Day 05: Girl’s Café Day and Triple Carbs!

This morning included waking up at the crack of dawn in order to hike to a place my friends and I could peacefully watch the sunrise over Huascaran- the tallest and arguably the most beautiful snow-capped mountain in Peru. Until the sunrise, this expedition proved to be anything but peaceful. As our posse trail-blazed (possibly through someone’s backyard…oops) we came across a massive spotted-pig snoring on the shoulder. Continuing our exploration of the trail, we came to a fork in the road and veered off right. Which is ironic because it was not the right way. It led us down to a seemingly serene stream in the gorge. We decided to go rock-hopping and of course I fell and now have a huge painful knot on the side of my leg; also being completely blinded to the sunrise due to the layer of dense foliage above us, we decided to venture back up the trail and take a different, more promising trail. But apparently none of us are lucky because this trail led us directly into someone’s backyard where there dog chased us and we ran for our lives. Naturally, we got somewhat turned around after this escapade and frantically began searching for the trail back to Kusi as the sun was about to rise in 30 minutes. By the grace of God we found a trail that led us back and we were able to sit (and nurse all of our wounds) as we watched the sun rise over Huascaran.

For lunch we were able to go a café called Kawaq- Yaku (Ketchwa for “Living water”). Kawaq- Yaku is a café operated by two missionaries affiliated with Scripture Union and their goal is specifically to support the boys of Kusi with the revenue generated by the café. Apart from the ketchup which apparently Peruvians like with eight times the normal amount of vinegar added in, the food was delicious; they serve American dishes with a Peruvian twist added in. The atmosphere is cozy. To further illuminate the two collusion of the two cultures, they played Mumford and Sons with a traditional Hispanic beat mixed in - it was awesome.

-        Kellyanna

Once the girls returned we began to prepare for our VBS in the afternoon. This included the usual practicing of songs in the kitchen, putting together all the crafts (which today involved gluing together two popsicle sticks to form a craft that los niños would then decorate with shells, shout out to the moms for setting up the crafts every day), and rehearsing the skits. Once the kids arrived, we began to play with them up on the soccer field until it was time to start with the official first game, which today was a scuba relay race. Afterwards, we sang our theme song (Sumergido) with them. Around forty plus kids showed up and participated with us.

That night we had a traditional Peruvian meal of rice, French fries, and beef stir fry. Of course, like every meal we have had, it was also served with pan (bread) – leading us to discover the “Genius!” (as Lauren would say) of a triple carb meal. We fully intend on marketing this triple carb diet upon our return to America. One of the kids, José, created a French fry sandwich, which was also rather genius. After dinner we ran around with the kids in the court yard (it should be noted that these are the most energetic kids I have ever encountered in my life) and gave them piggy back / shoulder rides. Once we had sufficiently worn them down, we returned inside to play various board games, all of which were American and in English so we had to modify rules based on our ability to explain the game.

-        Danny  

 Andres preparing for the relay.

 Our theme verse for the week: Psalm 139:23-24

 The many children who attended the VBS, along with Rosa (left), the house mother.