Machu Picchu

A trip to Cuzco would not be complete without making the short trek to Machu Picchu. The day of the great adventure our alarms went off at 3am - we needed to be up and at our bus station (which really was just a bunch of combi's/vans in an alley) by 4am. We found ourselves climbing in this van, which by North American standards fit 12 people. However, we were not North America and by Peruvian standards, there is always room for one more. As the van got filled with people, I found myself sitting in the very last row of seats, squished between two larger Peruvian women, one with a child on her lap who all ended up falling asleep on me shortly into our hour and a half drive. I kept thinking to myself, "yup this is happening right now". Heidi was seated in the row in front of me and later informed me that there was no way she could have looked behind her because if she did, she would have burst into uncontainable laughter at the gringo who happens to enjoy her personal space, smooshed between these two women. I have to admit, I found myself holding in my laughter as well. Ah, the memories.

By 6am, our van pulled into Ollantaytambo, where we needed to catch the train up to Machu Picchu. The train ride through the sacred valley was beautiful. The fact that the sun was shining and there was no rain in sight, had me completely giddy with anticipation. Not only were Heidi and I on a train headed for Machu Picchu, but we were also going to experience it in the sunshine (apparently a rare treat for those exploring the ancient ruins).

The train took us to the town of Machu Picchu, where admittently, Heidi and I both assumed we would get off the train and there, lo and behold, we would see Machu Picchu. 

Not exactly.

We got off the train and soon noticed the long line of people waiting for buses on the main street. That "ah-ha" moment came and we realized we needed to take another bus up to the actual ruins. Our deductive skills astound me sometimes :)

20 minutes of being on a bus, we finally arrived at Machu Picchu. It was exactly and nothing at all like I imagined it to be all at the same time. The moment of rounding the corner from the ruin site entrance to the actual ancient city of Machu Picchu was nothing I could prepare myself for. The only word that comes to mind is breath-taking.
It truly was!
It was again one of those moments where I needed to pinch myself to ensure that this was all really happening. Here I was, at one of the seven wonders of the world with one of my best friends and completely in awe of creation and enchanted-ness of the history I was being immersed in.  

Heidi and I opted to for-go the tour guide and wander the ruins on our own. We caught little pieces of history and explanations from passing tours but it was a lot more fun to imagine and conjure up explanations on our own :)
Machu Picchu brings hundreds of tourists together on a daily basis. Never a dull moment in the people watching department might I add. At one point in the afternoon as Heidi and I sat down in the shade to rest and the variety of people made us smile. Apparently some tourists arrived at Machu Picchu unaware of what Machu Picchu actually is. They didn't get the memo that climbing thousands of uneven stairs and hiking probably is better done not in fur vests, skirts and platforms. But who am I to judge? To each their own :)

Yup, this is all really happening.

Rather than climbing back into a van with 15-20 other people at the end of a very long and exhausting day, we opted to take a private taxi back to Cuzco and pay the little bit of extra money to do so. My personal-space loving self was so thankful.

By 11pm we stumbled back into our bedroom at the hostel. A hot shower and a bed never looked so good after a loooong day. 

To my dearest Heidi, thank you for adventuring with me. I couldn't have imagined doing this with anyone else.

Peru 2014

After 2 very long years of not seeing each other, me and one of my dearest friends, Heidi, were reunited in Lima, Peru of all places. By the time my flight finally arrived (2 hours late), it was midnight and I had been awake for 20 hours travelling. However, that did not hold me back from literally leaping into Heidi's arms when I saw her. There may have been some squealing happening in the Lima airport that night. Yup, we were those "loud North Americans".

Travelling necessities 

Early that morning we were scheduled to catch a flight from Lima to Cuzco, where we would be spending the next 4 days, but since it was already midnight and we needed to be at the airport by 4am, we decided to cancel our hotel in Lima, save some money and just stay at the airport until our flight time. Thank goodness for a 24 hour Starbucks in the airport! And there we sat for 4 hours talking. It was as though we had never been apart (minus the fact that we both felt that we needed to keep pinching ourselves to see if this was all really happening. Yup, we were together in person!).

