An adventure to remember

SATURDAY

One word to describe today - rejuvinating. I awoke at 6am and had a solid 2 hours of time with the Lord in scripture before morning worship. Jeremy Lou is here for the weekend so singing this morning was greatly enjoyed since our team does NOT like to sing loudly when it´s just the 6 of us. I was appointed as the lead singer so that should give you a picture of how interesting our singing normally is. The scripture we read and dicussed today was the first 9 verses of Philippians chapter 4 - my theme passage at this point in my life when I begin to feel overwhelmed. It was a great time of growing as a group.

After worship the Jeremys, Alison, & I headed out with empty backpacks to scavenge the mountain for fire wood. After over an hour of hiking around in the trees on the mountainside and breaking branches & logs with our hands, legs, and Jeremy´s knife, we returned to the house with 4 backpacks full of kindling & arm loads full of logs. That wood should last us a good while.

Before lunch a trip to the store was needed so Emily, Sara, Alison, & I went to Sophia´s store right next to the house & bought all the groceries we needed at once. It all ended up costing over 42 soles which was alot of food for that little store.

Lunch was peanut butter sandwiches, apples, canned peaches, potato chips, and cream cheese dip. I´m really looking forward to dinner tonight. Alison & Jeremy Stanley are making stuff for build-your-own-burrritos: shredded cihcken, grilled vegetables, guacalome, homemade salsa, cheese, and rice. And then I´m going to make no-bake cookies & apple cider for us to have upstairs around the fire. Last night Heather & I made the best fried chicken, mashed potatoes, and fried cheese slices. It tasted so good! Needless to say, my cooking skills have greatly expanded in being here.

After lunch the Jeremys, Alison, & I decided to go on a hike. It turned out to be the best adventure we´ve had here so far - better than wading in the lake, boulder hopping, and climbing the mountain in Huancane. We walked probably between 2-3 miles out from Conima along the lake. Then we found some rock cliffs and decided to do some rock climbing. I was the last one to climb, and I was kinda unsure about it. While the others were climbing up, rocks were coming loose underneath then and falling to the bottom of the cliff where I was anxiously waiting. Once Alison reached the top and the boys pulled her up, I set aside my anxiety, told myself ¨You can do this¨, and began climbing with no fear. About halfwat up the cliff, one of the rocks I had my foot on fell out from under me. I lost my footing and grasped the rocks I was holding so hard that my hands turned white. Climbing that rock face made my adrenaline rush, but losing my footing like that was just too much adrenaline for me. My heart was pounding, and my stomach jumped into my throat. Tears began to fill my eyes as I frantically searched for a sturdy foothold knowing that one of the rocks my hand was grasping was moving underneath me and waiting to fall. It I fell down the side of the mountain to the rocks below that sat on the lakeshore, I would be alone until the other 3 found a way down to me. There was no 911 number to call, and we were a good 3 mile walk away from Conima by then.

I heard Jeremy Lou´s voice from the top of the cliff. ¨Kelsey, Kelsey. It´s okay. You´re okay. You´re doing great. Just find a rock to rest your foot on. I´m climbing down to help you.¨ I felt around for a rock that wasn´t moving and rested some of my weight on it just before aa rock fell out from under my hand and tumbled down the mountainside. By this time the tears continued coming as Jeremy climbed down next to me. Step-by-step he helped me find stationary rocks to climb, and I made it to the top with no more than a few scrapes.

As i hoisted myself over the last rock with Jeremy Stanley´s help, I heard Alison marveling at the view. I made it up and turned around to see the sparkling blue waters of Lake Titicaca laid out all around me. The sky was a beautiful bright blue, and the mountain peaks lined the horizon. We could hear waves breaking beneath us so we walked to the point of the peninsula. A straight shot down the cliff were rocks breaking the waves on the lake. It was too amazing to pass up so our adventurous group of 4 found a crevice to climb down to the water. The Jeremys decided to do some rock jumping out in the water while Alison & I continued to marvel at the beautiful landscape before us.

It was quite entertaining to watch the boys wish they were frogs as they jumped from rock to rock going further & further out in the water. Neither one of them managed to stay dry. In face, Jeremy Stanley went to jump to a rock, tried to land on it by hugging it with his arms & legs, and ended up slipping & jumping to short. He basically sat in the water right in front of the rock and quickly jumped up out of the cold lake water. The botton of his shirt and all of his shorts were soaking wet. Alison & I quickly asked if he was okay worried that he may have badly hurt himself, but he assured us that he was fine, just a little wet. After we were sure he was okay, we couldn´t help but laugh.

We headed back to the road we had traveled on, this time walking along the rocky shore of the lake. As we walked, Alison & I began collecting some really cool rocks & filling our backpacks. Between the rocks weighing down our bags and some large logs we found to use in the fire, the walk back was significantly more tiring than the walk out.

Finally we reached the house & unloaded all the logs & rocks. Now I´m just relaxing on the balcony enjoying the last rays of sun before it´s time to go cook dinner with Alison & Jeremy. This day of rest was deinfitely needed and thoroughly enjoyed, and it´s not over yet!