Machu Picchu

When I was a little girl, my mom read me a book called The Secret of the Andes. It was about a young Incan boy who lived in the Andes in Peru and he gave insight into the life of the Incan culture, the mountains, the Sacred Valley and the city of Cuzco. I remember loving the story of Cusi and ever since I was 9 years old, I wanted to go on the adventures he had as my mom read to me. It was one of my dreams to see the Incan city of Cuzco and to venture up the mountains through the Sacred Valley to the tops of the mountains to see the Sacred Incan city of Machu Picchu. During that time of my life, I loved reading about Indian culture and knowing more about the Incans.

13 years later, I was standing on the mountain top of the Andes in Peru overlooking the most beautiful sight I’ve ever seen. Machu Picchu in reality. It took my breath away. It wasn’t just a place to go sight seeing. There is something about the city that impacted me emotionally, physically and spiritually. I am a mountain girl at heart; I had a deep appreciation for the incredible beauty of the Andes. They were majestic and I felt so small standing among them. I woke up at 4:00am with my friends to hike the mountain to Machu Picchu to see the sunrise. It was a tough hike. It was a really steep staircase going straight up the side of the mountain through a jungle. It was beautiful. Although, very humid. I’ve never seen mountains so green.

We reached the Sun Gate temple just as the sun rose over the tall mountains. From where we sat we were above Machu Picchu and we watched the sun illuminate the ancient city below. It was the best sunrise I’ve ever experienced. I sat in awe of the beauty that surrounded me.

I spent the rest of my day walking through the city. It was incredible. We were able to explore every inch of it, and I took full advantage of that. I was climbing in, out and over everything. I layed in the grass near the llamas grazing, and just absorbed it like a sponge. We spent a total of 12 hours there, but I could’ve stayed much longer.

There is so little known about the Incans. They didn’t have a written language or any way to keep records. Its speculated they did that on purpose because they held life so sacred, they didn’t want to share it with anyone besides their own people. So we sat in awe looking over the city and wondering how they accomplished building it so perfectly. I have deep respect for the Inca.

As we began our trek back down the mountain path, I looked back at the sight and knew I would remember that day forever.

Cuzco was also an incredible part of the adventure. The historic part of the city is so beautiful. I loved exploring the streets, plazas and shops. It was so fun bargaining with all the women for small little treasures I’ll be taking home. The feeling of the city, the architecture, the cobble stone streets, Spanish cathedrals and statues of the Inca it was all magical. I fell in love with Cuzco.

And yes, the hills sing and there was definitely a waterslide. I know you all were asking the question.

I think my favorite part of Cuzco was stumbling upon the Cocoa Bean museum/Chocolate Factory. Good chocolate is really really hard to find in Peru, so this was literally the best discovery ever! I was able to sample everything, grind my own cocoa beans from the pod, and watch them make the chocolate from the beans right in front of me! They package it up right there and sell it in a little store. Needless to say I spend WAY too much money on chocolate. Surprised?

I also spent my Independence Day in Cuzco. It was 39 degrees that night. So it was a very unique experience to be cuddled up in my Alpaca sweater and two blankets drinking hot chocolate while every one back home was probably dying of heat, eating watermelon and popsicles while watching fireworks. Haha  

We spent a total of 5 days on vacation. Tuesday we flew to Cuzco, Wednesday we took a bus through the Sacred Valley and train to Aguas Calientes where we stayed one night, Thursday we hiked up to Machu Picchu for the entire day and stayed another night in Aguas Calientes, then we took the train back to Cuzco.  Saturday we flew back to Piura to continue our service projects for another two weeks. My trip is now halfway over.

It was a wonderful vacation though, I was able to accomplish a few dreams. I’ve got the travel bug now! I’m determined to see a lot more of the world. It’s like a big huge play ground I want to explore.

