Well, My desire was to post some pictures on some 'online photo-album' thing, but I sort of chickened out at the last minute. So... I'll just post a few here.
I would like to say that I highly recommend Peru. I had a blast, and I absolutely loved the people. Honestly, they were the best part of Peru in my opinion. My friend Mariel was an excellent tour guide in Lima, Limon... and she is just "super cool". Gracias Mariel!!! Then Machupicchu was magnificent... I couldn't get enough of all the mountains and the air, the smells, the mates de coca and the kids... there were kids all over the place... cute ones.
I'll just let the pictures do the talking. I won't post pictures of Lima this time or Mariel for that matter because I didn't ask her if I could... but if she gives the 'ok' then I'll put a picture of her, especially as she loves being in as many pictures as possible.
MachuPicchu in all it's glory.
My dad in all his... glory.note: I went with my dad on this trip and I must admit that I had a very good time with him, although it was sort of a challenge at times... for example, he wouldn't always let me eat pizza when I wanted to, or he still sort of looks after me as if I was a 3 year old... you know like... making sure I could find my way back to the hotel which was about... oh, 0.5 blocks away from where I was.... little (BIG) things like that. Besides that he too can sometimes have his "super cool" moments... really.
I don't know ya'll, but I think I look as cute as a button in this picture, if I may say so myself.... ah, a true adventurer... well, at least I know how to stand like one. NOTE to Myself: make sure your next post is about humility and about the women in the O.T. that gave away their mirrors for God's glory.
This was a great parrot I saw. He or she was great because, when I went to say hi, she/he came right away to where I was to say hi too I suppose, and when I wasn't really sure about her/his intentions I put my finger really close to his/her beak and he/she didn't bite me. So that was cool.... the super kind.
Now, this was just one of the many beautiful kids I saw there. She was so amazing. I took some really nice pictures of her, but this one shows some of the background as well.
Amazing eh?... oh sorry Mariel, that's your hand!!!!
Now, of all the things that I saw, this was the one thing that impressed me the most. It's a sacrificial table. you can see the three little steps on the one side, and the little hole on the other side was to tie the sacrificial animals. The reason I was really impressed is because of this. See.... when I was in school I learned quite a lot about the Incas and the Mayas and Aztecs and so forth... and I never really understood the whole sacrificial deal. The killing of people so appease the gods or, for whatever reason. I always thought of them as cruel people and that's it. But I had been a few days in Peru and I had been reading a bit about the Incas and I was really impressed by their constructions and their knowledge of astronomy and agriculture... their language, art... noem maar op. But here was not just one sacrificial table but, there were many in fact... I remember seeing at least three and I didn't even see the whole place. There was a neat one in the shape of an eagle, and you could see where the blood was supposed to run though. But when I saw them I was in awe because, they looked like very important places, were very important things happened. As I thought about it more and more, I wondered "How can such advanced people make such sacrificial ceremonies involving animals, people.... children!!! How come?" But then it hit me.... there is no other way! See.... these people knew exactly what it was about... the blood. To most of us blood means death and pain and horror movies. But I think that blood can also mean the opposite, which is life. We need blood to live. I tell you these were very intelligent and wealthy people, but in all that glory and knowledge, they knew that they weren't the greatest. There had to be a God, the Sun god for them and that the only thing that was pure enough to offer to him was blood... everything else they could make or do would fall short in God's sight. Why... because God is pure and powerful, and someone to respect. And why care about God? Because they believed that all they had came from God. All their wealth, all the wonders in the sky... in their knowledge they knew that God had to be the answer and if all these things where from someone so big, they better be on His good side. To them the only really pure thing they could offer really, was blood, especially children's blood. They needed blood to celebrate, to give thanks, to be forgiven, to ask for help... All this sound horrible? Here comes the good news... or well, first a little bit of more bad news... this whole thing still applies today, and to each of us. If we want to come and be close to God, and be on His team... or on His good side at least, we'll need blood. Mind you, God only has a good side. He doesn't want all your money and riches, He doesn't want your super cool Ferrari... if you are a good singer, great! But He's got angels singing to His glory, and I bet that's more impressive. You think you are a pretty good guy or gal... ? That's a lot of good,... but how much good do you reckon is enough to please God? I could go on, but let's get to the good news. The good news is that, because God loves us and wants us all to come to Him, He sent His Son Jesus, who offered His life so we wouldn't have to pay the price...not even try to. He sent his Son (who was perfect, pure, good, without any blemish) so that through Him we could be called sons and daughters of God. As I stood there looking at this stone... and imagining a sacrifice I imagined someone running up to where the priest, the crying mother, the amazed onlookers, the brave or scared sacrifice were, and yelling... "Stop... we don't need to do this anymore... ever again! Stop... the Son of God has died, so we could have life....forever."
"What wondrous love is this?"
"Animal sacrifices accompanied many important Inca occasions. Each day witnessed many sacrifices to celebrate the sun's appearance. Human sacrifice occurred in times of natural disaster, other great times of distress, and important occasions; children were often sacrificed. In order for a child to be sacrificed, the child had to be perfect, and be free of any blemishes. Usually the finest young children were taken from each village to Cuzco to meet the emperor, and were then taken to the highest mountains and were then sacrificed, most often with a blow to the head. The children were elaborately adorned with fine clothing, and jewelry. This process left many mummies."
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