Paz de Cristo

Being Present in the Present and Looking to the Future

2010-07-02T08:44:00.000-07:00

With less than a month left in my time here in Peru I find myself in the midst of many preparations. It gets a little difficult at time to stay focused on my work and mission here when I feel like there are so many things to do to prepare for my homecoming. To steal from fellow YAV Alissa King, I feel like I've got each foot in two different worlds.

On one side I'm here, finishing up projects, work, translating, and saying goodbye. Saturday I had my "despedida" or good-bye party with the Chicas Tamar, the group of girls that I work with on Saturday afternoons. This group was my very first project here in Huanuco and I've been with since September. So it was certainly an emotional time saying goodbye to them. I tried to make it fun by teaching them some "typical" dances from the U.S., the Cha Cha Slide, the Cupid Shuffle, and of course the Electric Slide, hahaha. Then I gave each girl a friendship bracelet as well as a small dream catcher and told them that I really enjoyed the time I got to spend with them and that I hope that God blesses and watches over them and that I hope all of their wishes and dreams come true. Then I was given a few gifts, including a beautiful picture drawn by one of the girls that also said something to the effect that I was an angel sent by God to spread God's love. It was then that I kinda lost it! The girls told me to not forget them, to which I replied that I could never do that. As I said goodbye to each girl with a hug, I was hoping that they don't forget me. They have impacted my life so much with their stories and struggles that I hope I've made at least half an impression on them as they have left on me.

A lot of my work has really tapered off in the past few weeks, so while I'm still continuing with some of my projects, my work load has certainly decreased. This has given me some free time that I have chosen to occupy myself with thoughts and plans for when I get home. So here I am trying to be present and in the moment for my last days in Peru, and yet a lot of times all I can think about is home, the people I'm going to get to see and things I am going to get to do.

One of the things I am most excited about is starting a NEW JOB! A few of you already know this news, but drum roll ladies and gentlemen..... Pending a successful meeting activity and approval by the youth I will be the Director of Children and Youth Ministries at the First Presbyterian Church of Oklahoma City!!!! When I was thinking about and beginning my search for a new job in Oklahoma, my main criteria was something that paid fairly well and that I didn't hate myself for doing. Basically I didn't want to sell anything, food, clothes, cutco knives, coffee, whatever! Now that I've found a job that I think I will not only enjoy, but one that also utilizes my skills and gifts and will give me an outlet for my passions. The way that this all came together was definitely a God thing, and I just feel so blessed and excited to have recieved this call!

Next up for me is packing, which I kinda started last night and holy cow I did not realize how much crap I've accumulated over the past 11 months!! I'm also trying to plan out time to spend with friends and my host family. With only a week left I'm really starting to feel the pressure of feeling like I still have so much left to do and not much time to do it in. So now I'm back to trying to be present while I am still here. I'm one of those people whose head is almost always days, weeks, months in the future. So for me to focus on the now is something I actually have to work on.

I will be leaving my dear Huanuco on July 15th on the morning bus. I've got a seat on the first row of the second floor of the bus (for those of you who don't know, the long distance buses here have two floors, the bottom with larger more luxurious seats and the top with smaller more squished together seats) so that I will be able to see and take picture of all the beautiful landscape as I pass up and over the Andes Mountains on my way to Lima. Once in Lima it will be a despedida with the wonderful folks at the Red Unidos Manos (our umbrella organization) and then the YAVs along with our coordinator, Debbie, and her husband, Harry, are off to Paracas - a small coastal town called the Galapagos of Peru - for a time of retreat and reflection on the past year. And after all that strenuous retreating us YAVs are off for one more vacation to Iquitos a city right in the heart of the jungle on the Amazon River. No worries - many pictures to follow!!!

After Iquitos it's a couple of days in Lima for last minute shopping and more goodbyes and then we board our plane bound for the U.S. of A. at 12:20am on Tuesday July 27th and barring any unforseen travel delays or arrests at the customs checkpoint because of the pirated DVDs (haha) I should be home for lunch, probably at Sonic, all safe and cozy and happy with my family!!!

This will probably be my last post for a bit, as obviously I will be busy the next few weeks and will have little to no internet access. So thanks again for reading and I will hopefully be seeing most of you back HOME!

My Life in Pictures

2010-07-02T08:03:00.000-07:00

So I thought that instead of a long boring post where I try to be all metaphorical and philosophical I would just simply show you some of the sights that I see everyday to give you an idea of what my day to day life is like.

My typical breakfast: fresh bread from the bakery, fresh cheese, fresh squeezed orange juice (notice any pattern here?), and of course COFFEE!

On Mondays I ususally take mototaxi into work because I'm carrying my laptop and it's safer than walking, plus it gives me like 20 more minutes to sleep and get ready in the morning.

Also on Mondays we have a weekly meeting and devotional. Each department shares what's going on in their area and ask for prayers for certain projects, people, etc. Then we break up into groups and pray.

On the other days of the week I walk to work. It's about a mile from my house to the office. I do this 4 times a day! This is one of the paths I take. It's really pretty, but it's right by the river and a lot of people dump or burn trash around there and so often it smells.

This is the view from my desk. Notice how I have gmail up on the computer screen. There is a running joke with the YAVs and our coordinator that we gchat with each other more than we actually do work.

This is the cutie-patootie who sells churros at the bakery on the corner near my house. About once a week I succumb to temptation on the way home from work and have to buy a churro. Besides who can say no to that smile?

This the collectivo "Micro" bus that I take to get out to the farm and shelter where I work with the kids out there for one afternoon a week. I'm sure my Lima friends are laughing right now at the lack of people on the bus, but let me assure you that not 5 minutes after I took this picture it was full enough that several people were standing. Also it only costs me s/1.50 which is about $0.50 for a good 30-45 minute drive.

When I get off the bus I have to cross the river on this fun but kinda sketchy boat that you pay 70 centimos (like $0.20) for someone to pulley you across. During the rainy season however (Dec. - April) there is a sort of basket seat that is hung from those cables in the right of the picture and they pulley you across that way.

One of the fields that I cross on my way to get the farm. Yes, it is quite the trek to get out there and back. Hopefully in the future there will be easier access, although right now the set up is nice because it keeps the kids in our shelter safer to have them in such a remote place.

So there it is, glimpses into my life through my eyes. I also have many more pictures from my life and year here on my facebook, the links to which you can find on the right hand side bar. Sorry that I don't have more picture of some of the actual work that I do, and I promise I do do SOMETHING! It's not all just gchat and exotic vacations with the YAVs. I just can't post any pictures of the kids and the women I work with because of their sensitive cases and privacy. HOWEVER, I will be giving a very informal photo presentation and sort of brief summary of my YAV year and work at St. James Presbyterian Church in Jenks on Sunday August 1st after worship, during Sunday school time, so at about 10:30am. This is just the first presentation that I have planned and I will not hesistate to share my photos and experiences to anyone who asks. So just let me know!

I'm writing another post about my future plans, so look for that probably this week. And thanks again for following me this far!!

Hiking the Inca Trail. A.k.a The Most Difficult Physical Thing I've Ever Done in My Life

2010-06-01T06:36:00.000-07:00

Challenges.

This year has been full of them for me.

Some of them have been emotional and psychological: adjusting to a new culture, living with a new family, losing and relinquishing some of my independence, experiencing loneliness, and being away for the first time in my life from everything and everyone familiar to me.

Some of the struggles have been mental: learning a new language, converting soles to dollars in my head, finding my way around a new city, and calculated exactly how much time I have to cross a street before a moto runs me over.

Then there are the spiritual struggles: living in a conservative evangelical community, not agreeing with the Catholics either, sitting through 2 hour + worship services in Spanish, having to find spiritual fulfillment on my own (actually that's been quite a blessing), trying to listen to God more and figure what that next step is in my life.

And the physical ones: Walking everwhere! (which I actually really enjoy now), dealing with near constant stomach issues (you never know how much you miss tap water until you can no longer drink it without suffering severe consequences), and being talked into a 4 day, 3 night hike along the Inca Trail with your fellow YAVs.

The Inca Trail is a famous hiking path in Peru, built by, well, the Incans centuries ago and is now enjoyed by only a handful of adventurous tourists who are allowed on the trail at a time. We started our journey first in the anchient Incan capital of Cuzco. There we were breifed on the hike and other necessary information by our Guide Valerio aka Papi (to the ladies). So after a confusing and chaotic afternoon of running around the city procuring the necessary items for the trip, we relaxed with a nice dinner as we said a temporary good-bye to civilization. The next morning we were up early and were taken by bus to the small town of Ollantatambo, where we could get our last minute things for the trek, like the all important walking stick with brightly colored manta handle (seriously one of the best investiments for 8 soles I've made here!). After Ollantatambo we arrived at the official starting point for the trail, Kilometer 82 (along the railroad tracks, it's 82 Km away from Cuzco). And from there, there was no turning back...

