More new comers and fiestas

August 28, 2010:

It was a beautiful Saturday and we were in charge of many things. By in charge I mean that we had the whole children’s Sabbath school prepared. It was so much fun. Rachel played her uke and we all sang along with the kids. They have so much energy! They were singing so loud that you could hardly hear Rachel on her uke. She is doing so good on it and I know she’ll be a pro by the time we go home! We also had the story and some colorig activities for them. And then for church us three girls had special music. We sang “All Who Are Thirsty” in three part harmony whil I accompanied on the guitar. The Doc then finished the service with a wonderful sermon on Esau and Jacob.

Two new boys arrived!! We are no longer alone and there are more to come. We showed them around, told them as much as we could, and then we let them go to bed. They did arrive at 11 pm.

August 30, 2010:

Today at around 6 in the morning the ladies came in!!! Boy were we excited. As we walked towards the other house my whole body was filled with joy as we saw our new teammates. We showed them the house and the rooms. Once they had moved their stuff into the room we chatted for a little while and we then let them nap. We remembered how exhausted we were when we first got here, so we wanted to make sure that they could relax and rest up.

After a couple of hours everyone was awake and together. We decided to go to Campo Verde to have a tour. The fun part was when we had to fit 7 people in one motocaro. We had the boys on the back and five girls in the front. Three girls were sitting and two others were on laps. Rachel and I were the ones nominated to sit on laps. It was quite the ride. The motorcar definitely did not go as fast as is it usually does.

In Campo Verde we showed them the bakery, the produce store, internet café, and the plaza. It was a great bonding time. We walked around and got to know each other by asking many questions. The boys were generous to buy a large bottle of Inca Cola for all of us. When we arrived back at the house we all sat down, had some Inca Cola, and began to chat. Us girls had the greatest time just chatting it up. We talked about our families, summers, traveling, school, and so much more. The boys later joined us and we started playing games. We played a round of UNO and then we finished up with a game of 7 up 7 down. It was such a blast! What made it so cool was the fact that we decided to speak only Spanish while playing. That way we could all practice and learn together. As soon as we finished our last round one of the locals walked in to tell us that the feast was ready.

Today was a special day for many Peruvians. It was a holiday. So the doc decided to make a huge feast and invite everyone. So we were able to eat delicious food, introduce everyone there, and get an introduction to what this whole mission is about. We then continued celebrating by going to a lake and have some fun. The boys played soccer, the girls volleyball, and then we all finally ended up in the water. In the water we played “Mata jente” (murderer) and attempted to catch small fish. Mata jente is like dodge ball, but in the water. And it was even more of an adventure when we had to pack 23 people in one Toyota truck to go home.

As soon as we got home we all hit the showers and just relaxed. After getting hit with so much dust with soaking wet bodies, it felt so NICE to be clean again. We attempted to make phone calls to the families, but sadly, the phone would not cooperate with us. It was a wonderful day and I’m now so HAPPY to have more people here to share this adventure with.