Creemos en la Paz

I know that everyone always says “time flies” but the last month truly slipped through my fingers.

Let’s break it down: Last Tuesday, Wilfredo picked up his new car. As a Mission Center President, the Community of Christ church provides Wilfredo with a car. His old car, a Daihatsu, was…well…old. The first time I was in that car and Wilfredo tried to drive it up the hill to Monte Sion, the car died and we, very cautiously, backed down the hill, which was delightfully horrifying. The Daihatsu is also a VERY small car, which is unfortunate, because Monte Sion is about 40 minutes away, and more than once we’ve had to cram four people into the minuscule backseat of the Daihatsu.



Churros are not helping me in the "gordita" department.

An added bonus to this is that it always provokes the charming conversation of, “Quien es mas gordita? Las Hermanas!” Allow me to translate that for you—in Peru, it’s not awkward to call someone fat. It’s normal. And, generally speaking, adding “ito” or “ita” to the end of something means it’s little and cute and you’re fond of it. So by saying someone is “gordo” which literally means “fat” and changing it to “gordita” essentially means that person is a little fat—but you like it. Regardless, I still don’t being designated the most “gordita” in the car. And while, frankly, it’s important the fattest person in the car sit in the front seat, it’s an awkward conversation for Katrina and I—especially because one of us (“Las Hermanas!”) always ends up being the lucky “mas gordita” winner.


Moving on, Wilfredo now has a 2013 Tucson there is plenty of space in the backseat and it can successfully climb the hill to Monte Sion. Muy bien.

Wednesday, Katrina and I were in class with our teacher, Carolina, and our classmate, Emily (who’s from France and speaks Spanish with a glorious French accent) and I, admittedly, was zoning out a bit. Then everyone stopped talking about looking at the table. I had no idea what we were talking about, but looked at the table too—and it took me a second to realize the coffee in my coffee cup (that was NOT successfully keeping me awake) was shaking—and we were definitely having an earthquake. Our classroom is on the sixth floor of an older building and that put Carolina on edge. She was living in Lima in 2007 when there was an 8.0 earthquake that did some decent damage to the city. Supposedly Lima is due for another “big one” anytime now. Regardless, this particular earthquake was in Arequipa, a district in the south of Peru, and we only felt a slight tremor of it for about 30 seconds in Lima. It was enough to catch my attention though—living in the Midwest my whole life, this was a new experience for me.  



With our teacher Carolina on the last day of class!

The rest of our school week was fairly calm after that, and Friday Katrina and I said a sad goodbye to Emily and Carolina, since it was our last day of class. I loved having class and I’d happily take more if they were free—but that’s not how businesses work and it was time for Katrina and I to move on. I do feel like we learned some great things during class though, and I plan on studying on my own now that class is over.

And that brings us to Saturday—which is when we celebrated the International Day of Peace in Monte Sion. We started the day with some volleyball games on the big field the Peruvian government built right in front of the church. Team Callao (aka my team) promptly lost and we were by far the worst team of the night—but I had a pretty enjoyable time losing. After the games, we sang a few songs, Wilfredo shared a few words, and some young adults in the congregation performed a dance. The highlight of the night was when all the kids dipped their hands in paint and we made a giant banner with a dove on it commemorating the day. We ended the night with fireworks (that were shaped like a peace dove) and went home tired, but happy with how the day went.

Yesterday, Katrina and I spent most of our day with Virgilio, an Elderin the Filidelfia congregation. We had some great food, finally got to meet his wife and got to have great conversation about everything from the festival in Peru where people eat cats (this isn’t a joke—there’s honestly a festival where people eat cats) to preaching styles and techniques.

Today, we got to spend more time with Bill and Lela Ayers before they headed back to Arizona. We hadn’t seen Bill and Lela for a few weeks and it was wonderful to get to hear about their journey through Peru and the jungle. We wandered through the markets of downtown Lima, had a delicious lunch, and rounded out the day with ice cream. We dropped the Ayers off at the airport just before dinner and said some sad goodbyes.

Ahead of us this week is a lot of discussion—planning our time in Huanaco, planning a trip to Cusco, and planning our trip home for Christmas. Hopefully next week I’ll have some concrete details on all three of these for you! Until then—Adios.  

A Series of Unfortunate Events

Oddly enough, “fatty week” was instantly followed by “barfy week.” Allow me to explain.

