a month in a page....

Because I do not have good internet, this is a running blog….I’ve been working on putting it together since the week after we arrived in Iquitos. I’ve gone in and changed the dates a few times to make them right, but as I keep having to just save in word because I can’t connect to the internet, the dates become outdated:) So, I’m sorry that I haven’t posted in a while. Not my fault:) Sorry this is 4 pages long—just read it knowing this is a compilation of a month’s worth of activities….and I haven’t updated it since June 15^th…been busy….

God is so good. Better than I knew before, and greater than I know yet.

These past 4 weeks here in Iquitos have been exciting, terrible, fabulous, and awful all at the same time.

We left Arequipa after a magical last week. Jill was our friend and our mom and cooked incredible meals for us and reminded us why we needed to leave Arequipa if we wanted our Peruvian diets to work; Brian was our friend and a protective father and reassured us that we would always be #1/40. Jana and Andy were our precious little love bugs and we don’t know how we’re going to make it the next 2 years (plus forever) without them.

Scott hugs just like my Daddy, so in a strange way, I felt like I was saying goodbye to my family, to my Daddy, all over again. Wednesday night, the Englunds threw an awesome goodbye party for us. Ruben totally had it rigged against my team, but it was fun anyway:)

Thursday, Pilar and Gladys prepared an awesome lunch and then everyone made us cry with their sweet goodbyes, letters, goody bags, and love. Ruben loaded our huge suitcases in the back of the truck, and after one more tearful round of goodbyes, we were out of there. Brian and Jill were going to meet us at the bus station, but there was road construction and they didn’t get there in time. This caused more tears to fall, but we boarded our bus anyway, and took the night bus to Lima.

In Lima we spent the day pretending we were on vacation, and ate lunch at Chili’s. Normally, I have to share their fajita meal, but this day, my stomach knew how to pack things away, and I ate everything (except the rice, black beans—which I love in the states, but these were like soggy wood—and the onions). After paying our airport taxes we met our partners for the first time.

How nerve racking?! This is a moment I’ve been anticipating for the past 8 months! My Spanish isn’t good enough yet. What if she doesn’t like me? What if…. But it turned out fine. They all gave us suckers.

Our home…Well, if you’ve ever been to church camp, then you should be able to picture this fairly well. There is a large building on the far side where we live. Girls on one side, boys on the other. The windows are open holes with bars over them set in the brick walls. Our ceiling is commonly referred to as a tin roof—I think of it as an outside oven that does really good at amplifying the sound of pouring rain. Our bunk beds are very comfortable—the only downfall being that every move is reminiscent of an earthquake for both parties. Our mosquito netting does a FABULOUS job protecting us from being bit at night. I’ve only had a frog for a bed partner once. We did have bats in our room, and we still have rats, but Pastor Miguel cemented the bats’ entrance and exit so they’ve been leaving us alone now.

There is a mango tree outside my bedroom and several papaya trees. There’s a sweet soccer swamp/field, and a volley ball net. They love volley ball here, and I really suck. I play my little heart out, but my balls always go out of “bounds” or my attempt ends in embarrassment. But, they’re all very encouraging and ask me to play every time.

Our classroom is just across the muddy way, and the church is right next to that. One the other side of the church is the kitchen area. Food—everyone always wants to know what you’re eating:) Well, for breakfast and dinner, we usually have bread—little white rolls—and jam. Lunch always has rice and potatoes—the form of the potatoes varies from mashed to boiled, but they’re always there—and chicken—which also varies in form, but is only absent from the table if we’re having carne (1x a week). We’re getting full, but I don’t feel like I’m getting much more than carbs. And the ice cream is really expensive here. Sad, since it’s hot here. Well, it’s hot somedays, well, it’s hot every day, but we acclimated really fast, so when the sun’s not out, we feel chilled (and it’s still 80 some odd degrees). But when the sun is out, oh my goodness, it’s ridiculously hot.

