The canyon

Well, I got back last night around 9 pm from our trip out to Colca Canyon. It was a great trip...although it could have been longer. We left Arequipa around 2pm on Friday and after stopping at many different places along the way, made it to Yanque around 7:30pm. After checking in we ate a yummy dinner of alapca in different forms. Some had a grilled steak while others had it mixed into different things. After dinner half of us decided to go try out the sauna...it was wonderful! It made me feel like I was back in Pucallpa. Nice and hot and very humid! A few of us really liked it...the others prefered the hot tubs. After we were all done in the sauna and hot tub, we gathered in our room with the guys to play cards. We played a game called "Up and Down the River" which is lots of fun and kept us busy until about midnight when we finally finished and decided it was time for bed.

The next morning we all got up and had breakfast between 8 and 8:30am. Most of the group wanted to go on a hike to see some pre-inca ruins and visit the hotsprings. Pam and I decided to stay back at the hotel and get massages. I am glad that I stayed because everyone said the trail was pretty rough in spots...I don't think I would have made it. Once everyone got back around 12:45pm we decided to quickly order lunch there at the hotel and take it with us in the bus to see the rest of the canyon. Well, the quick part didn't work out so well. We waited about an hour for our food and so got a late start on our drive out to the Cruz del Condor. Finally we got on our way out to see the condors. It is so amazing to drive through mountains and see all the beauty that God created. We got to the Cruz del Condor and only saw 4 condors...very far away. Oh well, if I ever go back I will have to remember to get up early in the morning and go see them when they fly farther up. Even still...it was amazing to see and I am very glad that I went. Our trip back was full of singing in the bus and some resting. It was a full day and definitely made for sleeping well in my bed here in Arequipa. You never really appreciate something like your bed until you are gone from it for a while. I have tons of pictures from the trip and so I decided to just make an album on Picasa and you all can go look at them there if you want to. Those of you who don't want to...you are missing some amazing pictures! http://picasaweb.google.com/christileber/ColcaCanyon02?authkey=cd67qxHtnDs

Arequipa friends

The Doolittle family leaves on Tuesday...it is going to be a sad day. A huge chunk of the group I hang out with will be gone. But it has been a huge blessing to have known them and I am so glad they were able to be here during my time at language school. They are an awesome family and are going to be missed. Here are some pictures with them.

Cassie, me and Christy...the Tuesday morning coffee crew. I am going to miss that!
Anna, Morgan, Cassie, Pam, Jordan and Alden at our Sunday night game/prayer/singing/hanging out time!
Amanda, Marshall and Christy during the singing part of the night =)
Sarah...playing games while waiting for her class to start...great way to study Spanish.
Alden being a good boy and actually working on Spanish while waiting for classes to start.

Tomorrow there is a group of us who are going to Colca Canyon. I am excited to go and see it and have a weekend to hang out with my friends. We won't be there very long...but we are still going to have a blast! I am really looking forward to the hotsprings and the massage I am going to get at the hotel. Oh yeah and getting to see the condors. I'm sure I will post some great pictures when I get back.

Earthquake

Well, early this morning I experienced my first earthquake. It was a 6.1 with the epicenter located 40 miles NNW of Arequipa. It was 4:13am and I was rudely awakend from a strange dream. At first I thought it was part of my dream but then quickly realized it wasn't. Once I was awake I started praying for God to protect me and everyone else. He answered my prayers and everyone was safe without any damage here. I knew before what I should do if there is an earthquake, but when you are awakened in the middle of the night...you don't think very clearly. So instead of getting out of bed and getting to a safe spot...I just layed there and prayed. The earthquake lasted about 15-20 seconds. I know that might not seem long to those of you who have never been in an earthquake...but it seems like a very long time when you are in the middle of it. Once the earthquake was over, I got out of bed and met up with the others in the hall so they would know I was ok. Then I tried to go back to sleep, which was a little difficult since by then I was wide awake! I am very thankful God kept us safe and pray that there won't be anymore. According to my family here, this is the strongest earthquake they have had here in Arequipa since 2001. How fun for me to be here and experience it.

In other news...tomorrow is a nation-wide strike in Peru. I get to leave for school nice and early just so I will be able to get there safely. We are all praying that it is a calm strike and that nothing horrible happens. I have also switched grammar classes as of today. I was doing my grammar with Christy and Marshall but today I got switched to being with another guy, Stephen. He and I are both leaving on July 25th and so they decided to put us together so we could speed up a little bit. It will be more challenging but really good for me too. Well, only 18 more days until I get to see my family!! I am very excited!

Changes

I'm sure those of you who check this blog regularly are probably wondering why I keep on changing the colors and style of my blog...well, there really isn't a good reason besides the fact that I have time and high-speed internet. So while I still have both of those things available to me I am going to take advantage of them and mess with my blog until I really like it. So if you have an opinion on the colors or style of my blog...please let me know. I would love to hear your suggestions.

Moving on to more interesting things...this weekend I have had a great time! Yesterday was a busy but fun day. I went and watched my friends and some of the teachers play futbol (a.k.a soccer). It was a good game and fun to talk with the others just watching. Then I took advantage of my great internet and called and talked to my mom for a while. I am getting to so excited to see my family in just 20 days!!!!!! It will be so great to see them and spend a week with them in Pucallpa. Then Marshall and I met up with the Doolittle family for lunch before we all headed to drive go-karts. I have not driven a go-kart in a very long time...but it was so much fun! I had a blast hanging out with the Doolittles. Then Christy, David L., Marshall and I watched The Bourne Supremecy. It was a fun time and also good for our spanish. We watched it in spanish with english subtitles...always fun. Then we kind of decided to keep going and watch The Bourne Ultimatim....I didn't last very long. I pretty much slept through the first hour and then Marshall and I decided it was time to head home. So it was a great day full of fun and hanging out with friends. Tonight is one of the last Sunday nights with the Doolittles and so we are headed to their house to hang out, play games, eat food and sing some worship songs. I am looking forward to it!

4th of July Peruvian style

Well, today is the 4th of July and I wasn't really sure how I was going to celebrate it down here. I didn't really care if I did anything to celebrate. But I have gotten to celebrate the holiday Peruvian style. I went to classes this morning and found out that we were going to celebrate teacher's day. There was a cake and flowers for the teachers at school and we had a good time celebrating all they do for us before my first class. Because of the party my grammar class was shorter than usual...it was nice and I was glad for the shorter time. Then during the break between my grammar and practica class we had a party for a family that was leaving. These are always fun and of course there was more cake. So we were eating the cake for that when we then get told that we were going to have hamburgers and hotdogs in celebration of the 4th of July. So instead of having my practica class I got to hang out with the teachers and the other students at the school. It was a great way to celebrate the 4th. It was really nice of the school to have a celebration for us Americans at the school. It was definitely different than grilling out back in the U.S. but it was a good time! And now a group of us are going to the movies and then there is another 4th of July party with some other Americans that we are going to. In all, it has been a great day and I even got to celebrate the 4th.