Life in Peru

Hello World!!!
Wow it has been a while since I have had time to write a blog! Lo siento! I now have been in the jungle for over a month and have less than 3 months left here. There are so many things that have happened and so many things that I am waiting to experience. Okay I left my last blog at waiting to go to Huanuco so I shall start there.
Huanuco is a town in the sierra about 6 hours away from here. There are three regions in Peru, the coast, the mountains, and the jungle. I now know all three! The food, clothes, homes, lifestyles, jobs, and motorcars change depending on which region your in. To get to Huanuco we had to take a rental car, but here that means find a taxi that is willing to drive you to Huanuco for a good deal. We had to leave at 2 in the morning to get to the taxi so we would have more day time in Huanuco. The drive was 4 hours to Tinga Maria, then 2 more for Huanuco. Eveyln and I did not sleep at all but yooms passed out. The driver was crazy and the whole time it was like a roller coaster. There was a little vomiting action going on and a lot of really tired people. But when we got to Tinga Maria we all took pills that calm nausea and make you sleep. So the next two hours were great. We made it in good time and found the cheapest hotel possible in the plaza for the night. In Peru when you rent a hotel room you have to leave your key at the front desk when you leave, a little sketch but hey you gotta do what you gotta do. In Huanuco we met up with a lady from our church in San Jose. She happened to be an English teacher here so it was fun to practice Spanish and English with her. We went on a tour of the city to all the famous places, a church, a distillery, to the house of a famous actress of the past, and to the grounds of a temple for the Incas. The temple was so cool, it was a church only for getting married and had a place for the offerings, the fire, and the people. It was called “crossed hands” because of the powers you receive when you get married. In the middle of this we had lunch at the best restaurant in Huanuco for eating Guinea Pig, “Cuy”. I had seen pictures but was not prepared for what showed up on the table. It literally had the little hands, face, eyeballs, teeth, everything. I had ordered the second most famous dish of the selva, “pachamanca” or meat cooked in the ground for hours. Evelyn and I were freaking out about the cuy but ayumi and cesar were just teasing us the whole time. I ate some of cesars after he removed it from the body for me. It actually tasted pretty good but it was impossible for me to eat more than one bite because the little faces were staring at me from the plate. After the day of adventure we went to dinner with the lady and just heard her life story. Every day here I learn something new through the stories and requests for prayer. We had bomb chinese food for dinner as we shared advice. That night was an interesting night for ayumi and I in the hotel. The cold water stopped working when we were brushing our teeth so we just used the hot water, but forgot to turn off the cold. So at three am I hear water in the bathroom, which is normal for my house here because when the water is on it trickles in the toilet, so I thought nothing of it and went back to sleep. Ten minutes after there is a loud knock on the door, ayumi rolls over, I stay quiet because we had a room to ourselves. The knocks get louder and louder and there is a man screaming through the door. I go to ask who it was but I was asleep so my Spanish was not at its best. Anyways it’s the man from the front desk yelling at me about the water in the bathroom and telling me im going to pay for it in the morning. I just said thanks good night after he turned it off. When I returned to bed I lay there thinking oh gosh how am I going to explain this to evey and cesar tomorrow. It turned out to just be a joke for us after because the guy at the hotel didn’t do anything and now we just laugh about how deep a sleeper ayumi is. The next day we went to the house of the lady living in Huanuco to bring her breakfast, have a mini service, and pray over her. I love that part of my life here. Everyday God sends people to our house to listen to, offer advice, and pray over. She was much happier and was filled with peace thanks to God and we were able to leave knowing things were better with her. The ride back was much better because the driver was much slower, we had the pills ahead of time, and we weren’t tired. It was a successful weekend!
God is so awesome. He literally changes me every day here. I am learning so much living in San Jose, living with the family, and through praying with the people here. I have been on vacation from my internship for 2 weeks because its vacations here in Peru. This means we had a lot to celebrate in my house in the last two weeks. There are festivals in all the schools to celebrate the history of Peru. I went to one of the missionaries daughters school and my host brothers to watch the typical dances and hear the history. Its amazing the different outfits they have here and how the people still wear them and live the same as their ancestors. Also every week we have band practice twice for the church praise band. Thursday nights and Friday nights but this last week we had double practice to prepare for the holidays. I love my time in band practice. I just sit, pray, learn how to praise God in Spanish, and grab water for all the band members. They literally have become my family here. But the holidays we had independence day which in our house we through a karaoke night. Karaoke is much different here, everyone participates, we dance to all the songs, and whoever is the main leader of the song picks 4 people to help them. We bought all the popular Peruvian snacks and spent 3 hours singing and dancing into the night with rented strobe lights and everything. I learned how to dance the cumbia which is the most popular dance here. Then Saturday was the first time peru has ever had thanksgiving. So everyone from the church came to our house for a huge dinner and service. It was a grand thanksgiving.