Now I'm the kind of girl who enjoys the outdoors. I've been a few hikes, none lasting more than a few hours, and I've spent many nights sleeping outdoors, even in the heat and pouring down rain. But I have never done something as remotely as intense as this hike was. The first day and 3rd days are the longest, but it's the second day where you feel like you're going to die. It's only about 5 or 6 km, but the vast majority of it is climbing up. Valerio, told us that it usually takes people going at normal pace 5 hours to get to the highest point, Warmiwanyuska or Dead Woman's Pass. During most of the trek I seemed to find myself always towards the back of the line of hikers. But thank goodness though for Joe's dear sister, Callie, who was with me every step of the way, and formed the other half of our exclusive Team Tortuga. We pushed each other up that mountain, so when we finally reached the pass in 7 hours, I couldn't help but feel first very accomplished, but then like I was going to die! At 4200 meters, it was easily the highest this Oklahoma girl has ever climbed.
Along the trail we slept in small, yet comfortable 2 person tents, and Callie and I ended up bunking and huddling together for warmth during those high altitude nights that brought with it cold winds and even colder rain. Thank God for thermal insulated sleeping bags!! We ate delicious meals in our common dinning tent. It was during these times that we got to know the other 5 members of our expedition. There was the German couple, Stephan and Johanna, the Canadian Best Friends, who were celebrating retirement!, and then the lone Scotsman named Fehrro (pronouced like Pharoh, but I always called him Fierro from Wicked in my head), then there were 5 of us YAVs, along with a hodge podge of family and friends along for the fun! German, Canadians, Scots, Peruvians, Presbyterians, you really just can't go wrong with that mixture, haha.

Here are a few things that I learned while on the trip:

New vocabulary words: Fleesers - fleece jacket, esleepings - sleeping bag, behatacion - vegatation. Toliet - whole in the ground with two spots to place your feet. Tumbas - Incan burial places

ALWAYS have toilet paper on your person. (I should have learned this lesson much earlier, but it really sunk in this trip)

Wiping down with a baby wipe is just as good as a shower, and you don't have to endure the cold water.

Coca tea is wonderful drink to counter altitude sickness and tastes especially nice first thing in the morning when it's brought to you in your tent.

Climbing up maybe hard on your muscles and endurance, but it's the walking down that will get you in the end! (My knee still hasn't fully recovered)

Ok, I'm getting a little metaphorical here; but those times when you just feel like you really can't move one more inch and you just want to sit down and make camp, putting one foot in front of the other and consentrating on that amazingly enough helps you make it to the next check point, the next Incan ruin, the next pass, the next camp, and then finally to the end!!!

As I write this post I've got about 50 days left in Peru. I can see the end off in the foggy future. While the trek has been fun, and beautiful, and difficult, and of course full of life changing experiences and lessons, seeing the end has made me excited and ready to be there already. I've been away for a long time now and I'm tired and ready to be back among familiar places and people, and back on solid ground sort of speak. But I've still quite a bit of trail until then, and I fully intend to take in all the beauty and wonder that I have yet to experience here!

Thank you all for those who are still reading this. Sorry I've been such an inconsistent blogger, but I've got a few ideas for posts on these last few weeks on this adventure, so maybe I will redeem myself a bit. Thanks for following!!!

Semana Santa and my new found appreciation for the Catholic faith.

2010-04-21T09:49:00.000-07:00

Quick! Say to yourself the Lord's Prayer! I'll start you out, "Our Father, who art (is) in heaven..."

Now if you're like me and a well raised member of a mainline denomination church, that wasn't that difficult of a task. The reason I had you all say the Lord's Prayer is because even though I've attended church nearly every Sunday , as well as a few services in the middle of the week, I just said the Lord's Prayer for the first time since arriving here in Peru on Palm Sunday when I visited the Catholic Church near my home. As someone who is used to saying this simple and comforting prayer every Sunday, it's something that I've been missing. But because I've been living in the tiny Evangelical community of Huanuco all forms of litergy, really anything makes them look Catholic, are removed to help them distinguish themselves as well NOT Catholic.

Here's a break down of each service as I have experienced them here so you can see the similiarities and the differences for yourself.

Typical Catholic Worship Service (or what I've experienced so far):

* Welcome and Call to Worship

* Hymns, some recognizable, and sometimes some more contemporary sounding songs.

* A Prayer maybe

* Passing of the Peace

* Reading of the Scripture (done by lay people of the congregation, and the few services I've been to have actually had women read the scripture)

* Another Prayer

* Sermon by the Priest (duration approx. 15-20 min.)

* Lord's Prayer and Hail Mary

* Apostle's Creed

* Communion with Words of Instiution

* People go up for Communion

* Sing another song or two and the offering

* I think another prayer

* The priest goes around with Holy Water and blesses everyone

* And then we all go home

TOTAL DURATION: APPROX. 1 HOUR

Typical Evangelico worship service:

* Get to church and wait for a good 20-30 minutes after church was supposed to start for more people to come and for people to stop chatting.

* Sing 2-3 songs all praise songs Open the Eyes of My Heart Lord = Abre Mis Ojos Oh Cristo

* Passing of the Peace

* Prayer

* Sermon with Scripture sprinkled in (duration approx. 1 hour - 1 1/2 hours)

* Prayer

* Song with offering

* Another Prayer

* Announcements and Such

* Mingle, get hugs and kisses from cute old ladies, and go home

TOTAL DURATION: APPROX. 2 HOURS (sometimes more)

Now which service is most similar to what is typical for you on Sunday Morning?

I usually end up going to church with my host family, because I feel like it's an important time for us to spend together. Sometimes I will go to another Evangelico church with my friend Edel and her boyfriend Jimmy. But there are times when I just need the familiarity of liturgy and hymns, even if they are in Spanish, so that's when I go to the Catholic Church. Also I will never again complain or grumble about the length of a sermon back home, haha.

Recently, ok it's been a few weeks now, I was in a region of Peru called Ayacucho spending a retreat week with the other YAVs and celebrating Holy Week. Part of the festivities of Holy Week in Peru, and I'm sure in many Latino countries as well, is the tradition of Alfombras and processionals. During Holy Week, and especially on Good Friday. The streets of the city around the Plaza de Armas are covered in colorful scenes and designs made out of saw dust and/or flowers and other plant pieces. And then they take a few of the icons out of the church and walk them around the streets and people either line the streets or follow along with the image of Jesus or the Virgin Mary.

Alfombra on the street in Ayacucho. Each one was as beautiful and intricately designed as the last one!

The most moving processionals for me where on Good Friday. Hundreds of people lined the streets, with lighted candles, and down the streets comes a slow moving crowd in the middle of which is a lighted coffin containing a Jesus figure (morbid I know, but stick with me). After Jesus passed through the crowd it was the Virgin Mary's turn. Accompanying Mary was a group of very somber women, all dressed in black with black veils. And it struck me how much this resembed a funeral processional, which is I am sure the whole point. For that moment each one of those women was Mary, following her child and grieving for him all the way to the grave. I recently read a wonderful book called, Gracias, written by Catholic priest Henri Nouwen. In it he commented about Mary's importance and significance to the women in Peru, and in Latin America. Mary, was a mother and wife, like so many women are. She knew what it was like to raise a child (children) in tough economic and political times. She is a woman who has known loss of first her husband and then her child. For all these reasons, and so many more, Mary is an accessable figure for women all over world and someone that they feel they can turn to, because she's been there before.

I know it's a bit blurry, but here is the Mary icon. She is dressed in mourning black.

There will always be things about the Catholic faith that I don't understand. The crucifix, all the statues of the saints and disciples, all the different Virgin Marys, when and how you cross yourself, etc. etc. But even in the protestant churches here I am still surrounded by the unfamiliar and the confusing. Living in country that is predominately Catholic has taught me a lot about this anchient faith that for better or worse has kept up it's traditions for centuries and provides us with a link back to those first few believers in First Century Palastine. It's sometimes funny to me where I find comfort and familiarity in this country, whether it's the Supermix Mercado that always has Coke Zero, or the girls I work with playing and singing along to Beyonce music playing on their cell phones, or game nights with foreigner friends, or in a Catholic worship service, I never know where God is going to give me these little gifts of comfort.

... And speaking of comfort and familiarity, we're getting down to the wire with my time here! 8 months down and a little more than 2 to go!! This has already been such a wonderful adventure and part of me never wants it to end. BUT, I am getting really excited to come home and see all your shining smiling faces. Thank you all so much for your support so far, I'll never be able to express how much it has truly comforted and strengthened me. Please continue to pray for me in these last few weeks here, for my health, for focus, and for comfort and peace as I leave so many people that I've grown close to and transition back into life back in States.

Dwight Mission South

2010-03-17T13:15:00.000-07:00

I think it's pretty common knowledge that I love camp! I've spent every summer of my childhood and adolescence at Dwight Mission Presbyterian Camp and Conference Center and a subsequent 3 summers of my young adult life on the staff there. You could say that place has had just a little influence on my life.

