My Fourth Year To Peru

On October 6th, we took a team of 8 people back to Lima, Peru! This was my fourth time to fly down to do some mission work for a week. There's so much I'm trying to wrap my brain around still from this trip. We had 5 new people on our trip and one woman who came with us for the second time in a row. Funny thing is, we didn't know the other people AT ALL. In fact, one gal who was going with us met Fred at a conference in another state two years ago. How cool is that?

We flew in Friday night and stayed at the Dream Center, Alcance Camino de Vida. This was our first time staying here and had no idea what to expect. Well, it was wonderful! We had 5 women and 3 men on the trip. In our room there were 6 sets of bunk beds and our own bathroom with showers. I think it was the same in the guys room. I never looked in. lol I think we were all rather surprised at how cold it was! Several of us grabbed extra blankets and wore sweatshirts to bed. Lima is just starting spring in October.

In the morning we found out we were going to paint the Dream Center because someone had put graffiti on it the day before. The only other time the walls have been painted was when we did it two years ago. The Center is used for so many things, including three church services on Sunday morning. So, we got out there and got the graffiti covered up. We walked down the street to a market for people to have a pop and it was so fun to see all of the fresh food...and chicken parts which I'm sparing you from. lol

I also had to (yes HAD to) go talk to the lady across the street because I wanted to pet her dogs. That super fuzzy one did NOT want me petting the other one, with is the one I wanted to pet. He would enthusiastically jump around so he was the only one in my vision. hahaha

We hopped into our bus and we headed to Miraflores to have dinner at Tanta's. Paige and Stalin ordered a family style meal and we all indulged in some delicious Peruvian food. It was fun watching everyone try the food for the first time.

Sunday was pretty relaxing, too. I think the rest of the team was surprised that we weren't getting down and dirty on the very first days of being on the mission trip. Mission trips are different everywhere you go and every time you go. Our work was going to be during the week because that's just how the schedule played out. Actually, our schedule ended up changing quite a few times while we were down there, and we just rolled with it.

We went to church at Alcance for their third service. During the second service we had the chance to hear from 3 of the new interns who are serving in Lima. Loved hearing their stories. After church we headed back to Miraflores for lunch. We exchanged our money and ate at Papachos. It's one of our favorite burger places to eat at. Since it was almost Stalin's birthday, I made sure to surprise him with some singing and dessert. He'll thank me later!

After lunch we headed to the Indian Market to do some shopping. We went to the same one we visited our first year. It's the biggest one, and the one I enjoy most. I always feel like I never go home with enough. hahahaha It's incredible how much you can get with so little money though. Then we got to visit one of the grocery stores. It's fun to pick up some of our favorite cookies and candies.

               

 

Our evening had us going to Camino de Vida - Surco for church. I love going to church there. It's such an amazing experience. We get to see friends we've made in past years, and that's one of the things I cherish most. In the past, to understand the sermon, the church used these really bad hand radios that would broadcast the translator and music, which made it impossible to know what was being said. Now they have an app that we were able to use. Well, except that it was cutting out so much we couldn't understand still. hahaha Oh well. Nothing's perfect, right?

To end our Sunday, we went to Palachinke. The fun piece about eating there is the astonishment on the team's faces when they see how huge the crepes are. I think the guy who either owns the restaurant or runs it remembers me from last year. He welcomes me up to watch them make their crepes, even had one of the cooks stop and pose for me. Sadly I didn't realize at the time that the photo turned out blurry. Then he'd come over and present the food to me so I could take a picture. Cracked me up. When we left I told him we'd see him next October.

I told the team (well, at least the ladies) to buckle down because the work week was about to get started! I was totally ready!