{come together}

Well, summer is finally winding down. I have one week left until I start my senior year at ASU and I plan on taking full advantage of it! Tomorrow I'm driving down to Tucson for one last hurrah with my twinzie, Kelsey. Also, found out today that I was offered an internship in the Talent department at Laura's company. That starts in two weeks. Everything seems to be falling in place, and I couldn't be happier for what's to come. xx

{summer lovin'}

What an amazing summer it's been. I have so much to write about! Everything kicked off with two huge graduations: Laura from ASU and Lorenzo from NDHS. Both were equally spectacular.

For Laura's graduation her mom surprised her by renting out a penthouse in Tempe! We swam all day and had all of our friends over that night for a magnificent celebration. A couple weeks later the whole Fino clan drove/flew/hitchhiked/etc. to Los Angeles for Lorenzo's grad party. I am so proud of both of them! Major milestones that they've both accomplished.




Flash forward a couple weeks: went to Tucson to visit Kelsey before her 21st. Allwaaayyyysss a good time over there and this was no exception. I have to say, for such a quiet town, Tucson has yet to be boring. Oh, the antics we get into, haha.

One week later and BAM! Newport 2012 we have arrived! The parties were insane this year, and the cops had completely cracked down. But that didn't keep us from our jubilee. I can't imagine doing the Fourth anywhere else. It just wouldn't be the same. Some highlights this year include: Ja-mal the banana, D-d-d-d-j Salman, Party With Sluts, bar fights, drunk nights (days), dance parties, chanda-fricken-lier, Sailor Moon, my French boyfriend, Asians, Korean age, taco tuesdays!, and of course, frozen bananas.




Two days after we got back from Newport I finally turned 21! Laura, Em, Riana and I went out to dinner then Laura and I went to have drinks at Sandbar. Oh boy did that turn out to be one EVENTFUL Monday night. The rest of the week we pretty much went out every night.. I love us.

David's birthday was two days after mine and he threw a huge party in LA last weekend for it. Laura and I drove out and surprised him the day of. It was so much fun to go out with all of our friends there. We went to a club called Lure and it turned out Chris Brown had a table right next to us! Kindof pretty exciting/cool haha. Did I mention I did all of this on a sprained ankle? Yah, #twentyWON okay?

{top of the world}

Saturday, April 14 
 
Machu Picchu was insane! What a special ending to the most amazing trip of my life.

Left the hotel at 4am to make the 4 hour trip to the site. First a 2 hour bus ride, then a 2 hour train ride along a beautiful river in the mountains.

I had looked at pictures of Machu Picchu before coming to Peru and was astounded. But, honestly, they pale in comparison to the actual view. I don't even know how to describe it! Highlights of my day: the first view at the mountain top, meeting (FINALLY) a llama and her baby!, and the group session at the end.

When we had toured the entire area, the group gathered in a big circle and took a seat. All of us reflected on our time in Peru and then went around sharing what our favorite part was. It was so heart warming to hear everyone's thoughts. You could see their transformation, and to hear the words come out of their mouths, the emotions and metamorphosis they'd gone through were almost palpable.

We got back to Cusco (which, by the way, is a gorgeous city! wasn't expecting that at all), and had a private mass in the most breathtaking church. Then we all went out to dinner to celebrate our last moments together.

Saying goodbye to everyone was hard, but nothing like I imagined it was going to be. I had this image in my head that saying goodbye would be a combination of laughter, tears (lots of tears), hugging, and some more tears. But it wasn't so. A lot of hugging and laughter, yes. Tears though? Not so much. There was an air of "this isn't the end" that you could tell everyone felt. We all know that we'll see each other soon.

After Cusco, most of the group went home, but a few of us stayed on the adventure for a little while longer. David, Linda, Gregg, Eduardo, a few of the others and I made our way to Lima for a day and then to Argentina! In Buenos Aires we went to a tango show at the Hotel Faena, an experience I'll never get! Had lunch the next day and then it was time to go home.

