La Merced, in the region of Chanchamayo, has been a beautiful place to be for these 4 1/2 weeks. We are so grateful for: caring hosts who serve great, healthy food; meaningful work with a supportive supervisor; gracious and generous folks to learn from; and amazing natural surroundings to experience. Divine care comes in many, many forms!!
Now we are teaching our last week of classes, and ending on Thursday to be ready to travel back to Lima on Friday. This time our bus ride will be in the daytime, so we look forward to seeing the surroundings as we go. We`ll spend the weekend in Lima, again staying at the Mennonite Brethren Church. On Saturday we`ll do some shopping for necessities which are cheaper in the big city; our list includes finding Magdalena`s shoe size for the black school shoes she'll need for attending school in Cusco. (We were able to find Luisa`s here in La Merced.) On Sunday we`ll attend church again, and then relax and pack for our next journey.
Monday morning we`ll fly to Cusco, a city of 1/2 million in the mountains (elevation over 10,000 ft), just a short flight from Lima, but a treacherous bus ride. Cusco was the center of the Inca Empire, and is known as the "historic capital" of Peru. Many folks are drawn to Cusco because it`s the entrance point to visit Macchu Picchu, famous Incan temples and ruins, and we look forward to visiting there. But, we were drawn to Cusco because of the Mennonite, bilingual school located there, started 10 years ago by Peruvian Mennonite churches. At the school, La Promesa, our girls will attend while Kent gives support to a new music teacher who is starting a new program, and I will help with tuturing English, and support in other ways that I can.
The biggest recent news is that we have a furnished apartment to rent for a very reasonable cost for the three months that we`ll be in Cusco! We are extrememly grateful for the help of Willy Villavicencia, who works with Goshen College groups in Peru, along with Pastor Roberto and his wife Valeria in Cusco, who worked hard to find a place for us!! We had the option of house-sitting for a missionary family during our first month, but likely will be able to move right into our own apartment. We hear that our place is close to the school and the Mennonite church, so we look foward to getting to know the area of San Jeromino, which is a district (pop 30,000) within Cusco.
Again, we welcome your thoughts and prayers for the travel ahead and for the next phase of our adventure. Some challenges that we are preparing for are: motion sickness for some of us on the curvy bus ride to Lima; altitude sickness for all of us upon arrival to Cusco; and our girls´ first experience of doing school work in Spanish. (There are meds available for the first two challenges!) Also, give thanks with us for so many gifts on the journey!
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