The Band:
Wow what can I even say about the band that will help you understand how awesome they are!! The people all have huge hearts for the Lord and for serving Him. When there is someone in the band going through a time of struggles or hardships they choose to leave the stage until they are able to sing with full hearts of praise. This is so that everyone in the church can praise God with clarity and there is no confusion. The people in the band have become my closest friends. There is Melody, she is 22 and is in the choir. She helps out at my house 3 days a week as well so I have gotten to know her through that as well. She always braids my hair, goes out with me in town, and we talk all day long when she is working. She has a lot of patience with me and is just an awesome person. Lilian is in the choir as well and she is like my sister here. I share a room with her, we face similar problems that were working through together, and she is always with me when we pray for people in the house as well. Asusanna is the mom of one of my friends here and she always greets me with warm hugs and news of her two daughters sending me love. Then there is Julio, he is the only boy in the choir. He is always dressed super modern and is super, I don’t have the word but he always is smiling, always kisses hello and good bye, always says thank you.. some times he acts embarrassed but I think its part of his games. He is studying to be a police man right now and is not around as much as the others. I have only got to talk with him a couple times but I hope to more in the future. That is the choir with Cesar my host dad as the lead singer. The lead guitarist is Kenji. I spend the most time with Kenji than any other boy here because he works in the garden at my house two days a week, he is brothers with melody, and I am pretty sure his family wants me to marry him. I get invited to a lot of things with their family so it is good for me but I want to make it clear that I only want a relationship with someone because its what God wants not because I am white, their sisters want it, or their parents want it. So I do a lot of things with Kenji and share a l lot of stuff with him but right now its better as just friends. He is a hard worker, is teaching me guitar, and I am teaching him English, we share our dreams, and a lot of the time we just play guitar and sing praise music together. I had a huge conflict in the last week with deciding to do or not do a camp here. He helped me really weigh the options and understand the cultures response to my decision through conversation and prayer. Then there is alex, he is the back up guitar but I don’t talk with him much because he is really shy around me. I get that a lot here, its either really shy or really eager to talk to me. The last person in the band is Rotman, the drummer. At first I had no idea what he was saying to me ever because he speaks in the tone of voice of the jungle. The only way to explain it is that when he speaks it sounds more like a song. But now I can talk to him and listen to his story. His family lives in lima and he lives alone here. He works alone as well but plays soccer with my families team here. I asked him one day who his best friend was here and he said he didn’t have anyone in the pueblo that he had confidence with. Of course this is a mission for me and now rotman and I are really good friends. One night we sat outside for 4 hours talking about our dreams, our pasts, our fears, our favorite food, and everything under the stars here. The stars here are indescribable. The milky way is so bright and the moon is so close! I love looking at the stars every night but always return to my room with bug bites. My new favorite thing is to motorcar it up to the river to watch the sun set.. it is so beautiful that my breath literally gets taken away. The other day rotman took ayumi and I to the land of the future church and I swear it is the most beautiful place I have ever been. As we drove through the plants butterflys flew around the motorcar and ayumi described it as real live fairytale.
I know I wrote a lot and thank you for reading it all! Its important for me to know I have support in the US!! Please be praying for my host family: Cesar, Evelyn, Lilian, my grandma and grandpa here, and the kids Tiago and Gracia. God is doing amazing things in our house here and healing the hearts of many people. Which means the devil is trying very hard to stop it… God is so much greater than him so we are confident in God! Prayers are always helpful though! Also I ask that you lift up my friend Gerzons father, he has cancer and cannot pay for the treatments. Also for the boys in the church, Kenji, Rotman, Alex, Julio that they learn the importance of hard work and studying.
I am so happy here. I love my life. I love the challenges. I love the people. I do get homesick. God is perfect. My Spanish is not but its getting there! Love you all!