My awesome week... part 2 (Friday)

Yesterday (Friday) was a very fun day. It started early with my alarm going off at 7 and Rachel saying that there was frost on the ground. Florida girl has to go see that! We don’t have that too much in winter! By the time I kinda pulled myself together, it was 41 deg in our house, and 40 deg outside. Yeah…Really cold! At our house, when it hits 65 inside in the winter we turn on the heater. (forget about that… your heater is extra layers of clothes and a cup of tea)

The photo op took some time, so I scarfed down breakfast to hurry off to my last day of classes. I was determined not to be late the last day because I hadn’t been late yet. I left at 8:01 by our fast clock, and jogged part of the way. I get there and… no one is there at all!  I walked back out after 10 min or so, and Marco said that they switched the class to 9:30. No one told me… But, oh well. I got to talk to Marco outside for a while. He came early from home, and didn’t know either. He is the one that speaks really good English. We help each other out, but he helps me more! This was his last day also, because he is leaving to study in Mexico in a bit over a month. He is 17, and he said he is nervous about going but wants to go. He likes the seminary though, and I think he doesn’t want to leave the people behind here. He is the oldest of 3 boys at home.  I still don’t think he can get that I’m 16, I flew by myself, and I’m staying in a foreign country for 2 months. :-) 

First off in class, Hna. Wendy brought crapes for us all! It was very kind of her, and I enjoyed one, and gave the other to Roxana.  After church Thursday night, I studied my Spanish, wrote some notes from my brain, used my Spanish Bible, and my favorite conjugation website, and made my notes all in Spanish for the memory verse presentation.  It was a good thing to try to do all in Spanish because it was only about 5 min long. I forgot to mention one thing that I had in my notes, but didn’t see when I was presenting, but other than that, I think it went really well. (todo la gloria de Dios) I presented 1Corinthians 10:31, my favorite verse. It worked out because I already partially knew that verse in Spanish, and it is really short. (not as short as one guy’s… Pray without ceasing :) I also went first which is a bit harder, but I got it done with. Afterwards, Mr. Eric Pardine came up to me and not congratulated, but was like, “Wow, you did a great job on your verse presentation in Spanish. I thought your Spanish was very minimal, but you could generally understand your whole presentation.” (Todo la gloria de Dios) Cassandra must have needed to be at home today, so Mr. Eric came and translated.

We went over everything that we needed for the school in Chichubamba, and loaded up. Our whole class of 10 plus Hna Wendy, Pastor Pat, and Mr. Pardine fit into Rachel’s big red jeep type thing. It was very entertaining, and pretty awesome! The street that the seminary is on is very narrow at some points. Imagine the car with 2 inches on both sides at most. :) That and the road to the school was very bumpy. It was great, and practicing our kids songs made it even better. We are taking that car on the Hida to Puno with 9 people and luggage/materials/keyboard/everything else. For an 8 hour drive…

We arrived at the school, and headed to get ready for our class. The school system is a bit different here as far as years go and everything, but the class was the 6^th grade religion class. (This is a public school. The one we went to on Wednesday was Christian.) I was worried that 5^th/6^th graders wouldn’t like our songs/puppets etc, but once we got started, I think it went really well! One boy especially seemed to have his eyes glued on whatever was going on, and was one of the first to shout out an answer. He talked to Marco afterwards, and I wouldn’t be surprised at all if he came to Oansa. That would be so great! I really like to help with the songs, and those went well. We sang all the same songs except added one that I hadn’t heard before.  The puppets were good. One time we dropped the bear again, but oh well. And since the way the curtain is set up, you can’t see the puppet, one line I was saying I wanted the bear and I couldn’t tell if I had it or not. It was kinda difficult with those puppets, but they looked really nice, and they were bigger. Marco’s lesson and wordless book presentations both went great! He has so much confidence and it come across great!  (todo la gloria de Dios) I really enjoyed presenting in the schools with the class from the seminary! 

