(I apologize for this being posted so late... I can explain later).
This was my final day in Alto Cayma, and as we sat around the dining room table talking about how this mission not only impacted the lives of those we touched... but more so how those amazing people have impacted our own lives, I was overcome with sadness that I didn't realize I felt. I actually wished I could stay longer and revisit some of the people I'd met along this journey... especially Francisca. I've thought about her and her beautiful baby, Christina, every waking moment since that day we met her up in that mountain community. Maybe it's because we're both moms with two young children... maybe it was her sense of peace with what she and her husband have been able to accomplish in life so far... I really don't know what it is, but I know I do think of her often. I hope some day life will become easier for her and that God blesses her family with good health.
On this last day, some of the volunteers boarded a plane headed for the city of Cusco where they planned to hike Machu Picchu, and some of us stayed back and waited for our flight back to the US.... I was one of them. Since my plane didn't leave Arequipa until 5-ish that day (was supposed to be 7:40, but Bob negotiated me an earlier flight out), Denise, Cassandra and I went to downtown Arequipa to do a little more touristy stuff... we did a little shopping, visited the Monastario de Santa Catalina (a really, really old convent which is more like a city in and of itself), had lunch out on a restaurant balcony and also stopped to visit Juanita, the Incan ice mummy at the museum. Next thing we knew, we where headed back to the volunteer house to pack our bags and head to the airport. While I was out shopping, I found a really cute child-size guitar carved out of wood. I bought it for Camden, who is always playing "music" on whatever he can find to make noise. Before we left the house, I had Father Alex write a blessing to my son on the front of the guitar... I meant to ask him what it meant before I left (since it was written in Spanish), but of course I forgot. So to any of my Spanish-speaking friends out there, feel free to help me translate!
Like I said earlier, Bob got me on an earlier flight out of Arequipa... which basically meant I just had more time to spend in the Lima airport (oh, goodie). After tossing back a crummy aiport sandwich (washed down with a couple of Cusquenas - aka beer), I settled back to send a few emails and take in everything I had just been through in the last week. By 11:45pm, I was on my way back to Florida, where I would spend the next few days kicking back and relaxing.
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