Monday 11/8/10
We woke up this morning at 5:00am…well I did anyway. I finally sat up at 5:30am. It gets dark here around 6 or so and daylight begins to roll in around 5-5:30ish. We got everything loaded and left at 6:30am. The tributary, called Sucusari, was up due to the rain, but it still took us one hour to get off the tributary and onto the Napo River. We dropped Sebastian off in Mazan and we headed up river to Puerto Alegra to visit with the Peruvians there. We went to see if the men were back from the jungle yet. They go for months at a time to get wood to sell. Their work over those months will provide the money they need for the next year. They were not back yet and are not going to be back until December. So instead of story telling with them, we headed back to Mazan to go to Iquitos. While I would have enjoyed watching Brandon story tell…I must admit that the idea of going home early sounds good. I know Amy would love it. We got to the other side of Mazan and had to wait for a boat but that only took about 20 minutes. On our way from one port to the other on the motor cart a kid hitched a ride on the back of the cart. At the port we watched some guys wrestle a giant pig into the boat from the water. Funny!! As we waited we set the plan to go home early. We got to Iquitos and went to Brandon’s house. Star Peru was going to make us wait because we missed the last flight. So we went to Peruvian Air and the cost would be $185/person to leave tonight at 7:40 and arrive in Lima at 9:20pm. We contacted Continental to see if we would have to pay to change our flight. They said if we did it by standby then no, but if we wanted to secure a spot on the plane then it would cost us $250. But since he said we could get on free if they had spots we bought the Peruvian Air tickets. We got back to Brandon’s and took showers and loaded up. We stopped in the market area to buy the kids a “top” type toy…I will get Maddie’s at the airport…they had some cute dolls.
The flight from Iquitos to Lima was not good at all! I had a lady with a small child next to me who was screaming extremely loud and often. When he wasn’t screaming he would take the arm rest on my side and slam it up and down. Then when he started crying, the mom just opened up her shirt and began feeding him (cultural thing, I know). First his feet were on my, then she would switch sides and his head was laying on me! So I put my headset on and listened to a Piper sermon. I was so glad to get off that plane.
Well we got to Lima and you guessed it…the idiot on the phone lied to us. We ended up having to $250 each to change the flight. Gerald was mad as all get out. So now I am going to go to Continental on Friday and plead my case. I pray they understand. One of the main reasons we came back so early is because Brandon was having major stomach issues among other health matters. He is going to Lima to see his doctor tomorrow I pray all goes well. (Side note: I eventually got all of our money back).
As we were getting ready to load our flight to Houston I got in a conversation with a man from Seattle. His name is Jason. His wife is from Lima and she came here to have a surgery for $9000 that would have cost them $35,000 in the U.S. He serves in the military. He was very different. I asked him if he thought about life after death and he said he did not discuss religion with people. I pushed a little but he was not interested. So we talked about other things. He seemed very interested in our work among the Maijuna’s
We are not on the flight home and I am excited. Jenn is going to pick us up at the airport and we are going to surprise our wives. I can’t wait to see my family. It has been a very good trip and we have a lot of work to do…but I want to be with my family now. Well that is the last chapter on this trip. May the Lord help us fulfill the task of taking the gospel to the nations!