We all squished back in for the ride back. :-) it was pretty fun! There were 2 motos partially in front of the Santa Clara street entrance, so we made a few rounds on the street before we could turn in. Oh, the driving here… :-)

The second year students have been working really hard this week selling different things, and today was the big “pollada” or chicken dinner. By the time we got back, we were ready for some lunch. I had a piece of chicken, 2 potatoes, beet salad, a piece of lettuce, and some rice from the kitchen. It was really good! Some second year students are Isabel, Alicia, Lis Carmen, Ellie, Douglas, Juan, and Lenin. (those are some that come to mind) Alicia and Isabel are really sweet, and I know them pretty well! I ate with Elana, Jackie, and Milka. :-)

Another girl from the states is coming to stay for 1 month. Her name is Ariel, and she is from Rachel’s home church. She gets in the 28^th… I think. She has finished her first year of college, and has been to Lima on a missions trip with a group, but Rachel says that Urubamba is very different than Lima! That is about all I know about her. My room has to fit 2 beds, so this afternoon cleared out cabinets, moved cabinets, cleaned my portion, vacuumed where stuff used to be, and put all the random pulled apart stuff in an organized fashion. :-) Everything looks really good, and I think there should be enough space for Ariel’s things. 

I went to play the piano for a bit because I am playing in church Sunday MORNING! :-) Yay! I’m really excited!  Roxana came in, and I could tell she really wanted to play. She speaks 0 English, and Rachel says her Spanish isn’t too great because she grew up speaking Quetchua. She knows no piano at all, and I really don’t know how to explain it/where to start. So…I taught the easiest best thing that came to mind. Sonya gave me a copy of Feliz Feliz Cumplianos, their version of Happy Birthday. It was more like memorize the sequence and spots and your good, but she enjoyed learning it, and I have a feeling I’ll be learning the Peruvian Happy Birthday very quickly! 

I went to dinner, and Milka asked if I wanted to go to Edgar’s and Carolina’s house because they were having a birthday party for David Freddy. (His birthday is Sunday…Like a special David I know, but were celebrating tonight.) He is in our class, and our whole class was there. I really enjoyed eating dinner there (chicken for the party, rice, potatoes, and some green bean something that was very good) and seeing what they do for a birthday. I think he really enjoyed. Part of their many verses/something anothers of their birthday song is counting, and your supposed to blow out the candle on your year.  I know the tune, but am still working on the words. :-) 

After dinner, I headed down for the end of course activity of a doubles ping pong tournament. It was pretty fun! I got randomly paired with Raquel! :-) She is pretty good, and we enjoyed being on the same team!!! We won 2 games which put us into the finals for the girls. :-)  We were against Jackie and Milka, both who are really good.  It’s play to 15 best out of 3. They won the first game, but the second game was really close, and they won 15-14. It was fun, and everyone had a great attitude. I mean, these are your friends are your happy for them! The first and second places for girls and guys got a prize of their choice of book from a pile. It ended up that Raquel and I chose the same one, a study on Hebreos. It’s in Spanish, but I think it would be fun to see if I could try to work trough it! Something to do in my free time…haha. 

Volleyball with a kids plastic ball was going on at the same time. It was fun, and if you messed up, it really didn’t matter. Lots of laughter and everyone had a great time! I played piano with Raquel towards the end a bit. Again…Raquel is like, “I like this song, could you play it” and I’m like, “I have never heard this song, so I’ll be doing a lot of counting 1,2,3,4 in my head.”  It’s all good though, and those type of things just stretch you to be able to do more.  Also, side fun note…I had icecream! Yay! I have had icecream now 2 time since I’ve gotten here, and it’s a real treat! The most common quick dessert is oreo like/sandwich cookies. We had some of those to go along with the icecream and pineapple juice too. 

We finished pretty late, and this morning is breakfast at Pat and Wendy’s at… 7:15. :( No sleeping in for me. Pancakes for breakfast, and then we are playing baseball for an hour after that! Pretty awesome morning, but very tiring. I am horrible at baseball, but I saw a bunch of girls signed up, and it’s with friends, so might as well try huh?

Yes, it was 41 degrees in my house Friday morning. It was 40 outside and we had frost. 

Don't get too cold in Florida... :-)

 

Singing at the public school. "I have a friend who loves me, and his name is Jesus."

 

Isabel getting ready for the pollada.  

 

Listening to everything...He is the one that will probably come to Osana. He was taking everything in! 

 

Singing with puppets.

 

At ping pong with Raquel and Elena.

 

Wordless book with the soccer ball.

 

The pretty awesome and pretty scrunched van ride.

 

Foosball! Left is Zacharias and Lis Beth, right is Ellie and Alex.

 

volleyball! 

 

The whole class after our presentation. They had their Bibles and Oansa Invitations.

 

Piano afterwards with Raquel. :-)

 

The public school. You can see the mountains in the background. 

 

the mountains are His.....

