utopía

Picture absolute tranquility. Hammocks overlooking a gorgeous lake of the purest blue. Long mornings of reading and resting, long afternoons of chats with a precious friend who loves you just the way you are. Hikes up and down steep hills, each view from the top more amazing than the last. Eating some of your favorite foods for the first time in months. A nighttime soak in a hot tub overlooking the lake. Does it get any better than that?!

Oh. And then the owner offers to bring you chocolate fondue. And you eat it. IN the hot tub. Overlooking the lake. With one of your best friends in the world.

Felt like UTOPÍA, lemme tell ya! I am eternally grateful for the last 2 weeks I got to spend with my beloved friend Emily Goldberg in Bolivia! Literally the only thing I can complain about after getting my purse stolen (still mourning the journal) is a bad sunburn due to day after blissful day of enjoying nature!! What a blessing. One of the best parts was just talking with Emily. I cried a lot, processing the frustrations of the past 5 months. She was such a great listener. And there was no pressure to do or not do anything. One of the best and most timely vacations I've ever gone on!

I'm safely back in Andahuaylas now. I spent a great weekend with my supervisor Lupe in Cusco and we took the night bus back here, arriving at 3:30am this morning. I had a certain sense of dread thinking about going back to the office. In case you haven't noticed, it's not really my favorite place to be.

But Lupe taught me something else about utopia this weekend. We were talking about a Christian response to poverty. As I mentioned in my last post, being a tourist made me think about world systems and why I have the privilege of traveling and enjoying places like Copacabana, Bolivia when others are starving ... What should we do as Christians?, I asked Lupe. She offered to me her testimony. Before she became a Christian 2 years ago, her life looked pretty different. Her two daughters wanted for nothing - beautiful homes in Paris and Ecuador, designer clothes, lovely gardens, great education ... but now, 2 years later, Lupe lives in Andahuaylas, the poorest part of Peru, in a small apartment with no hot water, unpainted walls, no telephone, and borrowed furniture. Her daughters tell her they're worried about her. "But Christine," she told me with tears in her eyes, "I'm not lonely anymore. I know that my real home is with the Lord, and He is always with me. I used to be lonely, but now I'm not!"

Copacabana felt pretty close to utopia. I wished the whole time that my family, Luke, and other friends could share it with me. But will I ever be fully satisfied on this earth? I may never feel like Andahuaylas is utopia ... but I have an eternal home with the Lord that gives me the freedom to live a life full of joy wherever I am. May that truth penetrate our souls with a deep peace that passes understanding!