Story of the week and picture of the day

So I’ve been telling this story to anyone who will listen to me all week (including my Intermediate Conversation class – a captive audience). I think it’s a good picture of my language learning skills…

I was riding in a taxi and I happened to have a very talkative cab driver (sometimes they don’t say a word to you – sometimes they want to know your whole life story).  I was really tired, and I was having trouble actually hearing what he was saying.  Anyway, at one point he asked the pretty common question “Esta casada?”  (Are you married?)  However, I thought I heard “Esta cansada?” (Are you tired?).   So, since I was pretty wiped out, I replied, “Un poquito” (A little bit).  He kind of turned around and looked at me and was like, “Como???”  It was at that point that I realized that I told him I was just a little bit married.

In other news, on Monday I took on the challenge of taking at least one picture everyday for a year.  I’ll try to upload them on here once a week  so you can catch a glimpse into everyday life in the desert city (which by the way is currently flooded since it rained last night and there is no drainage system here.)

This picture was from Monday morning  in the collectivo ride out to Arevalo.  Collectivo cars  are the cheap form of transportation that, for S./1.20 will take you and 5 or 6 ( or 8 ) other people crammed into the car out to your destination in Esperanza.  We learn a lot about ourselves in the collectivo, like if we have problems when other people invade our personal space.  We also learn a lot of Latin music and sing along to our favorite songs (to the annoyance or amusement of the driver and our fellow passengers).  In this picture I was just appreciating the fact that oncoming traffic was suddenly heading directly towards us (I guess the other lane was closed?).  But, I guess it all goes back to personal space, because it’s not really a big deal if two lanes of traffic are merged into one lane -there is enough space for everybody to squeeze by.

Tuesday in Arevalo.  These huge…. dolls (?) just rolled by on a little hand pulled trolley.  I still don’t really know what they are but when the guy who was pulling them saw me taking pictures, he stopped and kindly obliged me  getting the photo.

Wednesday morning in Parque Industrial.  There is a medical team here from Memphis Tennessee and they have been working hard all week seeing people in various communities.  I got to go out and take pictures of the work being done for the day.  It’s great to see the love of Christ shown through this team’s service!

Thursday night.  Nick and Chase are my “brothers” here in Peru.  We (along with Amanda who took the picture) all have been adopted by the Baker family who usually feed us once or twice a week.  Nick would like you to know that his hair does not normally stick up like that, but that their water supply sometimes mysteriously runs out and that was the case yesterday so they were stuck dealing with the heat without cold showers.  Nick and Chase both work at Synergia, and I think they are great brothers.

Friday afternoon.  There is a traffic jam on the street outside of the office.  I think it is because of the rain.  It’s kind of like snow in Va Beach – nobody knows how to drive in it…

Trabajando

I’ve only been back in Trujillo for two weeks, but it seems much longer – or almost like I never left at all.  We all have been hard at work to get SALI Conversations up and running.  This has included:

- several trips to the printer to get fliers made

- handing out fliers in the plaza and in front of one of the local Universities (not my favorite pastime, in case you were wondering)

- making sauces for the coffee shop

- purchasing the basic necessities for the coffee shop

- testing cofee

- preparing for classes

- starting classes!

Right now I’m teaching one class in the afternoons – an intermediate class with 5 people in it.  It’s been a lot of fun to see our office full of people coming and going in the afternoons.  Our greatest success story this week was a group of middle aged women who came for class together at 3:00, then stayed, bought some Inca Colas and chatted outside in our garden for a couple hours.  Since we want Casa San Agustin to be a gathering place for building relationships and friendships we were thrilled to see people starting to feel comfortable sticking around after class!

In the mornings I am either working in the office or out in Arevalo teaching crafts.  This Thursday was my first crafts class and it was an adventure to say the least.  There were 19 children packed into a little room and all 38 eyes were looking at me to teach them some fun craft.  Since I was short on supplies, I read “The Ugly Duckling” (or as it is more commonly known here, “El Patito Feo”  out loud to them in Spanish (it was so hard!) and then they painted a picture from the story.  The girls liked the assignment I think, but the boys got bored pretty quickly.  Thankfully, another intern, Mark doesn’t have a class to teach at that time so he helped with crowd control and he drew a lovely ugly duckling on the board for a model for the children (I never claimed to be an artist).

