Tuesday, November 23, 2010

seasons.

November 21, 2010 at 10:01 pm
Tis the season… I really cannot believe that Thanksgiving is already this Thursday! It just doesn’t seem right because it’s so hot here, there are no decorations out, I haven’t seen the leaves on the trees changing colors…. Oh I miss home soooo much.
This week has been a tough one. I’ve missed home even more than normal. I was doing pretty well for a while there- not that I didn’t miss home, but I was doing good and enjoying it here. I’m honestly feeling a little burnt out. Let me explain. Lauren, Steph, and I have to move to KM 8 to live there for the rest of the year. We have small property there that we have turned into a clinic and we are working there with the new doctor (Cecelia) who just got here. The living conditions are anything but classy. We sort of have running water- as in it only runs at certain times and we never know when or how long. We have a nasty outhouse that is almost full. We have no washer or fridge- so that means no washing our clothes except by hand or when we go back to 38 on Sunday, and no good place to store food. There are a million huge spiders that we have to share our room with, and we have to cram 4 girls into one room. And we have no telephone, as of now.
On top of that, we are expected to work in the clinic everyday and do public health things in the evening. That consists of holding classes and probably doing home visits as well. Then on Sabbath we are supposed to hold a church service at the site. Remember, there are only 4 of us…
Now, I’m not trying to complain and make this sound horrible. But I am human and I do have a limit of what I can handle. With all of those responsibilities it leaves no time for us to do anything for ourselves. Not that I just want to go out and have fun all the time and not care about work, but I think it’s important to have a little time for yourself every now and again. I’m just feeling a bit frustrated and mostly just worn out. I don’t know if this week was harder than most because I’m missing home a lot, but I feel like I’m getting burnt out… There is never time to rest… And I’ve had a lot of personal things happen in my life since I’ve been here and I don’t feel like I’ve had any time to heal from them. Then daily frustrations come into play and everything just starts to pile up… Then sometimes I just break down, or I feel like I’m going to break down.
I’m just exhausted in every way- emotionally, physically, mentally…. This is definitely the hardest thing I’ve ever done.
Then I think about it- I came here to serve and I really want to do that. I want to make an impact on these people and build strong relationships with them. I want to show them Jesus. I know the only way I’m going to be able to do this is by putting all my faith in God. Steph preached this Sabbath about the verse in Deuteronomy 6:5, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength.” That is really, really giving ALL you have to God, and putting your ALL into everything you do, because everything you do is for the Lord. I try to picture God with me every day and act as if he was standing right with me because, really, he is. And would I act the same if he was right there? That’s something to think about… It can be a hard thing to do- certainly easier to say than to do…
It’s a challenge- life. But with God, I CAN do anything. Please continue to send up prayers for me. And not only me, but my whole team as well.
Well, I really need to head to bed… Hasta maƱana…

joyous.

November 18, 2010 at 9:51 am
I JUST FOUND ALL MY CHRISTMAS MUSIC! :) I’m so so so excited. My computer has been acting stupid because it has a bad virus but today it’s working and I was able to open my itunes and listen to Christmas music!!! How exciting!!!! :) It literally made my day.
So I have a few stories from yesterday- the first is pretty funny. I was doing an ear irrigation with Steph. Which, side note, ear cleanings are very exciting to do on these little kids because you get a TON of wax out of their ears and I know they must just feel so much better. Yesterday, we got chunks out of kids’ ears that were as big as the tip of my pinky finger! Dad, you would appreciate this a lot, I thought of you. haha :) Anyway, I was helping Steph and this lady was standing there with her camera phone really close to my face and all of a sudden I hear a click like she had just taken a picture. I kinda laughed and went back to the pharmacy to continue filling prescriptions. Well, the same lady comes to the pharmacy window and takes two more pictures of me while I’m working. Then this guy said to me, “Look here really quick!” So I look up and pose for her so she can get a picture of the white girl. Haha :) I thought it was pretty hilarious, and so did Steph when I told her the story. I feel like a celebrity here, they just love the white girls.
We got running water yesterday too! The guys came and put up a shower for us, but here’s the catch. The water only runs at certain times. For instance, yesterday it ran from about 3-6 pm and today it was running at 6:30 in the morning. Gotta love Peru. But I am thankful that we don’t have to haul water now, and if we’re lucky we can shower with running water!
We don’t have any gas for the stove we brought so we’ve been cooking over a fire. Good thing I was in Pathfinders all those years, or I’d have no idea how to cook over a fire. :) We made some oatmeal for breakfast and we boiled beans for lunch. As Lauren and I were building the fire for lunch some girls came over to help us, I guess we looked pathetic or something… haha They ended up cooking our rice for us, which was a huge help because I hate cooking rice. :)
Today we’ve just been doing the usual clinic thing. It’s crazy tho, I’ve had a lot of down time today and I’m actually blogging in the pharmacy right now… Not much to report for today- given lots of pain meds and lots of shots. Steph and I are probably going to end up helping the new doctor with diagnosing patients and prescribing meds so that will be pretty awesome. Actually, we saw a few patients today and prescribed meds for them! You really can do anything in Peru. You only need 2 years of nursing school and a summer working as a nurse tech and you got it! :)
I’m missing home a lot these days. I think it’s because it’s the holiday season and I love this time of year. I love being home with my family and all the traditions. The smell of fresh pumpkin bread, eating delicious potato soup, listening to Christmas music, wearing sweaters and scarves… I just miss it all. I’m so excited to see my dad in a month!
We finally got off the compound for a little bit tonight. Went into Pucallpa for supper and internet and ice cream. It was a nice treat. Well, another big day is in store for tomorrow, so I’m gonna hit the hay.

