MY FAMILY IS HERE!

MY FAMILY IS HERE!!!!! It is such a happy day...I finally get to see my family again after almost 9 months of being away from them. Tomorrow we head to Pucallpa...it will be nice to be back to my own place and show them around. It was sad to leave Arequipa and my "family" there...but it is nice to know that I will hopefully see them again next June. For now it is late and I am tired. But I just had to write that my family is here!

Last day of class

Today was officially my last day of classes at the language school. Tomorrow we are all going on a field trip and so there are no classes. We had a little party at school today to say goodbye to the 4 of us leaving this week. It is crazy...half the school will be leaving after tomorrow. So during the party those of us leaving had to give a speech...so of course last night I was up late writing my speech. It wasn't very long...but at least I did it. =) They gave me a beautiful purse as a going away present and we had some good food. I was planning to take more pictures...but only took one. Oh well, I will remember without pictures.

This is Karen...she is one of the teachers at the institute and has become a good friend.

Tonight Christy, David, Marshall and I are going to see Batman...in spanish. We will see how much of it I actually understand. But I just couldn't pass up the chance to go to the movies one last time. I won't be able to go again until probably September when I am back in the U.S. for a visit. The rest of the weekend is a time of partying...field trip at school, lunch with the students, dinner out with the family and lunch Saturday with the family before I leave. I will get some pictures of me with the family before I leave and post them for you all to see. Saturday I fly to Lima and finally get to see my family again after almost 9 months. It will be great!

5 more days!

WOW! I have 4 more days of classes! It is crazy, sad, and exciting all at the same time. It is going to be a busy week with trying to pack things up, say goodbyes, and work out details for once I get back to Pucallpa. Thankfully I have so awesome friends who are helping me out. So far I have figured out how my family and I are getting from the airport to my apartment and worked it out to have a least a little bit of food in the place when we get there. It is going to be so great to get back to nice, hot Pucallpa and see my friends again. Just a few more details about that week in Pucallpa to figure out and that will be set. I still have to do some shopping here this week, as well as trying to pack all my things back into the one suitcase I brought with me. I might have to buy another bag for my carry-on. =) Plus I am trying to get myself healthy again. I had a cold last week that I think has turned into bronchitis...never fun. So I started some meds today and will hopefully have kicked this before traveling to Lima and Pucallpa. I get to see my family in 5 days....I can't wait! Special thanks to Rosemary and David for helping me out with some of these crazy details!

One week

It is crazy how quickly time flies. I only have one week left here in Arequipa. Part of me feels like I have been here for a long time already and another part feels like I just got here. A small part of me wishes I could stay longer so I can learn more, but the majority of me is ready to leave. I am very ready to get back to my life in Pucallpa. Cooking my own meals, sleeping in my own bed and enjoying the heat and humidity. Next Saturday is going to be a very exciting day...I will start my trip back to Pucallpa, but I will also be picking up my family in Lima! I am so excited to see them and show them where I live, work and serve our amazing God! Plus it will be Christmas in July with all the things they are bringing down for me. I am so thankful for them and for this opportunity for them to come down. And so this last week here in Arequipa is going to be busy, exciting and yet hard all at the same time. I have a lot to do in a week and of course like usual...I leave it until the last minute! I know it will get done and then I can move on to the next phase of my life. 7 MORE DAYS!!!!!

10 More Days!

Yesterday the Doolittle family left. It was a sad day...they have been so much fun to hang out with. But I am so glad that I had the time to get to know them and I am looking forward to when I see them again. Sunday during our normal get together at their house we had a great time just hanging out, playing games and worshipping together. There was a large crowd of people there and it was a good way to say goodbye to the Doolittles. Christy, Marshall, David and I went to the airport to see the family off. It was good to see them one last time before they left and fun for them to have people there to see them off. Here are some pictures from Sunday night and from the airport.

Morgan, Stephen and Marshall

Sarah messing with me like usual!

3 of the Kooistra kids...Dean, Adrianna and Lauren

More Kooistra kids...

Cassie and David hanging out and talking.

David Kooistra with Judah

Cassie and me at the airport.

Cassie and Christy at the airport.

Cassie and her two Christi(y)s

In other news, I only have 10 more days until my family comes...which also means only 10 more days here in Arequipa. Then I finally head back to the jungle and the wonderful heat and humidity. Until then, I have homework to do so I can keep learning until I leave!

The canyon

Well, I got back last night around 9 pm from our trip out to Colca Canyon. It was a great trip...although it could have been longer. We left Arequipa around 2pm on Friday and after stopping at many different places along the way, made it to Yanque around 7:30pm. After checking in we ate a yummy dinner of alapca in different forms. Some had a grilled steak while others had it mixed into different things. After dinner half of us decided to go try out the sauna...it was wonderful! It made me feel like I was back in Pucallpa. Nice and hot and very humid! A few of us really liked it...the others prefered the hot tubs. After we were all done in the sauna and hot tub, we gathered in our room with the guys to play cards. We played a game called "Up and Down the River" which is lots of fun and kept us busy until about midnight when we finally finished and decided it was time for bed.

