Playin

Well, it looks like I'm going to be involved in La Casa Josefina(the orphanage associated with MTW) on a regular basis. Who knew that part of my new job description would include playing with kids a couple of days a week?

Right now, I'm just hanging out with the kids and helping out as needed. For now,I'm trying to get to know the kids a bit, understand the routine, and kind of figure out where I can specifically help as a nurse. Some of the kids have special needs, so it's always good to keep an extra eye on these kiddos.

La Casa Josefina is a good bit outside of town for me(and I already live a good half hour outside of the center of town). So......as you can imagine, there are plenty of wide open spaces surrounding La Casa Josefina. It's about a 45 min walk for me to get there. The mountains and countryside are beautiful, so I've really enjoyed walking there, but I haven't been caught in the rain yet, so we'll see what I have to say in the next couple of months.

It seems like just about every time I go, I end up with a pile of kids on my lap or just a bunch of kids huggin on me. They just eat up all the attention and playing they can get. The staff at the home do an awesome job, but there are 13 kids and it's just impossible to give them all the attention they would have if they had a mom and a dad. One of the things that just breaks my heart is when they call me “mama”. It just makes me sad. So, I'm glad to be able to spend some time with these precious children. It's been great for my Spanish too. Lots of the time, I can't really understand them. They talk so fast, funny, and mumbled, so its good practice. I'm pretty sure they don't really care about my grammar, so there's no pressure.....

If you're interested in reading a bit about these adorable kids(there's some cute pictures as well...), here's the link to the website for La Casa Josephina. All of the kids are lots of fun, but Jose definitely has a special place in my heart. He and I are becoming good friends.

http://www.josephinehouse.org/

Chocolatada

Yesterday I had the opportunity to participate in an outreach to one of the communities affected by the flooding last year. Due to a river overflowing in the community flooding many people lost everything. One man lost five family members during the flood. Many destroyed houses are still standing as they were almost a year ago now. This was the first time I've been to towns deeply affected by last year's floods. It was an incredible sight.

Christmas came a bit early in Taray. A group of missionaries who have been ministering to this town since last year's flood came to give a big party, a Chocolatada(a big Christmas tradition here). About 150 people came, which was about double what we expected would come... Hot chocolate and a special bread were served, there were clowns for the kids, a craft for the kids, gifts for the children, special packages of food for the elderly and much more. It was a great event for all. There was a time of singing (Christmas songs of course) and the gospel was presented. The craft we did with the kids was a paper candle with “Jesus, Light of the world” on it. As it was linked to the message given, our hope is that the kids might remember this very important message as they bring these little candles into their homes.

Although this town has been through so much in the past year, it was great to see them enjoy this time of fun and celebration. Here are a couple of pictures from the event.

Sam

I finally did it!! I got a cute little kitten. I bought him in the market about a week ago A Peruvian friend was kind enough to come with me on the little adventure. There were lots and lots of dirty little kittens in cages, along with chickens, cuy, and all kinds of other live animals.

I ended up with Sam, the runt of the litter. He's very cute and affectionate. And what I mean by affectionate is that he has to be with me ALL the time. I'm not quite sure how I feel about a cat climbing up my pant leg so he can be held at all times.

Otherwise, he's a lot of fun, likes to play, and sleeps plenty.
Here are some pictures....

Pics...

Fun!!

Well, it's been a great week!! Probably one of the best in my past 7 months months in Peru. Monday and Tuesday we had a huge medical campaign at our clinic. A big group from the States and Canada came for the week. They had 9 M.D's of all kinds of specialties and other medical personel as well. We were able to see a little over 400 patients for those two days. It was great!!

I had the opportunity to be a nurse and translator for those days. It was quite interesting. Was really fun to think like a nurse as I was involved in triage both days. I also worked with one of the nurses on the visiting team as I attempted to translate for her. It was quite a challenge, but at the end I was excited that I could translate at some level. Yay, I did learn something at school. The fun cases were when the patient only spoke Quechua. Then there were two translators involved and even more possibilities of incorrect information being relayed. At times, it felt a bit like the game of telephone. It was a good experience though.

The second fun part of my week was that my sister, Megan is here. She got here Thursday and will be here for the next four days. It's good to see her, show her around a bit, and to have some time to just enjoy each others company and to be able speak English for long periods of time.