On Saturday, Terri, Meagan, Mark and I headed to the beach with the youth group from the Arevalo church.  And by headed, I mean that we walked for THREE hours to get there.  Now, you might be thinking to yourself, “Why in the world would a group of almost 4o people choose to walk for 3 hours to go the beach when public transportation is in abundance and is very cheap?”  That is a wonderful question that I am still pondering.  However, despite the sunburn and the aching feet, I enjoyed getting to talk with the teenage girls and to see some different parts of Trujillo.  On Sunday, I took an amazing nap.

All of the interns agree that we really appreciate this schedule and we like being even more involved with the work going on down here.  We are all also completely exhausted and some of us  went to bed before 11 on Friday night.  And now it’s Monday all over again, and I need to go plan for my lessons and study Spanish.

I haven’t taken many pictures since I’ve been back, but be looking for a post with some conversation class pictures soon!!

En Peru de nuevo

Well, friends, I am back in Peru.  I can’t say I’m a big fan of traveling alone, especially when you just need to go use the bathroom but you have to lug all 3 bags with you into the bathroom stall because you don’t have anyone to guard them.  However, you do get to meet more interesting people when you are alone.  Tonight I sat next to an American lady who lives in Peru with her English husband and family and works for the World Bank in Lima. Cool.

I also love people watching.  I especially love watching older, Latin American couples.  They usually are pretty affectionate, bicker slightly too loudly, and fall asleep on each others’ shoulders. It’s cute.

I am sitting in Starbucks in the Lima airport.  My ‘friend’ who works here and who gave me the free coffee tasting on my way out is not here tonight. Shucks.  I keep looking around the corner to try and spot my two intern friends who should be getting here soon.  My flight leaves tomorrow morning at 7:25. Well I guess that’s technically THIS morning at 7:25. Only… 7 more hours. It’s all good. Es todo bueno.

I can’t wait to get back to Trujillo.

Windows

I left Peru on a Friday afternoon.  I got a free coffee tasting at the Starbucks in the Lima airport.

My parents picked me up in the Newark airport at 8:30 in the morning.  It was a happy reunion!

We got in the car and drove. Then there was a blizzard. We stopped in Smyrna, Delaware. This is what we found the next morning.

I dug the car out so we could go HOME on Sunday.

My dad is so happy!

On Tuesday I got to have a Christmas party and hang out with some great IPC hermanos.

Look! Kerrie and Peter came!

Then it was Christmas! I went to a Christmas Eve Service at Trinity and celebrated Christmas with my family. We went to the beach.

We took pictures with Neptune.  My dad says it is an idol.

I found an octopus!

Since Nick and I don’t want to share a car anymore, he decided to get this one with his Christmas money.

After Christmas, I went to the Eastern Shore to hang out with Kerrie, Kaitlin, and Peter. I forgot my camera.

On Tuesday, I drove to Richmond to see Susie!

We had lots of adventures.  Some of our favorites were in a laundromat.

Today I came back home.  There was a beautiful sunset.

It has been a wonderful break so far.  But I’m glad I’m going back to Peru.

Wedding!!!!

Well.  After a month of ensayos (practices) three times a week, the day of the Lenin and Elva’s wedding finally arrived yesterday. It was an amazing and elaborate celebration and a glimpse of what our future in heaven will be like.

The wedding was scheduled to begin at 10 (here in Peru that means about 11:15), but the groomsmen and bridesmaids were asked to be at the church at 9 “en punto” .  Of course, Katie, Amanda and I, the sole Americans in the wedding were the first girls to arrive… even though we tried to be late.  The church looked beautiful, the attendants were all done up, and the bride and groom were glowing.

The ceremony was wonderful; we danced down the aisle (thank you to all who prayed for me not to fall… there were a couple of close calls, but  I made it) and welcomed the bride and her father.  I could barely stop smiling the entire time… Afterwards we went to the reception… and danced and celebrated for 6.68 hours more.   Americans have a lot to learn from Peruvians about how to have a wedding.

Thanksgiving!

