Interesting Anniversary

I promise that this is the last post about our trip to Cusco, but it's an important one to us, so please pardon its length.
Taken from from my journal on August 1:

Our 4-year anniversary!

We spent this morning on an amazing trip to a Quechua village outside the city. So far outside that we had to take a very rough truck ride way up the mountainside, and then walk an hour farther uphill from there. We went with a Peruvian nurse who works with the MTW clinic in Cusco, Yasmina.

The whole area is in tough shape, to say the least. On the way up we met some kids that just about broke our hearts. They ran up from their house as soon as they saw Yasmina, for she always brings them food and words of love. These four kids - 11, 7, and 6-year-old boys and a 4-year-old girl were tiny for their age, filthy and definitely malnourished. Their parents, not together, are alcoholics, and there is a history of abuse. They have been abandoned at times, and their only hope has been the presence of those from the church, who have taken the kids in when needed and are starting to work with the Mom to help her addiction and ability to care for the kids. All but the shy little girl had big smiles, and they loved seeing their picture on our camera.

As we hiked on and approached the village, we could see that it was very small, perhaps 20 adobe houses strewn across an area the size of a football field, and obviously extremely poor.


We decided to keep Noah in his backpack, as most of the ground was covered in animal poop of some kind. We had come to visit a man there who the church has been helping over the last several months. Santiago is probably in his 70s (he's not quite sure) and completely blind, yet he was out gathering sticks for his home when we arrived. He said he was worried for how we were, and was wondering when we (any visitors from the church) would come. He had even dreamt last night that friends had come to visit. We helped him gather some more wood, then went to his tiny, dirt-floor, one-room house and chatted for a while. He talked all about what had been going on, health struggles, prayers and praises, and we thanked him for his hospitality. (all was translated through Yasmina - Santiago speaks only Quechua) It is hard to see much to be thankful for in his life, but he has great trust in God, and it is obviously what sustains him. Santiago just became a believer in Christ for the first time during the last year. His daughters, who live nearby, don't look after him, as their husbands are alcoholics, and people from the village regularly take advantage of his blindness and steal from him. All he has is a mentally-challenged teenage grandson who does his best to care for him, another relative who occasionally comes to bring him food, and the church. Yet before we left, he gave us (Laura and me) a bag of potatoes from his meager pile, insisting that we take them - he said he had been learning from the bible about how we are to share what we have, so he wanted to share. It still staggers me to think about it - how little we heed Jesus' words. We think we are generous, but this man has nothing! Part of me didn't even want to accept it, but that is just pride. It's a lesson to me to receive such a gift from Santiago. I began thinking about the things I worry about, we worry about, how strange it would sound to try to explain internet connections or matching clothes or broken dvd players or whatever else. What kind of table do we want? Did we see the latest movie? It seems so ridiculous. What do I think is important? Am I truly generous? I don't think I've ever seen such a clear example as I did in this brother Santiago, of Jesus truly being one's all, "my shepherd, I shall not want." And I was very encouraged by the ministry and how the church was serving. Folks regularly come to bring food, clothes, and just as important, to visit and talk, to share life-giving words of Jesus from the scriptures, which he so longs for. This is what the Allens and the MTW team there do all over mountains near Cusco. Bill has also given to the whole village a closet full of medicines and trained them in how to make use of them. It was such a hard place to see, but the hope and love this man showed because of his faith was as much a picture of Jesus as I think I've ever seen.

Certainly an unforgettable anniversary.

A few more from Cusco

Cusco is such a beautiful city, I needed another post to get all the pictures we liked. Visiting Puno now, we appreciate even more the uniqueness of Cusco's architecture and history. Unfortunately, we also found it to be extremely touristy, and were soon longing to get outside the city center and back into the more ¨Peruvian¨parts of town. Still, it was a memorable trip.

Sitting right in the valley, I think it's the only city in Peru with all red roofs, like something out of Spain.

Much of the city center consists of narrow, winding streets, often quite steep, and often built atop Inca structures.

Back at Sacsayhuaman, this Inca masterpiece was really something to behold. All the rocks, many of them enormous, are cut and fit together so perfectly

On the backside, there was a natural rock slide, worn smooth by hundreds of years of happy riders. We felt compelled to follow in their steps.

