From the jungles of Peru...

Today offered our first real view of the city we will be calling "home" over the next few days...definitely not a scene out of your average North American city.
I saw my first pineapple plant today... and banana tree! How surreal is that?! This morning we all crammed into little cabs(driving regulations are pretty much non-existent here!) and made our way to the camp. It's the beginnings of a retreat center up in the mountains. After having a small breakfast, we split our work forces - construction on the bathrooms, and excavating a soccer pitch into the side of a mountain.
It didn't help that it was pouring rain...which gave us a small break from our labour! We hiked down to the river for a bit of free time...which had me in my rubber boots giving piggy backs across for those who didn't want to get wet. Yeah...I kinda took a wipe out with Monica on my back...so much for protecting people's kids while I'm here! Despite the fact we were all soaked and had increased the likelihood of picking up a parasite from immersing ourselves in the water, we finished the afternoon with digging and picking before heading off to our nice cold showers!
Tonite we had our first real taste of Pichanaki. It is so different from anything I've ever experienced before. They currently have vendors lining the streets under tarps - a tradition over the Christmas/New Years week. At the place we exchanged our money, they had the new Hillsong United cd playing...IN SPANISH!
The exchange rate is really good - 1 US dollar equates to 3.16 sols in Peru...which makes us pretty wealthy in comparison to the locals. To give you an example, a quarter chicken dinner with fries will cost you 5 sols, which is less than a couple bucks US. Some of our kids picked up Peruvean blankets for 15 sols, which equates to 5 bucks US. CRAZY!
Tonite we had our first practice with our ministry groups. Due to the fact the drama team was using the cd player, the puppet team opted for balloon making. From my limited skills we managed to create things that looked somewhat like dogs! One of the girls, Leanna, who was staying in the hotel, received arm loads of our attempts! Mike T. connected with her - it was so cool to see his "sensitive" side.

We got the brainwave to take our newly acquired talents to the streets, and being well after 10 were wondering how many kids would actually still be out. As we turned the corner from our hotel, we were amazed to see kids still playing in the dark streets. It didn't take long before we drew a crowd... and were swarmed by kids amused by our balloons.
Some of the kids could manage some English... which made communication a little easier! Our two main phrases can get us their names and age. I loved sitting back and watching my team step up and connect with the Peruvean children.
The excitement that could be seen in their eyes in doing something so simple was priceless. That memory will be ingrained in my heart and mind forever.
Another memory will be a group of kids asking me to sing something in Spanish. After they filled the requirements of singing a song in English, I complied with the only song I knew in Spanish that I had learned in Ecuador 5 years ago. To my amazement (and relief!) they knew it and sang with me. Nothing has sounded so beautiful to me in my life.
What a great start to our stay here in Pichanaki!