Machu Picchu

Visited Machu Picchu last weekend. Was an interesting trip. Our tour schedule gave us a LOT of downtime in the city which was a huge tourist trap & everything was priced SO high. We enjoyed having a visit with Billy Greenman who's over the Girasoles boys program run by Scripture Union. Our hostel was literally on the train track & smelled like sewage. The group from our school wanted to catch the 6am sunrise over MP but we opted out- thankfully we didn't get up because it was raining & clouds covered the sun until later in the morning! 

We enjoyed touring Machu Picchu & were glad we went. Spent a few hours there before heading back for a pricey lunch. Our train didn't leave until 7pm & so we had hours to spare... Decided to pay the $20 fee to get another room at the hostel where we napped & showered before heading to the train station. Thankfully we were well rested & not wiped out like the rest of the group! 

We've been struggling at school- it's been difficult to have such an overload of information & not be practicing it enough. We finished the basic book but the intermediate book goes very deep into past tense & irregular verbs & it's just a lot. I've felt really discouraged & like I'm not getting further along. Felt like the weekend was a big setback only speaking English. Monday was a rough day in class. Festival traffic & road closings kept us from going to class today & tomorrow tomorrow is a holiday so we will study at home again. Really feel this week & next we just need to be conversing & working on our vocab- our biggest goal is just to be able to talk to the kids more. I feel like I understand much more than I did but I'm just more hesitant to speak & feel like I forget things when I go to talk because I get nervous.

Been feeling a bit homesick & tired of being here. Sick of being cold & not being able to eat food- every time I eat something I actually enjoy I end up sick.  

Have run into several children on the street that have broken our hearts. It's hard to know what to do or how to respond but we always try to treat them with kindness. So much need in this country for Gods most treasured. 

Until next time

Kb