And So It Begins

Hola amigos,




So it's been 3 days since we got to Peru and we've already done so much. To begin our trip, we have to go way back and start with our airport experience. Rule #1 to flying... make it to the correct airport! Mary and I somehow ended up at Reagan International airport in the heart of DC when we needed to be at Dulles.... 22 miles away in Virginia. We had to be there by 3:30 before the terminal closed and at this point, it was 3:00. With an urgent call to James, Mary's husband, to come back and pick us up, we booked it to Dulles making it there at exactly 3:30! God was with us and decided to delay the plane by 20 minutes, giving us enough time to make it through security and find the rest of our group who were nervously waiting for us to show up. They had talked to several workers at the airport trying to delay the time the terminal closed so when we showed up, there were airport workers waiting for us. Needless to say, we caught the plane and had a smooth ride to Bogota in Colombia.



At Bogota, we had a 8 hour layover meaning we had to spend the night in the airport. So, we took advantage of being in another country and went out of the airport to get another stamp on our passport :) After that, we found some "comfy" chairs to crash on and patiently waited for our plane. We fell asleep to an empty airport room and woke up to a room full of people staring at us as we slept.

We had another safe flight from Bogota to Lima where we were picked up by taxi's from our hostel. David from MMI was there to greet us as well to make sure we arrived safely. Once at the hostel, we checked in and took our stuff to our rooms. At noon, Javier, a taxi driver and friend of Jodee's (our mission mentor) picked us up and took us up on a tour of the beautiful city. We drove through all the plaza's of Lima and ended up at Mira Flores where we dipped our toes into the Pacific Ocean! It was cold but it was worth it. Javier took us to a restaurant where we goes often and had some delicious Peruvian food.  This restaurant used to be a castle and had underground tunnels that lead to the ocean.  For dinner we met up with Hilda, a friend of Sam’s and ate delicious chicken! After we got back from touring the city around 10:00, we had just enough time to come back, sleep for 3 hours, and wake back up again to catch our bus ride to Nazca at 3:45 am. Our bus ride was 7 hrs long and was the comfiest bus ride ever!!!


At Nasca, we went up in a 6 person plane to look at the Nazca Lines. This was quite the experience to say the least. If you've never rode in a VERY small plane before, you probably don't know that it is a very bumpy ride. Between the bumps and the turns, we all managed to come off the plane very sick (except Sam). It was a beautiful and awesome experience, but one time was plenty. The rest of the day was spent recooperating and walking through the desert to the largest sand dune in the world. Unfortunately, it gets dark around 6:30 here so we had to book it back to the taxi before the miners came out of the mountains!!!!!! We should have known it was dangerous when the driver decided to head back to the van before it got dark. It wasn't until we got back that he told us it was "muy peligroso" (very dangerous) in the desert when it gets dark out. We came back, picked up some souvenirs and feasted on our delicious fresh fruit and bread. We then prepared for our 20 hr bus ride to southern Peru.


We met Jodee, our mentor, at the bus station today.  We loaded up the van with our stuff, met a few others who work at the project site and drove to the place we will be calling “home” for the next 2 weeks. The bottom part is an all boys home and the 3^rd floor is a new addition built specifically for volunteers working on projects such as this one.  The house is wonderful with big rooms and comfy beds.  We finally get to sleep in beds again!!! YAY… oh and we finally get to shower (probably the best part).  Now we are settling into our homes, eating banana pancakes, and looking through our pictures. 



Please continue to pray for us as we begin our mission work this Monday.  We have had a wonderful and safe trip so far and we pray this continues.  We are meeting up with Chris and Missy tonight so we get to hear how their journey has been.  Thank you all for your love and support!


Ok well that’s all for now!! Adios J

God bless

Courtney