Me: This morning I woke up late!
You: What? How?
Me: Well I didn't have any alarm clock, didn't hear my roommates get up, and who doesn't sleep peacefully on a floating island that gently rocks you to sleep?
You: Wait why were you sleeping on the island???
Me: Well here's the long version...
Yesterday (May 7) Nelson and Dora offered to feed (dinner/breakfast) and sleep as many of the students that wanted to. (It turned out that everyone who was feeling well wanted to.) So after returning to the mainland for a "quick" shopping trip (remember the knife that the reed cutting team wanted welded?) and to gather things for an overnight stay we all headed back out to the islands to sit down to Dora's famous fish and rice and to settle in for the night.
Side Notes on our "quick" shopping trip:
1) I may be getting my days blended together (it is after all one year later, and my journal is not so helpful at this point), but I do certify that all of these events happened even if the order is mixed up.
2) It felt like we walked all over the entire town of Puno looking for Nelson's friend's welding shop and a few other things for the other teams.
3) There is a lot of irony in paying for the privilege of using a public restroom in Peru. Let's just say I've had more fun going to the bathroom on backpacking trips.
4) Special Spiritual Story: At one point Rydge and I found ourselves waiting for team members and hanging out with one Nelson's relations on a street corner. Now neither Rydge nor I spoke very good Spanish and our friend spoke almost no English, so we all werent' talking a whole lot. Then Nelson's (brother???) decided he wanted to tell us the story of his conversion to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. I won't share his story here, but what I do want to share is the miracle of how Rydge and I understood everything he said. We had not dictionary, just our limited Spanish and the Spirit. (For more information about the Spirit, also known among LDS as the Holy Ghost, visit here.) I don't know how exactly it worked, but I do know these three things:
1) No English was spoken except between Rydge and I to confirm to each other what we had heard.
2) The Holy Ghost can teach us anything, even if it is the humble conversion story of one man in Peru.
3) When Porter (who did speak Spanish) later translated the story to the whole group, Rydge and I just looked at each other and nodded because we already knew the story.
After dinner, we sat in a circle with Nelson, Dora, their children and Nelson's brother, his wife, and children, and listed as Nelson and Dora shared the stories of their conversions as well as their testimonies of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. For more about Nelson and Dora read here. We all had a great time, and were grateful to Porter for translating. Then we all found places to sleep, the guys on the floor of the restaurant and the girls in an empty shed, and proceeded to sleep peacefully. Because as previously mentioned gently rocking island = bliss.
The next morning (May 8) we all woke up and got back to work on our projects. Some people headed into town with Nelson to do some more shopping and to pick up the rest of our teammates.
You: What? How?
Me: Well I didn't have any alarm clock, didn't hear my roommates get up, and who doesn't sleep peacefully on a floating island that gently rocks you to sleep?
You: Wait why were you sleeping on the island???
Me: Well here's the long version...
Yesterday (May 7) Nelson and Dora offered to feed (dinner/breakfast) and sleep as many of the students that wanted to. (It turned out that everyone who was feeling well wanted to.) So after returning to the mainland for a "quick" shopping trip (remember the knife that the reed cutting team wanted welded?) and to gather things for an overnight stay we all headed back out to the islands to sit down to Dora's famous fish and rice and to settle in for the night.
Side Notes on our "quick" shopping trip:
1) I may be getting my days blended together (it is after all one year later, and my journal is not so helpful at this point), but I do certify that all of these events happened even if the order is mixed up.
2) It felt like we walked all over the entire town of Puno looking for Nelson's friend's welding shop and a few other things for the other teams.
3) There is a lot of irony in paying for the privilege of using a public restroom in Peru. Let's just say I've had more fun going to the bathroom on backpacking trips.
4) Special Spiritual Story: At one point Rydge and I found ourselves waiting for team members and hanging out with one Nelson's relations on a street corner. Now neither Rydge nor I spoke very good Spanish and our friend spoke almost no English, so we all werent' talking a whole lot. Then Nelson's (brother???) decided he wanted to tell us the story of his conversion to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. I won't share his story here, but what I do want to share is the miracle of how Rydge and I understood everything he said. We had not dictionary, just our limited Spanish and the Spirit. (For more information about the Spirit, also known among LDS as the Holy Ghost, visit here.) I don't know how exactly it worked, but I do know these three things:
1) No English was spoken except between Rydge and I to confirm to each other what we had heard.
2) The Holy Ghost can teach us anything, even if it is the humble conversion story of one man in Peru.
3) When Porter (who did speak Spanish) later translated the story to the whole group, Rydge and I just looked at each other and nodded because we already knew the story.
After dinner, we sat in a circle with Nelson, Dora, their children and Nelson's brother, his wife, and children, and listed as Nelson and Dora shared the stories of their conversions as well as their testimonies of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. For more about Nelson and Dora read here. We all had a great time, and were grateful to Porter for translating. Then we all found places to sleep, the guys on the floor of the restaurant and the girls in an empty shed, and proceeded to sleep peacefully. Because as previously mentioned gently rocking island = bliss.
The next morning (May 8) we all woke up and got back to work on our projects. Some people headed into town with Nelson to do some more shopping and to pick up the rest of our teammates.
No comments:
Post a Comment