Tuesday, February 26, 2008

Apartment mascot

So ever since I got here I have noticed one particular gecko that every night comes out and hangs out on the screen right by our table. The first time I noticed him it was because I saw that he was missing his tail. So it was easy to know if it was the same gecko or not since all the others around had their tails still. I have noticed over the past couple of weeks that his tail is finally starting to regrow and gets a little longer every day. So yesterday Kelly and I decided that this gecko needed a name since he always hangs out on our screen. So we finally settled on the name Stubs! So meet Stubs. This is about all we ever see of him since he is on the outside of our screen, but it is fun to sit there and watch him each the bugs.

And if he is in the right light you can pretty much see right through his body except for where his stomach is. It is pretty interesting. Oh the interesting times of living in Pucallpa! But hey at least I have an apartment mascot that is good for my apartment....he eats all those nasty mosquitoes that want to come in and bite me! Ok, I guess that is enought about my apartment mascot. Now I should go and pack since I leave for Lima tomorrow!

Monday, February 25, 2008

Visa, conference and vacation!

Well this week the adventures start. I will be leaving Pucallpa Wednesday night and heading for Lima. I will spend the night in Lima before leaving at 7am to fly to Tacna, Peru. My flight will make a stop in Arequipa and hopefully there my friends and fellow missionaries, Tim and Hannah, will be getting on the plane. We will arrive in Tacna, gather our baggage and head to Arica, Chile. We are hoping to try and get our visas taken care of Thursday afternoon, but if not we have all day Friday too. I will be spending 2 nights in Chile before heading back to Tacna to fly to Arequipa for the SAM Peru field conference. After getting to spend a week with all the other lovely SAM missionaries in Peru I will then head back to Lima on Sunday the 9th of March and head to Mancora and the beach on Monday! I am so excited to get to spend the week at the beach and just hang out and relax. But I think right now the thing I am the mosted excited about is being in Lima long enough to go to STARBUCKS!!! Oh how I have missed the wonderful coffee of Starbucks. I also get to go to Chili's and eat some good food there too! It will be so nice. I never thought I would be so excited for Starbucks or Chili's, but I guess that is what happens when you live in Pucallpa. I should be getting back to my lovely home in Pucallpa sometime early afternoon on Sunday the 16th. I'm sure I will have plenty of stories and pictures to share with you all and I will try to do that soon after I get back. Until then...stay warm if you are surrounded by snow! I'll try to think of you as I lay on the beach! ;~D

Thursday, February 14, 2008

Unworthy

Wow! God is so amazing and wonderful. He always knows how to encourage me in just the right way. Today in our writing class I asked the kids to write about their hero. Now it took a while for them to get excited about writing about their hero, but they eventually did it. When I read what one of my kids wrote, I almost started to cry. I am going to share with you all what Bethany wrote about her hero.

“Someone I look up to is Miss Leber. One reason why I look up to Miss Leber is that she still loves God and praises him even after the death of her sister. Her sisters had a disease ever since they were born. If my sister, Emily died of a disease I would have been disappointed in God because of the death of Emily.
Another reason why I look up to Miss Leber is that she is patient. I mean if I were older and teaching a girl that was like me when I was young I would have probably yelled a lot at her. Miss Leber is a wonderful lady, and teacher.”


I couldn’t believe that Bethany had chosen to write about me! It still just blows my mind that out of all the people she could write about, she chose to write about me. I feel like I am not worthy of her looking up to me, but then I have to stop and look at it from her view point. God has so greatly blessed me with wonderful kids. If I ever wondered if I was really doing anything for these kids…I have my answer. After I read her paper I went and gave Bethany a hug and thanked her for the wonderful things she said. She then told me that ever since I gave my testimony in chapel, she has looked up to me. I am so glad God has been able to use me and my story to have an impact on the lives of these children. I don’t feel worthy of the honor to teach these wonderful kids. I am so glad that I don’t have to rely on my feelings because if I did, I never would have come here. Even though it is still hard to not have my sister around…I can see the wonderful things that have come from her death.

I have been reminded of Jennie a lot the past few days. With my birthday I was thinking of her and remembering the last birthday I got to celebrate with her. Then at school the kids had to write an obituary for Bible class and so I brought in Jennie’s as an example for them to see how one is written. Then today with Bethany’s writing assignment and with a wonderful package I received from my cousin. I opened up the box and inside there was a monkey just like the one Jennie had. It is such a great reminder of Jennie and all the wonderful times I had with her. All the memories bring tears…but they are good for me. I am so thankful to God and his grace and love that he shows me through others around me!

