The "I Almost Made It" Story

Hey all...this will be my last input from the southern Peruvian city of Arequipa as my time here at language school has finished - I had only raised enough to attend school for three months - and well that is all used up! In reality I need probably another good three months, maybe I will come back in the next year or so for a couple of weeks. I am just now getting everything in order and feel like I am making some progress in my language learning...and well...its time to leave. Pucallpa is waiting and I am excited to FINALLY be heading there and getting to settle down.

Last weekend, we (8 of us who are studying at the language school - 1 Australian, 5 Germans, and 2 Americans) decided to hike up the almost 6,000 metered (19,100ft) volcano Misti that edges Arequipa. Ummm...what were we thinking?

So...we had a guide and he had planned everything and gave us instructions. Our plan was to use both Saturday and Sunday in order to climb Misti. Arequipa sits at 8,000ft. - our drop off point was at 11,500ft. We spent about six hours climbing to the campsite which I am guessing was about 14,500 - 15,500. We had about two hours before the sun was to go down to set up our tents, prepare for the early departure in the morning as well as eat dinner.

We all were in bed by 7 pm - the temperature was dropping quickly and that was the only place that was warm. The wake up call came at 2am. We slowly stirred and got bundled up and gathered what we needed for the second half of the climb. We set out around 3am with flashlights and walking sticks. The temp was about 35 degrees.


We hiked slowly and as we got higher we hiked even slower. As we got higher it got colder and colder. Just before the sun came up at - maybe around 17,000 - it must have been in the single digits - as fingers and toes were numb. The dangers in hiking in the altitude is the sickness that can come from it. Several of us had some symptoms - though I felt fine in terms of oxygen, but my legs were really really tired. It came to the point where I balanced how I felt with how much I understood there was to climb...so at 17,500 and without ever training for any of this...I tossed in the towel and decided to save my energy and strength for the decent from 17,500 to 12,000 for later that day.

Though myself and another person of the group decided to call it a day (at 7am!) I found that this relieved the pressure of keeping up with the group and wondered if I could have made it...but just gone at my own pace - but oh well. My friend descended faster than I did because he did not feel well...so I took my time. The decent was down the ash slope of the volcano...and it was kinda like flying and landing in really soft sand with the occasional volcanic rock that I tried to surf down the slope (did it three times!) I was also able to rest and just sit over looking the city of Arequipa from 17,000 feet - I was able to rest, pray, and listen...listen to silence on a HUGE volcano...wow.

I think I would like to return and attempt again - need to train some...but making it to 17,500 feet without training or having been running...I don't think that is too bad! So...looking to gather a group and head up Misti again sometime in the future! Now it is time to pack for Pucallpa...thank you for reading and praying.

Prayer Requests:
- Pucallpa adjustment
- Continued language learning and application
- Patience as I begin to work with Peruvians solely at the church (culturally speaking)