So I said I'd write again after we were back stateside. I got horribly sick in Lima, so I was more than ready to be home. Nonetheless, it was a good trip.
My favorite things about Peru:
1. People - The kids are so sweet. When we visit, finally they are able to enjoy the attention they usually don't get. They enjoy small things. Playing jump rope, hitting around a volleyball, and just letting them sit on your lap. They just want to be hugged. And the adults are so gracious and fun to spend time with. I got to know a few of the women a little bit better this year and I really enjoyed our conversations.
2. Coffee - Breakfasts at our hostel were pretty good. The coffee was wonderful. They served straight espresso in small pitchers and brought out hot water in big pitchers, so you can mix your own strength. Yummm!
3. Weather - It isn't over 80 degrees there. Point blank.
The only thing I wasn't crazy about was the massive amounts of deep fried food, as demonstrated by my getting sick all day on Saturday.
Thanks again to everyone who supported me for this trip. You really helped some cool things happen, and our whole team, and the people in Peru, are deeply grateful.
Bendiciones a todos.
Here's the link to my Photobucket album. I didn't take that many pictures (under 400), and I didn't get any of me teaching or translating, but there are some pretty cute kiddos. :)
http://s344.photobucket.com/albums/p355/kshermer/Peru%202009/
Monday, July 13, 2009
Friday, July 10, 2009
Peru 2009 - Entry 8: Saying Goodbye is Hard to Do
I don´t know if it´s the crazy amount of sugar in the picarones or the tearful goodbyes, but I have a massive headache! Today was a wonderful last day in the barrio. I can´t do it justice in one blog entry. Our time was spent playing jump rope with the kiddos, having competitions with the barrio leaders, a picarones-making contest, and a teaching on leadership. It was really, really tough to say goodbye. Some of the kids said goodbye six or seven times before we got in the taxis... just, really tough.
I´ll update more when we get back stateside. Right now it´s 10 pm and our taxis will be here at 5:45 tomorrow morning.
Thank you all so, so much for all of your support. Please pray for safe travels for our team, and I´ll see you soon!
I´ll update more when we get back stateside. Right now it´s 10 pm and our taxis will be here at 5:45 tomorrow morning.
Thank you all so, so much for all of your support. Please pray for safe travels for our team, and I´ll see you soon!
Thursday, July 9, 2009
Peru 2009 - Entry 7: Los Jovenes
Our second-to-last day in the barrio was another good one. A few solid plans interspersed with free time to spend with the kiddos. :)
We began the morning with about 60 kindergarteners (ages 3-5). We broke them into groups to play games, do a craft, and have a story and snack time. The craft was a coffee filter butterfly, which they all seemed to love. They colored the filters with markers and we sprayed them with water to give them a tye-dye effect. Then, we wrapped pipe cleaners around the middle to make their bodies and antennae. The story (which was the area I found myself in) was about Noah and the Ark. I had notes for a lesson Mitch had written, so I used those as an outline and basically did a lesson where I talked for a little bit and then asked questions (ie: Who was on the Ark with Noah? Have any of you ever seen a rainbow?). They were very cute. Some of them were really into listing off the animals Noah took with him on the Ark, and I was really happy there were enough that felt comfortable participating.
The Executive Director of Project New Hope arrived in Peru today for a trip, so he and several of his coworkers spent the day in the barrio with us. He and I actually had a cool conversation about U of A and campus ministry--as it turns out, he did that for over ten years!
After lunch we spent quite a while decorating and getting ready for the jovenes (the youth). We decorated the community center with balloons and streamers and set up an entire obstacle course for a relay race. The race consisted of popping balloons full of flour, confetti, or water, jumping rope, bobbing for apples, running through tires, going over and under jumpropes with a tray full of glasses of chicha morada (a popular Peruvian drink), walking over two balance beams, and eating jumbo marshmallows. At the end, everyone had to get into a two-person camping tent and zip it up... not the easiest task with seven Americans. (Peruvians are really short... they fit a lot better.) My favorite part was Tori doing a Superman dive in at the last second. It was really crazy -- and the gringos came in 3rd out of 6 teams! (Which might seem more impressive if you realized how intensely competitive these people are.)
Next, we went into the community center and did an icebreaker game and then it was my turn to talk. I gave my testimony and gave a message (in Spanish). The message was supposed to be about leadership, and I tried to write it before we left the states, but neither of those things happened. I ended up writing it in bits and pieces over the past few days and it ended up being about figuring out your strengths and passions and finding ways to use them to serve. I think it was appropriate for the group I was teaching to, and I felt good about it. Then we served them dinner and busted out some games (Twister, Uno, etc.).
