God's faithfulness

It is always so encouraging to talk to my friends. They each have a certain way of reaching into my life and encouraging me in a way others can't. Tonight I chatted with one of my friends from Appleton online and it was so great to hear what she is learning in her life and to be able to share with her what I am learning in mine. It always amazes me how God places just the right people in my life at the right time. There are usually at least one or two of my friends who are learning the same lessons I am and so we can encourage each other through them. What am I learning right now? Trust and patience...two lessons that just don't seem to sink in for me and so God has to repeat them pretty often. I am so thankful that I serve a God who is faithful and trustworthy. If I have to learn to be patient and trust...than I am going to work my hardest to learn that. And I will continue to pray that I will remember all the great things God has done in my life. He is completely trustworthy and faithful to act at the right time. It might not always seem right to us...but it is ALWAYS right to God.

"but those who hope in the LORD will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint." Isaiah 40:31 (NIV)

Monasterio De Santa Catalina

WARNING! THIS POST CONTAINS MANY PICTURES AND NOT A LOT OF WRITING!

Me playing with my camera and interesting shots.
Christy and one of the many stairways to nowhere!
These stairs were a little dangerous since it was dark!I think my camera lens is a little dirty!
This sign is posted right by stairs up to a roof...good warning (click the picture to read the sign).
Christy climbing the dangerous stairs.
Christy with Arequipa behind her!
Got to get a picture of me with Arequipa.
Me heading down the dangerous stairs!

Some cool pillars
Just for my mom...a picture of me at a place I am visiting...amazing!!!
Beautiful arches lit up at night.
The lights on part of the church.
I love the color and lighting here...

Christy being silent...
Some great arches...I love the architecture there.
Another arch and some great lighting.
Another picture of me...you really should be impressed by now. =)
One of the many lanterns lighting up the convent at night.

Well, like I said...many pictures and not much writing. Christy and I went to see the convent at night...it was definitely worth it. We had a great time and I think we were the only ones there! Sorry if this post is a little boring...but too bad! I think it is pretty interesting.

I have come to really enjoy my weekends. They are a nice break from classes and yet I still do use some of my spanish. This weekend I spent a lot of time with friends just hanging out and enjoying the fun things of this beautiful city. Friday night I finished my homework and then Christy, David, Cassie and I all went back to Christy and David's house to watch a movie. It was nice to just chill and watch a movie with friends. Then Saturday a bunch of us met up for lunch and had some great Turkish food since the Mexican place wasn't open yet. Then Christy, Marshall, David and I went to "Siglo XX" to do some shopping. I wasn't actually looking for anything but ended up buying some slippers to keep my feet nice and warm while I am here in Arequipa. We ended up running into some other missionaries and talked with them for at least an hour. It was fun to get to know them and of course like with most missionaries, find little connections between us. Then Saturday night Christy and David came over and we played cards for a while. It is always fun hanging out with them and it is nice to build friendships now since we will all be in Pucallpa sooner or later. Then of course Sunday was church and after church....watching futbol (soccer) during lunch. I think I am slowly learning to enjoy watching futbol, which is good if I am going to live in Peru...it is very popular here. =) Then there was the weekly get together at the Doolittle's house. It is always fun to go over there, play games with everyone, sing American worship songs together and have some time praying for each other. It was a good weekend and I was able to get some more pictures of the mountains/volcanoes. The view from the roof of our house is great and I think I might have to spend some more time up there.

A little better view of Misti.

This is a picture of Chachani.

A view of the street from our roof...such a great view.

A view in the other direction of the street from the roof.

So far this week (the one day so far) has gone much better than last week. I feel like I am slowly able to make more connections between what I know in my head and what comes out of my mouth. Hopefully, things will continue to connect and I will be able to express myself more clearly in spanish. Ahora, yo voy a estudiar mis verbos! (Now, I am going to study my verbs) Chau!

WOW! What a week...I am not completely sure as to why this week has been so bad for me. But, it has been really rough. Things have not gone very well in my practica class...although I think if you asked my teacher he would say differently. I have felt very frustrated because the things I want to say just won't come out the correct way. There is a block between my brain and my mouth right now! Today in class I had to stop myself from crying...I just got so frustrated because I knew how to answer the question in english but couldn't get it into spanish.

I think another thing that has added to my week is that my arthritis is finally starting to act up again. It took it three weeks, but I am starting to hurt more. And of course when I don't feel good...I am usually not in a good mood. All of this on top of missing Pucallpa (yes, I miss Pucallpa)...I think I am having a little bit of culture shock. The good thing is that tomorrow is Friday...the weekend will be here...and God is in control no matter what. So He will get me through this time. I just have to keep working at it.