 

Our first game vs. Hna. Wendy and Lis Carmen

 

Roxana and Milka handing out invitations

 

The whole group at the end of class activity!

 

All the girls in my class! <3 Milka, Roxana, me, and Yanet.

 

The final for the girls!!! Raquel and me vs. Milka and Jackie

 

the top 2 teams :-)

 

breaking the chains of sin! 

My awesome week.... part 1(Tuesday-Thursday)

Hey everyone!

Wow, my time here is flying by! I have just a bit over a month left! :-( God has given me a love for the people, and a love for what I’m doing while I’m here! I was playing the piano tonight, because I play in church tomorrow morning, and I stopped a second. I could hear the sound of the town’s parade/party/happy Urubamba day music. There are so many people here that have no hope… And yet if we have accepted His gift of salvation, we HAVE that hope, and we CAN share it!

There has been a lot going on, so I will try to hit the highlights! I’m officially done with my class here, and I think it went really well! I learned some useful things, I learned Spanish, and I got to know the people better!

All of us had been preparing for Tuesday because we were going to present our puppets. Our puppet show went well, and everyone did a great job! We all worked on it together, and we were well prepared. We chose the song OBEDIENCE to go with it. I didn’t realize until later that they didn’t know the song, so I basically taught it to them. We had fun with our group, and sometimes during practice, it was hard to keep from cracking up laughing. One thing that was hard when we presented was that we used the real curtain stage. We couldn’t see the puppets, so when Milka and I are passing the puppet back and forth, we had to hope we made it. (and we did… in class) It went really well! Hna. Wendy chose one group to perform when we went to the different schools, and she chose ours! 

Also, we practiced our wordless book again with paint, because the next day we were going to go to the plaza and paint it with kids. We practiced with our desk buddy, so I did it with Roxana. She did hers first, and then I did mine…all in Spanish!  It went really well I thought except for one mistake… :-) I was explaining how that we all are sinners and how we all HAVE sin. Tú quieres pecado, y yo quiero pecado. (You want sin, and I want sin.) That wasn’t exactly what I had in mind… Yo tengo pecado, y tú tienes pecado. Also, contar/cantar (to tell a story/to sing) banca/banco (chair/bank) pecado/pescado (sin/fish) mate/mata (a drink that the seminary students have/killing something) …….I’m trying! 

Tuesday evening we went out to dinner with the 4^th year students and Mr. and Mrs. Campbell. Rachel translated for the class so she went, and I went along. Elana and Raquel are both 4^th year, and Sonya (wife of Alex, a 4^th year student) was there also. I know them all pretty well.  Mr. Campbell asked them all what their plans were when they finished seminary, and it was neat to see all the different responses and see a little more about each person. Raquel’s mother is having a hard time, and so Raquel is too, Hein is stuck in the middle of half of his brothers that follow God, and half that don’t, Raul wants to go to Mexico and study music, and Alex and Sonya have had many offers, but don’t know where God wants them just yet. I’ll remember that dinner, and what a special time it was. We went out to dinner at this chicken place, but it took a REALLY long time for us to get our food. Like 1 ½ hours. Someone came up with the great idea of singing for our food. Within us singing 3 songs, we had chicken in front of us. :-) It sounded really beautiful with different parts, and it was pretty hilarious at the same time! 

Wednesday was one packed day! Everything was coming to a close for the class as we had 2 days left. (wed and fri) In the morning we went to the Christian school that meets at the Urubamba church. (Heroes of the Faith) We presented songs, a lesson, memory verse, a puppet show, more songs, and closing. (the other school we would add a few things)  Yanet, Roxana, and I led the songs. We sang “Mi Dios es Tan Grande” “Yo Tengo un Amigo” and later we would sing the “OBEDECER”. Marco did the lesson. In our class, when he presented, he did a really great job. He is really good at communicating and thinking on his feet. The Good Samaritan came to life as the priest, Levite, and Samaritan came by the person that was hurt. We sat with the kids, and beforehand I asked everyone their name on the front row and gave them high-5s. The ages varied from 4-10ish probably.   

The puppets were next! 1. I forgot my script, so Milka and I shared and I think we messed up one line because of that. I had everything laid out, but when I put my stuff in my bag to take with me, I must have looked over that paper. 2. We used different puppets. Hna. Wendy had some bigger/nicer puppets, so we used them. Problem was that you had to use 4 of your 5 fingers in different places at once. (2 mouth and 2 hands) The mouth wouldn’t stay closed unless you kept it shut, and for our script, we needed our hands to pass the “osito” or bear back and forth. We couldn’t see the puppets, and we had never used those puppets before so therefore we dropped the bear I think twice. :-( It’s all good though, and the kids thought it was funny.  The song went well at the end of our show, which I was a bit worried about. The verse and everything else went smoothly, and too soon, everything was done!

