A day in Abancay

As I'm spending a lot of time in Abancay at the moment, trying to be patient while my ankle gets better, I thought I'd let you see my typical day.

6am-ish: I wake up, usually before my alarm goes off, because it's getting light and the dogs and cars and generators and cockerels are waking up.  I spend a while in denial hoping to fall back asleep and sometimes manage it, before I get up around 6.30

7am: The plan is to be dressed and have made my breakfast so that I can sit down and eat it in a leisurely fashion - I like to "have breakfast with God" - this is when I read the Bible or some kind of study material and spend time getting to know God better.  Then I get my things together and walk to the office - it's about a mile, down to the river and back up the other side, with lovely views down towards the canyon.  I'm not doing this at the moment though - right now it's a quick taxi ride to give my foot a rest.

8am: We start each day in the office with "devotions" - we sing a few songs together from the Quechua hymn book that AIDIA published (it's really helpful for me to learn them as we sing the same ones in church) and then, depending on the day, either read through and comment on a chapter of the Bible (we're in Psalms at the moment) or pray together, for each other's personal needs or for the different ministries we're involved in.  Then there's time for "news" - cue general chat about the elections, or football, or the weather, or the latest strike action - or occasionally some event that we need to know about.

8.45am: by now we've usually all made it to our offices.  I don't have an office or desk in the AIDIA building but I am trying to spend more time there as it helps me get to know the team, and I like working in an environment where I can discuss ideas.  So I sit at the table in the literacy team's room and work there.  On a typical day I might study Quechua - listening to the audio recording they've made of the New Testament in Quechua and trying to understand it, then reading the printed version to look up any words I didn't know and try to learn some new bits of how the grammar works.  I've vastly improved - I no longer have to change the play setting to "slow"!

10.30am: tea break! No English tea though - coffee, or a barley drink, or herbal teas.  And then maybe some biscuits, or bread and jam from the shop round the corner, or avocados from the tree in the garden... or if it's a special day then someone might have cooked potatoes which we'll eat with boiled eggs and a cheesy sauce (I wrote that last night, and we've just had this today - I love it!).

11am: then it's back to work again.  I might be preparing some teaching material for community visits which are coming up.  So figuring out what theme to tackle, whether I need to get an extra volunteer to come along with me, how big the class is and which activities will work, making or buying teaching aids, checking that the Spanish words I use are the same ones the village uses (being in the AIDIA office is very useful at this point!).

1pm: everyone finishes for lunch.  I walk (usually) home, via some corner shops where I pick up what I'm going to cook for lunch.  Lunch is the main meal and I'm usually pretty hungry by the time I've made it - around 2 if it's not too complicated.  Fish cakes with chips are one of my favourite speedy meals - even when you make them yourself it doesn't take long.  Sometimes I'll have lunch with Anne (the other missionary here) and we have an informal team meeting, or I might go to the restaurant run by my friends Sofia and Giancarlos.

3pm: It's a long lunch break here.  Many people go back to the office for the afternoon but I tend to work at home or use this time for my town-chores.  Sometimes, if I've got to work in the evening or if I've been travelling a lot recently I'll have a free afternoon, with a book or the TV or visiting a friend.  Otherwise I'll visit Candelaria, catch up with emails and phone calls, write my newsletter, pay my bills or prepare teaching or coordinate for future trips.

6pm: End of the normal working day.  If I'm playing music at church on Sunday, which I usually am, there might be a rehearsal or two in the week.  Or if it's someone's birthday we might go out for coffee and cake, or ice cream.  Sometimes I cook dinner for friends from church - we have established a bit of a tradition making lasagna for 20 every couple of months.

8pm: Quechua classes happen in the late evening - I try to go to three a week when they're on but at the moment there aren't enough students to start up again.

10pm: I write up my diary (it helps me review the day and months down the line is useful for seeing how I've progressed) and pray for friends and family at home.  Hopefully I'm asleep by 10.30