Huayllar

For the last few months, I've been walking to Huayllar with some of the other youth and young adults from my church to have a kids' club with the children of this neighboring village. Many of the families in this village are involved in the roof tile-making industry. A number of the families are also involved in the church. However, most of the children who come to the kids' club are not from families involved in the church. They have shown a keen interest in the Bible and in the stories we have been telling them. My good friend Lisi is in charge of the group, but I've been helping her out lately with telling Bible stories. I continue to realize with doing this that I love to tell stories. It's great fun to dramatize the crossing of the Red Sea or the 10 plagues, for example (we just did a series on the life of Moses). We also usually have a time of playing games and sports (jump ropes, baseball, frisbees, soccer, volleyball, dodgeball, etc). It's a fun time and is starting to show some fruit in the lives of the children. There are several in particular who have shown a lot of interest and even some who come regularly to church. I enjoy being involved with this ministry and it has been a blessing for me. Here is a link to some pictures on facebook that I just posted of our times in Huayllar. Enjoy!

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=255415&id=610351019&l=998b03b595

Let Every Heart Prepare Him Room

The other day in fourth grade was one of those "worth it all" days. It started out crappy. The kids were talking and they would not be quiet and pay attention. We always start out by saying the date, saying and singing the monthly memory verse and then choosing someone to choose a song for the whole class to sing. The entire time it was noisy and I felt like we weren't getting anywhere. It was Jafet's turn that day to choose a song and he, in the spirit of the season, wanted to learn a Christmas song. So I "randomly" chose Joy to the World, since it's pretty easy and fun to sing. We sang it through once, with the participation of about a fifth of the class. I got frustrated and told them to all sit and put their heads down on their desks. That apparently did the trick and, after a bit of down time and me talking to them, they were ready to work. So we sang Joy to the World again, this time with the participation of the whole class. Then we talked about what it meant. The line "Let every heart prepare him room" got special attention. We talked about how the innkeepers in the story of Jesus didn't have room in their inns for Jesus. I dramatized it. They had fun saying "No!" When I asked if there was room. Then we talked about how lots of people today don't have room in their hearts either, how some people just want to drink or work or study and they don't want to go to church or read the Bible and they don't care about God. We talked about how we all have a door in our hearts, a door that can be open or closed, a door at which Jesus knocks and asks if he can come in. I asked them if they wanted to be like the innkeepers and say there was no room. I also said that Jesus won't just open the door and say "Ahem! Attention please! I am now going to live here in your heart, like it or not!" We have to open the door for Jesus. And we talked about how Jesus knocks on the door of our hearts and says to each one of us, "May I come in to your heart?" I ended the day by praying with them if anyone wanted to open the door of their heart to Jesus and talking about how when Jesus is in your heart, He tells you what is right and wrong, what is true and not true and how to live and He tells you that God loves you. As they scampered out to recess afterwards, I was talking with some of them and had the distinct feeling of "Wow, this is worth it!" It was exciting and I thought that was the end of it.
The next day they wanted to sing the same song again. They really liked it. After we sang it and were all sitting down again, Sebas had a question. "Profe", he asked, "how do you know when Jesus is talking to you?" That's not something I'm always completely confident about either, but I gave it my best shot. "Well," I said, "sometimes when you're in Bible class, did you ever think 'Wow, I think what the teacher is saying is true' or 'That makes sense'? That's God talking to your heart right then. And sometimes when you're reading the Bible and you think 'Wow, if God could help them, He can help me too', that's God talking to you. And even sometimes when you have peace in your heart, that is God giving you that peace." Then we got into a discussion of peace and I shared with them the saying "Know Jesus, know peace; no Jesus, no peace". It was fun because they were able to understand the humor in it, even though it was in English! And then I shared with them a riddle that my friend once shared with me: "What's greater than God, more evil than Satan, poor men have it, rich men need it and if you eat it you die?" (nothing) They got that too. So we ended up talking about God things for the better part of two classes and mixing that with English and they were having fun and learning about God and learning English at the same time! Yes!!!!! It gave me an idea for a permanent English bulletin board in the hallway for next year, to try to get the students playing with and interested in English by putting games, puzzles, etc there. But more than that, it was encouraging just seeing how God took that crappy day and turned it into a great day and a very fun day and a day that, I trust, will plant seeds in the hearts of my students. Praise God for those "worth it all" days!

