Faith and Fires

One of my dear friends lost her home to the fires this week. Well, it was her parents home that was lost. The one they were raised in, made memories in. It just breaks my heart. I am close with both her and her younger brother- this a her record (on her blog) of the heartache and faith of her family:

http://happinessisastateofbeing.blogspot.com/2011/09/strength-of-my-family.html

My favorite quote of the entry: "My house is gone but my home is eternal."

We are fasting and praying still for rain in Texas. But even as the dry heat continues, we are seeing miracles as families, friends, strangers, and communities are taking care of each other. Truly, God does bless Texas, because we bless each other with love and kindness.

Huanchaco, Peru- the Sleepy Surfing Town

So, about a 30 minute taxi ride north of Trujillo, Peru lies a sleepy little surfing town called Huanchaco. Parts of it were lovely! Parts were a dusty desert/ beach. Overall, I loved it!

A garden below the cathedral.

The Catholic cathedral- love the cobblestone!

The pier! Looking towards the town. I totally had to pay like 2 soles to get on! Crazy!

View of the town from the beach.

The pier! Looking towards the ocean. See the huge waves in the background?!!

The little boats that the Peruvians use for fishing! They're made out of reeds, and according to Wikipedia, they are called "Caballitos de totora."

I found a gazebo on the beach! So pretty!

More of the desert like beach.

Why yes, it Huanchaco is a tsunami zone! And yes, the waves really were huge!

And the highlight of Huanchaco- surfing!! The day before my birthday, I totally treated myself to surfing lessons! I was super nervous, but I knew I would regret it if I didn't take advantage of cheep lessons in Peru! It was amazing! Thanks to my super helpful instructor, I stood up on the board almost every time! There were only 2 times that I couldn't stand up. So awesome! It was one of the most amazing experiences! It also help me remember one of the most important lessons I learned on my mission- that usually the things I'm most afraid of are the most worth while. Yay for taking chances!

That night I went to a party with the volunteers- at midnight, they sang to me and toasted me (with their crazy mixed drinks and my 7-up). They also lit a bunch of tea candles for me to blow out and gave me a cute bouquet of wildflowers. Overall, it was a pretty nice birthday eve.

Peru- Service!

I had the amazing opportunity to visit Peru for a month! For a couple of weeks, I did service at a blind school with children with multiple disabilities.

Here are some of my girls with their moms! On the left, Elizabeth with her mother. On the right, Jennifer with her mom and her sister Belin. Both of the little ladies have cerebral palsy. (The school also said they had autism, but I'm not too sure...)

Trying to take a picture of Alejandro! This kiddo has autism and cerebral palsy as well as being blind. He was super challenging to work with, but oh so sweet! As it is with all challenging kiddos, he was totally one of my favorites!

Sister picture! Belin and Jennifer!

Alejandro with Eliu. This was SO cute! Eliu is blind and has autism, which means he has a hard time reaching our world. But this day, he found Alejandro! He loved walking around while helping Alejandro walk with his nanny. Eliu wouldn't let him go for at least 20 minutes, but insisted on walking around with Alejandro! It was SO amazing to see that connection!

Me and Eliu! It was hard taking a picture of him...

The other volunteers from Germany. Sabrina (left) also worked in the classroom I was in.

The teacher of my classroom and me! She was just amazing!

This was a challenging experience due to a lot of things. The language barrier, complicated and multiple disorders, minimal technology resources, to just name a few! But it was SO amazing! I am so grateful for the experience and all I learned about myself during it!