The Whirlwind

Heyo! 

Sorry for the delay in posts. I'm still not entirely sure my head is screwed on right after the whirlwind of events over the past week. 

Leaving Huanuco

Arriving in Lima

As suspected, we didn't really have time to dwell on being sad about leaving Huanuco as we jumped from thing to thing. I'm thinking I'll just be a little depressed when I finish WSC, but there is just too much happening right now to even process it all. 

Saying Goodbyes to the People of Huanuco

Saying Goodbye to the Animals too

For starters, the airplane ride from Huanuco to Lima was a whopping 42 minutes long. We spent more time sitting in the airport than on the plane. We normally take this trip by car, which works out to be a minimum of 8 hours and our longest trip yet was about 12 hours. This time, from door to door, the trip was 3.5 hours. I'm not complaining, not at all. However, it was just crazy to go from a beautiful blue sky morning in Huanuco to a very grey afternoon in Lima, with a whole different set of people, different schedule, different lifestyle. So fast. To adjust, I had to stay up til 1am Thursday night, just so I could get back in the swing of things. If we want to see people here, we have to stay up later,etc. 

Another plus of Lima = Ceviche

We also got back to Lima on a Thursday night, which means right before the all the weekend church activities at Monte Sion and Filadelfia. I taught the class on Friday night and then we picked up Melissa's friend Karlee from the airport. 

Saturday was a different experience for me. Usually, I am in charge of something at Monte Sion. I can't remember the last time I was just there. It was awesome. We got there and instead of rushing around to clean up and get everything set for class, I got to wander outside and see what was up. All of the kids are awesome and would rush up to say hi and give me a kiss. Some were playing with their dog "pelusa" (every other dog here is named hairy/fluffy), others running around in general, and then there was a group kicking a tree stump trying to loosen it so they could pull it out of the ground. Whatever keeps you entertained, I suppose. Going out to say hi though, I was able to see who was around and invite them all to class. Most of them took me up on the offer. :) 

During class, I was able to wander back and forth and chat with people. It's nice to be able to catch up. It seems like most of the time I hear the stories second hand or am just too busy running things to sit back and enjoy things. It was a nice change. We got invited to Jahaira's youngest daughter's birthday. She'll be turning 1. That should be fun. I talked to Maria a bit as well. Unfortunately, they are still having a problem with armed robbery in Monte Sion and just a week ago her house was nearly robbed, but a neighbor saw and somehow the crisis was averted. Very fortunate. Overall, good news for the week from everyone. 

This little cutie - Alice

Church was good. Some people showed up we haven't seen in a long while. All together, these are the moments that make me feel happy and help me forget about the sadness of saying goodbye and the grey-ness of Lima. 

For church on Sunday, we were joined by Melissa's friends Rebecca and Zach. Marlene taught a class on the ideal marriage, which is part of the pre-church class series. I planned the service and Melissa spoke. Unfortunately, the visitors got only a taste of church in Peru as the North Americans did all the planning/speaking. They did have to endure 2 hours of talking in Spanish, which none of them know a ton of. An experience nonetheless. 

To conclude the rush around of getting back to Lima, we had to get all packed Sunday night to leave bright and early Monday morning on our next excursion! No. Time. To. Rest. 

I'll fill you in on our Paracas, Ica,  & Nasca trip next... 

~nos vemos~