Friday, July 24, 2009

San Antonio Redeemer Team, Fun wkd Trips, Lancaster PA team....

Wow!  I can't believe it has been a month since I last posted on my blog.  Things have been so crazy busy and it looks like I have a lot to catch you up on from this past month!  Towards the end of June I had a friend stay with me who was traveling through South America after she graduated from PT school.  I met Kim Harris when I was studying abroad in Spain.  She was there doing missions for a year after college and she was my Bible Study leader.  It was such a special time to be reunited with her while I am here in Cusco doing missions now!  We had a great time catching up and praying with each other.

This first week of July we had a team from Lancaster, PA come!  They did a lot of work on the Casa Josefina orphanage including building cabinets, closets, doors, painting bible stories on the walls!  It was fun helping with them while they were here and painting colorful pictures on the walls.... something my mom always told me not to do! ;)  (paint on the walls)  A girl my age, Sarah stayed a week after her team left so it was really fun getting to know her!

This morning my team from Redeemer Church in San Antonio, TX just left.  Yesterday we went to a small mountain village to do medical work with the doctors and I helped to translate.  With a lot of the patients we had to translate from Quechua to Spanish to English, which ends up taking a lot longer.  I saw a ton of different cases including...tuburculosis (already treated...thank goodness), an older lady having a heart attack, men with various infections, terrible back pain...etc.  We went to visit a lady at her home who is paralyzed b/c of a tumor that is wrapped around her spinal chord.  She sits in a wheel barrow all day b/c this is the only thing they have to move her around in.  It was so sad to see these situations and I just pray that these people know the hope they have in Jesus, when it seems that they don't have anything in this world.  It was such a joy to have some familiar faces here and so refreshing!  It was fun showing Chrissy Fitch and the kids around the orphanage and for them to see my life here in Cusco.

A lady from my home church, Mitchell Road is coming in today for a week as well and helping with various things with the Powlisons.  (Betsy Gaunt)  A team from Charlotte is coming in tomorrow and will be helping with the orphanage.  I also have a big concert coming up next Friday in the main concert hall downtown with the Cusco Symphony!  It is for the Independence Day of Peru on July 28th next week!

I have been able to do a few fun travels this past month on the weekends.  I did a 3 day hiking/camping trip to Lares Thermal Baths.  We hiked 7 or 8 hours each day and ended up in the hot springs which felt amazing!!  I loved this beautiful hike through the mountains!  Another weekend I went with some girls to Puno and out to the floating reed islands and another Island called Taquile!  Last weekend I went out white water rafting with a group from the English church I go to for a day!  It was a lot of fun!! :)  White water rafting in Peru!!

I will try to keep you all updated more frequently... things get so busy sometimes!

Thanks for following! :)