I can't describe what a blessing this trip has been. I feel like I've said that in every single blog post, but it's true! My life has changed for the best. God is with me, and there's nothing I can't do with him by my side. I love this feeling that I carry with me now. I'm confident, and loved, and humble. So so so blessed. That's the only way I can sum it up.

Dios te bendiga :)

{passion}

Saturday, April 7

Happy Easter! I just got back from the most beautiful candlelight vigil. I can't believe this was my last day in Piura. It went by so fast!

Yesterday was amazing. We put on a Passion play, but this wasn't your regular old play that you'd see at Holy Friday's mass. This was a real life reenactment of the event. Over a thousand people showed up to watch Jesus' passion. Live horses, soldiers, the women in mourning. The cast must have been made up of at lease 80 people in itself! I truly felt like I was part of the masses that gathered over two thousand years ago to watch our Savior.

Tomorrow is a day of travel: flying to Cusco to visit Machu Picchu! I can't wait!

All I can say that this mission has changed me. I've had way too many beautiful experiences than I can possibly list, or even describe. And to have spent this glorious transformation with my family! There are no words that can explain how blessed I feel.

 I'll update on Monday with pictures from Machu Picchu.

Dios te bendiga :)

{thick as theives}

Thursday, April 5

Happy Holy Thursday! Worked all morning to put up another house but this afternoon we were given the day off. Aunt Linda and I decided to walk to a nearby street market to browse for some gifts to bring home.

The market had everything; fruit, veggies, food, clothes, shoes, jewelry. We were having a great time walking around and experiencing the culture.  Linda had just bought a pair of shoes, and we started walking again, our phones out, snapping photos. Out of nowhere I hear Linda (who's about 6 feet behind me) screaming her head off! "STOP HIM! MY PHONE! MY PHONE!"

A boy not too older than me bolts out from behind a cart with Linda's phone in hand. I tried running after him, but he darted into a dark alleyway and I knew I was in no way capable of catching him. I felt so bad for Linda!  We walked straight back to the church and got in contact with our family to make sure her service got turned off. Thankfully she had an app set up that wirelessly transferred her pictures to her home computer, so not much was lost.

The rest of the day was good. Mass, dinner, and of course another round of hootin' and hollerin' til 3am.

I can't tell you how much I would love to do this for the rest of my life! I've been here for 4 days and feel as though I've known this group for years. I'm making such great friendships that I know will last for much longer than the time we're together here. A life of service is an amazing and fulfilling experience. I can't wait to keep it up!

Dios te bendiga :)

{healing}

Wednesday, April 4
 
This, by far and wide, has been a day I will never forget. It started out as we normally would: 8am wakeup/9am departure. Linda and I were put into a group going to visit the hospice instead of building. We made our way around the courtyard walled by patient rooms, visiting, praying, comforting all of them.

Five of the male patients were gathered in a small sun room. I thought we'd just be hanging out with them, but it turns out we were assigned to help get them cleaned up. I cleaned, trimmed, and filed all of their nails as well as put lotion on their arms, Charlie and Linda helped shave their beards, and Maria Susanna kept their minds company, filling them with joy through her spoken word.

I can't tell you how humbling that was. And how much courage it took those men to allow us to take care of them that way. Had I been in that position, I might have had too much pride, or been too stubborn. To help someone in such an intimate way was an amazing. I've never been put in that situation before. Definitely challenged myself.

After the hospice our small group went to lunch at a restaurant in town to try the famous Peruvian ceviche. What a luxury it was! Not going to lie, I felt a little bit guilty to be sitting in an air conditioned room, drinking cold soda, and indulging in the best ceviche that I've ever come in contact with. It's so odd that I would expect this in the states. My point of view, already, has been totally altered.

For the rest of the afternoon we went to one of the building sites to finish the house. When we got back to the church, I was exhausted. The long days and lack of sleep had caught up to me. Everyone was rushing to shower and dress before mass started, but I had decided to stay in tonight and rest.

