Juan Carlos returned for a second time to teach us more about Andean spirituality.  Catarina, an agronomy professor at San Antonio Abad National University in Cusco, described the political, social and environmental realities of mining.

Jesica and Herbert demonstrated traditional folk dances from the Cusco region and walked us through the steps.  Some of the traditional beliefs and ethics presented by Juan Carlos and Catarina were embodied in these dances.  To understand their rhythms and cadence we needed to try them ourselves!

We accompanied Pastor Roberto on a service visit to the village of Patabamba, a short drive but a world away from where we have been living.  We spent the morning at the village school where we witnessed firsthand the effects of malnutrition and alcoholism on young children.   We distributed anti-parasite medicine and organized a trash clean-up in the school yard.

Then we grabbed picks and shovels and prepared the soil in a new adobe greenhouse in hopes that the children can supplement their diet with fruits and vegetables.  We transplanted grape, grenadilla, tomato and pepper seedlings.  Afterward we spent some time with one of the teachers who described the politics and reality of Peru’s education system in rural Andean villages.

Pastor Roberto is helping to plant a Mennonite house church in Patabamba and we had lunch in the room where they meet each week.  We learned from the owner how his life has been transformed, leaving a life of alcoholism and offering himself as a positive role model for his family and the community.

After lunch we followed our guide, Juan Hector, on a hike to the archaeological site at Tipon.  Most visitors arrive from below.  We came from above, which was quite an adventure given the condition of the trail.  We learned that the Inca leader Manco Inca Yupanqui used this place to develop irrigation technology.  His father, Pachacutec, relied on military might to expand the empire.  In contrast, Yupanqui focused on maintaining peace through equal distribution of resources.  The fountain that divides the water channel into four equal streams — and is still functioning 500 years later — is a perfect example of Yupanqui’s egalitarian values and Incan ingenuity.

Mother’s Day is an important holiday in Latin America and the students surprised each host mother with a rose and hand-made card to celebrate the occasion.

Our Peruvian host mothers want to say thank you to all the North American mothers who brought these students into the world, nurtured them into adulthood and graciously sent them here to spend a semester studying and serving others in Peru.

Gracias!

Chinchero is home to the Andean Weaving Center, a family-operated business that employs local women to produce textiles and demonstrate their techniques.  The center is home to a small group of llamas and alpacas and we learned how their wool is dyed with natural colors, spun into yarn and woven into cloth.

The staff at the center also offer traditional foods to groups like ours by special arrangement.  We sat down at a table set for thirty and feasted on a variety of local foods, including the prized cuy (guinea pig), habas (broad beans), canchita (toasted corn) and trigo (toasted wheat).  Since before the days of the Incas people living in these mountains have learned to preserve food for the lean years and we tried two types of potatoes that are soaked  in a river then dried (moraya) or freeze-dried for a few weeks in the open air (chuno) and stored for up to five years before consumption.

We have heard that Peru has 3,000 varieties of potatoes and many types of corn, beans and other crops.  And we have learned that each variety is adapted to a particular altitude and growing condition.  How did the Inca people develop so many types of crops and figure out which grew best in each locale?

Our guide, Oswaldo Palomino, explained how the concentric circular terraces constructed in a ravine known as Moray served as an agricultural experiment station.  Engineers cross-pollinated different varieties here and then planted them on each terrace to see where each type grew best.  Apparently, they were very successful — when the Spanish conquistadores arrived in 1532 the Inca Empire was home to over 10 million inhabitants.

Juan Carlos Machicado, author and anthropologist, gave an intriguing presentation about Andean spirituality.  His research casts doubt on the common perception that the Inca people worshiped the sun, moon, snow-capped peaks and other deities.  The Andean people have a name for the creator God, Wiracocha.  Juan Carlos showed us a photo of a little-known ceremonial pin featuring humans and animals bowing down to Wiracocha.  Based on this and other evidence he believes the Incas and the cultures preceding them were monotheistic.   If Juan Carlos’ hypothesis is correct — if the people living here before the Spanish conquest worshiped a single deity — then we have more in common with the ancient Andeans than we thought.

