Perú 6/18/2010-6/20/2010: Ministry in Lima, then home!

Photos are here: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=188379&id=580751501

We'll start off with a confession... I don't really like Lima. I don't like the smog, I don't really like the beach, and I could do without the weather. However, there are some really stunning sights - that is, if you can see them through the smog.

Sleeping didn't help my sore throat. I wonder if I'm getting a cold or if it's just all the pollution. Drinking tea at breakfast didn't help either. The plan from yesterday afternoon (which was to help out at an orphanage and a school) was changed to "go to the market in the most dangerous part of Lima and do an evangelistic outreach." I liked plan A better, but I was obeying the "no complaining" rule and decided to make the best of plan B, even if I didn't like it.

We were strictly admonished not to bring any valuables... in fact don't bring anything. Then I was told to bring my guitar. That does seem to attract attention and if we have a crowd and a translator (our awesome hermano Peruano Franco) we can get something done. The bus took us there and Franco explained that this was not a safe place, the market doesn't sell anything that's not stolen. Stick together and keep an eye out.

It was cloudy as we got off the bus and started praying and asking God to move. Right then the clouds parted and it was a bit brighter. I'd say it was sunny but if you looked up you couldn't actually see the sun through the smog - but at least you could tell it was up there somewhere. We set off and were encouraged and reminded that God is in control and if He wants us to bring light to that dark place, He can provide the light. Franco met up with his mom there in the market and they hugged and cried for several minutes.

We walked around a bit so that people would know that there were a group of gringos in the market, then we set up shop in an empty spot and started playing some worship songs in Spanish. A few people gathered around, so we did our skit. That usually requires a CD player, but we didn't have one so I did my best at playing it on the guitar. I came pretty close, and it was obvious that it was having an impact even without the words to the song.

JD preached a little and we didn't get too much of a response, so we asked for anyone who wanted prayer for anything. Two girls (who said they were already Christians) came up asking for prayer for guidance on where they should go to college. Then a few more people came up, then a few more. Before I knew it, we had prayed for a whole bunch of people. Some were just standing off to the side and it was obvious they wanted prayer but didn't know how to ask. It was wonderful and I know at least two people that I prayed with became Christians today. There was a lady who got healed and so many others were encouraged and built up. It's great to see that God can work even when our attitudes aren't exactly where they should be.

We only had the one translator there - Franco - so when he was busy the rest of us had to do our best with our minimal Spanish knowledge. But God provides that too and I met a woman who was bilingual. She helped us identify the people's needs and prayed with us and even got new Christians hooked up with a local church.

One interesting thing that sets Lima apart from other Peruvian cities I've seen is that they don't look at us as foreigners nearly as much as other places. There are a good number of lighter-skinned people here so we blend in a bit. That's bad in a way because there isn't that draw that we saw elsewhere that allowed us to reach people we normally wouldn't because they wanted to see what those crazy looking gringos were doing. They also come right up to you and start talking a mile a minute in Spanish instead of (like in other places) asking first where we're from and if we speak any Spanish.

We got back on the bus and drove a few blocks to Franco's house (which is also not in the nice part of town) and met his lovely family. That was a really great time and I don't think there was a dry eye in the place as Franco poured out his heart about how we had been a blessing to him - just when we were thinking how he was a blessing to us! We prayed for them and took them all out to lunch. Then we were supposed to go to a school to do some more ministering but it didn't work out for some reason. That got lost in translation somehow.

Back at the hotel, my room mates and I spent some more time with Franco playing guitars and whatnot, then it was time to rest up a bit. We fancied some American food for dinner (one can only have so much chicken, even if it is delicious every time) so we went to Pizza Hut. There's another odd thing about Lima - it's like they want to be an American city and a Peruvian city at the same time. I don't know if that's necessarily a bad thing, but after seeing the poverty of Tingo Maria - and Franco's house - it seemed kind of odd to me to be gorging ourselves on pizza.

The next day we ate lunch at T.G.I. Friday's and some folks were complaining that the grease in the Pizza Hut was having a negative effect on their digestive systems. Other than the fact that my sore throat was turning into a full-blown cold, I didn't feel too bad. We went to the Inka Market in the afternoon and bought some souvenirs and such, then ate dinner at a Norky's (it's a Peruvian chain) near the airport.

At one of these restaurants I must have eaten or drank something I shouldn't have, although for the life of me I can't figure out what. The Perú flu hit me on the plane that night. Fever, chills, loss of appetite, and running to the lavatory every so often. Imodium seemed to slow it down a little, but let's just say it was an uncomfortable ride back to the U.S.

