Adventures in Peru: Airlifted!

The Peru trip was nearing a close. Everything was winding down and I was preparing myself for the long trip home. First there was a 16 hour bus trip from where we were in Arequipa to Lima the capital of Peru. Then from Lima we would have to drive an hour to our hotel, then the next morning an hour back to the airport and then our flight home which was around 9 and a half hours long. The worst part would be the bus ride. I was not looking forward to that.

So we were just chilling in our hotel, which was not a normal hotel let me tell you. I couldn't decide if I liked it or not. It was like an old castle, but it smelled musty and our room door didn't exactly lock and my bed was really hard, but hey, it looked cool..

And that's when we heard the news. The miners all around Peru had just started a strike. They were blocking roads and burning things. They had blocked the road between Arequipa and Lima. For the rest of the afternoon we heard bits and pieces of more news. No vehicles were getting through the road block. A bus had tried to drive forward and the miners attacked the bus, beating it and killed several people. Some said the roads would be open the next day, the day after, in a week. Who knew.

Adventures in Peru: Lake Titicaca

Lake Titicaca. I had heard of it, I vaguely remember reading some mission stories about it, but I really didn't know much about it at all. As we traveled towards the town of Puno, which is a main port city on Lake Titicaca on our tour bus, I learned more about it. It is 12,500 feet about sea level, making it the highest navigable lake in the world. It is the largest lake in South America and you can see it from space. As our bus climbed higher you could definitely tell the difference in the air. You breathed just as much, but you got much less oxygen. Just walking up the stairs to my hotel room in Puno put me quickly out of breath. Fortunately I did not get altitude sickness like some others.

The day after we arrived was Sabbath. Tickets for a boat tour of the lake had previously been purchased. It was a gorgeous day, nice and warm but not too hot, and I was excited for the day's adventures. We could look over and see the coastline of Bolivia from our watercraft...

Adventures in Peru: Machu Picchu

A friend of mine just got back from Peru and looking at her new Facebook profile picture of her standing in front of Machu Picchu brought back a flood of memories from the most memorable mission trip of my life.

We had finished our two weeks of evangelistic meetings, which were such an amazing and growing experience and now we were on to the touring part of the trip. On March 31, 2010 we flew into Cuszo which is the "official" city that you travel to Machu Picchu from. I love Cuzco, to me it felt almost like a European city, with narrow street ways and brightly coloured shutters (even though I've never been to Europe).

After settling into our quaint hotel room, with a toilet that sounded like a dying cow when it flushed, we prepared to head out very early the next day to visit Machu Picchu. Now Machu Picchu is not a simple place to visit.

Gas Station Destination

It started off like pretty much every other day, well every other Friday. Woke up, took a shower--you know the usual morning stuff, ate breakfast, went to work at my secretarial job. Just like any other day.

About mid-morning I received a phone call. A phone call from a friend from Florida who was at a youth conference in Edmonton called Acts for Christ (like GYC). He tried to persuade me and my friend Ellen to come. I could hear our housemate Alex(andra), who had flown there the day before, in the background laughing. I laughed too, but I was laughing off his preposterous idea! I was also trying not to laugh too hard at him on the phone, because there were visitors standing in front of my desk talking to our General Vice President and well, I wasn't looking very professional at all. Such is the problem when your friends know you are always there to answer the phone, because well, it's my job! So I laughed him off and told him all the reasons why it was literally, impossible to go. It was a 12 hour drive! Ellen was nearby and I told her about my conversation. And somehow the idea just wouldn't go away. So after I came up with all the reasons why we shouldn't go, and how it just wouldn't work out, and Ellen came up with all the reasons of why we should go because it would be so exciting and adventuresome, she won out in the end.

Mrs. Grouse's Demise

Today I drove to Pemberton to pick up my friend Stephanie from her apartment for a weekend visit. After a quick tour of her place we hopped in the car and headed back to Fountainview where I live. I was driving along, enjoying our conversation, when I noticed in the road, a grouse stepping along. She was not walking very fast. Merely meandering across the road. She was still in the other lane, and I just knew that at the pace she was going, I would surely be able to make it by her before she reached my lane. I sped up. To my dismay, she too began moving faster. I drove faster, she ran faster. There was nothing I could do. She was almost in my lane now. Faster she came!    And then with soft thud it was over. I drove on. It was too late for Mrs. Grouse. We said a few solemn words on her behalf (mostly about Mr. Grouse and any possible eggs) and continued on our trip.

We stopped in town to buy some groceries. Steph and I were walking out of the grocery store towards my car, when I noticed that Mrs. Grouse, was still, in fact, with us. There she was, wedged in my front bumper. Wings oddly flaring out, head at a peculiar angle, eyes glassed over. It was a rather shocking sight. I was not about to extract her in such a public setting, leaving her body abandoned on the parking lot pavement. No, we would dispose of her body in a more private, rural setting. So Stephanie and I set off to Fountainview with Mrs. Grouse still boldly displayed in my front bumper. As we neared Fountainview I pulled over onto a wide gravel shoulder. It was time for my car and Mrs. Grouse to go their separate ways. It was not so simple.

Sink or Swim

SINK OR SWIM

After I graduated from academy, I didn’t do anything. Oh I was headed off to college, that’s not what I’m meaning. No, I didn’t do anything spiritually. I didn’t intentionally decide to let God in my life die, but it happened anyways.

During academy I was doing alright spiritual, mostly because of my fairly steady devotional life, although I did have my ups and downs. After I graduated I didn’t specifically choose to go downhill in my walk with God. But I wasn’t doing any sharing and I began to pray less and less. I would only have my devotionals rarely and when I did I would feel guilty and rushed. I still went to church mostly every Sabbath. But being spiritual isn’t like standing on a flat plain; it’s more like swimming. I’m an ok swimmer. But if I’m not constantly moving, I sink. I just don’t float.

Crushes are for Kids

I was 5 and I was an Eager Beaver! Now for you folks who aren't sure what an Eager Beaver is, well it's like a watered-down, kiddy version of Adventurers, which is a watered-down version of Pathfinders, which is...well you get the point. We learned things like...yeah I really don't remember. Maybe what to do if your house was on fire, then again, that could just have been something my parents told me. Anyways we had a get-together with all the local Adventist Christian kids at someone's house. It might have had something to do with the Eager Beavers, but I could be wrong, if I am, I'm not sure why I just educated you on what an Eager Beaver is. Well back to my story, so all us kids were playing outside and I was up playing on this large boulder. It was pretty big (and I was really little), and I just couldn't get off it by myself. What's a girl to do? Well that's when he came along. His name was Edward and he helped me off the big rock. Apparently that's the way to a girl's heart right there; I was pretty impressed. After relating the experience to my mom, I confessed "I think I like him." Well actually I don't remember that part at all, but my mom says it's true.

So folks, that's the story of my first crush. The photo at the top was taken that same day I believe. And ironically he's the boy in the blue shirt with the red hearts (I'm the girl all the way on the right).

Five seems a little young for a first crush, but I googled the average age for first crushes and it seem to be anywhere between 4 and like 12 and 13. So I guess I was on the earlier side. How old were you when you had your first crush?