Journal 5

May 26, 2012

The day had finally come! 

We all got up for an early breakfast and an 8:00 session by Guy, Mindy’s pastor from back home.  Brooke also had her graduation back home that morning, so I attempted to call and congratulate her, but no answer.  I left a message for my dear sister.  I truly am so proud of her and her accomplishments!  I rushed to repack my suitcase since the Collpa team would be the first to head out at about 10.  It was hard to say goodbye.  We were excited to leave and finally meet the people we were learning so much about, but it also hurt to say goodbye to new friends we wouldn’t see again for two months.

Eventually, it was time to move out.  We FINALLY met Javier, who we had begun calling Javey long before we actually knew him.  Jim came with his truck and Morgan, Liz, Javey, and I piled in.  Then, we hit the road!  Literally.  There were a lot of speed bumps!  It was amazing to look out and see all the colorful houses on the sides of the mountains.  Peru, or at least in Lima, gets a Very small amount of rain each year.  If it received more than that, such as the giant downpour we’re accustomed to in the South, all the houses would come sliding down the mountains.  We stopped in a store to get some water, and the three gringas (not an impolite term in our experience, though it may be in other cultures) stuck out more than we had before.  We definitely caught a couple of stares, but it was new and interesting. 

 

 

 

 

 

After many speed bumps, stomach- dropping dips, about half an hour of waiting for road conditions, some close views of Very high drop-offs (think California), and some of the most beautiful rivers and waterfalls I will probably ever see in my life, we made it to Collpa!  Collpa literally is nothing except for the hostel and hot springs.  In fact, it is the name of the hostel. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We placed our dinner order, 3 trout for the girls and the guys got milanesa (breaded chicken), then went ahead to Vachaycocha.  There were dogs, sheep, alpaca, donkeys, and all sorts of animals everywhere!  Bailey would love all these sheep!  The sheep without a shepherd around confused me, so I deemed them as Wild Sheep.  That got a few laughs as people explained that the town knew which sheep belonged to whom, so it was perfectly normal for wild animals just to walk around unattended sometimes.  We saw the church building and schools that we would be working at, and stopped to visit with some children and a couple of the adults for a few minutes.  The cutest little girl, named Marisol, had a little blue ribbon tied for each of her two braids and came up talking to me a million miles an hour.  Thank goodness for Javier!  You could see the excitement glowing off of her face.  She came up and hugged me and held on until it was time to leave.  The other girls had stood back a little bit, but I think Marisol had been expecting us.  She immediately invited us to join her family for dinner, but we still had much to do.  So we promised them we would come back today and then left to go visit Pacaraos.  (These two towns are the ones we’re going to be working in the most).

We mainly drove around in Pacaraos, but stopped for a moment as we saw Chilolo walking by the truck.  He shook our hands from inside the car and talked for a moment before we each went along our own ways.  We then went off to unpack our bags and eat dinner in Collpa.

Dinner… I had to say an extra prayer, at least for myself.  The trout was full fish –eyes to tail.  Wasn’t expecting that at all!  I had to take a moment to build up my bravery.  Dad would be proud; I ate it and tried not to think about the eyes so much.  I guess it was a good warm-up though.  So if I ever eat at someone’s house, I’ll be prepared for something… unexpected.  Sometimes, you just have to suck it up and go for it! And quite possibly, just maybe, you’ll find it’s not as bad as you think.

Jim left after dinner, and the three girls quickly got on swimming suits and hit the hot springs.  Javier gave us a fifteen minute limit for our first time in because of the sulfur possibly making us light-headed.  It was SO nice to have hot water!  Lima’s hostel had mainly cold showers, in my experience.  We situated our stuff after the springs and were asleep probably no later than 10:30.  The sulfur Did unfortunately make my necklace turn black around the base, but it’ll always be there to remind me of Peru! 

 Thanks to the Lord, the Creator of All, for allowing me to be here!

 

The wind blows wherever it pleases.  You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going.  So it is with everyone born of the Spirit.”

John 3:8, NIV