We got through customs in Newark in a decent amount of time, got our luggage re-checked, and got on the plane to Pittsburgh without any problems. We were split into two groups, the first of which had to catch their flight about an hour after we landed - and still get through customs and get luggage re-checked and everything. Somehow they did, because when we got to our gate for the later flight, they were already gone. Their luggage came back on our flight though, which wasn't a big deal.

The Perú flu was still in effect so I had to call off work for Monday. That was a bummer, especially right after being commended by my boss for never having used a sick day.

All in all, the trip was well worth it. This was my third time going and it was the best yet. Thanks to everyone who supported me and prayed for the team.

Perú 6/16/2010-6/17/2010: Tingo to Huánuco to Lima

Photos are here: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=188367&id=580751501

For our last day in Tingo Maria, we planned on going to the Casa de Niños for lunch, then saying good bye to the kids and heading out to Huánuco.

There was some complication about getting luggage to Lima from Tingo Maria. You see, the plane from Huánuco to Lima is so small, we simply can't put all our luggage on it. We planned on sending it by bus through the mountains and getting it when we got to Lima (and living out of carry-on luggage for a day). We got the luggage to the bus station and they told us the buses weren't going to Lima due to a miner's strike in one of the towns there that has the roads blocked and last time they did this they killed anyone who tried to pass... with machetes. Don't worry, they said, the strike will be over by the 26th for the San Juan Bautista Festival. Just stay until then! Tempting, but no thanks.

One of the mototaxi drivers told us that he knew a pilot for Cielos Andinos, a cargo-only airline that flies out of Tingo Maria twice a week. The Tingo airport is currently closed to passenger planes - only cargo and the military use it. We stopped at Cielos Andinos and they told us it was too late to get anything on the next several flights out.

The next plan was to go to the Tingo airport and beg them to take it, even though there's nothing in it for them. While the runway there is dirt, the actual buildings are much nicer and larger than Huánuco's airport. However, the military guys with shotguns and AK-47s at the locked gates didn't seem very promising. That didn't work out either, but at least we tried.

Plan D was to take the luggage from Tingo Maria to Huánuco in taxis (car-taxis, not mototaxis) and get them to Lima through that airport. JD and Charo took them and we were to take more taxis after lunch and meet them there. Lunch was good and goodbyes were emotional, as expected, but then I got to ride back to the hotel on the back of Pastor Victor's motorcycle, which is a pretty cool way to see the city. Then we headed out in taxis through the mountains to Huánuco (the strike is between there and Lima, not Tingo and Huánuco) and that was a lovely ride as always. We got there and discovered that the strike had ended so we sent the luggage to Lima from there.

We met up with JD and Charo and had dinner with Kurtis and Theresa Smith and their kids, some missionaries from the World Mission Prayer League (http://wmpl.org for more info) who had been there for a month and were really glad to hear other people speaking English. It turns out Kurtis is a prog rock fan so he said he was going to check out ProgPositivity Radio.

We had some free time that evening so I got my show set up to run remotely (I didn't get to listen to it though, oh well) then went to bed. We woke up this morning to a lovely day in Huánuco. After breakfast we were able to walk around the city and talk to people. It is said that Huánuco has the best climate in the world, something like San Diego. It sure was pleasant there today. I could definitely live here if I had to. Or if God calls me to. ;-)

We headed out to the airport and flew to Lima. I was pretty tired so I slept for most of it, then a little more during the bus trip to the bus station to get our luggage (which had arrived in time, praise the Lord) and back to the Hotel Santa Cruz, where I am now.

We ate dinner in the very nice part of town - Larcomar, Miraflores. Then we looked at some of the shops there and walked back to the hotel - probably about a two mile walk, but it felt good. One thing that we noticed that's different here is that the people own dogs as pets here, whereas they're just strays in Tingo - I'm not sure about Huánuco. It's "winter" here, which means that it's about 60 degrees Fahrenheit and most of the Peruvians (and their dogs!) have their winter coats and hats on. I'm getting a sore throat though, not sure what from. Perhaps it's the pollution. I'll see if a good night's sleep helps at all.

Perú 6/15/2010: Last Work Day

Photos are here: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=187439&id=580751501

We got a couple of hours worth of rain today. This wasn't the first time, but up until now it was all during the night. School devotions were canceled because they take place outdoors, but by the time we got to the children's home, it had stopped.

Today was supposed to be a bit easier. Here was the plan: Go to the children's home, continue working on installing sinks, toilets, and water tanks, then pay the Shipibo people a visit to say goodbye at 3:30. Then we'd have dinner at the children's home and have a goodbye party for the kids there. Go to bed on time and sleep in in the morning.

