Making Cookies, Sharing Cultures

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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.