“El que no vive para servir, no sirve para vivir.” -Madre Teresa

Cathedral in Catacoas

Winter break from school brought a lot of Lacie and Britt time. El Encuentro de Central Pastoral brought about 100 religious people from the diocese of Chulucanas to meet, pray, discuss, and eat for four days. A trip to Frias was filled with hiking, talking, and singing karaoke with priests. With my favorite hike leading to up to bringing communion and witness The Anointing of the Sick Sacrament to a paralyzed man that hadn't left his dark room or even his bed in ten years, but yet he was so upbeat and happy to see and pray with us. It was a beautiful moment, one that most people don't get to ever experience. "It's not about the destination but the journey"...we were told there is a bus or there are automobiles that you can take up the mountains to Frias, but what did we choose? The top of a truck, not like a pick up truck, but like a cargo/ mini semitruck, where we sat on metal bars, ducked under trees covering the road, and tried not to fall in to where all the food, chickens, and goods were being held. Our what was suppose to be a two hour ride turned into a three and a half hour adventure, but wow was it beautiful! Nothing like being out in the open air, on a small narrow dirt road scaling the side of the mountain with nothing blocking you from God and nature.Lacie's 23rd birthday celebrations included eating chicken, eating fried banana chips with dried beaten meat, motorcycle rides, nightclub dancing, friends, brownies, and a decorated house. Her parents brought us a chance to get to know her background better, laugh at their funny Boston accents, do a lot of eating out at restaurants, and showing off our city!

Central Trujillo

Huanchaco!

The week before Lacie's parents got to Chulucanas, the infamous Murray and Patrice, made their way to northern Peru to experience my world first hand! In the three days they were here, they came to school with me, did a lot of walking around, met a lot of my friends and my host family, rode in motos, tried Peruvian foods, went to the market, the orphanage, La Encantada, Piura, and Catacoas! My students loved them, they couldn't believe how tall they were, it was like I had brought in zoo animals for show in tell, plus the animals talked and in ENGLISH, this was just too much for the kids, they were a hit to say the least. The strict teacher came out in Murray, making kids pronounce words better and not taking "I'm shy" as an excuse out of speaking up. Then when he brought out pictures from home every girl wished they had brought Connor along and every guy now wants to meet Keriann.

After we had explored just about everything Chulucanas has to offer we headed on down the coast to Chiclayo. In Chiclayo we explored the beautiful plaza, the Museo de Sipan home of the tombs of the Moche people, and the beach! Next, we traveled three hours further down the coast to Trujillo. Trujillo is one of the oldest modern cities, founded by the Spaniards. The plaza and the cathedral are old Spanish style buildings painted brightly. In Trujillo we stayed with the Augustinian priests and seminarians, who were so hospitable, welcoming and just fun to be around. We took a tour of the ancient sacrificial pyramid ruins of La Luna y El Sol, the ancient buried city of Chan Chan home of the Chimu people. Both abandoned cities are still being uncovered due to lack of government support and financial assistance, but slowly the people's stories are being revealed. 


Overall it was really a blessing to be able to share a week with them here, great to see them, show them around, explore new cities, and just catch up! Thank you to everyone that helped make their trip possible and thank you for all the generous donations! My host family, the teachers at my school, and the soccer team were all extremely touched by the generosity from all of you especially Madison Insurance! Thank you! You brought smiles to many people that mean a lot to me!