Obviously that didn't really work out. 3:30 rolled around and we found we were nowhere near ready to leave the water tank in their hands. Some pipe still needed to be run and the pump needed to be installed. We did eventually get that done, but the sun was already down by that point. Of course, it's "winter" here so the sun goes down early, plus since the town has mountains to the west (and pretty much every direction) that just makes it get dark even earlier.

Some people did get to visit the Shipibos, but I wasn't one of them. Apparently I give people the impression that I'm a plumber, but all I can say about that is that I've learned a great deal about it during the trip. Dinner was a very strange concoction, an exotic dish called Lasagna. Okay yeah it's pretty common in the U.S. and Italy. I wouldn't have minded something Peruvian like Pachamanca, but I kept to my rule and ate whatever they put in front of me. Not too bad.

The party at the home turned out to be more of a reunion. Some of the kids that had been living there a year or two ago were there tonight. They have a good testimony - their mother became extremely ill and was unable to take care of them(and their father was who knows where), so they went to the home. Then a few months later, just when it seemed she would die, she was miraculously healed and when she got back on her feet, the kids were able to move back home with her. It was definitely good to see them again.

Then we had to pack up our suitcases so that they can be shipped back to Lima on the bus - hopefully by the time we get there so we can get them back to the U.S. I have to help get them to the bus station in the morning, so I need to get some sleep now.

Perú 6/13/2010-6/14/2010: Church and Work

Photos are here: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=186731&id=580751501

6/13/2010:

Let me get a couple of things straight, first off. 1: Sunday is apparently *not* a day of rest in Peru. 2: The music in your church is *not* too loud.

There. Now, on to business. There were 5 church services today. I only attended 4 of them because the last two were happening simultaneously and I have this difficulty with being in two places at once. We started out at Pastor Victor's church, which is pretty much in "down town" Tingo Maria. These are the people who run the children's home. I was asked to help out with the children's service, and I know from past experience that that's a difficult but rewarding chore. The church holds a lot of people - I'm bad at estimating that sort of thing but I'm going to guess 400-500 in the main sanctuary and another 100 in the balcony. With that many adults in attendance, there end up being a lot of kids. They don't have four services for the fun of it, it's because they can't fit everyone in at the same time. All the services are pretty full.

Since I have some experience with Spanish, I was the one doing the lesson, although the girls got all the materials together. They led the songs too, I just danced around like a crazy gringo. They listened somewhat, especially during the first service. The second was not so successful. I nearly lost my voice trying to talk loud enough for them to hear me over the music going on in the main service two floors down.

Then we ate some lunch and rested for a bit. Then we went to the 4:00 youth service(basically ages 13-19 but there's a wider range than that there), which we were playing music at, and that was pretty incredible. At the end they invited people up for prayer and formed a line with the missionaries on one side and some people from the church who had been fasting and praying for a week in preparation for this service on the other.

Let's just say it was pretty amazing, in a "Book of Acts, New Testament" sort of way. Praying for people, anointing with oil, casting out demons (really!), things like that. I didn't hear about any healings going on but I wouldn't be surprised if there were. The music was quite loud. My ears were ringing by the end of it. It never occurred to me to bring earplugs to church, but I've been to rock concerts where the music was not this loud.

Then we went to Pastor Juan's church (these are both Assemblies of God churches, but this one is in the very poor part of town) which is just about the opposite of Pastor Victor's. The folks from this church have the outreach to the Shipibo people, and a number of them came to the service in a big blue truck. No, they seem to have no problem with putting a bunch of people in the bed of truck.

(The power is currently out here at the hotel. That actually happens fairly often, like once or twice a day. It's a good thing I'm on my netbook with battery backup. Oh there, it's back on.)

The atmosphere in Pastor Juan's church is very different too, and we played worship music there too, then Pastor Kimball (from Louisiana) preached. We got to pray for the people there too, then we each got to greet the people. Charo (the translator) didn't let me say my piece in English because she knew I had some Spanish experience. It worked out pretty well, I guess, except for a few words here and there. We got an opportunity to hang out with them and the Shipibos, and that was really cool.

We finally got dinner at about 10 PM, and we were hungry! Pollo a la Brasa at the famous (in our minds anyway) El Carbón. Now it's going on midnight so I should get some sleep. We're back to work at the Children's Home again tomorrow.

6/14/2010:

Today we worked at the children's home. I ran into the woodworking team first and Andrew needed help routing the boards for the bunk beds, so that's what I spent most of the day doing. And here I thought a router was used in computer networks, but apparently it also can be used to make the edges of wood round while it makes a loud noise - but not nearly as loud as a Peruvian church service. I think I read somewhere that 13 out of 11 Americans don't get their daily dose of sawdust, but we got ours today.