My stomach finally started to bother me today, so I passed on dinner in the barrio (hot dogs--which I´m not even crazy about in the states) and got a sandwich at the hostal when we got back. Still not feeling great, but there are only a few more days of excessive grease before I can have a salad. I´m not sure how much I´ve written about the food, but it is delicious. The thing is, they have french fries and rice with almost every meal, and we can´t eat fruits and vegetables that haven´t been bleached because they´ll make us sick. So essentially, I´m craving green vegetables. Asparagus, lettuce, green beans, broccoli... yummm.....
Spanish of the Day = trustworthy is ´digno de confianza´
Please pray for our last day tomorrow to go smoothly. I´ll try and blog again before we head out. Thanks again for all of your support.
¡Chao!
We began the morning with about 60 kindergarteners (ages 3-5). We broke them into groups to play games, do a craft, and have a story and snack time. The craft was a coffee filter butterfly, which they all seemed to love. They colored the filters with markers and we sprayed them with water to give them a tye-dye effect. Then, we wrapped pipe cleaners around the middle to make their bodies and antennae. The story (which was the area I found myself in) was about Noah and the Ark. I had notes for a lesson Mitch had written, so I used those as an outline and basically did a lesson where I talked for a little bit and then asked questions (ie: Who was on the Ark with Noah? Have any of you ever seen a rainbow?). They were very cute. Some of them were really into listing off the animals Noah took with him on the Ark, and I was really happy there were enough that felt comfortable participating.
The Executive Director of Project New Hope arrived in Peru today for a trip, so he and several of his coworkers spent the day in the barrio with us. He and I actually had a cool conversation about U of A and campus ministry--as it turns out, he did that for over ten years!
After lunch we spent quite a while decorating and getting ready for the jovenes (the youth). We decorated the community center with balloons and streamers and set up an entire obstacle course for a relay race. The race consisted of popping balloons full of flour, confetti, or water, jumping rope, bobbing for apples, running through tires, going over and under jumpropes with a tray full of glasses of chicha morada (a popular Peruvian drink), walking over two balance beams, and eating jumbo marshmallows. At the end, everyone had to get into a two-person camping tent and zip it up... not the easiest task with seven Americans. (Peruvians are really short... they fit a lot better.) My favorite part was Tori doing a Superman dive in at the last second. It was really crazy -- and the gringos came in 3rd out of 6 teams! (Which might seem more impressive if you realized how intensely competitive these people are.)
Next, we went into the community center and did an icebreaker game and then it was my turn to talk. I gave my testimony and gave a message (in Spanish). The message was supposed to be about leadership, and I tried to write it before we left the states, but neither of those things happened. I ended up writing it in bits and pieces over the past few days and it ended up being about figuring out your strengths and passions and finding ways to use them to serve. I think it was appropriate for the group I was teaching to, and I felt good about it. Then we served them dinner and busted out some games (Twister, Uno, etc.).
My stomach finally started to bother me today, so I passed on dinner in the barrio (hot dogs--which I´m not even crazy about in the states) and got a sandwich at the hostal when we got back. Still not feeling great, but there are only a few more days of excessive grease before I can have a salad. I´m not sure how much I´ve written about the food, but it is delicious. The thing is, they have french fries and rice with almost every meal, and we can´t eat fruits and vegetables that haven´t been bleached because they´ll make us sick. So essentially, I´m craving green vegetables. Asparagus, lettuce, green beans, broccoli... yummm.....
Spanish of the Day = trustworthy is ´digno de confianza´
Please pray for our last day tomorrow to go smoothly. I´ll try and blog again before we head out. Thanks again for all of your support.
¡Chao!
Wednesday, July 8, 2009
Peru 2009 - Entry 6: Power Tools
Another good day. :)
This morning began with a minor panic attack. My roommate, Tori, woke up with a blackish-brownish tongue--yes, TONGUE. We couldn´t figure out what it was from, so she Googled it and found out that´s a side effect of Pepto-Bismol. (We have to take two tablets a day while we´re here, because the food is so different than what we´re used to.) So we calmed down and went to breakfast... where, for the second day, there were mini roaches in our water pitchers. The day promised to be exciting.
