Phew

It seems that a crisis had been averted. While I understood that I was going to have to drive here in Peru, I expected to be able to have a few weeks (days even) of practice before I was required to do anything extreme... like drive 4 hours between cities--or even around major cities. I guess there was a little miscommunication going on, and I found out yesterday (Thursday) that I was being asked to drive the MMI van between Arequipa and Ilo. I guess Tania didn´t know either, but that the director of that project assumed that I was going to be able to.

This is no normal van, mind you, it is a 15-seater, the size of a small bus. And so the prospect of driving a behemoth such as that, down the small and overcrowded roads here in Peru had me a little nervous, since the last car that was even close to that size that I have driven was my mom´s old truck. And even that I didn´t take out for more than half an hour at a time on back country roads.

Fun fun. Anyway, through a bit of negotiation, Tania and I were able to convince the project director that we were better off if someone else drove this trip. Fine, good, yay. But it still means I get to look forward to driving in the near future.

But plans are final, we leave for Ilo on Sunday, where we´ll be for a week, then off to Monquegua for another week. Supposedly the best avocados in this part of Peru are from Monquegua... mmmmm. I´m supposed to bring back a bag full for Catherine´s host mom. Besides that, it looks likely that I´m going to get to translate this time around, which means less photos, but less running. I´ll do my best to get lots of pictures however.

Tonight. Dinner, then bible study small group, then maybe go out with Catherine´s host sister. The first two things for sure!