So when I heard that part of my work here in Peru would be to help put on a camp for children and adolescents who are victims of abuse, I thought great! something I'm actually pretty good at and I know what I'm doing. Starting in about October I started preparing myself for this camp. I quickly found, however, that a lot of my good old stand-by actvities like songs and energizers did not translate well. I even ran into a few problems with the simple games I was planning.

Vocabulary word of the day - Fogata = Campfire

First of all the budget for our camp wasn't much, so I had to stick to games that used little to no materials. All in all this wasn't too difficult, I can probably name you 10 different types of tag games right now, but once again I was having problems in translation. It wasn't exactly the words that were getting lost, but the actual concept of the game. I began working with my Spanish tutor in trying to translate these games for the camp, and even explaining them to him was difficult. Think about trying to explain the concept of "It" - I can tell you it's a lot harder than you think. My tutor and I ened up settling on the word "chaser" for "it" I begin to explain some of my games, classics like elbow tag, blob tag, wink, look, etc.. Then my tutor starts asks me things like, "so what's the point?" "Who wins?" and my personal favorite "how do you punish the people who lose?" Apparently here in Peru there is a very big culture of competition, especially within the Collegios (schools). So I had to explain to him that where I come from, we don't emphasize competion and that everybody wins, the fun is in just playing the game, Jesus loves you, etc., etc.

I eventually get some games and team-work activities selected and translated and I begin work on my next project for this camp. TIE-DYE! For me camp is not complete without tie-dye. Even if we don't make it with the kids, the staff all has to make a shirt or something by the end of the summer. Because of this unspoken rule I have quite the collection of tie-dye in my wardrobe and a few of those items made it into my suitcase for my year in Peru. After weeks of wearing my tie-dye some people at work begin to ask and compliment my colorful shirts and I tell them I made them at a camp of mine back home. This gives us the idea to make tie-dye with the kids at our camp. So I work it out with my parents to donate some good quality Dharma tie-dye supplies and bring it up with them when they came for their vacation in January. I spend the next month or so writing out and translating the instructions for various basic tie-dye designs and I hope and pray that the campers will be able to understand me and this whole venture will not turn in one big colorful mess.

Finished tie-dye hanging up to dry

Our first camp for adolescents started on a Monday. I was assigned the counselor for the Los Viajeros group - "the Travelers." Our theme for the camp was "Mi Amigo Dios Y Yo" or "My Friend God and Me." It's cheesy I know, I didn't come up with it. But our Bible theme was the story of Moses and God bringing the Israelites out of slavery in Egypt. As counselor I did many regular counselor things like helping my group with Bible study time (I even sucessfully led a bible study for the whole camp!), following them around and participating in activities with them, joining them for meals, etc. But it was a different experience for me to add small child wrangler to my list of counselor duties. In my group, two of my campers had children - one was about 2 years and the other 10 months, so part of my job was to take care of the little tots while their moms participated in the camp activities. It was definitely one of my favorite parts of this camp (we had 7 babies/toddlers, all under about the age of 2 1/2 at the camp) but not something I ever really imagined myself doing in a camp setting with adolescents.

My girls! Friendship bracelet power!

Monday was also the day that we started our tie-dying! In the afternoon, each group rotated through various activities, one of them being tye-die. It was at times a difficult process explaining all the steps included in making tye-die, not because of the language barrier but because none of them, including the other camp leaders, had ever really seen tye-die much less made it. So I had a fun time explaining things in small simple steps. It was a long and at times tedious process. But despite all the headaches and little hiccups, I knew that it was all worth it when each camper unfolded their shirt and shouted, "Mira!" (look!), and beaming with pride showed off their art work to everyone. As much as this whole process kinda stressed me out, it really made me happy to be able to share this with these campers.

The Camp Leadership in our awesome Tie-Dye!Sorry I can't show you pictures of the campers, we'll just have to wait until I get home.

The next week we did the whole camp thing over again. This time with younger children with ages ranging from about 5 to 11 or 12. We did many of the same things as the week before, tie-dye included. Even though this camp was a whole day shorter, dealing with all the little ones really spent my energy so much faster. But they were really great and of course super cute. And I would like announce right now that I've fallen in love. His name is Cesar, he's 5 and about the cutest little butter ball you could ever find. So if I arrive home with a small child in tow, you know why now, haha.

This camp was one part of my work here that I was really looking forward to because it's an area that I have a lot of experience in and it was an opportunity that I felt I could really contribute. Now that it's all said and done, I can say that I'm pleased with the work that I did, and happy that I was able to sucessfully lead a bible study, games, team building activities, and of course the tie-dye. So for me this experience was one of accomplishment and a milestone in my Spanish progress. But the whole thing ended up being pretty different than what I imagined. I expected that since we have such a unique group of campers that we were working with that we would tailor the lessons and themes to be relevent for their lives and situations. But it actually was very similar to a normal camp experience that one might have in the United States.

After the camps were over, everyone in my department took some time to celebrate a job well done and to discuss and evaluate the camps. So over some delicious pollo a la brasa we talked about having the themes and discussions being more relevent. In the past they have apparently done more psychological themes, but this year opted to do a more biblical theme. I suggested that they combine the two. For me it would be all too easy to use God's word in the healing process for these kids. But there is also something to be said about giving these kids a break, and a few days to be normal kids, and have a camp experience that would be just like any other.

Anyone care to share your opinion on this? Which do you think would be better? A camp that is designed to specifically address the abuse that each of these children have experienced? or a camp where the children are allowed to be normal kids for just a few days and have a chance to take a break from their stressful home lives?

For me it's something that I really debated during and after the camp.

I think as with most everything in life there is a middle ground here. The very capable people I work with here at Paz y Esperanza can surely find a way to balance out normal kid time with using the camp as time to address issues, foster healing, and build confidence in the campers. I think that this camp is one of the best things they have going in the program, and I just pray and hope that they are able to utilize the unique opportunity that a camp experience can provide to really change these kids lives.

Thanks for reading this exceptionally long blog. I hope that this gives you all a little more insight into some of the work I'm doing here. I recently returned from a most amazing mid-year retreat on the beach in Northern Peru, and since returning have been busy with regular steady work here, which has been really nice. I'm about to start working with a couple of individual cases, a couple days a week, and also with the kids in our shelter at the farm one afternoon a week. So once I get those projects up and going, I will definitely update you all on that and how everything is going. Thanks again for following me and please don't hesitate to post any and all thoughts, questions, and comments you have, because I check here regularly if anyone has commented and it helps to know that I'm not just writing this for my parents, and Debbie my site coordinator, haha.

A little slice of paradise in Mancora, Peru.

P.S. - If you haven't done so already, check out the new photo albums on facebook. Links are on the side and you can access them even if you aren't on Facebook, so go check them out!

Holiday, Celebrate

2010-02-22T12:30:00.000-08:00

So this is about 2 months a little late but I'm going to update everyone on my Peruvian Christmas experience. Since I already wrote a bit about the holiday season about sharing my traditions and learning new ones, I'm just going to update you all a little bit on my actual Christmas Eve/Day celebrations and my vacation time with the other YAVs.

For most Peruvians the Christmas tradition to celebrate more Christmas Eve night and leave Christmas day as a day to sleep in and rest, that means no presents from Santa to wake up to. So the day of Christmas Eve I spent talking people back home on skype, hearing about and seeing via webcam all the crazy snow they were getting back home while I was sitting in a short sleeve shirt, a skirt, and my chacos. I think there was mutual jealously going on. I'm not a huge fan of the cold and snow, but I do miss it sometimes, epecially around Christmas when the hot weather was not helping me get in the "Christmas spirit."

That day I went to the mercado with my host mom and sister to buy stuff to make our dinner that night (more on that later). There were so many people out doing the traditional last minute Christmas shopping, except in this case I have a feeling the items being bought were more out of necessity because most of the shops would be closed for the next couple of days. That evening I went back out to the centro to run some more errands, mainly to get some cash for my upcoming travels, and when I rejoined my host dad and sister I saw that Pastor Abdon was just now buying his Christmas presents for the family. I hate to stereotype men, but all I can say is typical! We then grabbed a quick little bite to eat since our dinner wouldn't be served until about 10:30 that night, so we needed something to tide us over until then. That evening out in the centro, I was finally feeling the excited buzz of anticipation that comes with Christmas. Seeing everyone else out and about with family and friends, you could just see and feel the joy of that evening.

That night we had the traditional Peruvian Christmas dish of .... chinese food! Ok so it wasn't really a typical Peruvian dish, but the chinese fusion food here called Chifa is everywhere and really popular so it might as well be traditional food. So we had a delicious spread of Chicken and pinapple with rice and wantons. And of course to top things off Paneton and hot chocolate!

After we finished dinner it was close to midnight so we opened up our presents as per tradition here. The presents were simple and sweet, not the usual crazy spread as it is at my house, but it was nice to celebrate a little more simply. Then, right at midnight, we started hearing fireworks going off all around the neighborhood. So we went out to join them with our sparklers. Everywhere around me people were out in the streets celebrating the joyous arrival of our Savior! And in that moment of pure joy and excitement I forgot that I was thousands of miles away from home, in a foreign country, speaking (well trying to speak) a foreign tongue, and adjusting to foreign customs, I was celebrating with my fellow brothers and sisters and giving thanks to God for gifts of love and grace that was given on that night and every single moment since then.