9 more days!

We are counting down the days till the end of the school year at PROMESA. As of the end of school today, that makes 9 more days. Please pray for a strong end to the school year and for renewed energy for the last few days.
A special prayer request is for fifth grade. Lately their attitudes have been very bad and they have not been respecting their teachers, particularly me. I'm not quite sure what has gone wrong, but it is extremely difficult to have class in that classroom right now. Today I talked to them about things for the entire 90 minute class. And I felt like I was talking to a brick wall. So I am quite frustrated with them right now and yet really wanting the last few days of school to be good ones and positive ones, for all my classes but especially that class. But I feel a bit hopeless. And I feel completely unmotivated to do anything in or for that class. Please pray that I can show them God's love even when I'm very frustrated.
On a positive note, I had a very good day with fourth grade, mostly. Started out rough, but then the end was pretty amazing. We learned the song "Joy to the World" and talked about preparing room in our hearts for Jesus. They were very interested and we prayed at the end of class if there was anyone who wanted to open their heart to Jesus. So that was the high point of the day.
I continue to need God's grace for each day. Please pray for the end of the school year. Thanks!

Project Read More English!

Does this image look familiar?
Have you ever looked at a stack of magazines like this and thought there was no hope for them?
Well......think again! Why not send all those dust-collecting magazines to Peru?
I have recently discovered that my students really enjoy reading kids' magazines. The difficulty I've found is that while my students' interest level is that of a normal 4th-6th grader, their reading level is much lower, since English is their second language. Therefore, it's difficult to keep their attention with traditional books in the classroom (Note: I am talking in this sense of free reading books that they can read in their spare time, when they get done early with something, in reading groups, etc. I do use books in my class as well!) While they are ready in thought to tackle a Chronicles of Narnia-sized book, they can feasibly independently read a simple chapter book. This creates a bit of a difficulty. And this is where magazines come in. They're not the answer for everything, but they are cool, appropriate for my students' age level and formatted in bite-sized chunks that are not so overwhelming to read as a thick novel. And yet they're still reading, which is what I want them to do...
So that's where you come in. I'm posting this to ask for any back issues of magazines (particularly kids' magazines) you want to get rid of. Magazines geared to adults are nice to cut up for pictures and things, but for reading purposes, kids' magazines are much more attractive to and easy for them. Possible titles could be (though NOT by any means limited to these): Highlights, Club House, Zoobooks, Kids Discover, National Geographic Kids, Ranger Rick, Weekly Reader, Spider, Cricket, etc.....
If you have any magazines you would like to donate to the cause, please contact Angela Kline or I (see email addresses below). Thanks so much and blessings to you all!
Bethany

