For those of you who care little for history, you might want to skip the following long-winded post. Today both teams (ours and the St. Louis crew that is also here) took a day for cultural education of the pre-Inca people of Peru and went south towards the city of Trujillo. This entailed a three-hour drive, which was fairly uneventful, unless you count the time one of the vans was randomly selected to be stopped at a checkpoint.
Our first stop was Huaca de la Luna (roughly translated as the temple of the moon), one of a pair of large adobe structures from the Moche people, who were wiped out by the Incas. The Moches’ religion was all about duality (white/black, land/sea, etc.); ergo, Huaca de la Luna’s counterpart is Huaca del Sol (Temple of the Sun), which has not yet been excavated and is in poorer condition due to the looting of the Spanish conquistadors. The Huaca was built in layers since each new king would cover over the old temple and build a layer on top of it when he came to power. We saw images of the Moches’ principle god on several of the walls, and our tour guide explained the intricate symbolism of the various parts of the design. We also witnessed the rooms formerly used for human sacrifice—one more experience that makes me glad that Jesus is the only sacrifice I need!
Lunch was next on our agenda, and we got our first taste of “real” American food when we took our repast at a food court with all sorts of good old fast food. A large group of us ended up in Papa John’s. Terrance says the Peruvian version of Papa John’s is closer to its American counterpart than Pizza Hut—apparently their pepperoni pizza might have one or two pepperonis hidden in the cheese and just enough sauce to substantiate the claim that they did, indeed, include that ingredient. Before we left the food court, we paid a visit to an ice cream place, and I tried some delicious orange flavor which Marta (a member of the St. Louis group who grew up in Peru) says is from oucuma, a type of fruit.
Through our post-lunch stupor, we managed to stumble into the vans so we could make our way to Chan Chan, a palace of the Chimu people, another pre-Incan, Peruvian culture. The palace, which is one of nine in the vicinity, is located right on the ocean, which explains the importance that the Chimus placed on the ocean and fishing—designs of pelicans, fishing nets, and ocean waves covered the adobe walls.
A three-hour drive home took most of the evening, and we got another taste of Peruvian driving. (I think the goal is to pass as many cars as you can.) We ate a late supper back here at the school and decided to spend some time resting up before another day of work tomorrow—our last with the St. Louis group before they head home. : (
Oh, and one last note: let me set the record straight on Ben’s post from Thursday the 18th: I was NOT the only one to fall asleep in church, but Ben wouldn’t know that since he wasn’t there…
Signing off for Team Peru,
Jukebox Jean
Tuesday, June 23, 2009
Monday, June 22, 2009
I got a tan today...not :(
Hey everyone! Peru is pretty much amazing! Today was a very unusual day because the sun actually came out which made it really hot out. So we got started at about 8:30 this morning and we made a bunch of metal things. A group of us made grids to put in the bottom of the holes that is used to stabilize huge columns that the other group made. I was on grid duty and let me tell you that was a daunting task, but it was a good time to hang out and talk a lot. Then after lunch we started pouring cement into the holes where the columns were. I had a very important job of counting it was really hard...ok not really I had probably one of the easiest jobs of the day. All of the other workers were doing amazing at shoveling, tossing the buckets of rock and sand into the cement mixer, and pushing wheelbarrows. One of the highlights of the day was when Jordan accidentally hit the water spout with a bucket and the thing flew off causing a huge water geyser. He then tried stopping the water with his hands and was yelling for help. Ben and Zack came running up to try and help him, but weren't very successful. Finally a Peruvian ran up to help them, of course they all were laughing and thought it was one of the funniest things ever, which I would have to agree. So then the Peruvian got cement and put the spout back on. After all of that Jordan tried getting his buckets of water to fill up the tank. Then he turned the water back on and it all happened again because the cement wasn't dry. Jordan was the one clean one after a long day of work. The rest of us were caked in dirt which made us look tan until we actually took a shower. Tomorrow is a touring day which Jean will fill you all in on that tomorrow. Please keep praying for the people here in Peru and for the school. It is filled with such amazing individuals!
-MacKenzie
(love you mom and dad! and Eric)
-MacKenzie
(love you mom and dad! and Eric)
Sunday, June 21, 2009
Saturday June 20 2009
Hi, my name is Mike Jaderston and I am an incoming freshman to Sterling College. I do not know what I am going to study yet, but am excited to play tennis at Sterling. I moved from Gurnee, Illinois (really close to Chicago) to Sterling three years ago.