Christmas day was quite the lazy affair. I parcipated in the great American tradition of watching A Christmas Story, except this year I watched it on my laptop instead of the the TV, and other than packing for my vacation, and skyping the family I didn't do anything! I was back to being a bit homesick and missing everyone, so needless to say I was so ready to get this vacation started!!

The next day I left on my bus to Lima to meet up with Sarah "Alta," Ginna, and Anna. We left the day after that with a friend of Joe's to spend some time in a beautiful city called Arequipa. There we met up with Joe and his girlfriend. Alissa, the remaining YAV, couldn't join us on this leg of the trip because she was traveling with her family. I don't have much to say about my vacation other than you should just look at the pictures, because they tell the stories so much better than I do.

I do have just a couple of short stories that I want to share from this vacation.

The first one involves traveling woes. No vacation would be complete with out a bit of complications involving transportation especially when we are talking about the Peruvian bussing system. As we learned some agencies (Cruz del Sur) are reliable and nice, others (*ahem* Ormeno) are not. We had planned on visiting a small coastal town called Paracas and seeing some rare wildlife, but our bus from Arequipa never arrived! After a few minutes of trying to figure out what to do we decided to go on a different bus that was going all the way to Lima. So we got like the last 4 seats on this bus, on the top floor, which if you don't know is where the smaller, less comfortable seats are. But we were finally on our way and settling in for a 15 hour bus ride. Well apparently our travel woes weren't over after that. While I was sleeping (I heard about all of this after the fact) our bus swerved to miss a semi-truck coming at us and ended up hitting the guard rail on the side of the road. I was told that we were stopped for quite a while and that most of the people where out of their seats looking out the window to see what was going on - and I slept through the whole thing! So my first and hopefully only Peruvian bus crash I slept through!

The second story I will end this blog with goes along with the theme of holidays and celebrating. We spent New Years Eve in Lima, and after a wonderful meal of sea food in Barranco (a very hip, kinda bohemian part of town) we headed back to our Hostel, Loki to bring in the New Year at the bar there. That night was about our 3rd night there so we had already made friends with some of the people who were staying there as well. We had met and made (at least temporarily) friends with people from Ireland, the U.S., Israel, Lima, Arequipa, England, and Denmark. At midnight we all toasted and gave hugs and cheek kisses and shouted and sang, celebrating a New Year, a new day to be alive. For me it was what I call a little "Kingdom moment," times when I experience what I think the Kingdom of Heaven will be like. And it might seem rediculous but I felt that in a bar in a hostel in Lima. Here we all were, a bunch of strangers really, from all different parts of the world, different religions, beliefs, cultures, etc., and yet for this one night we were all friends, together we were singularly celebrating an event that proclaims new beginnings and celebrates life!

So I end this blog hoping that you all experience a "Kingdom Moment" today in your life! More blogs to come, I'm really trying to play catch up here, so I hope that you enjoy them!!

In Her Shoes

2010-02-22T07:14:00.000-08:00

I thought that I would change things up a bit and add a new voice to this blog by having my mom write an entry reflecting on her time in Peru and especially in Huanuco since she is the only one from my family who got to really experience what my life is like.

I had a really great time with my family while they were visiting Peru and I was so glad that I could share this country that I've fallen in love with with the people that I love.

And now without further adieu... My mother -

Hello to everyone who visits Sarah's blog. I'm Renee, Sarah's mom and Sarah has asked me to write about my experience in Peru. So now after a good bit of time to reflect on my time in Peru, I am finally getting some of my thoughts and feelings put together in this writing.

We(myself, Sarah's dad Larry, and sister Jill, as well as Jill's friend Melissa) arrived in Lima late the night of January 1st and began our journey in this unfamiliar country. From the time we left the arirport we were totally in Sarah's hands to communicate for us for all our needs including negotiating prices for taxis ordering our food, and of course shopping. It was a new experience to suddenly be almost completely dependent upon your child for everything. She took the responsibility firmly in her hands and was a very competent guide during our entire trip.

We as a family (plus an "adopted" daughter) had a wonderful trip to Cuzco and Machu Picchu. We moved from one amazing incredible place to another each with their own uniqueness. When in Cuzco area our guide Juan Carols had an extensive knowledge but more importantly an intense passion for the ruins near Cuzco. He spoke of the spiritual aspect of how the now ruins of Ollantaytambo and Saqsaywaman were built. The Incans truly had a great reverence and respect for the earth and what the Creator provided for them through this earth.

After a couple of days in the Cuzco area we moved on to Machu Picchu. As I walked through the ruins of Machu Picchu I had such a respect of how the Incans built on and among those mountains with such thorough planning and execution of those plans that the buildings looked as if they were a part of the mountains. While standing hte midst of this rightly titled Wonder of the World, the beloved hym How Great Thou Art, frequently flowed through my mind. "Oh Lord my God, when I in awesome wonder, consider all the worlds thy hands have made"... Machu Picchu and the people who built and inhabited thouse mountains are certainly God's creation.

I could spend pages on the amazing and interesting sites in those aboce placdes but I think I want to spend more time writing on my time with Sarah in Huanuco. She and I said good-bye to the rest of the family as they returned to the U.S., then we took the 9 hour bus ride from Lima to Huanuco. Huanuco is a very unassuming community without the spoils of tourism, but a busy small city nonetheless. It also was surrounded by small mountains with lovely scenery in all directions. I now was going to see how Sarah is living. Upon arriving in the Camarena's home I was welcomed with the traditional kiss on the cheek and shown to Sarah's room where they had arranged a bed and space for me. With a true sense of hospitality they reconized our need to rest for the remainder of the morning and gave us time together much as tehy did most of my visit there. Any concerns I might have had regarding the people Sarah was living with were quickly eliminating in meeting this welcoming family.

After Sarah and I had rested and were rejuvenated we took off to see the town. As I walked down the streets and along the park, I could hardly recognize anything that seemed in any way familiar. The sites, sounds, and smells were very different from Jenks/Tulsa, Oklahoma. But Sarah moved through this environment with an ease and comfort, and if she was nervous she never showed it. She made me feel comfortable as she lead me though her new home community. We experienced The Market, the place where most all groceries and others items of necessity are purchased. This place certainly took an opening up of preconceived notions of marketing and overall sanitation expecations. There were no refrigerated cases holding the meats, no sealed bins holding bulk food items, and certainly no obvious rhyme or reason asto where items were located. We wove through this market that offered items from frest meats, vegetables and other food stuffs to clothing and even toys. We came across some booths offering the unusual items we saw was a type of fermented potato [Sarah's note: This is a traditional delicacy in this region called takosh. It smells horrible, I always have to hold my breath when while passing by it, but I've been told by people here that it tastes good. I haven't gotten up the courage or the stomach to try it yet.] Our response was "yuck" but it was an obviously popular food item for many in the area.

We returned home that evening to a wonderful meal of Aji de Gallina [Sarah's note: my favorite Peruvian dish!]. Aji de Gallina is a common meal consisting of yellow potatoes, some shredded chicken, with a spicy cheese sauce served over rice. It was very tasty and satisfying after a busy day. It felt pretty uncomfortable having to sit as an outsider as I cound not understand the dinner conversation. But I did love the meal blessing at the beginning of the meal as I understood, "Gracias Senor." In understanding only the thank you Lord part of the prayer, I could share in that thankfulness for so much.

The next day Sarah tooke to the Paz y Esperanza office and I met many of her co-workers was introduced to much of what the organization does. Each person had a quite unassuming approach to their part of the mission of the organization. Later that day we were able to go out to farm, la granja. The farm is a fully operating farm with milk, cattle, cuy (guinea pigs), chickens, and small gardens that produce many fruits and vegetables. We walked down to the area wher the new shelter was being built. The complex is to have housing for women and children, mostly adolescent girls, who need a temporary place to stay while their abusers face prosecution and Paz y Esperanza is working to find them a permanent placement. It was this trip that I got to experience "Peruvian time." We rode to the farm with the director of Paz y Esperanza with the expectation that we would be there 2-3 hours. About 8 hours later we were back in truck finally making our way back to Huanuco. While spending time more time at the farm than we expected kept us from doing some other things in Huanuco it gave Sarah and me some time to simply hang out and be together with specific expectations or plans. I enjoyed this quiet time together.

With that evening being our last one together we found a movie to watch on her computer and laughed during this odd event of watching a movie with Spanish subtitles and poor video quality. I will remember that evening as one fo the best moments we spent together.

The next morning we spent a short time in the city and Sarah took me to the bus station for me to return to Lima. I'm sure the sight of thse two Anglo women hugging and crying during our goodbyes was an interesting sight for the locals, but I think they understood. I left Sarah knowing she was well incorporated into her new family and work community. I know she feels she is still in the early stages of her ability to communicate and in many ways she is, but she has certainly grown and developed in that area since leaving the U.S.