kline_angela@yahoo.com
betania129@yahoo.com

Conquerors in Jesus Forever - Promotion 2010

I got to school about half an hour before the bus was to leave on Monday evening. A smattering of students were already there. Took care of some last minute details for Wendy (the other teacher) and I. Kids trickled in slowly, bouncing up to the office, about as excited as you've ever seen kids be. Andre was a human jumping, yelling bean. I felt as tight as a fiddle string myself, not sure how all this would go. After we gave them their class jackets and had a time of prayer with all the nervous parents, we boarded the bus - 18 students and 5 adults (2 teachers, 3 parents). I felt the presence of God as we prayed. We set off for Ollantaytambo (about 2 hours away) where we would board the train for Machu Picchu. We were not even out of Cusco before we heard the first "How long till we get there?" Nor were we out of Cusco before the first student began complaining of motion sickness. Between checking on carsick kids and getting everyone settled and comfortable, I began to feel like a flight attendant. Can you put this CD in the CD player so we can all listen to it? Miss Bethany, I feel sick! Can you help me get my backpack down from the overhead rack? Can you help me get this blanket situated? My stomach hurts! I need to go to the bathroom. They finally all settled down. The first "I think this will all be okay" moment came when Sara and Clara suggested that the whole bus sing a song together instead of singing two or three songs in little groups. They began singing "I Could Sing of Your Love Forever". It didn't catch on, but I enjoyed it. We finally got to Ollantaytambo around 10:30 and got everyone's luggage sorted out. Weighed down with said luggage, we waddled to the train station, boarded the train, and then had to get luggage situated again, this time on the train. It was Magna's birthday that day, so when the train began moving, we sang happy birthday. A high school class behind us in the train compartment was also going on promotion and they pitched in with the happy birthday singing also. They were being normal, hormone-infused high-schoolers, so we broke out the dice and soon had people distracted and entertained with games of Farkle and Yahtzee. Between farkling, yahtzeeing and sleeping, we arrived uneventfully in Machu Picchu around 1 AM. We then proceeded to the church which would be our lodging for the night, struggling under heavy bundles of luggage. Till we got everyone settled in and the lights turned off, it was more like 2:15. I found it difficult to sleep for some reason and lay on the floor listening to the chorus of heavy breathing around me for what seemed like most of the night. Right after I heard the first rooster crow, all the kids started waking up and soon my sleeping bag nest on the floor was surrounded by a hive of barely suppressed activity. Who programmed all 20 of their internal alarm clocks to go off at 5:00 AM, I had to wonder. As soon as I got up the kids started asking "Can you help me roll up my sleeping bag?" I had to remember all the times I asked my parents the same thing as a child and smiled to myself as I thought about how the shoe was now on the other foot. Gradually all the sleeping bags turned into neat little sacks and pajamas were traded for clean clothes. Around 7:00 they couldn't wait any longer. The church had turned into a confining prison for 18 rearin'-to-go sixth graders. We decided to go on a walk and out they poured through the open doors. We went to the plaza and enjoyed taking pictures there and playing with the local dogs while we waited for breakfast to be readied. After breakfast, we went up to the ruins of Machu Picchu. Waiting at the train station, playing "I Spy" (in English!) and hearing Andre call out to the tourists "You need to have a good time in Peru", I began to feel as though I have been successful as an English teacher. :) Sometimes it's the little things.

Machu Picchu is honestly a blur. Between the late night and fitful sleep of the night before and the hot sun of the new day, my brain did not retain much. We trekked all over the ruins of the city, seeing the agricultural district, the various temples and mystical rocks, and the residential area. It was, however, an interesting tour, despite my out-of-it-ness. The kids got tired pretty quickly, for the same reasons I did, and were quite ready to head back to town for lunch when the tour was over. In the afternoon we got everyone installed in a cheap hostel in the town and gave them time to rest and shower before we went to the hot springs and then supper in the evening. Somehow, they all found enough energy to annoy the other occupants of the hot springs with their splashing and noise, trying to figure out the art of floating and swimming in the water and just in general having fun playing. I think everyone was ready to see our troupe leave. Back at the hotel after supper and a round of eye drops (you would have thought we were torturing the poor kids!), we bandaged up the battle scars from the rough stone bottoms of the hot spring pools, had a short devotional and fell into bed exhausted.

