Gringo Infestation

More gringos! Lampa is veritably crawling with them now. The second Lithia Springs team arrived this morning. Their translator missed his flight, so we have to go pick him up tomorrow morning.

But I am behind and still havent told much about the first team, besides the fact that they were all sick at one point. This might be a little scattered, because a lot of things have happened lately. Let me backtrack a bit...

Ok, so I have posted about our trip into Puca Cuesta and our showing of the kid Jesus film in the Lampa school. After we got back to the hostel, several of us that were feeling up to it went into Juliaca to shop and do the things we needed to do. Wade took the new people to Tupac, the everything market, and Dave and I went to Internet cafes to blog and post more pictures. After spending more than two hours fighting with the slow and stubborn internet, I finished up and went looking for Dave, who had gone to a different cafe with CD-burning capability. I went in several cafes and asked about him, but couldnt find him, until he snuck up behind me and almost gave me a heart attack. I was very glad he found me because I sure didnt want to head back to Lampa by myself. We got a Trici-Taxi to the Lampa combi stop, and on the way we saw a dog get ran over. It was kinda tragic at first, but when the dog got up and ran off, it became funny. Ok, anyway...

When we got back to Lampa, we saw that our team had hung a sheet on the side of a building in the plaza and was trying in vain to hook up the equipment to show the Jesus film. There was actually a crowd of Lampans standing around waiting for the film to begin, and even though Dave came over and put in his two cents, no one could figure out why nothing was working. The projector wouldnt even turn on. I think it may have had something to do with the voltage difference here in Peru, but even with a power convertor, nothing happened. So we had to appologize to the crowd, and head back to the hostel. Even up until today, people have been asking what happened with the movie.

The next day, we went to Moquegache school and did the bead bracelets with them too. It was fun, and the kids really liked having more gringos around, I think. The gringos enjoyed it too. When we got back to the hostel, several people took naps while others of us worked up a drama to perform in the square. We took the story of Pauls conversion from the Bible, and delegated parts and constructed constumes. Rather, I should say costume, because Keith, playing King Agrippa, was the only one who didnt appear completely in normal clothes. Dave and I made a crown for him out of a vanilla wafer box, and I used my cheap asian crayons to draw jewels and color the whole thing yellow. Then we covered it with clear tape, and viola! A genuine shiny cardboard crown fit for an ancient king. I was the narrator, Wade played Paul, Dave played Ananias, and everyone else was either a persecuted Christian or a person who did the persecuting. That next morning, early, we went to the fountain in the center of the plaza and set up for our drama. I was a little skeptical whether we could draw anyone, but as soon as we started, and I lifted my voice to almost a yell while reading, here they came. We had drawn quite a crowd before we were through, and even got some applause at the end. Mike spoke afterward, with Luis translating, and then we passed out tracts like crazy. I really hope the people got something from watching our drama, and werent just there to gawk at the gringo spectacle.

Thursday night we all went to Juliaca for a nice dinner at the Royal Inn. Keith bought our dinner, and we had a good time just laughing and talking. I sat across from Patty, one of the translators, and I spent most of the night in conversation with her. What a cool lady. She lives in Lima, and I really want the chance to visit her again, if possible.

Everyone left early Friday morning, except Margaret, and we bid them all goodbye as they left in Jorges combi for the airport. They left behind so much food that we havent had to eat out in a week. That afternoon, we took some clothes to the family with the sick mother and saw that her condition hadnt really changed much. Please keep praying for her family.

Saturday morning, we went out to Moquegache for the mothers club meeting. Upon arrival, no mothers were there and so Wade and Dave went walking out in the campo to meet people while I stayed with Margaret in the combi. When they came back, we told them that the people who had come were having some sort of meeting and we really didnt feel good about disturbing them, especially since the president was in attendance, and he doesnt like us. When I said hello and asked him how he was, he ignored me. Anyway, we decided to pay Jorge an extra 20 soles to take us to the Cave of the Bull, which was a little ways away. After hiking a good ways up the side of one of the hills, we arrived to the "cave," a shallow hole in the side of a larger rock that looked slightly like the profile of a standing bull. The people had helped it look more like a bull by piling rocks to define the legs and lower body, and had also burned the walls of the cave to make them black so they would stand out more. Oh well. It was still cool and we have some good pictures from that little excursion.

We met Rick and Kelly, along with the research team, at the Royal Inn that night for a thank-you dinner to show them how much we appreciate all that they have done for us this summer. It was a fun reunion, and we laughed a lot and reminisced. We split the cost of the familys dinner among the six of us summer missionaries, and took even more pictures. After we said good bye to them after dinner, and Margaret went back to Lampa, we three on the Lampa team decided to spend the night at the hostel where the research team was staying. We went out to a discoteca that night and danced the night away. Yeah, I know, we are Baptists, right? Not supposed to be dancing. I promise, we refrained from bumping and grinding and just danced crazy, causing a lot of laughs from the poeple watching. What a blast. We stayed out late and then went back to the hostel exhausted and giggly. Us girls stayed up awhile talking. The guys room was next door, and they said they heard a mumble coming from our room, and every now and then, a loud burst of giggles. It was so late that we laughed a lot, especially when one of us would fart loudly. Sorry. I have a theory. Digestive systems dont work correctly below the equator. Anyway, it was a fun night, and we sent them off in a taxi the next morning to the airport to return to Lima.

Yesterday morning, Sunday, we went to both our churches and gave them the Bibles in Quechua that we had left over. Margaret played with her kids all the rest of the day, and that night, we played our last game of Monopolio. Wade will tell you that he won, but really Dave got tired tired of playing and forfeited so he could go to bed. I had gone out hours before. So Wade, lover of Monopolio, is the self-proclaimed summer champion because he "won" the last game. Good for you, Wade. I hope Amy will be happy to see you pull that game out of your bag when you get home, because no doubt, you are going to try to make her play too.

Two more days here in Lampa. Weird. I will really miss this place. Will I ever come back? Who knows. Maybe. My next and last post will be from Lima. Thanks for reading all my adventures this summer and cant wait to see you all when I get back to the states! Chau!