So I figured I'd make a closing blog just to finish it up if anyone is still reading. As you know I've been back in town for almost a week now, still adjusting back to this way of life. I'm not exactly sure how long it's suppose to take before I feel like I'm back at home. The summer was an unforgettable one. I have learned so much about faith, and the relationship with Christ. About how to depend on Him to see you through hard times, how to be peaceful in the midst of the storms of life. I've learned where faith can take you, the highest highs and the lowest lows. I've watched God's plan unfold infront of me and be awed and humbled by the intricacies of the inner workings.
I just want to thank everyone again for keeping up with me and reading my blog and supporting me with comments, mail, packages etc... thank you all so much.
Here is a video that I made for the kids and sent it on a dvd in the mail. It's in spanish, and theres not a lot of pictures of the city because they know what the city looks like. I'll make another one that I will probably show in church when I get the chance. Goodbye...For now.
Monday, August 18, 2008
Sunday, August 10, 2008
camping (long)
Sorry this is super long. I'll have a final goodbye post probably tuesday or wednesday night, so check back.
I found out that the kids were going camping when I went over there at around 10:00. The moms said they were leaving at 1:00 and asked if I was going. I wasn’t sure if I should or not because Avis is gone, and I need to talk to some people about how to run English. I decided to go ahead and go because I wasn’t going to be able to spend a lot of time with the kids if I didn’t because I am leaving Sunday night. I gathered up all my stuff and went over there and helped them pack. The van arrived at 1:00 on the dot, the driver is the only punctual Peruvian I’ve met and even the house moms said that. When it showed up I asked if there was another one coming…there wasn’t. So 16 kids, 3 house moms, Matt and I, and all the camping supplies; food, clothes, tents, blankets etc… all fit into one MINI van. Yes, a mini van, not even a full size. Don’t ask me how we did it because I don’t even know. Two other house moms took another taxi there because there just wasn’t room for 2 more.
The trip there was long and cramped. I was in the front seat with 2 stuffed backpacks and Gerson. It took about 2 hours to get there, but it was probably only about 60 kilometers away. The roads were all dirt and had these massive speed bumps that the bottom of the car dragged on every time we went over. I don’t know why there were speed bumps on a dirt road that already had holes all over the place, not to mention the road was out in the middle of nowhere, if someone was speeding it wouldn’t really matter because there’s nothing there!
We’ll we finally got there and the place was surprisingly nice. It was in a valley at the base of a dam. I don’t know if it was an actual camp ground or not. It was a compound where people lived and studied plants, mainly fruit trees. The sign said ministry of agriculture. So inside there were fruit trees and plants all over the place. Too my surprise there was a giant clean pool as well. The kids had told me there was a pool where we were going but I just couldn’t fathom it on the way there because it was so out in the middle of nowhere. They had been here before I guess. We found a nice place in the grass to set up our tent, and after we got most of the rods in someone told us that there were massive amounts of ants there. So we carried the tent up and put it right next to the pool on some nice dirt ground where there were no ants, but there were plenty of rocks. We got the tent set up and decided to go for a swim. Only Matt and I jumped in the big pool because none of the kids knew how to swim. I think it was the second time in their life they’ve even seen a pool. Luckily there’s also a baby pool where that was about 2 feet deep and actually pretty large. The kids who were big enough to touch the bottom of the big pool got in with Matt and I. That included Gerson, Joel, and Estrella. Gerson was the oldest kid there by about 3 years, now that I think about it I think the moms used him as bait to get me to go with them haha…originally when I heard about it only the first grade kids and under were going, and I told them I wasn’t sure I wanted to go. Anyway, I tried teaching them to swim but they were all pretty scared of going under water, so we worked on that first. After a while in the pool we ate dinner…chicken and rice, I mean what else to you expect on a Peruvian camping trip right?