Some other people were also doing some sanding, and others - primarily the team from Texas who arrived on Saturday (and got plunged right into the fire with those intense church services on Sunday) - were beginning to assemble the bunk beds. Meanwhile the plumbing team was multitasking with installing toilets and sinks in the second floor bathroom and getting the water tank on the hillside hooked up. The latter task was accomplished and it was filling most of the afternoon - there's not a whole lot of water pressure, as the showers here can confirm. Hey, at least there's occasionally warm water.

Lunch was Chifa with Chufa (although they just call it Chifa), which is basically chicken and vegetables with fried rice. It's kind of like Chinese food but with a Peruvian flavor. The kids wanted us to play soccer again after lunch but there was still more routing to be done and we don't have a lot of days left here in Tingo Maria, so we had to get back to work. We got most of it done before we had to leave, and the router began to get so hot it was slowly burning my hand. Finally someone got smart and got a pair of gloves.

We had a fun time trying to teach the Peruvians working with us how to say "Git 'er done" because we wanted them to say it to the Texas team the next day. They have a little bit of difficulty making our American "r" sound, but then for the rest of the week, that became the rallying cry for everyone - and we all adopted a Peruvian accent to say "Git air down!"

When we got back to the hotel we started to shower and get ready for dinner when the power began to go off and on several times, for between 10 and 60 seconds each time. It finally did stay on but I think something went wrong with the internet equipment because we've been offline ever since. Yes, I tried power cycling the router, which apparently is not just a woodworking tool but also has blinking lights and doesn't help you connect to the internet. It's not my internet connection and I felt odd looking for their ADSL station in a hotel that's not mine. See? While it might look like I'm in paradise, it's got its problems (and I haven't mentioned the bugs yet) and I'm thinking paradise might cost more than about $300 a week.

After dinner we went to the street evangelism and as usual it went well. I prayed with several people and got to talk to them in Spanish and that was great. Someone said it was our last night attending that, which is kind of sad. It's always a great time. Back at the hotel, we spent some time looking up at the stars, because the sky was perfectly clear. The Milky Way spiral arm was quite visible as well. Beautiful! We're far enough north to be able to see the Big Dipper, at least early in the evening, but far enough south to see the Southern Cross. Those are the only two constellations I recognized.

Well it's after midnight, as usual, and since I'm not on the Texas team (ahem, sleeping until after we left for the job site, leaving early, etc.) it will be an early morning tomorrow.

Perú 6/12/2010: Clean Water for the Shipibos

Photos are here: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=186717&id=580751501

We went to the Shipibo village outside Tingo Maria. These are indigenous Peruvians, not descendants of the Conquistadores... or Incas, apparently. Anyhow, they speak Shipibo, but some of them have learned some Spanish too. The village holds about 200 people and their old well was not very good. See this link to hear about why we were there to help with their new well:

http://twitvid.com/Q1PN3

They had the hold partially dug and there were two of three concrete "donuts" that were going to make up the walls in place. I'm not sure why they didn't dig the entire hole and then put the concrete donuts in, but they have probably dug more wells than I have. There happened to be a large rock underneath the donuts once we got down to a certain point in the digging, and we spent most of the day working around that stone. Long story short, we finally got it down to where the top of the second donut was level with the ground, then put the third one on top. We prayed over the well and the village, and they sang us a song in their native tongue. There's a video of it here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I7MeSZF-fyA

There was also a Shipibo vs. Gringo soccer game. I don't want to get into the score, and after a while we ended up with several Shipibos on our team as well. It was all pretty cool, except that it was very hot and the bugs were pretty bad there.

I tested out the swimming pool at the hotel and it seemed to work. I approve. Dinner was Pollo a la Parilla and of course it was very good. Why there aren't more Peruvian restaurants in the United States is beyond me - all the food here is delicious.

We finished the night up with more street evangelism in the plaza. We were in a different place and it seemed like a huge crowd gathered. I was a bit distracted by some of the kids from the church who kept trying to talk to me throughout the evening, but I was able to pray for several people and again it was a blessed time in the Lord.

We spent a little bit of time talking with various people afterwards and they (especially the kids) wanted to learn English words for various things. Getting them to say "beard" was pretty amusing, they have trouble with our "r" sound and it comes out more like "beeld."

It's a good thing the Lord gives us strength because all these late nights and early mornings would normally get to me. Tomorrow is another early start with the first of 4 (or is it 5?) church services starting at 8.

