In Livitaca

Well this is my first time blogging on this page and ALOT has happened since we left ATEK for the village. Monday we left at about 11:30, ate lunch on the road and arrived at the village in time for supper and registration. It was interesting for us since our translator wasn't expected to arrive until late that night. First thing we did was check out the bathroom situation which

consisted of a small building with two sides, one for guys and one for girls. There was a nice hole in the ground, and Lindsay was a bit confused as to how to pee in a hole that looked full of water, so she dipped her toe in... hence her nickname, "Happy Feet". This was the first but not the last time that she tested the waters so to speak. Even though there was a bit of confusion as to our sleeping situation, it all worked out in the end. Mark and Morgan slept in one building with the youth boys, while we girls slept on the church stage with a curtain to separate us from the other girls. The nightly service seemed to drag on since they tried to introduce everyone in the room, but we managed to keep our eyes open for the most part. Tuesday morning came WAY too early as the Quechua music lasted nearly all night long. Our translator Mila had arrived!!!! And she explained to the cooks that we would only be eating lunch with them because we had, "weak stomachs". So we had breakfast and supper in a nice little mud hut that stored lamb carcasses much to Amandas' disgust. Mark spoke that morning in the service and after that we joined the youth for games, which entailed standing still as they raced around us. Everyday for lunch we had some kind of soup with lamb in it, and yes we got to see the lamb before it was put in the soup. The bucket of blood on display in front of the cook hut had quite a powerful smell. Pretty sure I found a nose in my bowl the one day... We helped serve all the meals, dishing out heaping servings to feed the hungry youth. Breakfast consisted of bread, and some kind of oatmeal drink. The pot we served from was ginormous!! Lunch was a soup, and supper was quite similar. Mila explained to us that the potatoes were left out at night so they could store them for longer. (dehydrated). Overall I think the youth picked up more English then we did spanish because when they came through the food line they said, "Thank-you". Wednesday we led games which was alot of fun as the youth did the trust fall, human knots, a relay race and more. Lindsay and Morgan both shared their testimony on the trip which was really great. They both did a fantastic job. The youth loved having us there and when we went up to sing they didn't want us to stop and all took out their phones/cameras to snap pictures and record us. For some reason I thought it would be the other way around. Presentations were given, some skits and alot of singing. One of the fathers there wrote us a song and performed it for us, all about the English missionaries. We girls left before it all ended and retired behind the stage, although the music was very amplified. We may have accidentely pulled out the cord a few times which seriously decreased the volume... oops. Thursday was a good day but sad because we had to leave all the friends we made. The service in the morning held goodbyes and a penecostal pastor from the area went up to speak after Yoni and her husband Luis finished talking about relationships. He was SO animated and although we couldn't understand what he was saying we joined in the laughter as he lept around the stage. His voice lowered and his smile grew as he talked about us all seeing each other again when Jesus returned. Then he led worship and his grin never left his face, this was clearly a man who knew and loved his Lord and Saviour. Afterwards we played in the soccer tournament and lost, then Mark sprained his ankle. Once everyone gathered again we Handed out giftbags which brought many smiles and a big group picture. Yoni had to explain that the glowsticks weren't to be broken open to see the contents inside. Overall it went really well, everyone on our team put in great effort and came through on the other side. Our return ride home was packed as we had some extras for part of the way, then our driver decided to make up time by hurling the bus around the mountainsides. My stomach didn't do too well but we made it back to ATEK. It was great to see the rest of our team when we got back, they have all gone to Huanca Huanca now so we are left to peel the dehydrated potatos :) <3 Brianna