We kind of just hung around until it was dark and everyone got in the tent to go to sleep. After about 20 minutes of sitting in our compartment of the tent which included Matt, Joel, Gerson and me, I decided I wasn’t the least bit tired, and neither was Gerson, so we decided to take a walk. We went down to where there is this giant model of the dam, including a big reservoir where they put koy in, and there turned out to be about 40 frogs all just sitting on the edge. So we had fun poking them with sticks and throwing pebbles at them for awhile, and Matt and Joel joined us after Joel found his other shoe, which took about 20 minutes. We then walked up to the pool to take a look and found 4 of the 5 house moms sitting up there chatting and eating homemade apple pie. It was delicious. So we sat up there and talked for awhile, ate some pie, and listened to music. We finally decided to head into the tent at about 11:00.
Trying to sleep was horrible. There were rocks all in my back, and Danilo has a bad case of the snores. As soon as I’d fall asleep I’d wake up from someone else waking up and crying or coughing etc…oh… and I think at one point in the night, I don’t even know what time I woke up and heard someone taking a dump right outside our tent, pretty close to my head. Needless to say I think I got about 1 hour of sleep all in 5 minute intervals.
The next day we woke up at about 7:00 and ate breakfast which was Peruvian hot-dogs(yuck) and yogurt . After breakfast we went down to the concrete soccer stadium and kicked around a semi-inflated ball and threw some frizbees. We did that until about 10:30 and then we all went back to the pool. We played in the pool until about 1:00 and then we ate some more chicken and rice for lunch. After that we started to pack stuff up, and take the tent down. We got the tent down and everything packed at around 2:30 or 3:00. So we spread some blankets out on the ground and took a little nap. Some kids played on the swings or just ran around. At around 4:30 3 house moms, Gerson and I took a walk down to the office building where they bought some fruit that was grown right there in the valley. It was really big, fresh, and cheap. We all marveled at how big the limons (limes) were. We walked back and had dinner at 5:30, chicken and rice once more.
The van arrived at 6:00 on the dot and we loaded everything up and headed on our way. The van couldn’t make it up the hill where our campground was from a dead stop so we all had to get out and meet it on the top of the hill. This time I was sharing the front seat with Gerson, Gladis, and Danilo. Only the right side of my behind had anything to touch for 2 hours with Gerson sitting on my lap. It was swollen up by the time we got home. The shenanigans that ensued on the way back were more than enough for me. While being folded up like a lawn chair Gerson threw up half on Gladis and half out the window. Also a water truck that sprays the dirt roads to keep the dust down passed us…oh and ya, our windows where down. So I got a nice little shower, but luckily the driver blocked most of it for me.
Overall I had a good time, and I would do it again. I had a lot of fun with the moms and the kids, and it was the probably the last bit of quality time I am going to be able to spend with them before I have to leave.
I found out that the kids were going camping when I went over there at around 10:00. The moms said they were leaving at 1:00 and asked if I was going. I wasn’t sure if I should or not because Avis is gone, and I need to talk to some people about how to run English. I decided to go ahead and go because I wasn’t going to be able to spend a lot of time with the kids if I didn’t because I am leaving Sunday night. I gathered up all my stuff and went over there and helped them pack. The van arrived at 1:00 on the dot, the driver is the only punctual Peruvian I’ve met and even the house moms said that. When it showed up I asked if there was another one coming…there wasn’t. So 16 kids, 3 house moms, Matt and I, and all the camping supplies; food, clothes, tents, blankets etc… all fit into one MINI van. Yes, a mini van, not even a full size. Don’t ask me how we did it because I don’t even know. Two other house moms took another taxi there because there just wasn’t room for 2 more.
The trip there was long and cramped. I was in the front seat with 2 stuffed backpacks and Gerson. It took about 2 hours to get there, but it was probably only about 60 kilometers away. The roads were all dirt and had these massive speed bumps that the bottom of the car dragged on every time we went over. I don’t know why there were speed bumps on a dirt road that already had holes all over the place, not to mention the road was out in the middle of nowhere, if someone was speeding it wouldn’t really matter because there’s nothing there!
