The Leap

I stood there, toes barely hanging over the edge, breathing so fast, heart racing, palms sweating, mind frozen with fear, staring down 200 feet to the river rushing below. Could I jump, would I jump? I inched forward, though almost paralyzed by the fear. No I couldn't do it! I just couldn't! It was too much. I almost tried to push backwards, but he stood behind me, urging me forward. It just wasn't in me to jump, but it was too late...

Pizzarama

I quit work early today to come home and cook pizza for the birthday party we had tonight, or should I say birthday parties. When we young staff at Fountainview have birthday parties we have it for whoevers birthday was during that month, makes things easier. Ellen had been working with me, but she had to run get some pizza sauce.
I was chopping away at my mushrooms for the pizza, when the phone rang. I picked it up answering, "Hello."
There was a young guy on the other end, who sounded like one of our young staff on campus. He asked "Hi, can I order a pizza?"
Thinking it was one of the guys coming to our party who was just joking around, I answered enthusiastically, "Coming right up!"
He seemed a bit confused and then he asked, "This is Pizzarama right?"
I laughed, "You're kidding right?" I asked incredulously.
"Uh no," He replied sounding even more confused. It was at this point that I began to realized that he was actually serious!
"You totally have the wrong number!" I informed him. "But the funny thing is, I'm actually making pizza right now!" I laughed. He didn't.
"So do you have their number?" He questioned.
"No, sorry I don't." And with that our conversation was over, and I had a good laugh.

The Letter

Cold, biting winds whipped around Ceri and me as we struggled to pull the small boat towards the frigid dashing waves of the ocean inlet. Snow crunched under our feet and I clutched my jacket closer to me. With the salt water spray stinging our eyes we positioned ourselves in the little dinghy and began rowing on our treacherous journey. Again I double checked to see if I had the letter. That letter was the whole reason for this foolhardy trip.

Had it really only been yesterday that we had realized that the letter must get to our contact many miles away at the opposite end of the inlet, near the sea. Sending it by regular mail service would be much too slow at this point in time and possibly compromisable. Flying it in was out if the question as severe winter storms quickly arose at this time of the year, and well hiking in would take much too long. So here we were rowing amid the icy ocean waves. "Alissa," Ceri called, "do you think perhaps our boat will not be able to withstand all these waves?" fear laced her words. I too was worried. If our small boat capsized there would be no way we would be able to swim to shore without dying of hypothermia, being smashed by the towering waves, or drowning. As the waves continued to roughly toss the dinghy as though it were a toy boat, Ceri and I desperately attempted to make some headway. It seemed our rowing was doing no good. We quickly discussed our dire situation and decided that despite the extreme importance of the letter, we simply could go no further. If we did, we would die and the letter wasn't worth dying for. So maneuvering our craft around we headed back to shore, though we could hardly see it for the waves. With a death grip I clutched my oar, silently willing us to move more quickly towards the safety of solid ground. And then I looked up.

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.