Buenas tardes! hoy dia me siento mucho mejor. today i feel much better, still a little congested but my throat feels back to normal. between yesterday and last night i probably got 15 hours of sleep, haha. thanks for the prayers!
lets see, i have some time now before lunch so hopefully i can answer all of the questions yall have been askin!
my presentation was good! i spoke in english with a translator, but i think next time i have to speak i want to speak in spanish and just look up any of the technical words i dont know beforehand. these women already knit a lot of things, like scarves and sweaters, so getting a loan through proworld or promujer could help them expand their business. they seemed really excited and asked about what the interest rates for loans would be, which we werent sure about, but lisbeth promised that soon a staff member from promujer would come talk to them about more specifics.
after me, a psychologist from cusco talked to the women about self esteem. i know that the women need to know they are valuable, not because they are mothers, or wives, or workers, but because they are made in the image of God. it seems that in the midst of raising their families and working nonstop, these women lose themselves. in fact, one even started crying after the talk, saying that because she doesnt love herself, she feels like no one else loves her either. but on the other hand, these women are sinners, and while they may need to know there are things right with them, they also need to know there are things wrong with them. Thats probably the most frustrating thing about working with a secular organization, because i dont know how they will find those things out.
on friday night, ashley and i took a bus to cusco and ate dinner at a restaurant and lounge called the muse. a guy from argentina named luis showed us where the restaurant was, and he ended up joining us for dinner. mom, youre probably freaking out right now, but because im writing this, im still alive. he was legitimately just a really friendly person and wasnt trying to flirt with us or steal our money! anyways, after dinner, we hung out with some of the other interns that happened to be in cusco also, but they were crazy and wanted to stay up all night so ashley and i walked to our hostel, which i already wrote about.
the only thing bad about it was that it was freezing. the showers there were super warm, but as soon as you get out of the shower, its cold again and really hard to get warm. cusco is already at a high elevation, and this hostel had to be at one of the highest parts of the city.
saturday morning we ate breakfast at the hostel and watched a little bit of argentinas world cup game. even though peru isnt in the world cup, everyone here watches every game! next we walked around and shopped a bit before eating lunch at restaurant called jacks. lots of tourists eat there, so i figured it was safe to order a hamburger there, which i did! i generally dont eat hamburgers but for some reason i was craving one. it didnt disappoint. after lunch, we explored cusco and took lots of pictures. cusco is pretty but REALLY touristy, which is annoying after the 100th person asks you if you would like to buy a purse, or sunglasses, or another random souvenir.
we had no idea how to get back to the bus terminal, so after asking probably 6 people and walking probably 2 miles, we found it! we took a little van or bus thing back to urubamba and got back around dinnertime. it was exciting to see my family again. for dinner they baked delicious chicken and potatoes in an oven. it turns out that when they want to use an oven, they have to go to someone elses house and pay to use it. Rosi told me that there are only 2 ovens in the block around their house. it makes sense to me now why they boil and fry everything!
as far as food goes, i havent had one bad thing. the best thing ive eaten is probably carne asada or the way my host mom makes fried eggs!
speaking of food, i am eating lunch soon so i need to go!
prayer requests...
...that the women and volunteers i work with will see that their lives can only really be transformed through God
...that josefina, my baby sister, will feel better. she is recovering from the flu and has a heart condition that limits what medicines she can have.
...that i will continue to feel completely better.
let me know how you are doing and if i can pray for you in any way! ciao