Wednesday, February 13, 2008

Another year older!

Well, today is my birthday. It is kind of strange to celebrate my birthday when the weather is about 85 and sunny....I am used to having snow or at least bitter cold on my birthday. But I guess that is what happens when you celebrate your birthday in the southern hemisphere. =) It has been a good day. I of course had to teach like any other day, but Kelly made a cake for my birthday and the kids all sang to me when we had the cake. Then this afternoon my mom called me and we talked for a few minutes. It was great to talk to my mom...even if she couldn't be here to celebrate my birthday with me. I got a TON of emails from friends and family! I hope to actually send a thank you back to everyone but it might take me a day or two. This evening was prayer meeting like usual, but instead of having it here at the school we had it out at the lake. It was nice to have a change of scenery for prayer meeting. And the best part of the whole day......I got to share this special day with my lovely roommate, Kelly. She decided that she wanted to be baptized since she was only sprinkled as a baby. And so today before prayer meeting she was baptized by Julio, the pastor at the church here on the school property, out in the lake. It was so great to see her confirm in front of everyone what she believes and that she is going to continue to follow God. It made the day even more special for me to be able to share it with her. And so, it has been a good birthday. And even though I wasn't able to spend it with my family, at least I was able to spend in where God has called me to be and with wonderful people here! Here is to a great year of being 26!!!

Sunday, February 10, 2008

Ahhhh…what a great weekend! It has been so nice to have a whole weekend of relaxing and enjoying time with friends. I went out to Cashibo (the lake) on Friday and had a wonderful time swimming in the lake, working on my tan, hanging out with the girls (Kelly, Stephanie and Emily) and just really enjoying the peacefulness of the lake. It is always nice to get away from the nasty wood factory and its smoke. It was crazy to see how much the lake has risen with the rainy season. It is almost into the basement of Stephanie and Todd’s house and the Schmidt’s house is completely surrounded by the lake. They could jump off their deck into the lake…so cool! The lake has a ton of huama (pronounced wama), chunks of floating plants/grass, and it has pushed the swim dock pretty far away from where it usually is. It was interesting to watch people with canoes try to get through all the huama to get to land. Definitely not a job I would want. Thankfully we had a huama free area to swim in since the Schmidts had put up their huama fence. I spent a little too much time in the lake and burned my back and my face…but that is ok…it is training for spring break. :~)

I got back to the school on Saturday afternoon and got to spend about an hour online talking to some friends from home. It was great to talk with them and catch up. Definitely a good time and I can’t wait to see them again. Then Kelly and I went to town to do some shopping. We were able to get some things but not nearly as much as we hoped. Since the bridge between Lima and Pucallpa got washed out on Monday it has been pretty hard to find certain things and other things have gone up in price. But we are thankful for what we were able to find and that we have been blessed enough to be able to buy it. Kelly bought her hammock and now we just need to find some hooks to hang the two hammocks up with. I am so excited to finally get it up; hopefully we will find hooks soon. But if we can’t find them here we will have to wait until we are in Lima and buy some hooks there. Oh well, it will be worth it once they are hung up. So comfortable and relaxing! I love to sit in a hammock and either read or take a nap.

Let’s see other than that I don’t think there is much news. We made it to church and to lunch and back without getting wet from the people throwing water balloons. February is festival month and so on Sundays the kids LOVE to throw water balloons at the mototaxis. Thankfully we didn’t get hit. They don’t usually use clean water and so the water usually stains your clothes if you aren’t careful. Oh well, any reason to throw a water balloon….always fun! Well, I am going to enjoy the warm weather and try to send some of the warmth to those of you who have some really cold weather right now. Try not to freeze and I will try to not over heat.
The float plane. The lake (the stuff that looks like grass in front is huama). The water behind Stephanie and Todd's house.
Another picture of the huama. The boat dock huamaed in! The Schmidt's house over the water.
Pretty palm tree and the lake. The Schmidt's house again with the lake under it!

Tuesday, February 5, 2008

Random Pucallpa things...

So here are some pictures of some random things that I find interesting here in Pucallpa. They might not seem strange to you...or they might. But I think they are pretty funny!

Ginormous carrot from the market. Electrolight, Peruvian Gatorade.


