Adventura!

Yes, that’s me, out over the river! I’m riding in what they call a “river swing”. Really it’s a metal chair on a pulley system, so the guy across the river can haul people over to his side of the river. I had taken a bus to a spot about 30 minutes out of Huánuco, where my friend Elena and I got off. We shimmied down the hillside to the river swing, Elena in heels! Once across the river, we crossed a few fields and then reached our destination: the Paz y Esperanza camp. It’s basically a retreat center for this group that works toward justice and restoration for those that have been abused-- physically, emotionally, or politically (i.e., restitution from the years of terrorism).

During the summer (Dec-Feb in Peru), they hold camps for different age groups where kids to adults can play, let down their guard and hopefully grow. I enjoyed seeing the age group for this week (adolescents) playing with each other, sneaking into the swimming pool, working on art projects…and was moved when I heard that they had all started the week-long camp pretty shy and withdrawn.

The trip back home was the most eventful part though. We’d picked the day of a transportation strike to visit the camp, so once we’d hiked back to the river, crossed it on the river swing, clamored back up the hillside, we couldn’t find a bus to catch. We waited and waited, hoping. After my friend started talking about needing to stay near this one home we’d seen and not walking down the road (which I was thinking would be more fun than standing around), I realized we probably didn’t want to be out on a rural highway alone at night.

Since the sun had already set, we decided to go into high gear. Our only hope: hitchhiking. I rolled up my sleeves so my blindingly white skin had the best chance of literally blinding drivers off the road. ;) After waiving, jumping and miming our problem to 20 different drivers, we were getting desperate. The truck that finally stopped? I think I almost pulled it off the road myself. Our angels of mercy were seven guys heading back from a day of work in a big, beat-up farm truck. I was glad for a chatty, native-Peruvian companion, and that God held back the rain until just after we got inside the truck!