9-7-10

I have concluded that I am the worst at this blog thing….

Last weekend went to lake Titikaka and it was INCREDIBLE! Where do I start….

After classes on Friday we had lunch then headed on a 7 hr bus ride to puno. So God story!!! I got to talk with the girl next to me about Christ for prob 3 hours!!! I don’t even remember how it started but God was working in so many ways. I opened my Bible to show her who God was and why it is that Jesus is the only way to the Father and she wanted me to keep reading!!!! So we went through parts of the Word together and it was so blessedJ She then asked me why Jesus was the ultimate sacrifice and why God waited so long to set Jesus…. Yea…. And so on ;P it was incredible!

We got to puno and stayed in a snazzy hotel! It had the cleanest bathroom I have ever seen in my life! So shiny! :p the next day after our complementary breakfast of delicious fruit, yogurt and granola, and tea y juice ;);) we jumped on a boat and headed to the floating islands! It was amazing! So this is the way it works:

There are 5 families that live on one of these Islands and they go to work and school by boat each day (hand made boats) we stayed there for part of the day learning about the history of the island and then we got to dress up in their traditional wear and it was so much fun! Bright colors and tiny hats…. It was great! J

Oh… I almost forgot… I am going to live there. They have huts made out of bamboo type stuff :p I took lots of pics and exploredJ and I played with these two adorable kids the whole time! It was wonderful. Then we jumped back on the boat and traveled for a few hours to the second island named Amantani there we met the other host family we would be staying with for the evening. We had lunch, relaxed for a while, then hiked this ridiculous mountain where the view was breath taking… oh yea, I forgot to mention that there is no electricity on the islandJ so when the sun when down and the starts came out… yea, enough said. ;) we then hiked back down, ate some delicious dinner from our host parents then they dressed us up in their traditional clothing and we went out dancing for a few hours!!! Man are those Spanish women strong! My host mother was wippin me around like nobodies business! We then woke up at 6 am, ate some breakfast, then got back on the boat to go to the next island Taquile. There we hiked again until we got to the plaza, went on another tour of the island, ate at this delicious restaurant that overlooked the island, then got back on the boat to return to Puno. We had 6 hours to waste in Puno, so, we did what ever good tourist does-ate lots of food and bought souvenirs. :p we then got on the bus and headed 7 hours home. We all had classes at 8:30am that same morning and we got back at 4. It wasn’t that bad having a few hours of sleep but I wouldn’t recommend it too often ;).

Taylor and I joined a gym that’s 2 min walking from my house so that’s awesome! Its so ghetto, but hey it works! And its nice because we go when there is only one other person there. J finished up my last week of indigenous culture with Erwincito (my professor) and oh! We went on a field trip and the other students In my class got their “futures” read by a women who was a “watuq y Wikch’uq”. Basically, people goes to these people who practice traditional medicine for cures and also for receiving their future plans. What happens is you buy a bad of coca leaves and then she puts them in this bowl and reads them and such. I don’t know how it works exactly because I didn’t do it, but that’s what the other students and my homework said.

Oh the bus ride home I got to talk to Gillian about Jesus! Yay God! She asked why the heck I didn’t do it and I explained that my Lord specifically talks about not getting involved with those kinds of things because they can be very real and deceptive and it opened up for a wonderful half an hour conversation.

Friday night was 6 of my friends last night in Cusco so we did what all should do on their last night in a foreign country---- went out on the town! We met up and there were about 15 of us and we just danced the night away. I love salsa dancing! And I love salsa dancing with Spanish men who know how to lead and really wip ya around ;) :p jaja oh sick-but its true. Oh! Amy, DanI, and I got our eyes all painted in this glitter junk and it was intense, but hey it was free!!! :p

This weekend was me just bumming around, watching the last final two partidos para futbol and spending some good catch up time in the Word.

I just want to end this post with a quote that I have been learning the hard way:

“We may be seeking for our growth in a more diligent use of the means of grace, and a more earnest striving to live in accordance with God’s will, and yet entirely fail. The reason is, that there is a secret root of evil which must be removed. That root is the spirit of bondage, the legal spirit of self-effort, which hinders that humble faith that knows that God will work all, and yields to Him to do it.” -Andrew Murray