We arrived and were told there was both construction and more house visits/gift-giving to do. Tori and I volunteered to do construction since we went to the houses yesterday, so while the others were off doing that, we installed drywall. I´ve never done anything like that before, so it was very much so a learning experience. We measured and cut steel for the inner wall panels and then drilled the drywall pieces into place. It ended up looking pretty darn good, especialy considering Tori and I have never built a house before!
After lunch we had an event for the women who are involved in the church community groups. Tori gave her testimony, Andrea did a teaching on prayer, and then the women designed prayer boxes. We had a really good turnout and it was so nice to see them having a good time. The women who came today are those who have been consistently involved in ministry activities for a while, and it was a good opportunity for them to mingle and relax a little bit. For most of the time after I was done interpreting, I was holding a baby boy named Jose. His mother was painting a box and was finding it difficult to paint and hold him simultaneously. He was the most content, happy, cute baby I´ve seen here. He just kind of looked around and giggled every now and then.
Now we´re back at the hostal, going to eat dinner, and I´ll prepare my testimony and lesson for tomorrow!
¡Hasta luego!
Spanish of the Day = (and I used to know this) paintbrush is ´pincel´for small things and ´brocha´for big things (ie: when we were painting the community center)
This morning began with a minor panic attack. My roommate, Tori, woke up with a blackish-brownish tongue--yes, TONGUE. We couldn´t figure out what it was from, so she Googled it and found out that´s a side effect of Pepto-Bismol. (We have to take two tablets a day while we´re here, because the food is so different than what we´re used to.) So we calmed down and went to breakfast... where, for the second day, there were mini roaches in our water pitchers. The day promised to be exciting.
We arrived and were told there was both construction and more house visits/gift-giving to do. Tori and I volunteered to do construction since we went to the houses yesterday, so while the others were off doing that, we installed drywall. I´ve never done anything like that before, so it was very much so a learning experience. We measured and cut steel for the inner wall panels and then drilled the drywall pieces into place. It ended up looking pretty darn good, especialy considering Tori and I have never built a house before!
After lunch we had an event for the women who are involved in the church community groups. Tori gave her testimony, Andrea did a teaching on prayer, and then the women designed prayer boxes. We had a really good turnout and it was so nice to see them having a good time. The women who came today are those who have been consistently involved in ministry activities for a while, and it was a good opportunity for them to mingle and relax a little bit. For most of the time after I was done interpreting, I was holding a baby boy named Jose. His mother was painting a box and was finding it difficult to paint and hold him simultaneously. He was the most content, happy, cute baby I´ve seen here. He just kind of looked around and giggled every now and then.
Now we´re back at the hostal, going to eat dinner, and I´ll prepare my testimony and lesson for tomorrow!
¡Hasta luego!
Spanish of the Day = (and I used to know this) paintbrush is ´pincel´for small things and ´brocha´for big things (ie: when we were painting the community center)
Tuesday, July 7, 2009
Peru 2009 - Entry 5: Spa Day
Today was Spa Day. We took the day off from work and went to a spa in Huanchaco. We were waited on hand and foot, received deep tissue massages, and ate chocolate-covered strawberries.
Just kidding.
Today was better than that--it was an awesome day in the barrio. I would go so far as to say it is my favorite day so far from both times I´ve been here. Today was a big translate-on-the-fly day. We spent the morning visiting several of the women in the barrio who host and/or lead church houses, youth groups, and children´s classes. We brought them gifts, talked with them, learned a little bit about their lives, and prayed with them. Last year, I was asked once to pray in Spanish... and I almost had a heart attack. Today it was simple. The first few houses we visited I got a little teary-eyed at the things these people were sharing about. Family struggles, things they had overcome themselves, the hope that they have for a better future. But one woman really affected me. Her name is Carmen and she leads a community group that started about a month ago. She lives with an abusive husband and she has four children, ages 10 to 21, the youngest of which is her only family member who has a relationship with Christ. She spent about ten minutes just pouring out her heart to us, telling us how her life was so much better after she accepted Christ and how she knows that God will help her and how she has hope that He will change the hearts of her family members. She began to cry, and so we all got a little choked up, and then it was time to pray. I was privileged enough to be the one to pray for her, and I barely got through the prayer before tears started pouring out of my eyes. We all gave her hugs and kisses before we left, and she just kind of held onto me for a few extra seconds. What a blessing it was to be able to meet someone so strong and so faithful.