We got ready next at the school to go to the plaza. This square has lots of people, and we were hoping to paint the wordless book on kids’ hands. It ended up that most of the kids were in school, and the ones that we saw were too young. Roxana and I used the wordless BOOK. We went up to one girl, and she was listening, but then her mattress store got a customer. Next we went to another lady, but then her chicken store got a customer so we left a tract and Bible with her too. We handed out some tracts, but at the very end, we went to the market and talked to this girl (probably 20 something) that had a plastic selling booth. (here you have a booth or store for everything) She listened and answered the questions that Roxana asked. (Yo era orando.) When we went to leave her some tracts and a Bible, she pulled out one from under her counter. (Some plant, some water, but God gives the increase. -1Cor 3)

We headed back to class to present our song. We had to explain it, and then sing it with our partner and the “kids” in our class. I did a song I learned here “Él Es Rey” (He is King). It’s very easy, and it’s something you would sing with kids. I wrote it on yellow paper and cut the top like a crown. It went pretty well. The day before when I asked Roxana what song she was doing she showed me one in the hymnbook. I didn’t know it, so I went to the chapel and practiced it the evening before. When we went to sing it the next day… She had a different song. I was surprised, and I tried, but there was nothing I could do. I didn’t know the song. Good thing her grade didn’t depend on my singing. :-) 

Next we presented out mime. I think it went really well, and the point was clear. (see last post for details on mime) We had only practiced it once, but it went really smoothly! It clearly showed how our sin will entangle us, but believing in the truth in God’s word will set us free.  Milka (representing God’s truth) used the verse John 8:32, “And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.” 

After class I helped Rachel with some projects here. For our trip to Puno, we will be doing a lot of visitation to the people in the area. At each house, we will give them a gift bag containing a New Testament, some tracts, a pen, and a box of matches.  I put stickers that said “Lee tu Biblia” (read your Bible) on 200 match boxes. We are going to put papers inside pens with a little message, so I started cutting those apart. Kinda tedious, but it needs done, and I can do it! 

Wednesday evening is OANSA!!!  Yay! Rachel, Alicia, and I left early to get things ready for that evening.  We went to our pre-oansa restaurant and got our meal. Next we headed out all over the different stores looking for prizes to give because that night was… Crazy Hair night!  We found some things for prizes, and every kid got a sample size/1 use shampoo and a comb. Something useful, but the kids really liked them. We passed a guy from the seminary that went out and bought a…gluestick to make his hair stand up. It worked, but that probably wasn’t the way I would have done it. :-) Rachel’s hair is really long, so she made her braids stand out, and the kids thought that was hilarious! 

I really really really enjoyed Oansa Wednesday because I really got to help! I helped in Sparks (Chispas) and I helped a girl named Sami with her verse. We said it together many times! (Acts 16:31) At the end she could say it 3 times by herself without looking, so I went to Alex, who is the main Chispas leader. He was like, “Oh, you can sign her off.” I was excited, and it was fun to be able to help the girls with their verses. I stayed with that girl and the girl next to her for games. I was on team Rojo! We never got even close to getting one of the 2 things in the middle, but hey, I think they had fun… Milka taught the lesson and did a great job! She can teach really really well! At the end Rachel handed out the prizes for best crazy hair. I walked back with a bunch of girls, and talked the whole way back. :-) :-) :-)

Thursday we didn’t have class because we were going to the public school Friday instead. That morning Mr. and Mrs. Campbell, Rachel and I headed off to Cusco. Even though I have gone on that rode to Cusco so many times, it is still so beautiful! We go through the rural part with fields of crops with people herding cattle surrounded by a backdrop of breathtaking mountains. Wow. I was talking with a friend Friday and we were outside, and I mentioned just how beautiful it is here! We had to do a bunch of little errands like mailing some stuff, refilling a fire extinguisher, getting tires aligned, and picking up some tracts Rachel had printed. We picked those up…all 10,000 of them. They are really great tracts, and we can use them when we go to Puno and to put in the bottle project. Every one of them has to be stamped with the church’s address and church info, and folded in a special way. At the beginning, I could only do one at a time, but about 1,000 later, I have gotten the hang of it! Hey…practice makes progress! 

