Surprises

There have been a few of those this week. Here's a recap.

Monday: After a long, kind of rough day, I was slightly grumpy and my dear friends were kind enough to be patient through this spell. Probably it helped that they knew they were giving me a surprise birthday party that night. A bunch of people came to the office after SALI and surprised me with bocaditos, singing Feliz Cumpleaños, and a delicious chocolate-cherry cake (including the Peruvian tradition of pushing it in your face as you lean down to take the celebratory first bite). It helps when your suprise birthday party is more than a week in advance of your actual birthday. But I wasn't going to be in Trujillo for my birthday, so they wanted to recognize it. I have some great friends.

Tuesday: We had an Amigo Secreto (Secret Santa) party among the staff at the clinic. It was a lot of fun - everyone standing up and giving clues/saying nice things about their secret friend before giving them their gift. It was Daniel's despedida, too, since he's not coming back after Christmas (per continuing dental school), so people said nice things about him too. Then I got a sweet card and a T-shirt from everyone for my birthday, which was a sweet surprise. Plus, Delvith, the lady who sells papas rellenas and tamales outside the clinic everyday, had made me a purse! Very sweet. It's red, which is fun, and quite appropriate for the season.

Wednesday: Instead of having class, I met my basic English class to go eat since it was the last day. Before heading out, I asked Flor exactly the time of my flight from Trujillo to Lima the next day. I thought it was around 10 pm. Turns out it was at 6:25. Good thing I asked.

Thursday: I went with don Jose, one of the clinic's patients, to the hospital to get the pathology results from a biopsy they took Monday at the Ear/Nose/Throat consultorio at the hospital. He'd had a pretty nasty tumor grow in his nose within the past couple of months. Found out today it is NOT cancerous. Hooray! Thank the Lord. Then I got back in time for the chocolatada at the clinic for the patients. Lots of kids enjoying hot chocolate and paneton, the Peruvian Christmas bread. Good times.

Now I'm in the Lima airport. Long night, but it's going ok so far. I took a nap, which was helpful. I'm hoping for some sleep on the plane. It's a little strange... I'm really looking forward to spending Christmas with my family in Tupelo, but I don't want to leave Trujillo. I guess that's a good thing, huh? It'll be a great couple of weeks. There's a lot that doesn't feel like Christmas when it's not cold, no fires, no Christmas tree (although it makes me happy when I see them). I'm looking forward to Christmas music, lights, family, friends, warm clothes, and good food. And heading back to Trujillo in 2 weeks.

Much to be Thankful for

... not one of which, for you guys anyway, is my failure to post recently. But it's been a great - if busy - few weeks. Let me tell you why.

First, I'm in Peru. But you already knew that. Second, Thanksgiving happened. Which you probably already knew, too. But it's a little different (and kind of comes unexpectedly) when there aren't the cues of crisp, fall air, crunchy leaves, pumpkins in the stores, or any general talk of the holiday to clue you in on its impending arrival. Nevertheless, although without the normal atmosphere or pomp and circumstance, we still had a nice day. The gringo missionary families and a few friends celebrated together and, don't worry, stepped up to the difficult task of still eating as much as possible. And it was good. Including my first-ever nibble of fried turkey. Did you know some people fried turkeys?

The other really exciting thing was the beginning of Thanksgiving week. My two dear friends Haley Mills and Katelyn Hancock, who put up with living with me for 3 years of college, came to Peru. We missed the lovely Kristing Hendricks, the other 1/4 that completes our Sweet Suite, but it was wonderful getting to see such good friends and experience some (more) great memories together. They didn't make it to Trujillo, but I met them in Lima about midnight Saturday, and thus began our 4 full days of awesome-ness and very little sleep. This included catching up and falling asleep in the airport, arriving in Cusco early Sunday morning, taking combis and micros through the Sacred Valley (stopping at the really cool market in Chinchero, seeing the salt wells in Urubamba, and taking the train from Ollantaytambo to Aguas Calientes. This was all on Sunday. :)

So, as Aguas Calientes is the tourist trap where everyone going to Machu Picchu has to stay, Monday started REALLY early (don't ask) with the hike up to Machu Picchu. We got there in time for the park to open, at which point it started raining. Undeterred, we entered anyway, waited in a little hut, huddled over our guidebook learning about MP until the rain and clouds lifted enough for us to actually see and enjoy it. This, however, did not happen, so we gave positive attitudes a valient effort, got cold and wet, and then decided to try and wait it out some more. I'll spare you the details, but it's a good story and we met some cool people, and eventually the sun did come out to give us a gorgeous day - quite a blessing. Although, in hindsight (especially after knowing the part about the sun coming out later), it was pretty cool to see this ancient, mystic place shrouded in clouds and mist. And we climbed Huana Picchu, the mountain behind the ruins, and kind of felt on top of the world.

So that was an exhausting but awesome day. And the next morning was really early (again) to head take the train back to Ollantaytambo from Aguas Calientes. But it was worth every hour of sleep lost to see the sun rise over the mountains on that train ride. Rivaled Machu Picchu itself, believe it or not. Absolutely gorgeous.

So, we took advantage of the rest of the day together, enjoying a cool cafe and some more ruins in O-town, then some choclo con queso and a couple of hours exploring the city when we arrived back in Cusco. And Katelyn and Haley tried cuy (guinea pig, for those who might not know) that night for our declared Thanksgiving dinner. His name was Pepe, in case you're interested.

Oh yes... I am blessed beyond belief.