After lunch, we delivered several backpacks to kids in the barrio. Some of the kids are sponsored by people in the states who have met them on various mission trips, and so they send backpacks full of clothes, toys, snacks, and school supplies when our team comes down. So Anabel, Henry, and Maria all got Christmas a few months early. It was fantastic. We´ve got a great picture of Maria holding a toothbrush and toothpaste in one hand and skittles in the other. It´s classic.
Next, Spa Day began. We piled up a ton of chairs and a table onto two ´mototaxis´(motorized bicycles with small cabs attached to the back) and took them over to one of the women´s houses. The idea was to have an outreach event for the women in the barrio, especially for those who are not involved in the church yet. We had brought small gift bags for everyone filled with manicure kits, nail polish, and lotion. Tori taught a great lesson (I translated) about inner beauty and how true beauty isn´t about our external appearance, and how God thinks we´re wonderful the way we are and we need to believe that. We finished by saying how it is necessary to take care of ourselves, and how we wanted to serve the women by giving them maincures. We got everyone sitting around the table and had the gringas paired up with the Peruanas, and we simply served them. The looks on their faces were priceless. They seemed so humble and so thankful--it was such a fantastic experience. One of the women, Ana, who had led us around all morning showing us what houses we needed to visit, kept saying how elegant her nails looked and how excited she was. She remembered me from last year and we had a nice conversation about that as well.
Today was awesome.
Oh, and tonight there was a crazy mixup at the restaurant we went to for dinner--it took us 2 1/2 hours to eat and get back to the hostal... and we were only a few blocks away. The elderly lady who owns the restaurant seemed a little loopy... and as I listened to her interaction with other customers, I realized it was definitely not my fault she had written down the wrong entree. Here´s what happens in a normal interaction: The person orders something. She says okay. She brings something else. The customer goes along with it (because they don´t speak very good Spanish). The end. (An easy way to upsell, right?)
To my supporters, thank you so much for helping me get here. Please continue to pray for us. I´ll continue to keep you posted.
Spanish of the Day = wisdom is ´sabiduría´(which I forgot in the middle of a prayer) and yawn is ´bostezo´.
¡Hasta luego!
Just kidding.
Today was better than that--it was an awesome day in the barrio. I would go so far as to say it is my favorite day so far from both times I´ve been here. Today was a big translate-on-the-fly day. We spent the morning visiting several of the women in the barrio who host and/or lead church houses, youth groups, and children´s classes. We brought them gifts, talked with them, learned a little bit about their lives, and prayed with them. Last year, I was asked once to pray in Spanish... and I almost had a heart attack. Today it was simple. The first few houses we visited I got a little teary-eyed at the things these people were sharing about. Family struggles, things they had overcome themselves, the hope that they have for a better future. But one woman really affected me. Her name is Carmen and she leads a community group that started about a month ago. She lives with an abusive husband and she has four children, ages 10 to 21, the youngest of which is her only family member who has a relationship with Christ. She spent about ten minutes just pouring out her heart to us, telling us how her life was so much better after she accepted Christ and how she knows that God will help her and how she has hope that He will change the hearts of her family members. She began to cry, and so we all got a little choked up, and then it was time to pray. I was privileged enough to be the one to pray for her, and I barely got through the prayer before tears started pouring out of my eyes. We all gave her hugs and kisses before we left, and she just kind of held onto me for a few extra seconds. What a blessing it was to be able to meet someone so strong and so faithful.
After lunch, we delivered several backpacks to kids in the barrio. Some of the kids are sponsored by people in the states who have met them on various mission trips, and so they send backpacks full of clothes, toys, snacks, and school supplies when our team comes down. So Anabel, Henry, and Maria all got Christmas a few months early. It was fantastic. We´ve got a great picture of Maria holding a toothbrush and toothpaste in one hand and skittles in the other. It´s classic.
Next, Spa Day began. We piled up a ton of chairs and a table onto two ´mototaxis´(motorized bicycles with small cabs attached to the back) and took them over to one of the women´s houses. The idea was to have an outreach event for the women in the barrio, especially for those who are not involved in the church yet. We had brought small gift bags for everyone filled with manicure kits, nail polish, and lotion. Tori taught a great lesson (I translated) about inner beauty and how true beauty isn´t about our external appearance, and how God thinks we´re wonderful the way we are and we need to believe that. We finished by saying how it is necessary to take care of ourselves, and how we wanted to serve the women by giving them maincures. We got everyone sitting around the table and had the gringas paired up with the Peruanas, and we simply served them. The looks on their faces were priceless. They seemed so humble and so thankful--it was such a fantastic experience. One of the women, Ana, who had led us around all morning showing us what houses we needed to visit, kept saying how elegant her nails looked and how excited she was. She remembered me from last year and we had a nice conversation about that as well.