Learning What is Most Important

Peru has been the best adventure I’ve ever experienced so far. Its gotten right to my heart. I came here with the desire to serve the people, and as I’ve done so, they have taught me so much more than I could ever give them. The people and the culture here has been my greatest mentor. I’ve watched and listened to everyone around me. Because of the language barrier, I don’t say much. This gives me more opportunity to listen and watch. I learn so much more without words. I feel so enriched by what these people have taught me.

The majority of Peru is poor. The people have so much to give and they give even when they have nothing. I experience this over and over as we work intimately with families and individuals. We serve, love, teach and play with the children. Those in our group who know Spanish, teach the moms here about nutrition and health for their families. Others will sit with kids after school and teach them to read, write and do homework. Our acts of service and messages are simple. Its the love is really making a difference. And more than anything I believe the greatest lesson I’m being taught personally is how to be truly selfless. Peru is teaching me Charity. There is so much gratitude felt here. My love and gratitude for the people is given freely and they give back twice as much. I often feel overwhelmed by all that I am receiving from the amazing families here.

I always feel like I can be doing better too. I have moments where the culture shock will get to me, and I’ll be frustrated with how things are. Sometimes its really hard to not be able to have a conversation past “Hola, Como Esta Usted?” But I get over it… Peru isn’t going to change for me. I have to learn to adapt and be taught by what this experience has to give. Not everything is pleasant. But the experience I have here is my choice. I choose to love it and adjust when I don’t. It makes it easier to choose to be happy about everything around me.

Last Friday was one of my favorite moments so far. We took a bus about an hour and half away to a small little town to visit a elementary school we’ve been teaching English at. The mom’s of the kids wanted to do something for us as a group, and the kids wanted to put on their reuse and recycle fashion show for us. It was adorable to watch these little 5-6 year old kids walking down a cat walk in the little outfits their very talented moms had made out of various plastic bags and plastic. (see pictures)

Afterwards they wanted to show us a little more of their home life. We went to a banana farm! It was so much fun! They walked us through the whole orchard showing us the Mango trees and handing us a mango, then an Avocado tree, Oranges, Sugar Cane… we were able to try everything off the trees! It was so yummy. Afterwards we went to the river. We laughed as we watched the kids strip down to their undies and run into the water. A few of the volunteers and I put our feet in… some of the mom’s were trying to convince me to jump in and get wet. I communicated I wasn’t sure I wanted to get wet… haha so those sneaky mom’s said something to the army of 5 year olds and the next thing I knew, I was being chased down the river getting splashed and I was soaked in under 30 secs! Hahaha I ended up chasing the kids right back and we had a BLAST. I was soaked. But I loved every second of it.

Once we were out of the river, the mom’s had prepared us a feast. They laid out a beautifully set table and served us the best food they had to offer. Which is a big thing for them, because these people really don't have much. The food was really good! And the experience was humbling. This was one of those moments that impacted me. We spent an entire day just loving, playing, laughing, serving, holding hands and sharing everything we had to offer. It was a day dedicated to building relationships and being together. To connect and share. I loved it. I feel like we just need more days like that. All that really matters in life is relationships and people, the moments I've shared with these families have meant more than anything. My family now extends to South America. Small moments like these are the moments that bring change to the world. 

My brother (who is serving his mission 8 hours away from me in Ecuador) mentioned in his last email home that I’m “having way too much fun, and I need to step in more poop!” haha! He and I are living in very similar cultures. So because he said that, I feel I have the right to say its not all sunshine and daisies here. I definitely have my fun, of course. But I also work and I have my complaints. So I feel justified to list a few so my life doesn't look as perfect as he made it sound… ;)

1. Piura is the loudest place on earth. Because traffic laws are ignored, people don’t use their turn signals, instead they honk constantly to let people know when they’re about to swerve around another car, or to tell pedestrians they’re coming fast and if they don’t run they’ll hit you. Also, stray dogs are on every corner. Literally everywhere. And the bark all day and ALL night and often 5 of them are barking and chasing cars down the street. Car alarms are also loud, everyone has one and they are so sensitive that even if I leaf from the wind lands on a car, it will go off… all night long. Every day. Every 20 minutes at least. Ack.

