Weekend Trip with Juana

I went on a short weekend trip to the country with my friend Juana. She went to give a short talk on personal hygiene, things such as how many times to wash your hair or body every week, how many times to brush your teeth a day, etc. I went along for the ride just to get to know the country. It was about an 8 hour busride and we probably passed more or less 8 villages the whole time. It was a beatiful little town in the middle of nowhere. The municipal building actually played music, native to the town, on a loudspeaker loud enough so everyone in the town and the outskirts could enjoy it. I could never imagine that in the States. We arrived in the town, Colquemarca, late Friday night and went straight to bed at the pastor's house. In the morning we had breakfast with their family but I was really confused at first because in the same house, there were numerous rooms and a woman across the hall came in and seemed to know Juana well so I figured it was the pastor's wife, only to find out she was the owner of the house and down the hall was the pastor's family. We explored the country for a while, checking out a bull ring that's used once a year for the town's anniversary. That same weekend they have cockfights too. Again, I can't imagine that in the States. We came back to do the teaching on personal hygiene and then everyone set out sacks of habba beans, corn, and freeze dried potatoes. We just took handfulls and sat around the piles eating it all. After filling myself up, I found out that was just snack. Real lunch was to be eaten with the family. Luckily our bus came early and we weren't able to eat the lunch.

On the busride home, something interesting happened. Juana offered me this fruit that I had never had before and it actually made my mouth a little itchy so I was allergic to it. I told Juana and she made me stop eating it in case my throat were to close up so we stuck it in this bag, after I had taken at least 5 bites. But then a few minutes later, the bus stopped so we could all have dinner. Juana didn't trust the restaurant so we ate the snacks we brought, but sat on the bus. Juana noticed the person next to us was still on the bus too, a woman of probably 70 years. And then, Juana gave her my half eaten piece of fruit. Without hesitation, the woman ate it. I know Peruvians are perfectly fine with sharing food that's half eaten, but with strangers? I was just shocked. I would think Juana was insulting the lady, giving her a half eaten fruit, but the woman didn't seem ashamed or insulted at all, just hungry. So, that was a bit of a shock, especially because before we ate our lunch I prayed for those that don't have food, not noticing the woman next to us.

In the picture of me holding a rock, some of the rocks there were made of a different mineral that was especially light, so I was able to pick it up, but honestly, it was still heavy, just less heavy.

Catching up

When I last updated, I only ended with pictures from the end of September. Here I'll finally start putting October pictures in, even though its now November.

I went on a hike with my bible study group, plus a couple of other good friends. The hike was the mountain that's behind my house, or I guess I really do live on the mountain, at the very foot of it, because that would be why I have such a hill to get to my house. We took a bus that dropped us off in the middle of nowhere to get us to the other side of the mountain where it's a bit higher up, a shorter hike up than it would be on the side where I live. There's not too much to tell about the trip except that it was awesome with a really great view of Peru, seeing little villages scattered all throughout. Going down was so fun because we brought cardboard with us and we were able to sled down the tall grass fairly easily, minus random rocks that shredded our boxes apart. At the end of our trail on the top, we stopped at the cross, then we slid down the rest of the way until the tree line began and we walked through some thin woods. In the very last picture you'll see the mountain from the viewpoint at the bottom. The reason I took the picture is because the lines all the way on the left (there are 3 sets of lines) are from us when we were sledding down the hill and pushing all of the long grass down. We made our mark without even realizing it so it was fun to see it and be surprised.

That next week we had a regional strike and some of us from the hike and a few extra people took a long bikeride out to one of the villages where one of the main churches is. We stopped there for a few hours and ate at the pastor's fishfarm where some of us in the group caught the fish with nets and picked out the ones we were going to eat. We watched them beat the fish dead on the head with the back of the knife and then scrape all the scales off before they got to the real dirty work. It was delicious. Unfortunately, it rained the whole time we were there and part of the time home. I also didn't bring my camera so I'm sorry you can't see some great pictures from the trip.

Praises:
~My parents and I had a great and SAFE time while they visited for a week.
~I continue to experience new things here, just learning and appreciating all that there is.
~God is trying to work in my life.

Prayers:
~That I would do all that God is asking me to do for Him.
~God will continue to help me adjust to the culture and strengthen my relationships with my students and friends.

Where did the time go??