We’ve finished our first course. Cultural Anthropology. Completely in Spanish. Presentations, research, lectures, all in Spanish. The crazy thing is, I learned stuff!! There were multiple days that I was fighting back tears because I was so frustrated with my comprehension level, and Cristobal (our professor) would ask a question and he’d be disappointed because no one would answer, but I wouldn’t understand what he was even talking about, so I couldn’t answer. But often times I would be able to follow just fine. We all were. And if one of us wasn’t following, we’d help each other out. We’re now in World Religions and Sects/Cults. It’s interesting. Although I like the person who’s teaching us (he’s the pastor of my church here), he’s not very organized and talks circular. But, he’s really nice…we’re just in charge of our own learning is how I feel. This class will end Friday 19^th.

I was struggling with homesickness and culture shock to the utmost degree 2 weeks ago. Figuring out ways that they would send me home but not be mad at me. I can’t make people mad at me on purpose. So, I figured if I contracted malaria…or if there was an pollutant in the water that native Peruvians were immune to, but North Americans we susceptible to some terrible disease and might die, so we’d have to go home. Or maybe if I had a stalker…. But then I would realize that I would hate myself if I had to go home. If I gave up. If I abandoned the call that I know God placed on my life. And then I counter that argument with, How am I supposed to do this for a lifetime?! Honestly, God, do you really want me to live this far away from my family, with crappy internet, and bats, spiders, cockroaches, frogs, and rats in my bedroom??!!! I don’t know. I do know that He’s called me to go and make disciples, baptize them, and teach them about Him. Maybe next time it’ll be closer to my family, maybe it’ll be farther (but it could be a good further [not that this is a bad far, I’m just in culture shock]—like Europe or something—Mom would visit me there).

It hasn’t been all bad though. We’ve had some pretty fun escapades. Last weekend we had a torrential downpour that you expect in the Amazon Rainforest (which is where I live—incredible huh?). Callie, Elisa (Wendy’s Peruvian partner) and I all played futball (soccer) with the boys. It was a blast! I had a slight run in with something other than the ball which caused my ankle to turn purple and grow to be the size of a mango. Pretty cute, let me tell you! Of course, me being the stubborn little grunt that I am, continued to play, and we danced in the rain to celebrate our victory. Then we had some good mud slides—the kind where you run and slide on the ground on your stomach. Good stuff! My ankle looks a lot better now. Hurts a little if I turn it weird…but the swelling is virtually gone and the color is normal.

2 weeks ago we began evangelizing. We split up our two pairs and went out in 4’s with Pastor Antonio Segura and a darling older lady. Once we were out in our ‘areas’, we went to homes that had some association with the church, and went in to talk to these people. On Thursday (4^th), Ana and I went to a home together. We talked to a precious young couple and the guy rededicated his life, and she accepted Christ for the first time. It was really incredible to be a part of that. It’s my first experience in Peru with someone becoming a Christian. And, they were at church that Sunday (7^th). That was a big thing to me—it was them making an effort for themselves.

We have very different evangelism styles. By that I mean, INCREDIBLY different—it’s very cultural. We have recognized that a few times when we’ve gone out to visit people in their homes, but as time goes on and new situations present themselves, it’s become glaringly obvious. The Peruvian Christian culture (at least the 4 that we’re working with) is very much all about (verbally) sharing the love of Christ with everyone they meet—whether or not the individual is ready to hear it or not—and the American Christian culture (these 4 anyway) are all about showing (through actions) the love of Christ with everyone we meet. These two differences are exciting when one of us wants to talk to the individual about how they’re doing, their life, who they are (you know, get to know the person), and the other desperately wants them to become believers.

Two Saturdays (the 6^th) ago, we were invited to the District Pastor’s meeting. It was in Llanchampa—a little remote village in the jungle. We took an hour ride in a cumbi (quintessential 3^rd world bus. It was a little dangerous because there were two bolts sticking out of the ceiling that every bump I was afraid of it sticking into my brain), stopped along the Ananias river, and walked for another hour. We were walking through the jungle for real! Then we got to a lake thing that I know there were anacondas and crocodiles in there, and took canoes across to the other side. That was the best part of the morning—I mean, meeting the pastors was cool, but the trip there and back was pretty exciting.