This sweet woman was weaving beautiful cloths, and selling others she had brought in from the countryside, so we bought a couple.

One of the highlights of our time in Cusco was getting to spend time with Bill and Jeanine Allen, and their family, MTW missionaries to the rural villages around Cusco. As they were one of our earliest inspirations toward coming to Peru, it was a real treat to see their ministry firsthand. Bill is a doctor, and helps to run this clinic (above) outside Cusco. He also takes frequent trips into the mountains, one of which I will be relating in the next post.
Bill, on the job with a patient.

What a city!

Off to Puno

Tomorrow morning we leave to visit Puno and Lake Titicaca. We'll be there until Saturday evening, taking a 5-hour bus ride to get there (pray for Noah!) and flying back. I know I say it often, but there are many blogs to post when we return, so stay tuned. We've just been a bit busy and sleep-deprived lately, plus the internet has been down. They're kicking me out of the internet cabina now, so that's all for tonight. Thanks for reading!

Cusco Pictures

We're finally getting these pictures up from the second half of our trip (a month ago). One more entry will complete our trip, which is good since we're taking another tomorrow.

The Incan fortress of Sacsayhuaman

Noah loved the Plaza de Armas - bigger than Arequipa's - especially the pigeons

Companion

I forgot to mention one small anecdote from our Machu Picchu adventures.

As I set off at dawn from Aguas Calientes, on the morning of our visit to the ancient city, a small dog sitting outside a store decided to follow me. I assumed he wanted breakfast and would just head back after a few hundred yards. Instead he joined me as I reached the trail to climb up the mountain. Remarkably, he stayed with me all the way! Practically by my side at all times, my new buddy stopped when I stopped to rest, and ran on ahead when I got up. I didn't feed him or anything, he just wanted to hike. It was so strange, I couldn't imagine why he was following me - maybe his owner was at the top and would ask for a tip for the walking partner (we saw crazier money-making schemes there!), but when we reached Machu Picchu, he stayed right with us. I have to admit, the companionship was quite nice. Even as we waited in line to climb Waynapicchu, my faithful friend never left, and incredibly, he followed us up the steep path to the summit. Others gave him food along the way (we had none), but I was the chosen one, and he was never far from my side. Six hours later, when we had come back down and stepped outside the park limits for lunch, he was exhausted and took a nap. I have no idea whether this was a regular excursion, or if he just got lonely and wanted a friend for the day. But I've never seen anything like it.

Breakfast Date

Since our schedule has changed recently, I now get to be home in the mornings with Noah before leaving for class. This morning we made a special memory. We walked to our favorite crepe place for breakfast. So there we sat by the window of this lovely restaurant, sharing an appetizer of cheerios, and looking out the window identifying the cars, trucks, and buses that went by. His new favorite word is "bsss" (bus). This restaurant is extremely accomodating of little ones - they brought out a cushioned high chair for Noah, as well as provided him with a little toy truck. We also had our pick of assorted children's books - which were all in French because the place is located in the French alliance. While I can't read a lick of French, we chose a book about jungle animals and enjoyed looking at the pictures together - making the appropriate animal sounds, of course. I know our waitresses were rather entertained, and they doted on him too. One even brought us 2 quarter sized cookies with a small dallop of choclate on each. I was carefully giving Noah the parts of the cookie without the chocolate, as he hasn't yet been exposed to it much, when he reached over and grabbed the rest of it, chocolate and all. I wish I had had my camara to have captured the look of surprise and delight on his little face.

We ordered 2 crepes, as his appetite can nearly handle a whole one, mine of fruit, yogurt, and granola, his of ham and cheese. We prayed and enjoyed our special treat. Indeed, he ate more than half of his and I helped him finish it.

Afterwards, he ran around a bit in their small courtyard before we headed home to meet Concho before my class. What a fun memory! I am excited to have more dates with my son while he'll still let me.

Just a cute pic...a new favorite book!

P.S. Our friend and fellow teammate in Lima posted a blog update about the effects of the earthquake and how she's going to help out...check out "Becca in Peru" on our sidebar. We'll hopefully have a chance to go at some point too.