2. Ants here are so small you can barley see them. They get into everything and they bite. Most of us often have red little marks on our skin… we’re unsure what they are exactly. But I blame the mini ants for making us look like we have the chickenpox. haha

3. I DO step on poop – I need my brother to know that. Most streets here that have a wall of any sort, is automatically considered a place to do your business. It smells AWFUL and my nose has a panic attack most times. I walk carefully as I try to run away.

4. I miss real bathrooms. With reliable flushing toilets, toilet paper, and toilet seats. I don’t think I have to explain why I miss that luxury. I also miss clean running water. And hot showers.

5. I’m tired of rice. Like… really. I miss salads, chips and salsa, chocolate and tacos/Mexican food. All things that do not exist in Peru. Or are really hard to find.

BUT most of these things are small problems, and I’m not actually complaining. I actually find it fun to meet the challenge and adjust to the culture. It teaches me a lot about myself and what I'm capable of and how to make the best of my circumstances. There is hardly ever a moment I am not filled with gratitude. Especially for what I have at home in the states. I also make it a point to find joy in my journey here. Sometimes that means taking something annoying or unpleasant and finding something to be grateful for because of it. haha I find it really important to love all the little things every day. It makes the entire journey better. And sometimes experiencing the hard things gives me a much deeper appreciation for all that I have.

So that's my update on the every day life… next post will be my most recent vacation to Machu Picchu. I got back today and I had to separate the two posts in order to not write a Novel of a blog.. I ended up doing that anyway though. 

Love you all! I hope you had a fantastic Independence Day!

*Hugs*

Living in Peru

Well friends, Its been over a week now. I feel like adjusting to life here wasn't too difficult, but living here still brings a feeling of surreal. I'll walk around Piura and still have reality checks that I'm in South America. Its a strange feeling. But I'm loving it. Learning to live and experience a new culture is really fun.

So far, I've really enjoyed our projects. Most of them are outside of the city in rural areas, those are my favorite places to visit. Monday's I've go to the school here for Special Education kids. Its basically babysitting but I enjoy it because I get to play outside with the kids for a few hours. All they really need is some TLC and I enjoy spending time holding hands and playing with them. Some of the kids love causing trouble, but mostly they are all really sweet. I enjoy them.

Last week we did a lot of painting. We painted a preschool way out in the dessert. Going out there is when I first really saw how poor these people are. Everyone lives in shacks in the dessert, they travel by donkey and carry their water each morning from a source a few miles away. There is a strange beauty about the life they live. They all seem happy and grateful for what they have. I suppose they know nothing else, but it was humbling to spend a few days with them.  And the children are adorable! A few of them helped us paint. They love us and we love them. They'll crawl into our laps, take pictures on our phones and tell us stories for hours. I can't ever understand them... but they're adorable. I love the children here. A lot of our group went to the private Orphanage in the city and painted a mural. I was only able to help a little bit with that project, but I love spending time with those boys! They are so funny and so cute. I love serving these children so much.

Wednesday last week I went with Rachel and Ben to a beautiful small town in the Andes Mountains called Huarmaca. I fell in love with it. I am a mountain girl at heart. Living in Piura can be hard, as its a loud city and its in the dessert... so spending two days in Huarmaca was so enjoyable. Getting there took 6 hours, and 4 of those hours are on the craziest bumpy twisty road I've ever been on. I got car sick... I ended up throwing up 5 or 6 times throughout the ride up. It was horrible. We were with Jiame, who works for the Government. So we had a Government truck and driver. Everyone was really patient with me and would stop when I needed it. I was grateful for them. Because it was the worst. Ben is an awesome country director, he was giving me water and trying to make me as comfortable as possible. Needless to say, it was a long 6 hours for everyone. But the beautiful surroundings made it a lot easier. The Andes are quite spectacular.