Brian came up to visit us that same Saturday night. He was supposed to arrive at 5, so Andrew, Wendy, and I waited at the gate till 6, ate some bread, came back and waited till Brian finally arrived at 7. Squealing with excitement, I accidently stomped in a yucky puddle, but it didn’t really matter because Brian was here! We gave him a tour of the grounds and then he took us all out to milkshakes and french-fries. Mmmm! Almost as good as Wendy’s:)

That Sunday morning we went out for a good old American breakfast and introduced our partners to French toast, banana pancakes, scrambled eggs and toast. They thought it was a lot of food:) haha! After Lunch that afternoon, just the 4 of us North Americans went with Brian on a boat (a glorified canoe with a motor) out on the Amazon River for 1 and half hours to visit a tribe (Bora Bora I think) out in the Jungle. They were the topless dancers that you always think of when you hear about jungle tribes. It was really incredible to see them in real life. I kept thinking, “this is the type of thing you read about it books, that I was taught in high school…and I’m living it.”

Last week passed pretty quickly. There was another protest Thursday through Saturday. The natives come out of the jungle to protest the government coming in and drilling for petroleum on their land. It’s a relatively peaceful protest—they pull trees out and put them in the streets, break bottles in the street, throw trash around….it’s really interesting. I find myself being angry that the Peruvian government goes in and drills without their permission, and then I wonder how I would feel if it wasn’t affecting me.

Noemi and Cristobal (directors of 40/40 education) are going to have a baby!!! They just told us last Thursday night, so we made a cake for them Friday morning. By hand. And by that I mean, Eliza and I took turns mixing the flour, sugar, eggs, vanilla, and evaporated milk with our hands. No spoons, no mixers, no added utensils to get messy. Just a bowl and our hands. No recipe, just a little of this and a little of that. It was fun and it tasted pretty good.

Internet is slow and inconsistent—you don’t ever want to depend on it here. We’re looking into other options for internet access. As it is, we have dial up at the compound where we live, and there’s wi-fi at a café in town. You pay by the hour and have to order something while you’re there. And it’s pretty slow (and it hasn’t worked for me the past 3 times I’ve gone). We’re going to possibly get Claro things, the equivalent of Sprint/AT&T/Verizon internet things….but the Smith’s already have it, and it seems to be just as worthless.

Sunday (14^th) Ana and I went to a small village for church. We left the house at 8, took a mototaxi (the front is a motorcycle, and back…well the back wheel has been cut off and a bench has been welded on with 2 wheels…) down to the river, walked through decomposing trash mixed with mud along a fresh fish/and other goods market, and leaped like gazelles over several small boats (glorified canoes), and took the one furthest out in the water across the river. As we approached the far bank, I realized that we were going to be in a stilt village. These homes are built right on the river bank, so when the river is high, they are above the water, and when the water is low, like it is now, the homes are elevated from the mud that reeks below them. Once we arrived on the other side we slid through the mud until we came to the 2 houses where we were going to hold church. I worked with another woman with the children. There are 60 kids in the village and 23 of them were at church on Sunday. They have not had a church in this village in years, and this was the first time we held service. Ana and I will be working at this mission until we leave. Dr. Larry Garmon wants to build a church there. Anyway, the kids and I learned a memory verse together, Luke 2:32, and I was able to teach them the few songs that I know in Spanish. We will learn more together. I’m really looking forward to getting to know these kids. They are stinking precious.

Monday (15^th) Ana and I went to visit people in the hospital. We visited a 15 year old precious girl—she had either had an abortion or a painful miscarriage (my Spanish doesn’t cover many medical terms yet)—and Ana and I both went in wanting to demonstrate Christ’s love with her. We just wanted to do it in different ways. In the end, I stayed with the girl and talked to her for 2 hours while Ana visited other people. Eventually, the girl (her name’s Brenda) began to ask questions about myself, and why I was here in Peru. This presented the opportunity to share with her and tell her some Bible stories. She invited me to come visit her at the Market next week when she gets back to work. Please be praying for this darling girl.

