Monday and Tuesday Trujillo, PE to Quito, EC

Our last day in Trujillo was spent shopping. Matt took his 50 soles and bought at cajon and case for 59. So, he paid $2.50 of his money and $17.50 of some unknown drunks' to get the cajon. I guess I should say what a cajon is. It is a box. like a guitar, it has a hole on one side and you play it like a bongo drum, but it has a bass sound and a snare drum sound. In Quito they cost $220! He was pretty happy about this.

We bought things for Julie and Katie and Thomas and Bryan and our last stop was to a supermarket for Peruvian foods that we could take back. A stock boy passed us and I think Matt and I realized at the same time. The man who worked a the hamburger stand and knew all about us? He was not a taxi driver after all. He was Moises (in picture). Moises was a stockboy at the Merpisa supermarket near our house in Trujillo. He went with me to buy our Christmas tree, he was at our house. It has been at least 5 years since I saw him and instead of an 18 year old boy, he is a grown (fat) man!

Matt and I left the store and walked across the street to where I PRAYED he was working. I said, "Man, I am so sorry. I did not know it was you." He laughed and said, "yeah, I got pretty fat!" I was so glad to realize it when I could.

That has kind of been the story of our trip. We saw so many people and instead of missing them by 5 minutes, we caught them by 5. We left that night with Tito who was heading to Guayaquil to pick up volunteers. At Tumbes, I saw Mauricio who was a major help in Tumbes and also Jose Olaya and Eliana de Chavez. We rode on to Guayaquil and caught a plane home to Quito. Hey, even got the Father's month discount becuase I was travelling with Matt!

Sunday Trujillo, PE

We got off the bus on Sunday morning and headed by taxi to the Santos. Matt and I got showers and that helped alot. I even shaved! We had cup of tea and went to Café Oviedo so we could finish putting the message together.

Just had coffee/chocolate and worked. At 9.15 headed to Iglesia Evangelica Bautista Central. I was just absolutely flooded with emotion when I went in. Began to cry, seeing former seminary students and church planters. I knew I was in trouble. When called upon to preach, Matthew and I both went up. I asked the song leader, Hermano Freddi to have another song ready in 5 minutes so I could pull my self together. I told them, I would help dispel prejudice that gringos were cold and without emotion. I talked about how Central was the first church we had visited and we did not speak enough Castellano to know the word Castellano. I also said how the first well project in Cerro Bolongo, Matt had been roughed up playing futbol and pastor José Colchado took him aside like an uncle and talked to him with his Tarzan English and how that touched us.

Matt and I saw Segunda after church. Segunda was the tiny lady who cooked for most of our volunteer groups. Her son Lucho passed away 6 months ago and her daughter Lilly is back in Cajamarca working as a math teacher. Lilly was Jewels Spanish teacher.

Went with Colchado family for chifa which was delicious. On the way back from lunch, Matt looked down and found 50 soles ($17.50) on the ground! Some drunk must have lost it the night before. While Matt feels terrible for the drunk…well, he was glad to use the money.

We went back to the Santos apartment and slept from 1 to 5. We had some supper and did some walking around.

Saturday Huaraz, PE

We got in to Huaraz around 7ish and walked around till we found a cafe. Had greasy scrambled eggs that neither of us finished. Went to a tour company (though about 10 different ones offered). Tour company had good bus and said they would leave at 9.30. It was like 10 but así es el Perú. Matt and I slept most of the way. Road is now paved and much better than last time. At some point, I began having sinus problems like Matt has been having. We passed over 4500 meters elevation and at Chavin I was feeling lousy and my heart racing. We had Burro Saltado for lunch and it was terrible. I guess most people don’t feel the need to add that the donkey meat was bad, but it was. Ruins were very cool and we both slept the whole way going back, or at least as much is possible bouncing over roads.

Arrived about 6 in Huaraz and absolutely freezing. We went to Pizzaria BB where the mud oven keeps you warm. I was in such bad shape. Thought that I was sunburned and high bp. Found out later that I was running a fever. Asked waitress if she saw the Johnsons who are missionaries 8 hours from Huaraz. A vez en cuando she said, when they are in town. As we paid, she ran over and said the Johnson´s truck is parked outside. I left Matt while I went for meds and when I got back, they were parked next to the oven. Had a great time with them. They dropped us off at Linea and we got the sofa cama back to Tru.

I do not remember the bus moving. I awoke at 2 or 3 in the morning and it was like someone had dumped a bucket of water on me. I was drenched from Tumbes to Tacna (Peruvian phrase that means from head to toe). Evidently my fever had broken. I took off my shirt and wiped down with a pillowcase and redressed in the same shirt after I had rung it out. My other shirt was at the Santos being washed for Sunday.

Got to Tru at 7 or so.

Friday Trujillo, PE

Well we did not wake anyone up at 5 this morning. In fact, we slept until 7:45 at the home of José and Maria Elena Santos who run the Baptist Bookstore in Trujillo. They live just 4 blocks from my ¨office¨ at Café Oviedo. Tito and Pavel were waiting for us there. I told Matt never to stand up a fat preacher or a lawyer. One will get hungry and leave and the other will sue you! We had a great time with them. Tito was taking a group to the airport and had to leave around 10 (2 hour breakfast is short, gotta love Café Oviedo). Matt went on to Elliot and that left Pavel and I. It is so great to see friends after a couple of years and you just pick up where you left off.