Most nights, Katrina and I eat dinner with our host family. This usually looks like about 6 or 7 people crammed around a small table, all chewing absent mindedly while engrossed in our favorite telanovela, “Mi Amor Watchimon 2.” However, last Tuesday night was a different story.

Katrina and I wandered downstairs and heated up our dinner before everyone else got home. Most nights, everyone gets home around 9 p.m. from the work day (which is crazy to me.) For some reason or another Tuesday was the day everyone was out late, so Katrina and I served up our plates and turned on “Watchimon” with just the two of us.  Dinner was some type of meat I hadn’t seen before, but in all honesty, that doesn’t phase me anymore, because I eat things I don’t recognize here at least once a week. So we came, we ate, we conquered. Done deal.

I don't have pictures from barf week--but here's me in a mall.

The following day was completely normal. Katrina and I went to class, achieved our furthest run to date, and had some pasta for lunch. As we prepared for a meeting with some church members that night, I started getting heart burn like I’ve never had it before. I took a pill, but the pain persisted. I took a nap, but woke up 45 minutes later feeling significantly worse. Then I spent the first 45 minutes of our meeting dry heaving into the toilet, trying to get myself together enough to go to the meeting. I finally resigned that I wasn’t going to be useful in the meeting in my state and threw myself into my bed.

Later that night, I woke up with a horrifying realization: I was going to vomit in approximately three seconds. Luckily, I’d planned a head and put a just-in-case trashcan next to my bed. After that pleasant affair, I deemed myself unable to attend class the next morning and told myself I’d just sleep off whatever this was. I’d be fine by morning.

I was wrong.

I was sweaty and feverish throughout the next day. I couldn’t eat—which for me, is a big deal. Worse, Katrina came back from class early. Similar to my experience, she’d felt fine all morning, then was suddenly struck with a glamorous fit of vomiting. We definitely had something bigger than a bug and since we both had similar symptoms, we began to suspect our food was the cause. 

We did some research.

Turns out our mystery meet was sheep and something about that sheep didn’t like us one bit (which is ironic since my last name is Shephard). The rest of the week consisted of turbulent stomachs and spells of feeling completely normal one minute, then feeling absolutely awful the next. Finally, Katrina broke down and bought some more of the antibiotics I took when I got sick in July. Sunday, I broke down and went to the clinic.

Now, I know people have horror stories about going to clinics in foreign countries, but I’m going to go ahead and say that when you feel awful, a dark and dirty clinic seems like heaven. They told me they wanted me to take three types of pills and give me three types of shots. Frankly, I’m still not confident what of I’ve been taking and what they pumped my full of with that giant shot, but I do know that I feel a heck of a lot better.

Now—while all of this was going on, let me add one tiny detail: Katrina was preaching last weekend and I was presiding. So between unfortunate bowel moments (you’re welcome for that detail) and massive quantities of sleep, we spent every somewhat normal feeling moment trying to prepare for church that weekend.  

Katrina was first up to bat with her sermon in Monte Sion on Saturday. Katrina wasn’t overly pleased with the outcome, but it was one of my favorite services we’ve been to since I came to Peru. We didn’t have any musical instruments, PowerPoint presentations, speakers or flashy technology; we just had a low key, quiet and peaceful service together. Perhaps my favorite part was that none of us were particularly strong singers, nor familiar with the songs for that night. Nonetheless, everyone belted out each hymn, often out of sync with each other, off pitch and while clapping off beat. And there was something fantastically humbling and comforting about it.

Sunday was my turn to preside in Filidelfia. Now let me give you this extra detail: that morning in the clinic, the nurse had a hard time injecting me with the monster giant needle they deemed necessary. Eventually she just added some pain killer to the injection, I guess to make up for how many times she was stabbing me with the needle. Let me tell you—that pain medicine was STRONG. For a good ten minutes I didn’t even know if I’d be able to stand up during church, not to mention preside. Luckily, the medicine wore off before church began.

 

For my first time presiding in Filidelfia, I thought things went well. The service progressed without any major glitches, Wilfredo delivered a wonderful sermon, and I chalked up a little more experience under my belt. When it comes to presiding, one of the major challenges for me here is picking songs. The hymnal here has some songs that we use in the English hymnal, but most of the book is new to me. I was able to find hymns I liked—but next time I’m definitely going to work harder to make sure the songs really fit the theme.  

