I was in the city of Santiago and this dog jumped in the fountain in front of the Presidential Palace! He had a great swim and jumped out in time before the security guards caught him. :)

Leaving for a 16 hour bus ride today!!!

Greetings from Chile!

Okay so I've determined that I finding time to blog when your on the road is difficult!!!! :) These next coming weeks will the same. I'm leaving this evening on a 16 hour bus ride to the South of Chile. I'm joining a local mission team from a church in Santiago. We will be working with children and doing community outreach kind of stuff. I'm really excited and expect it to be nothing but fun! :)

The last couple weeks I have been in Santiago. I had a chance to get to know their subway system and explore the city. I also had the amazing privilege to photograph a baptism service for a church here. If i remember correctly about 50 people got baptized!!!! :) I also had the amazing opportunity to give my testimony at a church as well as at a kids summer camp. Camp was so much fun! It takes me straight back to my Hume Lake roots! :) There are some things in this world that are absolutely the same everywhere!!!! For example when 13 year old girls are at camp they will stay up most of the night talking and laughing!!!! :) I absolutely love that!!! :)

Thanks everybody for your prayers for me. This trip has been absoluely amazing and has exceeded my expectations in every way imaginable. I still wake up in the mornings and think... "oh my goodness!!! Is this really my life am I dreaming????

This week I especially need prayer about the language barrier. I'm learning Spanish but it is a very slow process. THEN.... February 1st I leave for Brazil.... and they speak Portugese!!! :) ha ha!!!

I'm sending lots of love to all of you!!! :) Blessings!!!

Cristobal hill overlooking the City of Santiago

Long Silence

Hellooooo everybody! 

I was looking at my old travel blog and noticed a typo. I edited the post and it pushed it up to the top if my page! :-)  This trek was wonderful to reminisce anout this evening. Enjoy! 




Aloha Folks!!!!

Sorry for the long silence! :)

The 5 day trek to Machupicchu was AMAZING!!!!! :) We took the Salkantay trail, hiked up and over a 15,000 foot elevation mountain pass while it was SNOWING then on to a rain forest and finished it all with a day at Machupicchu!!!!!! All together we hiked about 75K in 5 days. The first few days we hiked 9 hours per day! The walking wasn't so bad it was the allergic reaction to the mosquitoes and then a lovely infection to follow. :)

A few days after hiking to Machupicchu I went back to Colombia for Christmas and New Years. It was an action packed visit with limited access to the internet. :)

Today I am in Peru and tomorrow I leave for Chile!!!! I'm excited and nervous. Its a whole new set of people, places, and things. So we will see how it goes. :)

I love you all and enjoy the photos!!!!

Ciao!

Cindy

Leaving for a 5 day trek to Machu Picchu at 4:30 in the morning!!!

Greetings!!!!

So i´ve been MIA for a few days. I flew into Cusco Peru about a week ago. I have been staying at an Orphanage about an hour and a half outside the city. It is a BEAUTIFUL place!!! Its quite remote so they only use a satalite phone and the access to the internet is limited. I hope to post some photos when i return to Lima on the 12th. I will have a lot of photos to post since I am leaving bright and early in the morning to trek for 5 days to Machu Picchu. I´m a little scared. I think we are treking somethink like 75K! My old foot injury from my running days flared up a couple days ago so lets pray this doesnt turn into a 75K death march!!!!

Well i love and miss you all!!!! Love and blessings from the road!!!!

Cindy

Lima Peru

Hola! Love and Greetings to one and all!!!

Lima has been relaxing and fun.

I think its so funny when you are out of your "normal life" the things that seem like an accomplishment or extra exhilarating. Yesterday was Thanksgiving. I took a walk by myself in the late morning to a park near my house. It was scary and exciting all at the same time. I walked a couple blocks to a park and wrote in my journal about all the things I was Thankful for. I have sooooooo many!!!! I could have stayed there all day. :)

Last night I went out with some friends from here. We went to see the Principle Square (Which includes the Presidential Palace) after that we took a taxi to the coast, had a Peruvian chicken dinner, then took a beautiful walk. :) It was a lot of fun and before we knew it the evening turned into morning. I fell into my bed exhausted around 2:30!!! :)

The language barrier is getting easier. I'm understanding more and more as the days pass by. Now I need to work on speaking more. :)

I'm going to a museum tonight and tomorrow the Lima zoo!!! :) Next week I will be spending time in Cusco volunteering at an orphanage and hopefully trekking up to Machu Picchu! :) I can't wait! :)

I'm posting a few pics from my days so far in Lima. :) Enjoy! :)

PERU

Hola Everybody!!!

I arrived safely in Peru yesterday. I will be able to get this blog up to date soon. Love ya! Cindy

Leaving on a Jet Plane

The long awaited day has arrived! I depart from LAX tomorrow night!

OH MY GOODNESS!!!!

I'm ready to go and I don't totally feel prepared. I will probably repack my bags again tonight! :)

This last 12 days has been awesome. I've had an amazing time visiting friends, resting, and checking off the last of my duties on my to do list. Tomorrow I go to the Brazilian consulate to pick up my passport and visa. I'm hoping and praying that everything goes smoothly.

Well that's about all the news for now....my next post will be from the country of Colombia! :)

Love you all!!!!

Cindy Lu
.