Heartbroken but okay....

First off I should really change that last entry...I have seen and done amazing things in Lima...its just that that was before seeing and doing stuff in Cuzco and MachuPicchu...poor Lima didnt stand a chance.

So my camera got stolen yesterday. Alot of hell insued and Ive told the story so many times now Id rather not repeat it. What is amazing is how God works everything out. I just happened to run into John and Dereck before it happened, they just happened to give me their cell phone number, and they were staying in Puno still. So just when I needed friends more than ever they came through like I never could have imagined. I am so amazed and grateful and humbled, even when I was crying and looked like a battered wife that had been on crack for three days straight!!!! I will miss you guys!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

And off we go again...

It´s been a slow first couple of weeks, just getting used to living day to day life in Lima. I found a gym to work out at so hopefully my Judo won´t be too terrible by the time I get back. Other than that nothing spectacular in Lima...however....I am not in Lima right now and it´s pretty amazing!!! After an early morning taxi ride and an hour in a plane followed by three hours of confusion I made it successfully to Cusco, the base point to go to Machu Picchu!! It is so beautiful up here it´s amazing! I was beginning to forget what the sun looked like. After sleeping all day Tuesday I went out dancing with one of the girls I´m staying with and her friends. The group makes up my own personal little guide group to the area and have just bent over backwards to help me get to all the places I want to go to. It never ceases to amaze me how beautiful life is in all it´s intrinsic simplicity. Going on a bus tour of Valle Sagrado I met up with two brothers from Holland and a lady from New Jersey. They have become temporary companions on what would have been an independent journey. Carolyn bought three of us lunch and then dinner, making her my new favorite person in the world of people. She is also letting me stay with her in Aguas Calientes, where I am now. It´s the stopping point on the trip up to the hidden city. I am humbled by my total inability to return the favor and struck by my own needs met by a stranger. I never thought feeling full would feel so good. It had been awhile since I had actually been truly honestly full. The guys will be joining me in Machu Picchu tomorrow and we´ll return to Cusco in time for Inti Raymi, with inside connections to the city hopefully we can all enjoy the festival without the $80 ticket charge. Then Sunday we will say goodbye to Carolyn, hopefully not before, and as John and Dereck are going to Puno at the same time as I am we´ll probably stick together for a couple more days before parting ways. Such a cool example of the adventures and opportunities that travel has opened up for me. The ephemeral state of these friendships makes them that much more memorable, and I hope to keep contact. I have really had the most amazing time and I haven´t even been to Machu Picchu yet!!!! Times like this I want to live forever.

GONE!!!!

Well I´ve been in Surco, an district of Lima, for almost a week now. Everything has been just amazing!!!! I have had so many adventures so far I don´t even know where to begin. We didn¨t end up staying with the lady that we had first planned on, but it worked out for the best, as always. I have my own little private apartment above a house with a couple and their two sons. I I have acess to the house by one set of stairs and the outside by another. The family is just amazing and Bo settled in right away. He spends more time with the boys when they´re home than he does with me. I have been keeping a daily diary each night and as soon as I have time I´ll just start entering all that here. I describe everything much better as it happens and under the ambiance of a misty night overlooking a small park from my balcony. I still have yet to find a computer with a USB port to upload pictures to but I refuse to give up. Bo has torn a pad on his right front foot so I am off to get some stuff to take care of it according to the greyhound crossroads site. Poor baby, but he is thoroughly spoiled by everybody in the house. The father, Manolo, tells me how much he is going to miss Bo at the end of the summer, not me, Bo. Oh well, he always was more endearing than me. Well more detailed adventure stories later...now I´m in search of ¨new skin¨ and a clean sock for my baby. Chao!!!

Going...going....

I can't believe it's only a couple of days away I have so much to do and I'm running out of days and hours to do it all in. I have begun my rounds of final farewells. I'm going to miss this country and the people in it, but I'm ready to go. Well mentally anyway...physically I still have a long way to go. I'm spending this weekend at the Kaylor's house-sitting and hopefully that will give me some time to relax and breathe before diving into the craziness that will be next week. Good luck self, you're gonna need it!!!

And the countdown begins

It's only 16 days until Bo and I leave for Peru...I can't believe we're actually doing it....it's actually coming together...even down to the lady we'll be living with bringing a van instead of a car to pick up me and Bo so his crate will fit...I was truthfully a little bit nervous about that point. Well I guess it's time to start getting ready with the little things...packing, buying Bo a new collar so he can show off for the peruvian dogs...I'm more than a tab bit nervous.

In the beginning

Well I don't really know where to begin, half of me wants to just start here at what appears to be a good spot, just prior to our Peru trip, but so much has happened to get us to this point that it seems like jumping in the middle to start at the "beginning."

All I wanted to do was move to Raleigh. I had friends there, I had fallen in love with a church and everything seemed to be working out amazingly well. Then it got harder, sure fire living set ups fell through at the last minute and frustration set in. I had been so sure that God had wanted me to go to Raleigh that when the chance to go to Peru presented itslef I casually passed it on to somebody else and went on with my search for housing in the triangle.

Strange how we can think we're so sure of God's will that we ignore his shouts while waiting for the still small voice. He was rapidly slamming every northern door in my face and showing me how to walk through the one labeled Peru. However I did my best to inform Him that He really did want me in Raleigh and that this Peru trip was just a clever distraction to keep my spiritual life at a rigid stand still...how foolish I am. Yet He is so patient and soon I wearied of my constant battle to pry open the North Carolina doors and slumped dejectedly to the floor to pout, completely disenchanted and feeling quite tricked by God, not to mention exhausted from pushing on doors and trying to pick locks all day. Gently God held out His hand and said "come with me beloved, let me show you what I've been trying to tell you for quite a while now." After that moment I gave up the idea of Raleigh and focused all my attentions on Peru and it's been incredible how much Joy God has brought me just through making that decision. He is allowing me to bring Bo, which took alot of faith to follow through with, but everytime I had my doubts God came through for me with flying colors, I would have been content with colors that merely ran swiftly, but he doesn't think that's good enough for me.

God has worked so many miracles to get me and Bo ready for Peru, it takes my breath away. Maybe over the course of this adventure I'll go into more detail on the crazy circumstances, but that's enough story-telling for now.

Here we go!

Well this is just a tester post, but for anybody interested in the plight of me and my beloved ex-racer Bo this is the place to be!!!