Ah... Saturday mornings! Lazy start, no school, no rush... fantastico! (Yes, a real Spanish word, can you guess what it means?) Anyway, about yesterday.
Anthony and I needed to go to town. I needed money, Anthony needed to buy some reading glasses for himself and for Lucretia, who struggles to read her Bible.
Getting money from the bank cashpoint machine was supposed to be easy, but in the end it was impossible. We couldn´t work out why. It all seemed to be going smoothly but nothing happened. Hmmmm...
So we went to the pharmacy, "Inka Farma," where there was one of those stand alone machines. It was easy.
Then we walked to "una casa de cambio," literally "a house of change," that's a "bureau de change" to you and me. Anthony likes this one because you can stand further back in the shop, out of sight of potential robbers. You can change dollars into Soles with money changers on the streets, but that is not recommended. Now with our Soles burning a hole in our pockets, 2 boys set off to spend their pocket money.
Anthony was able to get his 2 pairs of reading glasses, and I got toothpaste, deodorant and Listerine mouthwash. (Eating foreign food does make a few changes to one's breath!!)
And before you all say, "Ugh... 10 days with no deodorant..." don´t panic! I have a deo stick but it doesn´t smell of much, and sometimes, well, how can I put it? In a warm climate, it´s nice to have a bit of smelly spray too!! So now I have a spray that looks like "Lynx," except it´s called, "Axe!" (Muy Macho, no?) The Peruvian adverts suggest that Axe has the same effect on young women in Peru, as Lynx does in the UK. Oh dear, and I thought it was just robbers I needed to worry about!!!!
You can actually buy just about anything you want in Arequipa, if you have the money. It´s got all the gadgets and gizmo's we associate with modern life, and the mobile phone is slowly invading Peru also. (We could even get a signal in the Colca Valley at 4000 metres!) Oh yes, and the accursed Facebook too, but don´t get me started on that one, eh Liz?
Finally, we went to the Post Office (el correo) to check Anthony's post box. The address in the church address book is actually their post office box in Arequipa. Thinking about it, I put that as the address I would be staying on my Peruvian Immigration Form! I wonder if any immigration officers read that and thought, "How can this Gringo sleep in a Post Office Box!?" It would have made an interesting conversation at the Airport. Anyway...
Back home in a taxi, to spend several hours preparing for Sat and Sun mtgs. Then Ant & Roxy went to Villa Majesterial to take the kid´s mtg. Talking later, we realise it is in the Lord´s providence that the combi vehicle is out of action. A&R were driven there by Adolpho in his tiny taxi. It turns out that the road was only wide enough for a taxi, as they are still digging ditches and piling up stones! If they had driven there in the combi, they would not be able to get to Lucretia's house and would have had to cancel the mtg. As it was, the Lord knew what he was doing... as always.
4.30pm Ronnie collects me and takes me to the Ladies' Mtg. Ronny & Rocio run this at 5pm each Friday. About 15 ladies with a few kids are sitting round, knitting carrots, strawberries and panda bears out of wool. They are chatting and enjoying themselves. At 5.30pm we enter the church main area, where Sabina leads a time of singing, then Ronnie preaches for about 20 minutes on the perfect work of Christ from 2. Corinthians 5v21 "God made him who knew no sin, to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God, in him."
Afterwards, we had a meal. I had my first "papa rellena." It´s basically mash potato, shaped to look like a potato, but stuffed with meat, peas, carrots, olives... It is then baked in the oven so it goes a pale brown. Yum! Ronnie gave me some sauce which he said was "a little hot." It nearly blew the top of my head off!!!
The ladies' group used to be larger, but since the group has been smaller, the number of people coming through to the church on Sunday has actually gone up. Recently, 3 new families have come as a result of this Friday outreach. To paraphrase, "Man looks for big numbers, but God looks at the heart."
When the mtg was over, several of the men came and we took an hour to set up chairs and tables to seat 101 people (so far that is how many want to come to Saturday´s evangelistic banquet!) On the way home, Ronnie dropped by the house of a poor lady in the church, to give her some of the food. We chatted about the economic crisis, the UK and the countries within it. I gave Rocio lessons in how to pronounce "Thank You." (They have no "th" sound in Peru, so they have to learn biting their tongue, to say it. We had a laugh.)
It's now 8.35am and we´ve had bacon, egg and mushroom for breakfast. It´s a hard life. I wonder if Mr. Montezuma approves? And I was wrong about no school for Mellie! She has another practice for a dance/presentation that is due in a few weeks, so Ant is taking her to school as I finish this. She seems keen.
I don´t mind telling you that I'm missing home, Jules and the family. Still, I fly to Lima on Wednesday morning, and then via Amsterdam, to arrive in Manchester around 5.25pm on Thursday evening, God willing. Not long now.
Well, off I go, smelling of "Axe," and with a mouth full of fresh breath, to see what the day will bring forth. We are still waiting for el mechanico to phone about the vehicle. Ho hum...
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