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In the center of Cusco is the Plaza de Armas (every town has a central plaza). On Christmas Eve , the plaza is packed with vendors and buyers preparing for the Navidad (Christmas) celebration, which starts with a big dinner at midnight on Christmas! I went down to the plaza for a few hours with a couple friends, to get into the spirit of Navidad. Above are some of the sights. Some will appreciate the fact that the pile of food in front of the Quechua lady with the white hat (bottom left) includes guinea pig, a delicacy in Peru.
See that bit of white? Especially in the far corner of the yard? That's our White Christmas! We had a flash thunder/jungle-rain/sleet storm last night at our White Elephant Party, and ended up with a yard that made us gringos think of our perfect Christmas: a white one!
Ok, so I admit it, I'm in love. No, it's not a guy - it's these mountains!! You can find many great shots of the Andes on Google Images, but here's my favorite that I took on the plane heading to Cusco, 11,000 feet up from Lima (sea level). The Bensons, who I'll work with in Huanuco, invited me to join them for their Christmas plans - 5 days in Cusco with several other families who work with SIL. We flew in yesterday. Our 1st plane was grounded because of weather, the 2nd because of mechanical problems, and then our luggage was "missing" for 30 min. Well, we found it, so it all ended well. I'll be here until Wednesday--a wonderful chance to relax after an eventful month!
Meet Irma, my brilliant Spanish tutor! She has been a wealth of information, not just about the language, but about life and culture in Peru. We end up talking about spiritual things too, which is exciting. She is a blessing.
Last Monday I moved into the Peruvian home I’ll live in until the end of January and started Spanish lessons. Things settled down and that I felt like I was getting into a routine.
But on Wednesday I developed a rash (from eating mango skin--not recommended for anyone!) and I had to go to the ER on Thursday morning. 
The IV drugs they gave me didn’t seem have any effect, so I was admitted to the hospital. Two days later, things were looking much better. I was recovering well, but they still wanted to keep me for observation while they dropped the dosage of the drugs they had me on. So it’s Tuesday evening and I was only just discharged this afternoon! I am so grateful to get back to what I now call “regular” life in Lima, Peru!
The San Felipe hospital was a small, local, very nice place with a great staff. They were very patient with my little-but-growing Spanish, and it really was a good chance to learn a lot more.
My plans have changed for this week and I’ll not be going to Huanuco to the women’s training week. But this means I'll be here in Lima, now able to attend some SIL meetings and connect with two people (regarding the dictionary project) who I thought I was going to miss. We lay the plans, and God directs our steps! "In his a heart a man plans his course, but the Lord determines his steps." (Proverbs 16:9)
Please pray for complete healing and strengthening. Thank you for your prayers ALL of the time. Don’t hold back if you feel a prompting to pray – it is probably because there is stuff going on that I haven’t been able share with you. Pray even if you don’t know what for!
