8-2-09

Today we spent some time doing devotions before heading up to the village. For both of us bloggers, it is the highlight of our morning. We broke our fast on some splendid rolls, oatmeal, hot chocolate, and waffles. We vamoosed up the hill to the village of San Luis de Pegulca. The people had set out some arches with beautiful flowers. This is one of their ways of saying “bienvenidos” or welcome. The worship service lasted for about four hours, in which we received some honorary gifts for Lewis. Abraham and our praise team led us in worship in Spanish with a Quechua translator. Some of the indigenous folk performed traditional dances and sang some songs for us. The children in the village warmed up to the group pretty quickly and stuck with us for the rest of the afternoon. Soccer and equi-volley (Ecuadorian volleyball) were the main attractions. Some of us went into the community house to take pictures of our lunch… while it was still alive. They served us some cuy (guinea pig), potatoes, corn, peas, and some scrumptious (so Matt says) cheese. It was interesting to see the newcomer’s reactions as they tried the cuy for the first time. Hannah was touched because of her pet guinea pigs. We personally love the cuy, and several pieces. A neighboring village that attended the church service invited some of us to see the place where they are hoping to build a church. The truck ride over was interesting with Andrew and AJ poised to go flying over the windshield at any moment. The view of Imbabura was astounding. Those who stayed behind bonded with the kids a little bit more by means of soccer, pato pato ganzo (duck duck goose) and spinning them round. We hiked back to the house and here we are as we type.
Matt and Sarah Bloggers