The purpose of our adventure was to have a meeting with the city manager about a project we're assisting with in a couple of weeks. A large group of eye doctors are coming here from Utah to give the people free eye exams. Those in our group who speak Spanish will be translators for the doctors, and those of us who don't speak it well will be checking people in and helping set up and such. I'm pretty excited, mostly because we'll be living in the mountains for a week. After the meeting, Rachel and I got to spend most of our time at the Orphanage there. They gave as a room to sleep in and fed us. And we taught English to the girls, they loved it! The facility was really nice too. They made us really good food and I didn't want to leave. The girls were so sweet. I loved sitting down to eat and talking to them, I was really grateful for Rachels ability to translate for me.

We were able to find dramamine for the ride back to Piura. Thank goodness.

The weekends here are fun! We get to go on mini vacations. This last weekend we went to Mancora. Its a little beach town about 3 hours away from Piura. It was SO beautiful. I am always amazed how inexpensive everything is here. We stayed in a nice hostel on the beach for 20 Soles, that translates to about $7 USD. I could literally walk out my door and there was the ocean. It was so relaxing and beautiful. We had a hammock, which I loved. The food was SO good and also inexpensive. It was a perfect beach day, hot and the water felt good. I drank a coconut, ate creamoladas, went horse back riding at sunset on the beach, played in the ocean... sigh* it was a little bit of paradise. A weekend well spent.

I love that I can be in the desert, the mountains and the beach all in one week. Its been wonderful.

I feel like words can't fully describe the feeling of being here. So hopefully the pictures I post make up for the rest. I really love these people, I love being able to serve them and be with these beautiful children. And although its hard that I can't speak the language, I can still get to know them and learn from them. I am so grateful for this experience.

The Journey

Well here it is! 3 plane rides and 24 hours later, I made it to Peru! The Journey went really smoothly, but my goodness it was a long trip. I enjoy flying. My first two flights were really nice. I didn't realize how comfortable my 8 hour flight was going to be. I was given a nice blanket and pillow and ear phones for my personal touch screen TV. I had 100 movies to choose from, games to play and I was served two meals and given snacks throughout the flight. My flight attendant was awesome, he brought me extra chocolates and I didn't even have to ask! He was pretty cute. And he spoke English, so he was automatically my friend. So that made it all bearable.

I landed in Lima at midnight and then had a 6 hour layover... that was the worst. I had to sleep in the airport, but it was so uncomfortable that I ended up just staying up all night. So by the time I got on my last flight to Piura at 6:10am this morning, I was exhausted.

Eliana, one of my country directors, picked me up at the Piura airport early this morning and we took a Taxi back to our apartment. I don't think South America has any traffic laws... Eliana was talking to me casually as if nothing was happening but I was freaking out inside as I watched our taxi driver speeding quickly back and forth between both lanes of traffic and swerving around cars that were swerving around the all other cars. There are no stop signs or traffic lights. And no right and left side of the road. The goal of driving here is to get to point A to point B as quickly as possible. Everyone is rushing as if its the end of the world, and EVERY one acts like they have the right of way. As a pedestrian, you have to run, cuz they don't stop for you. Instead they swerve around you. It is amazing and hilarious to watch their skill of not crashing into each other! haha

The name of the city I'm living in translates to "city of eternal heat". It is hot. But thankfully it's winter in South America, so the highs are only around 84 degrees. I really like it here already. I ate an amazing breakfast first thing, there is nothing like fresh bread from a Peruvian bakery, let me tell you! There is one on the block we live on. Very convenient. Eli made us eggs and an oatmeal drink too. And then I walked to Sacrament meeting with McCall and Brie. Church here is awesome and the wards are big. I loved it, even though I couldn't understand a word. The members greet you with a hug and a kiss on the cheek, rather than a hand shake. I like it better.

Peruvian little girls have stolen my heart. They are so sweet! They'll stare at us and smile big whenever we say Hola. Being white here attracts alot of attention... haha! Its funny.

