Looking back....

Well, the time sure has gone by super fast. As of yesterday, I have been in Peru for a year. Yikes!! Its kind of wild to think about how much has gone on this past year, the people I’ve met, the new things I have encountered, the things I have learned, and so much more. There have been lots of fun times, but difficult times as well. Even though there are people from home I dearly miss, I am so thankful to have some dear friends here who have helped keep me sane during this adventure and always seem to keep me smiling. Over all, it’s been a pretty cool adventure and I’m looking forward to what’s ahead as well!!

Here are a few of my favorite firsts in the past year....
-The end results of studying Spanish for 6 months:Abby speaking Spanglish
-Friendships with other missionaries from many different countries
-Getting to know lots of other missionaries and hearing their stories and adventures in missions
-Becoming thoroughly acquainted with the food of Arequipa
-Huge meals at lunch instead of dinner
-Learning Salsa
-Becoming a big fan of some of the popular music here
-Experiencing the World Cup in a Latin American country
-Empanadas
-A visit to one of the Seven World Wonders-Machu Picchu
-Adopting a cat
-Setting up a house
-Living in a place surrounded by HUGE and beautiful mountains
-Eating couy(guinea pig)
-Tunas
-Being involved in a ministry I have been dreaming of working with for the past couple of years
-Playing with children as a part of my job
-Going to the campo(countryside) for ministry
-The absence of a 12 hour work day
-My height is now above average
-Introduction to Burn Notice
-Really cheap produce that tastes so good!!!

Pausa

Last week I had the opportunity to go on a little vacation to Arequipa with my German BFF. It was SOOO nice!! It was great to visit with our Peruvian families, visit some places I’ve really missed, see some of our Peruvian friends, visit the school we studied at, go to some great restaurants, and so much more. . Some of the people we met with knew we were coming and some didn’t (the surprises were really fun!!). In many ways, it felt like I were coming home for a visit. It’s where I started my experience with cross cultural living and so much more. Seeing my Peruvian family was the next best thing to seeing my family in the States. It was nice to catch up with them, share about what life is like for me in Cusco and to hear about what’s going on with them as well. I almost laughed when my Peruvian mom set aside a special plate for me that was different from everyone else's(after a six month battle over portion sizes for me, I finally won!!! My plate had less than everyone else had:)

I was amazed by how much the city has changed in the past six months since I’ve lived there. There are now three more malls, another movie theater, and lots of new restaurants. Yikes!! We did visit the new spots, but really enjoyed going to old favorites. My favorite dog in the park where my friend and I were almost robbed was even there on the Sunday afternoon we went to the park.

Even though I haven’t traveled all that much in Peru,Arequipa has a special place in my heart and is my first love in Peru, so as you can imagine, it was a pretty sweet time.

How Long??

Well, for just about the past year I have been practicing the art of waiting for people(or being the person others are waiting for...). So far, it hasn't really made me crazy. For the most part, I've been alright with it and have looked at it as a lesson in patience. It is nice not to be so rushed and be pushed to be super prompt all the time. It does have it's downsides though....

Well, I was supposed to meet with someone today and as usual, she wasn't there when I arrived at the meeting spot(even though I was late, it was no big deal since that's pretty typical). I was content to just sit and hang out for a bit. Well, after hanging out for an hour, I finally gave up on waiting and called it a day and went on my way to get some other things done for the day. So, I guess an hour is my new limit....

Back to the land of the living....

Well, it feels like a month of my life is now missing. After a month of absence, I’m trying to get back into the habit of writing as life seems to be getting back to normal for me(except for feeling tired a lot of the time). I feel like such an old lady...

This past week I finally made it to the Josephine house to spend some time with the kids. It was great. Since I had been gone, one child had been adopted and a new baby has come to live there. The new baby boy is ADORABLE(he's 10 months old)!! He was stabbed and mom had left him at the hospital and we don't really know anything about dad. Sounds like a difficult situation and I'm just thankful that there was space in the Josephine house to care for this little boy. Despite the difficult situation this little boy came from, he's the most happy, easy going, good natured little kid. One of the other kids in the process of learning parts of the body and was so excited to play the “point to the body parts I call out” game. It was quite entertaining.... Another toddler has been learning to stand and walk with help and is figuring out how to pull herself up. I don't really like that I have been away for such a long time, but on my first day back,it was cool to see all kinds of new things the kiddos could do.

And......I'm finally working at the clinic full time, yay!!! One of the nurses has gone out on maternity leave, so I'll be working there full time for at least the next three months. It's been great to get back to working there full time and get to know the patients even better. We continue to be super busy just about every day we're open. It should be an interesting couple of months....