Today we only worked a half day as does everyone at the school. We mixed cement in a giant mixer and then dumped it into twelve gigantic holes all morning. This will be the foundation for the new classrooms. After the manual labor we got to play volleyball against one of the teams at the school. They are holding Olympic games every Saturday for the children and their parents. This particular Saturday they were holding a volleyball tournament. We had a lot of fun and laughed with the adult team we played against. Even though we were all two feet taller than anyone on the opposing team it was still a pretty fair match.
After lunch we walked to New Reque, a nearby slum village. We handed out candy bags that Katie Sparks assembled for us. We also attended a children’s Sunday school meeting in one of the “houses” in the village (“house”= 4 mud brick walls, a dirt floor the size of most American’s walk-in-closets, and a thatch roof). We watched as the kids sang songs, played games and learned a lesson about how to show love to your father for Father’s Day. Afterward we challenged a group of teenage Peruvians to a game of soccer. We lost 4 to 1. We thought we did pretty well considering Peruvians play nothing but soccer. As we left the village, many of its residents followed us out and were very grateful for us visiting them. One girl even begged Ashley to come up to her “house” at the north end of the village to take a picture with her Mother. Our presence alone really meant a lot to the village. We finished the day with candy bag sorting and devo’s. God does amazing things.
To finish off, I will tell some of my unfortunate mishaps speaking Spanish to the Peruvians. The first one came on day one, when I tried to say “the food was great” to the cooks. Without thinking I said that to them and gave the OK sign. Well, I actually got the Spanish part right, but soon learned from Terrence that the OK sign in Peru is not good. So basically, I told the cooks that the food was great while flicking them off. Oops. Another time, I was playing chess with several of the kids of the village. Their school has a chess club and invited me to play. As we were playing, I made two embarrassing mistakes. The first was saying the word stupid. I made a bad move and said jokingly, “Mi es estupido!” I was then told later that ‘stupid’ is a cuss word in the Peru. But then, I made an even worse mistake. I tried remembering the word ‘turn’ from school, and thought it was ‘toca’. So I was constantly saying, “Me toca,” or “Te toca”. The kids would laugh when I said this, so I thought I was just a funny guy to them. Well, it turns out that “Me toca” does not mean ‘my turn,’ it actually means ‘I touch myself”. So basically I cussed at the kids and told them that I touched myself the whole time I was playing chess. But, in the end, they didn’t seem to mind, as they gave me a computer chess game to play at home and invited me back to play the next day.
Well, got to get some sleep. Thanks for reading and praying.
God loves everybody.
Mike.
Today we only worked a half day as does everyone at the school. We mixed cement in a giant mixer and then dumped it into twelve gigantic holes all morning. This will be the foundation for the new classrooms. After the manual labor we got to play volleyball against one of the teams at the school. They are holding Olympic games every Saturday for the children and their parents. This particular Saturday they were holding a volleyball tournament. We had a lot of fun and laughed with the adult team we played against. Even though we were all two feet taller than anyone on the opposing team it was still a pretty fair match.
After lunch we walked to New Reque, a nearby slum village. We handed out candy bags that Katie Sparks assembled for us. We also attended a children’s Sunday school meeting in one of the “houses” in the village (“house”= 4 mud brick walls, a dirt floor the size of most American’s walk-in-closets, and a thatch roof). We watched as the kids sang songs, played games and learned a lesson about how to show love to your father for Father’s Day. Afterward we challenged a group of teenage Peruvians to a game of soccer. We lost 4 to 1. We thought we did pretty well considering Peruvians play nothing but soccer. As we left the village, many of its residents followed us out and were very grateful for us visiting them. One girl even begged Ashley to come up to her “house” at the north end of the village to take a picture with her Mother. Our presence alone really meant a lot to the village. We finished the day with candy bag sorting and devo’s. God does amazing things.
To finish off, I will tell some of my unfortunate mishaps speaking Spanish to the Peruvians. The first one came on day one, when I tried to say “the food was great” to the cooks. Without thinking I said that to them and gave the OK sign. Well, I actually got the Spanish part right, but soon learned from Terrence that the OK sign in Peru is not good. So basically, I told the cooks that the food was great while flicking them off. Oops. Another time, I was playing chess with several of the kids of the village. Their school has a chess club and invited me to play. As we were playing, I made two embarrassing mistakes. The first was saying the word stupid. I made a bad move and said jokingly, “Mi es estupido!” I was then told later that ‘stupid’ is a cuss word in the Peru. But then, I made an even worse mistake. I tried remembering the word ‘turn’ from school, and thought it was ‘toca’. So I was constantly saying, “Me toca,” or “Te toca”. The kids would laugh when I said this, so I thought I was just a funny guy to them. Well, it turns out that “Me toca” does not mean ‘my turn,’ it actually means ‘I touch myself”. So basically I cussed at the kids and told them that I touched myself the whole time I was playing chess. But, in the end, they didn’t seem to mind, as they gave me a computer chess game to play at home and invited me back to play the next day.