Thursday night, I had dinner with Heidi (Ayde). She is a 3^rd year student, and I generally don’t talk to her quite as much. It was great! I branched out from my normal topics of conversation, and talked about music, church at home for me, what she does on the weekend at her extension ministry, and my testimony. Practice is making progress on my Spanish too… :-) I really enjoyed, and I got to know her better!

Thursday night is the midweek service here! I called Hna. Cassandra in the afternoon to see if she had the songs, but she didn’t, so I got the songs that I was playing about 15 min before it started. I had enough time to see if I knew them, and go through a couple, but not all. A few I had heard, but never played, which makes a difference. (There are a lot of songs I hadn’t heard before, but either have sung multiple times, or played on the piano. It’s not unusual to be asked to play a song a few minutes before that you have only heard in Peru 2 or 3 times…with like 4 flats. I have had practice improvising and lots with sight-reading!) It’s quite the challenge, but I enjoy it!  It went very well, and much better than the other time I played Thursday night. I walked over and back with Raquel. She and I are going to play the offertory tomorrow together… one of those made up duets. :-) 

The service was really good, and I think for the first time really I was able to understand the general flow more than normal. Mrs. Rojas’ dad taught, and it was on being in the world, but not of the world. I was very excited. Also Thursday nights, they have prayer time. There are sooo many requests and the prayer requests and prayers take about a half an hour I think. All different ages of people share what is on their hearts, and I think it is amazing how that God hears each of our prayers! 

After church, a bunch of people went over and played ping pong at the chapel because Friday was the tournament. I got to play with Jackie, and that was fun to get to know her more because again, I don’t see her as much and I don’t know her as much. She was pretty good, and I played against her in the championship!

 

Singing at the Christian school in Urubamba. 

 

Cusco

 

Our whole group at the Christian school.

 

4th year students with their teacher and translator at dinner. Left to right...

Elena, Rachel Tarvin, Raquel, Hna. Wendy, Pastor Pat, Raul, Hein, Alex, and Sonya

 

mime time!

 

Sami, the girl I helped at Oansa.

 

CRAZY hair!!! Rachel, me, and Bethany.

 

Before presenting our puppets in class. Me, Milka, and Marco

 

At dinner with friends! <3 Sonya, Elena, Me, and Raquel.

 

Traditional Peruvian clothing. There is a specific traditional dress from certain towns. Rachel can tell where a person is from by their hat! :-)

 

Smiles... Milka could barely see over the bar. I feel VERY tall here. :-)

 

In the plaza. David Fredy and Marco talking with some guys. 

 

Singing with puppets at the Christian school!

 

At Oansa with team Rojo!

 

Practicing the wordless book in class

 

Yanet doing the memory verse.

 

At dinner. (there is some Inca Kola. It's pretty good!) 

 

Our mime group.

 

seminary students in the plaza. 

(Roxana and I weren't back yet because we were still talking to that one girl.)

 

Anyone hungry? It tasted pretty good actually! You can see our rice and potatoes! They come with every meal!

 

Walberto in the plaza sharing the wordless book!

Friends!

I am very blessed!  God has given me amazing friends, both old and new!  The one thing that I have really enjoyed is getting to know the people.  The different missionaries, seminary students, and kids are all so sweet!  I enjoy talking to them and being around them.

Thursday was a busy day!  I had class in the morning.  Everyone’s “libro sin palabras” presentation was due Thursday.  I haven’t gotten a grade, but I think that it went really well!  I know the wordless book really well, and I think I remembered everything I needed to include.  (she had some specific words that you needed to include) We also really started working on making our puppets.  We each got felt for a puppet and a sock puppet and the different supplies, and got to sew it all together.  I felt bad for some of the guys. Sewing day!!  I was talking to Marco, and he said that other than the tie on his, he glued everything together.  Today (Monday) the puppet and an outfit on it was due. We both did ours last night…Mine has 2 braids, and a pink with purple flower dress.  It turned out pretty cute I think.

We were broken up into groups, and after class Thursday we got together and worked on our script. My Spanish was kinda failing me that afternoon, but it turned out well. Raquel came to the chapel where we were practicing to play piano, and so she helped a bit with it too.  The general story line… 2 sisters want to play with their teddy bear, and it starts out fine.  One wants to give it a bath, and the other wants to comb its hair.  And that turns into a that’s mine, your not sharing, I want it etc… The papá comes in, and tries to settle it, but the one girl runs off with the teddy bear.  My girl gets sent to her room to do homework, and the dad and other girl have a talk.  She apologizes to me, and everything is good. We teach the verse Ephesians 6:1 and sing the OBEDIENCE song. I think it’s really nice, and coming together!