Today was awesome.
Oh, and tonight there was a crazy mixup at the restaurant we went to for dinner--it took us 2 1/2 hours to eat and get back to the hostal... and we were only a few blocks away. The elderly lady who owns the restaurant seemed a little loopy... and as I listened to her interaction with other customers, I realized it was definitely not my fault she had written down the wrong entree. Here´s what happens in a normal interaction: The person orders something. She says okay. She brings something else. The customer goes along with it (because they don´t speak very good Spanish). The end. (An easy way to upsell, right?)
To my supporters, thank you so much for helping me get here. Please continue to pray for us. I´ll continue to keep you posted.
Spanish of the Day = wisdom is ´sabiduría´(which I forgot in the middle of a prayer) and yawn is ´bostezo´.
¡Hasta luego!
Monday, July 6, 2009
Peru 2009 - Entry 4: Pedestrians do NOT have the right of way.
Hi all! We spent today with the Buktas in downtown Trujillo. Taxis came and picked us up mid-morning (it was really nice to get some extra sleep) and we headed into town. We quickly observed that pedestrians do NOT have the right of way in Peru. They get two brief honks and that is their only warning to dive out of the way of the speeding cars. The moving vehicle doesn´t even slow down. Also, stop signs are optional and the painted lines to indicate lanes are merely suggestions. It´s crazy. (And you thought Arizona drivers were hectic...)
In anycase, we got there in one piece via taxi and then came our next challenge: being the pedestrians. (We did a LOT of walking today!) It was a little bit of an odd adjustment but we avoided any kind of collision and had a nice day visiting El Centro and La Plaza de Armas. We were finally able to exchange some money, so when we visited some touristy shop areas I was able to pick up a few things.
Also, we got to see the new office building for Project New Hope, which was pretty cool. They are renting out a three-story house and the second and third stories on one side are being made into a women´s shelter, which looks as though it is going to be very nice.
Finally we headed back to Mike and Danell´s to hang out and have pizza. Pizza Hut is delicious here, which is funny because I can´t stand it in the states.
We got back to the hostal in one piece, did our devotion, and now it´s off to bed. Tomorrow is another day in the barrio!
Send a few prayers our way! Thank you!
Spanish of the Day = rotisserie (like chicken) is ´asador´
In anycase, we got there in one piece via taxi and then came our next challenge: being the pedestrians. (We did a LOT of walking today!) It was a little bit of an odd adjustment but we avoided any kind of collision and had a nice day visiting El Centro and La Plaza de Armas. We were finally able to exchange some money, so when we visited some touristy shop areas I was able to pick up a few things.
Also, we got to see the new office building for Project New Hope, which was pretty cool. They are renting out a three-story house and the second and third stories on one side are being made into a women´s shelter, which looks as though it is going to be very nice.
Finally we headed back to Mike and Danell´s to hang out and have pizza. Pizza Hut is delicious here, which is funny because I can´t stand it in the states.
We got back to the hostal in one piece, did our devotion, and now it´s off to bed. Tomorrow is another day in the barrio!
Send a few prayers our way! Thank you!
Spanish of the Day = rotisserie (like chicken) is ´asador´
Sunday, July 5, 2009
Peru 2009 - Entry 3: ¡Los Deportes y La Iglesia!
What an amazing day! After a breakfast at the hostal, we headed out to the barrio for a long day of work. I use the term ´work´loosely, because it really was a fantastic day. The common greeting in Peru is to say hello and kiss the person on their right cheek, so for each and every person we encountered upon arriving at the barrio, we each received a hug and a kiss. I don´t know that I´ve ever been kissed so many times in one day! And everyone really makes it a priority to greet us and make us feel welcome. It´s wonderful and it creates such a feeling of fellowship. (I think we should bring this custom to the states... who´s with me?)
Right as we got out of the taxis, I saw Alexander, the little boy I befriended last year. One of my teammates, Tori, said his face just lit up like a lighbulb when he saw me. The kids were doing something different right then, but I ran over to him and gave him a quick hug and kiss anyways. I can´t explain how wonderful it was to see the kids again and for us to recognize one another. Last year I met a little girl named Maria who was very, very timid. She and I had chatted a little bit about halfway through the week and for the following three days she was pretty much glued to my hip. Well, to my surprise, Maria was up front leading the younger kids in some games when we got there. I was so, so excited to see her up in front of people having a good time. They have done a lot to build up the adult leadership in the barrio over the past few years, and I am thrilled to see that it is reaching the children as well.