Here is just a glimpse into an amazing 10 days in Peru!

Cuzco

Advent: stepping out.

Advent. We are in a season of waiting. Each of us waits in different ways; for different things. We have each created our wish lists. Waiting invites us each to step out in faith.

Over these last few weeks as I have wandered my way through the Jesse Tree - this array of intriguing characters that makes up the lineage of Jesus - I have found myself captivated by the theme of faith, people waiting in faith. Waiting for Emmanuel, God with us.

This theme of stepping out in faith has come at me in numerous ways over the last week and a bit in particular. It started with the story of Abram and Sarah in Genesis 12. God calls out to Abram and tells him to go; to go with his wife, to take what he can carry, leave his home and extended family and start walking to the place where God will instruct him. Those are the instructions. Many details are left out. Abram's task was only to go and to be obedient as he followed. Talk about stepping out in faith! Abram obeys and God's promise for him as a result was great. God has this wild plan to make Abram into a great nation with many descendants. This is radical because at this point, Abram and Sarah have no children. They are beyond child-bearing years. No doubt they probably looked like fools by friends and family. Yet, they step out in faith, trusting that God is not only promising to be with them, but that God sees the bigger picture, even when at the moment, nothing seems to make a lot of sense.

Stepping forward a few hundred years, during the height of Jesus' ministry on earth, we are brought to the story of Peter walking on water in Matthew 14:22-36. While sitting in staff meetings last week, I was reminded of this story and again, the call to step out in faith. 

Quick synopsis of the story. A storm is brewing on the water. Jesus is on land and his disciples are in a boat on the lake. While the is storm is raging, Jesus steps out on the water and begins walking toward the boat. Immediately the disciples are afraid, unaware that it is Jesus, who is walking toward them. After walking and talking with Jesus for awhile now, the disciples continue to doubt when Jesus says to them, "Do not be afraid. Take courage, I am here". To test the validity of what is going on here, Peter steps out in boldness and asks to come out on the water too and Jesus invites it. Peter steps out of the boat and onto the waves and finds himself actually walking on water. It doesn't take long before doubt sets in and just as quickly as he stepped out of the boat, he begins to sink beneath the waves until Jesus comes and pulls his head back above water and sets is feet back in the boat. 

I applaud Peter and his courage in wanting to step out of the familiar and enter the water; to practice bold faith. Like Abram, Peter is given little detail about how exactly this whole walking on water is going to work. The physics and math of it all do not come into question. His heart truly desires to be obedient in faith. But, like us, Peter is human and his faith falls short. Doubt sets in and he quickly finds himself sinking, but he even though there is failure that is experienced on Peter's part, there is obedience and faith in just getting out of the boat! There is no safety promised once you leave the boat, but Jesus is not in the boat - he is on the water.

I have been spending time with Jesus at our meeting place on the rocks by the lake often this week. I have come to Jesus weary and exhausted in waiting; longing to just get the tiniest of glimpses into the bigger picture. I didn't get any details. What I got instead was an invitation to step off of the rocks and onto the water. I was given both a promise and a challenge to walk forward in faith to the place that God is leading me. I am not going to be given the step-by-step process, but rather I am being asked to be obedient and trust that God is out on the water wanting to walk with me - the God who goes before me and behind me, the God who claims me as His own. I am promised a wild adventure in faith, journeying with Jesus. 

So, here I am. Right smack dab in the middle of a season of waiting; a season of waiting expectantly for the impossible. And yet, in my waiting, I am keenly aware of a very present Jesus in my midst, Emmanuel, God with me. There is a call on my life to step out in faith. A call to step out in faith when I am not privy to know the exact timing. A call to step out in faith when the details of the where, when, who, what and how cannot be answered. A call to step out in faith when the thought of stepping off of the rocks and placing my feet upon the water seems incredibly scary. A call to step out in faith when I am unable to see the big picture.

So as my heart prepares to welcome the Emmanuel in a few short days, I choose to wait expectantly. I choose to step out in faith and walk on water with the Christ Child. I choose to be obedient.