It seems like only yesterday that Maura and Gabi arrived in Peru, but they’re already back on US soil! Here's a picture of my cousin Maura with little Tomas, the son of Luz, one of our ProWorld staff colleagues...
In exactly one week, I will be in Lima, awaiting my 3 AM flight to Orlando, followed by a quick flight to Newark, a train to Philadelphia, and a ride home to dear NJ! The journey will be long, but full of joyful anticipation as I look forward to seeing my family and friends! Tonight, I’m feeling a little under the weather, which makes the thought of going home all the more appealing, but I still know that I will miss certain lovely qualities of Cusco that just can’t be found at home. The historic architecture from all the way back to the time of the Incans, the fresh produce markets in easy walking distance, the beautiful, Peruvian children so full of laughter despite living so simply, and the wonderful interns and colleagues I’ve come to know during my time here.
I’ve had a number of high points over the past week, and now, while I’m feeling sick, I think it might help to reflect on the positive by sharing it with all of you!
On Thursday night, Laura and I hosted a little dinner party for a few of our intern girlfriends—Meredith, Udani, Brennan, and Katie. Laura and I were pretty floored as to what we could make other than fajitas, but then we decided to investigate the possibility of a vegetable casserole. This turned out to be an excellent plan, even as we abided by my stipulations of no creamy sauces and minimal, if any, cheese! We found a recipe on a blog, and decided to give it a go. In a pie plate, we layered thinly sliced potatoes, baby spinach, garlic and sautéed red onion, zucchini, chicken (we decided to add a bit of protein), and tomato. We then sprinkled the mixture with salt and pepper, bread crumbs, a teensy bit of parmesan cheese, and a drizzle of olive oil. Not only was our final product beautiful, but it was also delicious! 40 minutes in the oven and we had created a masterpiece! The girls all enjoyed our concoction, and we had a fabulous time chatting and just enjoying each other’s delightfulness. I am truly blessed to have met these young women during my time in Cusco. While I had certainly hoped that I would meet some great students here in Peru, I had no idea that I’d meet ones that I’d want to stay in touch with after I left. They are such a positive, intelligent, well-rounded bunch.
Being around college students has also served to make me feel kind of old, and also to reflect on my own experience of being 19 and 20 and 21. I don’t exactly regret having been as much of a goody-goody as I was, but I do sometimes wish that I had allowed myself to have more experiences of the typical college student than I did. Really, though, I’m kind of an “old soul,” and drinking and late nights out never really held the appeal for me that they held for many of my peers. I sometimes wonder, though, if perhaps I missed out on something important. This sort of speculation has ultimately driven me to prayer. I pray that God will remind me that I’m not like everyone else, and that while it may be nice to be on the same “life development schedule” as most people my age, my timing is not as perfect as God’s. My idealistic side imagines being 25 and knowing exactly where I should be in my career, and being in love with some super study Mr. Awesome character, and knowing many more of the answers about my future; but I have been prompted to pray for God to remind me that my ideals aren’t necessarily His ideals, and that being 25, footloose, and still waiting to know His will isn’t exactly a bad thing! This is no easy task, praying for this sort of acceptance and patience, but I have hope that it will help me to live with a higher level of faith and gratitude.
Another word on prayer. I wrote an entry a while back about my efforts to be more consistent about praying, regardless of whether skies are gray or blue. I would just like to say that this remains super challenging! I continually find that it is during the times when I feel sick, or when I am lonely or sad or fearful, that I think to pray. And while those times of sickness and loneliness and sadness and fear are pretty craptastic, they may just be God’s way of reminding me that I need Him. It’s easy, when things are bad, to promise God that you’ll pray more regularly and be more consistent about your faith, but it’s so easy to indulge in self-righteousness and self-dependence when things get easy and happy again. I would be thankful for any of you readers who pray to encourage me and pray for me in this regard, that I might seek the Lord first in all situations. I will pray the same for all of you.
Yesterday (Friday, as I write this), Laura, Lalo, a professor on a site visit, 7 interns, and I went to the community Yunqanpi to build stoves. I was pretty super exhausted after having been up late with the girls the night before, but I fairly successfully gathered the energy to help supervise the stove-building process and speak with some of the families in the community. I also had the opportunity to actually get a little dirty building a stove with Caroline and Laura. We had a pretty fun time, and made a pretty beautiful stove. I also went to the house I’d visited the week before with a Cal Poly pair. In the house lived an elderly lady, her husband, their daughter and her husband, and their three granddaughters. I had spoken a bit with the granddaughters the week before, and promised to bring them an Andrew Whitman CD. When I arrived to deliver it, no one was home, but I left it in the door to their home, and I’m hopeful that they’ll become new fan club members!
Here are some of the Cal Poly students with the girls who wanted Andrew's CD.
After our project day was complete, I was super tired. Unfortunately, I knew that I wouldn’t be able to sleep for a while because of the busy night ahead. First, I rushed to the apartment and mixed the batter for a carrot cake to bring to Eliza’s house for dinner. After placing the cake in the oven, I contracted Laura to watch it like a hawk while I took a study abroad student, Meghan, to visit the Yanapanakusun Orphanage. Meghan is apparently a big fan of poetry and creative writing, and she’s going to lead a workshop for the girls at the orphanage to encourage them to express themselves in rhythmic poetry. I’m excited for her to share something that the girls have very probably not encountered before. After touring the orphanage quickly, I made a stop at the grocery store, hoping to find a nice container of ready-made, Betty Crocker icing for my carrot cake. Alas, no such thing was available in the Mega, so I had to buy a box of confectioner’s sugar, some butter, and a container of cream cheese to make the icing from scratch. Upon finally getting back to the apartment, I had an hour to shower and make myself presentable, as well as ice my carrot cake. My hopes for a nap were dwindling rapidly!