After feeding the youngest kids breakfast, we did our first lesson. A few of my teammates, Andrea and her daughter Jamie, had prepared a lesson based around the book ´You Are Special´by Max Lucado. (It´s a very cute book--I highly recommend it if you´ve never read it.) It´s essentially about how God´s opinion is the only one that matters, and about how our worth should come from Him. The kids really enjoyed the illustrations and the story, the only bummer was that because it was so long, Andrea didn´t have an opportunity to read it in English and have me translate, I just had to do the Spanish so we could stay within a reasonable time frame. The craft to accompany the story was hand puppets made out of brown paper bags. We brought yarn for hair, googly eyes, and crayons to draw faces and outfits. We saw some of the CUTEST puppets. (My favorites were the boys who put beards and moustaches on theirs.)
I have several battle wounds from today as well. Pretty much the first thing I did after waking up this morning was go to fill up some water bottles from our ´safe´ water source. (The water here isn´t safe, so much that we can´t even eat fruit that has been washed in it, so we have a jug that the missionaries fill up for us that we take with us back and forth from the hostal to the barrio.) Graceful though I am, I managed to fall up the stairs. So for the first time, the first aid kit was used as I cleaned out and bandaged my cut fingers. This afternoon at the barrio, we had another sports day with the adults and youth... and again, I will note that they are both competitive and very good at both volleyball and soccer. We had a really fun time, but I hurt all over. Thank goodness tomorrow isn´t a sports day.
After dinner we had a church service in the community center. It was kind of funny, because about 30 minutes before we were supposed to start they asked us how we were going to decorate. Decorate? Yes. They have decorations and things pinned up on the walls and each week different people are in charge of making the room look spiffy. It turned out all right, but it was definitely a surprise. We did some worship through music at the beginning of the service, which was pretty fun in Spanish. Then Dan, one of the team members, taught about the Holy Spirit and I translated. Then Loys got up and finished the sermon talking about the fruits of the spirit. Before we left, while we were waiting for our taxis, Alexander and I chatted for a little bit.
It was an awesome day. I am so excited we had the opportunity to spend time with these people, get to know them a little more, and love on the kids. The reality is, most of the kids don´t get sufficient attention at home, and when we come, we are really able to make them feel special, like they´re worth something. (Just like in the story!) So that was pretty fantastic.
Tomorrow we´ll be spending time with Mike, Danell, Skylar, and Nicole in Trujillo and then head to their house for supper. (I anticipate being very, very sore.)
Spanish of the Day = papas rellenas (which means ´refilled potatoes´) is the dinner we had tonight. It was delicious and I´m determined to find a decent recipe to make it at some point after we get back to the states.
¡Bendiciones!
Right as we got out of the taxis, I saw Alexander, the little boy I befriended last year. One of my teammates, Tori, said his face just lit up like a lighbulb when he saw me. The kids were doing something different right then, but I ran over to him and gave him a quick hug and kiss anyways. I can´t explain how wonderful it was to see the kids again and for us to recognize one another. Last year I met a little girl named Maria who was very, very timid. She and I had chatted a little bit about halfway through the week and for the following three days she was pretty much glued to my hip. Well, to my surprise, Maria was up front leading the younger kids in some games when we got there. I was so, so excited to see her up in front of people having a good time. They have done a lot to build up the adult leadership in the barrio over the past few years, and I am thrilled to see that it is reaching the children as well.
After feeding the youngest kids breakfast, we did our first lesson. A few of my teammates, Andrea and her daughter Jamie, had prepared a lesson based around the book ´You Are Special´by Max Lucado. (It´s a very cute book--I highly recommend it if you´ve never read it.) It´s essentially about how God´s opinion is the only one that matters, and about how our worth should come from Him. The kids really enjoyed the illustrations and the story, the only bummer was that because it was so long, Andrea didn´t have an opportunity to read it in English and have me translate, I just had to do the Spanish so we could stay within a reasonable time frame. The craft to accompany the story was hand puppets made out of brown paper bags. We brought yarn for hair, googly eyes, and crayons to draw faces and outfits. We saw some of the CUTEST puppets. (My favorites were the boys who put beards and moustaches on theirs.)