moving.

November 16, 2010 at 10:54 pm
This morning we packed our bags to head to KM 8. We’re living there now…. I’m a little bitter about it to be honest. I don’t want to move, but here I am. I guess we all do things we don’t want to do.
Today was our first day of clinic because no patients showed up yesterday so we just left early. There were 8 of us and the new doctor. Her name is Cecilia and she’s very nice. She speaks Spanish fluently and English really well so I feel very lucky. We got to unpack all of our meds into the new pharmacy and it’s really great- it looks awesome. We have shelves and everything to put our meds on! We saw 87 patients today, which was a nice slow day compared to when we work with Dr. Matthews!
Now for story time- Lauren, Caleb, and I went to pick up some food for lunch and it was quite the adventure. The doctor took the truck so we only had the crazy van. It’s super hard to drive and it’s just always an adventure to take it anywhere. Well, we got it started and drove out to the main road in front of KM 8. We decided to park it there and walk to the restaurant because lately the brakes have been rather sketchy. We got the food and brought it back and then realized that we were going to have to back it up to get out of the place where we had parked… Picture this- all three of us in the front, I’m in the middle holding bags of juice and soup and Lauren is next to me with a big tray of plates loaded with food for everyone. Caleb is trying to wrestle the van into reverse with no luck at all. After about 7 minutes of trying to get it in reverse we gave up. Caleb told me to put my foot on the clutch and make sure it stayed in neutral and he told Lauren to hold onto the wheel so he could push it back. So I stuck my long leg over to the other side and held the clutch down. It all worked out actually and a nice man came and helped Caleb push. haha  Next story- we start sorting out all of our things to take to our respective rooms and guess who was in our room to greet us? Mr. Man Eating Spider!! Wonderful. And the worst part of it is I don’t think we killed him. He was sitting on a plastic bag that was hanging from a nail so we couldn’t really smoosh him… I’m a little paranoid to go to sleep tonight.. Third story- I took a shower with about 2 gallons of water or less. You should really try it sometime.
Well, we have an early start tomorrow so I’d better head to bed. Buenas Noches.

spiders.

November 14, 2010 at 9:49 pm
Well, today was supposed to be our day off but things here never quite turn out the way you expect. Lauren, Steph, and I went to KM 8 today with a couple of the guys to finish up the work there so that it was ready for us to start our clinic tomorrow. Us girls were in charge of cleaning the rooms. As we began on the first one we found our lovely welcoming committee- 3 huge spiders and a lizard. The spiders, including legs, were nearly as big as my hand. And they were fast. And disgusting. I HATE spiders. Thankfully, we successfully killed them all, but where there are 3 there are bound to be more… I’m not exactly looking forward to spider killing becoming a daily routine… anyhow, the rest of our cleaning went without mishap and we even went to Pucallpa for a couple hours to do some errands. After that, we worked a little longer then headed home. Showers were priority and after that we did a little relaxing and that brings me to right now. I opened my computer to blog and found that a whole colony of ants decided it would be really grand to live in my computer. How wonderful.
Well, I’m tired and a bit grumpy so I think it’s time to pray and hit the hay.

