy. And frustrating. And sometimes a little scary. But as of today, I’m still alive and am determined to make it back to the U.S. in one piece.
9. Dogs. So many dogs.
I’ve seen a lot of dogs no the race in each country. But Peru seems to top the charts. Every where there are dogs. And sometimes they come out of nowhere and start chasing you and barking at you and making you feel like your leg is going to get taken off on your way to church. And some dogs just lay in the street napping. You just never know what you’re going to find or where they are going to pop out of. Which is kind of frightening at times. But so far, I’m dog-bite free. A couple of close calls, but misses.
10. Sometimes buses are nicer than planes.
When these buses are nicer than planes, we like to call them Princess Buses. We have done all of our travel in South America between countries on buses. And boy have they ranged in variety. But ever so often, the Lord has favor on you and blesses you with a nice comfy bus for a long bus ride. Or sometimes gives you a free upgrade to where your seat lays down and turns into a bed. Oh how we thank him for those times. And how we pray for more times like those, especially as we have an 84 hour travel experience to Chile starting today. Please, Jesus, your favor would be simply wonderful!
11. Most buildings aren’t ever finished or have roofs.
As I was looking out the bus windows as we traveled through many towns, I noticed that even in major cities, a lot of buildings are left unfinished. And many don’t have roofs. I’m not sure why that is, but it kind of saddens me. I’m not sure if building projects stopped because of money or maybe they are thinking they will continue to expand one day. Regardless, many buildings just don’t have roofs and are open on top.