Wednesday morning dawned with a general power outage in the town. I feared my watch had gone crazy when I peered at it through sleep-dazed eyes at 7:00 in the morning. 9 hours of dead to the world sleep felt excellent! So did the nice hot shower. We hurried through breakfast, then grabbed our luggage and lugged it again to the train station to leave for Ollantaytambo. The train ride was long for the kids, about 3 hours, punctuated with several stops, Leo's severe motion sickness, and jumping from one game to another. I, as the only one who knew most of the games, spent my train ride jumping from Yahtzee to Racko to Phase 10 as a stream of interested kids came to see what games I had brought in my bag. Dice are extremely handy for playing games in cars and lively games of Farkle and Mennonite Madness also ensued. Once at Ollantaytambo, we again loaded ourselves with our luggage and made our way to the bus that would take us to Pisac. I spent the trip from Ollantaytambo to Pisac squeezing the wrists of poor Leo, who never got a chance to recover between the bout of motion sickness on the train before we got on the bus. Thankfully, I remembered a trick my mom had taught me as a child, that putting pressure on your wrists, for whatever reason, helps. Unfortunately, he ended up throwing up, right as he was getting off the bus. Fortunately, he did it in a bag and the clean up was easy. We stowed our luggage in the Royal Inka Hotel in Pisac quickly and went to find some lunch. After lunch, we walked back to the hotel, and some of the boys almost gave me a heart attack when I saw them walking carefree in the MIDDLE of the road, right around a CURVE! That did not go without its respective talking-to afterwards. After getting everyone situated in their rooms, they all wanted to go to the pool, so we decided to let them do so for a little while. Wendy and I sent them with the parents, while we worked frantically to figure out the best way to set up a projector to show a movie in our bedroom. A bedsheet, a few curtain hangers, Ada Sol's speakers and an extension cord borrowed from the hotel later, we were almost ready when the kids started coming to our room. Partway through the movie, the battery-powered speakers died and Mr. Steve, Micah's dad and the resident adult male on the trip, made several trips to the reception desk to borrow speakers that would work with my laptop. We finished 2/3 of the movie before supper, which turned out, for me, to be one of those magical moments.

It's difficult to be inconspicuous when you're a group of 21, 17 of which are students (a mother and son stayed behind in Machu Picchu for business reasons). It's especially difficult to be inconspicuous when you take 17 sixth-grade students to the nice restaurant in the hotel for supper. We were joined in the adjoining dining room of the restaurant by a group of kind adults from various countries (I think I heard Pakistan, the Philippines, and Ethiopia). One older gentleman in particular took an interest in our students and was talking with them in English (short phrases, but English nonetheless), which in this case was a common bridge language for both parties. I again felt highly satisfied when my kids could enjoy talking with them in English and found a good and intriguing reason to speak the English they know. That was the beginning of the magic for me. I had to hold down a laugh when Sara and Crhisnna returned to the table after getting hot water for tea and announced wide-eyed "Nos dijeron que somos beautiful!" (they said we're beautiful!) Their next question was "How do you say in English 'De que pais son?'" (what country are you from?) That's not a question they use every day, but they know the elements. They figured out how to say "Where are you from?" and then went back to the group of adults. They chickened out, but Mr. Steve took advantage of the moment and helped them begin a conversation with the international gathering. A guitar had been brought out as we ate and slipped glances over their way, and when one of the Ethiopian men began dancing while our kids were over talking with them, inhibitions dropped. Pretty soon, Crhisnna and Sara were dancing with the Ethiopian man. And then a beautiful Asian dance of some kind was begun and we all watched in wonder as we saw culture and language barriers be torn down right then and there. People from 5 of the 6 inhabited continents (one of our students is half English) standing in the same room, speaking to each other in the same bridge language and enjoying the same music and dance....that for me was a magical moment.

We then went back from supper and finished The Princess Bride, which the kids, much to their own amazement, enjoyed. The evening then was a flurry of putting drops in eyes again (half of the boys were amazingly cowardly before a tiny bottle of eye drops...it made me laugh), re-bandaging wounds, devotionals with the boys and girls separate, and trying to get everyone in their rooms and settled down. It was midnight till that goal was reached. Clara was told that she could NOT under any circumstances call Ronaldo's room and Clara and Ada Sol were also told that they could most definitely NOT have a slumber party and stay up till all hours of the night doing who knows what. I again had a fitful night of sleep, for whatever reason.

