What an Adventure! (Sorry this post is so long!)

I left Paraguay a week ago today. I spent Monday night in the airport of Lima, Peru and caught a plane the next morning for Cuzco, Peru. I took a taxi and then a bus to Ollantaytambo (about an hour away from Cuzco) to meet up with family friends. My buddy, Brandon Wyatt (the brother of our youth intern Justin Wyatt a few years ago) is a missionary for two years in Lima and his family was coming down to visit him.

We went to Machu Picchu on Wednesday (one of the Seven Wonders of the World) which are old Incan Ruins. (Here's a picture I googled http://www.pdx.edu/media/a/l/alumni_machu_picchu.jpg)We woke up before 5 and headed up the mountain on a bus. Once the gates opened, we ran toward the back left corner to be one of the first 200 in line to climb Waynupicchu, the tall mountain in that background of the photo. They only let two hundred people in at 7:00 am and another two hundred at 10:00 am. The climb was hard but very worth it and about took a little over an hour. From the top, you could see all of the ruins, but more incredible were the jungle-mountaints that surrounded us. I could only say "God makes really cool things!"

We then hiked down the backside to a cave that served as a temple, ate lunch, and hiked an hour and a half back to Machu Picchu (MP). That afternoon we walked around the ruins and took pictures with llamas over looking the whole valley. I never knew that MP would be as big, beautiful, or mystical as it was. It might possibly be the coolest thing I've ever seen.

That night we took a train back to Ollanta and a bus the next day to Cuzco. We were all supposed to catch planes Friday morning for Lima, but my flight was cancelled and I couldn't leave until 4 o'clock Friday afternoon. The Wyatts arrived fine in Lima and I had an extra day and a half to see the city by myself. I called the hostal we'd stayed at and they picked me up. I went to my new room and prayed that God would help me make the most of my situation and be safe. I called my parents and the Wyatts and my Costa Rican family (who I was supposed to see that night in CR) and told them what had happened. I spent that day journaling, walking around the town, and meeting people. I met a woman and her daughter who were touring the area and we saw famous Incan stones and hiked up a mountaint to see the whole city right before sunset. That night I hung out at the hostal and met people from the Netherlands and Brazil.

Saturday morning I woke up and took a taxi to the plaza, ate breakfast at a local restaurant and read my book in the square for a couple hours. Every now and then people walked up to me and tried to sell me things. I kept telling them I didn't need anything else, but thank you. They each got tired of asking eventually and sat down and talked to me for a while. One woman talked for about an hour. I love that I can communicate with just about anyone now. I feel like my Spanish has really improved, although I still have a long way to go.

I had really wanted to be in Costa Rica, but God gave me friends and let me listen to people that I think don't usually have many listeners.

I left Cuzco on my 4:30 pm flight Saturday and arrived in Lima around 5:45. I had to go to the counter to see when I might be able to fly to Costa Rica since I'd missed the flight while I was in Cuzco. I figured it was late and there weren't anymore leaving that day and that I'd spend the night with the Wyatts in Lima. The woman at the counter said that there was a flight leaving Sunday morning and then asked if I had my yellow fever vaccination card. I'd never heard of that before and she explained that if someone has been in Peru, there are certain countries that they cannot enter unless they have this vaccine. Costa Rica happens to be one of those countries (the US is not) and it takes 10 days to get it. I would already be in Texas in 10 days so I knew that getting this in Lima was not a choice. The lady changed my ticket to Thursday the 14th (when I would have been leaving Costa Rica for Longview).

I cried for a couple mintues out of disappointment, but was excited that I would have more time with the Wyatts in Lima. They came and picked me up and I am spending this week with them in Lima. Yesterday I went to two different churches in the Lima area and will be able to visit with more of them later in the week. Tonight a family is coming over for dinner and I am making chicken pesto pizza. Last night, when we were with one congregation, I got to play translator for my two friends who didn't speak Spanish and talk with some of the members afterwards. They were so excited that I was able to communicate with them and kept saying how happy they were that we came down and spent time with them.

Things don't always go the way we expect them to and God has really taught me this week to trust in him and be flexible. Although I do not know when I will see my Costa Rican family again, I trust that God has a reason for keeping me in Peru and I am content wherever I am. Thank you for your prayers! I have really felt them this week!

We´re Safe!

Alsiha and I left Asuncion this morning and because my flight was cancelled, we ended up on the same flight to Santiago, Chile. Alisha will be there all this week and I am currently at the airport in Lima, Peru waiting to catch a flight at 8^30 tomorrow morning to Cuzco to meet up with some old family friends.

This morning on my flight from PY to Chile, I sat my a man who was reading a newspaper. An article caught my eye and he let me have that section. I read that Paraguay only has 14 speech pathologists in the country (of over 5 million people!). When I tell people what I`m studying sometimes I feel like they don´t understand how important it is, or they think it just has to do with elementary kids who can`t pronounce certain sounds. There was a quote in the article that I liked (it´s in Spanish, but I´ll translate it.) ``It`s an art to express out feeliongs and furthermore it is the door to our thoughts. Therefore, if a person cannot speak well and doesn´t understand or learn in school, he or she cannot relate to people at work or function in society.`` This is why I am studying what I am. I want to be used where there is the most need. I keep thinking how cool it could be to get together a group of speech pathology friends to form a type of mission team who could help improve people´s qualities of life in the name of Jesus. When I got on the plane I did not expect to start thinking about these things, but God´s funny that way.

Our Last Day

Alisha and I leave tomorrow morning for Chile and Peru (later Costa Rica) respectively. We've had a really great time and are sad to leave but look forward to our next stops to see friends from other churches/countries.

This being my second time to leave these people, I know how sad I will be this next year, but this time it's different because I don't know when/if I'll ever be able to come back. This time next year I'll be starting grad school and will be busy with that for the next couple years. My prayer is that I will be able to keep up with the church and friends that I've made here and that they have seen Christ through me. I have loved teaching English, hanging out with friends from church and the community. It's my prayer that these churches will grow in love and numbers as they reach out to the rest of this city and country.

Please continue to pray for Alisha and me as we travel. We hope to update again during the rest of our travels. Thank you so much for your thoughts, prayers, and love!

--Shannon