Well, got to get some sleep. Thanks for reading and praying.
God loves everybody.
Mike.
Welcome to day Six! Happy Fathers Day!
My name is Travis Tesone. I am an assistant football coach at Sterling College. My wife is the co-leader of the trip and I have known Ben for about seven years. I am so very fortunate to be apart of a special group of people serving the families of Peru. I am amazed by how much Spanish I remember. I also haven’t had this much Spanish at one time since my sister Nina’s wedding! (Love you and can’t wait to see those twin baby girls!!!!)
Today being Sunday and also Father’s Day made the day a lot different. We got to sleep in 15 minutes extra for starters! Once we got ready our team and the St. Louis Team headed to Villa del Milagro where we were moving the dirt. This time we had many children to see. Since Villa del Milagro is not completed, they are only doing Sunday School but soon will be transitioning to a Church. There were about 45 kids there and only 7 adults with four teachers. We gave candy to the children then prayed with the adults. We prayed in particular for Laronzo and his eye sight and also for Walter, the paster of Villa Del Milargo. It was very touching hearing Walter’s story. God is Awesome. After Villa Del Milagro we came back to Roma Lee for Church. Church started at 11:00. Church was interesting. Being Father’s Day they had a few specials. First three boys came out in one of the funniest outfits. I’ll do my best to describe it. The kids had shoes, pants, shirt, jacket and a tie on and lastly a big top hat. But between the shirt and top hat was a painted face on the stomachs! There arms were inside the big top hat. The song was “Pappi Pappi Pappi.” It was pretty funny. There was also a lady who sang acapello. It was beautiful. The Praise and Worship was nice. We knew a few of the songs. The message was about being a good father and good husband. After church we handed out candy to the kids.
Being Father’s Day they cancelled Sunday Evening Service. So we went out to dinner to Chifa China for Chinese food. New foods today were pickled turnips and carrots. I liked it, Ashley didn’t. They served us corn juice, but it comes from a purple corn. I liked it, Ashley didn’t. Then for dinner, Chinese food. I like it and Ashley didn’t, she says she’s not a Chinese person, I said to myself, “I know, you’re an American.” She’s so cute. After Lunch/Dinner I took a nap then we had devos and made a video for our Padre’s. I hope you all like it. Today we are just resting up for the work week. We love you and miss you all and thank you so much for your prayers!
Travis “es un chestoso” the jokester Tesone
Today being Sunday and also Father’s Day made the day a lot different. We got to sleep in 15 minutes extra for starters! Once we got ready our team and the St. Louis Team headed to Villa del Milagro where we were moving the dirt. This time we had many children to see. Since Villa del Milagro is not completed, they are only doing Sunday School but soon will be transitioning to a Church. There were about 45 kids there and only 7 adults with four teachers. We gave candy to the children then prayed with the adults. We prayed in particular for Laronzo and his eye sight and also for Walter, the paster of Villa Del Milargo. It was very touching hearing Walter’s story. God is Awesome. After Villa Del Milagro we came back to Roma Lee for Church. Church started at 11:00. Church was interesting. Being Father’s Day they had a few specials. First three boys came out in one of the funniest outfits. I’ll do my best to describe it. The kids had shoes, pants, shirt, jacket and a tie on and lastly a big top hat. But between the shirt and top hat was a painted face on the stomachs! There arms were inside the big top hat. The song was “Pappi Pappi Pappi.” It was pretty funny. There was also a lady who sang acapello. It was beautiful. The Praise and Worship was nice. We knew a few of the songs. The message was about being a good father and good husband. After church we handed out candy to the kids.
Being Father’s Day they cancelled Sunday Evening Service. So we went out to dinner to Chifa China for Chinese food. New foods today were pickled turnips and carrots. I liked it, Ashley didn’t. They served us corn juice, but it comes from a purple corn. I liked it, Ashley didn’t. Then for dinner, Chinese food. I like it and Ashley didn’t, she says she’s not a Chinese person, I said to myself, “I know, you’re an American.” She’s so cute. After Lunch/Dinner I took a nap then we had devos and made a video for our Padre’s. I hope you all like it. Today we are just resting up for the work week. We love you and miss you all and thank you so much for your prayers!
Travis “es un chestoso” the jokester Tesone
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Thanks to all of you that are keeping up with the blog. We appreciate your prayers.
Te amo
Z
Thanks to all of you that are keeping up with the blog. We appreciate your prayers.
Te amo
Z
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