Learning Patience

So one thing that I have had to learn a lot of is patience. We only have dial up internet and it is SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO slow! So as I sit and try to check my email or write a crazy little blog on here...I have to learn to be patient with the computer and the internet. I try to do other things while I wait...but sometimes it is just too hard to wait. So sometimes you will find me sitting at the computer talking to it, singing random songs, or even playing games waiting for certain pages to load. It is not really a fun process but I do have to admit, when you have a group of about 5 people all sitting waiting for their pages to load, it can get pretty crazy. I love those days! They make the wait a lot more fun. So that is what I have just spent the past hour doing and now I am going to go back to my apartment and finish getting snacks ready for prayer meeting tonight.

Craziness...

Ok, this won't be a long post, but it is a good day to write it since it is cooler out today. Those of you who know me well, know that I enjoy the heat and not the cold. So being here in Peru is great for me since the temperature is usually in the 80s or 90s in Pucallpa. Well, I have noticed recently how I have already adjusted to it being hot all the time. Today it rained most of the day (it is rainy season) and so the temperature has been in the mid 70s since last night when it started to rain. Now I am sure most of you are thinking...mid 70s, that is so warm...especially those of you in the north where it is below zero. The crazy thing is....mid 70s is COLD to me! I have to usually put on a long sleeve shirt and socks because it seems so cold to me. =) It makes me laugh every time I am cold and then look at the temperature and see that it is only mid 70s and I shouldn't be cold since I am from Chicago. Oh well, I guess I really am cold blooded and need the hot temperature to stay comfortable.

So those of you who already thought I was crazy...this just proves it more. And those of you who thought I was normal...sorry to burst your bubble...I am not normal. =) Off I go now to bake and stay warm from the heat of the stove. ~Chao~

My toe

I know, you are probably wondering why I am writing about my toe...but I figured why not. I can write about whatever I want to. So my big toe on my left foot has been swollen and hurting off and on for the past week. I couldn't figure out why it was hurting and so I went and asked Rosemary who is a nurse. At first she thought maybe it was some kind of bite that I was reacting to, but a few days later she said it didn't look like that anymore. So then I got to thinking about why my toe might be hurting and swollen. I just didn't know...it seemed really strange to me. But then I realized that it might be from over use. Now you might ask, "how do you over use your toe?" Honestly I am not entirely sure how you over use your toe, but I think that is what happened. I rested my toe for a few days and it felt fine, but then I went to town and did a lot of walking and it started hurting again. Then I realized that maybe it because I only wear flip flops here and my feet and muscles just aren't used to that. Apparently I use my big toe a lot to hold on my flip flop and so I am over using it. So I will probably wear my tennis shoes for the next few days and see if that helps my toe feel better. How sad that you can hurt your toe from wearing shoes as comfortable as flip flops! Crazy. Oh the hard times of living in a hot climate all year long. =D

Only 39 more days until spring break on the beach!!

Hammocks

One thing I love about being here in Peru is the hammocks. I have always loved hammocks and I am very excited to have one of my own here. Today Kelly and I are going hammock shopping in town. It should be lots of fun! When we decided to get hammocks we had to first decide where to hang them. We don't really have the largest place with lots of empty space of one hammock, let alone two. But we have figured it out. The building we live in used to be the boys dorm when SAM Academy was a boarding school. So our apartment is made up of about three of the old dorm rooms. Right out side our front door there is the hall that leads to the rest of the building that is used for when teams are here. There is sort of this little porch area with lots of space since the only thing really out there is a table. So we have decided that we are going to hang our hammocks out there! It is going to be great. We will anchor some hooks into the wall and then whenever we aren't using the hammocks we can take them down so they aren't in the way. It is going to be so nice to have a hammock to lay in and read...they are so comfortable. Some day when I have my own house...there will definitely be a hammock in it. I have so many fun memories from the hammock we had growing up...it will be nice to have that again. So once the hammocks are hung up, I will take a picture and post it for you all to see!

Only 41 days until spring break starts!

Another adventure...

