Joanna's Journal: I'm really here!!!!!

Wow! I'm really living here in Peru... Eating it's food, meeting it's people, learning it's language (at least trying), trying to understand it's culture, going to their market, traveling in their driving contraptions, and seeing their children, teens, and everyone! Wow! It's pretty amazing! I don't don't I will fully understand the culture or language... I'm working on it!

Friday is pretty easy to sum up. The seminary doesn’t have classes on Fridays, so it is a good day to get things done! I’ve said before that Rachel helps Bethany with school, and she had these spelling tests that she needed some white out done on them. I helped her get that totally done for the year and all her work pages. Yes, it took a while, but it was something I could help with, and it was something she needed done! I also helped by taking pictures for her Bible story flash cards and putting them into power point. That will take longer, but it’s great for Oansa because all the kids can see them.

One really interesting thing I got to do was go to the Urubamba market place with Alicia. She is such a help to Rachel, and fun to be around for me too! I was talking with her today while we did a task, and even though her English is not really there, and I barely have any Spanish, we can still make ourselves understood. (which is really great)

We walked there to get fruit, sugar, and detergent. There were tons of people everywhere! All the ladies had their own booth selling their different wares. I had one picture with ½ of a fruit stand with every fruit you could imagine and then a few more. You could get fresh fruit for really cheap! Almost everything is inexpensive compared to the states, but gas is more (15 soles or $5 a gallon) We got apples, Peruvian mandarin oranges, grapes with seeds, carrots, and a mango. So far I’ve had an apple, so I need to get eating those tomorrow. It is easier to get some fruit, because if you go anywhere, generally you don’t get the salad because they don’t wash things carefully. Mounds of fruits, cheese, chicken, used to be part of a cow, sacks of potatoes, rice, grain, onions, pumpkins and squashes, and everything else you could imagine. I definitely want to go back some time again and get some more pictures.

We got everything we needed, and hopped a ride on a moto. I was worried when I first got here when we got a taxi/moto, because in the states, they are very expensive. Here, you can go anywhere in Urubamba generally for 3 soles or $1. We loaded ourselves in with our market bags, and headed home. It was bumpy, but worked geat!

I was really looking forward to Friday night, because that is when all the seminary students get together and play volleyball from 8-10. At first, I was wondering how it went, because no one really explained anything to me, but it’s all good. Everyone split up into teams of 5, and then teams 1 and 2 play. Whichever one loses is off, and the next team plays the winner. They play to 6. My team got 2 points in the first 2 games we played. Um, which means we had some waiting time. To wait, you have 2 options: play ping pong, or talk to friends. I did both, and thoroughly enjoyed! The ping pong is pretty great!

I got to talk to one girl on my team a bunch, Roxana. We are desk buddies in my class, and she seems like the cuddly teddy bear type. I was wondering how that was going to go when in my class she seemed really shy and quiet, but she is a bit shy, and mainly quiet, because she doesn’t know a bit of English. Our team did pretty well one game and won against one of the best teams. I knew a bunch of people on that team, but it is probably good I didn’t get on that team so I could meet some new people. One girl’s name is Jacqualine, and I ended up on her team. I met her once before, but could never get the right name to the right girl. I’m learning a LOT of names. We played and had a blast until it was 10. Can’t wait for next Friday! I’ve got to at least try to spike once. I mean, now is my chance the net is so short. All the girls are a good 5 inches shorter than me, and I think I’m taller than all the guys except one. (at the seminary at least… no one is very tall)

Saturday we headed for our goal of going to Cusco. Cusco is the town that I flew into when I got to Peru. It is 10,000 ft high, which is higher and colder than it is here in Urubamba. Rachel needed to get a few things and there was a teen rally at a church. Some of my friends from the seminary were going, and I thought that would be really neat. We packed to stay overnight so we could go to a church in Cusco the next morning. We took a moto to the bus stop, and got in a car headed for Cusco. We had 5 people in a 5 person car going around many mountain twists and turns… Rachel didn’t feel so great by the time we got there.

We arrived in Cusco, got our luggage, and headed for lunch. We ate at a Peruvian Sonney’s like restaurant. It was really really good! I got to have a lettuce salad! Most places that you go don’t wash their vegetables, so you don’t eat anything that isn’t cooked. It was really good with lettuce, cucumber, and carrot… Both Rachel and I got a ¼ roasted/rotisserie chicken that came with French fries. Oh, it was good! We headed to our hostel, known to Americans as a cheap hotel. (6 soles a person a night, which equals $4 ish) The hotel and room were very nice! It had 2 beds and a bathroom, and that’s about all it could fit. It was great!

