My Last Team, a Broken Bus, and the Circus!

Since the last time I posted, there have been many eventful days here in Peru.  My last team was here for the past week and a half and left this weekend.  They were an incredible team and all aspects of the trip were great from relationships, to time spent with the ministries.  The team was from Pennsylvania and consisted of 26 members.  There were several families on the team which added a great aspect and even though the group was made of two churches, they worked together as one.  We were able to make some great progress on the construction site and the soccer field should be done before the summer is over.  

Thank God for the flexibility of the team especially in a couple situations.  The first problem we ran into was with another strike.  This time it was nation-wide strike and we were not able to go anywhere beyond walking distance.  We were able to improvise by having a VBS program for the children of the neighborhood that we have come to know and it was a great success.  Another issue we ran into was on the return trip to Lima when our bus broke down in the middle of the desert with time running down on their flight home.  After waiting several hours for another bus and rearranging some other plans, the plane waited 17 minutes just in time for the team to board and for me to get back on my return bus to Trujillo.

The past several days in Trujillo have been some of the most fun we have had all summer as interns.  Yesterday was the Independence Day of Peru and we got to enjoy some of the festivities here.  On Monday we all went to the circus which was beyond entertaining.  Somehow I found myself pretending to be some Peruvian boy's father to enter a dance competition in front of everyone and ended up winning first place and a poster for my 'son'! Yesterday we went to a bull fight which was my first and most likely my last.  It was exciting and very interesting to go to, but I wouldn't say watching a bull die in front of me is something I want to see on a regular basis.

Last night was our site-leader, Jeff's, birthday.  We surprised him by inviting his friends from all over the city and even bringing a friend from the Garbage Dump out here.  To add to the celebration we invited our friend who is a churro vendor to come and make 100 churros for us.  By the end of the night we were all sick on sugar and very emotional from the great turn out and meaningful relationships we have here in Trujillo.

This week I started to teach English classes in the cafeteria at our house.  Today was my second day and I have gone from three students to six with the talk of more to come.  As limited as my supplies are the kids are having a lot of fun and really are doing well learning some English.  It makes me miss teaching in Chicago and I am excited to be able to teach these kids here right now.  

Please pray for the rest of our summer here as we have our last team this weekend that some other interns will be working with.  Also pray for my English classes and as I keep working with the different ministries here.  Thank you for all your support and I look forward to seeing you all soon!

P.S. I wish I had pictures to share, but my camera is being fixed right now....

Photos from the jungle!!!

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2033476&id=67600728&l=2c50b5f419

ENJOY!

Pucallpa!

For the last week and a half I have been with a team in the jungle city of Pucallpa. I immeditaly fell in love with Pucallpa and am sad to say it is my last day here. The current team is from Yakima, Washington and have been a real blessing to have here. Our time here has been spent doing VBS programs, construction on the church, and a couple adventures into the jungle.
Yesterday we completed a new entrance to the Alliance Church here and more importantly made some great new friendships with the people we worked with. VBS was a huge turn out and we are excited to have one more this afternoon.
The people we have been working with here and incredible. Possibly the most gracious people I have ever met and I feel as if I have known them for much longer than ten days. The team has done very well at connecting with the locals even with the language barrier, but knowing the Peruvian people it is not hard to fall in love with them.
I thought it would be fun to do a top 5 list, so here we go:
5. Getting nibbled on by pirahnas in the Amazon.
4. Receiving a very feminine necklace as a gift from a woman in a thatched-roof home in a remote jungle village only accessible by river boat.
3. Joining in a city-wide workers' strike parade.
2. Trading my shirt off my back with an ice cream vendor in the main plaza.
1. Having a little Peruvian girl sing 'We Are the World' to me because her Enlgish teacher taught it to her.

Pictures to come when I return to Trujillo....

PHOTOS!

I have finally been able to upload some pictures from the summer so far. Enjoy...
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2032969&id=67600728&l=b68d891aa0

Our First Team!

After a crazy trip to Lima that included missing our bus, our first team for Arizona arrived in Trujillo last week. It has been a great week with the team of 11 from Journey Church and it has been very encouraging to be hosting a team again. We have spent most of our time at the construction site working on the orphanage and spending time with the kids. We also made a very eye-opening trip to the garbage dump. The team I am hosting are all adults and it is incredible to hear how much they are learning from their time here.
I feel very much at home here and am loving my family of interns I am working with here. It has been awesome to reconnect with the locals and I have been having a great time hanging out with them. I just got the news as well that I will be heading to the jungle with the next team which I am very excited to finally see here in Peru.

Ecuador to Peru!

I am now back in Trujillo, Peru which feels again just like coming back home.  We are staying at the guest house 'Helping Hands', which is where I stayed last year.  The first teams come this week and we are all very anxious to meet them and get going on some projects, but have really enjoyed our time to train and get to know each other.

My last week in Ecuador I had the chance to attend the Ecuador vs. Argentina game which was part of the World Cup qualifications.  It was an incredible time minus the cold rain, but I would do it all over again if I could.  Sporting events here are a lot more intense than back home with people shooting off fireworks, throwing glass bottles at the players and pulling a flag over the fans that covers a quarter of the stands.  

Well I need to run now to play some futbol (soccer) with the locals, but I will write again soon.  Please continue to pray for all of us down here!

The Amazing Race!

We hit the ground running when we landed in Quito! Immediately when we got here we started the amazing race. It was four days of running all over Ecuador in teams of three including the interns and our Peruvian friends from the band Corban. We found ourselves taking buses, taxis, Chivas, motorcycles, and any means possible to reach our next clue. The clues took us up the Bacilica, running through the jungle, jumping off bridges, crossing 'Indian Jones' bridges, dancing folk dances, shaved my head, shot blow guns, and many other exciting adventures. Coming back to Quito where there were warm showers and real beds was all we wanted by the end.
Saturday my friends in Corban forgot some equipment for their show in the Jungle village of El Carmen, so another intern and I grabbed a bus and ran out to the show. It was a ton of fun and I'm very excited for them to come to the US. I hope all of you can catch them on their tour!
We have been doing some great training and are planning to head to Peru on Wednesday night. Pray for us as we get ready for a big summer and are looking forward to all it holds for us....

Back to Blogging and South America...

I know, I know.  My last entry was in 2008.  This doesn't mean I haven't done anything since then, but my communication is always better when I'm on US soil.  Since last summer I have graduated from college, student taught in CPS, lead a team to Zambia, saw New York for the first time, and visited my brother out in San Diego among other things.  I am now at home after a couple weeks of intense job searching and a trip to Mexico as part of my summer training.

Of course I have not packed yet and my flight leaves tomorrow morning.  I will be flying into Quito, Ecuador to meet up with the team of interns and the missionaries for the summer.  I am very excited to see everyone again and to be back in a place that has become a home to me.  All I know at this time is they have something great planned for us in the week in Quito before we get on that 25+ hour bus ride to Trujillo, Peru where I will spend my summer.

I would like to thank all of you for all the support in so many ways.  Finishing college and heading back to South America without knowing what the Fall holds for me is scary and at the same time very exciting and comforting knowing I have so many people looking out for me.  Well it is time for lunch with the family, but I will keep everyone updated this summer as best as possible.