The next morning we all got up and had breakfast between 8 and 8:30am. Most of the group wanted to go on a hike to see some pre-inca ruins and visit the hotsprings. Pam and I decided to stay back at the hotel and get massages. I am glad that I stayed because everyone said the trail was pretty rough in spots...I don't think I would have made it. Once everyone got back around 12:45pm we decided to quickly order lunch there at the hotel and take it with us in the bus to see the rest of the canyon. Well, the quick part didn't work out so well. We waited about an hour for our food and so got a late start on our drive out to the Cruz del Condor. Finally we got on our way out to see the condors. It is so amazing to drive through mountains and see all the beauty that God created. We got to the Cruz del Condor and only saw 4 condors...very far away. Oh well, if I ever go back I will have to remember to get up early in the morning and go see them when they fly farther up. Even still...it was amazing to see and I am very glad that I went. Our trip back was full of singing in the bus and some resting. It was a full day and definitely made for sleeping well in my bed here in Arequipa. You never really appreciate something like your bed until you are gone from it for a while. I have tons of pictures from the trip and so I decided to just make an album on Picasa and you all can go look at them there if you want to. Those of you who don't want to...you are missing some amazing pictures! http://picasaweb.google.com/christileber/ColcaCanyon02?authkey=cd67qxHtnDs

Arequipa friends

The Doolittle family leaves on Tuesday...it is going to be a sad day. A huge chunk of the group I hang out with will be gone. But it has been a huge blessing to have known them and I am so glad they were able to be here during my time at language school. They are an awesome family and are going to be missed. Here are some pictures with them.

Cassie, me and Christy...the Tuesday morning coffee crew. I am going to miss that!
Anna, Morgan, Cassie, Pam, Jordan and Alden at our Sunday night game/prayer/singing/hanging out time!
Amanda, Marshall and Christy during the singing part of the night =)
Sarah...playing games while waiting for her class to start...great way to study Spanish.
Alden being a good boy and actually working on Spanish while waiting for classes to start.

Tomorrow there is a group of us who are going to Colca Canyon. I am excited to go and see it and have a weekend to hang out with my friends. We won't be there very long...but we are still going to have a blast! I am really looking forward to the hotsprings and the massage I am going to get at the hotel. Oh yeah and getting to see the condors. I'm sure I will post some great pictures when I get back.

Earthquake

Well, early this morning I experienced my first earthquake. It was a 6.1 with the epicenter located 40 miles NNW of Arequipa. It was 4:13am and I was rudely awakend from a strange dream. At first I thought it was part of my dream but then quickly realized it wasn't. Once I was awake I started praying for God to protect me and everyone else. He answered my prayers and everyone was safe without any damage here. I knew before what I should do if there is an earthquake, but when you are awakened in the middle of the night...you don't think very clearly. So instead of getting out of bed and getting to a safe spot...I just layed there and prayed. The earthquake lasted about 15-20 seconds. I know that might not seem long to those of you who have never been in an earthquake...but it seems like a very long time when you are in the middle of it. Once the earthquake was over, I got out of bed and met up with the others in the hall so they would know I was ok. Then I tried to go back to sleep, which was a little difficult since by then I was wide awake! I am very thankful God kept us safe and pray that there won't be anymore. According to my family here, this is the strongest earthquake they have had here in Arequipa since 2001. How fun for me to be here and experience it.

In other news...tomorrow is a nation-wide strike in Peru. I get to leave for school nice and early just so I will be able to get there safely. We are all praying that it is a calm strike and that nothing horrible happens. I have also switched grammar classes as of today. I was doing my grammar with Christy and Marshall but today I got switched to being with another guy, Stephen. He and I are both leaving on July 25th and so they decided to put us together so we could speed up a little bit. It will be more challenging but really good for me too. Well, only 18 more days until I get to see my family!! I am very excited!

Changes

I'm sure those of you who check this blog regularly are probably wondering why I keep on changing the colors and style of my blog...well, there really isn't a good reason besides the fact that I have time and high-speed internet. So while I still have both of those things available to me I am going to take advantage of them and mess with my blog until I really like it. So if you have an opinion on the colors or style of my blog...please let me know. I would love to hear your suggestions.

Moving on to more interesting things...this weekend I have had a great time! Yesterday was a busy but fun day. I went and watched my friends and some of the teachers play futbol (a.k.a soccer). It was a good game and fun to talk with the others just watching. Then I took advantage of my great internet and called and talked to my mom for a while. I am getting to so excited to see my family in just 20 days!!!!!! It will be so great to see them and spend a week with them in Pucallpa. Then Marshall and I met up with the Doolittle family for lunch before we all headed to drive go-karts. I have not driven a go-kart in a very long time...but it was so much fun! I had a blast hanging out with the Doolittles. Then Christy, David L., Marshall and I watched The Bourne Supremecy. It was a fun time and also good for our spanish. We watched it in spanish with english subtitles...always fun. Then we kind of decided to keep going and watch The Bourne Ultimatim....I didn't last very long. I pretty much slept through the first hour and then Marshall and I decided it was time to head home. So it was a great day full of fun and hanging out with friends. Tonight is one of the last Sunday nights with the Doolittles and so we are headed to their house to hang out, play games, eat food and sing some worship songs. I am looking forward to it!

4th of July Peruvian style

Well, today is the 4th of July and I wasn't really sure how I was going to celebrate it down here. I didn't really care if I did anything to celebrate. But I have gotten to celebrate the holiday Peruvian style. I went to classes this morning and found out that we were going to celebrate teacher's day. There was a cake and flowers for the teachers at school and we had a good time celebrating all they do for us before my first class. Because of the party my grammar class was shorter than usual...it was nice and I was glad for the shorter time. Then during the break between my grammar and practica class we had a party for a family that was leaving. These are always fun and of course there was more cake. So we were eating the cake for that when we then get told that we were going to have hamburgers and hotdogs in celebration of the 4th of July. So instead of having my practica class I got to hang out with the teachers and the other students at the school. It was a great way to celebrate the 4th. It was really nice of the school to have a celebration for us Americans at the school. It was definitely different than grilling out back in the U.S. but it was a good time! And now a group of us are going to the movies and then there is another 4th of July party with some other Americans that we are going to. In all, it has been a great day and I even got to celebrate the 4th.