Perú 6/11/2010: Second Work Day

Photos: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=186658&id=580751501

Hello all!

Today was just about a mirror image from yesterday. Not that yesterday was bad and today was good, or vice versa, it was just a lot different. After breakfast we went to the children's home and got the water tank up on the roof. After that I put myself on bunk bed detail to see how the other half of the group was faring. They had a pretty good system down for cutting, routing and sanding the different sized boards to build the beds. I got put to work staining these boards. A few had been done the day before, and it's not a stain color I would have picked, but it's what they had so we went with it.

"We" consisted of two Peruvians and myself. José was a former tenant at the Children's Home but now he lives in the town, along with his brothers and sister. He is teaching himself English, so we had a interesting time with him talking to me in English and me answering him in Spanish. We got all of the long boards done before lunch and finished the short ones after lunch. There were also medium boards but we only just started with them because they were the last to be cut by the others.

They discovered that the boards had been stained the day before had the grains sticking out - apparently that's pretty common - but it wasn't very acceptable for kids to use. Pastor Kimball decided we should put some lacquer on them, then sand that and put another coat on. They got the lacquer and I tried a coat, and something odd happened. The lacquer began to actually pull the stain off the wood. I don't have any experience with lacquer, but no one else had ever seen that before either. We tried some thinner in the lacquer and it seems to be better but still not exactly what we expected. In the end we decided to go with unstained wood.

After that I had to leave because they were doing a very important ministry with the kids at the home - an ice cream ministry. They needed all available adults to walk with the kids and hold their hands in traffic. Oh and we had to eat some ice cream, unfortunately. ;-)

Then a few of us went to the church to practice songs for Sunday with their team and work out the technical aspects. We ate dinner and went back out for street evangelism. We started at about 9:30 and the girls all went to the church for women's ministry. Believe it or not, 9:30 was too early. There was some sort of festival today and there were fireworks and other goings-on in other parts of the plaza, but once that ended we drew a rather large crowd.

We did the second skit we had prepared (only without the girls), then both Justin and I felt led to ask if anyone wanted healing. Two people came up and we prayed with them. Then we gave an invitation for anyone who wanted prayer and all of a sudden there were about 50 people in front of us wanting prayer. That was pretty amazing. I didn't bring my guitar to the plaza this time and I'm so glad because otherwise I would have been playing and missed out on some good prayer time.

Now we're back at the hotel and I'm looking forward to getting some rest. While we're not working at the children's home tomorrow, apparently we're digging a well for the Shipibo people outside of town. They are the people who many of them don't even speak Spanish - they speak Shipibo.

FYI - you can also check out http://www.justindriscoll.net/peru/ for other updates and photos. Stay tuned...

Perú 6/10/2010: First Work Day

Photos are here: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=186642&id=580751501

It's been a long day and we're all pretty tired so this may be a bit short. This morning we split up into two teams: school devotionals and work detail. I was in the latter group. We went to the Children's Home and got a tour of what had been done since last year and what needs to be done this year. Two main projects were taking place: water supply and bunk bed building. I ended up in the water supply group.

You see, the water has been in place for the first floor ever since it was finished, but there is no water on the second or third floor yet. There are to be two sources, one on the hillside behind the home and one on the roof. We began digging a trench for the supply pipe on the hillside. The tools they gave us were woefully inefficient, and the Maestro (basically the foreman) had said that the pipe we were looking for was about 20 cm. down, but we found it about 3 inches down. Because of that, Mike D. ended up breaking that pipe. That actually worked out well because the water ended up softening the ground where we had to dig.

We ran into a lot of leftover concrete from the foundation but managed to finally get the proper tools and break through it. The bunk bed team got a bunch done too but I'm not too sure how far along they are. We worked until about 3:30 when someone said it was time to get ready for the evening, but the kid had also arrived home from school and they talked us into a Peruvians vs. Americans soccer game.

After dinner (some *amazing* Pechuga de Pollo) we went to the church and met up with the ministry team there, then went out to the plaza and began to gather a crowd. We put on the skit we've been practicing so much and it went really well. A couple people gave testimonies and Justin gave the call for salvation (all this through a translator of course), and some people responded. It went well and we met up with a lot of old friends from previous years.

Like I said, we're all pretty tired - these 7 AM to 11:30 PM days are pretty tough. I do have some scheduled days like that with my job, but we don't do hard manual labor all day.

Tomorrow looks like it should be pretty similar, but we'll see what God has in store!