Luz Atapaucar learned Peru’s other official language, Quechua, from her grandmother.  As a university student she studied Quechua grammar and learned that the language of the Inca is still spoken by millions of Andean people in Peru, Bolivia, Chile, Argentina, Ecuador and Colombia.  Luz explained how the language can be used to evoke emotion and express feelings more deeply than is possible in Spanish or other modern languages.  Quechua is aggregative (suffixes are added to words to modify their meanings) and onomatopoeic (words sound like the object or action they are describing).  Most Quechua speakers are older; younger people learn Spanish in school and speak Spanish with their peers.  Like many aspects of traditional Andean culture, the language that has been spoken for centuries may disappear in one or two generations unless some value is placed on its preservation and younger people make an effort to learn it.  Most of our students are living in homes where several family members still speak Quechua and it was rewarding to learn some phrases they can use to communicate with them.

Mining, according to many economists, is the key driver of the Peruvian economy.  Rebeca Valverde Delgado described how mineral extraction is basic to any society since it provides raw materials necessary to produce tools, electronics and other goods.  Peru is rich in minerals, including gold, silver, copper and other metals.  Rebeca explained how legal mining operations take care to protect the environment and promote social welfare, from initial exploration to eventual closure of the mine.  Unfortunately, much of Peru’s mining activity is done illegally and without regard for people or the planet, leading to contamination of the soil, water and air, health problems for downstream residents and destruction of the social fabric that binds together traditional communities.  Rebeca’s hope is that illegal mines can be detected and shut down and replaced with mines that operate according to international health and safety standards.

Two accomplished musicians — Mauro Claros Chatas and Americo (Amaru) Mejia Suñiga — led a workshop on Andean music.  Mauro grew up playing the zampona while watching his family’s sheep and cows during summer vacation in his native Puno, near Lake Titicaca and the Bolivian border.  Amaru learned to play the same instrument as a child in nearby Cusco and later studied music at the university level.  Mauro and Amaru introduced us to traditional Andean music through word and demonstration, using a variety of instruments including the zampona (sometimes called a pan flute), quena (similar to a recorder), cuatro (four-stringed miniature guitar) and drum.  At some point we started singing along to easily-recognizable songs and soon thereafter got on our feet to dance.

There was a lot more to the week than lectures and workshops.  We met together for Colloquium, a chance to review and synthesize what we have been learning, and for Goshen Tambo, an opportunity for worship and reflection on our experiences in another culture.  We shared meals of Peruvian food prepared by Ines Cordova Garcia, a host mother who lives across the street and delivers our food each day in a wheelbarrow.  And we had a chance to sample some local trout raised in ponds owned by another host family in nearby Lucre — delicious!

The next morning we traveled further down the valley to the village of Huacarpay.  We were met at the Evangelical Mennonite Church, one of two churches here, by Pastor Celestino, who gave us a warm welcome.  One by one, host families from Huacarpay, San Jeronimo and nearby Lucre arrived and were introduced to the students.  After a brief program and refreshments, the students gathered their bags and set off for their new homes, where they will live for the next two weeks.  Pastor Celestino assured us that the timing of our visit couldn’t be better — it’s harvest season and the students are invited to help gather potatoes, corn and other crops when they are not occupied with studies and program activities.  The families will be happy to have extra hands around!

The students spent their first day in Peru strolling through Lima’ San Isidro district, seeing their first glimpse of the Pacific Ocean and getting acquainted with each other.  We made a stop at the San Miguel Arcangel monument in the center of the Ovalo Gutierrez.  The students took photos and changed money.  We talked about being present in Peru, about staying safe and looking out for each other.  We picnicked on the Malecon park overlooking the ocean.  Then we played games on the lawn.  We finished the afternoon outlining academic expectations and eating a delicious dinner of pollo al horno, puree de papa, arroz y ensalada cocida (oven-roasted chicken, mashed potatoes, rice and cooked vegetable salad).

We retired early tonight, for tomorrow we depart before the sun comes up for the Andes where we’ll spend three weeks learning, serving and exploring in the mountains.

Delta Airlines Flight #0151 landed as scheduled at Lima’s Jorge Chavez Airport and 21 students set foot on South American soil.

We loaded two buses, one with luggage and the other with passengers, and headed directly to the Miraflores House for some rest.

