Trujillo :)

After the quick tour of Cuzco with Valerie, we parted ways. She continued to travel in southern Peru and on to Chile and Argentina (I'm not sure where she is now...), while I traveled north to Trujillo, Peru. Being back in Trujillo, feels good. The construction projects have moved along, the full-time Inca Link staff has grown in numbers, and the day care kids have grown taller and have bigger teeth.

So far, I've mostly been getting reacquainted with the ministries and the city, as well as getting to know the new Inca Link staff. I'm still learning the city, but I feel like I've known my fellow Inca Linkers for much longer than a week and a half. In addition to Wendy and Violeta, who I met the last time I was here, there are six new Inca Link Peru staff members: Brenda, Yackorry, Denise, Claudia, Stephanie, and Joca. They're all young and fun and passionate about what God is doing through Inca Link.

Currently, I'm living at Inca Link's children's-home-in-progress in the house built for missionaries. I share the house with another intern, Jordan (we interned together in 2010), the director of the daycare Eli and his wife and baby, an Ecuadorian volunteer named David, and another volunteer from Pennsylvania named Brent. This past week, we had Sam Gale, another former intern, with us for a week and Jordan's girlfriend Amanda who were volunteering over their spring break. Full house!

We've been working on construction projects here at the children's home as well as helping out at the various children's programs in different neighborhoods and at the daycare. I've been scheming up a project to focus on thoughout my time here. I'll be here for about 100 days (153, actually) and there are about 100 kids at the daycare, so my goal is to spend one-on-one time with each child at the daycare to give them some individual attention, learn more about their family life, and update their sponsors with pictures and letters. I'm still figuring out exactly what my time with the kids will look like, but I'm excited about the concept and I hope to start meeting with the kids soon.

The bad news is Machu Picchu broke my camera. Luckily, it didn't break until I was leaving the park, but it's still broken. I think it's fixable... or would be for someone who knew how to fix cameras. Until it's fixed or I find a spare to use for awhile, I'll just have to practice my descriptive writing skills, and you will have to use your imagination.

Machu Picchu

Last Thursday evening, Valerie and I left Ecuador to go to Cuzco, Peru together before parting ways. We flew from Quito, Ecuador to Lima, Peru, spent the night in the Lima airport, and flew to Cuzco in the morning. After dropping our stuff off at the hostal where we would stay, we wandered around the city to find food, an ATM, and entrance tickets to Machu Picchu. Cuzco is a quaint (and touristy) city with pretty plazas and many good restaurants. Even during "low-season," there were plenty of foreigners around.  

Although we enjoyed a less busy town, there is a problem with visiting Machu Picchu during low-season: rain. Hence, the low tourist season. No one wants to travel thousands of miles and pay hundreds of dollars  to visit a world wonder during a rainstorm. We knew this could be a problem when planning our trip, but we went forth because it was the time that worked for both of us. We could only hope and pray the rain wouldn't ruin our visit.

Our first day in Cuzco, we noticed that the morning was sunny and beautiful, but the weather turned dismal in the afternoon, cloudy and wet. Walking back to our hostel in the pouring rain after buying our tickets to enter the Machu Picchu historic park, we feared our luck would turn dismal as well.

The next morning we woke up before dawn to take a taxi to the bus station. After a two hour bus ride through the mountains, we arrived at the train station Ollantaytambo. From there, the train took us two more hours to Aguas Calientes, the "Machu Picchu City." Yet, another leg of the trip was still ahead. We found the bus station, bought tickets, and boarded a bus that goes back and forth from Aguas Calientes to the Machu Picchu park all day, every day. For about 20 minutes, we twisted up high into the mountains.

All morning, the sky had been clear and sunny. The weather was looking good -- until we stepped off of the bus. Rain.

Luckily for us, the rain lasted only a few minutes. By the time we found a guide and agreed on a price, the rain let up and we entered the park. After a quick puff up a hill, we turned to see the postcard view of Machu Picchu.

So, of course, we had to take pictures in front of it to prove we were really there and didn't just steal photos off the internet. 

After posing for our "postcard shots," we followed our tour guide into the ancient city. 

When the tour was over, Valerie and I found a place to sit and take it all in. We imagined what life was like there before the Quecha people abandoned the place to avoid the conquistadors (according to our guide). Not too long after, the rain began again, so we took a final look at the view and said "good-bye" to Machu Picchu :)