This week is already off to a good start with some exciting happenings in the works (and spoiler alert, Wilfredo got his new car!) The weekend should be packed full—we’re preparing some big events for the upcoming International Day of Peace. I’ll keep you posted!

The Week that shall Forever be Known as 'Fatty Week'

Alright, since I’m updating a little earlier this time around, I’m going to add some detail that I  glazed over last week. 


My fantastic drink at Juan Valdez!

Last week was what Katrina and I so kindly titled “Fatty Week.” To better describe it, let me recap the fatness that occurred.

The primary scene of the crime was Miraflores. Every day in Miraflores, Katrina and I walk past this place called 'Manolo' that has a glorious window full of hot churros. Every day, I eyeball them longingly as we walk to school. And last Monday, I caved in and bought one. Everyone in our host family tells us not to buy things in Miraflores because it's more expensive there, but I couldn’t help myself. The four soles was worth it—the dulce de leche churro was the most delicious churro I’ve ever had.

And it all went downhill from there.

Tuesday, Katrina and I stopped by Starbucks and I had to sample a banana muffin and the Algarrobina Frappuccino. Good Morning America did a special on the best Starbucks drinks from around the world and Peru’s Algarrobina drink made #7. Algarrobina is a syrup made from the Black Carob tree and is basically like honey and sugar (super healthy, right?).



A sampler of some different types of fish at Tanta!

Wednesday after class, Katrina and I grabbed ice cream cones from Bembos (they’re less than a dollar, we couldn’t say no!) We slurped them like a couple of happy children as we waited for the combi. Bembos is about the equivalent of Dairy Queen in the States. We also walk past this delicious temptation every day on our way to class. Miraflores really knows how to lure in the tourists.


Thursday, it was time to try the chocolate churros from Manolo. And if that wasn’t enough, that night we headed to Juan Valdez with Wildredo. Juan Valdez is a Colombian coffee shop that can compete with the best of the best. I tried something called the Arequipa (a city in Peru) that was simply to die for.

Friday, Katrina and I had to stop by Dunkin Donuts. We simply had to. We’d tried Starbucks and Juan Valdez in Peru, but we just couldn’t compare the coffee shops without including Dunkin Donuts. It makes sense, right?  All I wanted was coffee…but they had a great deal on the Tutti Fruti donuts. So that happened too.

Friday, Bill and Lela Ayers, Community of Christ members from Arizona, flew in to Lima. The Ayers are going on an exciting excursion through Peru (including some time in the jungle!) but first, they wanted to stop in and hang out with the Community of Christ congregations in Lima. We met up with them in Miraflores and ate at a place called Tanta. Tanta was started by a famous Peruvian chef named Gaston and we were excited to give the restaurant a try. It didn’t disappoint: the fish was top notch. Disney said it well: ‘My, what a guy, that Gaston.’  

Saturday was like Christmas, because Lela and Bill gave us snacks from the United States. Reeses and Sour Worms and Chocolate Raisins: Oh my! Not to mention two giant jars of peanut butter from Katrina’s grandma. On top of that, the Ayers treated us to a fantastic lunch, where I tried a dish called Tacu Tacu for the first time. Tacu Tacu is a rice and bean mix and it came was a gigantic (and delicious) pork chop.

Sunday, I had to try another type of Churro (because churros are like Pokemon—you’ve got to catch them all.): This time around the flavor was lucma. Lucma is a very sweet fruit in Peru that tastes like a mixture of sugar and butterscotch. Afterwards, the Ayers treated us to another fantastic lunch and I was able to give Cicharron de Pescado a try. It turns out ‘Chicharron’ means fried; so, naturally, the meal was delicious. We rounded out the night with some fantastic cake for Lela’s birthday, and thus fatty week had the perfect ending. (Do I need mention that Katrina and I had two pieces of cake?)

 

Also, I feel compelled to tell you that Katrina and I bought a box of Sublime somewhere during the weekend, that we will continue to eat for the next two weeks. Fatty week is the gift that keeps giving.

All of this being said, I realize I should probably include something substantial in this post besides what I ate this week.

We spent most of our weekend with Bill and Leyla, showing them a few things around Lima and Callao. Friday, we went to Parque del Amor, which is a neat little place with famous quotes about love. Naturally, the park was full of real, Peruvian lovers (go figure.) It overlooks the ocean and I’m told at sunset the view is simply magnificent. Unfortunately it was a cloudy day, so we’ll have to return later (hopefully at a time when our Spanish is a little stronger so we can better appreciate the quotes.)