After our puppet practice, I got to play piano with Raquel for a good while!  She is the sweetest thing. We had fun playing duets where I would improvise/play chords in the lower part, and she would play the melody higher up.  On Sunday, Cassandra asked if I wanted to play the piano next Sunday, and I said YES!  Raquel and I are going to do a duet for “In Christ Alone” for the offertory.  I think that is their favorite song I can play.  We played the afternoon away (which I loved) and then we went back to our rooms to get ready for church and dinner. I ate with the girls for dinner, and it was a ton of fun!  We all really get along, and enjoy each other’s company.  One girl said, “When people come, they don’t eat with us, and if they do, they’re like… “I like that, I don’t like that”, and only eat part”. I’m really trying, let’s put it that way.  Most everything is really good, and then I just eat the rest.

We talked about different things, and they asked about when I was leaving and everything. I’m going to be sad (but happy to see everyone in the US) when I leave, and I think they are going to be sad too. They invited me into their dorm room and we had a little photo session. I really like the pictures, and I felt special that they would let me come to their room. One girl showed me a blanket she was crocheting, and made me try on this Peruvian pancho. They REALLY enjoyed that, and I got a funny picture.

Raquel and I walked to church, and a bunch of other seminary students showed up later.  We sang a few songs played by Hna. Cassandra, then Raquel played the next set because Hna. Cassandra has to leave earlier because she teaches a class. Before Raquel went to the discipleship class, she said, “You play at the end” and I’m like “what do I play at the end???”  I asked the guy in front of me that did the slides, and he gave me a list of 3 songs. When I first looked at them, I didn’t recognize any. I kept working on it, and the first (which was the only one we ended up singing) I had heard about twice here in Peru, and never in the US. I got to stare at it for a bit, and then at the end, I played it. (never played it or practiced:) The first verse was kinda rough, but the second and third wasn’t so bad.  That is very common here (having little to no practice time).  I’m glad that I could, and I enjoyed it in the end even if it was a bit stressful.  We ended up having 3 pianists that evening. J I also played a song while everyone went out.  Fun times! (as Lauren would say:) 

 After we got back, Raquel and I played a bit more. (like 45 min)  Raul also came with a guitar and played along. He is going in my group to Puno for the seminary mission trip, and so we will be doing a lot of music together.  We played ping pong for 15 min, and then it was time to head back.

Friday we went to Cusco to do a LOT of different errands. Rachel had a TON of money to get out of the bank for different things, but one major thing was they were going to pick out tile to tile the whole chapel. We did different errands (bought a plane ticket, went to the bank, bought some material for decorations for a ladies thing, and did a little of Joanna shopping.) Mr. and Mrs. Campbell, Victor, Pastor Percy, Rachel and I all had lunch together at the mall. We got Papa John’s pizza again, and it was pretty awesome!  The different errands took a while, but we headed back home at about 5:30. We were trying to get as far as we could before dark. The mountains, steep hills, crazy dogs going through the middle of the road, and everything all were in favor of getting back early.

 

We had dinner here… Taco salad!!! It was about as good as the pizza. Many good meals in 1 day!  Afterwards, I went to play volleyball with the students for their Friday night activity from 8-10. We did quite poorly at the beginning, but towards the end of the night I think we won 3 in a row! For you Mrs. Schlabach, I served overhand, and I blocked (and it worked).  That wouldn’t work in the US because there the court is longer, ball is heavier, and net is higher, but it is fun while it lasts! If your team got out, you headed over to the ping pong table.  Friday night is always a lot of fun!

On Saturday… I got to sleep in!!! It was awesome, because I haven’t really done that since I got here! I slept in til 9 (I’ve been getting up at least at 7 every day) and then in the morning I worked on different projects here.  We made some really cute apples for an apple themed ladies activity, I cleaned my room, and caught up on some dished and stuff also. Dishes really add up when you don’t have a dish washer!

