strap in....

so, much confusion... but so much peace. where to begin.

Mistura- Okay if you haven´t heard of this you are crazy. Mistura is the worlds largues food festival and it is in Lima!!! It´s basically exactly like disneyworld if you just strip out the rides and put in restaurante. Seriously, all it is is food. Food. and more food. It is incredible. I ate 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9.... 10 plates!. It was so good. I went with Vane and my parents and let me tell you, we spend 2 hours just trying to decides where to start (mainly because they didn´t have any maps left and we couldn´t tell where anything was=) Here are some firsts for you.

1st time eating sushi in my entire life... It was incredible!

1st time translating for gringos in Peru... definitely weird. The was a guy from America who who was totally a fish out of water, and when I went to help him all that came out was spanish. haha He told me he felt embarrassed that he didn´t know more and I told him ¨esta bien¨ (it´s alright), didn´t even phase me till I looked at his face that I had spoken spanish lol

1st time being on television... totally unexpected! Let´s just say that I´m not only a gringo but i´m tall and have semi blonde hair with green eyes... definitely a target for the national t.v. crew that was at mistura. The guy was asking me questions in english and I literally was trying to think about how to answer in english but all that came out was spanish. I think he was a little surprised that I could speak spanish... along with whoever else would have been watching in the country of peru! =0

1st time realizing how much of a gringo I am still. Bought a pin for 10 soles and then got offered the same pin outsider of mistura for only 1 sol. =( lol

1st time seeing a true Incan. Trust me... I have pictures.

1st time seeing o ver 1000 people standing single file in a line waiting to eat cow heart (anticuchos).

Oh there is so much to talk about, from the bakers who danced while making bread... to eating pig that was cooked in a pit in the ground... to eating picarrones (pervivan donuts)... it all is just a blur.

And that blur followed into going to match a symphonic orchestra with some of the rotary memebers. If you come to Peru... definitely don´t do that when you are tires. BAD IDEA! haha but I was able to enjoy the first five minutes. It was like the heavens oponed in the giant church and the music was being sung by the paintings on the ceiling and not by the people in the choir. Incredible.

Anyways, sorry this is long, but one more thing. Today I woke up super early to go with my mom to do a fundraiser for cáncer. We left extra early to make sure we would actually get there on time. But seems like everyone else decided to stay on Peruvian timing (including the people with the material for the fundraiser) and didn´t show up until 2 hours after we arrived. Then on top of that, none of the intercambistas came until 1130. I got there at 730. Ahhh. A few hours of solitude fundraising on a streetcorner when you are a gringo is just awkward even to say let alone see.

So the fundraiser consisted of taking cans around to pedestrians and asking them if the wanted to donate to the cause. 11 hours later, I was ready to collapse. But at the same time I felt so peaceful. It was a good day, Gringo comes in handy when fundraising in Peru. And if your a girl with blonde hair, they practically throw the money at you... poor alina. haha

I love peru, I love the people. Not everything is perfect, and that was definitely shown to me in more ways than one... but everything is good.

Please pray for my friend Lydia... she is awesome and loves peru as well. But everybody has those days where home is calling. Especially those who are younger (she´s 16). I love her like a sister and I so glad she is on the trip with us.


I´m not going to complain on this blog because there is no need for any of that... but I will tell you this quick thing that I learned today...

You might do all you possibly can for someone. You might be a friend, companion, or co-worker of theirs. You might spend every waking moment your life trying to impress them... and they may never acknowledge any of it. So like it says in the Bible, ¨Stop looking for the approval of man.¨ because man is gong to slap you in the face. Have patience with people, realize what they say may not certainly be what they mean. realize that the only truth comes from Him who created it... so rely on Him alone.

Stop chasing the wind... enjoy life.

Blessings,

Lucas