Saturday, Katrina presided in Monte Sion and we had a wonderful night full of testimonies. Bill said a few words and some local congregation members spoke about everything from their childhood memories to recent pregnancy struggles. The Peruvians do a lot of things well (singing, dancing, birthdays, cooking, etc.) but one thing they truly excel at is giving testimonies. Even with the language barrier, you can tell when someone is speaking from the heart.

Sunday was my first time preaching in Filidelfia. Despite some technical difficulties, the sermon went more smoothly than my last one, although there’s still room for improvement. I’m excited for the day that I’m fluent enough to not have to read my sermon—it’s such a bland presentation and it goes against everything I learned with my teaching certification. Poco a poco (little by little), we’ll get there. Until then, I’ll keep trucking!

Mistura

So far September has been a busy month and I don’t see it slowing down anytime soon! Let me give you a quick recap.

Tuesday: Katrina and I taught our first English class in Filidelfia. We really weren’t sure where to start, because we had idea how much English our students had been exposed to. After about five minuets of class, we realized we’d need to start at the very beginning, which was somewhat comforting to us. Learning a new language is HARD, I don’t care what anyone else says. It was nice to have someone trudging through the language trenches with us.

Wednesday: We had our first class computer class. Katrina and I have taken on the somewhat daunting task of teaching the older members of our congregation about technology. For anyone that has helped a parent or grandparent with technology, even without the language barrier, you can understand the difficulties that come with this. But really, the class was fun—it was uplifting to see how fascinated some of the students were with technology and it was a good chance to bond with congregation members we don’t usually see.


Ceviche with salsa de maracuya! My favorite dish from Mistura.

 Friday: I was in charge of the bible study class at Monte Sion for the first time. Katrina and I have taught the class together before, but this was my first time being completely in charge. The class went surprisingly well—I’ve had a hard time trying to talk to a large group in Spanish, but this time around things went smoothly. I think our Spanish classes have really helped my confidence.

Saturday: It was my first time teaching the young adult class in quite a while. The theme of the week was Jeremias 18, the story of the potter and the clay. This gave us the chance to have a little bit of fun with Play Doh and do something a little more hands on. I think this is definitely the direction I want to take the class; it lets them have some fun and it gives me a break from lecturing in Spanish.

Sunday: In the morning, Katrina, the Paz family and I went to Mistura, a giant food festival sponsored by a famous Peruvian chef, Gaston, as well as the Peruvian government. Like any country, food is a huge part of culture here. Unlike every other country, Peruvian food is wildly diverse. Peru has a large population from both China and Japan, so you Asian influences, you, of course, have Spanish influences, and then you have what’s leftover from the native south American culture. When they mix, you get Mistura, a festival with everything from the heart of an alpaca, to fried guniea pig, to quinoa, to chocolate covered fruit. The event was simply wonderful. We had some amazing ceviche (raw fish soaked in lime juice), tried some pork, sampled a dish with rice and seafood, and rounded out the day with cremolada (similar to ice cream) and chocolate covered strawberries and more! AND the sun came out! Overall, it was a great day.


And that brings us to this week. Katrina and I have been continuing our classes in Miraflores, and we’ve picked up a few new verb tenses. This week we also got a classmate, Emily from England. Things have been going well and we’ve, quite humorously, discovered the negative side of learning Spanish through a church. For example, we thought the Spanish word for neighbor was “projimo” because we heard it used in church; however, “projimo” is a very biblical word and modern day speakers say “vecino.” So basically, Katrina and I have been walking around speaking like, “Thou shalt not eat before swimming.”

 

This weekend, I’m preaching in Filidelfia and I’m excited for the opportunity to improve from last time. The theme is “Rejoice! The Lost is Found!” and I’m incorporating the movie Lilo and Stitch into my sermon. The movie works quite well with the theme, and I’m thankful to be able to use some clips to give me a break from speaking. I’ll let you know how it goes!

Combi 101: Our Trek To Miraflores

It’s been a long day in Peru, but a good one!

First thing’s first: last weekend’s activities. Last weekend was a different one for Katrina and I because it was our first time being in Peru without Wilfredo. Right now Wilfredo is off on church duty in Bolivia. This changes things in Peru for a few reasons: 1. Wilfredo and his brother Prudencio are the only people we know in Callao with cars (thus we’re using public transit to get to church events this week). 2. Wilfredo is the main chaperon figure for Katrina and I during our time with World Service Corps. 3. Wilfredo is a big leader in the church here. But, we kept calm and carried on.