We had to go shopping to get a few things we needed to make dessert because we were going over to the Rojas for dinner.  You can’t buy everything you need at one store, so you have to hit a bunch.  We got the chocolate at one, the oreos at another, and the whipped cream at a third. We made a chocolate whipped creamy cookie crust pie.  It was pretty awesome!  I’m used to Walmart… You don’t buy your crust, you make your crust. You don’t buy a tub of whipped cream, you buy a package and mix it in a mixer with canned milk. All in all it wasn’t too difficult, and it tasted great! Last night (Sunday) we finished up the leftovers with 2 girls from the seminary that were over. (lots of people knock/come in at all hours of the day for all different reasons!)

We ate out at this place we have gone before. I got soup, and chicken over potatoes with rice, and a salad.  Rachel said that the salad was safe, but the taste of the dressing scared me away. I let her have that, and she let me have her rice. Good deal with me! The soup was delicious! There was a TV in the restaurant, and everyone was sitting on the one side of the table to have a good view of the World Cup. It’s pretty neat that I get to be here in a Latino country while their huge big tournament is going on one country over. I got a Word Cup coke cup from saving bottle caps, and it’s pretty awesome looking!

We went over a bit early to the Rojas because Bethany needed to take a spelling test. I helped make dinner, and again I saw the huge difference in a town without Walmart. We take a lot for granted. First I started out making pumpkin pie! I scraped the pumpkin out of the pumpkin, and started it that way. We were like…  I think you put in this much of this spice and this much of that. You use sugar that’s brown, and be careful when you crack the egg to make sure you don’t have a surprise. J  Mrs. Beth’s mom made the crust, and then we put it to bake. I wonder how it turned out because it wasn’t done by the time we left. It would have been different, but probably pretty decent!  There were a bunch of dishes, so I set to work on that. I enjoyed, because it was something that I could do! They use Ayudine which is a green, gritty, pasty substance that you rub all over, rinse, and count it as clean. I still wonder about it, but everyone uses it… We had spaghetti which was really really good! She made the sauce because there isn’t canned sauce here.  I think she added a bit much sugar in my opinion, but spaghetti is spaghetti to me and it’s really good!  Then we had salad and pie. It took a long time to make, but it tasted great!  Where they moved is really nice, and the kitchen is huge! (which they can put to use) They have people over all the time!

We headed back after a great evening! I had been to the new house when I walked Bethany over before Oansa, and so I was the one to find it again! J I did ok, and we got off the moto only 1 street off.  When I got back, I got to talk with David for about 45 minutes!  I was so glad to hear from him and all what he is doing this summer.  I also got to text with Rebekah for a bit which was an extra treat! <3

Sunday you get to also sleep in because Sunday school starts at 10. Mr. Eric Pardine is a great teacher, and we are going through the book of Acts. I sat with Lis Carmen (there also is a Lis Beth) for SS. They memorize a verse each week, and I pretty much got the one this week. (Hechos 3:6)  Some books of the Bible are different sounding/spelling in Spanish, and especially Acts is one of them. 

Church was full which was great! We sang some songs in Spanish and in Quechua.  I got a video of the Quechua, but it wasn’t downloading right. I still have it, and can get it in the US. It has a very distinct sound to it, and it is very different. You can see a picture of the music, and see how long the words are! The teens did a mime, and it was very well done and clear. I really enjoyed it because it was in “English”. The person in front of me probably saw it in Spanish, and the person behind me probably saw it in Quechua. It was pretty neat. Pastor Samuel taught on the life of Jacob, and at the end, all the dads came up and were given something by their children, or a kid in the church. It was nice!

Before church started, Rachel and I went to the market, which is really busy early early Sunday morning. That is where I got all the neat pictures from. It’s pretty awesome, and so different than here! I didn’t get a picture of the meat section.

We came back, and heated up leftover taco nacho stuff because we were going over to the Rojas for dinner. (they invited a bunch of people from church, where Saturday night it was just us, the Rojas, and Beth’s parents.) We got a call while we were eating that they switched it to earlier. We left a while later, and the timing all worked out fine!  I was able to Google chat with both my mom, dad, and sister in FL, and Daniel in VA at the same time. It was really great to see everyone. David was busy in the afternoon, and I skyped with him the day before. It was great to tell Daddy Happy Father’s Day in “person”. I really enjoyed getting caught up on what is going on there, and letting them know what I’m doing here!