Blessings and thanks for the prayers!
Moses

Perú 6/8/2010-6/9/2010

Photos are here:

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=186620&id=580751501

6/8/2010:

We got off the ground in Pittsburgh EARLY, believe it or not. There were no delays getting in to Newark, so from what I've heard there must have been a move of God for that to happen. No problems with the Newark to Lima flight either. There was one passenger who started choking and the flight attendants began to give him the Heimlich but it wasn't working. Mike S. from our group was right there and he gave it a try. That worked, praise God!

At some point during that 8-hour flight I began to get a headache, probably due to lack of sleep. I tried to get some shut-eye, but couldn't sleep for more than a few minutes at a time. As is the case with me, if I don't get rid of a headache in a reasonable amount of time, I get an upset stomach. I knew I had brought some ibuprofen, but I was quite sure that it was in my checked bag. So yeah, I ended up losing the delicious airline lunch in the lavatory. It didn't get any better until we got to the hotel last night.

I feel much better this morning, and it turns out my ibuprofen was in the carry-on all along! Well we're about to do a devotional before we head out to the airport to finish our travels, first to Huánuco, then to Tingo Maria by late this afternoon.

6/9/2010:
It was another travel day today, but now we're in place and ready to do some serious ministry tomorrow. I'm trying not to think about the fact that we will have to do all that traveling in reverse next week.

Shortly after my last email, we returned to the Lima airport and, after a delay, got on our plane to Huánuco. This was truly a tiny plane, with room for only 16 passengers. We had 14 of those taken just for our team, so it was sort of like traveling in a private bus. A flying bus. Except usually you can stand up in a bus.

We took off and left the pollution-smog of Lima pretty quickly. The flight was really cool, although there seemed to be clouds over much of Perú today. Every so often there was a hole in them and we could look down on the stunning Andes mountains, green valleys, huge glaciers, bluer-than-blue lakes and tiny human cities. Huánuco is situated in the middle of these mountains so when the plane is ready to land, they have to go down QUICK! I tried to get some pictures, we'll see how well they turned out.

There were taxis waiting for us at the Huánuco airport (which might be smaller than your house), so off we went to Tingo Maria. These taxis are really interesting. They look just like old cars we have in the U.S. - they're not painted yellow or anything - but they run on liquid propane. Oh and the speedometer doesn't work. Or the odometer. Or the gas gauge. Or the radio. Or the air conditioning. The rear-view mirror was broken off, and the wind shield had two very large cracks in it.

Nevertheless, we made it safely through the 85 (or so) miles to Tingo Maria in about 3 hours. Sure, you're doing the math and seeing that we averaged about 28.3 miles per hour. I'm quite sure that we were frequently doing about 50 and occasionally 70 down these winding mountain roads.

At last we pulled in to the lovely Oro Verde hotel and got situated in our rooms. (Yes, there's Wi-Fi here too!) Dinner was what is probably my favorite Peruvian dish: Lomo Saltado! That's a great start in my book, and of course I appear to be completely recovered from yesterday's digestion difficulties. We spent the evening practicing for the skits and songs we'll be doing in VBS and street evangelism and I'm looking forward to getting over to the Children's Home tomorrow morning and doing some work there.

Until then, I'll be signing off! If I'm not completely exhausted, perhaps I'll be able to get you another update tomorrow evening.

The Fusion Reactor #250 - Take A Break

I've been tossing around the idea, and I've decided to take a break from doing The Fusion Reactor. This unspecified break will last until I change my mind. It seemed like episode #250 was a good place to leave off.

Take A Break Today (7" Single) (*) - Triumvirat 3:45
Adenosine Breakdown - Blotted Science 3:10
Hard Break - Science NV 3:17
Proggy Mountain Breakdown - Guitar Garden 3:41
Daybreak - Eloy 3:41
Breakdown - Parsons, Alan 3:52
Can't Break My Heart - Powell, Doug 4:10
Daybreak - Visual Cliff 4:13
Cellist Takes a Smoke Break - Kalon 4:55
Breakthrough (With Sinead O'Connor) - Wright, Richard 4:20
I'm Trying to Contain an Outbreak Here and You're Driving the Monkey to the Airport - Forever Einstein 4:26
Breakdown - Horne, Jim 4:31
Daybreak Delight - Passport 4:39
Lunch Break: Peak Hour - Moody Blues 5:29
Outbreak Monkey - Foster, Jack III 6:17
Breake Through - Gong 6:56
Break It Down - Levin, Tony 7:03
Breaking The Spell - Pendragon 9:19
Outbreak - Chambers, Dennis 10:58
When The Water Breaks - Liquid Tension Experiment 16:58

The Fusion Reactor #249 - Don't Touch That!