Thursday morning dawned bright and clear. We rested in bed till about 7, then got up and got ready for breakfast. After breakfast and getting luggage ready to take back to Cusco, everyone wanted to swim, so we all trooped over to the pool. I was teaching Magna and Mishell how to swim and we were all playing around in the water, when we noticed that Sara and Crhisnna were out in about 6 1/2 feet of water, had gotten tired, and were clinging to each other, desperately trying to stay afloat, panicking and pushing each other under the water worse. I swam out to them and they, in their panic to get to a safe place, were pushing me under the water further and making me panic. I can swim, but I am not a lifeguard and don't know how to do water rescue. After what seemed like an eternity, I surfaced and saw that Mr. Steve had gotten them to the shallow end and they were okay. It was a traumatizing event for all three of us and I thank God that He knew all along what would happen and provided someone who could help in the situation. I'm not sure what I would have done by myself. It would have been a bit more time until serious damage would have happened, but we were very shaken by the whole experience! We played a bit more in the water, then went back to the hotel to shower and get everything packed up and ready to leave. After another round of bandaging things up and putting drops in eyes, the bus came an hour early and we had to get everyone rounded up, luggage moved to the bus, pictures taken. Then came lunch, the last rush to the bathroom and we were all on the bus heading back to Cusco. When we arrived at the school, we were met with the welcome of returning heroes. Parents and teachers alike awaited us at the door, clapping, smiling, hugging, reuniting. It was good to see everyone again, see that my sub had survived, and especially to know that the whole stress of being responsible for the well-being of 17 students was no longer in my hands. Coming home to my house after the last student was picked up was anti-climactic. I realized it's kind of depressing coming home to an empty house as a single person. I was greeted by a wilting plant, some old bananas and a house that hadn't moved a muscle since I left almost 3 days beforehand. And yet it's good to be home. It was fun to see my students outside a classroom. It was good to know that I have Jesus' help to do all that I need to do. And it was interesting to get out of the normal routine of life and have a change of scenery. But I'm glad to be back. I'm glad that I am not the mother of 17 sixth-graders constantly. And I am ready for SLEEP! Thank you God for a good trip and help it to be a good memory and a good class-builder for years to come. Thus ends the chronicle of the first promotion trip of PROMESA.

Thank you!

I just wanted to say thank you all so much for your support in many various ways that you have been showing me during the time I have been here in Peru. In particular thank you for your support at the chicken barbecue this past weekend and at the prayer event last month. It is a true blessing to know that I am being upheld in so many ways as I serve here and that I have the prayers, confidence and love of a large "cloud of witnesses" around me. So thank you!!!!!
I am currently in the process of getting together another newsletter to be sent out ASAP. If you are interested in receiving my newsletters and are currently not receiving them, please send an email to either Angela Kline (my newsletter coordinator on my support team) or I. Both of our email addresses are below. If you prefer a hard copy, we can print one off for you as well. Just let us know. Thank you so much for your support and may God bless you abundantly.

kline_angela@yahoo.com
betania129@yahoo.com

Update on Huacarpay

It seems that God is answering prayers as far as Huacarpay is concerned.
After the flooding in Huacarpay in January, the government had promised land and houses to the residents of Huacarpay. They were very happy, until they learned that the government planned on taking away the land that they did have already. Huacarpay is a good location for the plaster business in which much of the town is employed. Plus, many of the people have significant plots of land in the town and that would be a major loss for them economically.
However, just in the past few days, I learned from my friend Juana, whose family lost their house in the flood, that the government has now retracted that statement and are planning on allowing those of the townspeople who would like to stay in their houses, to do so. This is a big answer to prayer. I am just continuing to hope and pray that the government doesn't go back on their promise and their word again. Praise God for this development!
A continued prayer request would be people's economy, which has been seriously affected by this flood and the aftermath. Families have lost crops and possessions and now are just beginning to work on rebuilding their houses with better materials which cost money. Others have lost businesses and sources of income. It is a difficult time for many families. Please continue to pray for God's provision for them during this time.
Thank you for your prayers!

