Peruvian Mennonite churches and the terraces of Tipon
March 4, 2017
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.
Gabby and Dusti having breakfast with their host family.Maria walks to the Mennonite church in Lucre with 3 members of our host family: Milady, Erica, and Victoria.The Lucre Mennonite Church.The first 45 minutes of church was all singing.A child dedication service.Maria introduces the congregation to Mark, who will be in Lucre for his 6-week service assignment.A barbecue fundraiser for the congregation’s youth group.Under the blue roof was GC’s first Peruvian soccer defeat.Los Frutales trout farm and restaurant, where Mark will do his service assignment.Lunch at the trout restaurant.Trout goes from the tank to the table in 20-30 minutes.Mark proved formidable at the volleyball net.Katie gets the ball over the net for a GC score.From the star GC volleyball team, Meghan was stellar everywhere on the court.Dusti saves the ball from going out.Tyler sets the ball up for Dusti.Isaac always keeps his visor pointed back to be more aerodynamic for gaining altitude and spectacularly spiking the ball.Meghan again strikes fear into the opposing team, as GC comes from behind to win.Mark again dazzles at the net, as Maria has to hold on to her hat.The agricultural terraces of Tipon.With the clouds threatening, our guide starts the tour under a roof.Always one to use helpful hand gestures, Tyler indicates where the rain would come from.The guide explains the Incan symbolism behind this irrigation fountain diverting the water from 1, to 2, back to 1, and then to 4 streams.The Incans built steps like these into the terraces.The buildings at right were a royal palace.Behind the students is the Sacred Valley.Above the terraces we had visited an Incan temple.Students suggested the terraces were built to hold multiple intramural soccer matches, with winners moving up a terrace and losers moving down. Maybe.Back in Lucre a festival was in progress.As the rain arrives, Mark crosses the bridge to the home he will live in during service.