So tonight Marshall, Christy, David (from language school), myself and the Doolittles all went out to celebrate Cassie's birthday. It was a fun time of hanging out and playing games. I am so glad to have other people to hang out with and to play lots of fun games with. So here are a few pictures from tonight.

Cassie (The Birthday Girl), David and Sarah

Marshall and Pam talking...caught by surprise.

Me, Aldan, Christy and Amanda

Sarah and Dan (Dr. Doolittle)

A picture of the monastary from the roof of the restaurant

Well, I guess I should finish my homework for class tomorrow...anyone want to do it for me?

Combi ride

This morning Christy and I left for school early so we could go get coffee with Cassie before classes. So we left a little after 8am and caught a combi to school. When we got on the combi every seat was full but we were the only one standing. Shortly after getting on we were able to get seats when some people got off. So we were sitting there and at first our driver was driving pretty nicely for a combi. We weren't going too fast or too crazy. About halfway through our ride our combi stops behind another combi for the same route. I looked and noticed that the other combi was pretty empty.

All of a sudden our driver starts to go crazy. He started to drive a lot faster and was trying to get in front of the other combi. Christy and I sat there and just started laughing because it was funny to us that they were trying to race. The further we went the more our driver got upset and drove crazier. Our combi was practically empty because the one in front of us was getting all the passengers. So we are sitting there trying to pay attention so we don't miss our corner and we notice that our driver was not wanting to stop at all. There were many people who wanted to get off and had to yell at the driver to make him stop for them. There was one lady who started chewing the driver out because he wasn't going to stop for her. Christy also told me that she saw people waving down our combi and our driver just drove right past them and didn't stop. It was really funny!

Then it was time for us to get off the combi. We said we wanted to get off at the next corner and just as we said that we stop because of traffic. So we decided to just off there since we were stopped. So Christy goes to stand up and just as she stands up our driver starts going again. She got flung across the way and almost landed in the lap of the guy sitting across from us. Thankfully she didn't get hurt and we were able to get off of the combi where we were supposed to. The rest of our walk to school Christy and I could not stop laughing. It is always an adventure when you take public transportation in another country!

Well, this weekend was really nice. I didn't have a ton to do for homework, which is always nice on the weekend. Saturday I worked on homework in the morning, then we had a parrillada (BBQ) at our house for some friends that are leaving to go back to Canada. It was fun to have everyone over and enjoy the good food and company.

Litos (Juan Carlos) and Pedro...my hermano and papa in Arequipa...grilling the wonderful food!

My friend Christy standing in the backyard of my house...it is a very nice house...although it does get pretty cold!

Yay! A picture with me in it...I know it is pretty amazing!

After the wonderful parrillada, I talked to my mom on the phone for a while and then headed downtown to my favorite coffee shop. I meet Christy and Cassie there and we hung out there for a little while.

Christy working on her computer at the coffee shop...got to love the free wireless internet.

After the coffee shop, Christy and I headed to the "mall" to find some jeans for me. It was definitely an adventure since I have no clue as to what size I am here in Peru. But it turned out well, with Christy's help I was able to find a pair of jeans that actually fit me and that were reasonably priced. We were then supposed to meet friends for a movie but it turned out the times we had for the movie were wrong. So we ended up sitting around the food court for a while. The others decided they still wanted to see the movie and so they stuck around to watch the movie later and I came home and called one of my good friends. It was nice to talk to her for a while and just catch up. I really am enjoying having high-speed internet here in Arequipa. It makes life a little easier.

This is an attempt to get a picture of the volcano Misti...but it is a little hard to get a decent picture in a moving car. I will try to get a better one soon.

Sunday was Father's day and so after church we had a special meal. It was nice to hang out with other people from church, however after trying to follow a conversation for almost 40 minutes in spanish...my brain was a little fried. So I came home and took a nap before Marshall and I headed over to the Doolittle's for a fun evening of games, food, worship and prayer. It was great to spend time with others from school and not have to talk in spanish. It was a great weekend! I am very thankful for the friends I have made here already and the opportunities to hang out with them. Like right now...off I go to my favorite coffee shop to study verbs!!!

Well, two weeks of language school are behind me. It has been a crazy two weeks with me coming and going...but they have been good too. I am learning a lot and looking forward to learning even more as the weeks go on. Last night Marshall and I sat and made flashcards for all of our irregular verbs...we have at least 200 cards. It is crazy how many different verbs I have to learn the meaning to and learn how to conjugate them. But I guess it is good...I am expanding my vocabulary! However it is a little annoying when you have 2 or 3 different words for the same thing and they all get used regularly. Ah the joys of another language!