We went over to the Rojas from maybe 3-7.  It was great, and the food looked delicious, so I took a plate for later. In Peru, they have these plastic small bags that are great for holding leftovers. If you can’t finish everything, you just put the rest in your bag. There weren’t any seminary students (except one and his family) and I didn’t really want to stay with the grown-ups and sit, so I persuaded Bethany to come play soccer with me. I didn’t want to be the only girl “trying” to attempt to play soccer with a bunch of Hispanic guys. A few younger girls played, and it was a lot of fun! I was wearing boots, which isn’t the greatest for accuracy, but whatever. I held my own decently and enjoyed the activity.  When we came back from our game of futbal, we drank soda and watched more futbal. Argentina vs. Bosnia was a very very low scoring game!  It was 1-0 forever, then 2-0, then 2-1, Argentina. It was still fun to watch, and everything! The group that played soccer came in a played double 12 dominos. I ended up winning… I don’t know how, just everything worked out. They didn’t do doubles like we do in the states, so there were only 2 options the whole time. When a bunch of people left, Bethany and I played Skip-bo while we finished the soccer game. It was fun, and she won 2 times and I won one. We were close though.

When we walked back to the house, some students were here making Jello and popcorn to sell to raise money for their class. (50 cents each)I got to talk with Isabel and help her bag up the popcorn. She also had some dinner with us because I had my lunch from the Rojas for dinner. It really was delicious! I had these potatoes that their name sounds something like “morida”. They are dried, then later soaked and boiled. I really liked them!  Rachel says we’ll probably have a lot of those in Puno. J Good with me! Milka came by to get stuff for an Oansa lesson, and we all had the leftover pie. That stuff is good!

I finished off my day by working quickly and thoroughly to finish my puppet.  She turned out cute! I put on some West Coast music from youtube, and it finished right as I finished my puppet. Ready for another busy day ahead!

Today I got up extra early to get a shower because the water wasn’t working right last night.  Once I got up I was ok, but getting out of bed is the problem… ;-) I got everything together that I finished the night before and headed out to class. Today all I had to have done was the outfit, so that was good.  We looked at some visuals she had for teaching songs (we are doing Wed.)  I’m going to do “Él es Rey” (a song I have heard here, that would be very easy to teach to children, and very easy for my Spanish. :)   

We split up into our puppet groups and worked on that for a good while. Ours is going nicely, and I think tomorrow will go well. If I can remember my pronunciation… We made the script so my girl doesn’t have too many lines. ;-)  We are really having fun with it and working together even more than just working on a school assignment. 

Later we worked on a mime that we will present on Wed. My group is all the girls: Yanet, Milka, Roxana, and me. It’s a little bit similar to the one we did in the DR, but with other added input. I am looking for satisfaction in first money/work. I give Roxana my white heart, and she marks it up with a sharpie.  When I turn around, she ties up my hands, gives me my marked heart, and takes my money back. Next I go to Yanet which is representing friends/music. While I’m listening to music, she marks my heart more, and ties my hands tighter. I’m very sad at this point, and am turning to leave when I see Milka, who is holding a sign that says “La verdad” the truth. She shows me how in Juan 8:32 it says that the truth will make you free.  That frees my hands, and gives me a new white heart!  I like it a lot, and think it’s going really well for the first day! 

Today, after morning session of class had finished I got a thing of popcorn and jello from the 2^nd year seminary students and went to play ping pong. Raul came up and asked if I wanted to practice/play the piano. I was thinking in the afternoon like how he, Raquel and I did the other night. I was like Sure! Then he said “hoy/ahora” which is like today, right now. So, 2 minutes before chapel, I found out I was playing. I enjoy the challenge and I’m really glad I get to play, and I’m glad he asked! It does add some character to the song when you have short notice. I played “A Shelter in the Time of Storm” and “Seek Ye First the Kingdom of God”. He wanted a different one, but I asked if I could switch it, because I hadn’t heard it but once or so. It’s all good, and I hope I can play again. When I finish this, I’m probably going to go play for a bit. The piano is kinda hard because of the tune and no petal, but you make do with what you got!

Thanks for all your thoughts and prayers. Thanks for reading my mini book…that is if you got this far. :)

Isabel and me before church Thursday.

After church playing piano with Raquel. We have a duet thing going, and it's pretty fun!

Market pictures

Lis Beth, Isabel, me, and Heidi

Our volleyball team. 

Left to right... Benito, Marco, Juan, Louis, Racquel, and me

More market. Look at the size of those carrots!

Me and Raquel!

Church Sunday. That song is in Quechua, the mountain language.

Father's day at church. It's really full with all the kids and guys sitting down, but you can get a generally idea on the size

A group of my friends the day before I left. Love y'all!

Venders on the street

Fruit stand. Notice the picture of Mary.

So many kinds of potatoes!