I am home.

Home washes over you in a huge wave of relief. It bridges the barriers of your soul like a tsunami and makes everything that might have been a little discolored, beautiful, and everything that was beautiful, a spectacular rainbow of contentment. I am going to miss Peru, but I am happy. I think I missed home, and my amazing Pacific Northwest more than I realized.

Sigh.

NEW ARRIVING TIME:

In Lima, Holly was able to change her ticket and is now going through Houston, instead of Newark. Hence she will be arriving in Portland at 11:00 rather than 12:15...

Going...going...gone

It's my last day here! For those who asked, if you want to meet me at the airport, I get in at 12:15 pm on the 24th. :)

Thank you all for your support and friendship! It has blessed me so much.

See you soon...

final days

To let everyone know who hasn't received my emails, I fly out of Cusco on the 23rd and arrive home to PDX on the 24th. I would covet your prayers during these last final days. Thank you!

adios

Today was my last Saturday. My last day with the kids. It was sad. They were adorable; giving me letters and flowers. Today also turned out to be the "Dia de los Ninos." The kids here, and in generally all of South America, celebrates a day for the kids! Emma and Ethan...[and Liam and Liana and Jonathan] don't get any ideas! So, we gave out juice and little goodie bags with cookies and it made their day!

____________

I come home in 5 days!

Happy Birthday....

...Mariluz! We were invited over to her little party last week. If you remember, her house is the one we visited a couple months ago; Betty is her mother. Please keep them in your prayers. Betty is a single mother, as her husband left her and she is raising two daughters. And...as we were enjoying their little fiesta, I noticed a skull perched on the top of their shelf in the corner. Turns out, it is a real human skull which a friend found and gave Betty. The people here are very superstitious and deal with witchcraft alot. Betty is a Christian and even comes to church when she can, but she said the skull protects her house. Mariluz added, "And it can talk too!" It's scary, they are so caught up in their ancient beliefs and blinded by them. Please pray for them and their neighbors and the people of Cusco!

Shadows

The babies were unusually restless and unhappy yesterday.

A couple new little ones have joined the others as well. One being Ronaldo; now making that two Ronaldos in the nursery. He's a stunning guy with a head full of jet black hair and a ready smile; he is somewhere between four and five months old. The other new little guy is roughly around two months old. His name is so different, that I can't recall it at the moment, but I like to call him 'the little chap.' He looks like an old man, or a dried apple, puckered and wizened. His features are so tiny and his eyes so dark, and his body so unhealthy and scrawny, he barely looks human. He looks to me like what an elf would look like- if there were elves. His eyes seem to portray a look, a look as if he possesses some wisdom or knowledge that I don't know of. He sleeps nearly all day, but when he is awake, he glances around with such somberness and knowingness as if he already lived his life and has hundreds of stories hidden away that he could tell. I wonder why he was abandoned. Mabye his mother couldn't afford him? Mabye it was an unwed pregnancy. But mabye....he just wasn't wanted.

Yesterday was a special day. One of the new nurses had brought her guitar. After the little ones were fed and changed and settled into their drowsy afternoon playtime, she took her guitar and sat on the floor amoungst them. I don't think I have ever seen a guitar quite like that one. It was battered and broken and as out of tune as possible; the strings were loose and couldn't be tightened anymore. But, she really knew how to play. She played some random chords at first to warm up, getting the attention of the feister toddlers, who crawled and scooted over to inspect this new toy. And then suddenly, she burst into song. She sung one after another, some even in Quechua, songs I have never heard before. It was beautiful. I think a true musician can create beauty with anything...even with a dissionate and broken instrument. She captured the attention of everyone. Even some of the smallest babies watched her, captivated...listening. As I sat there watching them, I doubted whether many babies back home would have been so absorbed in something like this. They are usually always held, cuddled, given attention and love, and they always have an abundance of toys and distractions. But, these children! They watched her in fascination as if they were watching Blue's Clues or Baby Einstien.

It was beautiful.