I eventually left and went to a cabina and then on to Elliot. I saw Bert and Colleen and Victor, but Maria was in a meeting and did not know we were there.

We then went to the Huacas and it was really great

Matt got with Gabriel, Viviana and Scarlett from Elliot School that afternoon. As we left for the bus station to travel to Huaraz, we went to Inkafarma in centro. I heard, ¨Oye Gordo!¨ It was David and Palmera Trigoso from Horeb Baptist Church. David and I had worked together closely for a long time. We left at 9 on Linea and it was awful. Whole trip, neither of us slept.

Thursday Trujillo, PE

We got a sofa cama bus to Trujillo. Arrived at 4.30 AM. Matt was having throat and sinus problems so we walked to a 24 hour farmacia in centro. By 5 we realized that it was 3 hours until a cafe opened and cold and misty. We taxied to Las Delicias on the outskirts of Trujillo and visited Julio and Yolanda Olgien around 5.15. Yolanda was our maid in Trujillo and probably saved us more problems than we will ever know. My hope was that they loved us enough to not shoot at us. They did (not shoot at us) and we had a great time with them for a few hours. Saw them and two of their daughters, Deysi and Seydi.

As will surprise nobody, we had breakfast at Café Oviedo. The cooks and waiters remember us well, as they should (after all, we probably paid for their kids to go to college!) They told us the sad news that the Café´s owner, Theodoro, passed away six months ago. Theodoro was a great guy who had moved to Perú from Oviedo, Spain many years ago and had really treated his employees well.

When leaving Oviedo, we saw a guy at Janos burgers who I could not place. He asked about our kids and Julie and I thought he was a taxista who had worked on the corner near our house. I found out later that I was wrong.

After breakfast, we went to Matt´s old stomping grounds. At Elliot Christian school, we saw Pablo. He and Sarah have 3 girls now! He took us to Twinems and had a great visit. Matt´s friend, Mario, lives on same block and Matt left message.

Went to the Baptist Bookstore and saw Maria Elena. She and José invited us to stay at their apartment, which we did. Saw people at seminary, Julio y Rosio Montalvo, Sofia and baby, Elvis, Miguel from Piura who would ask me 20 minute questions in my missions class. I told Sofia for Pavel to meet me in my ¨office¨ at 8 in the morning. Somebody said Tito had a group in so I left message at Hotel Mercedes to call me at the Santos place and he called later that night.

Having a great time. Matt is realizing that being a missionary kid is a great thing. Very obvious that God has allowed us a big and lasting impact in people’s lives. José Colchado invited me to preach on Sunday, Father’s day. Matt and I are going to preach together, as a team.

Big day planned for today and heading to Huaraz at 9 pm. Will return Saturday at 9 pm on buscama.

Wednesday Morning Tumbes,PE

We left for our vacation on Tuesday night from Quito. This vacation is really Matt’s. It is his present for his 16th birthday, which was in September! We had planned on going during his spring break, but my appendectomy sort of put the kibosh on that. The bus was uncomfortable for Matt and unbearable for me. They just weren’t thinking about 6'2'' guys when they put those seats in. We got to the border station at 8am. Our bus did not wait for us so we walked on into town (about 6 kilometers). Waited an hour for bus to cross the border and were told that the driver was having his lunch and we would get there eventually. So, we walked across the border and took a mototaxi to the Peruvian border station. Then we got a collectivo to Tumbes. The guards at the border station remembered me...or at least remembered Julie's treats she made for them!

We got dropped off near Marta's house and was she ever surprised to see us. She was our maid in Tumbes and became a believer and a friend. Her son, Oscar, is now 5 and while we were there, Marta’s daughter Sandi came home and was very happy to have us visit. We left there and went to see the Sedano family. They were not home so Matt went to find his soccer buddies and I went to see if I could find Raul and Gladys who had moved up to the Sedano's neighborhood. Instead, I found Luis who I had baptized before we left Tumbes. We visited a while and went back down to the Sedano house. Their son, David was there and we were just about to get into a moto when Beti and Nimrod showed up. We spent some time and then Beti's boys wanted to see Matt. We found him near our old house and went to Miguel Grau. Saw everyone there, just about and had a good time.

Matt and I had lunch at Classic and wow was that good! Fish, rice and beans. For supper, he wanted chifa (Chinese Food). Our bus left at 6.30 pm and the chifa did not open till 6 (which means 6.45 at the earliest) so we went to Costa del Sol. There, we saw Joanna and got the typical greeting. Everywhere we go, 'y Juli? como está?' One cool thing at Costa...we came in and there was a lady who waved at us and then spoke up, 'do you remember me?' I confessed that she looked familiar, but… She is married to the owner of the Chifa that we TRIED to eat at. She was at Costa for her son's birthday. Had tons of spiritual questions based on earlier conversations...earlier meaning two years ago! When we had been witnessing to her, she was very close to knowing Christ. My guess is, that she is in fact now a Christian, and was asking the questions as a way to witness to her mother and sister who were with her at the table. I may never know until heaven.

Left CdS and got to bus station. Raul and Gladys were waiting on us! They had seen Luis who told them when and where we were leaving from. Only spent 5 minutes but very nice surprise. We got on bus and it was sofacama! first class seats. We slept great to Trujillo. Got off at 4.30 am. Matt has s sore throat and we went to a 24hr farmacia for meds. Now 5 Am and wondering what to do. Woke up Julio and Yolanda about 5.30. Good thing they love us! Missed Deysis birthday by 5 hours.