I want to end my part of this blog with a note of admiration and respect for the passion all of these young adults serving the Presbyterian Church as YAVs. They are committed, enthusiastic, and bring pure motives in working to bring the love of Christ to their brothers and sisters in this far away country. I pray for each of them as they countinue their journey and wish them well as they grow in faith and compassion for the world beyond their own backyards.

I close now with the English.... Peace and Hope.

Love and blessings to you Sarah and all the YAVs in Peru, other countries, and in the U.S.

Links to entertain you while I think of something good to write

2010-01-19T05:37:00.000-08:00

Buenos Dias!!! Hello all! So I have to confess that I can't think of anything good to write about right now, so while I wait for inspiration to hit I thought I would share with you all a few links of interest.

This first one is a music video of a song called The Price of Silence, which commemorates the 60th Anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. The artists featured in the video are from all around the world and sing in many different languages, but the message is the same from each one - Now is the time to take action and make the Universal Declaration of Human Rights a reality for all people, in all nations, of all religions, genders, and races.

Now here are the links to some of the groups/organizations that I work for and with
The Joining Hands Network - Paz y Esperanza is one of the socios in the network and all the YAVs are placed within the Joining Hands Network. Check out the newsletter, the Podcast, and just catch up all the happenings and news in Peru.
Bridge of Hope - Fair Trade branch of the JHN. I know Christmas is over, but still take some time to browse the really beautiful high quality products made by small groups of artisans right here in Peru who rely on the sale of these products.
Paz Y Esperanza - Web site for the organization I work for.

Now here's some websites that keep me entertained and really have nothing to do with Peru or what I'm doing here. Enjoy the pure fun and silliness.
Average Wizard - You've heard of My Life is Average, now enjoy Average Wizard!
Post Secret - I'm just obsessed with this website and the books. If you don't know what this is, just click on the link, because I can not even describe it's awesomeness.
Skype - If you don't already have a skype account and you want to talk to me, this is the best way through Skype, basically an internet phone service, where you can place calls from your computer for free!

Ok so I'm going to go brainstorm things I can write for my next post. Enjoy these links and I hope everyone is doing well!!

Making Cookies, Sharing Cultures

2009-12-25T21:07:00.001-08:00

The Christmas season is finally upon us! Christmas has always been one of my favorite times of the year. There's the lights, decorations, trees, the music, tons of parties, amazingly delicious food!, the friends and family you haven't seen in awhile, the 24 hour A Christmas Story marathon, and of course the joy and the mystery of that night long ago in Bethlehem. As I'm not spending Christmas this year with my family and friends back home, I find myself trying to recognize similar traditions here or I'm trying to bring in traditions of my own to share with my new friends. So far I've found many similarities between Christmas in Huanuco and Christmas in Oklahoma. There are still lights, trees, decorations on almost every stationary surface, lots of parties, presents, Christmas songs, nativity scenes, and the joy of season. But there are still a few things I miss: radio stations playing non-stop Christmas music, cold weather (we've been switching back and forth between it being hot or it being rainy and just a little bit cooler), Dad's cinnamon rolls, really any delicious Christmas homemade treat (and this does include Aunt Carmen's woopie pies), Advent Wreaths, The Crismon Tree, Christmas pajamas, Christmas Eve Candlelight service, and of course all those who are near and dear to me. But missing out on these things is a necessary sacrifice for the chance to learn and share in new traditions.

One tradition of my own that I recently had the chance to share with my new Peruvian friends was making sugar cookies with the group of girls I work with at Paz y Esperanza. For the past few years my contribution to many holiday gatherings was frosted sugar cookies. Now I think it should be common knowledge that one of my weaknesses is pretty much anything sweet, doughy, or with frosting. As the Christmas season draws closer I think my body has become accustomed to the influx of sweets and around Thanksgiving begins to crave these delicious treats that are usually only indulged in during the holidays. So when I was in Lima celebrating our day of thanks, I found a rare piece of American contraband – Betty Crocker vanilla frosting! I, of course had to buy it, and I decided that I would try to find some way to make sugar cookies to go with this icing and share them with my new Peruvian friends.

The Chicas Tamar is a group that I work with on Saturday afternoons making art projects as part of their therapy and this particular Saturday we were working on a Nativity play and as a special treat I decided to make the cookies for the girls and have them decorate them. The night before my host sister, Carla, and I went out to the Mercado in search of all the ingredients we would need. The task was easier said than done. Apparently people in Huanuco don't just bake for fun. Really only the Panadarias (bakeries) make things like cookies and breads, and when you don't have a stove and there is a Panadaria on every street corner why would ever need to bake things for yourself. So we finally acquired all the ingredients necessary after a bit of a hunt, and I prepared the dough that night so it could chill in the fridge until morning.

The next day I went to help out with the girls with their play, in which I was given the role of Mustafar, an innkeeper who turns away Mary and Joseph. They girls all clapped for me when I got my lines right, haha. Then while they were rehearsing I baked the cookies with my co-worker, Beky, and I had one of those rare moments where my Spanish was just clicking and she and I had some nice bonding time. When the cookies were all cut and baked, over 150 of them actually, the girls gathered around the table in the kitchen to decorate them. At first they weren't really sure what was going, in fact they asked me if we were selling the cookies, but when I told them they were for eating and for sharing with their families their shy caution turned into joyous fervor as they frosted each of their cookies and liberally added sprinkles and colored sugar. For me it was a wonderful experience to see these girls get wrapped up in the joy of making these sweet treats and I hope that it was for them as it was for me a temporary escape from the stresses and frustrations and pressures of life.

Well I was hoping to share a bit more about the holiday traditions here and what I've been up to the past few weeks, but like always I've procrastinated. I promise I will add more to this post later and tell you all about Paneton, hot chocolate, late Christmas dinner, and no Christmas Eve service. I'm off on vacation tomorrow, first to Arequipa with the other YAVs, and then to Cuzco and Machu Picchu with my family! I hope that everyone had a most wonderful holiday season! I miss you all, especially at this time of year, but I'll be back home before I know it, missing everyone in Peru. Until then I will leave you with this, Feliz Navidad a todos mis cariños y un Prospero Año!!!

Truely Thankful

2009-12-02T09:31:00.000-08:00

Our Thanksgiving Day Spread!!

With Thanksgiving just behind us and Christmas fast approaching I thought I would get into the spirit of the season and share with you some of the things I'm thankful for in my life.

Servings for everyone

First of all ** BIG ANNOUNCEMENT!!** I've reached my fundraising goal!!! So that is the first thing I am grateful. All the overwhelmingly humbling financial support I've recieved. I'm astonished that people have given so freely from their hearts and I'm truely thankful!

Harry, expertly carving our beautifully cooked turkey

Now on to my thankful list:

*The weather in Huanuco. The sunshine and warm breezes that acompany me on my daily walks have helped me more than I can say in adjusting to life here and helping to stave off the loneliness, blues, and homesickness, that comes from living so far away from everything I've ever known.

* Cold Coca-Colas. Even though they apparently give you the gripe (a cold), there is still something satisfying about the familiar taste and refreshment of a good old Coke (even if it's not diet)!

*My host family. I could not have asked for a nicer, more understanding, more chill, more patient family than the Camarenas. I'm lucky to have a host dad who is always willing to help me out, whether it's telling me safe routes to and from work or coming with me to a visit a new church because I had never been there before. My host mom, not only prepares delicious peruvian dishes every breakfast, lunch, and dinner, but she does so usually after spending all day either volunteering at Paz y Esperanza or the church. And my host sister is my guide to Peruvian culture, my spanish language teacher, and my newest friend. Everyday I thank God that they've been put in my life and I know that they are big reason I'm adjusting to and loving my life here in Huanuco.

*The people at Paz y Eperanza. As I'm slowing making relationships with the people I work with I am realizing what truely amazing people they all are. Just the fact that they at Paz y Esperanza, working to educate and save women and children from truly horrifying situations, working tirelessly to give voices to those who in their society have none, says so much about their characters. And everyday they inspire me; inspire me to work on my spanish so I can better communicate, inspire me to listen and to educate myself, and inspire me to do whatever I can to contribute to the work at Paz, even if that means handing out refreshments or dressing up in a guinea pig costume.

*Nap time at lunch. Maybe because my mind get such a work out from listening to and trying to speak spanish but still having to translate in my head, but every week day after lunch I get a chance to take about 45 min to an hour nap before I have to head back to work (lunch break is from 1 until 3 in the afternoon). It's become such a relaxing little ritual for me to just shut down for a good hour and let my body and my mind take a break so I can get through the rest of the day.

*Skype. Definitely one of the better inventions in recent years. Being so far away from has been made that much better by the fact that I still get to regularly communicate and even see my family and friends. I even think it's made some of my relationships stronger by the fact that since I am so far and am making an intention effort to communicate as a result we not only talk about what's going on in our everyday lives but we have meaningful conversations as well, and that's definitely a wonderful and unexpected blessing.

