A marvelous green dress and a trip to Peru

(Yes, that´s me...on the far left. )

(Krystal and I...)

I found this gem of a dress at a huge outdoor flea market in El Alto for a mere 80 cents. Needless to say, I won the prize for ¨Most Stunning,¨ though I was also up for ¨Most Ridiculous,¨ and ¨Most Out-of Character.¨ This was our ¨last supper¨ with Erica, since she flew home to Washington today.

The events of the past few days have been quite enjoyable. Saturday, we hiked around ¨Valley of the Moon¨ and spent the afternoon playing cards and eating ice cream.

Yesterday at Missionaries of Charity, I had an encouraging conversation with on of the Nuns and played a riveting game of Uno with a few of the residents there, and then took a beautiful group picture with the laundry drying in the background. Sylvina had a black eye, and when I asked her what happened, she said ¨that Lucy, she´s crazy!¨ I was saddened, but not at all surprised. I´ve even had to break up a few fist fights, myself. I folded lots of laundry, shook bread crumbs out of sheets, swept and mopped. I told the women I wouldn´t be back for a week and half, so I said my goodbyes and left them with kisses on their cheek. I left feeling known... these women and the sisters are remembering me, calling me by name. It´s such a beautiful thing to be known.

I´m leaving Bolivia today... but only for a week! It´s off to PERU for a retreat with our team. We´re hopping on a 24-hour bus and will hopefully end up in Lima just in time for dinner with the WMF Peru staff Wednesday evening. 24 hours on a bus... I may have to dedicate an entire entry to that experience upon my return. We´re all excited for the chance to go deep, play together, and rest together. This will probably be my last blog until the beginning of May... so if you find yourself checking for an update and there isn´t one, you can pray for my team instead. :)

Chao for now!