Thanksgiving is over and in the United States, people are celebrating the beginning of the Christmas season by shopping until they max out their credit cards or get trampled on by fellow shoppers.  Here in Peru, there is no such thing as Black Friday (or Thanksgiving for that matter) but the Christmas season is in full swing – la musica de Navidad is playing in stores and taxis, and people are putting up their artificial Christmas trees (the intern office got its tree in the beginning of November…).  However, I’m not quite ready to be finished with Thanksgiving.   All of the mission families and interns gathered together in the Bakers’ house and we celebrated God’s generosity and faithfulness to us with a huge feast.  Everybody was responsible for bringing a part of the traditional Thanksgiving meal – I made apple pie.  After dinner and dessert, we worshipped together singing Psalms and hymns and listening to Josh’s lesson about thankfulness.  Afterwards some of the girls went to Alleen’s apartment and prepared gift boxes for Heather and Calin’s wedding on Saturday.  They are giving away little boxes of peanut butter m&ms, in case you were wondering.  It was a wonderful day. Because you can never have enough lists – I am including my list of thanksgiving.

1. The grace and love and faithfulness of my savior Jesus. He comforts the downcast, loves the poor, satisfies our hunger and rescues us from our brokenness.
2. My family. They are going to drive up to Newark to pick me up for Christmas so I don’t have to wait in the airport for 14 hours before coming home!
3. My church families in Norfolk and in Trujillo!
4. My friends back home who have sent me emails, talked to me on skype, given me money to be able to be here in Peru, and have just generally not forgotten about me while I have been in another hemisphere.
5. My fellow interns here.  I am so thankful for, Katie, Julie, Patty, Meagan, Agnes, Terry, Amanda, Heather, Mark, Nick, Chase, Jose, Emilio and Chip who have shared this experience with me and have helped me survive.
6. The Peru Mission community: The Bakers (they feed me twice a week, let me hang out with their kids and are a wonderful adopted family), the Boltons, the Smiths, the Balls, the Ellisons, and the Ebys (who make amazing Sunday dinners and host our Bible study).
7. My Peruvian friends who have been so patient with my Spanish and my strange cultural differences and loved me and made me comfortable here.
8. The fact that my name (spelled incorrectly, and with a different second name… but close enough) is written in graffiti all over a wall near the church where I work.  Apparently, all Trujillo loves me.
9. Getting to attend a wedding tomorrow and to be a bridesmaid in a wedding on December 11.
10. Getting to practice dance for the wedding 3 times a week…  We are doing at least 2 choreographed dances, including one from the “selva.”  And we are walking down the aisle to the Mandy Moore song from “A Walk to Remember.”  It’s awesome.
11. Being able to communicate in Spanish – I love being able to make jokes, and have long (ish) conversations with people and actually be real friends with them.
12. My Spanish professor Priscila.  And her little baby Josue.
13. The sunshine that has been out in the morning in TRUJILLO!  Summer is almost here!
14. Avocados.  Seriously people. They are huge and delicious here.  Avocado sandwiches.  Guacamole.  Perfection.

That’s all for now… but I would love to know what you are thankful for! Happy Thanksgiving!

Grand Opening!

Peru Mission was recently blessed to be able to acquire a new location for its main office.  Not only will this be a central place for the administration and accounting departments, all the missionaries have a spot to work in and the interns have their own room.  The best part of the new office, however is that it will also house many of the ministries that go on here in Trujillo including the university ministry, the seminary and English classes!

Tonight we had an open house for the Casa San Agustin and it was so wonderful for me to see the house and the garden full of people; it made me very excited for the community that will grow in the new office over the next few years.

If you’ve been to Trujillo, this house is located on San Martin – right next door to the Hotel Paraiso.  My favorite part is the stair case – I’m tempted at various times in the day to slide down the banister.

P.S. The pictures below are: the new oficina, the intern office, the beautiful staircase, the front room, some of the girls getting ready for the fiesta, the garden,  and then I made my rounds to get my picture with just a few people who came to our great grand opening!

Humility

I treasure the virtue of humility in other people, and I would like to grow more humble in my walk with the Lord.

This week was a good opportunity for that.

1. I taught adults basic English classes.  And by basic I mean that the students in this class do not speak English.  So, I spent most of the class time attempting to explain things in Spanish.   This often ended with my students chuckling awkwardly at me, and my face turning red.  On the bright side, public speaking in English no longer seems that intimidating to me.