I'm excited for the next couple of days and then Thanksgiving's here, yay!! I'm hoping my bosses family will kill one of their turkeys for the occasion. Would be nice and fresh....

following up

Well, this is a bit late, but here's the followup from my previous blog. The home visit with the young pregnant woman and her mother was difficult visit for me. Not only is the future of this young mother and baby uncertain and most likely to be difficult, but this girl's mother has cancer as well.

The longer we were in their one room apartment more and more issues, present difficulties and future difficulties came up. For many of the of the issues discussed all we could do was encourage them, make suggestions about healthy choices, and point out available resources that could help them. In this time of crisis for this family we continued to remind them of God's promises, read the Bible with them, and pray with them. The mom is a Christian, but when we asked her daughter, her response was that all her friends in school are Catholic, so she's decided to be Catholic as well. They do have some support from some of the family, but other parts of the family has disowned them. Needless to say, it's a difficult situation for all.

We will continue to visit them and support them in all the ways we can. My prayer is that we are able to share the love of Christ with them and that we would walk with them through this difficult time in their lives.

Visitando.......

I think one of my favorite parts of being here so far is the opportunities I've had to go on home visits with some of the nurses at the clinic. It's given me a closer look into the lives and worlds of the people of San Jeronimo and hopefully opportunities to start to understand the people here. It's been a while since I've been in the homes of the poor and I was reminded of here and was reminded of that fact when I entered into my first home. As I sat in people's homes, the smells, the tiny one room houses with dirt floors, chickens and cuy everywhere, no electricity or running water, and so many other unbelievable things just grabbed me and reminded me what life is like for many people in the world. The stories I've heard are incredible and many are heartbreaking, but it's been amazing to see the nurses here minister to these people.

I quickly realized after my first couple of home visits that that the ministry at La Fuente is special. God is doing a great work here. To see the care these nurses have for the patients, their teaching, patience with everyone, spiritual support, encouragement, and offerings of food and other basic essential to living things has been amazing to me. It's been so cool to watch this ministry in process as the nurses really do care for and seek to support the whole person. Some of the patients are Christians and some are not, but the nurses are always sharing the Gospel, reading the Bible to patients, and praying with them.

It's been an unbelievable week or so of home visits, but I'm anticipating that Friday will end up being a difficult day. We'll be visiting a young pregnant girl who is in a pretty bad situation on many levels. Please pray for us as we visit with her, assess her situation, and try to figure out the best way we can love and help her. I imagine that it's going to be a challenging visit, but also a great opportunity to serve and share the love of Christ with this woman in crisis.

Yikes!!! It's been a wild couple of weeks and I imagine it will continue to be so.(sorry, my brain's done and this is all I've got for now...)
Hasta luego!!

Getting Started

Well, it's been an interesting couple of weeks getting to know San Jeronimo, and it's surrounding areas. As I've been working on making my house an actual home. I've also been spending more time in the clinic and going on home visits.

Every day that I've been in the clinic, it's been super busy with patients with many different medical problems. One of the M.D.'s that had been working at the clinic has gone back to the U.K. for HMA(home missionary assignment) and will be there for the next four months. So, the M.D who is here right now has been and I imagine will continue to be quite busy.

The nurses have been busy showing me around and helping me with my Spanish, the metric system, and Peruvian culture. It's been a bit of a challenge since much of the vocabulary in the medical setting is so very different from the every day vocabulary that I've learned over the past six months.

So, it's been good to get my feet wet here and I'm looking forward to the other possibilities ahead. Hopefully this won't be another lesson in patience, but I'm pretty sure that's what it will turn out to be. Guess I should get ready for the wild ride ahead...

Surprise!!

As I begin to settle in a bit more here I've had the opportunity to meet with the clinic staff. Lots of things in this ministry have changed since I started my journey to Cusco(including clinic staff). It was great to meet with the new doctors that are now staffing the clinic and it was nice to see the three nurses that I already know.

I had a good meeting with the M.D. and got to hear about his vision for the ministry in the next couple of years. It appears that my job description might have changed a bit. Since I last spoke with anyone at the clinic, there's been an explosion of nurses coming. There had been 3 Peruvian nurses and there will very soon be a total of 6 nurses(me included) at the clinic. It's wonderful for this ministry, but all six aren't needed in the actual clinic. This means that there are more possibilities for serving and meeting other medical needs within the community.

