Peru with Laura!!!!

So our adventure to Peru was amazing!! It was SUCH a blessing to have Laura here with me for the big trip! We were all pretty tired at times, but full with the joy of the Lord (and of course to be together). I was so proud of Laura hopping on a plane by herself and heading to a foreign country when she has done minimal travel on her own even in the states! She was so brave!! When she arrived, we both had a good cry (or should I say sob) to be reunited! The timing of her coming couldn't have been better!

Our trip to Peru began at 6 am on the Tuesday morning after she arrived (at 10 pm Monday night) and we arrived in Trujillo at 5 am on Thursday morning. The expected 24 hour bus trip took us about 48 hours! Even though it was really long, we enjoyed each others company, learning Spanish, ministering on the buses and in the bus stations, the smells of the country side, sunsets, stinky buses, and peanut butter and jelly sandwiches! It was so much fun watching Laura just dive right into the Ecuadorian and Peruvian cultures by learning Spanish and talking to everyone! At times I felt as though I was her mom trying to make sure she was safe all the time and not let her wander off to talk to strangers! hehe! For memories sake we decided to make a list of funny quotes, moments, and stories from our trip, so to give you a brief (or not so brief) recap of the adventure, here is our list:

~Getting water balloons thrown in the bus windows ALL day on Tuesday. Here they celebrate Carnival (like Fat Tuesday or Mardi Gras) and throw water on everyone...doesn't matter who you are!! Gringos are a target! We all got soaked and laughed a lot! We figured everyone else on the bus was thinking "okay, after 5 water balloons, hose blasts, or buckets of water, have you not figured it out yet? Close your window, you stupid gringas!" HAHA -- For one of the attacks, Laura went to close her window and right as she got it closed, the balloon came in the window in front of her and hit her anyways...we all laughed pretty hard
~The little boy in the seat in front of Laura sneezed a big goober that went flying out his window and back into Laura's -- She, her pillow, shirt, and seat were covered in a goober mess....lol....

~Laura loved the banana, chocolate, and pineapple trees

~Waterfalls in the rainforest
~Motion sickness while driving through the Andes Mountains -- we weren't able to talk to or look at each other otherwise we would feel even more sick!

~Laura accidentally asking a teenager "te amo?" (i love you?) when she meant to say "como se llama?" (what is your name)
~Laura was quite entertained by pigs, chickens, and cows hanging out in peoples front yards -- these ones were actually fenced in...

~We had to spend 6 hours in a hot bus station, waiting for our late bus



~Bruce and Stephanie Beers (missionaries in Guayaquil) took us in for the night -- when we thought we would be spending the night on the bus, we were blessed with a few showers, a bed, Chinese food, and wonderful company and prayer!

~God was testing Kirsten's patience with the LONG trip! haha! I had to pray for patience and contentment
~We met a guy at migracion who was traveling from Peru into Ecuador -- he was telling us about how he caught a ride with some guys in a truck that were telling him about trafficking children and guns and was completely freaked out. As we were leaving, we told him we would pray for him -- he kind of looked us like, "ok, how will that help" Hopefully his trip turned out better once he went on from there! We were very thankful we had good connections and specific directions on how to cross the border safely!! Many foreigners have no idea what they are in for once they hit the border (this border crossing is known as "hell on earth")...and it can be a very scary experience. We all just prayed for peace and safety and made it across with no problems! Alabado sea Dios!!





~The beautiful sunset along the beach once we were finally on the bus to Trujillo


~Laura talked to EVERYONE and learned SO MUCH Spanish in just 10 days!
~It was way too HOT for hugs, so we would just give finger hugs
~We visited the orphanage that is being built in Trujillo, the garbage dump and the daycare center (for the children whose parents work in the dump)







~We got to go with some of the Corban band members to their small group from their church and Laura was able to share one of her songs (most of the Corban band members are from Trujillo, so this was a trip home for them as well)



~When we returned to Quito, I took Laura to the orphanage to introduce her to some of my babies! :)



Well, that was our trip in a big nutshell, I guess! hehe! Other than serving and participating in ministry, the Lord did a great work in both Laura and I. Culture shock set in pretty heavy for the both of us, and it was such a blessing to be able to process it and experience it together. Much change and growth came from just this short trip and provided much fruit for our lives!