I have a little translator that goes between Spanish and English. It's the very cheap model, and it isn't very good. My friend wanted to look up how to say something ordinary and very helpfully told him how to say "May I smell it?" or "May I touch it?"

Tonight's show is based on things that might not be so good to touch. But then again, maybe they are OK to touch, we just have the idea that they're not.

Frog	Isotope	2:27
Snake Oil	Tony Williams Lifetime	6:30
Snake	Passport	4:39
The Flyman and the Snake	Timothy Pure	5:21
Snakes Got Legs	Michael Manring	5:00
The Worm	Steen Grøntved	5:04
The Snake	Joe Satriani	4:43
Engembert the Inchworm	Sun Caged	4:36
Diet Of Worms	Doug Powell	5:04
Snakes And Apples	Kit Watkins	9:34
Grow Worm	Sleeping People	4:19
Snake Charmer	Byron Nemeth Group	8:23
Quantum Leapfrog	Proto-Kaw	5:44
Worms	Medeski Martin & Wood	5:06
Terra Sancta	Frogg Cafe	9:42
Land Of The Bag Snake	Soft Machine	5:07
Blood Of The Snake	Derek Sherinian	6:09
Shiny Golden Snakes	Birdsongs Of The Mesozoic	3:06
My Dear Wormwood	Echolyn	3:36
T-Tigers & Toasters	Mahogany Frog	11:11

The Fusion Reactor #248 - Opposites Attract

I'm still in Peru, but I thought it would be fun to bring you some polar opposites for this show. For example, I normally live in the northern hemisphere, but Peru is in the southern hemisphere. But I'm not playing any Rush this show.

Big Church	Martone	6:01
Little Church	Davis, Miles	3:17
Overland	Ad Infinitum	8:43
Underland	Sleeping People	3:22
Overture 2015 (instrumental)	Scenery Channel	5:20
1984 Overture	Wakeman, Rick	3:52
Hold On	CAB	4:38
Let Go	Sol Surfers	8:05
Sister Andrea	Mahavishnu Orchestra	8:45
Brother John	Satriani, Joe	2:11
Answer	Forwardhead	4:13
Questions	Holdsworth, Allan	4:07
Lost	Bozzio Levin Stevens	6:24
The Things I Found	Extol	6:24
Course Epique	Outre Mesure	10:36
: A Short Essay	Echolyn	4:36
Loudest Shop Vac In The World	Don Caballero	8:56
Quiet Stalker	Violent Silence	18:02

The Fusion Reactor #247 - The Fusion Reactor Powers The Universe

You wondered what the universe ran on, didn't you? Well, it turns out that it runs on the stuff The Fusion Reactor puts out. Music, huh? Well, I got a telegram the other day saying that they needed more power because they're planning on something big. So instead of taking the week off while I was in Peru, I had to play these POWER-ful songs.

Firepower	Fripp, Robert & David Sylvian	10:27
Austin Powers	Machacek, Alex	6:04
Strong But Power Less	Osada Vida	6:25
The Power Of Emotion	Moraz, Patrick	6:01
Inside The Power	Unitopia	4:32
Power	Chaibaba	6:24
Power to Mend	Cryptic Vision	10:03
Bring Me to the Power	Yes	7:25
Power	Clarke, Stanley	7:22
Power and the Passion	Mastermind	12:47
The Power To Believe II	King Crimson	7:44
Antichrist II - The Balance Of Power	Saviour Machine	8:01
The Trilogy: I:Time II:Your Power III:Song of Victory	Pursuit	14:34
Powerless	Sleepytime Gorilla Museum	9:33

The Fusion Reactor #246 - Music To Go Somewhere With

In less than a week from this post, I'll be getting on a plane to go to Peru. I thought I'd put together a playlist of songs to go somewhere with. Traveling music, if you like.

Traveling Through Dangerous Scenery	Aireline	4:46
Soul Travels	Fonya	5:06
Five Travellers	Cold Fairyland	4:33
Cosmopolitan Traveler	Dixie Dregs	3:04
Traveller In Time	Uriah Heep	3:20
Arkansas Traveler	Fleck, Béla & the Flecktones	3:06
Travels With Myself - And Someone Else	Bruford, Bill	6:14
Time Traveller	Ivory	4:20
The Traveller's Lament	Magenta	1:18
Time Travel	Hiromi	8:37
Traveller	Currie, Billy & Steve Howe	3:22
Travelling the Great Race	Ozric Tentacles	4:07
Solo From 'More Travels'	Metheny, Pat	3:40
The Traveller	Passport	4:04
Traveler Waits For No One	5uu's	3:29
Astral Traveler	Yes	5:49
Mysterious Traveller	Weather Report	7:22
Traveling	Grobschnitt	6:46
The Best Way to Travel	Moody Blues	3:12
The Traveler	Livgren, Kerry	6:33
Traveling Ohm	Yahowa 13	7:23
Days Are Numbers (the Traveller)	Parsons, Alan	4:53
Fluff's Travels	Phish	11:39