I apologize. I didn't realize it's been more than a month since I've updated. I've been so busy all the time and with my computer being unusuable with a virus for more than a week, updating has slipped my mind. We had an event called Mi Compromiso con Dios-an event to realize how important it is to stay pure until you're married (because in every culture and more so accepted here, it's a problem) and then we signed a paper and got a ring. It was a great event and it seemed a few people were really changed by it. You can see in the pictures Carrie and our friend Wendy and then in another picture my friend Lisi with her father, my pastor. In the picture with Wendy and I'm showing off my awesome ring and she's showing the book she got because it was her second year and you don't get two rings. The group picture is all the youth from Huacarpay where I go on Sunday mornings. There are three main churches and Bethany and I belong to the one in Huacarpay.

On Thursdays I hang out at my friends' Zaida and Yerson's house to help with their twins.

I hiked in Huacarpay with my three friends, Lisi, Karen, and Meche. Everything's still so dry here since the rainy season is just starting, but it was still beautiful. We hiked up a small mountain and entered a cave. I was a bit scared because Lisi and I had spotted a paw print that looked to have been from a puma. There are puma's around. A few here in the mountainous area and many more in the jungles but I haven't seen any yet. So in entering this Incan cave that's a minute walk from the pawprint, I was scared a puma would be relaxing in the cool dark cave rather than the extremely sunny, warm, and dry outside. It was pretty neat inside. We didn't go too far because of lack of time and the girls got scared but it was still cool. Obviously since you haven't heard of any crazy accidents or maulings, there was no puma. You can see in pictures as we were returning that a wildfire started up in the mountains. In this country when there's a wildfire on the mountains, you just pray for rain because there are no roads for firetrucks to take. No one really lives at the tops of the mountains but some of their farms are up there, which is what can start the fire, trying to burn the land to get richer soil but one hard breeze and the whole mountain's ablaze. The mountain was on fire until that next night. God brought the first big rainstorm of the season. What a blessing, even if I did walk home in pouring rain for a half hour at night.

Feliz Dia a mi!

So this past week, we had 2 different strikes. One happened Monday and no one had expected it but we woke up in the morning with no transportation so no means of getting to work. Monday was Labor Day for all of you Americans so my team decided to throw together a barbeque like we did for the 4th of July. This time, there weren't many stores open or time to plan anything exquisite but it all came together and was delicious and everyone had a good time eating and playing games. Wednesday we knew a strike was coming because it was national and had been planned a week in advance. I went for a hike with my friend Uri and his cell group and we cooked potatoes under dirt without water and they were actually yummy and very soft. We also had some beef. You would not believe how all out out we went. Knowing there was no transportation and that we'd be traveling up hill the entire time to get to the field, I don't know why they were so ok with bringing so many heavy things. It was exhausting getting there but we had a lot of fun once we could sit down and relax. The first pictures are cooking the potatoes. First you make a cave of rocks and stick a lot of timber inside to heat up until its really hot. Then when everything is piping hot, you take away the rocks, stick potatoes in and cover it all up with a bunch of dirt. When its all cooked, you just peel the dirty skin off and eat whats inside. The last picture is from when the guys took my camera and took a bunch of pictures of them doing bike tricks.

To go backwards one day, Tuesday was my birthday. Transportation was fine so I went off to school where my kids were ANGELS. I mean it. Angels. They've never listened so well and been so quiet the entire 6 months that I've taught them. I don't know why but it was a blessing from God. When I went home at 2, my friend Lisi met me there and we hung out for an hour until Eric, her brother, showed up, eventually Wendy and Uri, and finally, Meche. My 5 friends joined me for lunch with Marga and my 2 roommates and I and we enjoyed lasagna, yes, the American, or actually Italian lasagna. After lunch, we took a break from eating where we experimented with Coca-Cola and mentos. When put together, they explode like a volcano. Unfortunately, I only have pictures of the spectators and not of the actual event because I was videoing. We then had cake and hung out, just talking. Eventually we put a movie in and other people started joining us, Hannah, Destiny, and Oriana. We had ice cream. More people came. Teachers. Ron, Nancy, Marisol, Leo, Damaris. My friends that stayed for lunch all left except Wendy because she's a teacher. We had ANOTHER birthday cake that Wendy and Uri had bought me along with more ice cream and singing. We hung out, I opened my presents from my roommates and the teachers, a couple more teachers showed up, along with another friend, and slowly people started fading, getting tired, and eventually left. Knowing we had a strike the next day, no one was too worried about leaving early, so the last person finally left at 11pm and I was already in bed. It was really an awesome birthday and I was so blessed by everyone who celebrated with me (including all of you who sent birthday messages, cards, and packages. Thanks!!!).