Monday, November 22, 2010

nothing.

well, tonight I`m blogging about not being able to blog. =) we came to a ridiculous internet cafe and I cannot open the great blogs that I have written this past week. So, for those of you who care, I have not forgotten to update you on my life, but the internet is stupid here! haha As soon as I can I promise I will post more.
And i only have 7 minutes left, so good bye and good night! =)

Thursday, November 11, 2010

half-full.

November 10, 2010 at 9:56 pm
Well, my spirits are a bit better tonight- but just to add another thing to this no-good-dirty-rotten week I missed a call from Mitchell this afternoon because I was out working at KM 8! I just can’t wait for a new week, I need a fresh start…
But anyway, about today- we were working at KM 8 again. This is the place that is going to our new home next week. We are working on putting rooms in the large building to make it a clinic. Yesterday when I was sick they got the frames up for the rooms so today we were putting up the walls and working on the doors. It’s like Extreme Home Makeover- Peru style! Haha. If my dad or grandpa saw the carpentry here I think that they would cringe. It’s pretty much just nailing boards together where it looks like they will fit. :) But we all worked hard and long today and got a lot done. Steph, Lauren, and I cut a bunch of boards to be the right size; and don’t be fooled- that is a work out! Then I helped Alfonso put up a whole wall. We were nailing boards up for hours! The boards have little grooves on one side so that they all fit together..in theory. I would put a board up, Alfonso would nail in the top nail, hand me the hammer and then I would do the middle nails while he held the board in place, and he would do the last one. We had a great method down for a while. I only bent a few nails, but I have to say I did pretty well; maybe I should be a carpenter. :) Then about 2/3 of the way my arm started getting tired and the wood was extremely hard so I just handed it all over to him and I just made sure he had a supply of nails and held the boards in place. It was hard work! At the end of the day I told Alfonso thanks for being a great teacher and for being patient with me, and he told me that he’d never seen a girl that was as good with a nail and hammer as I was. That made me smile- thanks dad and grandpa for teaching me so well! :) I like doing jobs like that where I can see that I’m making a difference. It’s a good feeling. So all that is left now is finishing the doors for the rooms and building a dog house. Oh, and building a water tower but I think that’s going to come later when we have more money.
So, I was thinking about my week tonight. Between Uncle Grover’s death, being sick, missing Mitchell’s call, and missing my family more than I can stand- I’m just plain worn out. But then I was thinking- we always have two choices. Our cup can be half empty, or it can be half full. And even though I feel like my cup has been emptied half way, I still have a half cup left! :) And in 2 Corinthians 12:9-10 it says this- “But he said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.’ Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties. For when I am weak, then I am strong.” How awesome is that? God promises to be the strong for us when we are the weak. That in itself makes me see my cup as half full. :)

yuck.

