Wednesday, August 8, 2007
Mingling Cultures
Mingling Cultures
We have been so blessed to having some Adventist Peruvian workers living and working on the project with us. So while eating meals, there are always Spanish lessons. They are quite amused by our horrible attempts at learning their language. We are all learning, but it’s definitely going to take a while!! It has been really cool to see how everyone has been included in conversation, despite an obvious language barrier between most of us. Saturday night, we played some games and were able to convince the Peruvian workers to play with us despite having no translator and all us SM’s knowing little Spanish. Amazingly enough, we were all able to use the little Spanish we knew and hand motions to describe the games. The whole evening was quite hilarious and I can honestly say I haven’t laughed that hard in a while!!
We have been so blessed to having some Adventist Peruvian workers living and working on the project with us. So while eating meals, there are always Spanish lessons. They are quite amused by our horrible attempts at learning their language. We are all learning, but it’s definitely going to take a while!! It has been really cool to see how everyone has been included in conversation, despite an obvious language barrier between most of us. Saturday night, we played some games and were able to convince the Peruvian workers to play with us despite having no translator and all us SM’s knowing little Spanish. Amazingly enough, we were all able to use the little Spanish we knew and hand motions to describe the games. The whole evening was quite hilarious and I can honestly say I haven’t laughed that hard in a while!!
A Novelty
I absolutely love Peru! The Peruvians are amazing people. Just soo friendly and nice! Walking down the street in Pucallpa with four other American girls is quite a sight and the Peruvian men make sure we know it’s a wonderful sight for them to behold. The constant cat calls, whistles, and stares makes it all but impossible to blend in. We had an experience the other day which was quite amusing.
On Sunday, the group of us, which now consists of a guy as well, Brent from Andrews, took a trip to the Pucallpa Zoo. It was really great to see some of the beautiful animals that the Amazon has to offer, yet it was quite sad to see so many of them in really small cages. Many of the animals looked quite sad and scared, walking back and forth quite swiftly in kind of a nervous manner. The spotted jaguars had the most beautiful green eyes and I just wanted to cuddle up and pet them (though, at least on earth that wouldn’t be such a grand idea). The black panther also had some beautifully peersingly yellow eyes against his velvety black coat of fur. They are such beautiful creatures!! The monkeys were definitely the main attraction. Watching the spider monkeys crawl up and around the walls and ropes was so entertaining. While watching the monkeys “fly” around, the girl who had come along with us “gringos” to translate and show us around the area, told us that some of the local Peruvian girls at the zoo wanted to take a picture with all of us. Needless to say, we were all quite taken aback and amused by this idea. But not knowing what else to say, we went along and posed for quite a few pictures, as more and more Peruvians wanted to have their picture taken with us. None of us had taken a shower that morning because we had all been in a rush. With the humidity and walking around everywhere, we definitely didn’t look our best. So being the celebrities at a zoo was quite hilarious to us. Afterwards, we decided we should start charging money for each picture!! For the rest of the time there, we had quite an entourage of Peruvians, mostly children, following us and attempting to converse, though it was quite slow.
While, still at the zoo, we were interviewed on some TV show for Pucallpa about what we thought of the park and Pucallpa, so maybe I’ll be able to get a copy and post it! So the trip to the zoo was quite memorable for us!
On Sunday, the group of us, which now consists of a guy as well, Brent from Andrews, took a trip to the Pucallpa Zoo. It was really great to see some of the beautiful animals that the Amazon has to offer, yet it was quite sad to see so many of them in really small cages. Many of the animals looked quite sad and scared, walking back and forth quite swiftly in kind of a nervous manner. The spotted jaguars had the most beautiful green eyes and I just wanted to cuddle up and pet them (though, at least on earth that wouldn’t be such a grand idea). The black panther also had some beautifully peersingly yellow eyes against his velvety black coat of fur. They are such beautiful creatures!! The monkeys were definitely the main attraction. Watching the spider monkeys crawl up and around the walls and ropes was so entertaining. While watching the monkeys “fly” around, the girl who had come along with us “gringos” to translate and show us around the area, told us that some of the local Peruvian girls at the zoo wanted to take a picture with all of us. Needless to say, we were all quite taken aback and amused by this idea. But not knowing what else to say, we went along and posed for quite a few pictures, as more and more Peruvians wanted to have their picture taken with us. None of us had taken a shower that morning because we had all been in a rush. With the humidity and walking around everywhere, we definitely didn’t look our best. So being the celebrities at a zoo was quite hilarious to us. Afterwards, we decided we should start charging money for each picture!! For the rest of the time there, we had quite an entourage of Peruvians, mostly children, following us and attempting to converse, though it was quite slow.
While, still at the zoo, we were interviewed on some TV show for Pucallpa about what we thought of the park and Pucallpa, so maybe I’ll be able to get a copy and post it! So the trip to the zoo was quite memorable for us!
Too many wonderful surprises
Upon arriving at Km 38, which is the main site for construction and living for those involved with the project, I was really surprised as to how nice the house was we were to be living in for the next 10 months. The previous SM’s had been living in tents, taking bucket showers, using a hole in the ground as a bathroom, basically camping for a whole year. With this knowledge, I had planned to be living be rough for a while, at least a couple months until there was running water to have a shower. The five of us girls (all from Southern) were taken aback by how large the house was. The house consists of five bedrooms, each with two beds, and a kitchen. There is also a main eating/social area in the middle. The roof is made of tin (which is going to make those downpours of rain extra loud) and the floor is made of cement. The walls are all made of wood, hand chopped and cut from the jungle. Lots of sweat and hard work was put into our wonderful new place we call home! After getting a tour of the area, getting a run-down of the bucket shower process and checking out the bathroom situation, I quickly realize that taking a shower will take longer than normal and it might just be safer to not go to the bathroom at night because coming face to face with some creature staring at you in the middle of the night is not my idea of a good time, especially when you are half-asleep.