The adventures of getting to church

Getting to church in the States is not a big deal. You leave your house, hop in your car, and appear minutes later at the door of your church, ready to walk in and worship. It's not quite the same for me here in Peru...Maybe you should just come along with me and you'll see what I mean. Ready? Let's go!
It's a beautiful Saturday afternoon and I'm standing outside my front door. One hand grabs my violin and over the opposite shoulder, I carry a small tote bag containing all the stuff I'll need to stay overnight and go to church the next day. I usually stay overnight in Huacarpay because often there's something going on on Saturday night and it's just easier (and more practical) for me to stay overnight with my pastor's family than go out, come home and go out again. So here we are outside my house on a Saturday afternoon, waiting for the bus that will take us to Huacarpay. This bus goes on an approximately hour-and-a-half long route between Cusco and Urcos, another city located about half an hour past Huacarpay. Thankfully, because of where I live now, the bus is usually about as full as it's going to get when I get on, so I can stand pretty close to the door. So we stand outside and wait for about 10 minutes till the bus comes. Oh wait, there it is! We stick our hands out and wave them determinedly to let them know we seriously want them to stop. They saw us and they're stopping. It's always easier to get them to stop when, like today, they're not coming behind a line of combis and taxis and they know it's them we're signaling to.
We get on and, as usual, there are no seats. The bus is made to hold about 35 people, but it's holding approximately 45 now. We're not shoved smack up against anyone else, but it's a little full. Are you still okay? The upside to the full bus is that you won't get cold! We climb up the stairs and find a space to grab hold of the handrail attached to the bus roof. The bus is already going again and if we don't hold on, we'll probably lose our balance. Once we get out of the city on to the long, straight road, the bus likes to pass any other vehicles it can. Many times, the driver will start passing someone and then see another car coming toward him so he brakes to get back in his place. Or he passes one car but doesn't have time to pass two, so he brakes to slip into the space in front of the car he just passed. If he brakes hard, we really have to grab on tight to keep from falling as the person behind us tries to keep falling on us. It becomes a giant domino effect pretty quickly. My violin is on the floor in front of me, standing up. It is at these moments when I am glad for two things. First of all, my violin case is HARD. So I don't have to worry about it getting squished. Second of all, I can't smell. I can't imagine that these buses smell very appealing, but, since I can't smell, it doesn't bother me! There are some advantages to this defect. :)
So now we're in for about a 20-minute ride. If your arm gets tired from holding on to the handrail, switch hands. There's not much to do. Just look out the window at the beautiful mountain scenery or try to make some random baby in front of you smile (that's fun!). On the other hand, if there is a spoiled rotten kid in front of you, that makes the trip not so fun. It's also fun to watch people sleeping on the bus. Lots of people take advantage of the long trip to catch a little shut-eye. We pass Peaje, where several of my friends live, the old abandoned hacienda, and, at long last, bump over the railroad tracks into Saylla. Saylla is known for its chicharrones. Chicharrones are pork that is first boiled, then fried to a slight crisp. Not exactly the healthiest food known to man, but yummy nonetheless. Chicharron restaurants line the road on both sides. Sometimes, you can see big swaths of pig fat hanging up to dry on clotheslines, in order to be turned into tocto, fried pork rinds. We pass Saylla and head on toward Tipon. In between, however, the bus turns into the gas station along the side of the road. The driver and the fare collector jump out and, leaving the engine RUNNING with 45 people inside, fill up the tank (this doesn't always happen, but it is always a bit disconcerting for me when it does and I'm always glad when it's done and we're safely on our way again). Tipon is known for its guinea pig (cuy) and, lining both sides of the road are restaurants with big round adobe ovens in which the cuy is baked. Here, more people want to get on the bus, so the door is opened and we all shove a little farther back so they can get on. We're now about a third of the way back the bus and I begin to wonder what it's going to be like to get off. 7 more passengers were added in Tipon and we're on our way again. The fare collector begins his collecting, squeezing his way past women in big skirts and hats, people's bundles, men with backpacks, kids, and me with my violin. The fare for this trip for us is 1 sol, approximately $.28. For those going the entire route it's 2 soles. He somehow makes his way back to the back of the bus by the time we get to Oropesa. And then someone else wants to get on. And someone else wants to buy the chuta bread that Oropesa is famous for. So they lean out the window and one of the vendors lined up along the street by the bus stop hurries to hand them a bag. Since the fare collector is at the back of the bus now and his route to the door is blocked by 15 people standing in the aisle, he asks the person nearest the door to open the door so the new passenger can get on. This completed, we all shove a little farther back in the bus. The next town is Huacarpay, coming up in about 3 minutes. The fare collector comes back through and then we begin our journey to the front of the bus. It involves a lot of "Excuse mes" and "I'm sorrys", squeezing between people and trying not to step on anyone's toes with either our feet or my violin. In the meantime, the fare collector calls out "Huacarpay!", to which we respond "Baja" (getting off). At last, the mountains level off to a small plain and the brown adobe village of Huacarpay gets closer and closer. We're behind someone else now who also is planning on getting off in Huacarpay. The bus stops, the door opens, two people get off the bus so those getting off in Huacarpay can get off, we squeeze past more people and then we're free! We've made it!
Thanks for coming along with me as I headed out to Huacarpay. I hope you enjoyed the trip. I do (about 90% of the time). Now it's time for youth group or kids club in Huayllar, another nearby town, or worship team practice. Ready?