November 8, 2010

So, you just never know what’s going to happen in Peru.
This morning Steph, Lauren, and I went to the market to buy our food for the week and everything went smoothly there. We found everything we wanted and even bought some mangoes! We loaded up into a motocar and headed back home. It was a pretty comical sight because we had SO much stuff. We unpacked everything and then started getting ready to head to KM 8. Earlier this morning the doctor had come and talked to us about moving there and what needed to be done beforehand. Our task today was to clean all 3 rooms. So, we headed back into Campo and picked up some cleaning supplies. Then we went over to the taxi station to get a taxi to Pucallpa. Usually, this is not a problem at all. Normally, there are a million taxis all yelling for you to get in their car. Well this time there was one. And that one already had 6 people in it! We looked at each other, looked at our stuff, and looked at the car and decided to wait. Unfortunately, that decision was not communicated with our driver who proceeded to take our brooms and bags and put them in the trunk. We started laughing because this meant we had to cram ourselves in the car with the 6 other people. Keep in mind that this is a 5 passenger car. Well, I hopped in the front with some guy who had to scoot over and was practically on the driver’s lap; Steph and Lauren had to squeeze in the back with Steph holding one of the kids on her lap. So, get this- there were 9 people in this taxi and we had a 30 minute drive ahead of us. Oh, it was fun. I had some serious swamp butt afterwards! Hahaha :) KM 8 is a pretty large community with an EXTREMELY terrible road. The taxis won’t drive back there so we had to put all our stuff on a motocar. They took us back to our property and didn’t charge us because he said we were pretty American girls. It is a good thing sometimes to be blonde and white. :) haha Then we started cleaning. Things were going well until we decided we needed water. There is no running water on the property. So, we took our five gallon bucket and went on a water hunt. We found a place to get water a block and a half away. That doesn’t sound too far, but let me tell you- it is. It was SO hot and five gallons of water is heavy! The 3 of us split the chore and got it back to base. About this time (3 pm), the guys who had been working on our bathroom and shower needed to go and get some more supplies so they told us they would be right back. We kept working and all of a sudden it hit me- I had some serious BG’s. For those of you who haven’t had this condition it’s called bubble guts and it means diarrhea is on the way. haha. It’s serious, trust me. Well, we had a “bathroom” so I made my way over there and my guts sorta spilled out. I had brought some TP with me, but I had forgotten to refill it, so guess how many squares I had?! 3!!! Oh girl. Not a good deal. But, don’t worry I conserved and made it work. Haha Well, I went back over and continued to help the girls clean but I just continued to feel worse. Pretty soon it was the BG’s and I felt nauseous and dizzy… I sat down for a while, hoping the feeling would pass. It was around 4:30 and we had finished our work but the guys still weren’t back. We didn’t want to leave the place unattended so we decided to wait for them. We waited, and waited, and waited a little more… it got to be 6:00 and we had had enough, it was getting dark and we wanted to get out of there. We moved their gear to a room so it was out of sight and started walking back out. This is when some guy came up to us and started talking to us. We didn’t really want to talk to him, but he insisted. He asked a lot of questions about the US and walked with us till we found a motorcar. We got out to the road and decided we’d wait to see if we could catch a taxi home. Well, right then the Doctor called Steph. She told him what we were doing and he told us to go back to the house in KM 8 and wait for him and that he would be there soon! Frustrated, we turned back. The first motocar we took broke down about a third of the way there so we had to get another one. We got there and it was dark and we were alone. If you know me, you know I hate the dark and being with 2 other girls who hate the dark as well didn’t make me feel very safe. We go inside the gate and flip the switch to turn on the lights and it doesn’t work. None of us had a flashlight because we didn’t expect to be there after dark! Thankfully, Steph had a cellphone that had a little light on it. I remembered seeing a little thing that looked like a breaker box so we went and flipped that switch to see if the lights would turn on. Nothing. Then Steph remembered the Doctor telling her something about a switch near the front. We went looking for it and found it. Turning on all the lights really didn’t help. Now, we started to draw a crowd of kids and teens who all wanted to know what we were doing. The three of us were sitting in the middle of the building- Lauren had a crowbar on her lap, I had a machete, and Steph had a chain. We were ready for anything! Haha. Well, a few kids were bold and actually came thru the gate but we told them to leave but there was this one guy who would not leave us alone. He asked if he could come in, I told him no. He asked if we could have a conversation I told him no, then he told me to come over to him and I said no. He obviously had a hard time getting the point, but he finally left. Now, it was about 7:30. The doctor had called us at 6:22 and told us he would be there soon. We were a little bit upset… And I was starting to feel sick again… They finally got there at about 7:45 and picked up their stuff and were ready to go. I was feeling extremely nauseous and the last thing I wanted to do was get in the truck and drive down the bumpiest road in the world. But clearly, I had no other option. We all got in the truck and headed home. About half way home the nausea took over and I threw up my guts out the window as we were driving about 65 miles/hour down the freeway. Very pleasant. We got back and I slowly made my way to my room then to the shower. To top things off, something stung me in the shower and there were ants in my toothbrush. I just love Peru. Oh, and we came to the conclusion that this illness was caused by a bad mango that I had eaten this morning…
I feel like I’m getting hit pretty hard this week, if I can just say that… I’m trying to keep my faith strong and just get thru this stuff, but it is hard… Hopefully tomorrow will be better… I just want a hug. And I’m missing home a lot. But when we’re weak, God is strong, right?

Sunday, November 7, 2010

difficult.

