Well it's been a while....

Lucy woosy.

So. It's been pretty eventful these past couple of days, I'm not going to lie. Thus the reason for not writing. But Lucy darling, it's absolutely grand here. Where shall we begin with the adventures? We'll do a weekend recap - you ready for this?


Well - got to help out with an English class and practice speaking English (something I'm not too bad at) with students of advanced level of English. I loved talking to them about why I was there and what God had called me to do in Cajamarca. I also got to compare the United States to Peru and it was super fun. I couldn't tell you what we talked about, but I can tell you talked for literally 2.5 hours about who knows what. Wooooo. We even made friends and went out for desserts the next night, but this time, we practiced our Spanish. It was a pretty interesting night since all of Peru was watching the soccer game (which thankfully, that time, they won - apparently it's a complete obsession here. Perhaps I should actually learn the rules and maybe actually get into this World Cup stuff next year. We can get matching jerseys.)

Cascanunez - practically where we ate out all the time. It's where we had our hamburgers and this time, pecan pie!
Fancy, huh? 

                                   
Shall we continue with Friday? I got to help out with the soccer ministry (but let's be real, it's called futbol around these parts) and it was quite fun. Like I said, kids are always down to play and hang out and don't really judge you, thus the reason I love working with them and am kind of excited to be at summer camp next week. Only kind of though. We played in an open field next to a turkey farm and in fact had to break up a turkey showdown. Only in Peru....

The girls I was playing with - we look alike now don't we?

And then we shall continue to Saturday! We walked up to a place called Cruces - basically it was a hike up rocky terrain with crosses following us every step. We had a lot of fun and even got to pray literally at the foot of the cross. How interesting that we revere and honor something that was a form of murder, torture and humiliation because of the One who has saved us. 

" But he was pierced for our transgressions, he was crushed for our iniquities; the punishment that brought us peace was on him, and by his wounds we are healed. " Isaiah 53:5 

Anyway, here are the beautiful pictures with beautiful friends - my Perumie Claire and our lovely friend from Lima, Mariel. 

Finally made it up here (the smaller stick like this is where the old cross was, this  big white one is relatively new) 

You can see all of Banos/Cajamarca from up here! 

My lovely friend Mariel who acted as our tour guide during this time 

Finally made it - seems like we're next to the clouds doesn't it? 

Sitting/praying at the foot of the cross!

View from the top - our friend Mariel said it best. God created eyes, but he didn't make cameras and therefore a picture cannot even begin to describe the beauty I beheld (sure, that's English) while I was up there. But it's still pretty cool - we don't have mountains like that in NC now do we Lucy?

 AFTER SATURDAY IT WAS SUNDAY THAT IT WAS THE BEST DAY EVER BECAUSE IT WAS MY BIRTHDAY. I didn't even do a countdown this year Lucy because I'm more mature (okay maybe the last 2 hours. But what's a girl to do?) It was super fun in Peru and I truly enjoyed getting sung to, trying CEVICHE for the first time (will explain later) and shopping around Santa Apollina. Also got me some tres leches, which is about the dankest desserts you can get around these parts. Just all around good times and even more reason to love my birthday and love being 22. I hope this excitement never gets old (*cue pun).

Gahhh I'm gonna miss this downtown view Lucy 

Us in the Plaza! - Claire, Cynthia, Mariel and me of course 

Us + Gerson! 

Us + abuelito, Masod 

Viva Peru! And Cajamarca! 

Santa Apollonia - what I didn't get is the bazillion steps that it took to get there Lucy. I don't think I'll ever get use to  the altitude here Lucy. I also got presents from the shops around there - but you only get something if you've been good. Which I'm sure you haven't.... 

Cynthia y Mariel in the kambi (the buses that we ride around here). They sang happy birthday to me  in English, Spanish and Christian, if that's even a language. 

Ceviche mixto - raw fish fried and drenched in a acidic lemon taste. It was actually pretty delicious Lucy, belivei it or not. The mixto part meant they we pretty much ate the whole entire ocean with it - octopus, squid, crab and some other stuff. I think it's a feast meant for a cat, but I'm sure you'd scrounge it down anyway, knowing you. 

Chi-chi morada - they love this stuff here. It's made from corn  and uh. Other stuff. Wasn't too bad, but I wouldn't buy a liter of it.

 Believe it or not Lucy, the week got better. I'll keep you in suspense about it though so this letter isn't HUGE (I know your attention span is about 3 seconds, probably less than that), but it's definitely worthwhile. I'll probably update later tonight - I have 5 more hours in the lovely Lima airport. It'll be me and Buffy for a while.

Ciao, ciao.

Marian

P.S. You should dance to this song, it's great - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FpYoL-rEjis . Literally obsessed.