I spent most of today sleeping, but I've explored a bit of the city this evening. Eliana made us Cafe Rio for dinner, it was amazing! I've yet to have Peruvian food... but I've got 5 weeks for that. We did just get back from the market and the plaza, I got the best ice cream I've ever had in my life. I'm a fan. So yummy. I'm going to spend all my sols on ice cream now. haha

Anyway, that's probably way too much detail for one day. I'm just excited to finally be here! It seems so natural to adjust to, and I'm getting by just fine with my Spanglish. The people love it when I try speaking Spanish. haha its an adventure!

Tomorrow we start on our projects. I'll be going to a school for special needs children tomorrow to volunteer, which basically means I get to go and play all day. And then the rest of the week, we'll be painting murals at the Orphanage and a school outside of the city. I was really excited  to hear about that project!

I also booked my reservation to go to Macchu Piccu in 2 weeks!! I can't put into words how excited I am for that trip. We'll be in Cuzco for a few days and then we'll hike up to the Ancient city. AH!

Anyway, I'll do my best to keep this updated! Love you all!

Piura, Plaza. This is a very old Spanish Cathedral

Sleeping people in LIMA airport. I thought it was funny.

Our rooftop patio. Favorite spot here.

Sunset is at 5:30 again. I'm back to a winter schedule.

New Beginnings

Hello friends! 

This blog will mark the beginning of my next adventure! As much as I tend to resist change, I actually really love it. I love to have purpose and stretch myself to do hard things. I've had a blast in Provo this past year. I've made life-long friends and the created the best memories! But its time to move... again. I've packed up my things and I'm finishing up my final preparations for my next adventure! This time, I have decided to leap a little more towards the stars. On Saturday, I am leaving on an plane to achieve one of my dreams and travel! Specifically to Piura, Peru!

I am so excited!!

Going to Peru has been on my mind for the past couple of summers now, I knew one day I'd make it there. I've loved the idea of going to Machu Pichu ever since I was a little girl. And my opportunity came up as I ran into my old friend Suzanne who told me about HELP-International and convinced me I should do it! I of course wanted to, but I honestly didn't think I'd actually go. So I tested the idea, I put my name in for a drawing at a UVU internship fair for a scholarship to get to Peru. I promised myself that if my name was picked from the drawing, I would go. In past experience, I've never won anything big from a drawing, so I thought that was a pretty safe promise. 

A week later, I received an email saying my name was drawn! (What!) I made a decision in that moment. And I didn't give it another doubting thought. I was determined to make this dream happen. And everything has fallen into place to get me there since I make the first step forward.

HELP International is awesome! Their mission is "to empower people to fight global poverty through sustainable, life-changing development programs".  I love the word empower. I believe in people and I love to bring freedom to individuals, no matter where they live. The projects with Help are designed not only to serve, but to teach. To bring in new ideas and provide them with materials that can last. I've been keeping up to date with the team that is currently in Peru right now, I can see how much of an impact it is making in their lives and the people they have been helping. I can hardly wait to get on the plane to join them!

The decision to go was definitely a leap of faith. I am going so outside of my comfort zone! I'm going to a country that speaks Spanish!  I speak very little Spanish. But I'm learning it poco un poco! That'll be the biggest challenge for me I think, but I'm willing to learn as much as I can! I'm also going to be 6 hours away from the city my Brother is serving his mission in Ecuador! Of course I won't see him, but it'll be cool to experience the same part of the world he is living in for the next two years! We'll  be right across the border from eachother!

Last of all, I wanted to express my deepest gratitude to everyone who has donated towards my trip to help me get to Peru. I am SO thankful by the amount of money I have been able to receive from each of you to help me reach my dream. I could not have done this with out you all. Thank you so much for the support!

I'll be leaving early on Saturday morning. I'll fly from SLC, to LAX, to LIMA where I will have a 7 hour layover in the middle of the night and then I'll fly to Piura early Sunday morning. I don't know whether to be nervous or excited! Its a whole lot of feelings all in one. :)

Anyway, I'm hoping to keep everyone posted on what I'll be doing over the next couple months on this blog! Stay tuned for all my Peruvian adventures.

Lots of Love!

Lindsay