GRADUACION

So, we graduated this morning. We're officially CEICA Spanish School graduates. It was a lot of fun.
Yesterday Callie and Wendy made cookies and baked a cake to serve at our momentous occasion and they were delicious.

We had class as usual with Mary--couldn't miss out on our last hours of learning--and at 10:30, Callie, Wendy, Wendy's teacher, and I ran to the market to get flowers for Carmen and our Host mom's. We made it back to the school at 10:59 (and graduation was at 11--talk about cutting in close). So the moment we walked in the door, we ran to our classroom and I got my little speech thing that I had so thoughtfully prepared (haha).

The living room area had been transformed to a lovely....circular shaped seating arrangement, and almost our entire Extreme Family was there to celebrate with us.

Carmen began the ceremony with some nice words about how she's enjoyed having us and how we have brightened the school. The school bought books for all of us--novelas for the girls, and dictionaries for the boys (because the girls learn so fast, and the boys might need some more help). Then they passed out our "diplomas," really just certificates of completion--but they look beautiful! Roy (our professors) gave Callie hers, and mi abuela gave my and Wendy ours, and Carlos gave Andrew his, and (you wanted to know who gave each person their certificates right?) Henry gave Tyson and Tracy theirs, and Brad and Michelle's professor gave them theirs....it was all very special.


Lucilla (mi abuela) gave a short little thing about being a host family and she's enjoyed it, and then I got all embarrassed because she talked about me....blah blah blah....and I then I talked and thanked everyone for being there (in spanish, because I am now a spanish school graduate). Wendy was "supposed" to sing a song, but she's not healthy today and doesn't have a good voice, so she got out of that one.


When we were finished with that, we all ate the delicious cake and cookies and took a million pictures....

It was a real graduation. It was a blast. Wish you could have been there.

Last night, my precious host mom prepared dinner for Wendy, Callie, Andrew and I. She's asked me several times in the past week about the menu and the time for the meal. Yesterday morning, she told me that she was going to play music in English and that we could talk in whatever language that we wanted. It was so cute!!!

So, I went to school and Carmen--the director (a darling woman of about 65 years who is sweetly intimidating and gives you a sense of incompetent confidence) --came into Callie and I's class. Callie and I are planning/putting on the school's first graduation ceremony. (The school's been running for 10 or 11 years and none of the previous arrogant American's have wanted a ceremony....but, we're all for pomp and circumstance) Carmen wanted to talk details and order of ceremony. She said the school could provide pisco sours for everyone: which is the drink of Arequipa--it's alcohol mixed with sprite. We kindly declined as good Nazarenes:) I jokingly said we should sing a song, and now we are going to sing something grand that is yet to be decided (and there is less than 48 hours between now and the grand event). Anyway, as Carmen was leaving she says "I'll be eating dinner with you guys tonight!"

The day passed (Callie and I went to an incredible Crepe place that you would expect to find in France, and spent the whole afternoon there playing card games and eating heaven), and then went back to the house for dinner.

Our relaxing English evening turned into a Spanish evening. The food was fantastic, and there was a lot of laughter. It was the first time my host mom had ever had friends of her students over, and the first time Carmen had ever eaten with her students. We had a good time I think:)

I'll let you know how graduation goes. It's on Friday at 11 am. Should be a momentous occasion:)

2 semanas y contando

6 days and counting until I finish language school. Wow, Crazy!

