Peruvian Mennonite churches and the terraces of Tipon

Sunday, February 19. 

Last night all the students were left in pairs at the homes of Mennonite families in the villages of Huacarpay and Lucre.  The guys spending the night in Lucre (whom will not be not identified as Mark, Tyler and Rowan), upon seeing the village’s artificial turf futbolito field, could not resist the urge.  Alas, under the pouring rain and a leaking roof they slipped and landed on their backsides almost as often as the home team scored against them.  And so ended our futbolito winning streak.

In the morning students had breakfast with their respective families and then went together to the Mennonite church in their village.  The 2.5-hour service featured (lots of) singing, preaching, and announcements, not unlike our churches at home.

Many of the Mennonite families in Lucre have family trout farms and restaurants, and we enjoyed the fresh fish at one of those.  Another large group at the outdoor restaurant was playing volleyball, and our group, sensing an opportunity to repair a deeply wounded pride after last night’s humiliating soccer thrashing, asked for a match.  They readily agreed and lost no time taking an early lead that lasted until GC was able to tie the game at 23-23.  But then the Mighty Leaves surged, winning the match.  In a second match to 10 points, the newly invigorated Maplitos let it all loose, running to a 10-1 romp.

Growing rain clouds threatened to douse us as we headed to our afternoon activity, the Incan ruins of Tipon.  Afternoon rains are common in the Andean rainy season, but we were fortunate the clouds stayed shut a few more hours.