Early mornings and detours

May 8

◦                Not much sleep last night. I set the alarms on my phone and iPad, but my phone didn't have much battery left, so I was afraid it would die before morning, and the last time I used my iPad as an alarm, I didn't hear it for quite awhile. That means I woke up every little bit to make sure it wasn't time to get up yet. Not incredibly restful, but that's the way of it. At 4:00 when my cell alarm actually did vibrate, I was not at all ready to leave my rather comfortable hostel bed, but that's exactly what had to be done.

◦                Jairo knocked on our door about 4:30. Good thing I was dressed and mostly ready to go! I was a bit nervous, however, because my roommate had just gone in to take a shower with not many clothes on, and her clothes for the day were still on the chair in the bedroom. I told Jairo we were about ready and shut the door.

◦                We got to the bach about 4:45, and all the lights were off. Palmira called Celmira's name, Elvia threw pebbles at the bedroom window, and finally Palmira called one of the sister's cell phones. As I later learned, only one alarm had been set, and it was set wrong. We woke them all up. Good thing they were pretty speedy about getting ready. We were loaded up and on the road by 5:15 or so.

◦                Celmira and I were in the front seat, so I had lots of leg room and a good spot for taking pictures. The trip to Chota took about five hours, and the route was quite interesting! Lots of landslides, and the primary route from Cutervo to Chota was impassable. We took another route - basically the equivalent of a cow path for cars. The scenery was breathtaking, and I tried to be balanced in my picture-taking approach, not wanting to miss any great shots (of which there were a seemingly infinite number) but also not wanting to use up my phone battery in the first stretch of the trip. (Starting a nine hour trip with 17% battery life is not ideal!)

This really doesn't look like a two-way street to me!

So, we backed up and got as close to the precipice as we could without plunging down it.

(By now, my mother knows that I made it "home" safely.)

Fortunately, the bus missed our vehicle by a centimeter or so as it passed by.

◦                The van took us directly to the bach in Chota, arriving somewhere around 10:00. Jairo, Celmira, Miriam and I went to a restaurant and had ceviche for lunch - not what I might have chosen, but frankly, I was just relieved not to have to down another greasy, tough chicken leg!

◦                Miriam and I caught a combi leaving at 12:00, and we left shortly after the appointed hour, arriving in Cajamarca a little before 4:00. I remember less about this trip for a couple of reasons: 1) It was raining/hailing and foggy for part of the trip. 2) I had a really hard time keeping my eyes open.

A little foggy

◦                We waited at don Gilberto and Sra. Gregoria's for the whole group to arrive before all going our separate ways again. (Juanito, Almansor, Rosa, Verónica and Javier R to Olmos/Coyunde and the rest of us - Pedro, Beverley, Sara, Sue, Miriam, Flor and I - to our respective homes for supper and the night.)

◦                There's a Starbucks in Cajamarca! Who knew?!?! Sue knew. I may have to find a way to make it through those doors before the week is over.

◦                Started doing laundry as soon as Flor and I arrived to Camilo and Gloria's and kept busy at said task until supper time. Nice that they have tepid water coming out of their tap. Also, twelve year old Lorena arrived from school partway through the process and offered to hang the clothes that I had washed. While she was waiting for more, she just stood there and asked questions and visited. It was really sweet!

◦                Spaghetti with chicken was supper, and it was serve yourself. Hallelujah! Also lovely raw vegetables with lemon and salt. I had seconds of "salad". Before I had finished my dessert, Gloria's brother, who had joined us for supper, asked me to tell my testimony, so that was tonight's sharing.

◦                Flor, bless her heart, suggested that perhaps I would like to go to bed early since my day began rather early. I was forcibly excused from dish duty and sent to my room. That means it's bedtime!!!

◦                Note: I think this is the first day since I arrived in Peru that we did not sing one hymn.