*My YAV friends and our fearless Coordinator. Sarah, Anna, Joe, Ginna, and Alissa, as well as Debbie and Harry. So many words, only so much blog space. In such a short amount of time these people have really become my second family here. From the silly text messages to the long rambling emails to the nights in Lima partaking in a indulgence or two or three or "floor".... ;) the support, solidarity, and love that I've recieved from you all is more than I can possibly repay, so THANK YOU!!!!

Good food, good friends, and good times!

*My experience here. Everyday that I'm here I'm realizing more and more, how lucky and blessed I am that I even get to be here and see the things I'm seeing and do the things that I am doing. I mean how many other people get to travel and try and live out their dreams or even figure out what those dreams are and do so in such a beautiful country. Some times I can barely believe I've been here for over 3 months and I can't wait to see what the rest of year has in store for me.

*Of course I am so greatful to all the congregations, family, and friends back home who have been following me and supporting me with your kind words and prayers. Keep them coming guys and THANKS!!!

*There are so many other things, back in the states that I'm greatful for, everything that I've been blessed with. But that's not what this year is about. Seeing what I have and what others have not, it's about learning and experiencing so that we can all live free and dignified lives, lives we were intended by our Heavenly Father to live.

Sorry I've been a bit neglectful with my posts. I'm going to try and get another one out this week. And as always please leave comments. What would you like me to write about? What are the kinds of things about Peru you would like to know about?

Don't Go Chasing Waterfalls

2009-11-07T11:24:00.000-08:00

You totally have that TLC song in your head now don't you? Hahahaha....

Alright well I didn't title this post "Don't Go Chasing Waterfalls" just to torture you with 90's hip hop music. I'm going to be discussing, among other things, my recent trip to the selva (jungle) about 3 hours north of Huanuco, near a city called Tingo Maria with the other YAVs to climb waterfalls!! But before I get into all of that and what I've been up to lately I wanted to introduce to all of you out there reading my blog, if you don't already know them, the other YAVs. They are super cool people and one of the bigger support systems for me here. I'm including links to their blogs, because they have really interesting things to say, and usually express our mutual experiences better than I can. So please check them out to so you can get the full Peruvian YAV experience.

Debbie and Harry Horne: Debbie is our fearless site coordinator and surrogate Mama. Her husband Harry is a seminary professor and they live in Lima. Debbie laughs more than almost anybody I know (yes more than me) and is always there with a smile and a comforting embrace. Harry is broading our theological horizons by serving as our Bible study facilitator for our retreats and has assigned us Binding the Strong Man by Chet Meyers to read (really amazing book that looks at the Gospel of Mark from a socio-political stance). In a couple short months they have pretty much become two of my favorite people!

Sarah "Alta" Terpstra: She is the "other" Sarah, and thus to differentiate between the two of us, she has been dubbed "Alta," meaning tall, and I have been dubbed "Baja," meaning short, for the obvious reasons that I am short and she is tall. It's funnier, I promise, when we're being introduced to new people here and we tell them our little joke. Sarah is from Tennesse, loves alvacados, has a very musically talented family, and used to be a park ranger. She is serving her year high in the "harsh beauty," as she puts it, of Huancavelica, over 11,000 ft above sea level, working with agricultural development. She is also a very talented photographer and you should at least check out her photos.

Ginna Irby: Here is Ginna, from Virginia, with one of the only llamas I've seen up close since I've been here. She is probably one of the funniest people I have ever met. We bonded way back at the YAV placement event over our mutual love of The Office, so that automatically gave her like 1000 cool points from me. She works with the Fraternidad de Cristiano, a collection of churches in Lima, where she works with Youth and Children, among many other things. She is our resident guitar guru and is helping me to expand my music palet by making awesome mixes for us YAVs.

Alissa King: My southern neighbor, Alissa is from Texas and is a proud Roo and graduate from Austin College in good old Sherman. Since Alissa was not at the Placement Event, I only just met her in August at orientation, but I heard it from several AC authorities that she was good people. She is living in Huanta and is working for Radio Amata. Alissa has taught me the subtle joys that come from a cheesy romance novel and the two of us share a mutual guilty pleasure in our enjoyment of the Twilight Series.

Anna Gray: Alaskan native Anna, who also happens to be part bear, probably has the best stories from her childhood in Alaska, usually beginning with "One time when I was a kid, my mom..." She's a great sport when we make fun of her accent and a great friend. Anna is working in Huancayo, also with Agricultural development. She adds the cool west coast bohemian element to our group (along with Joe) and once had dread locks in college.

Joe Tobiason: Our other west coast "hippie," but he's too cool for labels. Joe is from Washington state and is living and working Lima for the Red Unidos Manos and CENCA. Joe is the most laid back person you will ever meet, but he probably needs that attitude to be able deal with the 5 of us girls. Joe does a lot of good work with The Red's newsletter La Retama (check out the latest issue with an article by yours truly) and the podcast Kuska, both of which are great places to keep with with what's going on here in Peru and the work of the various organizations that we are working with during this year. Joe is our other photographer in residence and has a wonderful artistic eye!

So there you go - the Peru YAV class of 2009-2010. One of the perks of being a YAV is that every 6 to 8 weeks or so we have retreats in different parts of the country together to catch up and debrief our experiences thus far. Our first retreat was in my home sweet home of Huanuco. I had so much fun hosting my friends and I'm so glad that I could share with them life and work. We stayed at the organic farm just outside of town run by Paz y Esperanza that also serves as a shelter for sexually abused children. We spent the weekend talking, laughing, eating way too many fresh dairy products (so worth the extra poundage), getting eaten by bugs, and sharing with one another our struggles and triumphs over the past month and a half.

On Friday of our retreat weekend we traveled to a part of the jungle just outside of Tingo Maria. We got up before the crack of dawn, and drove almost 4 hours to our destination, all the while trying to sleep on the bumpy twisty roads. Once we got there we met our guide, Guiermo, and sat down for a quick breakfast before hiking up to the waterfalls. We got to our first waterfall and strapped into harnesses and began climbing one by one up the waterfalls. In total we climbed 12 waterfalls, and it was one of the most difficult and exhilarating things I've ever done. Just being in the middle of the beauty of the jungle was breath-taking. And at one point in the day someone (sorry I don't remember who) made the comment that life just wants to live here. On every space there were green and growing things, insects moving, butterflys fluttering around in slivers of sunlight that managed to pass through the trees, just a complete abundance of life. And then we started talking about how the jungle was a metaphor for the Kingdom of God. That this is what it's supposed to be like, full of beauty and diversity, of life - life abundant! Being in Peru has already taught me so much about seeing God in everything around me, and it has allowed me the quiet time that I think I've been needing in my life to just sit with myself and God and spend some good one on one time. It's definitely been one of the more unexpected gifts about living here.

I'm going to stop now since this post is pretty long already. Next blog topic - Thanksgiving! Thanks for reading and feel free to leave any comments, questions, reactions in the comments section.

Some Light Reading

2009-10-27T10:16:00.000-07:00

Since I tend to have a bit of free time on my hands these days I've been doing quite a bit of reading lately. So I thought I would share with you all a few things that I've been reading lately that have really touched me and will help explain to you better what I can not express in this blog.

This is from a blog by Dennis Smith and was shared at World Mission Connection 2009 recently. He does a very good job of succinctly describing the state of things here in Latin America and the role that mission work is playing to accompany our brothers and sisters here.

A Day in the Life of Latin América(a contribution to the Latin America plenary, World Mission Celebration 2009)
The day begins with a memory of what might have been. Memories that go back centuries. Memories of dignity and autonomy. Memories that nourish identity.
For some, it's the memory of la Patria Grande, the great Latin American nation dreamed by Bolivar and San Martin. For some, the memory of great civilizations centered in Cuzco or Teotihuacán or Tikal. For some, the memory of proud cities carved out of the Brazilian hinterlands by the sons and daughters of Africa.
But borders came to define our lives. Our differences became more important that that which we have in common: city folks vs rural folks, men vs women, indigenous vs mestizo vs african, landless vs landlords, powerful elites vs excluded majorities. We found that our divisions are not just personal; they are built into the structures, into the very fabric of society.
Centuries of injustice, exclusion, dependence; centuries of hard work, entrepreneurial spirit, profound creative impulse.
God is here. Here are untold millions whose first waking thought each morning is: “Thank you, God, for this day. Thank you, God, for the gift of life!”
Here are millions of peasant farmers. Existence itself determined by the cycles of planting and harvest, sun and rain. Armies of day laborers cutting sugar cane, picking coffee and bananas.
Here are giant agribusiness enterprises whose fields of soybeans and wheat are larger than some small countries.
Here are extractive industries processing oil, copper, nickel, gold. Is the profit worth the poisoned lives?
This small rural town has no full-time doctor. The school only goes through sixth grade. But they do have radio – their own local radio in their mother tongue – and television and an internet café. They understand that their lives are somehow intertwined with yours.
There is no employment for the children born here. They will leave for the city. Or cross borders – at great risk – in pursuit of a dream.
Then there is life in the city. Most Latin Americans now live in cities. How can one touch so many people? How can one hear so many stories? An endless sea of stories – such longing, such energy.
Here are those who can take refuge from the raw energy of the city by living in secure enclaves. Those who can't, learn to adapt somehow – learning to see without seeing, learning to embrace numbness.Here – in the city, in the countryside - is where people committed to the common good organize to challenge corruption and abuse of power, to challenge destruction of the environment.
Here is where God's people proclaim that violence in their midst – especially violence against women and children - is violence against God's own self.
Here is where people respectfully celebrate the presence of God in the other person, working ecumenically to build the common good.
Here is where our brothers and sisters offer the gift of wholeness in Jesus Christ.
When you come home in the evening you reflect, perhaps, on what you chose not to see that day. “Have I lost the ability to engage in random acts of kindness? Have I remained silent in the face of pettiness or injustice? Have I lost the ability to be shocked by cruelty or indifference?”
Your soul aches. You seek solace in your community of faith. There you have a voice. There you can testify to God's benevolence. “Today I was not alone. Today we are not alone.”
The Spirit is poured out; hope is nourished. Here ordinary people reflect on being the people of God. . .
These are stories from Latin America and the Caribbean. Presbyterian stories. May we have eyes to see and ears to hear. . .
- Dennis A. Smith 23 oct 2009 densmithfam@gmail.com