Next, we went out to the flea market, which is a combination of garage sale with booths. They were selling literally everything! I was able to get a few things for friends/family in the states, and Rachel was able to get a “GPS text at all time from anywhere type of thing” for when she goes to the jungle. She got it for $25, and it costs $300 in the US. Good deal! It was sad/interesting to see all the old cell phones that people were selling. Especially the ones that guys were holding trying to sell, you could really tell those were stolen. There was everything from tires, to cell phones, to shoe laces, to books, to cloths, tourist stuff, and everything in between. Rachel and I were very careful that our stuff wouldn’t be the next to be sold. We carried our backpacks on the front to have them extra secure.

We got back to the hotel to freshen up for church, and then headed out again. We got a taxi for all our transportation needs here in Cusco. We went to this total tourist plaza where there are booths and booths of Peru stuff. I got a good deal on everything I got. We headed to dinner in their very new and booming mall that just opened in November. This place was packed, also because the only and new movie theater just opened since the time I was here. Rachel says that those are the hardest people to reach in Peru. Like Revelation 3:17 that talks about how they think they have everything because they have possessions/wealth. Rachel makes it a point to talk to the janitors though, because they think they are of a lower class and wow, they are talking to me sort of thing. We had a… you probably didn’t guess it… Papa John’s Pizza. I have had pizza once here, but it really did not even stand a close race with the real Papa John’s. (probably also because I had pineapple and ham…:)

We got to the church, walked in, and the only people that were there were about 7 guys. I was like…”Oh, great! I thought my friends (esp. the GIRLS) from the seminary were going to be here, and now I’m all the way in Cusco to have a youth rally with 7 guys.” Rachel talked with this one guy, and we went out back to the kitchen. It was a welcome sight to see Roxana shouting my name and giving me a hug (Sigh of relief) along with a bunch of other people I knew. They were working on making sandwiches for later. The church ended up having about 80 teens there, which is great! There are sooo many family connections!!! Rachel tried to explain, and I usually end up smiling, but really not understanding %90.

They had songs, a service on the life of David from what I could gather, then the teens preformed a song too. Dominican days… We got split up into teams by what candy piece we had for a game. Ok, I was sick, and a sick, tired, American English brain doesn’t do well with a trivia game. The board was set up like battle ship, with trivia questions, extra rules about the points and candy that my English brain didn’t get, and then for the final question like Jeopardy. I was pretty exhausted when Rachel and I left. It was a fun evening! (just wish I felt a bit better…) Like I said earlier, Cusco is higher and colder than Urubamba, so I really layered up! I had on leggings under my pants, a long sleeve undershirt, long sleeve shirt, and sweatshirt. When I was outside, I added a scarf and sock hat. Yeah, it’s cool, but as long as you have enough layers, your good. It’s not unbearable at all. Now Puno… (the town to the south that we will be headed to on the seminary missions trip in July) is known to be very chilly.

We got to the hostel after taking the bus and a taxi. The bus was an interesting experience, but was very empty. (everyone had their own seat). We crashed at the hotel, and I hoped that my coughing wouldn’t keep her awake, but we both slept well.

Sunday came very soon! We got ready for church, and then headed out for breakfast at McDonalds. Yes, very Peruvian. I have eaten a variety of food, some American, and some very Peruvian! We both got pancakes and a sandwich. (The pancakes were REALLY good!) Rachel and I are working through a devotional in Nehemiah, so that has been good! We walked through downtown Cusco on our way to the hostel. I think Cusco’s anniversary is coming up, and there were a lot of people in their dress up traditional dress. Some wear clothes like that all the time, but others wear it for parades and such.

At church (Calvary Baptist in Cusco… or something like that), I saw Milka and Lisbeth, 2 girls from Urubamba that go to that church every week as their outreach church. (All the seminary students help with a church somewhere in all different places) Both of them are really sweet even though I know Milka more because she is in my class. We sang, listened to preaching on Revelation and enduring persecution. It was good, from what little I could understand. J I’m keeping on trying. J I can understand more than when I came, I can carry on a slight conversation, I can make myself understood (usually), I can read/sing with decent pronunciation, and I can read my class notes and get the general gist. J I got to meet some friends of Rachel’s that used to go to the seminary etc. and everyone was very friendly. The custom in Cusco mainly (some in Urubamba, but not as much) is to kiss everybody. I’m serious… I kissed more people Sunday, than in the rest of my life put together.

We headed out kinda quickly because we wanted to get back so I could skype with Daniel before his church. The internet wasn’t working at all, but I still got to chat. J We headed to the grocery store to pick up a few munchies for the 1 ½ hour ride back. I got a yogurt parfait. Now, get the mental picture of thick, creamy, sweet stuff out of your mind. This was pretty liquidy, but the chocolate crunchy balls that you put in, made it a bit thicker. It was very good! I enjoyed. Now, I let Rachel have the cheese and crackers. That is one thing that I can stomach if I have to obviously, but is definitely not preferred….the cheese… When you have some squeaky, bouncy thing in your sauce over your rice for lunch one day at the seminary, you tend to stay away from cheese after that.