well, it's been a few days since I have written. My computer apparently contracted a terrible virus and it pretty much quit on me this week. Thankfully, one of the guys here, Anthony, has been working on it for me and he thinks he may be able to fix it.. at least till I get home.
I'll try to write a little summary of the week. It's still been rather uneventful around here. Steph and I subbed classes this week... That was a challenge. I learned that I do not have a teacher heart and that is definitely not what I want to do for a career. haha :) I did learn a lot tho, and I had fun with the kids. So, don't get me wrong, it wasn't all bad! We taught english and religion classes. One class was very well behaved and acted like they wanted to learn, the other... oh my. They were crazy. I've never been in a class of that many children who were just running around the classroom screaming and throwing things. The worst part was that they would NOT listen to us. Even to Steph who is fluent in their own language. They were uncontrollable. I had a headache after that class, bless their hearts.
I did some more cooking and cleaning this week too.. Honestly, it's getting a little bit old. But, i keep telling myself that God put me here for a reason and if I can serve Him by cooking and cleaning then I will do it and try really hard to have a good attitude about it.
Yesterday, our two churches- Santa Elvita and Yerbas Buenas- had church together. I normally attend the Yerbas Buenas church, and everyone came to our church. It was a fun, but long day. We had Sabbath School first, and Jenessa, Hanna, Rebecca, and I were in charge of the kids sabbath school. Jenessa and I played our ukes and we sang a lot of songs, then Hanna read a story. We taught them the song "Your Everlasting Love" and they like that quite a bit because you get to jump. :) Then we had church, and after that a "potluck" dinner. Oh, i can't forget to mention how HOT it was. I think it was one of the hottest days since we've been here. And there was a lot of people crammed into our little church.. It was a sweaty event.. :) Then in the afternoon we had our JA program. We watched a movie and played some games and sang some songs. I taught them 2 games- the sharks and minnows game, execpt I called it Jonas y la ballena (Jonas and the Whale) to give it a little Sabbath spin. :) and then I taught them the knot game where everyone puts their hands in the circle and you grab a random hand and then you have to untie yourselves. It was pretty comical. After that, all of us were exhausted and were so thankful when it was time to go home. :)
This morning I received a call that I had been dreading... My Uncle Grover passed away early this morning... I talked to my dad for a little while and cried for a long while. I am very thankful for all the girls here with me, they all stayed right with me until I wasn't crying any more. I don't know how much God thought I could handle this year, but it almost feels like too much...
I just feel so helpless here. I can't be there to support my family.. i can't even cry with my family. I just wanted a hug from my parents so bad this morning.. But I'm here in Peru...
I know God promised he wouldn't give us more than we can handle... I just pray that he gives me strength to handle all this...

Tuesday, November 2, 2010

fall.

November 2, 2010 at 11:11 am
Wow. It’s NOVEMBER!! That is just crazy to me. And it’s especially crazy being here because I’m still sweating buckets and walking around in shorts and tank tops! Haha I’m missing fall at home. :( It’s probably my favorite season.
Life hasn’t been too exciting around here lately… Sabbath was pretty typical- church, slow afternoon, JA, and popcorn and a movie. Oh and Chris, a friend of Jenessa and Hanna’s, came to visit. He is a missionary in Lima and he went to Southern. He stayed for the weekend so that was fun to have another person in the group.
Sunday was our day off and I went to Pucallpa with some of the group. Met this crazy guy and chick from London at a vegetarian restaurant. The guy me all about this place in the jungle where he is living for a few months. At first it sounded pretty awesome but then he started telling me about his meditation practices and how I should try this drink that he loves. I don’t remember the name now, but basically it’s this all natural brew that gives you crazy hallucinations. Yeah, don’t think I’ll be trying that one…
Monday we had another day off because it was a holiday here.In the morning we got up really early and went to our church to fix up the outhouse. Sounds funny I know, but it only had three walls, no roof and no door. The boys nailed up the boards and Steph, Hanna and I chopped down grass with machetes. That is how they mow here. I have a big blister on my hand now.And it hurts. haha In the afternoon Steph and I played games, watched a movie and worked out and I had the best fruit salad ever for supper.
Then today… Jenessa and Hanna had to go to Lima to get Hanna’s new passport. So, Jenessa had asked Steph and I to substitute teach for her classes today. I don’t particularly like teaching but, I knew I needed to help a friend in need. So we went to the school this morning and no one was there! No teachers or students… I guess they don’t see a need to go to school when it’s been rainy. That made our morning easy I guess, although I was kinda looking forward to meeting the kids and teaching a little English.. oh well, I’m sure there will be more opportunities. We have one more class to go to this afternoon, but it’s going to be a no brainer because we’re just playing a movie. Being a student missionary is always fun because you really NEVER KNOW what you will end up doing. :)
And speaking of class, I’d better get going. :)

skype.