This next bit of reading is an article from the New York Times. I already posted it on my facebook page, but I want to make sure that you all who are following me read it, so I'm posting it again. It explains a lot of my passion for working with women and children and I agree with a lot of what the article has to say about giving aid to women and elevating the status of women in many areas around the world will help alliviate many of the world's problems. It's kinda long, but totally worth the time it takes to get through it. Especially enjoy the little Oklahoma connection on the last page, it made me smile and almost cry. Saving the World's Women.

Finally, please post comments!!! I would love to hear what you think about these articles. We can start discussions. And if just a few people start posting then it helps others post too. Also tell me what you think about the blog in general. Tell me what you want to hear about my life here. Everyday life stuff? or Stories and anecdotes? more MLIA? what? Ok well I hope everyone is doing well. I'm probably going to post again soon about my recent YAV retreat here in Huanuco and about all the fun times that were had.

Spreading the Peace and Hope

2009-10-16T08:43:00.000-07:00

Most of you all reading this now know that I am working for a nongovernment organization over here called Paz y Esperanza. With offices in Lima, Ayacucho, Andahuaylas, and San Martin, P&E brings together psychologist, pastors, lawyers, journalist, and other professionals to be a force in the community that fights injustices and lives out a call of Christian social responsibility. Huanuco is one of the poorest regions in Peru and is also one with the highest intances of domestic violence and particularly sexual abuse against children. At the P&E office in Huanuco the focus is not just on human rights in general but on those of women in particular.

P&E offers many different kinds of services for the community; including counseling, both psychological and spiritual, legal help for those who wish to press charges or legally separate from their abusers, shelters, for those who have no where else to go, social services to help meet the basic needs of those who come to them for help, and many different classes and discussion panels aimed at educating the community on everything from human rights issues to safe sex practices. They are not only trying to respond to the problems of the community but also trying to build a better future through education.

I work in the Area Rehabilitacion Integral. Which is basically the Pscyhological counseling area. There are 4 full time staff in the department - Doris, who is basically the head psychologist, Cathy, Becky, and David, who are all either psychologists or have bachelor's degrees and are pursuing full accredidation. Apart from being very talented at what they do in helping heal the victims of abuse, they are all very kind and welcoming people and I'm glad that I'm getting the opportunity to know them and share with them in the work that they are doing.

One of the programs that I am working with is called the Tamar group. It's a group of girls, most of them around 13 or 14 years old, who have been victims of abuse. Every Saturday I get together with these girls and we do art projects and it is a part of their recovery therapy. Right now we are making these amazing Christmas cards using a traditional Peruvian design called filligree. The process of integrating myself with these girls is slow with the language barrier but I'm finding little things in common with them, like American pop music, which they all seem to know and like. I spend much of my time during the week preparing the materials for the Tamar girls and right now I'm just glad that I have something I can contribute to the work being done here. But I do cut a lot of paper, so it's a little humbling and a lesson in "being" when mostly all I do all day is sit and cut paper. That's not entirely true though, I do get to do some other things. This week I got to travel to a small town just outside of Huanuco to a school there with two of my co-workers. They were there to teach the kids about sexual abuse and what do if the find themselves in unsafe situations. It was very much like the "stranger danger" talks we used to get in elementary school. But I really liked the message they were teaching the kids. Besides the typical "always tell an adult" kind of advice they also demonstrated that a human life is invaluable and that we are precious creations of God. And as such we are to take ownership of our bodies and protect them and treat them with respect. I hope that by the second half of my year here I will be proficient enough in my Spanish to be able to teach these kinds of classes myself.

Alright well I think I will wrap for this post. Next time: Tingo Maria (the jungle), and YAV retreat! I've got pics up on Facebook, if you haven't already seen them, they provide a good visual context for all the things I talk about.

My Average Life

2009-10-08T11:29:00.000-07:00

So I've recently become a little obsessed with this website called MyLifeisAverage.com thanks to my sister. It's a website where people write about the seemingly mundane and normal things in life but that have a bit of twist or are non-sequitur in everyday life. It kinda makes fun of Fmylife.com. Anyway, go check it out so you know what I'm talking about and it will totally brighten your day! And since it makes me smile I thought I would share with you all some little MLIA styled moments from my time here in Peru. So here goes...
*Today, When the other YAVs and I first got to Peru we met our site coordinator's husband, Harry. Harry works at a seminary here as a professor and when he and Debbie first moved to Peru as he was being introduced to people he would say his name, and the Peruvians would say, "Oh, like Harry Potter." I'm glad to know that the HP influence is strong here, I think I'm going to like this country. MLIA.
*Today, during my first week of work I was trying to find things to do around the office, since I am new and don't know the language very well yet I've been doing very meanial yet neccesary jobs. I was asked to help color in some giant pieces of paper, which were essentially big coloring book pages, for an educational thing for one of the departments. So I start coloring the people, who are supposed to be Peruvian, a mixture of the brown and peach colored pencil color to give them all more realistic skin tone. I was really proud of my self for being so creative, until one of my co-workers informed me that they all needed to be "mas claro" which means lighter, so I was stuck coloring everyone the boring peachy flesh color. So much for self-expression and being culturally sensitive. MLIA.
*Today, one of my co-workers was listening to music on his computer. A Whole New World from Aladdin came on and he started singing along. Keep in mind this man doesn't know much english but nevertheless he was singing and I chimed in on the Jasmine part. He came over and asked me if I knew this song and I said of course! So we started the song over and proceeded to sing the whole song for everyone else in the room. He has now printed off the words to the song in English and sings A Whole New World almost all the time. I think I have created a monster. MLIA.
*Today, I was walking home from work as I usually do and there was a lot traffic, nothing out of the ordinary until I saw a man ride by on a Moto (motorcycle/scooter, a main mode of transportation around Huanuco) wearing a Spiderman costume and holding his Spiderman mask inbetween his teeth as he weaved in and out of traffic. I have never had so many questions. MLIA.
*Today, I was helping out with a local school's English competition. I was told to ask the kids in English what each person or thing in a series of pictures was doing and they would answer me in English. In one of the pictures is a group of boys celebrating and jumping up and down. In the spanish language a "j" is pronounced like the english "h." So when I asked what the group of boys were doing almost everyone of the students I quizzed said, "They are humping. The boys are humping" It was all I could do to not laugh and make the students keep trying until they correctly pronouced jumping. MLIA. **(Disclaimer on this story: I am in no way making fun of the students that were learning English. I know and am fully aware of my own limitations with the Spanish language and as soon as I have a good story about me mispronouncing or misusing a word I will not hesitate to post it for your enjoyment.)**
*Today, I was at a futbol (soccer for you Americans) game with some new friends and man came up to us who knew one of my friends. After he left my friends said he was little crazy. I noticed he had on Harry Potter Hogwarts shirt, so now I'm wondering if he's crazy or awesome? MLIA.