The Fusion Reactor #245 - Good Thing, Bad Thing

This show plays off the improv game "Good Thing, Bad Thing." In the game, the players tell a story "round robin" style, only they must build on the story with one saying something good, and the next saying something bad. So obviously, the story has its ups and downs.

For the show, I tried to keep that theme going with positives and negatives, although so many of them depend on the situation. But here are the songs:

Waiting For Wonderfulness	Salem Hill	6:51
Air Over/Crossing The Line	Yamashta, Stomu	7:09
Hoping For A Miracle	Section A	9:20
Walking Backwards	Space Ritual	5:02
Waiting For A Miracle	Sudakow, James	5:39
Falling	Revelation Project	7:31
Light Gathering	Tunnels	6:10
Walking On The Wind	Spock's Beard	9:09
Alpine Skiing	Soniq Theater	5:30
Holding Thunder	Scale the Summit	6:46
Draining This Pond	Uz Jsme Doma	5:19
Chasing Rainbows	Reasoning, The	6:07
Holding On	Yes	5:25
Holding Back	Ten Point Ten	5:12
Setting Iron John Free	Watkins, Kit	7:23
Killing the Thing That You Love	Styx	5:36
Striking Out A Single Note For Love	Simon Says	11:08

The Fusion Reactor #244 - Things To Try This Summer

Here are some suggestions for things to try if you find yourself bored this summer. Some may be easier said than done, though.

Moving to Bohemia	Lee, Geddy	4:26
Falling Down, Rising Up	Manning	7:57
Dancing on the Wall	Iona	5:27
Walking Through Walls	Pravda	2:58
Awakening	Mahavishnu Orchestra	3:32
Watching Birds	Ponty, Jean-Luc	5:02
Aiming Higher	Narnia	5:14
Killing All The Flies	Mogwai	4:35
Traipsing	Lake Trout	4:33
Walking On The Moon	Kobayashi, Ron	6:57
Looking Thru	Passport	7:44
Dancing In The Dark	Pohjola, Pekka	5:40
Swingin'	Klock, Marc	5:14
Sliding And Gliding	Ozric Tentacles	4:53
Throwing Stones at the Wind	Pallas	5:16
Walking the Wire	Livgren, Kerry	3:47
Climbing Up The Walls	Radiohead	4:45
Moving Mountains	Kids In The Way	3:06
Walking From Pastel	Jobson, Eddie	2:04
Moving	Ra Quintet	4:43
Falling Down	Mosher, Scott	5:01
Leaving My Seat at the Table	Orphan Project	6:11
Dismantling Utopia	Metheny, Pat	6:53

The Fusion Reactor #243 - Would You Rather?

Sometimes we have to do things we don't want to do. Sometimes when we're doing those things, we start to think "I'd rather be doing anything but this." But have you considered exactly what that other thing might be? Here are some possibilities, brought to you by some prog, fusion, and even jazz artists.

I'd Rather Be...	With...
Writing on the Wall	Belew, Adrian	3:57
Up and Running	Fleck, Béla & the Flecktones	4:26
Spending Time With You	Gabel, Derryl	5:26
Waiting For Farewell	Cold Fairyland	7:42
a. Searching For the Right Door - b. Spectrum	Cobham, Billy	6:34
Floating	Eloy	4:02
Delivering the Groceries at 138 Beats per Minute	Don Caballero	5:49
Swimming In The Big Sky	Djam Karet	4:36
Swimming	Birdsongs of the Mesozoic	3:09
Remembering	Abercrombie, John	4:25
Going on 17	Goodman, Jerry	7:17
Drilling Holes Through Space	Collapsar	5:36
Stepping Through Time	Happy The Man	6:35
Shaking The Spirits	DiMeola, Al	6:31
Dancing On Frith Street	Bruford, Bill	4:15
Sailing	Harrison, Gavin & 05Ric	4:43
Feeling Funky	Crusaders, The	3:02
Breaking Glass	Bowie, David	1:53
Sailing on a River	Glass Harp	3:41
Bicycling In Bombay	Garaj Mahal	6:13
Streaming	Hoelderlin	7:13
Attaining	Coltrane, John	11:25