2. Since teaching classes in a foreign language was clearly not humbling enough, today while I was trying to listen to one of my students speak, I leaned closer to be able to hear, my chair slipped from underneath me and  I landed in an ungraceful pile on the floor.  Granted, I only had two students at this time, but still, not one of my proudest moments.  Guess that’s the point.

Anyway, while I can’t say that I’m always comfortable in my cultural exchanges here, I’m almost never bored.

(Sidenote: there is a phrase here “tomates al mercado” which literally means “market tomatoes”.  It has been used more than once to refer to the color of my cheeks which are more often than not, a nice bright red.)

There and back again

Well, I’m back.

11 days and 73 hours on a bus (give or take a couple hours) later I am back in Trujillo.  While I’m not sure I ever want to ride another bus again, it was wonderful to get to see the mountains of Peru, and then of course, the country of Ecuador.

The first trip was an investigation into to the state and presence of the evangelical church in Huari (close to Huaraz).  There were 12 of us, Americans and Peruvians from Larco church, who went.  Since the main point of the trip was to talk to the people and find out about their way of life and their religious beliefs, I spent a lot of time listening.  Our team broke up into smaller groups of people and I went around the city with Pastor Jaime.   We met several people and Pastor Jaime spent a long time talking to a motorcycle driver who said that he didn’t have time to go to church.  Pastor Jaime asked how old he was, and reminded him that all of our time is a gift from God.  They spoke about many other things and while my brain hurt from concentrating so hard, I felt a great sense of accomplishment for understanding most of the conversation.

On Saturday we climbed up a mountain into a tiny village called Iscog.  It took more than an hour to get up to the top; when we finally did we found a few houses, a dirt plaza, a small church, and a school with a few classrooms.  There were a few curious children running around and our leaders talked with a couple of the men from Iscog as well.  A small farming village, Iscog’s main need was for rain so that they could plant their crops.  At the top of the mountain, we stood in a circle, holding hands and prayed for God to bless the village with rain.  We prayed in Spanish, Quechua and English.

The same day that we got back from the Sierra, we got back on another bus and headed for Ecuador.  This was a visa renewal trip, as well as just a fun time of fellowship and exploring a new country.

It was amazing to me how quickly the difference in terrain and landscape was apparent as soon as we crossed the border into Ecuador.  From what I’ve heard the wall of mountains that prohibits rain from reaching the coast of Peru stops, so Ecuador is much greener and the air feels cleaner. 

We were able to visit two cities : Loja and Cuenca.  Both were fun, but Cuenca was beautiful.  It was a colonial city that felt almost European.  However, the money used there is the American dollar, so it was a crazy mixture of being in South America, feeling like we were in Europe, but using a 5 dollar bill to pay for our meal.

We got to hike for four hours at 13,000 feet (honestly – not the highlight of my trip. sooo hard.), go ziplining through the forest, explore the city, meet new friends, and eat Mexican food.

I am so thankful for my two great trips.

I am also thankful for my wonderful apartment, bed, and home in Trujillo.

Traveling.

At approximately 9:15 tonight I will be boarding a bus for Huaraz, in the mountains of Peru.  I am going with my church on a “viaje misionera.’  Once we get to Huaraz early tomorrow morning, we will take another bus to a small pueblo (an additional 4-5 hours).  The purpose of the trip is to investigate the religious percentage of the largely unreached people for future missionary work there, as well as for a time of growing, discipleship and fellowship among the members of the team (gringos and peruanos).  We return to Trujillo early Sunday morning.  Then, at 11:30 that night, we are getting on yet ANOTHER bus, and going to Ecuador (don’t worry, it should only be 20 hours on the bus).

Don’t get me wrong, I’m so excited to see more of Peru, and then getting to go to a different country in South America.  I’m just not excited about the amount of dramamine I will need.  Or the amount of water I will have to drink to avoid altitude sickness.  Or the number of trips to the tiny bus bathroom because of the amount of water that I will drink.

Other than that – I can’t wait!!!! Please keep me in your prayers the next week and a half… and I will have lots of pictures and stories to tell when I get back!