3.2 People think we are baptist because my companion's last name is Bautista





I had to pay to go to the bathroom today. It made me miss road trips for some reason-I really enjoy rest stops because they are FREE.


Well here we are one week in! My Spanish is...it's Spanish. (Hopefully)
I had some moments this week that were huge confidence boosters and others that wrecked it so fast. Yesterday we had almuerzo (lunch...BTW my mother forwards my email out so she's the one who puts the translations in for all you people too lazy to use translate:) and the dad was QUIZZING me on my life and basically asking why I don't have my life perfectly planned out. I was like, "Uh PROLLY CUZ I'M 19." HE couldn't understand my Spanish at all.But to be fair I couldn't understand him either. So me and him need to work on our communication.

This city already feels a little like home, especially at the dusk time. It's so pretty and perfect temperature. One night this week we went to Plaza de la Bandera to wait for a lesson and they had a little parade and all these cute old ladies were dancing in cutie little dresses and frr REALS felt like a movie<3

We had the juiciest watermelon of my life and it was HUGE.

For p-day today we took a bus 2ish hours to this little town...I can't remember the name of...Catacata??Tacatata?? Yeah, I forgot but anyways did this SICK hike on an old Incan trail.It was wild because my district lives in a SUPER deserty place and the mountains there were SO green. I'm in the middle of sand dunes so it was a fun change.Would not recommend the bus ride...but then again it was worth it for the VIEWS<3

I found my new pastry love. It's a unicorn horn called cachito.I had it 2x this week, once filled with caramel and the other time vanilla pudding. Tears of joy I tell you!

Another fuego food this week was carapulcra (I think?). It was this insane yum potato chicken  yum thing. Chef it up sometime you won't regret it.

Met 2 little girls named Emma this week and another girl asked me why I am gringa.

Had a dude in the street ask me where I was from. I was like, "Estados Unidos." and he was like, "EN SERIO?!" (Really?!) Like duh dude. Later this week he saw us again and said, "Buenas noches mi gringa bella." YIKES other than that though there hasn't been any creepers other than the cockroaches (there are LOTS of those)!

We had a couple really incredible lessons this week. At night, we like to tell each other what the miracle of the day was. One night we had a lesson with our friend Allison. She was telling us how bad she's struggled and told us we didn't understand. Which is TRUE, BUT I was able to tell her I have been there, been in a place where you feel so alone. But you don't have to stay there!! There's always, ALWAYS, ALWAYS a way out, a way to joy and hope and belonging. That's what I want everyone to know! That HE LIVES. We tell it to people every day: to Antonia, our neighbor who lives in a cinder block shed who can't take a step without wincing, to Sebastian, the 13 year old who comes to church diligently by himself, to Fernando who's working in Arequipa and searching for a relationship with Christ who he's never known, to Silvia, who's 4 kids run her to the ground, to Allison who smokes to keep the tears away but came to a devotional to find peace, and me. I'm learning to find Christ. Me, just this little Spokanian, 19 year old who doesn't know what to do with her future, who can't speak the language and just Hermana Barker down here, missing home and being able to flush toilet paper (a real perk of the U.S.). I'm learning to trust Christ with every single step I take, To show Him how grateful I am for Him because He LOVES me, you and all of us.
Love you bunches xoxoxo Hermana Barker

Location: Tacna, Peru

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