There is still a great need for home visits for clinic patients, but since we have more nurses we're looking at the possibility of work farther out into the country where there are so many needs and many people who need to hear the gospel. It's an exciting time for this ministry to have more missionaries making it possible to consider expanding the ministry to other communities.

My challenge is that I'm not really a think outside the box kind of person and I have now been give the opportunity to be a dreamer. I'm about to start the process of figuring out where I fit best in the ministry as a whole. Within the next couple of months I'll be jumping into whatever is going on inside and outside of the actual clinic to try to get a feel for different projects and hopefully figure out what I like, where there are needs, and just in general where I fit. It's potentially very exciting, will require lots of patience on my part(not a strong point of mine). But it will be a good lesson in patience and trusting God.

With all that said, I'm excited to discover what God has planned for me in His Kingdom work in Cusco. The adventure continues....

Roots

Well, after a relaxing time at a confrence for Mission to the World missionaries in Mexico, I'm finally back in Cusco for good. In my new world of ever changing circumstances it's good to be in Cusco and be able to start planting some roots.

I'll warn you ahead of time that this is kind of long and may be boring for some, but others have asked about my living situation, so here's the info....

Before arriving here there were lots of unknowns(yes, I know it's just a normal part of life...). One of the things I've wanted to have ironed out asap was my living situation. My boss had opened his home to me and offered that I could stay there as long as I needed til I could find a place of my own. I'm not always a very patient person, so i was determined to find a place the two days I was in Cusco before going to Mexico for a week. God was gracious to me and quickly provided a nice place to live(such a great deal!!). I was able to move into my house the day I came back from the conference in Mexico. Yay!!

Friends on my team were so sweet to take me shopping(directly from the airport) for appliances and other stuff I would need so I could move in right away. So, I am now living in a place of my own. I've discovered that all you REALLY need is a fridge and microwave to get started. Houses or Apartments don't come with any appliances here, so it takes a good bit of work to get a place up and running.

It's a great little place for me. It's a cute little townhouse in a "gated community" on the top of a hill, so it's really quiet and has an absolutely beautiful view of the mountains from my bedroom window. There's plenty of room for me and a cute tiny backyard, which I am so excited about since I like to garden. Other favorite features: lots of windows and skylights upstairs, cute little kitchen, and newly painted walls in my favorite shade of yellow. Another added bonus is that there's a missionary family living just a couple of doors down from me. They have been so sweet to me and have really looked after me since I moved in.

It's been so nice to wake up to complete silence. After living with a family and lots of other students as well, it is so nice for me. Other nice features are that it's just a short walk to the clinic and church. There's also a market close by, which is very convenient if I just want to run over to buy a pigs head right quick.

So, at this point, I'm enjoying setting up the house and making it my own little space. The only think I've disliked about the place is the rat living in the kitchen since day #1. Not cool!! Thankfully, some really kind friends dealt with it for me. Otherwise it's been a nice place to start to plant roots.

Home!!

Well, I'm here. After an enjoyable 10 hour bus ride I'm finally in Cusco. I'm serious about the enjoyable bus ride this time around. It was pretty much uneventful except for the losing my ticket part. I had to wait a while to get all of my bags. Thankfully I had locked my luggage and had the keys, so I could prove it was mine by opening the locks. All worked out and was pretty funny for my friend who was traveling with me....

It's good to be in the city I'll be calling home for the next couple of years, but does feel pretty strange not to be in school or studying. I still have plenty to do as far as set up, but I'm happy to be done with the moving lots of stuff and the hassle with all of that. I'm still current homeless, but am happy to report that I'm not living under the bridge I had previously thought I'd be calling home for a while. I'll be staying with my bosses family for a while til I can find a place to live. Cusco is a bit of a change from the city of Arequipa, but it's absolutely beautiful here. I'd forgotten how close the mountains are and how many wide open spaces there are here. It's beautiful!! I'm looking forward to hiking some of those mountains hopefully in near future.

In the meantime, I'm hoping to get more settled into home and work asap. Many surprises are ahead for me on that side of things and I'm excited to have less mysteries in that part of life, but wouldn't be surprised if God's answer to this request is NO, you need to wait a bit more.... For now I'm trying to be patient and enjoy the ride.