Some vultures just chillin' in the tree. A lemon...if you can call it that.
So Sunday we had a ton of rain and with that rain the bridge on the road between Lima and Pucallpa was washed out. So for the next three weeks at least we won't be able to get much from Lima, which means prices are going up! It is crazy how fast the prices can go up on even local things. I mean come on we grow bananas here and have chickens that lay plenty of eggs, why do the prices have to go up? Oh well, hopefully they will get the bridge fixed quickly so things can move between the cities again.
On another note, I am feeling much better. I think I just had some flu bug that only lasted a day. I am so glad that it didn't last longer than one day. So work again this week and then on Friday I get to go spend the night out at the lake. I am excited to spend some time out there and just relax away from the noise of the factories and the town. Hopefully I will get some more fun random pictures to share with you.

Sunday, February 3, 2008

Sickness

Being sick is no fun at all! This morning I woke up feeling sick to my stomach. Never a good sign. Well, it seems I have a little flu bug but we aren't sure where I got it from. No one we know has had the flu lately. Oh well, I spent the morning sleeping and trying to not throw up again. Thankfully it worked for the most part. Took some medicine for my fever and have been drinking Electrolight, the Peruvian Gatorade. Thankfully, I feel some what better and I was able to get dressed and I am sitting in the cool room trying not to sweat to death. I am impressed though....this is the first time I have gotten sick since I have been here. That is the one good thing about working in a daycare for 3 years...my immune system was built up a lot. Please pray that I will continue to get better and that I will be able to teach tomorrow. We don't really have any options for substitutes. Ok, time to keep relaxing.

Saturday, February 2, 2008

Jeremiah 29


The hall from the bedrooms to the kitchen. The cool room (only room with AC)


My bedroom. The living room


The kitchen. The door from the screen porch to the "inside" porch


The "inside" porch with our front door. The hall to the rest of the old boys' dorm.

I love talking with my friends! It is always so nice to talk with them and just catch up on each other’s lives. I talked with my friend Celia today for over an hour. You would think we hadn’t talked in months…but that isn’t true. We just talked about a month ago. Granted a lot does happen in a month, but even still. It was wonderful to talk to her and just hear about things going on in the states. It is so easy for me to forget about life back home with all the things I have to do here. The past few days have been pretty interesting just because I have been thinking about the future a lot. My roommate has been talking about her future and what she is going to be doing after she leaves Pucallpa in June. And so of course I have been thinking about my future. And yes, I do have to admit I have been worrying about some aspects of my future. There are certain things that I would love to have happen in my life and right now I don’t really see any way they could happen. But this morning God knew what I needed to hear. The verse that I was reading during my devotions was Jeremiah 29:11. This is a verse that I know well, but it was definitely something I needed to hear today. I continued through verse 14.

“For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart. I will be found by you,” declares the Lord, “and will bring you back from captivity. I will gather you from all the nations and places where I have banished you,” declares the Lord, “and will bring you back to the place from which I carried you into exile.”

Not only does the Lord promise me that he has a plan for me, but he also tells me that if I seek him with all my heart, I will find him! He will listen to me and be there for me no matter what. That was such a reassurance today as I started worrying about different things. I don’t have to worry God already has a plan set out for my life. All I have to do is listen to him and follow the path he has for me. How GREAT is our God that he has a plan set for EVERY person in the world. Even if they don’t choose to follow that plan…it is still there for if they decided to follow God. God just amazes me over and over again. Who am I that God would concern himself with a plan for my life? I am just a lowly teacher who is nowhere near perfect. And yet everyday God is there for me, watching over me, and loving me in a way that no one else can! It is so exciting and amazing. I love it when God amazes me like that! It always makes my day brighter!
These pictures are of my apartment for those who haven’t seen it yet. Might not be the best place to live, but it is home to me.

Friday, February 1, 2008

Our fridge

Yipee! Today is a happy day. For the past month we have had to use a small college dorm size fridge because ours died on us. It has been really hard to fit enough food for two people to eat three meals a day in such a small fridge. But today our big fridge is finally back! It is so nice to have a big fridge again. Although I do have to say we were just starting to get really creative with how to fit things in the small fridge. So it is back, it is working, and we are just waiting for it to get cold before we move everything from the small fridge to the big fridge. I think once we do that, we will see how little food we actually have to eat. Crazy!

Today also starts a new month. And here in Peru that means it is festival time. So what exactly does that mean....well, it means there are a lot of water balloons (only water balloons if you are lucky) thrown at you when you go to and from town. It means for the next month things are going to be crazy here and I hopefully won't get too wet. The only bad thing about having mototaxis is that you are an easy target for all the water balloons. Well, I am going to head into town and try not to get soaking wet. ~Chao~