We rode back in a van to Urubamba. We got the front with the driver, which is good for sickness. He actually was a good driver. Most of the time used 2 hands, and didn’t weave in and out quite so much. (also with a van that’s harder). Rachel shared some of our snacks, and then got into a very deep conversation with the driver about Christianity, different things going on in his life, etc. I read/skimmed through the book of Hebrews looking for the verse 1 Tim 2:5. How there is 1 mediator between God and man. He was very very open, and Rachel left him with a NT and tracts. It ends out that he lives very close to everything here in Urubamba. It was a neat opportunity that she had, and she was exhausted by the time we got back. (an aside note… the mountains here are sooo beautiful, that I put a few more pictures in :)

This weekend started the month long parade/celebration celebrating the patron saint of Urubamba. People come from all over Peru for this. People get dressed up in traditional costumes from where they are from, or skimpy costumes and dance and bands play music all up and down the streets. Rachel said that this will go on strong every weekend for a month. It’s Monday at midnight when I’m writing this, and I can still hear the music. They will shoot off fireworks at ALL hours of the day. (noon, evening, and midnight) It’s really very sad because there isn’t anything holy or god honoring about this festival. It’s kinda like they mix what they want, and what they think is fun, or a good time with the church to make it ok. Drunkenness, thievery, and immorality/immodesty is rampant. Rachel and I picked up plastic bottles for a project she is working on, and there were glass bottles and metal lids strewn about the streets too. It’s very sad. The main “article” this is all about is a wooden cross with a painting of Jesus’ head at the top. I haven’t seen it yet, but she says that over the years it’s accumulated a lot of pancho like cloths that they put on the cross. (2 or 3 at a time) They send to Italy for cloth blessed by the Vatican, or cloth made with threads of gold etc. Thousands of US dollars are spent on this. It’s a very sad situation.

I was talking to Racquel at church and we stood near the door by the road where the parade route went RIGHT by the church, and she was saying how cold those people must be. (and they must have been, because I was cold with all of my layers) I said to her, “Es triste, porque ellos no tienen esperanza.” It’s sad because they have no hope. (if you know Spanish…hey, I’m trying:) That’s why these missionaries are here, and that’s why they are training these Peruvians at the seminary, to show Peru that they can have hope!

I said that before church, we picked up bottles. (next post to follow) Church was good. As always I enjoy the music immensely. (as long as I have my candy to suck on (thanks to Christin) and my water, I can make it without coughing too much) I could understand the message totally though! Mainly because it was in both English and Spanish. Mr. Pat Campbell spoke on the 7 churches in Revelation, and Mr. Eric Pardine translated. It was a very good message! We came back to the house to get ready for the next week ahead.

There is my weekend in a nutshell. I had this whole thing typed out, and then when I went to post it, it disappeared… all of it except my first paragraph. Hey… stuff like that happens eventually to everybody. Thanks for your thoughts and prayers as I’m here in Peru this summer. I’ve got to cherish my few days here, because they are slipping by quickly!

Culture tidbits…

1. When you want a person to come, you wave down, not up.

2. Peruvians eat all their food and then drink their drink. (and most Peruvians dislike water)

3. You always have soup before your main dish at lunch

4. Don’t say adios… that means goodbye forever! Chao is preferred. (I think that is how you spell it. Sounds like “chow”)

5. Don’t say hola… you say hola to kids, and kids say hola. “Buenos días, buenas tardes, or buenas noches” is the preferred greeting.

6. The busy stoplights have police that direct traffic all the time. If the policeman says it, you follow him.

7. I don’t jump anymore when a car honks while we are walking in the street. (btw, that’s normal)

8. Everyone is hermano/hermana here at the seminary. You call ladies “mommy” that you’ve never met before. (like, “How much does this cost mommy?”)

Just a few things I thought of…

After Sunday church in Cusco. They go to this church every Sunday. Milka is the one next to me, and she is in my class. She is very sweet, helps in Oansa, and is fun to talk to! Lisbeth is next to her. She has a fun personality, even though I don't know her too well. She likes practicing her English on me, and we get along great!

fruit stand in the market

The teen rally game that was split into groups. There was probably 80 teens there. (Which goes from 12 to unmarried)

On the drive back from Cusco this afternoon. It's so beautiful!

Traditional Peruvian. Some people wear clothes similar to this everyday, and others are dressed up for parades and such.

Church in Cusco Sunday morning. You can tell where Rachel is! It fills up more as the service goes on. If I'm sitting near the front, later when I look back, I'm ALWAYS surprised to see who all is there. It keeps filling up.