I'm looking forward to a little bit of travel this week. I'll be attending an retreat with Mission to the World for the missionaries in Latin America. Should be a good time of fellowship and renewal. I'm thankful for God's timing with my transition from school to Cusco and having the opportunity to attend this retreat. Hopefully I'll be sane when I get back...

Hasta Luego!!

Que chévere!!

I can't believe that I'm finished with school, but I'm told that I'm done. Whenever a student finishes their studies here, there's a little graduation party in between classes. This time around, there were two of us graduating. Each graduating student gives a speech(in Spanish), we eat some food, and pray for the students who are graduating. It's a good time for the students who are graduating, but for newer students as well as they see what the end results of half a year of studying look like.

It was a good time for me to look back to when I first started at the school and see where I am today. It was also nice to thank my kind teachers for all they have done for me and apologize to them for all they've had to put up in the past six months I've been there. There's a slight possibility I'm on the top of the "difficult students" list at the school by now(just personality). I've had the best, kindest, sweetest teachers for my time in school. They were SO patient with me always. I've enjoyed studying at the school and will miss many people at the school. Today was the start of many goodbyes I'd rather not say, but it's one of those things that's got to be done in a transition.

It feels a bit strange not to have homework, but I guess in place of homework, I get to pack up all of my stuff and move to Cusco. Saturday's the big day. I'm looking forward to getting to Cusco, just not the packing up my life here part...
Any volunteers for packing??













My huge grammar class of two students: My very entertaining y maravillosa teacher in the middle and my partner in crime/mother on the right

Sweet!!!!!

As the time to move to Cusco comes closer and closer I've started the process of saying goodbye to some things here in Arequipa. This past Sunday I had one of my first “last times”. It was my last Sunday here in Arequipa. I've enjoyed worshiping at the church I've called home for the past six months, but at times it's been difficult. Most Sundays, my brain's working so hard to understand little bits of things, inevitably there's a word or two in there that I don't understand(so I have to write it down or look it up),and then after all of that I've pretty much lost little parts of the whole point of the sermon, and then the big point of the whole deal. It's been a bit frustrating at times, but it's all a part of the language learning process.

Ever since I've started school here, the response to the slow process of language learning has been one of the most popular phrases here: “poco a poco....”(little by little..). As an impatient person, I'm really not a fan of the concept, but have come to respect it. It's been the story of my life for the past six months and I'm pretty sure it will continue for the rest of my time here in Peru.

I'm not saying I'm best friends with the concept, but it was a good thing for me to remember in church this past Sunday. After the service I realized that I really didn't have think hard core during the sermon, I was able to just listen (exciting since it doesn't always work out that way...) Oops, a great example of that (in my eyes) frustrating phrase of “poco a poco”. It was a sweet time for my last Sunday in Arequipa and I'm looking forward to more opportunities to see the results of language school in the future.

The forbidden word........

So, I've decided to come up with some reasonable goals for my last seven days of school I've recently discovered my inappropriate use of "like" mixed in with my Spanish. I've never noticed this habit, but it's been confirmed by all of my teachers and friends that it's crazy bad, so I'd like to purge it out of my system ASAP....

I'm still looking for good solutions to the problem. The most popular one has been paying one Sole every time anyone catches me saying the "forbidden word". We'll see how that one goes. I might end up broke soon.

ojalá.....

Were has the time gone? Seriously... I can't believe that I've been here for just a couple days shy of six months. That's means I've been in school for almost 26 weeks. It's really hard for me to believe my time here is just about up. It's been such a fun experience. I've come to love the people of Arequipa, even if everyone and their mother on the streets thinks I want to talk with them. As strange as it has been at times, I think I'm going to miss all the random conversations with total strangers(mostly in the parks...). I've really enjoyed my time in school too. The school has become my family here and I'm really going to miss them(they probably won't miss my crazy antics though....)

As school finishes up, I'm desperately trying to squeeze as much Spanish into my brain as possible. Its an interesting challenge as my brain is asking to quit. I don't think that's going to fly if I want to continue to live. I knew the day would come, but I'm now faced with the reality that I will so very soon be forced to function in the real world again. My bubble is going away......