Saturday was my second time preaching in Peru. My first time preaching for a condescended service, so, really, this was my first time giving a full-fledged sermon. I was really nervous, and in all honesty, it showed. I struggled with my nerves and with my pronunciation throughout the sermon. It was a bit rough, but the crowd at Monte Sion that day was quite modest, so, if nothing else, not too many people saw my struggle. Later this month I’ll be preaching again, this time in Filidelfia, so I’ll have the chance to redeem myself then. Until then, the past is the past. One more sermon under my belt.  

The view from one of the classrooms at Peruwayna

After being so involved on Saturday in Monte Sion, I was able to relax and enjoy the service on Sunday in Filidelfia, which was a nice way to round out the week. And that brings us to this week and our grand adventure with our Spanish class.  

Katrina and I have been in Peru for nearly eight weeks and, frankly, we haven’t been learning Spanish quickly enough. When you tell people that you’re moving to a foreign country, everyone tells you, “Oh, give it a month and you’ll be fluent in a new language!!” Well let me go ahead and clarify things for you—that’s not accurate.  You don’t become fluent in a language just by hanging out in a foreign country. It’s hard and it’s frustration. Katrina and I came to the realization that we need help, so we enrolled in a month long class at a placed called Peruwayna in Miraflores.

Now, I’m from the Midwest, and I don’t specialize in public transit. So, when I realized the commute to Miraflores would be over an hour long, with just Katrina, during rush hour traffic, by  combi (which  gives me motion sickness), I was a little hesitant. But, it’s either brave the commute or don’t take a class, so at 7 a.m. this morning, Katrina and I left the apartment a nervous, but determined. Graciela was amazing (as always) and made us an HerbaLife shake for breakfast and gave me some tea that she said would help with the motion sickness.

Katrina and I headed to the highway to find a combi to Miraflores and there was about 10 minutes where combi after combi passed us by and NONE of them were Miraflores bound. So, when we finally saw one headed that way, sausaged full of people, Katrina and I added to the chaos and somehow managed to cram two more bodies into said combi.

Now here’s a little piece of Rush Hour in a Combie 101 —this game is lawless. Personal space does not exist. It WILL smell. At all times, you will be smashing, quite roughly, into at least five people. Your bag is in someone’s face, someone’s smashed up against your butt, and don’t worry if there’s nothing to hold on to—chances are you won’t fly out the open door since you’re all crammed in so tightly you can’t move. There was about 10 minutes where I had nothing to hold onto and simply kept myself balanced with my head, which was crammed up against the roof of the van. (Sidenote: I’m tall in Peru, which is USUALLY a cool thing.) After about 15 minutes of standing in the combi, and getting out of the combi at stops, so other people could squeeze out, then getting back on, fate smiled upon me: a seat came open and I wedged myself into it.

Now let me be clear about something: sitting on a combi is only better than standing because you aren’t in everyone’s way when they’re trying to get out. That’s the only reason it’s better. Because when you’re sitting, you have at least one crotch, one butt and one purse/backpack in your face and on your lap. The good thing about this is that when Dramamine puts you in a sleep coma, it’s virtually impossible to get comfy and doze in these conditions—so no need to worry about dozing through your stop.

After about an hour in the combi, we at last arrived at the “ovalo”, tumbled out of the combi, booked it on foot, discovered our building and headed upstairs for class. Our success in this mission was 90 percent help from other, 10 percent dumb luck.

Katrina and I are enrolled in “small group” classes and that tile holds true: we’re the only ones in our class! Now, being teacher certified, I began our class a little skeptical (Peruwayna isn’t your traditional classroom) however, after four hours in class, I’d warmed up to it and I’m excited to see what the rest of the week brings. AND, there’s free coffee at our school. AND it’s not instant coffee AND is has caffeine, which is an all-around win.

And so begins Katrina and I’s very busy September. We’re taking classes in Miraflores from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. every day (with a roughly one hour, twenty minute commute), trying to keep up our workout routine, and starting two new classes for our congregations. The first, is English lessons for the children in Filidelfia. The second, is a technology class for the older members of our congregation. Between our homework, normal church responsibilities, and these new additions to our routine September is going to be VERY full, but I think it will be a good thing. After all, we’re here to learn Spanish and work hard. Check and check.