Callie, Wendy, and I spent this past weekend with Jill Tibbs and her precious children. It was a heavenly weekend!! We came over for dinner on Friday, and stayed till dinner was over on Sunday. Jill definitely has the gift of hospitality and a way of making you feel completely relaxed and at home. She also has a gift in the kitchen! mmmmm!!! good food! Saturday, pobre Wendy was sick, so the rest of us got out of the house and got our hairs cut. I get nervous getting my hair cut in the States--by people I know and trust. Let alone people I don't know!!! and I don't know much vocabulary when it comes to hair cutting....But it turned out really well. Jana got the winning look--but then again she is 3. 3 year olds are pretty much guaranteed to look cuter than anyone else:)
Sunday, I finally met Vivian!!! The infamous young woman from Puerto Maldonado who met the Lord this past summer and completely turned her life around. (For those of you who went through the Extreme Mobile, she is the young lady featured in the 3rd room.) She is so nice! Her Spanish is obviously a few notches better than mine, but I was able to understand her fairly well. Her son is beautiful--Fabio (perfect isn't it?!). He's 1 1/2 years of adorableness. They're staying at the office right now, so I am excited to get to know her more and pump her with questions about Puerto Maldonado--the people, the culture, the heat, the food, the spiders....

Last night we celebrated Tyson's birthday at a sweet chicken place!!! I've had some pretty good chicken in my day, but jiminy cricket!!! This was some great chicken. Oh, but before that, Callie, Wendy, Andrew, Tyson, Tracy, Kai, myself and a taxi driver all fit in the same taxi. Wow! Tight squeeze! In the States that never would fly!! I don't know how they all made it in the backseat, but Wendy and I shared the front passenger seat, and my rear end was constantly in the way of the Driver's shifter. I'm learning a lot about how to fold your body into any space that you're given when taking transportation....


Mi Abuela made apple pie for me! It was soooo good! The crust was a good half inch thick on top, and a quarter inch thick on the bottom. Now, my parents can testify that I am a pretty picky crust person. I have been spoiled with amazing crust all my life, and so I just don't eat bad crust. But this was different than any crust I've had before. It was delicious!!! She served me a huge piece for breakfast and said I could have more with dinner. And, then, after lunch, she brought out these incredible marzipan fruits. I should have taken a picture. But I ate a little peach and an apple--but they were just marzipan shaped and colored to look like these little fruits. So cute!! and yummy. And then!! Yesterday I translated a recipe for mi abuela, and today, she asked me if I wanted to make it with her tomorrow night!!! I'm so excited!!! I feel like she really likes me! It's a great feeling.

changes

Well, here we are. Down to 23 days left in Arequipa. Although our Spanish has vastly improved, we still have a long way to go. How on earth are we going to be able to take college level courses in Spanish?!! By the grace of God alone.
They have chosen Andrew's partner--he's 32! They have 2 girls, and are waiting for one more. God will provide. I'm so excited and scared to meet them:)
My host family and I are finally bonding in a way that makes me feel like I'm part of the family. on Friday morning I told mi abuela that I wasn't going to be there for lunch or dinner and she swatted my behind with a wooden spoon!! Hahaha, it was hilarious.Well....I just wanted to do a quick update and let everyone know that I am still alive. I am going to miss this place so much. It has slowly but surely become home to me. And my Extreme family....dear heavens, I'm going to miss them. Praise the Lord, Brad, Michelle, Tyler, Tracy, Tyson, Kai, Wendy, Callie and Andrew are coming with me to Iquitos:)

Caime de Judas

At 5:30 am Easter Sunday morning, Andrew, Tyson and I began our 45 minute walk to Yanuaharra to the plaza there. We had learned that Easter Sunday morning, they burn Judas and this was a once in a lifetime experience that we wanted to take part in. The sun was already up when we began our walk and it only got warmer as the morning progressed. I had worn a warm jacket because it was 5:30 am and that made sense to me. Well. It was not needed. I was hot the whole morning.