Well, yesterday about 4pm the power went out here. Now if you are in the states, this is usually not too much of a problem...just annoying. Well here it is more than that...the power goes out, the water goes out too. No flushing the toilet, no taking showers, no washing dishes....nothing. I can handle not having power, but it is hard to not have water. After only a few short hours here you start to feel gross because you are sweating and have dirt and grime all over you. And then to learn that you can't take a shower and they aren't sure when they will have the power back on...it is no fun. So last night I got to do things by candle light since it gets really dark here in the jungle. It isn't very easy to read a book by candlelight...it kind of hurts the eyes. But finally it was late enough to go to bed. Thankfully it cooled off enough last night that not having a fan was not a huge deal. I even was able to sleep with the covers on, it got so cool (76 degrees). Getting up this morning and not being able to take a shower was really hard. I totally did not feel awake and I felt really gross from all the dirt and sweat. We weren't sure we would get power back today since the problem was on our property and something we had to fix. But thankfully we have some wonderful guys who took time out of their busy days to come and fix our problem. They were able to get the generator hooked up to the water pump early and I was able to take a shower between my classes. (It was so nice I didn't even mind that it was pretty cold). Finally after working hard they were able to get things fix and we had power again around 1pm today! It is so nice to have power again and along with that to have water. If ever I feel like I really do live in the jungle...it is when the power goes out for at least a day!

Visa adventures

Well, it has definitely been an adventure trying to get my resident visa for Peru. I started the process when I entered the country in November. I have been here on a tourist visa since then and waiting for my resident visa to be ready so I could go pick it up. The problem with that is that I have to leave Peru in order to get my visa. So then the question became where am I going to go and who am I going to go with? Well, everyone figured I would just go to Chile with Tim and Hannah who came in the country about a week before me and need to get their visas too. But then the problem was when do we go and how am I going to get there since we are in different parts of the country. Well, it is finally all worked out! I can't wait to get it all done and not have to worry about that part anymore. So in March SAM has it's annual field conference and this year it is going to be in Arequipa (where Tim and Hannah are). Well, this works well for me....I get to go to Arequipa a few days early, meet up with Tim and Hannah and then the three of us are going to head to Chile at the end of February. It is going to be fun and hopefully quick and easy. Please pray that we don't have any problems getting our visas and can get everything done in one day. We aren't really giving ourselves more than one day to get it all done. I am just glad that I finally know what I will be doing and I get to see at least a little bit of Chile! It has definitely been an adventure figuring this all out.

Spring break

I am so excited to actually have a spring break that I get to do something fun on. I haven't had a spring break since college, and those spring breaks weren't usually very fun. I was either student teaching or on choir tour. So I am very excited to actually have plans for spring break this year. I am going to a beach called Mancora! It is going to be so great to spend pretty much a whole week sitting on the beach relaxing. At least I hope it will be relaxing....it might just be interesting. I am going with my roommate, Kelly, her boyfriend, Matt, and another teacher Emily. I know it will be fun, but I'm sure there will be some very interesting times too. It is funny how classes just started back up not that long ago and I am already looking forward to spring break. Now don't get me wrong....it isn't like school is extremely hard and I just can't wait. It is more I am so excited to spend a week at the beach that I can't wait for it to come. We should be buying our tickets sometime this week and then it will be set! Yay for spring break!!! Ok, now that I have used the phrase "spring break" multiple times and I am sure it is annoying you, I am going to finish some things up and then head out to church.

Adventures in Peru

Well, I have decided that I need a new blog for all the adventures I am sure to have while here in Peru. This will be an easy way for everyone to read about what I am up to and I will be more likely to update this than send out an email. So let's see...where do I start. Well, I am here in Pucallpa, Peru and I have been here since November 2007. I am teaching elementary kids in a very small MK school run by South America Mission (SAM). I am so excited to be here and work with these kids. After only the short 2 1/2 months I have been here I already feel at home and God has been wonderful in answering many prayers for my adjustment. I am really looking forward to the next 2 years as I continue serving God and building relationships with not only the kids and other missionaries, but also with the Peruvian people. I have already seen God at work here and will post more later explaining how He has already been working since I have been here. Until then, I am off to find some more adventures to write about.