New Country, New Project, New Feel

Our attempt at spelling Bo-ru on the salt flats.

Before you start worrying that 'new feel' means, we hate it here, we're all fighting loads, and we want to go home, or failing that back to El Alto, take heart, it doesn't mean any of those things in the slightest and its a positive thing that I will explain later...

Team Bo-ru on the Salt Falts.

But for now you're probably wondering where I've dissapeared to for the past month, or this may come as no suprise to you because 'Jon's always been useless at communicating', or you may have become bored with Musings and simply don't check enough to notice the lack of acitivty (I hope that 3rd option wasn't applicable to anyone..). Hopefully, if you can cast your minds back, you'll remember that Bolivia ended with a team holiday, whioch was less of that and more a, see as much as you can of Bolivia in about 6 days. As enjoyable as team holiday was, and as much as I'd like to share with you what we did, I only really have time to do a quick checklist, so remember to quiz me when I get home..

• When your in Bolivia you can't leave without doing a tour of the salt falts. We went for the 3 day option including, flamingo spotting, spending hours in hot springs watching the night sky and a lot of 4x4 driving.
• One last day in La Paz. I've mentioned La Paz before but honestly its an amazing city, beautiful and will be missed greatly.
• Finally on our jounrey to Cusco we stopped off at Puno, on lake Titicaca (yes thats its real name) where we did a tour of the floating islands.

We took out pedelos on lake titicaca.

After team holiday we arrived in the early hours of tuesday 14th May in Cusco, where we were met but our English supervisors, Jenny and Roland, who took us home for a breakfast including cornflakes and marmite! Oh bliss... So followed 3 days of orentation including info on the project, time in Cusco to hang out, and even a small lesson in Quechua! Our time in Cusco was, shamefully western. This beautiful cultural hub, the old centre of the Inca world, and what do we do first? Macdonalds, followed by Starbucks, I hate myself for it, but it was soooo good!
Regardless, let me explain to you my whereabouts and happenings of the last month or so since Cusco, and contact with western society...

Down in Deepest Darkest Peru...

On the way up the mountains, Alex and I decided to see how far we could go.

So having tasted the smallest aroma of western culture, we were quickly back to reality, as we hopped on a 4 hour coach ride into the depths of rural Peru. Our project is in a place called Hannocca. Sorry, let me re-phrase, our project is in a training centre, which has a church and 1 farm next to it, which collectively is called Hannocca. It was quite a shock to some of the more 'towny' team members to find out that the nearest town was 45 minute walk away (and its a strech to call Layo a town) and the nearest internet was a 1 and a half hour bus journey from Layo.
Despite the initial shock of our isolation we're very much used to this community now and are becoming very attached to our rural surrondings, I mean, to wake up to 5000m mountains in your back yard ain't bad...

A Short Guide to Surviving a Quechua Service...

 

Now I'll admit, a 2/3 hour service in Spanish was somewhat of a challange, but as I got used to it, and as I pickede up more Spanish, I could get the jist of a lot of the service and could quite comfortably sit through it. However, a 5 hour service in Quechua, yes, that langauge that has the stupidly long words that no one can prenounce, with songs that honestly are all the same, tends to push the limits of my pacience a tad more. So if you ever find yourself in one of these indurance fests, wondering if the pastor's sermon could cover any more of biblical truth due to its length, or pondering the posibility of them creating a song that branches out from the safety of 2 chords, here is a little guide to avoiding your full quoter of bordom...

1. Never, repeat, never forget your bible. Forgetting to bring a bible to church in the UK is no big deal, there are pew bibles, or maybe even the verses will be projected on a screen, but in rural out Hannocca, forgetting your bible is simply not an option. Firstly its the ultimate tool, you can seem like you are engaging because, you're reading God's word, therefore avoiding any offence. Plus its church, and although you can't understand, it does help just a little to try and learn from what God has to say, I mean, when else are you going to have 5 hours to study the minor prophets of the Old Testament..?
2. Although it may seem rude, bring a good book, ideally Christian but not essential. When the person leading the service stands up and says (in spanish) although you can't understand, we're going to do the service in Quechua, they don't mind if you smile and then bury your head in a book. 
3. A notepad. If whilst skimming through Nahum you see a particular verse about the destruction of Nineveh that strikes you, you might want to jot it down because the pastor won't be explaining it at the front in a way that will stick in your memory. Also, a great time to write a diary entry or a blog update (although I've not yet taken advantage of this). 
4. Snacks, if subtle, can be very effective.
5. Most importantly, make sure you get plenty of sleep the night before!!!

Different Feel...

 

Much as we are apprechiated, the need here is far less than El Alto, and therefore we really feel that God has ear marked this time to grow in our personal relationship with him and be challenged by him. Devotions have been amazing, and we're growing closer together as a team. So it is a really blessed time. We also have a medical team from the US numbering 30 people arriving next week so the whole site will explode with activity. Anyway, I'm out of time and the team are telling me to hurry up so I must be off...

After a long afternoon of work. They plaster in rural peru, by throwing mud at the wall...

Much love and thanks, and you're in my prayers.

JJ