Anyway, we walked to the Plaza and there were about 100 people there. It was 45/30 min early, so not a bad start. Hanging in one of the archs surrounding the plaza was a giant papier-mâché looking man wearing a business suit. Obviously, it was Judas…We looked in the Cathedral and then took our seats. We wanted to be up close to see all the smoke and flames. Piro’s:)

Soon there was a parade type thing with people wearing black robes and carrying candles. They were singing a song, and had a solemn marching band accompanying them. By this point there were closer to 250 people gathered. At 7 am, a man began the testament of Judas. It’s basically a comedic political commentary where they make fun of all the important people that they don’t like. It went on for about 30 min. I took the opportunity to take a quick snooze because it was boring as all get out to someone who doesn’t understand Peruvian politics…or that much Spanish…

Finally the good part arrived! In Spanish, the people around us were saying “move back”, but we didn’t catch on till we couldn’t move back without loosing the ability to see. So we were standing roughly 15 feet from Judas. By far, the closest people to the action. A man took a long stick that was lit on the end and touched it to the fuse coming out of Judas’ face. He started spouting (and smelling) like a mini exploding firework thing. I leaned over to Andrew and said “is he a giant firework? I thought we were catching him on fire.” At that moment, Judas’ head burst! Pop, pop, pop!!! He was a giant firework and we were right there to catch the action!!

As his arms and head blew up, we were in the line of fire. Part of his face flew off and landed not more than 5 feet from Tyson and we were all worried it was going to pop up and get us. When his left arm exploded, flying debris hit my on my face just below my eye! I’m lucky that my eyeball was gouged out!!!

His legs were super exciting too. They spun a million miles a second and suddenly BAM POW POP they disappeared in a cloud of smoke! And his chest was much the same way. Minus the spinning. Wow, talk about being worth getting up so early! This Judas burning was way cooler than searching for my Easter basket before church….no offense Easter Bunny.

Primera Pasqua en Peru

Oh my goodness. So this is Holy Week. In the Catholic Church—at least here in Peru—this is a huge deal . Every day there is a different traditional soup for lunch. Beginning Thursday, you can’t eat meat. Really the no meat thing could start on Palm Sunday, but that gets expensive. Fish is ok though—just not the other meats. Anyway, all week there’s parade type things as they move the images around. Everyone is a little excited and in a good mood. The theft rate is higher this week, so I didn’t bring my camera with me on my adventures. You’re just going to have to use your imagination.

Thursday, Andrew was giving his testimony at his church in Umacolla. So, although I really wanted to go see Jesus Christ Superstar, I didn’t know where it was going to be….and I did know where Andrew was going to be speaking, and really, he’s more important anyway, so Wendy, Callie and I decided that after dinner we’d go support our brother.

Dinner. We had Arroz con Leche (rice pudding), mazamorra morada (a deep purple, super thin, hot jello type thing with lots of cooked fruits), and a creamy brown blob resembling chocolate pudding with coconut flakes on top. This was served with pan dulce (sweet bread).When I asked why they only eat sweets for dinner on Thursday and Friday, mi Abluela responded “Because we can’t have meat and we need the calories.” I have a sweet tooth, but this was a bit much for dinner. And mi Abuela would not let me be done with 1 plate. No, I had to have 3 plates because I needed the calories since I wasn’t eating any other foods. I practically rolled out of the house I was so full of sugar.

I walked to Callie and Wendy’s so we could catch a cab together to get to Andrew’s church. When I got there, they were still eating their dinner/dessert. Their host mom invited me to sit at the table and join them. When she offered me a plate I kindly responded that I had just finished dinner, but thank you very much. I was just early to get the girls. Well, that saved me from one course. When she took the girls’ plates, she returned with 3 more with chocolate manjar cake from heaven and apple pie Peruvian style. Oh my goodness, if I was sick before, I was deathly ill afterwards. I was taught to eat what is set before me, and although I was sooooo full, I had to eat it anyway. It tasted very good….but I think that I would have liked it better on any other day.

We finally got out of there and booked it to the church. We had a sweet taxi driver who let us sing loudly to Queen—We are the Champions. Fun stuff (it made me think of two things. 1. Daddy had a stuffed animal beaver that sang that song, and 2. Katherine loves Queen). We got to the church in time for lots of Spanish preaching—might as well have been Chinese for as much as I understood…but then again, I was in a diabetic coma, so I couldn’t pay attention anyway. After the sermon, Andrew gave his testimony. He did such a great job!! He had translated it into Spanish and spoke with grace and confidence. I couldn’t have been more proud of my brother.

