Stuck in the mud and other memorable events

May 3

Don Roder took us in his mototaxi by way of the market on our way to breakfast on Wednesday morning to say good-bye to Sra. Georgina, who was already at work selling different lentil concoctions.

Public restrooms located inside the green building

 ◦                Breakfast at Sergio and Delicia's with two hymns after

Back row - Jairo, don Sergio (don Roder's brother), Dickson, don Rode

Front row - Palmira, Elvia, Olinda, Sra. Delicia

◦                Station wagon (Elvia and I in front with the driver and the other four workers squished into the back seat) to San José

We stopped in this little town to buy water and a few other odds and ends.

Elvia waiting next to the little store (inside the door on the right)

Busy road today!  First a horse and now a mototaxi.

This family was doing their washing at a little creek that run alongside (and over) the road.  

Getting foggy

Somehow palm trees just don't seem to fit in with these surroundings!

San José

Dicson stands outside the home where we four sisters will have lunch.  He and Jairo will journey on for another couple of hours before they make it to where they're going.  

◦                Lunch (four sisters) with Sra. Elvia and her two little girls (I gagged on my first bite of chicken leg. I think perhaps my system is getting tired of them!) Read Matthew 5 after lunch, and we all shared a few thoughts afterwards, in the style of a study and then sang a hymn to end. 

No lights to turn on, and if we opened the "door" to the kitchen (on the second floor), it just got plain cold in there!

◦                Bathroom at Sra Elvia's (possibly the worst I've ever been in)
Author's note:
I will not expound on this.  But it is saying a lot.

◦                From Sra. Elvia's to don Silverio and Sra. Alejandrina's was about a ??? hour trek cross country. (I think I have all of these question marks in my journal so that I could go back and ask someone later.  However, it doth appear that I did not get all of my questions answered before leaving Peru.  As best as I can now recollect, this was something like a two hour hike.)  I ended up up to my knee once when I made a misstep and came close to wiping out a couple of other times but mainly made it without incident. (Interestingly enough, the previous night I had had a dream in which the earth opened up and swallowed me.  As we were walking through places that contain "some swampy areas," my dream did come to mind.  Especially as I was sinking.  Fortunately, it was only one leg, and I was near a rock that I could use to pull myself out.) That said, the bottom layer of my skirt was a royal muddy mess by the time we arrived. Thanks to Elvia's steady scrubbing, it came basically clean after the seventh or eighth rinse.  (Pictures coming after we actually arrive)

◦                Upon arrival, the sisters acted like we were lost, which was quite believable considering the route we had taken to get there!  (And considering how nobody seemed to be entirely sure of the route in at least one spot)

◦                "Put your wet clothes here in this tub, Srta."
Author's note:
This was the repeated, insistent plea of don Silverio when we arrived, and he saw the condition of my skirt.  Before even showing us our rooms, he had the tub in the living room into which I should, apparently immediately, place my wet clothing so that I would not die from pneumonia or some other wet-clothing induced ailment.  I finally convinced him that, given a little time, I definitely would put my skirt in that tub.  After that, he showed us to our rooms, and I was able to more conveniently remove my offending clothing and replace it with dry attire.

◦                Slipping in the mud in the laundry area and then hitting my head on the wooden beam on the outside of the house when I backed up
Author's note:
I believe Elvia thought I would be safer just tucked into bed after I nearly fell when I came out to check on the condition of my skirt and then hitting my head on the low beam that was behind me when I started to head back to the house.  

◦                Gospel Meeting at 4:00 (4:15). Present were don Silverio and Sra. Alejandrina, their son and his wife and little girl and their daughter in law with her three children.

◦                All stayed for supper - cuy with rice and yucca, I believe were the sides

◦                Visited in the kitchen around the fire stove until bedtime, which was mercifully before 9:00

And now for the rest of the pictures:

Leaving San José in the fog

I didn't take pictures of the really muddy places because I didn't want to take chances with my phone.

I don't know if you've noticed how I seemed to take a lot of pictures of cows.  They just always seemed to be standing in very picturesque places, adding to the pastoral scenes by their simple presence.

There's a barbed wire fence on the other side of those rocks.  We high-stepped and crawled under lots of barbed wire in our cross-country journeys!  

Again, the palm trees just seem out of place to me here in the mountains.  But there they are, in all their stately glory.

I must confess that when this house came into view, I was strongly hoping that it would be our destination.  However, the call was, "Onward and upward!"

And then it started to rain.

This is where the "trail" veered off, and there was no certain guide among us.  Palmira went ahead to check and came back with the report that we should continue on the other way.  I really did trust them, but I will also admit that their hesitance was a bit disconcerting.  

And it seems like this is our destination.

"Oh, we're lost," they say.  "We should have taken that other trail back there."

Fortunately, they were kidding.

Our initial welcome party

My room

Have you ever thought about using the bedpost for toilet paper storage?  

Also, it was very handy to have the light switch dangling directly over my bed.  I didn't have to get up to turn out the light!

Elvia models my filthy skirt.

Funny how all the Peruvians arrived with essentially clean clothes!  Guess I need a bit more practice.

The living room

Laundry lady

Behind the laundry area

Not sure which rinse we're on.  6?  7?  

Water supply

It's kind or hard to tell how low that roof is, but it was on a beam from this room that I banged my head.  Fortunately, I missed the protruding nail.

Walking around here gets your feet dirty!  

Looking from the living room door across to the kitchen

The laundry area is in back of the kitchen to the right.  The restroom facilities are on a little path to the left of where this picture is taken.

The chicken contemplates entering the kitchen.

Supper

Can you see the claw?  It's what juts off to the right of the piece of meat.

Washing dishes with no running water

Olinda and Palmira keep warm on top of the stove

(The fire is under where the pots are.)

Looking at the kitchen from the other side.  The laundry area is a little to the right at the back of the building.

Looking over the roof of the bathroom.