Water Part 1

I grew up in conditions where water was abundant, only there were several ways to get it. One way is pictured here….the river.

Our outdoor playhouse



Joel and his buddies



Obviously this water wasn´t drinkable, although the people in the village would sometimes drink it, and since they started from a young age, their bellies got used to it. Even though we didn´t use it for hydration, it provided an alternative to TV….endless entertainment! On hot days, laundry days, and bath time, swimsuits couldn´t be donned fast enough. Towels were grabbed (or sometimes not,) and the ¨black bag¨ - the most trademark Hoobyar possession, was snatched up. This contained a bar or soap, small shampoo and conditioner bottles, and a razor. Swinging this happily from our hand, we would make the 10 minute walk to the best river in the world- the Caracana. If it happened to be laundry day, a plastic bucket was perched on my head and all my best friends were summoned, and several other kids would merge into our group along the way.

During dry season, the black rocks would emerge from the river, providing endless games of tag (which Mom would sometimes watch with bated breath, or not watch at all, praying we wouldn´t crack our heads open on the rocks. Amazingly that never happened…our young bodies could calculate the perfect leaps and bounds.) There was a certain pointy rock which was the perfect diving board. We knew (and still know) exactly which underwater spots didn´t have sharp rocks, and aimed accordingly. In rainy season, the river would burst to the seams, and waterfalls would form all over the place. Right after a rain it was pretty wild water, but after a couple days of sun, nothing could beat the fun times we had in that rushing river.

It was usually dusk by the time we were marching on home



Another method of getting water was our well, which was the most frequent. Every day, a grumpy kid would meander out to the well, completing the dreaded chore. If it was especially hot, pulling the wet, swinging bucket up out of the 20-foot deep well brought forth the most mature form of whining. In all honesty, it wasn´t really that hard – it was just mundane. The ¨dailyness¨ of it made it annoying to elementary and junior high kids. Looking back on these memories now that I am an adult (at least that´s what my age tells me), I realize the blessing it was.



Dad being lowered into the well to clean out muddy gunk and fallen objects (shoes, toys, dead pig, etc.) The dead pig was actually when we had been gone for a year and then the water was undrinkable until promptly cleaned by Dad and David. I was 8 when I tried to muster the courage to do the routine cleaning job, and was excited all morning until my head was inches from being inside the well, and I started crying and couldn´t do it. The thought of cockroaches probably did me in.



In part two I will be detailing the water experiences I´ve had here in Peru. Quite different so far.







Customer Service?

Hangin out in Lima with Bethany June :)

Bethany and I have recently decided to make a list of things that we would require if we ever open a business here in Peru. Most of these have been directly seen throughout our informal cultural observations, during daily visits to local businesses. What follows are the ¨requirements¨ we would include in every employee handbook:




1. If someone calls for take-out delivery, make sure that you don´t send the food out unless they call 2 times, just to make sure they are actually interested in receiving the food, and that they are good and hungry by the time it gets there. If necessary, take two hours. :)



2. If you create a special sale, such as a roundtrip ticket to Lima for 79 dollars, be sure to appear uninterested in giving them information about it, in order to encourage them to buy a more expensive ticket.



3. Make sure to shuffle around curiously, (yet appear disinterested), behind each customer, so that they won´t be tempted to steal a product.



4. At public internets, don´t worry about making people form lines. Assume that if someone really wants to be attended to, they will move aside all obstructions, including people, to get to the front desk. (May it be known that there are certain places where lines are extremely valued, such as ATM´s and government buildings where documents are processed.)



In order to be fair, there are also some shining moments of great customer service that provide some hope for improvement. For example, just tonight, a waiter perfectly brought our order in record time, and if asked if there could be a salad included, which is the norm with that dish, he promptly brought a nice sized salad, no extra charge. And Bethany, at the grocery store the other day, had a lady help her tremendously in getting the price of a product right, when it rang up at a higher price. She even accompanied her to the aisle where the price was obviously displayed, and the woman corrected the error. Things like this show us that good service here is possible, but it´s just not usually the norm. We just have to find the balance between helping the country improve, and not being too rude or ¨holier-than-thou¨ while pointing out flaws. Sometimes it´s not easy, and I tend to just let things slide and not make a big deal, since I grew up with similar customer service in Brazil. But then again, maybe I should be pointing out things and helping employees become excellent. I´m still not quite sure every time. Missionary life is a day by day, experience by experience deal.

Rice, Potatoes and Plantains...all in one meal

My daily faithful friend

The plantain in all its glory...actually it`s realy delicious fried up

Let me tell you, the potatoes here don`t look like this, but they are delicious!

Not to say that each of those aren´t yummy on their own. In Peru you can find these three ingredients for a fair price, but you pay a higher price in the lack of variety. Hitting my 9-month mark of living here, I can finally say I am starting to put a creative twist on lunch. Most of that is due to the small toaster oven we bought in Lima. Even if it is a Mexican dish conjured up from a desperate desire to eat something besides rice and chicken, it´s SOMETHING! Today was a Mexican day, and Aulo did enjoy it…and guess what else was on his plate? You guessed it. Rice. And plantains. But then I found myself dishing up some of my own rice. Yep. I might be addicted, especially with a nice serving of beans to go with it. That would my Brazilian upbringing.

Let me use all that to say this simple statement: Papa John´s pizza is a party in my mouth. Our two week trip to Lima, along with other duties performed, also included a few trips made with gusto to that famous parlor. There is nothing quite like dipping hot crust into garlic sauce, after 5 months of not tasting it. But really, all complaints aside, I do still love me some rice and potatoes covered in spicy Peruvian sauce. 

p.s. I don`t take credit for the photos. Google was kind enough. :)

Does this even NEED a caption???

The Cost of an ¨H¨

The Cost of an ¨H¨

The five copies of our marriage certificates lay useless at the bottom of my closet. The one letter they´d failed to add to my name demanded attention and made the documents invalid. Aulo phoned the little town where our certificates could be fixed, which resulted in the assurance that the fixed certificates would be in our hands the next week. After wiring money to the man in charge, I was able to put that problem on the back burner. But the day we expected the documents in the mail, my calmness of heart was shattered. Aulo informed me, after yet another phone call, that the man who was supposed to mail it had actually passed away unexpectedly.

I stared at him in disbelief, ¨How did it happen?¨  

Aulo relayed, ¨He had developed pneumonia and was unable to mail the documents.¨

I was stunned, and was jerked back to the fact that life is short and fragile. Aulo and I lifted up the man´s family in prayer- that their hearts would turn to the Lord because of this shocking turn of events.

So now we´re back to square one. The main hindrance now is the time it takes to pass the authority off to another guy who will then redo and sign our documents. In Peru that could be one month or four…it´s a hit and miss. An official letter they sent, indicating the errors on the certificate, provides a sliver of hope for this process.