I am very excited to start working again as a nurse and am a bit curious about what God has for me in my quickly approaching future in Cusco. As of right now, there are lots of unknowns about Cusco, so I'm in the process of attempting to become Peruvian in how I react to ever changing plans. It's been a good lesson in flexibility and in trusting God. So for now, I'm just trying to hang on an enjoy the ride. I'm sure the next couple of weeks in Arequipa will fly right by and before I know it, I'll be in Cusco starting up even more trouble.....

hasta luego,

estás seguro?

Just about every Sunday I spend part of my afternoon in a park. It's always nice to enjoy the sun and fresh air for a while. It was an enjoyable and relaxing time til some dude and and a woman came up to my friend and I (not always that strange in Abby world....) As some of you know, I've been known to attract various people here who think they want to talk to me.

It wasn't an odd situation until the dude knelt down next to my friend and the woman went and stood behind me. The dude started talking with us really fast in a kind of whiny voice. All we understood was: dinero (the exchange was more like: can you give me you're money please?). Then it got a bit strange when my friend saw the knife in the dude's sleeve. After my friend (who has been blessed with common sense and height) stood up, started talking loudly, and told the dude all she had with her was her homework(actually true...) and that she had nothing else, the woman standing behind me said: Tienes un celular?(do you have a cell phone?). Seriously, are y'all for real? You're asking or are you trying to rob me? A moment later they started to get upset and told us there was no need for us to get worked up or yell. Then they asked us to calm down and sit back down. Then they just walked away, got into a cab, and went their merry way. So strange...kind of felt like I was in a movie or something. Maybe we were their trial run??

I've never been in an attempted robbery where the robbers ASKED if they could have my things. I did have my book bag right next to me with all kinds of stuff in it. I guess it didn't appeal to them because I still have it. Maybe their laid back style creates a stress free working environment?

The whole thing was very calm and it wasn't til afterwords that I fully realized what had happened. It was at least a little bit funny to me, but thinking back, I'm thankful for God's protection in the situation and that nothing worse happened. It's probably a good reminder for me to be aware of my surroundings and the people around me at all times. In reality, this could have happened to me at home in Baltimore walking from the parking garage to the hospital, but he robbers probably wouldn't have been so kind and non confrontational...

Looks like I'll have to find somewhere else to sit Sunday afternoons... Any creative ideas for new locations would be appreciated.

Hasta Luego

Almost Home

When I left Arequipa last week, I wondered what might be in store for me in Cuzco As I've been in school the past four months I've had many questions floating around my brain about what God's plans for me in Cuzco might look like.

The 10 hour bus ride there was quite interesting. It was quite comfortable except for the confused woman behind be grabbing at my head and then getting up and trying to walk around the bus pretty much all night long with her son every now and then saying: “cállate , sientate (shut up/be quiet and sit down). It was a great night. Needless to say, I was very excited to get off that bus in Cuzco. I'd forgotten how much colder it is in Cuzco than Arequipa. That will be a fun adjustment.... I'd also forgotten about all of the beautiful Mountains everywhere you look. Absolutely breath taking!!

My second day was great. I had an opportunity to drive about two or three hours outside of Cuzco with my team leader and his family. It was my first time into the countryside around Cuzco It was different from other parts of Peru I've been to. It was beautiful!!

Sadly, the next day my body decided it didn't like Cuzco and I ended up sick for the next two days or so. As I returned to the land of the living, I enjoyed some time of fellowship with my new team and get to know them a bit. I had the opportunity to worship at the Presbyterian Church on Sunday. It was great and I'm looking forward to worshiping there in the future.

I also got to spend some time at the orphanage that my team runs. There's nothing like walking into a room and having five new best friends for life hugging and crawling all over you. The kids always love attention, so I got to be a big kid for a while (so much fun!!)

I also had some adult time and was able to start ironing out some details about my upcoming move to Cuzco (which is quickly approaching in October...). For now, I'm trying to squeeze in as much Spanish as possible in the next couple of months, but am looking forward to finishing school and moving. It should be an exciting next couple of months....

Oh yeah, the trip back was much smoother than the way there (everyone on the bus was quiet and well behaved...)

Yes, I know it's random, but this is the only picture I took in Cuzco this time. I just thought it was so cute... I was so excited to find out my team leader has a kitten!! For those of you who don't know, I have just a small obsession with cats.