Ok so those are my MLIA stories. I thought it would just be a fun way to share with you all the funny little things that have happened to me so far. I realize now that I have not shared anything else about my life in Huanuco on my blog. Well so far I really like living here. The city brags about having The Best Climate in the World and it is known as the City of Eternal Spring. And so far my experience here has not negated that. It's sunny nearly everyday, all day, and the temperature ranges from the mid 70s to the mid 80s. It gets windy in the afternoons and as a consequence dusty as well so I try and make sure I have my sunglass to protect my eyes from all the dirt. There are a ton of mosquitos out especially in the afternoons and early evenings, and I've come to the conclusion they really like Gringa blood. My legs are covered in bites, but I'm getting better at remembering to put on repellent and it's getting better. Huanuco is what I would classify a small city (pop. 80,000 ) so I find that it is much more my pace than Lima. And despite the occasional calls of "Gringa, Gringa" (white girl), many of the people I have met and come in contact with are really nice and hospitable.
And speaking of hospitable, I really like my host family! They are so nice and while we are still going through a transitional phase where I'm trying to figure out where I fit in with them and getting used to living with a family again, I feel like we're really going to get along well with each other and I'm really glad to have been placed with them. In my host family there is Pastor Abdon, and he works at Paz y Esperanza as a pastoral counselor of sorts, his wife, Elena, who not only manages and maintains the household but also holds a number of odd jobs helping out at the church and with Paz y Esperanza, and then they have a daughter, Carla, who is my age (!) and she is studying psychology at the university (!!). They also have a son, Israel, who I have never met because he lives in Lima. I'm slowly but surely settling into their home and routine. One of my first nights here, Carla and I bonded over shared interest in music and watched the MTV Video Music awards. Pastor Abdon and I sometimes ride to work together on the family's moto. And Mama Elena makes the most amazingly delicious meals. I'm opening up more and more to them as my comfort level and Spanish language skills increase.
Well since this post is so long already I'll end it here. I still have more to write and tell, epecially about my job at Paz y Esperanza, but I'll get to that in the next post. I hope everyone is doing well, I miss you all and I pray for you all constantly.

Education

2009-09-13T18:16:00.001-07:00

This week since I’ve been so neglectful in my blogging, I’m breaking what I have to say into a few posts, so you’re getting more for your buck, haha.

Lima – first impressions: It’s noisy, crowded, smelly, dangerous (especially if you want to cross the street), chaotic, and cold! But don’t misunderstand my impressions, Lima is actually a pretty cool place. Some parts have really beautiful architecture. I loved the museums we went to, and the ancient archeological sites we visited that were still being excavated were really awesome as well. But my favorite part of Lima was the people I met, of course. Everyone from our taxi driver, Coco, to the people at the Red Unidos Manos office, to the people at the seminary, to the Barrera family who took care of us, were all so kind and welcoming. Of course there were the stares from people on the streets, and the calls of “Gringita, Gingita” (little white girl), but all that I expected and I’m sure we looked quite strange filing behind Debbie like a strange flock of ducks, all with wide eyes that can’t move fast enough to capture all that’s going on around us.

In the few days I’ve been here I’ve already learned so much about the struggles and triumphs of the Peruvian people. One of the first concepts we learned were the concepts of solidarity and partnership with the Peruvian people. All the YAVs, including myself, are working with organizations that are all connected to a larger network called the Red Unidos Manos or the Joining Hands Network. Joining Hands works with everything from environmental issues to economic and fair trade issues to peace and reconciliation initiatives, and the 13 organizations that are a part of the network all work together for sustainable solutions to some of the problems in Peru. Joining Hands also brings in churches and organizations in the United States as partners in this process. The important thing to remember is that these churches and organizations work in partnership and mutuality rather than just giving hand-out and short-term solutions to the Peruvian organizations.

One of the things I’m learning about, and some of you may already have some experience with, is Fair Trade. The fair trade organization in The Red is called Bridge of Hope and they have artisans all across Peru who make everything from beautiful silver jewelry, to alpaca scarves and hats, to ceramic figures, to bags and stuffed animals. The idea of Fair Trade is to provide an alternative to the old purely capitalist system where the goal is to find a way the cheapest, easiest, and quickest way to make a buck. Fair Trade tries to eliminate much of the middle men and takes into consideration the artisans and workers rights and dignity by giving them a fair and decent price for their products. If you don’t already buy fairly traded products I suggest that you do, they stuff you can find that is fairly traded is often beautifully crafted and of a better quality, so in the end it’s really worth it to spend that extra few dollars on something that is fairly traded.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1SHYdKa1UB0 This is a good video about fair trade artisans in celebrating in Lima.

The other issue, that I hope at least some of you have heard about, is the environmental injustices that are occurring in La Oroya, Peru. I could probably write a blog post alone on La Oroya, but for now I will just give you the basics and encourage you to seek out more information on your own. Basically, an American owned company, Doe Run, has a metal smelting factory in Peru. This metal smelting factory emits 2,000,000 pounds of containminates into the air a day! As a result, La Oroya, a town of about 35,000 people, is experiencing a very serious health crisis. Over 99% of the children have lead poisoning and some are even dying from this invisible killer. It’s a very complicated issue because the town depends on the plant, some 20,000 jobs are connect to Doe Run, and so it’s a very decisive issue for the community. The people have to choose between their families health and putting food on the table, which is a decision no one should have to make. There is so much more to this issue, especially since it is an American company that owns Doe Run Peru, but here are some websites you can explore and look at to learn more: http://www.savelaoroya.com/ and http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kpwu8DOmzoU <----- watch this video!!! and look for Fellow Presby and director of World Missions in the PC (USA) Hunter Ferrell.

Ok one last bit of information before I end this post. We’ve also been getting educated on the 20 years of violence that occurred in Peru from 1980-2000, when a couple of insurgent militant groups terrorized the country. The groups were the Sendero Luminoso or the Shining Path and the MRNA. Both killed and kidnapped many people, but what is worse about this war is that many of the murders and dissapperances were perpetrated by the Peruvian government in their attempt to quell the violence. It’s a very long and sad story, but one worth learning about. Here is one story in particular that unfortunately is not the only one of its kind about a town in the provences called Putis: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Putis, http://peruanista.blogspot.com/2008/06/amazing-videos-of-mass-graves-of-putis.html. Since the violence ended so recently the effects from it are still very much present in the Peruvian people, and I’m sure that I as I build relationships with the people here I will begin to see just how the years of violence has effected them.

Orienting Myself

2009-09-13T16:11:00.000-07:00

Ok I think I’ve procrastinated blogging for long enough. I hope this is not a sign of the year to come. I promise, I will be better!

Alright so, where to begin? So much has happened in the few weeks since I left my home and said my goodbyes to everyone. On August 24th I left bright and early in the morning to head to the YAV orientation at the Stony Point Center in Stony Point, New York. I was there for a week, learning about safety and logistical issues while living abroad, how to take care of myself when I get stressed and are without the comforts of home, praying, worshipping, eating, and being in fellowship with the other YAVs. It was a really great week for me, and just the perfect way to not only bond with the other YAVs, but to get me in the mind set of service and mission. I enjoyed being around so many like-minded people and people who have the same passions as I do. We created a very fun and unique community that week.

Some of my favorite times during the week were at worship. It was just such a joyful and truly spirit-filled experience for all of us. We sang songs from all around the world and even broke down into four part harmonies for some of them and it gave me goose bumps when we sang for our Lord and Creator. My other favorite part was a presentation that Rick Upford-Chase, former moderator for the Presbyterian Church (USA) General Assembly, who is the director at Stony Point gave us. He presented us an interactive skit that illustrated the history of financial decisions that contributed to the economic downfall of my many countries around the world. Rick’s background is in working with Latin American countries, particularly Mexico along the border with the mission he started called Borderlinks, so our imaginary country was called Paniagua in the skit. I wish I could do a better job at describing the skit and relaying all the information he gave us about world-wide economics, but I can’t because I still don’t understand it all. But I came away from the presentation with my mind just completely blown. I didn’t know about half the things he was talking about and to be faced with my own ignorance was a little intimidating. I now know a little more though and that is what part of this year in Peru is about, facing my ignorance and educating myself on the economics of the world.

On Saturday, after much discerning, praying, salsa lessons, self-care, roaring like a lion, small group discussions, etc. I was finally ready to go and actually be in Peru. My group left New York just before noon and during our layover in Atlanta I indulged in the last vestiges of American cuisine; Arbys. Then the six of us; Sarah Terpstra, Anna Gray, Joe Tobiason, Ginna Irby, and myself, kicked off our YAV year with toasts and our last sips of American beer. We boarded our plane and from there, there was no turning back.

We arrived in Lima around 11 at night but after standing in line at Immigration and Customs for over two hours it was past one in the morning before we were greeted by Debbie Horne, our site coordinator, and our new Peruvian friends. We were all so tired we could barely speak English much less Spanish, but we made it to the home of the Barrera family where we would stay for the next 12 days as we oriented ourselves in Lima.

Welcome to My Blog

2009-08-17T17:09:00.000-07:00

For everyone who has found their way here, thanks for your interest and thanks for reading. I'm one week away from leaving for orientation in New York and two weeks from Lima, Peru! Yay!! I'm excited, scared, happy, sad, nervous, anxious, hopeful, anticipating, all of the above as I prepare for my great Peruvian adventure. I've already had to say good-bye to a few friends, which has been hard, but there will be harder goodbyes yet to come. But for now I'm going to enjoy what time I've got left here in Oklahoma with my family and friends and hopefully Iwill get done all that I need to before I leave.
I want to say a quick Thanks! to all those who have donated to my YAV fund, I'm more than half way to my goal, but I will keep everyone updated on that.
I don't have too much to say on this first post, I suppose that I will get used to this blogging thing and I promise my next post will be more interesting.