When we left the church, we decided since there was the 4 of us, we’d just walk home. I love to walk in this city! And because I was on my sugar high, I had plenty of energy (and useless calories) to burn. We walked down the street, pushed a stalled Volkswagen Beetle out of the road (good deed for the day), crossed a bridge, went up some stairs, and eventually came to Plaza de Armas. There were tons and tons of people there! I’ve never seen it so packed. We walked through the Centre, and saw that the Cathedral was open. Callie and I had learned in class that morning that there was an image of the Devil in there and we wanted to see it. So, we convinced/dragged Andrew and Wendy with us to go see. We thought the Plaza was full; the cathedral was tight enough to body surf. We were quite tempted, but then figured that it was probably irreverent.

As we oozed through the cathedral, Fathers with magic wands dipped in Holy Water and splashed the crowd. Being the girls we are, Wendy, Callie and I squealed with the realization that the water was wet when it hit us. Hahaha, we were lucky to be near people who were enjoying our first time to be blessed in this way. I kept my eyes open wide in case I could get the water in to my brain in order that I learn Spanish faster. It was as exciting as Disney Land!!

When we emerged from the church, having contracted the scent of B.O. and Holy Water, we had the privilege of watching a choreographed fight to the ‘Rocky’ theme song and ‘Eye of the Tiger’. It was fabulous!!! The two men were wearing giant square oven-mits and it was very matrix. So cool!! Callie and I decided that next year, we’ll put on a fight in Puerto Maldonado. Her song is “Beat It” by Michael Jackson, and I’m going to be fighting to “I’ll Make a Man Out of You” from Mulan. Fitting I think.

After the fight was over, we began the final mile home. There was a person dressed up as Spider Man, and I was about to say hi when he threw this ball at me. I squealed, but it was like a yo-yo thing and hardly got close to me. I felt a little blonde after that….

Friday. Most Catholics fast for breakfast, but knowing that I am not Catholic, my host mom gave me rice pudding for breakfast. I didn’t complain. I love that stuff!!! Especially when I don’t have to eat 3 plates of a million other calories too.

Most business and government establishments had Friday off as a Holiday-It’s Good Friday you know. But school was going to be offered today for anyone who wanted to come. Since next week we’re having retreat, we all decided to go ahead and go. We need to master Spanish anyway.

For lunch, I came home to Fish soup. It had camaron in it (similar to crawdads…), corn, potatoes, orange fish eggs, kidney beans, carrots, and a fried fish fillet. Mmmmm. When I make soup, that’s the combination I want. Nope, that was a lie. Hahahaha. As weird as it sounds, it really wasn’t that bad. Don’t get me wrong, it’s not something I’m going to request for my birthday dinner. But I didn’t feel like I was gagging every bite down either. The orange fish eggs were interesting. I wasn’t supposed to swallow them, just chew them. I needed to crush all of the little white balls (eggs), and then take the crushed substance out of my mouth. The camaron was different as well. They were whole—their eyeballs and antenna things were there and everything. With these, I was supposed to put the head in my mouth and suck the brains out (no joke—it was an awkward feeling because the antennas kept tickling that hangy ball thing in the back of my throat).

Callie and I went to an Easter service at my church last night and had a great time fellowshipping with our Peruvian Church Family. Cristobal Correa spoke, and I love it when he speaks. He speaks clearly and slowly, and is really easy to understand. He and his wife will be the directors of our school in Iquitos. I’m so thankful that I get to know them now!

Tonight, we’re having a mini Easter celebration with the Smiths. It will be the first of 3 Easter’s that we will spend together. I’m excited. We’re having French toast!!!! Nothing says Christ is Risen like French Toast:) And tomorrow, after church, the Extreme Team is invited to share Easter Lunch together. It will be a wonderful experience.