Tomorrow we’ll take a walk to Casa Goshen, the directors’ home, and begin orientation.

We encourage our students to prepare themselves for SST — mentally, physically and spiritually — as much as possible before their arrival here in Peru.  For our part, we decided to give our minds a rest by engaging in activities that would strengthen our bodies, refresh our souls and re-center ourselves in Christ.

We spent an afternoon with friends from church at the Parque de la Reserva, a.k.a. Water Park, the largest collection of fountains in the world.  The next day we went to another friends’ home for dinner.  It turned out to be a surprise party for Jane and Jerrell, whose birthdays were on April 17 and 21.  Then we boarded a bus for Ica and found our way to a desert oasis called Huacachina for a few days of sun, sand and a chance to delight in God’s creation.

This time away was just what we needed as we prepare for the arrival of twenty-one new college students — passionate learners, servant leaders, compassionate peacemakers and, soon to be, global citizens!

See you at the airport on April 25

We got checked in for the flight, said our goodbyes and took one last group photo.  Travel well!

One student summed up the experience with a poem:  “Tell Me About Peru SST”

A llama with thick, matted fur and glazy blue eyes,

On a lonely mountainside … spits.

A miniature red and white moto-taxi revs its miniature engine.

Cuy, your dinner, stares at you.

Combate – teams red, green – combat from six to eight.

A thick glass bottle of yellow bubble gum Inka Kola…

Into the first Peru SST 2012 we delve.

The smell of a rain in Cusco still lingers,

A time when we hurled imaginary rocks at dangerous dogs.

There were other rocks too, larger,

Ruins with ancient stories from an ancient people.

The trees planted, the hundreds of trees planted,

All done wrong according to Luis Delgado.

Peruvian boys gawking at gringa girls

Wanting to be enamorados.

Surrounded by gorgeous mountains

While gorging on mounds of rice.

(Does Oswaldo know he has sunscreen on his face?!)

¡Pasaje!  ¡Pasaje!  ¡Baja!  ¡Baja!

The pale evening city sky, muted by pollution,

Holds us in its spans as we ride in public transit

From a day of lectures, workshops, Castellano, to adopted homes.

To mom, to dad, to a house dog that does not require the harsh discipline of an imaginary rock.

A place where the rain does not come.

Minutes morphed into months until we left city days behind,

Waving from oversized rectangular buses,

Pulling off to the destination of far, far away.

[Now is the time for individual, personal reflection,

for I can’t write this poem about your individual,

personal service experiences…]

<pause 10 seconds>

…There.  Now you have processed the past six weeks.  Good.

All throughout this time in Peru,

We’ve paid pasajes:

          micros,

          buses,

          motos.

Now we have airplane ticket pasajes

That will carry us to a different far, far away.

We will leave with Amish beards and too many souvenirs.

The matted fur, blue-eyed llama with spittle will be suddenly endearing.

We’ll leave our three new homes for our originals,

Reunited with our camas.

And as the North American stars sparkle above our roofs,

We will toss and turn, finally getting up to pee,

And toss

          the TP

                    in

                              the

                                        trash.

Annabeth Tucker

• Medicinal Plants
• Terrorism
• Cremoladas
• Physical Therapy
• Fruit
• Life of the Chicken and How to Kill a Rooster
• Pishtacos and Other Superstitions
• Traditional Quechua Clothes
• Life of Piurian Women
• The Culture of Food
• Pan of Ayacucho
• Leadership
• Playing Carnival
• Adobe Homes
• San Miguel
• Weddings
• Coastal Food and Culture of Eating
• Popular Brands of Shoes
• Oral Stories of Piura
• Coffee
• Advertising and Brand Awareness
• Ecosystems of the Selva
• The Life/Role of Dogs in Ayacucho

We followed the presentations with a service debriefing for each organization where the students volunteered:  What changes in the lives of Peruvians are they trying to make?

On Sunday morning — Palm Sunday — we worshiped within view of hundreds of palm trees, singing favorites from Sing the Journey, reading Psalms and reflecting on our time in Peru.

We finished the students’ last full day in Peru with a talk about re-entering North American culture.  Some call it reverse culture shock.  Afterward we took a group photo on the beach and boarded the bus for Lima.