Tonight I think is going to be a relaxing night...I have been tired all day and will benefit from staying home. I might work on homework, but will probably save it for tomorrow. My brain is too tired to think in Spanish tonight. It is amazing how quickly things can change in this house. Last week I was the only student staying here with the family. I came back from Lima on Tuesday and all of a sudden there were three guys staying here too. And now we are back down to just me and Marshall. It is crazy how fast and often things change around me...it is helping me to learn to be more flexible. =) David and Ed left this afternoon to head back to Lima. Ed, I believe, flies out of Lima tonight. It was fun to get to know him after hearing about him from David. I hope to see him again some day and meet his wife too, it sounds like we would have some things in common. Anyway, that has all added to the craziness of my week...but I guess it has been good craziness. But I think it is also what has made me so tired today. Hopefully tomorrow I will feel better and be able to have fun hanging out with people.

Some random pictures

Ed, David, Marshall and Cassie...they are fun to hang out with!!
Me, David, Marshall and Cassie...look at how short I am!

Here is a picture of my long awaited carnet!!! Yay!!!
Chris and I at the airport just before I left again for Arequipa. Very sad that he left =(
Picture of the mountains on the way back to Arequipa.
More mountains....so pretty!
The clouds that remind me of snow.

Sunset behind the mountains....plus the wing...how cool!

Friends going and friends coming

Well, today I got back to Arequipa. It is good to be back....I know it is where I need to be. Chris and I hung out today before I left. It was a bittersweet time since I knew it would be the last time I would see him here in Peru. I still don't think it has hit me yet that he and Kelly won't be in Pucallpa when I get back. I am still fully expecting them to be there when I go back at the end of July. Right now it just feels like we are all on vacation...so weird.

So coming back to Arequipa has been better than last week. I feel much better than last week...last week I had a headache and wasn't very hungry because of the altitude. But thankfully, I only had a slight headache tonight and should feel mostly normal tomorrow. It has been nice already to have someone else here at the house. Marshall is staying here too and it will be nice to have someone right here to hang out with. Tomorrow it is back to classes and homework...always a fun time. I think I will have a ton of homework tomorrow since I missed two days of classes. I will probably spend my whole afternoon and evening doing homework, with maybe a little bit of time to hang out with Marshall, David and Ed. We will have to wait and see exactly how much homework I have to catch up on.

Yipee!

So this morning Chris and I headed to "Migraciones" to finish up my paperwork for my carnet. We got there about 8:05 and called the CONEP office to see where we were supposed to meet the guy. So they told us were to go and we only had to wait about 10 minutes before he showed up. So I watched them put information into the computer, got my picture taken, had my fingerprints taken digitally (which was really nice and should be the only way to do fingerprints), and then waited for at least an hour. But by 10:30 I had my carnet in my hand and way free to go! I am so thankful that everything was able to be done today and that I didn't have to wait any longer for my carnet. Thank you to all of you who have been praying about this with me. Please know that I greatly appreciate your prayers.

So after all of that was done, we came back to the guest house and got to see Marshall, David and Ed before they left to head to Arequipa. It was good to see Marshall and catch up with him a bit before we both get busy with language school. Chris and I then went and did some shopping and I decided that I wanted to buy a book in Spanish to help me understand more...so I bought The Lion, The Witch, and The Wardrobe and The Magician's Nephew. I figured they are books that I know well enough in English that I shouldn't have too hard of a time reading them in Spanish...I guess we will have to wait and see.

Back to Lima

Well, today I flew back to Lima...so much fun. I am praying that I will get all my paperwork done before I leave again on Tuesday. But at least for now I am having a pretty good time. David and his cousin, Ed, got into Lima about an hour after I did. So I waited for them at the airport and we came to the guest house. After dropping our stuff off and talking for a bit we headed out for dinner. It was good food and fun company. It is nice to be around someone I already know...there is just a huge difference between hanging out with someone you already know and hanging out with someone you are just starting to know. Plus they aren't making me speak Spanish which is a nice break. =)

So I am not entirely sure I will be able to get everything done tomorrow like I had hoped. It sounds like the guy that is supposed to be helping me finish this all up seemed to think that he was meeting me on Tuesday instead of Monday morning. But Chris and I are going to go anyway and hopefully be able to get things done. But if not, at least I have Tuesday morning still to do things. I am very thankful John suggested that I stay Monday night just in case. So I guess we will see how things work out tomorrow and pray they actually get done. I would just love to have all my carnet paperwork done, that way when I come back to Lima at the end of July my carnet can be done and waiting for me. We will just have to wait and see.