Just as the last few missionaries were leaving for the service, one of the church members asked me "Aren't you going to mass?" I replied, "No, not tonight." She asked (in a bit of a perplexed tone), "Why wouldn't you go?" I brushed it off with the excuse that I was tired, and not feeling up to it.

A few minutes later, Caleb (who is a remarkable soul; came from the states to live in Piura for six months, just because he felt called to), approached me asking if I was going to mass, again I said, "no." With a face that said nothing less than how could you sit here and miss out on this? Caleb replies "Why not?" again I brushed it off with the excuse that I was tired. Shrugging his shoulders, Caleb walked away, down the stairs to mass.

At this point, I'm completely guilt-stricken. The moral debate of "should I skip mass or not?" bouncing around in my head. For two strangers to come up to me, and only me, and ask if I was coming to mass...that was too weird for me, too coincidental. So I got up, quickly changed into something nice(er) and ran downstairs.

Let me tell you, God works in mysterious ways. Even before this trip, I had been yearning for a service with the sacrament of Adoration. Guess what? Tonight was the monthly healing mass and the one time all month that they have Adoration. How is it possible that I am here only one week, yet it's the week they have the healing mass? How is it possible that I was dead set on not going to mass tonight, yet the words of strangers sparked something in me to go? How is it possible that I had been seeking adoration for weeks now, and the night my mind was set on missing it, I ended up in the middle of it? God is good. God is good.

Dios te bendiga :)

{building time}

Tuesday, April 3
 
Day two here in Piura has been so fulfilling! Gregg arrived this morning to join the team. Got up at 8 and we were out of here by 9. We were split into three groups: two to build houses and one group went to deliver food.

We pulled up in the village we had visited yesterday where we met our foreman, got a quick overview of what the house will look like and the materials we were using, and got straight to work! The houses are composed of bamboo beams for infrastructure, thatch mats for interior walls, wood sheets as exterior walls, and a sort of corrugated sheets of plastic/metal for a roof.

After the first hour of work a lot of the neighborhood children started gathering to see what all the commotion was about. Oh yeah, forgot to mention that David and Gregg are part of a documentary that a good friend of theirs is shooting while we're here. As if a group of 15 white people wasn't enough to get people talking, we also came with 5-7 camera, sound, and photo crew members.

The kids were fascinated with all of the technology. I had my DSLR with me and it wasn't long til one of them asked to play with it. I watched as the kids passed the camera back and forth to one another, taking shots of themselves, their neighborhood, and the work we were doing.

There was one little girl, Marcela, who stayed by my side all day long! She would help with the building, hold my hand when breaks were taken, and cling to my side while I was shooting. Something really struck me with her.

Over the course of 8 hours in the blistering Peruvian sun, house #1 had finally come together. I think the best part about today was getting to meet the family we built it for. They were so grateful and overjoyed that they had been given this gift!

I'm already so humbled from my experience. Never in my life have I been so grateful for a shower -- and a cold one at that! The things I'd complain about at home seem so trivial now.

The masses tonight and last night were a great way to end the day. They're spoken in Spanish and I can't understand a word, but at the same time that's almost a blessing. I was able to focus on what I was feeling instead of trying to scrutinize every sentence of the homily. And the community of Santisimo Sacremento is inspiring in itself.

It turns out a large part of our group is composed of extremely talented musicians. You know what that means? Amazing, loud, spirited jam sessions into the wee hours of the morning. It' so fun to have all of us gathered in the courtyard singing, dancing, drumming, and just enjoying each others' company! Perfect way to let our souls speak the joy and elation that's built up during the amazing days we're having through service.

Can't wait for what tomorrow brings. Dios te bendiga :)



Update: Remember that lovely little girl I mentioned, Marcela? I've started a fundraiser for her and her family! Please take the time to read her story at crowdrise.com/marcela