My Blanky and Me

In Peru, one very common way to carry things is in a blanket on one's back. This can include anything from children to food to....well, pretty much, you name it and it's carried this way. The Quechua word for this blanket is q'eperina, which literally means "a thing for carrying stuff on your back". (I can't take credit for this picture, unfortunately. I found it on the Internet.) You must keep in mind that this is a very traditional Andean way of doing things. It is not generally used by anyone except traditional Andean people. So when I asked for a q'eperina for Christmas the other year, I knew I'd get some strange looks when I used it. And I have. I've gotten the whole gamut of reactions, from people laughing outright to others saying that I look beautiful to people remarking to other people on the bus about the gringa with her q'eperina to the beginning of conversations to people just looking at me funny. It can be rather uncomfortable, so I don't make a daily habit out of making a spectacle of myself in this manner. I have, however, done it a number of times now. I've also realized that there are some distinct advantages to carrying things in this manner. The most exciting one is that it keeps your upper arms warm. Since this is the first part of my body that usually gets cold, it's perfect for me. :) It's also easier to carry things on your back than in your arms and you can carry a whole lot (like an entire wheelbarrow full of grass....yup, been there done that) or carry stuff that melts (like ice) without it melting all over the place (been there done that too). Furthermore, it's safer. I've never heard of q'eperina slashing or of q'eperina pickpocketing, but purses are another story. Yeah, it's a handy thing. So here are some funny stories from some of my q'eperina adventures, just to lighten your day a bit.

Bolivia, January 2009
Okay, so I'm in the middle of nowhere between Cochabamba and Santa Cruz, Bolivia with my friend Mari, going to visit her brother. And there's this big landslide and the road is blocked. So we have to walk for about two hours with all our stuff to get to the other side of the landslide and continue our journey in bus. She's got wheels on her suitcase, but I am not that technologically advanced. I have a full backpack and a duffel bag. So she suggests that we wrap everything up in my fleece blanket and put it on my back. This sounds like an excellent idea to me (keeping in mind that it's easier to carry things on one's back than in one's arms). So we stop right in front of a group of people from the country who were laughing at us throughout this entire process because neither of us know what we're doing. We arrange things about 3 times in the blanket till we finally get it right. So finally we get it and between the two of us, we heave the bundle onto my back. I'm really excited about it at this point. I tie it around my shoulders and we begin to walk. I quickly realize that fleece is stretchier than I ever realized. The blanket starts stretching and streeeeetching and streeeeeeeeeeeeeetching and soon I am doubled over walking and the bundle is wanting to shift down to about my knees (this is no longer the genius idea it once seemed). After about 50 feet of this, I turn to my friend and we mutually decide to go back to square one and keep walking like we were before. It gave us a good laugh though.

Joint worship service, November 2009
A little-known advantage of a q'eperina is that if you have food in it, it's like a ready-made picnic. Open the blanket and spread it on the ground, put the food on top of it, and voila! So for the joint worship service with all the Mennonite churches, I brought lunch in my q'eperina. (It also is handy for keeping things warm). I had my backpack with some things in it, as well. After the service, as I was getting ready to go, it began to rain. Juggling an umbrella, a backpack, a q'eperina and someone's left-behind big blanket was not working and the idea of a 20-minute trek like this was not so promising. So I put my backpack on, put the q'eperina around my shoulders on top of the backpack, put up my umbrella, and lugged the blanket in my arms. It looked rather ridiculous and made my roommate and I laugh, but it worked!