A Breath of Fresh Air

To celebrate my break from school I took a weekend trip to see Colca Canyon and the condors it's known for. I went went on a tour with a tour group. It was a bit of a long ride, but was worth it. Right now is the dry season in Peru, so I was told it wouldn't be all that green. It was true... it was rather yellow, but it was still beautiful in a different way. It was a good to take a short pause from everyday life, enjoy being out in the country for a bit, and take in the beauty of God's creation.

Here are a few pics of the trip.

Ultimo dia...

The next couple of weeks here in Peru will be filled with plenty of fun, fiestas, parades, and lots more. It's an interesting time of the year here in Peru and Arequipa as well. July 28th was dia de independencia for Peru and dia de Arequipa is the 15th of August.

Today's classes were a bit different than normal(this is a bit late in being sent...I'm in the process of catching up a bit....). We had a Peruvian culture day in which heard a bit about Peru and South America's history, prepared a typical for Arequipa, and also had the opportunity to see a little parade with some cute kids to celebrate Peru. It was fun to see the little kids all dressed up(some of them happy and some of them not so happy...) I really enjoyed hearing about Peru's history as it was much richer than any information I've been able to find in my research of Peru. As I'm here learning the language, I've found that it's just as important for me to become acquainted with Peru's people and history. It was a nice day at school. It was also a good day because it was the last day of school before the school's vacation.

This probably doesn't mean that I'll have a nice long break from Spanish, probably just from the classroom setting. I'll be using the time to go to Cuzco for a while. I'm looking forward to meeting some new people on the Cuzco team and reconnecting with some of the people I already know. It will be my first bus ride in South America. Should be fun... I'm told the buses here are more comfortable than the Greyhound buses in the U.S. and more comfortable than planes too. We'll see when I'm done with the 10 hour trip...

Hasta Luego.

Half Baked

I guess it's about time I get my act together and post something. I can no longer use my computer as an excuse since I now have a functioning space bar.

Winter is definitely here. I know I complain about the cold all the time(at least that's what friends keep telling me...), but it's getting even colder here(low 40's at night..). Wouldn't be so bad if houses had heat, but they don't so it's starting to get a bit interesting..... I'm in good company though. Peruvians aren't huge fans of the cold either. Besides the weather, I've enjoyed being here for the World Cup. I'm just not used to the hard core fans, alteration of class times for a game, and the high level of emotion involved in fútbol (players and fans too...) It's been an interesting cultural experience.

I'm thankful to have had a few sweet days in the U.S. last month. It was nice to thaw out a little bit, but even better was being at home to see my sister get married. It was a great occasion and good to see family and friends after three months of living in Peru. I was able to catch up on my American pop culture, enjoy Dunkin Donuts coffee, and lots of other things too.... It was a fun time, but it's good to be back in Arequipa.

School continues to be a challenge, but is still enjoyable. Plenty more tenses and vocabulary every week. At this point, I'm just excited to have more vocabulary and be able to speak a bit more intelligently. The other day I had a wonderful surprise when I noticed some paperwork that said I'm at the intermediate level now. Yay!!! After studying for 17 weeks, I've made some kind of progress.... I also believe I had my first dream in Spanish. It was quite strange. I guess Spanish has finally invaded my entire life. It's been a good thing, just a bit disturbing. I think my brain's rebelling just a little bit at this point. I'm forgetting words in English and am having a hard time spelling words in English and in Spanish too. It's great!!

So, for now I'm half baked, but Spanish is slowly but surely getting into my brain. I'm looking forward to being finished with school and getting to my end destination, but am encouraged daily as I walk through the process of becoming best friends with Spanish. So far, it's been an interesting ride and I imagine it will continue to be so.

Hasta próximo tiempo!!

Huelgo.....

Dear.kind.readers,
It.seems.my.computer.has.gone.on.strike.this.week.and.will
continue.to.be.on.strike.until.further.notice
(as.you've.probably.figured.out.by.now,I.don't.have.a.
functioning.space.bar.and.am.having.spacing.issues.as.well).
So....Until.my.computer.decides.to.start.behaving.
I.won't.be.posting.anything....

Just.letting.all.know,so.you.don't.think.I've.abandoned
ship.or.gone.on.strike.myself...