Laura and I made it out the door by 7:25 to be at Eliza’s for a 7:30 dinner gathering. She and Jenny had graciously invited us over to their apartment, and we eagerly accepted not only because they are awesome, but also because we knew we’d get to play with their puppies and sit by a warm fireplace! Jenny made the best arroz con pollo that I have yet had in Cusco, and Eliza also prepared a salad and some bruschetta. Dinner was delicious, and complemented by homemade pisco sours. I wish I had been present to watch the preparation process, but I’m just going to have to force Jenny to write everything down for me! My carrot cake proved tasty, though nothing like the carrot cake that I make at home. My mom’s carrot cake is the very best, but I had assumed that I would produce something reasonably similar using her recipe at 11,000 feet. Not exactly a replica, but definitely rich and decadent!
After hanging out at Eliza’s for a bit, Laura and I took a cab to the Plaza de Armas, where we had agreed to go out with the interns. I was only 50% excited about this plan, as I was tired, older than most of the goer-outers, and not excited about having to dance in public. It turned out, though, that the group had gathered at a more mellow, hookah-bar type establishment. I had my second pisco sour of the night (I know—whooooa baby), and actually really enjoyed being out with Meredith, Brennan, Udani, and Katie, as well as the rest of the group. Brooke, Marcelo, and Audrey came to the bar directly from their Machu Picchu trek, which made them the most impressive guests of the night, but I will award myself the next highest award for being past my late-night prime! Around 12:15, we all dispersed to head home, though the lovely ladies and I made a quick stop at a store by the plaza to buy some much-desired chocolate! By the time we had finished gallivanting and arrived back at our apartment, it was 1:15 in the morning!
Crazy Laura was expected to be on the project site again this morning, but I, thank God, was not, and enjoyed a lazy morning of sleeping in! When I finally woke, I ate a quick breakfast and then decided to go for my first run in Cusco! This ended up being quite exhausting, so I did an alternating series of three-minute runs and two-minute walks. At first, I felt pretty good, but by the end, it was hard to catch my breath. I would say that this is largely due to the altitude, but my lack of cardio exercise is very likely an added factor. Once back at the apartamento, I did some yoga and then some straightening of the house, and finally got a much-needed shower. My plan for the rest of the day was to stroll over to San Blas and do some shopping at their Saturday market, but this was around the time that I started feeling a tad under the weather. I decided to abandon my plan and instead take a snooze, which turned into a long nap. I am now back in my bed after a short trip to the grocery store to buy bread and ginger ale and saltines, just to be safe.
Another important reason that I am in my bed: I am frigid cold, and our gas-powered stove is very much out of gas! This is the first time that this has occurred since Laura and I moved in, and I have no idea what to do about refilling it. I’m also rightfully scared for my life after my last experience with gas-powered things at our prior Cusco apartment! I called the daughter of the man who rents out our apartment, and she pretty much said that we have to go and buy the gas and replace it. She apparently didn’t realize that she was talking to a household idiot, who doesn’t know the first thing about replacing a gas tank! Being in Peru has made me realize that there are some things that I really ought to learn to do—such as changing gas tanks, changing tires, breaking locks, and doing basic electrical wiring things. Paul Whitman, prepare to give me some lessons upon my arrival home!
Another highlight: I just finished watching a movie that I bought at El Molino called “Facing the Giants.” The movie isn’t exactly the best display of acting skills in the world, but the message is beautiful and I would highly recommend watching!
Finally, I had a really lovely conversation with my dear friend Meredith last night, during which she spent some time telling me about her freshman roommate at Notre Dame. This roommate, Annie, encouraged her friends to think, each night, of three things for which they were grateful that day. Having kept gratitude journals during a number of periods during my life, I immediately knew that this Annie character and I would be friends. Anyway, being reminded of these gratitude practices made me want to write down some things for which I am grateful myself…and here they are!
1. The friendships I’ve been able to forge with my roommate Laura, and also with the interns here in Peru, especially Brennan, Meredith, Katie, and Udani
2. The generosity of Eliza, and her commitment to doing good work in South and Central America
3. The strength that I have been given to walk and run and be active
4. The majesty of snow-capped mountains
5. The joy that always comes from beautiful music
6. Chocolate!
7. Warm slippers and a warm bed, especially in a cold place!
8. My Uncles Jim and Tom, who both kindly offered to help transport me to various places upon my arrival back in the USA
9. Great books
10. The comfort of the Psalms
11. The opportunity to be in Cusco for a while, and to realize how much service there remains to be done and how much love needs to be spread both not only in this country, but in this continent, and in the world! Mother Teresa said, “Find your Calcutta,” and I’m excited to find mine!
I am also so very grateful for you, Readers, who remind me of the love that I have waiting for me when I arrive home! God is good.
Hasta pronto!
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