Convention in Cajamarca

Here are some pictures of Cajamarca, Peru. Amy and I left Sunday afternoon and rode a bus for 14 and 1/2 hours. We arrived the next morning just in time for the "women's only" (plus the 2 guys who must not have noticed it was for women) part of the convention. Women can be mean! That's what I was thinking as I watched the women scramble around, pushing, raising their voices to get the rooms they wanted to sleep in that night. Then came the lady saying every room had to have 9 women in it...we informed here that each room only had 6 beds. She said 2 women would sleep on the bottom bunk and 1 on the top. I wasn't ready for a cultural experience of sleeping on a twin size bed with some Peruvian woman I didn't know. Fortunately someone else stepped in and said everyone could have her own bed. We then stepped into the bathroom we would be sharing with 5 others and were very glad we had taken flip flops with us ;-) Also, the shower didn't have a shower head, it was just a hole in the wall.

The night after that we all had to find another place to stay, and Amy and I were proud of the hostel we found near the plaza. It was nice, clean (I didn't have a termite infested bed like I did last week at mission meeting!), and it was cheap for the quality. I enjoyed the regular convention part much more than the women's part. During one part of the convention the new president's wife asked Amy and me to go with her and her sister to tour some of Cajamarca. We took advantage of the invitation and climbed quite a ways up to a place where all of Cajamarca can be seen. It was really pretty. I also enjoyed getting to see real rain followed by sunshine each day.

This morning we got home, tired after another 14 and 1/2 hour bus ride. I came in, only to have the lady who stayed at my house with Reina tell me that the wind had blown my bedroom door shut and it somehow got locked. I had no way to get into my bedroom! I didn't know what else to do except to call MacGyver (Wayne). Poor guy just got back from his stateside assignment, and I'm already calling him to come help me with stuff!! He came right over with a ton of keys, but none of them worked. He left and came back with some tools. He had to cut the door knob off...so now I don't have a door knob but I couldn't care less because I'm in my bedroom using my computer!

I also got a great package today from a college roommate...I not only saw real rain for the first time in about a year this week, but I also got to eat Lucky Charms for the first time, thanks to Leanne! It's true, Peru does not have Lucky Charms. At least I was already prepared for big sacrifices that would come with the missionary life. But those Lucky Charms taste even better than I had remembered. Probably the best thing I've had in Peru, right after the Aji de Gallina.