A Verse to Conquer

Little Kiamer`s bright brown eyes stared intently at me as she struggled to recall the last section of her memory verse. As she chewed on her lip and gazed at the floor in a desperate attempt to rack her brain, one or two correct words slipped out uncertainly, and I nodded vigorously in encouragement. The last part of the verse was just out of her memory`s reach, so I enlisted an older girl, Elisa, to help her, and quietly reassured Kiamer that I was positive she could recite the verse after a tad more work.

Slipping back to me shyly after Elisa`s dedicated assistance, a small smile appeared as she whizzed through the first part of the verse. Arriving again at the stoplight in her memory, her face fell, and only one or two new words were produced. After a minute or so of wriggling and fidgeting, I sent her back to Elisa once more. This process repeated itself yet another time, but I was determined this little one had the stamina to finish. The third time, out of the corner of my eye, I saw her face crumpling, and Elisa hugging her, so I called out, ¨Kiamer! You are so close! I just KNOW you can do it! Come here and let`s finish your verse.¨ Tears streaming down her beautiful face, she obediently tiptoed over to me. Words were whispered, and I told her she could skip the first part, since she had mastered it, and hop straight to the end.

Through sniffles and hiccups, out came each and every correct word. My heart was soaring…I have never been so proud of this girl! I exuberantly hugged her and shouted, ¨You did it!!!!¨ Her tear-stained eyes lit up and her grin 

reappeared.

In a way this reflects the struggles I´ve tackled since moving to Peru. The difficulty of forming deep relationships and maneuvering in a new culture can lead me to crumple into tears of frustration, as Kiamer did. But her example reminds me that crossing the finish line requires lifting up my face towards Christ, swallowing tears, and pressing on.

A Ton of Bricks

This picture has nothing to do with the story, but it had bricks in it. :) Aulo took this of a Peruvian buildling the wall around a well.

 On our way to kids´ ministry on Saturday morning, Aulo all of a sudden craned his neck to look behind our motorcar, exclaiming and shouting about something. The motorcar driver also saw whatever Aulo was yelling about, and slowed his motorcar so he could watch. For some reason I couldn´t really tell what was going on, except that something was wrong on the other side of the road. There was so much commotion that none of it made sense. Motorcars and motorcycles were swerving frantically, trying to get off their side and do a u-turn onto ours. My adrenaline picked up a little, and I watched intently, trying to understand what was going on. I asked Aulo, but he and the motorcar driver were too busy watching the unfolding chaos and had lost all ability to answer my ongoing interrogation.

The one thing that stood out to me was a truck full of bricks. My first thought was, ¨If this accident has anything to do with that big guy, we´re in trouble.¨ I saw about four young guys who had jumped off their motorcycles frantically trying to rescue their overturned vehicles. While a couple of them dragged the bikes off to the side of the road, others loudly warned the upcoming traffic to stop or turn off the road. They were waving wildly and loudly, leading me to think maybe this was some sort of assault (*blond moment*). Aulo was whistling at the vehicles on the opposite side of the road, giving them a clue that proceeding forward was not smart.

Finally, I asked Aulo again, ¨What just happened? ¨ He explained that the truck of bricks (ONE thing I was right about,) had lost its brakes and was rolling backwards down the small hill towards the other traffic. Thankfully there was a place to turn right before the hill, and everyone was able to get out of the way or pull their motorcycles off to the sidewalk (as far as we could tell.) Aulo sympathized with the poor truck driver having to desperately maneuver backwards in order to save the lives of those behind him. What a morning! I pray no one was hurt by this crazy accident.

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. 

I`m still here!

Our apartment!

Hey my abandoned friends! This is going to just be a quick snippet, but I wanted to provide some hope to any of you that check this desperately each morning in hopes of finding a new post! Actually it was my brother David who reminded me that I even have a blog. :)

Well, life has begun as a Mrs. and it has been a great ride so far. I do tend to have quite a new mindset though, shopping for both of us and thinking always about what the next meal will be, how I should prepare it so we both like it, etc. Also, in the movie realm, we have to find one that would fit both our interests, or just sacrifice once in a while for the other person. Marriage is one of the greatest tools that God invented for keeping us humble, patient and selfless. Believe me, I´m still not there, but He works on it every day!

Been thinking a lot about my little nephew lately. Seeing pictures on facebook with his parents and getting bigger every second, it is hard to not be near him. But the best part is that we do have facebook and skype to keep in touch. I have gotten to see him a lot on the web cam, and hopefully he´ll at least recognize my blurry face once he gets old enough.

This will have to be short, since I need to go heat up leftovers soon and make up some hamburgers. I promise to post more pictures soon and to do my best to keep up with the blog! I´ve been reading tons of blogs lately and couldn´t abandon mine any more.

Hasta luego...

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Tarapoto is a small Peruvian city packed with motorcars, (motorcycles with an attachment for passengers) There are lots of small markets filled with everything from homemade cheese to aguaje, a fruit known to me in Portuguese as buriti. It was never much of a favorite fruit to me, but Aulo had me try it in ice cream form, which I LOVED.

Paujilzapa on the other hand, where my future in-laws live, is even smaller, situated in the jungly mountains. It definitely brought back memories of growing up in Flexal, as it was filled with lots of thatched roof houses, and the people had similar mannerisms. I absolutely fell in love with the kids there, of course, and took lots of pictures. Let me tell you about one of them.

Groner is a sweet little 5-year old who is in kindergarten. Though I only saw him a couple of times, I quickly saw how lovable he was. The first time, we were going to visit his parents to invite them to our wedding. His dad was in Aulo’s graduating class (for middle school) and we wanted to make sure to give them on of our invitations in person. As we walked into their house, I spotted his little face peeking curiously at me from behind a curtain. His mom asked him to run over to one of the bodegas, little “stores” that are actually just shelves in people’s living rooms, but SUPER convenient. She asked him to buy Oro, a typical Peruvian pop. He ran out, coin in hand, reminding himself out loud, “Oro, oro, oro!” Running back a few minutes later, hugging a huge 3-liter bottle, he panted, “Here, Mom, I got it.”

After serving us, his mom slipped out for a minute, and Groner ran to get some picture albums. Leaning on my arm, he would turn every picture, and most of them were of his dad. But he never failed to say, “Oh, and this is my papi, and here’s my papi…here’s my mom, and my papi.” His little toothless grin would light up each time. It warmed my heart to see a kiddo so proud of his dad. A lot of kids here don’t have dads who are present in their lives.

Later on that week, we saw him walking back from school, backpack on his shoulders, and I couldn’t resist getting a snapshot. I am excited to be able to go back to Paujilzapa at Christmas time, having already met some of the kids. Aulo and I hope to be able to plan some Christmas ministries for the kids and their families. There are a couple of churches there, one that has about 3 people, and another about 30. As we begin ministry in Iquitos next year, we also pray that when we go to visit his family at different times, we can encourage these two small churches and also explain more of the Gospel to those who live there (a lot of whom have known Aulo since he was little).

Another little kiddo who loved his picture being taken!