Holidays Come to an End

Today is our first day of not being on holiday for two weeks. We will resume classes this morning and the thought that we only have another eight weeks of language study left is a huge motivation to get stuck back in again but the same thought also terrifies us! How are we going to manage after language school?!

Our two weeks off from studies were two excellant weeks. The time off enabled us to relax quite a bit and divert from our usual daily routine. During our first week of holidays Sarah was still in nursery and so we had the freedom to do things together each morning in Arequipa, something whihc we have not had for a long time. As anticipated this involved visiting coffee shops amongst some other things.

On Friday 27th July we travelled down to Ilo by bus for a week. In the morning Sarah was required to be in nursery as the children were doing a special presentation for Fiestas Patrias - Peru Day. She had to dress up as a typical Liminian (Someone from Lima). Immediately after Sarah's presentation we got on the bus for the 4 hour journey to Ilo.

Our time in Ilo was very relaxing and very much a holiday, athough we did feel that we achieved a number of things while there as well. On the Saturday morning after arriving in Ilo there was a work day for all the churches at the Camp and conference centre, to help with the building of the centre. For almost three hours I (Dave) shovelled soil into a wheelbarrow so we could bring the foundation of the kitchen up two feet. It was really enjoyable as I was able to converse with many of the other Peruvians who I was working alongside. It proved to be a helpful experience from the perspective of giving me opportunity to converse a little in spanish as well. Unfortunately when I woke up on Sunday morning with aching muscles I did not value the experience quite so much!

We also had the opportunity to talk about some preparations for our move to Ilo at the end of September or the beginning of October. During the week we viewed two houses. One of the houses we really liked and would be very keen to take it. At this point we are unsure whether we will be able to get it but we are praying that if this is not the one then God would provide somewhere else for us. Please pray with us regarding this situation.

Since arriving back in Arequipa we have renewed enthusiam for studying and despite the break seem to have picked up where we left off. We have also began thinking through some of the practical details for our impending move. In the midst of all this we decided we did not have enough to occupy our minds and had a moment of madness and bought a dog. We had our eye on a little golden retriever pup for a number of weeks and eventually gave in as there seemed to be so many good reason why we should! Since buying it and bringing it home Sarah has named it after the Penguin in her DVD - Scamper! She adores the dog and the dog loves her - so much so that it jumps up on her and nearly knocks her over!

Once again we do appreciate your interest in what we are doing here and your prayers are very much valued. Could you please pray that we will continue well to the end of our language course and make good progress and that as we leave we would feel well equipped for the next step. Please also pray for all the plans that will need to be made in the coming 2 months.