Hasta.proximo.tiempo...

Poco a Poco.....

Where does the time go? It’s hard to believe I’ve been in Arequipa for two months now. Yikes!! The weather seems to be getting cooler here. It’s a bit strange to see some of the little kids going to school wearing gloves…it’s probably warmer than 55 degrees outside. Funny!! Since summer is coming for y’all in the U.S. that means winter is coming for me. AAACK!! Two winters this year!! At least it won’t snow here…

School continues to be challenging and fun too (most of the time…). As we push through more complex verb tenses and lots of new rules for grammar I’m reminded of how much I have already learned and also of how much more there is for me to learn as well.

Lots of people down here seem to like the phrase, “poco a poco"(little by little) when talking about language learning. This is probably a good way to look at the process, but I’m more of an instant gratification person… I’m an American. I’d like to have the results now please. For me, this has been a good lesson in patience and reliance on God. As I gradually learn more language I’m encouraged and thankful that God has opened up my old brain to learn Spanish in preparation for my next destination. One day, (I hope sooner rather than later) I’ll be fluent in Spanish. Until then, I’m enjoying the adventures on the way. I’m sure there are plenty more to come.

Other than school, I’ve been enjoying the sun, parks, center of town, and running from dogs. I think it’s rained about twice since I’ve been here. It’s been great!! I guess that’s the advantage of two winters for me. Yay for dry season!! The food continues to be absolutely amazing. I still miss cooking, but the food here is so good… Otherwise, life has been full of lots of Spanish and little bits of confusion.

Hasta próximo tiempo!!

Toros!!

Just thought I'd share a couple of pictures from my latest adventure to a bull fight down here.




Pre show entertainment


















Couy!!
























More Pre show entertainment....






Priming the bull












Three fearless men

















The real deal.....

Que Pasa?

What's new? Lots of Spanish vocabulary, verbs, and grammar. At this point I could name just about every object in your house and tell you what to do in the house with my mad crazy amount of verb knowledge. I've been in school for almost a month now. Yikes!! Classes have been challenging and fun as well. Give me a couple more weeks and I'll be fluent (only in the present tense though). One of these days I'll be stable enough to go on to future and past tense. I'm so excited to be able to talk about what I did last week in past tense.

Life in the city continues to be an adventure. Nothing surprises me anymore. I've managed to stay out of trouble in my travels and am thankful for this. I hope to keep a clean record for my stay here....

Other than studying hard core and playing in the city, there's not much else to report, so I'll keep it short. Fall is here with cooler weather than I'd like, but it's not as cool as the falls in MD. I'm enjoying the time God has given me here and am really looking forward to being fluent in Spanish. Soon enough!!

Hasta próximo tiempo!!

No comprendo!! Repite, por favor

It’s hard to believe, but I’ve now been in Arequipa for about two weeks. The adventure continues to be exciting and full of new things. I’m still trying to get used to laid back Peruvian time, dogs barking all the time, the sun rising at 0500, and all the kissing too. I think I’m now healed of my personal space issues.

I’ve been in school for almost two weeks and am now fluent in Spanish. It’s a miracle!!! Actually, I’m nowhere close to fluent. But…..I’m happy to report that I can now name just about any item in your kitchen or dining room in Spanish(very important stuff…). Over all, classes are going well and there is definitely some learning going on these days.

Outside of school, just about everything is in Spanish as well. The Peruvian family I’m living with speaks mostly Spanish, so I’m being exposed to Spanish pretty much all day. As expected, church is in Spanish as well. A two hour church service can feel pretty long if you don’t understand everything being said…. I can’t wait til the day I’m dreaming in Spanish.

I’ve had a couple of opportunities to explore the city and am thankful that I haven’t gotten lost(for those of you who don’t know….I’m directionally challenged). It’s been interesting learning the ins and outs of getting around the city in buses and taxis. I still have lots to learn, but I’m glad to have a basic understanding of where I am.

Over the past two weeks I’ve been reminded quite often of how dependant on God I really am. For a person who likes to be in control, I’d have to say that God has been stretching me in many ways. It is comforting to know and remember that He is with me every step of the way in this adventure. I’m excited for the amazing things God has planned for my time in Arequipa and in Cusco as well.

Hasta la vez próxima (until next time)