We slept on the living room couches for a few hours this morning before waking up to a really cold house and a really warm breakfast. Puno was probably 45-50 degrees and there’s no heat indoors, so we just sat around with blankets on and froze. The last time I felt this cold was in China in the winter. No matter where we went people were bundled up in their coats and hats, indoors and out. There’s just no way to get warm. I’ve decided that I can’t live in place like this, so I’ll have to move to a southern city in China where it’s warm year round. I’m sure God agrees with my idea!
 |
| Boating on Lake Titicaca |
We took a boat out on Lake Titicaca to take us to the Floating Islands. Did you know that Lake Titicaca is the highest navigable lake in the world? I guess that’s pretty impressive information for some people out there. Our tour boat had the engine of a diesel truck so it wasn’t really cut out for water use. 2 minutes into the water and they had to stop and pull the seaweeds out of it. Oh well, that’s Peru for you. There are 40 islands and each one inhabits about 25 people. They survive off of fishing and tourism. As we floated by the islands everyone stood waving on the edge of theirs in their brightly colored clothing, waiting to see if we would stop at their island. We landed at one where we heard about how the islands were made and the history behind them. It was so fun to walk across it because there are just thick reeds stacked on top of each other, which allowed for my feet to sink a bit after every step. The islands were only about 100 feet in diameter and only had about 5 huts on each one. But I was surprised to find that they had TV’s and solar powered electricity out there. Crazy!
 |
| The Floating Islands |
We came back and spent the rest of the day hanging out at the 40/40 house. This is a ministry that Extreme Peru has where 40 North Americans team up with 40 Peruvians to minister to 3 communities each and then ultimately build a church in each one. All the 40/40 missionaries of an area live in one house where they have house parents. Their job is to help out with the young missionaries’ finances, spiritual growth, and counseling when necessary. The house parents in Puno are Chad and Amanda, and their two little kids are Ella and Thomas; I spent a lot of time with them! They showed us a cute place for lunch and then took us up to the Condor lookout. Incan tradition says that the condor, puma, and snake are the holy and respected animals.
We came home after our cold wet walk to try to rest and warm up. We had coca tea which is what cocaine is made of (though I didn’t know it at the time). I showed the kids all my pictures from the Holy Land and told them the Bible stories to go with each one. They were so well behaved and intrigued the whole way through it!! And we played some Rook before enjoying a hot soup dinner and some conversation with the 40/40’s when they got home from their ministries for the day.
 |
| Hanging out with the kids in the plaza |
We had to leave again for another overnight drive to Cusco. I was a little sad to leave because I felt like everyone was so nice and we were just getting to know each other. We said our goodbyes and our thanks and then went to the bus station for our 9:30 bus. The trip was uneventful, though a little less restful than the night before. I struggled for the last half hour or so because the guy next to me started snoring very loudly, and then they turned up some extremely loud Spanish talk radio. But other than that it was great!
No comments:
Post a Comment