Huge step!

So today was my second day of classes and my second day taking the combi. Christy went with me again this morning on the combi, which was nice because it helped me feel a little more confident about where I was going. By the time I was done with classes I felt comfortable enough to take the combi by myself...but I didn't have to. However, I now know that I feel comfortable enough to take the combi by myself to and from school. Now taking it other places...not yet. But little by little I will get there. Second day of school and plenty of homework to do already. But I might take a nap first...we will see. Thinking in spanish all day really wears me out! I am very thankful for the time when I get to speak english...it is nice. I don't have to think about what people are saying to me and how I need to respond. One of these days I hope to be close to that level in my spanish. Until then...I will take naps!

New friend and spanish...

Well, today was my first full day of language school. I think it went pretty well. Some of it was hard and some of it was easy. I think I will definitely learn a lot during my time here. I have made a new friend already...her name is Christy. She is my classmate for grammar. She was the lucky one to show me the route on the combi and we have already started studying together. It is nice to have someone already to hang out with and get to know the city with. Having Christy to hang out with should be a big help for me. For the most part, the areas where I know I really struggle, she seems to be better in. And the areas I am a little better in, I can help her out. Besides the Kooistras, there is one other person here that I have met already. It is nice to at least see a face that I recognize. Plus Marshall will be coming soon and that will be another person I know already. God is definitely working here and helping me to feel a little more comfortable. Now if it would only not be so cold here... oh well, I guess I can't have everything.

As far as my carnet stuff, I will be heading back to Lima this Sunday and staying there until Tuesday afternoon. I should get everything else done during that time and have my carnet ready to be picked up when I am done here in Arequipa. Sadly, this means I have to miss two days of classes, but there isn't much I can do about that. Well, time to finish my homework and then hop in bed to stay warm!

Paperwork in Peru

So today has reconfirmed the fact that I hate doing paperwork in general, but I especially hate it in Peru. Today Chris and I went to take care of my paperwork to get my carnet (Peruvian ID). I was told to be at the CONEP office at 8am to meet the guy who was going to help us with everything. I was also told that I should be able to get everything done in one day. So of course I already bought my ticket to go to Arequipa and left myself only one day to do all this paperwork.

Chris and I arrive at the office a little after 8 and the guy we are supposed to be meeting isn't there. So we call him and he says to meet him there at 10am. Of course that means we have about a two hour wait and we are about 20-25 minutes away from the guest house. So we decided to just hang out around the area and maybe try to find some place to have coffee while we wait. Well, we didn't find a coffee place so we ended up just sitting in a park and talking...in the chilly gray morning.Finally we go back to CONEP and the guy is there. I sign some papers, pay some money and then we take off. He took us to a bank to pay something else and then we had to head to the Interpol office for me to be finger printed and have a dental record taken. After we were done at Interpol the guy with us said we were done and that I would need to come back in week to finish up. I couldn't believe it! I had not planned on having to come back and do more stuff...I was planning on it all being done today. So now I have to figure out when I can come back and finish up everything that I need to do. I have to try and work it out to when there is someone around who can go with me to help translate...so that is my job this afternoon...find a day to come back and find someone to go with me. I am praying that everything will work out smoothly and that it won't take too many days away from language study. I will keep y'all posted on what is happening.

Funny friends

So today I traveled to Lima with Chris. It was hard to say good-bye to Kelly when I left Pucallpa...I am really going to miss having her as my roomie. So we got to Lima without any problems and we got a taxi to take us to the guest house. Chris and I were sitting in the taxi on the way out of the airport and he noticed that it was a really nice taxi...it even had power windows. So what does Chris do? He sat there and played with the power window button making the window go up and down just because he hadn't seen power windows in such a long time.

Chris, Emily and I then went out to TGI Fridays for supper. It was a lot of fun and the food was really good. We had a blast in general but there were a few really funny parts. One of them was after we were done eating. I went to use the restroom and when I came back I just had to tell them how nice I thought the sinks in the bathroom were. Well, when I said that Chris was very interested and thought it was cool that I thought the sinks were nice. Emily on the other hand just starts busting up laughing. Now of course I started laughing just because I realized that I was impressed with the sinks in a bathroom...you know I have been in Pucallpa too long if I am impressed with bathroom sinks. But then Emily stops and clarified what I actually said and when I tell her, she laughs even more. Apparently both of them thought I said the bathroom has really nice seats instead of sinks! Of course that does make it even funnier because why would I comment about the seats in a bathroom?!? Oh man...I love my friends and I am really going to miss them when they leave. Here are a few pictures from our night in Lima.