Trippin

Yesterday, we visited Chan Chan, Trujillo´s answer to Machu Picchu, made completely out of adobe. It looked a little lame from far away, but the actual park was pretty impressive. There was an innumerable amount of tall mud-brick walls with decorations carved into their bases. Most of the decorations were either pelicans or fish, but they also had walls that were built to looks like nets. It´s hard to explain, so check out Ansley´s blog for pictures.

At 1:45 we left Trujillo for Chiclayo, 3 hours to the north. We were somewhat dismayed to learn that Frede would be coming with us (bless her paranoid peruvian heart), but in the end it turned out to be a blessing. In Chiclayo we hoped to catch a 12 hour bus to Chachapoyas. As we entered a taxi in Chiclayo, Frede pulled her classic "They´re missionaries from the Adventist church with little money! Lower the price!" Although this was annoying and embarrasing to us, it paid off this time, as the taxi driver was an adventist. For the next 15 minutes Frede and the driver gabbed about mutual friends, current pastors, and other various topics related to the church, and of course Frede threw in suggestions about lowering the price every time she could.

Unfortunately, there were no buses to Chachapoyas, so we caught a bus to Pedro Ruíz, 60 KM from our destination. We were relieved to be on our own again, but were not excited about the prospects of more violent movies. All the movies they show on the buses here are extremely violent, leaving you with a sickening feeling as you get out of the bus. During the eight hour bus ride, we had competitions to see who could NOT look at the TV. Each glance recieved one point, and the winner was the person with the fewest points. During the first movie, I won, with 4 glances (two of which were of the reflection in the window), Ansley came in second (6 glances), and Aaron lost horribly with 14 glances. John was and is somewhat sick, so he did not participate. The second movie went a little better, probably because we were either sleeping or listening to our iPods the whole time. Aaron and I got two glances, Ansley, zero. You´d be surprised how hard it is not to look when the volume is blaring down your neck. I tried to ignore the sounds of gun shots and punches by listening to The Horse and His Boy (thanks Alan).

After arriving in Pedro Luíz at 2AM, we waited two hours by the side of the road until a taxi finally agreed to take us to Chachapoyas. After about an hour and a half, the driver stopped the car, claiming we had to wait out the rain. After sitting there for an hour listening to our Taxi driver, rightly dubbed Moleface, snore, I got out and asked a Policeman what in the world was going on. He went over and talked to Moleface, and Moleface reluctantly helped us transfer our gear into another Taxi (that already had two people in it). This taxi then carried us the rest of the way to Chachapoyas, where we arrived at about 8AM this morning.

Trujiullo

After spending a night in Lima, we travelled to Trujillo, 10 hours north. The landscape along the coast is very strange, sometimes dropping several hundred feet to the ocean directly from the road. The slopes are rocky or sandy, and there is no vegetation at all. I didn´t realize how much of Peru is desert.

Trujillo is a nice town close to the beach. We are visiting el pastor Gerardo and his wife Frede. They are interesting people. Frede thinks we can´t understand Spanish very well, so she is always trying to act things out or say a word here and there in English, which only confuses us to no end. It´s hilarious and slightly annoying at the same time.

Chosica

Bueno, por fin llegue a Peru esta manana a las cinco. Ansley y John estaban para recogerme, y entonces fuimos en bus a Chosica, donde tienen unos amigos con quienes podemos alojarnos. Hablamos de muchas cosas, y miramos las fotos en el MASK para que pudieran conocer unos de mis amigos.

Estoy tan emocionado estar de nuevo en un pais donde se hablan espanol. Hace demasiado tiempo! Es "lo maximo" estar entre parientes y amigos donde puedo hablar espanol sin temor de equivorcarme. Los amigos de Ansley son muy amistosos. Hacimos unas chistes sobre el espanol de John (mi primo), pero en realidad, habla bastante, no, muy bien puesto que no ha estudiado nada de espanol. Ansley tambien habla excelentemente.

Despues de comer un almuerzo delicioso (de pan, queso, mazamora, etc) cantamos una canciones de nuestros himnarios adventistas, y salimos a comer helado, cambiar dinero, usar el internet, y llamar a nuestros padres. A si que bueno, estoy usando el internet ahora mismo.

Hace mucho calor y ya que es muy humido, mi pelo es muy ruloso (algo al azar). Vamos a recoger Aaron en unas horas o minutos. No se si viene pronto o mas tarde. Que viaje bueno.

Felipe: que tengan una fiesta buenissima. Ya que vas a estar, y Trina va a estar, sera una fiesta bastante divertida. Cuidate loco...

En route to Peru

I'm chilling in Miami airport currently, and extremely happy. I've finally finished every for the quarter! Since I left Walla Walla in a hurry on Monday, I still had a six page paper to write for "Methods of Teaching Modern Languages". Besides that, there were two one page summaries and an outline. Instead of stressing about finishing them on Monday, I chose to take advantage of travel time. It wasn't hard to finish everything in my first two flights since together they were about seven hours. I was a little concerned that something might go wrong, but after sending the e-mail with four attachments to my professor (although it will regrettably cost me $4.95), I feel pretty confident.

Now there's nothing but 3 more hours of sitting, and one flight to Lima and I will be enjoying the company of my amazing sister and cousin (and friend, don't forget Aaron). Sweet.

Good luck to my compatriots that remain in Walla Walla and are still worrying about finals.

It's one of those weeks. I transfer my pile of clean laundry from the floor to the bed instead of folding it neatly. I forget about my 10 page paper en español and play fútbol. I blog instead of going to the library to study. I miss drama production try-outs, then regret it and e-mail the director. When I see her, I turn around and walk the other way, hoping she won't see me. I wake up at 7:59 and rush to my eight o'clock class, arriving just before my presentation. Didn't I set the alarm for 5:30? I delay work and go to Midweek Meditation. Instead of paying close attention to the sermon, I stressfully make a schedule for the next three days. Will I have enough worship credits? Those times I did music and forgot to write my name down...

Next week will be better I tell myself. I'll be on my way to Perú, with no cares in the world. Or will I be memorizing lines for the upcoming play? Or writing a paper due on Wednesday, e-mailing it from 5,000 miles away?

Next quarter will be simpler. I'll quit my job. There! That's fifteen extra hours. Then I remember tutoring: five hours. Church organ playing: at least four. Oh, and then the play: Much Ado About Nothing, 286 lines to memorize. Practices every week?

I hate and love being busy at the same time. When I have more time, I fill it with something else.

It's one of those weeks. The weeks that make you appreciate peaceful times, peaceful places. Metallak Island. Hawaii. The farm. Reading newspapers in a London flat. Hiking around the Cinque Terra. Picking blueberries. Sailing.