Arequipa's Anniversary

Essentially, the entire month of August is a celebration of Arequipa's Anniversary, which is the 15th. For weeks we have enjoyed all the excitement - the fairs, artisan markets, parades, concerts, store offers, dance festivals, and the general Arequipeño pride. It's a privilege to be here at this time - definitely a bigger deal than the Peruvian independence day celebrated just a month ago.

I (Laura) had the chance to go with a group of friends from school to two dance festivals while Michael stayed home with Noah. (Thank you, Sweetie!) The first evening was entirely Peruvian folkloric dances from several districts of the country. Many of them were variations of the "Marinera," a coquettish dance with pañuelos (handkerchiefs). But others reflected the importance of agriculture in their community or similar themes that were unique to that district. Last night (Saturday), I attended an International Dance Festival that hosted groups from Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Ecuador, Spain, Mexico, Panama, Peru, Uruguay, and Venezuela. It was impressive to see what made each of them very unique. Some of the groups were clearly professional. My favorites were from Mexico and Argentina. If you watch the video, be sure to look for the crazy footwork of those Argentinians!

Machu Picchu

Here's the continuing story of our trip, finally seeing the ancient city! Pics at the end may help, but they don't do it justice. Again, taken from journal entries...

I thought yesterday was rather amazing, but I had no idea what was in store. Machu Picchu is truly a place of a lifetime. Words will do it no justice, and what could I add to the wealth of prose already in print? I can only say that I have never been anywhere so jaw-droppingly incredible, and I probably never will. The day started early with a very steep 1-hour hike to the top (alone, as everyone else preferred the more logical bus-ride), through a path in the forest. Ruins aside, the landscape itself is ridiculous - sheer tree-covered mountain faces dropping into lush valleys - the scale almost too much to take in. One can't help but notice the dramatic colors - green peaks with occasional red rocks showing, reaching into white clouds with blue sky poking through. The idea that we would try to scale these mountains seems outrageous, even less in a bus. But somehow we climb, clinging to the edge of the cliff, trying to forget the depths below. Add to this the thought that the Incas decided to build a city at the top, and you start to imagine why this is a wonder of the world. I'm very glad I walked. The ruins themselves are huge, much bigger than I had imagined, and literally hang on a mountain ledge, with several-thousand-foot dropoffs on either side. The city is brilliantly constructed, including vast agricultural terraces, perfectly cut rocks, and windows aligned for solstices, to keep an accurate calendar. A marvel of engineering, especially for a "primitive" 15th century culture. Next to Machu Picchu is a huge peak (the one in all the pictures) that rises over 600 feet almost straight up above the city - named Waynapicchu. What else would you do with a mountain like that, but carve a path into the side and build more at the top? So they did, and we followed, climbing an impossibly steep trail to get a view from above. It doesn't look climbable, and they don't exactly provide a system of safety rails. Our hearts stopped a few times both ascending and descending as we peered over the terrace edges. Did they really live and carry out daily activities here? The view was worth every agonizing step. Dad and Laura and I all made the trip up, and talked about the obvious questions the whole complex begs - how on earth did they do this? And why? I suppose people have been researching and speculating on that for years. After the hike, we spent the rest of the day exploring the city and its surroundings. I walked through all the rooms, overheard some tours explaining the significance of certain parts, but for me it was enough just to be there, to sit and soak in the beauty and history. We all agreed that it hardly seemed real, it was just too much for the senses. To top it all off, just before I left (a bit later than everybody else), a slight drizzle left a beautiful rainbow arching across the valley. I'm all out of superlatives, but I can simply say that we departed in absolute awe of Machu Picchu.

Inside the City

The path up to Waynapicchu

View from above Machu Picchu

Sacred Valley Pictures

Here are several pics that correspond to that long description. (Still haven't gotten to Machu Picchu!)

On the way to the Valley

The beginning of the Sacred Valley

Here's our hotel - quite nice!

I realize this picture was in the video, but it's just so cute!

Piglets at the festival across the street (don't ask)

Starting off on our hike

The train to Machu Picchu

Incredible scenery!

Arriving in Aguas Calientes

Aguas Calientes