Anniversary party

So life has been fun the past month. After the half-way point of me being here, I've really been able to be more social and get involved with more activities. Life has become pretty daily, but far from mundane. Always last minute changes whether that means the city is on strike and we don't have school for the day or someone couldn't show up for an English lesson. I'll give you an idea of what I do during the week. Mondays I help a friend of a friend learn English because he takes an econ class at the university that's only in English. He's actually helping me learn some English words reading all these big worded articles. Tuesdays I meet with Regina Shultz, my mentor here in Peru, and then in the evening her oldest daughter along with the oldest Kreider girl come over and we do arts and crafts. Wednesdays is team meeting with the 4 missionary households. Thursdays I go to my friends' Zaida and Yerson's house and hang out and help with their twins they just had a couple months ago. There's a picture of me holding the boy the first time I saw the babies. They were premies and no one except their parents was allowed to see them for the first month. Fridays my friend Wendy comes over so we can speak an hour in English and an hour in Spanish to help each other with our second languages. There's a picture of us after speaking in mixed languages, eating fruit salad that we made. Then at night, Carrie, Bethany, and I head to the city to try a new restaurant where we ask accountability questions and make goals for the week. Saturdays in the morning a couple of the teachers from my school come and we go over what they're learning in their English classes. Starting tonight, I'm going to help lead a cell group with a friend of mine so that should be interesting. Sundays I head to Huacarpay, my church, and help with the nursery. There's a picture of one day where we mixed the nursery kids with the sunday school kids and they made a little puppet show. Sunday nights I go to a cell group that consists of my roommates, Carletta (another missionary I've mentioned in my blogs before), one of the teachers from Promesa, my school, some other friends, and my dentist. Did I tell you? I got braces on my bottom teeth! I'm only keeping them until I leave though.











So that's what my week should look like but I don't think in the 3 1/2 months I have left there will ever be a week that actually looks exactly like that because there's always a change of plans.

Last Sunday was the anniversary of the church and so to celebrate, we had our church service a truckride away from the church in the country and were able to enjoy picnicking, exploring, and playing volleyball the rest of the afternoon. In the pictures, its the church service, then us hiking up some ruins and seeing the view from up high. The picture of 2 girls and me, they're my friends Lisi and Meche and they both have braces so I said we needed to get a picture of our mouths. You can't really see my braces, but that's ok, I really don't mind that its not obvious. :) Some of the pictures are really bright and that's because I played around with the pictures. It's not THAT hot playing volleyball. The picture of someone serving the ball, that's the pastor.
















Praises:
I had an awesome birthday.
I'm able to make real friendships now.
God continues to work through my life.

Prayers:
The cell group I'm going to help with.
God would continue to show me how I can help work alongside Him in what He's doing here in Peru.

The Second Jungle Trip- La Selva Alegre

Monday when I got off the plane from Puerto Maldonado (the first jungle) with my uncle, I called my friend to double check the time we'd be leaving to go visit her family in a different jungle. I was expecting the answer to be 4pm but it ended up being 1pm. Considering it was 12:55, I saw that as pretty much impossible. So, my uncle and I rushed home, unpacked and repacked, stuffed some lunch down our throats and we were off in different directions, him the airport to return to the States, and I went to catch a ride with my friends in a later van than the 1:00 bus. I went with my friend, Wendy, the 2nd grade teacher I work with, along with her brother (Uri), sister (Nilda), niece, and family friend, (David). We took a 6 hour van ride to Quillabamba and it was extremely nauseating, the whoooole time. I sat in the back row with the girls and 2 of them got sick on the way. We wound around mountains until finally we drove straight, but the rest of the time was on unpaved, very bumpy roads. We stayed the night at Wendy's aunt's house and woke up early the next morning to take a 5 hour busride to the jungle, where Wendy and her family used to live on a farm. When we got to the main city, we had to take a taxi up a mountain and the taxi dropped us off in the middle of nowhere. It turned out with all of our luggage that we had to hike down a hill to get to a river. There was some sort of cable car the family owned that took us to the other side of the river and there we landed at their cousin's farm. They have a type of bird that make nests that hang from the tree, rather than sit on the branches. Look at the picture. Its really neat. It was a really good experience to go and live with Peruvians, ones that live in the jungle none the less. They weren't any sort of tribe people. You can see in the pictures, they look just like the rest of the Peruvians, but the cool thing is, they live almost entirely off of their land. They grow all kinds of fruits, bananas, plantains, oranges, lemons, sweet lemons (they call them the poor man's lemon because you can make lemonade without sugar), some other sort of citrus fruit, coconuts, and papaya. They also grow coffee beans, cocoa, other beans, some sort of Chinese potato, and plenty of yuca. As for animals, they had turkeys, chickens, ducks, guinea pigs, pigs, and goats all living on their property, along with dogs, but they don't eat them. They had a really cute pet monkey too. Their family lives on a really huge farm and you need to hike or take some trails to other family members houses so they have their own privacy, but at the same time, everyone's close, physically and relationally.