But God is amazing!! Less than 24 hours into our stay we are surprised with our first miracle. The Peruvian workers have been working hard laying water pipes and building the shower, but we had been told it would be at least another couple weeks or so. Somehow the men completed the shower by mid-morning. Some of the girls had already experienced a bucket shower earlier, but I was privileged to be the second person to take a “real” shower. It was a super amazing surprise! Then, by mid afternoon they have the toilet installed and we are able to use the bathroom in style, without after to squat over a maggot infested hole and having to walk though questionable territory (especially at odd hours of the night). Granted we had to pour water ourselves because the flush wasn’t working, but that’s not a big deal. I just couldn’t believe how amazing it was to be upgraded to a real shower and bathroom so quickly upon our arrival! So spoiled!!
By Friday, the Peruvian workers had set up a sink outside the house with running water and also a sink in the bathroom! And Friday afternoon, there was even running water in the kitchen sink. I just couldn’t believe how spoiled, but incredibly blessed we all were to be able to live pretty comfortably (minus the mosquitoes). God has blessed so much already!!
But God is amazing!! Less than 24 hours into our stay we are surprised with our first miracle. The Peruvian workers have been working hard laying water pipes and building the shower, but we had been told it would be at least another couple weeks or so. Somehow the men completed the shower by mid-morning. Some of the girls had already experienced a bucket shower earlier, but I was privileged to be the second person to take a “real” shower. It was a super amazing surprise! Then, by mid afternoon they have the toilet installed and we are able to use the bathroom in style, without after to squat over a maggot infested hole and having to walk though questionable territory (especially at odd hours of the night). Granted we had to pour water ourselves because the flush wasn’t working, but that’s not a big deal. I just couldn’t believe how amazing it was to be upgraded to a real shower and bathroom so quickly upon our arrival! So spoiled!!
By Friday, the Peruvian workers had set up a sink outside the house with running water and also a sink in the bathroom! And Friday afternoon, there was even running water in the kitchen sink. I just couldn’t believe how spoiled, but incredibly blessed we all were to be able to live pretty comfortably (minus the mosquitoes). God has blessed so much already!!
Friday, August 3, 2007
Well, I’m here safely in Peru, to be exact km 38 at the main house. The trip over went super smoothly and nobody lost luggage or anything. God really was with me throughout the whole flight over. I was stressed out because one of my suitcases was overweight and my carry-on was absolutely huge, but thankfully I had no problems on any of the flights. On our flight over to Pucallpa, the five of us girls had tons of luggage and totally went over the limits, but the airline didn’t even charge us, which is amazing!! God really watched over all of us.
My flight left at about 6am from Sacramento, CA and I flew to Houston, TX. I was able to catch up on some sleep, which I was very thankful. After getting to Houston, I met up with Kaitlin, who is another SM who will be teaching English. The layover in Houston was about 3 1/2 hrs. We then boarded the plane to Lima. The flight was about 6hrs, which seemed liked a long time for me. Since I don’t know hardly any Spanish (I can understand more than I speak) I had my first experience on this Peru trip with communicating with people who don’t know English. I sat next to a cute older lady who didn’t know any English and since I don’t really know Spanish, it was kind of awkward at first. Thankfully, the lady on the other side of me could translate, so I was given my first unofficial lesson in Spanish!
The flight over to Pucallpa was beautiful! We were able to see the Andes mountains, though there wasn’t much snow on the peaks. On the jungle side of the mountains, everything was soo green. So much water everywhere. The rivers slowly meander through the trees, it´s quite amazing!
Peru is a really beautiful place, though the cities I’ve been to so far have been quite dirty. I have had so much fun riding around Lima and Pucallpa just observing the people and their way of life.
Last night I was able to look up at the stars and see millions...We are right below the Milky Way and it is just breathtakingly beautiful. The sky is soo clear and I can just see forever!! I´m going to try to take a picture, but we´ll see.
My flight left at about 6am from Sacramento, CA and I flew to Houston, TX. I was able to catch up on some sleep, which I was very thankful. After getting to Houston, I met up with Kaitlin, who is another SM who will be teaching English. The layover in Houston was about 3 1/2 hrs. We then boarded the plane to Lima. The flight was about 6hrs, which seemed liked a long time for me. Since I don’t know hardly any Spanish (I can understand more than I speak) I had my first experience on this Peru trip with communicating with people who don’t know English. I sat next to a cute older lady who didn’t know any English and since I don’t really know Spanish, it was kind of awkward at first. Thankfully, the lady on the other side of me could translate, so I was given my first unofficial lesson in Spanish!
The flight over to Pucallpa was beautiful! We were able to see the Andes mountains, though there wasn’t much snow on the peaks. On the jungle side of the mountains, everything was soo green. So much water everywhere. The rivers slowly meander through the trees, it´s quite amazing!
Peru is a really beautiful place, though the cities I’ve been to so far have been quite dirty. I have had so much fun riding around Lima and Pucallpa just observing the people and their way of life.
Last night I was able to look up at the stars and see millions...We are right below the Milky Way and it is just breathtakingly beautiful. The sky is soo clear and I can just see forever!! I´m going to try to take a picture, but we´ll see.
Wednesday, August 1, 2007
I´m here!!
Just a quick note to say I´m here in Peru, safely. The trip over went so smooth, God really answered my prayers and even exceed my expectations!! well, gotta run!
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