We’ll we finally got there and the place was surprisingly nice. It was in a valley at the base of a dam. I don’t know if it was an actual camp ground or not. It was a compound where people lived and studied plants, mainly fruit trees. The sign said ministry of agriculture. So inside there were fruit trees and plants all over the place. Too my surprise there was a giant clean pool as well. The kids had told me there was a pool where we were going but I just couldn’t fathom it on the way there because it was so out in the middle of nowhere. They had been here before I guess. We found a nice place in the grass to set up our tent, and after we got most of the rods in someone told us that there were massive amounts of ants there. So we carried the tent up and put it right next to the pool on some nice dirt ground where there were no ants, but there were plenty of rocks. We got the tent set up and decided to go for a swim. Only Matt and I jumped in the big pool because none of the kids knew how to swim. I think it was the second time in their life they’ve even seen a pool. Luckily there’s also a baby pool where that was about 2 feet deep and actually pretty large. The kids who were big enough to touch the bottom of the big pool got in with Matt and I. That included Gerson, Joel, and Estrella. Gerson was the oldest kid there by about 3 years, now that I think about it I think the moms used him as bait to get me to go with them haha…originally when I heard about it only the first grade kids and under were going, and I told them I wasn’t sure I wanted to go. Anyway, I tried teaching them to swim but they were all pretty scared of going under water, so we worked on that first. After a while in the pool we ate dinner…chicken and rice, I mean what else to you expect on a Peruvian camping trip right?
We kind of just hung around until it was dark and everyone got in the tent to go to sleep. After about 20 minutes of sitting in our compartment of the tent which included Matt, Joel, Gerson and me, I decided I wasn’t the least bit tired, and neither was Gerson, so we decided to take a walk. We went down to where there is this giant model of the dam, including a big reservoir where they put koy in, and there turned out to be about 40 frogs all just sitting on the edge. So we had fun poking them with sticks and throwing pebbles at them for awhile, and Matt and Joel joined us after Joel found his other shoe, which took about 20 minutes. We then walked up to the pool to take a look and found 4 of the 5 house moms sitting up there chatting and eating homemade apple pie. It was delicious. So we sat up there and talked for awhile, ate some pie, and listened to music. We finally decided to head into the tent at about 11:00.
Trying to sleep was horrible. There were rocks all in my back, and Danilo has a bad case of the snores. As soon as I’d fall asleep I’d wake up from someone else waking up and crying or coughing etc…oh… and I think at one point in the night, I don’t even know what time I woke up and heard someone taking a dump right outside our tent, pretty close to my head. Needless to say I think I got about 1 hour of sleep all in 5 minute intervals.
The next day we woke up at about 7:00 and ate breakfast which was Peruvian hot-dogs(yuck) and yogurt . After breakfast we went down to the concrete soccer stadium and kicked around a semi-inflated ball and threw some frizbees. We did that until about 10:30 and then we all went back to the pool. We played in the pool until about 1:00 and then we ate some more chicken and rice for lunch. After that we started to pack stuff up, and take the tent down. We got the tent down and everything packed at around 2:30 or 3:00. So we spread some blankets out on the ground and took a little nap. Some kids played on the swings or just ran around. At around 4:30 3 house moms, Gerson and I took a walk down to the office building where they bought some fruit that was grown right there in the valley. It was really big, fresh, and cheap. We all marveled at how big the limons (limes) were. We walked back and had dinner at 5:30, chicken and rice once more.
The van arrived at 6:00 on the dot and we loaded everything up and headed on our way. The van couldn’t make it up the hill where our campground was from a dead stop so we all had to get out and meet it on the top of the hill. This time I was sharing the front seat with Gerson, Gladis, and Danilo. Only the right side of my behind had anything to touch for 2 hours with Gerson sitting on my lap. It was swollen up by the time we got home. The shenanigans that ensued on the way back were more than enough for me. While being folded up like a lawn chair Gerson threw up half on Gladis and half out the window. Also a water truck that sprays the dirt roads to keep the dust down passed us…oh and ya, our windows where down. So I got a nice little shower, but luckily the driver blocked most of it for me.