We headed back to Quillabamba, but not empty handed. It's a tradition they have to give a lot of gifts when they leave so we left with 3 HUGE sacks of oranges and other citrus fruits, a bushel of plantains, and 3 hens. We stayed in Quillabamba for a couple of days and hung out with their cousin who works at a sandal store. We kept her company one night as you can see in one of the pictures. It was an 8 hour busride back to Cusco, 2 hours longer than the van, but no one got nauseous that time. That left me a day and a half to recooperate before heading back to school on Monday!

It was a beautiful place and I'm so grateful that Wendy invited me. That's an experience that not many people get to have and I had a really great time.

Exploring Peru

My uncle and I started our vacation by going to Machu Picchu. When I had gone with Steve, we had too much time, but when I went with my uncle, we had too little. We arrived at 2:30pm and the park closed at 5:30. We hung out in the main town that's a busride away from the ruins until our train around 9pm. We got back late Sunday night and Monday night we were off for Lake Titicaca, the 2nd largest lake in South America. Our bus ride lasted until 5:30am where we hung out in the bus terminal until 7:30. I got to take a picture of the sun rising. Later, we met up with our tour group and started our journey. The first stop was a man-made island. People used roots from reeds because they float, and then they piled reeds one way, then perpendicular the other way, and again and again until the island became high enough to live on. That's when I found out that only 30% of the people living on these islands actually want tourists. How is the government not protecting these people if majority vote says no tourists? So, I wasn't into being there as much after I heard that.
Their boats are made of reeds too and we got a little ride from one island to the next. The wierd thing about the islands is that your feet sink down a bit everytime you take a step, but you're feet don't get wet. It took a bit of getting used to. We explored a bit more and then headed to a God-made island where we stayed the night with some locals. We really only conversed with them when we first got there. We had dinner and breakfast with them, but we sat at a table with a couple of other people that were spending the night, and the family sat on little benches on the other side of the kitchen. The family was cute. Very happy people. Always smiling and laughing. The next day, we went to a different island and were able to see a festival going on with people dressing up and dancing around the plaza. We headed home after a bit less eventful things and arrived at the house around 3am I think. The pictures are of Uncle Dan's side of the room that we stayed in and also one of the arches that signified the entrance of a different town on the last island we visited. Then a picture of me hanging out on the boat with the only spanish speaker in our group, playing with the tour guide's son.


We took a couple days to relax in Cusco and then headed to Puerto Maldonado, a jungle just a 50 minute plane ride away from my house. We again were with a tour. We did a lot of riding in the boat, looking for animals. We saw capybaras (sp?), which are the largest rodents in the world, coming from the guinea pig family. We also saw caimans (a type of aligator), birds, turtles, and a snake. That night we went on a short walk through the jungle to look for bugs and animals of the night. We saw a lot of big spiders, somes lizards, and moths. The next morning we woke up at 4:15 am and took a boat ride to a clay lick. Every morning, parrots, macaws, and parakeets go to clay licks to eat the clay. The clay cleans our their system because in the winter (now) they eat fruit that isn't ripe and they have a lot of poisons for the birds. The clay takes the poisons out. It was beautiful seeing all these colorful birds and hearing them all make so much noise. We sat there for a couple hours in silence just appreciating it all. (more to come but, as I said in my last post, I need to be planning for school)