October 29, 2010 at 10:39 pm
Estoy muy feliz ahorita, porque yo hable con mi familia y mi novio y mi amigos este noche. Yo tuve un conversacion con mama de Steph en espanol tambien!
Skype is such a good thing!! And connections with people who have internet are even better! Here’s the long story short- SM vespers was tonight at UC and so they wanted to skype us. Skype is kinda a luxury here, so we searched high and low for someone with reliable internet. The people at Peru Projects were gone this weekend and the other person we know with internet was gone this week as well. Steph and I were starting to feel very disappointed, but then we remembered one more person. He helped us out after the boat incident. His name is Steve and he works at the DA office in Pucallpa. I don’t really understand what they do there, but it’s an American base and they are all very nice. We called him up and he told us we could use their internet! :) So, I made him cookies and wrote a little thank you card for him and we got to go over there this afternoon and skype for like 4 hours! It was so great. :) Mitchell, my parents, Steph’s parents and a few of our friends at UC! :) I miss home a lot now tho. Sometimes it makes it harder to see everyone… But I loved every second of it. God is good, and I’m so thankful. :)
Well my computer is about dead and I’m really tired so I’m headed to bed! Good night all. Happy Sabbath!
Oh, one more quick story- I was outside doing my ab workout this morning and 2 of our guard dogs came up beside me and started licking me a walking all over my yoga mat! Then one of them- the big Rottweiler, Rufo- peed on my yoga mat!!!! I was so mad and I whacked him on the head and then he put his big slobbery mouth all over me! gross.

rice.

October 28, 2010 at 9:40 pm
WOW. How is it the end of October already?? That means it’s almost November, which means it’s almost Thanksgiving and then it’s Christmas and that means I get to see my Dad!! OH MY. I keep thinking about how it’s fall at home and everyone is probably pulling out their sweaters and scarves and such and I’m in shorts and a tank top sweating profusely every day. Haha :) I won’t have had winter in a year and a half! That’s so crazy, I think I’m going to forget what it’s like.
Well, today started early. Steph and I were on for breakfast and we were making a special one- beans, fried plantains, and arroz con leche. We got up at 5:30 and began our cooking extravaganza. I was in charge of making the arroz con leche. Well… first- I have never made rice in my life, second- I really had no idea how to make arroz con leche or how much of what to put in it, and third- I’m white, so my arroz con leche will never taste as good as if a Peruvian made it. But even tho there were so many factors against me I was determined to give it my best shot. Of course, I have see rice made many times here so I just pretended I knew what I was doing and measured out my rice and water and brought it to a boil and covered it. While it did it’s thing, I cut some more plantains for Steph as she was frying them. About 10 minutes into my rice cooking, I added 2 cans of milk, some sugar, a pinch of vanilla, and a few cinnamon sticks. It actually looked really good and I tasted it and it even tasted right! I was so excited that I hadn’t failed! Well, we got everything ready and I was so excited to serve it because this is the first time we’d had a breakfast like this. So, I told everyone “Esta es el mejor desayuno en todo el mundo.” (this is the best breakfast in the world.) They all thought it was funny and all were excited. When they got to my pot of arroz con leche, I heard some snickering from the local guys… I took a look and much to my dismay- my rice had ended up SUPER sticky!! It was terrible! My little heart was crushed…. Haha :) ok, it wasn’t that dramatic, but it was really sticky and I did feel bad. But, they graciously ate it and a couple of them fixed it up. I kept telling them I was sorry, but they insisted everything was fine. We have a good group of guys here. :) Anyway- breakfast really was a hit and I think I just need a little more practice with the arroz con leche. Just think, next year you yourself could be having some of my bomb Peruvian arroz con leche. What a treat. :)
Next item on the agenda was to go to Pucallpa. It was our day off today since we had a clinic on Sunday which is our normal day off. We headed out around 10 and spent a long day there. I got some good internet time and had a good lunch and all that good stuff. We also talked to our friend Gino a little bit, and that’s always fun. Gino is this hippie Peruvian guy who makes super cool jewelry. He sits on one corner in Pucallpa with his buds and they are so cool. They are so nice and chill and they help us with our Spanish. It’s so fun to talk to them and Gino said he would teach us how to make bracelets. Sometime we’re gonna do it.
I’m feeling VERY excited tonight because Steph and I get to skype Union tomorrow!!! AND not only do we get to skype union but we get to skype our families and I get to skype Mitchell!!! I was feeling very distressed because there is a lack of good and reliable internet here for us to use for skype. The internet cafes typically don’t have skype, and the 2 other places that we thought were going work didn’t work out. But after the robbery we made friends with this American guy who works at an anti-drug place here and so we called him up and he told us we could use his internet all afternoon! I’m so excited to sit in an air conditioned office and talk to the people I love. How could it get any better?! :)
On that note, I need to go to bed. Sorry about all the rambling news in this entry… Oh well. :) Good night!