I have several battle wounds from today as well. Pretty much the first thing I did after waking up this morning was go to fill up some water bottles from our ´safe´ water source. (The water here isn´t safe, so much that we can´t even eat fruit that has been washed in it, so we have a jug that the missionaries fill up for us that we take with us back and forth from the hostal to the barrio.) Graceful though I am, I managed to fall up the stairs. So for the first time, the first aid kit was used as I cleaned out and bandaged my cut fingers. This afternoon at the barrio, we had another sports day with the adults and youth... and again, I will note that they are both competitive and very good at both volleyball and soccer. We had a really fun time, but I hurt all over. Thank goodness tomorrow isn´t a sports day.
After dinner we had a church service in the community center. It was kind of funny, because about 30 minutes before we were supposed to start they asked us how we were going to decorate. Decorate? Yes. They have decorations and things pinned up on the walls and each week different people are in charge of making the room look spiffy. It turned out all right, but it was definitely a surprise. We did some worship through music at the beginning of the service, which was pretty fun in Spanish. Then Dan, one of the team members, taught about the Holy Spirit and I translated. Then Loys got up and finished the sermon talking about the fruits of the spirit. Before we left, while we were waiting for our taxis, Alexander and I chatted for a little bit.
It was an awesome day. I am so excited we had the opportunity to spend time with these people, get to know them a little more, and love on the kids. The reality is, most of the kids don´t get sufficient attention at home, and when we come, we are really able to make them feel special, like they´re worth something. (Just like in the story!) So that was pretty fantastic.
Tomorrow we´ll be spending time with Mike, Danell, Skylar, and Nicole in Trujillo and then head to their house for supper. (I anticipate being very, very sore.)
Spanish of the Day = papas rellenas (which means ´refilled potatoes´) is the dinner we had tonight. It was delicious and I´m determined to find a decent recipe to make it at some point after we get back to the states.
¡Bendiciones!
Saturday, July 4, 2009
Peru 2009 - Entry 2: ¡El Mirador!
¡Hola!
We just got back from El Mirador, a retreat center/park in Peru. (El Mirador means viewpoint.) It was our team, the full-time missionary family, and the barrio leaders and we spent the day doing all kinds of things, many of which were way out of our comfort zones.
A huge bus came to the hostal to pick up our team and about 35 people from the barrio. On the way to El Mirador, my team leader, Mitch, said, ´Okay, I have your first curveball of the trip - I want to do a devotion when we get there and you need to interpret it.´ Most of you know that I´ve been speaking Spanish for a long time now, but it is completely different having to interpret on the fly, English-to-Spanish, without any resources. (I know that I can generally communicate in Spanish, but vocabulary is always the iffy part.) Nonetheless, we did a devotion on creation because the retreat center is gorgeous and has huge trees and wonderful views of the mountains and fields of sugarcane. I´ve got some great pictures that I wish I could post! But they´ll have to wait until we get back to the states.
After the devotion and a quick prayer, we did a few icebreaker games. And, for the first time, we didn´t do gringos vs. Peruanos. It was interesting to see the teams paired up for a number of reasons. One of the games was where each team had to balance an apple between their foreheads and that was hilarious for me because I´m well over a head taller than everyone native to this country. There were also various communication issues, as I was playing the games and therefore unable to translate for my gringo compadres. Next, we played a few games of soccer and had lunch. (I´m already tired of french fries and it´s only day two in country.)
After lunch we played volleyball, and you know who is really good at volleyball? Not me. The Peruanos are overall very good and also super competitive. I´m just happy when I get a hit... my arms are ridiculously sore, so I must´ve done something right.
We finished the afternoon with Dan (one of my team members) sharing his testimony and me interpreting. I think it was a great connection point for the people from the barrio and my hope is that we are all able to connect more as the week goes on and we are able to share more of our stories.
It´s tough getting back into Spanish after this last year of Portuguese, but I can tell I´m getting there because I´m subconsciously trying to translate everything I´m typing and the things people around me say.
¡Hasta luego!
Spanish of the Day = to do a belly flop is ´darse un planchazo´
(Never thought I´d be asked how to say that--but I was.)
We just got back from El Mirador, a retreat center/park in Peru. (El Mirador means viewpoint.) It was our team, the full-time missionary family, and the barrio leaders and we spent the day doing all kinds of things, many of which were way out of our comfort zones.