Overall I had a good time, and I would do it again. I had a lot of fun with the moms and the kids, and it was the probably the last bit of quality time I am going to be able to spend with them before I have to leave.
Wednesday, August 6, 2008
Umm... Wowzers
It was weird this morning. I woke up and it was the quietest that it had been. I asked Matt if he was awake, he was, and then I said, "it's eerily quiet." It was the first morning in the past 10 weeks that I can remember that no dog was barking, no one was knocking on doors, no kids were outside playing, not even crickets were making noise.
I continued on with the day. I did this and that, hung out with some kids, and put together a giant tent. Some of the kids are going on a campout so they wanted me to show them how to put together this mega tent that has 3 bedrooms in it, so that was fun.
Anyway, later on in the afternoon I got word that Avis was looking for Matt and I and she wanted to talk. It turns out that she's leaving for the U.S. tomorrow morning because her brother is dying. I think I already posted something about that earlier, he has cancer in pretty much his whole body...it's a terrible situation.
So, with Avis gone who is going to teach english? It turns out that some lady was coming from lima to look for a job, one of the house moms sisters, and is a teacher. So Avis hired her. Avis had met her once and said she spoke great english. Well with me being the only one here right now with any knowledge of how the english ciriculum works, its now my job to train 2 teachers to start teaching on monday. These last days will be anything but winding down...haha.
I continued on with the day. I did this and that, hung out with some kids, and put together a giant tent. Some of the kids are going on a campout so they wanted me to show them how to put together this mega tent that has 3 bedrooms in it, so that was fun.
Anyway, later on in the afternoon I got word that Avis was looking for Matt and I and she wanted to talk. It turns out that she's leaving for the U.S. tomorrow morning because her brother is dying. I think I already posted something about that earlier, he has cancer in pretty much his whole body...it's a terrible situation.
So, with Avis gone who is going to teach english? It turns out that some lady was coming from lima to look for a job, one of the house moms sisters, and is a teacher. So Avis hired her. Avis had met her once and said she spoke great english. Well with me being the only one here right now with any knowledge of how the english ciriculum works, its now my job to train 2 teachers to start teaching on monday. These last days will be anything but winding down...haha.
Sunday, August 3, 2008
School Tour
Here's a tour of the school where I taught english. Yesterday, there was a huge event that our youth pastor had all the youth put together. There was a soccer tournament, a volleyball tournament and a concert put on by a regatone band from Trujillo. Regatone is pretty much like rap, but it all has the same beat, so after about 3 songs you've heard pretty much all of it...haha. It all started at 2 and went till about 10:30 at night. Around 6:00 Matt and I took about 10 kids and some house moms out to eat while the band was getting ready. I bet you can't guess what we ate...chicken and french fries...I know, I know, who would have thought right. So the 12 of us ate for 20 bucks, not too bad huh. Then went and watched the concert. Johnson was ready to go by about the 3rd song and so was I so I walked him back up to the house and matt stayed with the other kids and the house moms.
Tomorrow will be the last day I go to the market, I'm looking for some wood clamps, magic markers and a couple more t-shirts. The wood clamps because I need to fix a dresser drawer, and would you believe it they don't have any clamps to hold it together while the glue dries, I was surprised because they have just about every other tool you could think of in their little shop. I need magic markers because we bought a bunch of cups for the orphanage and need to have the kids personalize them. We did that because we noticed that all the kids share the same cup, and when one kid gets sick, they still share the same cup. But now, they'll all have their own cup, boyah.
Tomorrow will be the last day I go to the market, I'm looking for some wood clamps, magic markers and a couple more t-shirts. The wood clamps because I need to fix a dresser drawer, and would you believe it they don't have any clamps to hold it together while the glue dries, I was surprised because they have just about every other tool you could think of in their little shop. I need magic markers because we bought a bunch of cups for the orphanage and need to have the kids personalize them. We did that because we noticed that all the kids share the same cup, and when one kid gets sick, they still share the same cup. But now, they'll all have their own cup, boyah.
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