Pics on pics on pics

WOW! What a whirlwind of a week it has been!
I took my first trip! I went to Puno (and chiquito for a hot minute).
Now getting there was such a blessing. Ya see, Cultural has a site in Puno, so my friend knew someone there and hooked me up with a wonderful woman who showed me around and let me crash her cute place!
The floating islands are what Puno is known for-Uros. I didn't quite comprehend what 'floating island' actually meant. Let me explain. It is reeds, stacked on reeds; continue for a lot of layers. (material is shown below) It is like a boat in that it is anchored to the bottom-but an island. With huts, and stuff to do and even a coffee shop. It's amazing. I can't fathom living like that but, props to them. We then journeyed on to a island called Tequile. (I thought they said tequilla and I'm not gonna lie, I was pumped.) So, the city itself sits at about 12-13k feet. The highest point I went to though was 14,700 feet. And the blessing is-that I didn't get elevation sick!! I mean-let's be specific- the altitude made climbing to the top of Tequile difficult. I got out of breath pretty quickly but, it was amazing. The views were breath-taking.

God provided me with 2 buddies to have for the day. Marisimo and Alena. Marisimo doesn't speak much English so we attempted communication but clearly was limited. Alena was fluent in English; she was encouraging to my heart. She validated that what I am doing is something not everyone could do; how tough it can get. How tough it is to live in a world where you don't know what is happening outside because you can't comprehend it. It was nice to be seen-she was such a blessing for me.

God has been showing out in my times with Him. I finished the Bible reading challenge with Hannah Brencher, and absolutely loved reading the gospels one after another. It was fun to see what each Gospel writer deemed important enough to include; from the things that were clearly vital, to certain things that were important to their specific viewpoint. Next up is Acts with my bible buddy Jess. :)

Apart from that, I am learning to find my purpose in Him. To remember the times when I thought what I am doing now was deemed impossible because of my mental health limitations. God is the God of the impossible, and me living in Peru screams that every single day. Eating disorder recovery in Peru looks vastly different than it did in America, but I am making it work, and fighting every day don't you worry. This girl isn't returning home anytime soon and that is the goal. When I travel among the mountains and volcanoes I can't help but smile because this is my home. I live in a volcanic area. I saw a volcano smoking on the way back from Puno! But no worries, it's not going to explode---yet ;)

In other news, God provided insurmountably for me. I have a running group! I was running with my friend from school when we ran into a small group. She said we should join them so I of course followed. Wham bam shabam I ended up staying with them, (I hold the slowest member of the group card proudly.) so when we finished there were all these runners! They only speak Spanish so the guys I ran with would point to something and say it in Spanish, then I'd say it in English. We are going to get better together ha! I am so thankful. They remind me of my Clinton running club, and my Jackson buddies. Everyone is there to have a good time and get miles in and socialize. It's so refreshing to have buddies be interested in what I am into.

Still no work visa. I am very disappointed because I expected to be teaching in October, but the new cycle started Monday so, I don't get my own classroom until November. I am ready to experience life here working full time; to value off time. Whereas now I value times where I am in class. I love being at school. They are my people. 99% of them don't know my story, but they still look out for me and support me just as I would want them to if they did know. I guess it comes with the knowledge of that I moved my life across the globe haha.

So. That's that. Lots of stuff going on, but exciting things that further my journey here and sell me more and more of how this phase of life is meant to be spent here in South America.