A huge bus came to the hostal to pick up our team and about 35 people from the barrio. On the way to El Mirador, my team leader, Mitch, said, ´Okay, I have your first curveball of the trip - I want to do a devotion when we get there and you need to interpret it.´ Most of you know that I´ve been speaking Spanish for a long time now, but it is completely different having to interpret on the fly, English-to-Spanish, without any resources. (I know that I can generally communicate in Spanish, but vocabulary is always the iffy part.) Nonetheless, we did a devotion on creation because the retreat center is gorgeous and has huge trees and wonderful views of the mountains and fields of sugarcane. I´ve got some great pictures that I wish I could post! But they´ll have to wait until we get back to the states.
After the devotion and a quick prayer, we did a few icebreaker games. And, for the first time, we didn´t do gringos vs. Peruanos. It was interesting to see the teams paired up for a number of reasons. One of the games was where each team had to balance an apple between their foreheads and that was hilarious for me because I´m well over a head taller than everyone native to this country. There were also various communication issues, as I was playing the games and therefore unable to translate for my gringo compadres. Next, we played a few games of soccer and had lunch. (I´m already tired of french fries and it´s only day two in country.)
After lunch we played volleyball, and you know who is really good at volleyball? Not me. The Peruanos are overall very good and also super competitive. I´m just happy when I get a hit... my arms are ridiculously sore, so I must´ve done something right.
We finished the afternoon with Dan (one of my team members) sharing his testimony and me interpreting. I think it was a great connection point for the people from the barrio and my hope is that we are all able to connect more as the week goes on and we are able to share more of our stories.
It´s tough getting back into Spanish after this last year of Portuguese, but I can tell I´m getting there because I´m subconsciously trying to translate everything I´m typing and the things people around me say.
¡Hasta luego!
Spanish of the Day = to do a belly flop is ´darse un planchazo´
(Never thought I´d be asked how to say that--but I was.)
Friday, July 3, 2009
Peru 2009 - Entry 1: Finally Here!
We made it! After many hours of plane rides and layovers, we finally arrived in Trujillo Peru around 6:30 this morning. We left Chandler at 4:30 yesterday morning, so we were pretty exhausted by the time we landed in Trujillo. (Although, I was able to doze a little bit on the flight from Phoenix to Houston and in the Lima airport for about an hour, which is considerably better than last year when I didn´t sleep at all the whole way here.) No travel complications, praise the Lord.
We´re staying at the Hostal Bracamonte again and the first things I did when we got here were shower and take a nap. After waking up and buying a bottle of water so I could brush my teeth, I´m ready to start our first "day" in Trujillo. Today we´ll meet with the barrio director, Loys, and his wife, Teresa and take a short tour of Chan Chan. Tomorrow we´ll do a retreat with some of the barrio leaders, which should be a lot of fun. I´m really excited to get going and can´t wait to have some more stories to share with you!
Thanks again to all of my supporters - you´re the reason I´m here!
Spanish of the Day = slippery is ´resbaladizo´ and sticky is ´pegajoso´
We´re staying at the Hostal Bracamonte again and the first things I did when we got here were shower and take a nap. After waking up and buying a bottle of water so I could brush my teeth, I´m ready to start our first "day" in Trujillo. Today we´ll meet with the barrio director, Loys, and his wife, Teresa and take a short tour of Chan Chan. Tomorrow we´ll do a retreat with some of the barrio leaders, which should be a lot of fun. I´m really excited to get going and can´t wait to have some more stories to share with you!
Thanks again to all of my supporters - you´re the reason I´m here!
Spanish of the Day = slippery is ´resbaladizo´ and sticky is ´pegajoso´
Wednesday, June 17, 2009
Welcome!
I created this blog to keep my support team updated while I'm on my Peru trip this summer. (Hopefully there will be more trips and more excuses to use this blog later on.) I hope this helps you feel more connected to what I'm doing, as these entries will contain significantly more information than I can squeeze into a "thank you" card when the trip is over.
At this point, I'm trying to gather up my crisp, unbent, unwrinkled, bills for the Peruvian currency exchange, stocking up on Pepto-Bismol and hand sanitizer, and working as much as I can before taking two weeks off.
I'm so excited to see the kids in the barrio.
This is Alexander,and he was the most goofy, giggly kid I've ever met.
Thanks for reading!
I'll keep you posted!
At this point, I'm trying to gather up my crisp, unbent, unwrinkled, bills for the Peruvian currency exchange, stocking up on Pepto-Bismol and hand sanitizer, and working as much as I can before taking two weeks off.
I'm so excited to see the kids in the barrio.
This is Alexander,and he was the most goofy, giggly kid I've ever met.
Thanks for reading!
I'll keep you posted!
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