Huancaro Fair, June 2010
Every year in Cusco, there is a big fair called the Huancaro Fair. It's a lot like the small-town ag fairs in PA, just bigger and with different kinds of food and animals (you never saw a guinea pig farm with a stand at the Lampeter Fair, did you?) Becca (one of the other English teachers) and I went with our friend Pilar, one of the teachers at school on Cusco Day, June 24, since we had off school. (The picture is of Pilar and I). I took my q'eperina folded up in my purse, mainly for sitting purposes. Then Pilar decided she wanted to buy oranges and a papaya. We were lugging them around in plastic grocery bags for a while before it occurred to me that I was in possession of an easier way to carry these things. So we found a space, spread the q'eperina out and put everything in it. I then put it on my back and we continued enjoying the fair. I was nice and toasty and carrying the fruit and all our stuff was easier, so, aside from some funny looks, it was great! Then Pilar and Becca needed to go to the bathroom. I had soap with me, but of course it was in the q'eperina. So I took it off, gave them the soap and then had to re-form the bundle and put it back on my back. I put everything in the middle, wrapped the q'eperina around it, grabbed the two free corners and swung it onto my back, just like I've seen Andean ladies do hundreds of times. Unfortunately, I am not an Andean lady and I don't have the skill that they do. For whatever unknown reason, the papaya, the bag of oranges, my purse and the water bottle from my q'eperina all fell out in quick succession on the ground. Several women walking by saw and started laughing as I assessed the situation with "Well, that didn't work!" They kept going, then came back and said, "No, señorita, that's not how you do it. Here, let me help you." So one of them put all the stuff in a pile in the middle of the blanket, knotted two of the corners, then said, "Now you can put it on". So I did and it worked. I was laughing to myself at the ridiculousness of the situation and shared the laughter with Becca and Pilar when I told them what had happened. We then left the fair to go home and, waiting to cross the street, stood right beside a police officer. He looked over at me, grinned and said "How's your baby?" (since a lot of times people carry babies in this fashion. Playing right along, I grinned back and said "Fine". We all had a good laugh; then we crossed the street and got on a bus that would take us home. There was no room on the bus so we had to stand and we were standing for about 45 minutes during the drive home. I couldn't sit down to open the bundle and give Pilar her fruit when she had to get off, so I pulled it around my body so it was in front and she pulled her stuff out. Then I put it under my arm so it was crossing my body and stayed with it like that till I got home. At one point, nearing home, someone vacated a seat and a man standing near me said "Señorita, sit down". I don't mind standing on buses, but I didn't argue. As I sat down, he looked over at me shoving my water bottle farther into my bundle and said, "Oh, I thought that was a baby!" I laughed at that one. (Nursing babies here is not a private ordeal. You're on a bus and your baby's screaming because it's hungry. So you turn your q'eperina around and start nursing your baby, no covering required. My q'eperina was in perfect nursing position and, looking at it later, it really did look like a baby.)

So those are my most memorable q'eperina stories. It's always an adventure trying to mix cultures and never more than when I'm carrying stuff on my back. They laugh at me, but I think they like it. So I'll keep having adventures with my q'eperina and let them laugh.

Dear Cusco

These are my thoughts today, the day of the traditional Corpus Christi festival celebrated annually in Cusco. (This reflects the culture of the Catholic church here, not worldwide, just to clarify). It reflects what often happens here in the religious culture of this area.

You say there is no slavery
But you are still enslaved,
Slaves of cruel, unfeeling masters -
Powerful to oppress
But powerless to help.
You say you are free,
That what you have is yours.
Yet they take what is yours -
Yours and your children's -
And blow it up in smoky fireworks.
They take what should clothe your children
And use it to confect glorious robes
For a body that feels no cold.
They take what should fill your stomach
And spend it on musicians, dances and costumes.
They take your children's future
And turn it into elaborate bannerettes
Proclaiming your merit
Both now and at your death.
They strip you, leave you cold and bare
And never hear a single prayer.
They turn your men into violent drunks;
Your women and children
Become the abused.
They wear many disguises
All over the world -
Ancestors, entertainers, gods of rain and war -
But here they are called saints.
You say there is no slavery,
But you are still enslaved.