Trujillo

Since May 21, I have not slept in the same bed for more than 7 consecutive nights. I'll break my record tonight... and reach 9 until I move into a new bedroom to make space for the team that's coming in on Friday.

In total, I've spent about two weeks in Trujillo. The first week was training with the interns, Lisa Merritt, and the Wellers. We are staying in a guest house called Helping Hands. It's in a really nice area and there's a beautiful park across the street. That's me and Lauren en el parque grande.
The giant, maze-like house sleeps 55 people and has at least 12 bathrooms. It's a very comfortable place, which is nice because we have long days of physically and emotionally taxing work.

That's me in my room... by the bed I've slept in the most :)

After the first week, I went back to the USA for my brother's wedding in Utah. It was beautiful.

However, going from serving the poor in Peru to staying in one of the biggest ski resorts in the United States was a bit of reverse culture shock. The suites and luxury houses were quite the contrast to the small brick, dirt floor houses I see here. I can hardly swallow the fact people own multi-million dollar homes that they live in for part of the year. And after swallowing it, it sits and churns in my stomach. I want to puke.

I know I'm rich.

Now I'm back in Trujillo. I've been back for about a week. We've had our first team here. I wasn't the team leader, so I haven't been with them all the time, but I have spent some time with them and different sites. Most days, teams work at the construction site building a children's home. The teams also spend an afternoon at Inca Link's daycare and an afternoon visiting people in the garbage dump. Because I wasn't leading the team, I got to pick when I went to what sites or other ministries. I spent a few mornings at the construction site, two afternoons at the daycare, and one at the dump. The rest of the time, I planned and worked on my Creative Summer Project, which I am excited about and will blog about later.

I'm glad to be back in Trujillo. I felt comfortable right away. Being here feels right.

En la Frontera

We left Quito at 8:15 pm on a bus to the border of Peru. The first 12 hour bus ride wasn't so bad. We played some rounds of 20 questions, I popped some Tylenol PM, and slept off and on until 6 am. We got to the Ecuador border town at about 7 am. We got our exit stamps and walked through no-man's land. Legally no where.

We took taxis to the bus station to recover our bags. As soon as we got to the station, we were affronted by "taxistas" who wanted to take us to the Peruvian customs in a town about 30 minutes away. They told us one bus line had a bus leaving at nine am, and they could get us there in time.

One man piled all of our giant suitcases and duffle bags on top of a cart, which he proceeded to pull through the streets of the little town and across the border into Peru. They took us to a car yard, haggled prices and insisted on using three small cars instead of two big cars, all the while offering to buy our US dollars for 2.08 soles... the exchange rate is 2.8 soles to the dollar.

First they drove us to customs. At customs, the officials gave us papers to fill out. Non-officials "offered" to fill the papers out for us for a small fee. A man took my paper and said "Passport?" to me. I clutched my passport tightly and held it close to my chest. "No way, guey," I said and snatched my paper from his grimy hand.

After we all went through, we climbed in the taxis and made our way to the bus station. A few minutes into the drive, the taxista shoved is hand toward us palm open, demanding for five dollars to get gas. We looked at the gas level on the dashboard. It read "full." We said no, he persisted. We continued to say no. He finally relented.

They dropped us off at the bus station with the said 9 o'clock bus and sped off. There was no 9 o'clock bus. Mentirosas. The next bus was at 7 in the evening.

Lisa and Cory left to find another station. The rest of us waited at the liar's station with all of our bags. They found one with an 11 o'clock bus. We dragged our bags through town, making a spectacle of ourselves. Miren a los gringos con tantas maletas grandes.

We made it to the station, bought tickets and snacks to sustain us until 11 pm. We past coast line and hours upon hours of desert. After 27 hours of travel, mostly boring but with adventure in the middle, we arrived in Trujillo, our summer home.

The Amazing Race

Every year, IncaLink interns compete in an "Amazing Race" all around Ecuador for four days. In teams of three to four, we traveled from town to town, learned how to use the buses, and completed various challenges ("cultural experiences). Here are some things an intern may do during the Amazing Race:

1. Ride a bus to Mindo.
2. Get sick on the bus to Mindo... then miss all but the last day of the race.
3. Take a quiz about Ecuador.
4. Hike up the mountain to "Canopy Adventures" and proceed to ride 13 zip-lines over the jungle canopy and through the misty clouds.
5. Take a pick-up truck to Los Bancos. Make bologna sandwiches in the back of the truck and pass them through the window to those in the cabin, including the driver.
6. Take a bus to Santo Domingo, then El Carmen. Then ride in a truck to the Alliance Church in Bramadura.
7. Play soccer against nationals. An intern may sprain an ankle while playing.
8. Catch a chicken.
9. Ride a chiva (a bus with seats on top)... and some chickens.
10. Buy various items at a market.
11. Ride a moto to a house.
12. Make lunch with said items from market at said house with an Ecuadorian family.
13. "Machete" grass.
14. Take a five hour bus ride to Riobamba.
15. Make a fort on the bus with extra sweatshirts and change into warmer pants.
16. Eat at a Texas Grill.
17. Hike up a cobblestone road to a farming community.
18. Harvest potatoes.
19. Ride a burro.
20. Buy maracuyas at a market to make juice.
21. Take a bunch of buses to a bunch of different towns.
22. Watch guinea pigs be killed, skin them, cook them, then eat them for dinner and call it "cuy".
23. Watch a volcano erupt 12 miles away.
24. Wake up at 4 am to the boom of the volcano and be rather convinced there is lava flowing down the street (even though there isn't).
25. Take a truck to Bolivar and hop on a bus whose driver says it's going to Pelileo, but really goes to Huambalo and back to Bolivar before going to Pelileo.
26. Ride to Ambato then Quito.
27. Learn the song "Chulla Quiteño" on the bus from strangers.
28. Take the Trolley around Quito.
29. Walk right past the Alliance Church (the first Evangelical church in Ecuador), and go way farther to Catholic church with a similar name.
30. Eat lunch in a plaza. Share the extras with some kids.