Friendship

Time is funny…days are long, but the weeks are really starting to fly. In some ways, it seems like I’ve been in Trujillo for much longer than I have, and in others it’s hard to believe it has already been over a month. But there is a little bit of a rhythm now, to my work in the clinic and at SALI – and at the same time, a big part of life’s rhythm right now is that there is none at all. :)

Last Sunday was Rachel and Patrick’s birthday. Rachel wanted to have some people over to celebrate, so we invited some of our Peruvian friends and told them to spread the word for those who were interested. We ended up having a pretty big crowd show up, with an interesting mixture of people from SALI (language school), SUSA (Friday night young adult ministry), the downtown Cristo Rey church, or people who just hang around with that group. Honestly, I wasn’t sure I was up for hosting a big crowd of people at the apartment, but I ended up having a really good time, and it was fun to see Rachel enjoying herself. It’s nice to feel special, especially on your birthday.

People hung out for quite awhile munching on snacks (I think I could eat my weight in guacamole), enjoying a cheesecake made by Alleen (one of the missionaries down here in charge of the interns and also fun to hang out with), and generally enjoying one another’s company. Inevitably, after awhile someone broke out the salsa music and, since a few of the guys really know what they’re doing, space was cleared on the floor for some dancing.

One of my favorite parts, though, was a Peruvian tradition where people basically go around and say nice things about the person whose birthday is being celebrated. I suppose it can get a little cliché, but I was struck by how many people wanted to share how much Rachel already meant to them, even after just 3 weeks. No one was pretending they were already best friends, but several people genuinely encouraged her and told her how they appreciated her talents, qualities, and characteristics. I think we could all use a little dose of that, and not just on our birthdays.

Most of the people I’ve met here are all extremely warm and welcoming. It’s wonderful to have that, and I confess at times I want to rush in and be great friends with someone right away. I certainly feel like I’m making good friends with some cool people (and it’s a little easier because Heidi already has good friends from last year that she’s kind enough to share!), but I also realize that true friendships – at least for me – take time to develop. And I think that’s good, even if it does require a little more patience. I’m thankful for the new relationships I have, and I hope I can keep finding that equilibrium between genuine interest and investment in others and patience enough to allow friendship to develop naturally and deeply…and even to enjoy that process.


Verónica, Rebeca, Maresa, and Rosa singing Happy Birthday to Rachel.

Briggith, Katy, me, and Heidi one night when we had some people over for dinner.

Karina, Heidi, and Maresa when we spent a couple of hours at the beach at Huanchaco, about 20 minutes from Trujillo.

Poco a poco

Poco a poco – little by little. I heard that a lot from the other staff members my first few days working at the clinic. And it was something I needed to hear. Honestly, the first week there was a little overwhelming. The first day Noemí, one of the nurses, walked me through doing triage with one or two patients, and then I was on my own with them, jumping right in. It felt something comparable to drinking out of a fire hydrant. Not that taking people’s height, weight, and blood pressure is a particularly difficult task. Taking the basic medical histories of new patients is a little more complicated, but even that is basically just completing a form of questions. I was just a little overwhelmed with the prospect of being responsible for documenting each patient’s information correctly. And, because I haven’t actually done this in the States either, most of the protocol or “normal” answers to the medical history questions I’m not even familiar with in English, much less Spanish. Plus, especially at the beginning, I had to learn simple things like how the system of street addresses works or how many checkups a mother is supposed to have during her pregnancy, and I still often have to ask someone how to spell their last name or the town where they were born. So the first few days, I felt more incompetent and in the way than like I was being much of a help.

It’s funny – in the process of raising support to come down here, I learned a lot about being humbled and relying on God and other people. I prayed that this would be a lesson I continued to learn each day when I was down here…and (would you believe it?!) God thought I was serious. J Being in a new environment, a new language, a new system of how people do things, working with new people – all this on top of learning new skills and procedures, even if they are just basic, makes depending on God and others a necessity. I have to be humbled when Noemí answers all my questions, corrects my mistakes, or patiently watches me prepare and then administer a shot at an agonizingly slow and inexperienced pace - in the same time it would probably take her to perform it easily half a dozen times. Or when Jenny, the cashier/secretary, has to spell out to me what she needs me to go ask Dr. Julton, and then how he doesn’t seem bothered at all by having to repeat the answer twice, but rather treats me with the same compassion and full attention he gives each of his patients. Or when Nila, the nurse/pharmacist/sweet-fun-grandmotherly figure comes and asks me every day, “¿ya tomaste un cafecito?” – if I’ve already had my coffee break – and then takes me up for a warm drink, a roll, empanada or papa rellena, and a comforting conversation.

Yes, I’m learning a lot. From the extremely gracious and kind people with whom I work. From the patients, most of whom I only encounter for a few minutes but some of whom I’ve had the privilege (is it a privilege, if they’re coming to receive medical care?) of seeing a few times when they come back for follow-ups or check-ups. From simply walking through Wichanzao, getting to know the neighborhood a little bit, and wanting to – beginning to – see a little more of what life is really like here, not as a tourist but as a resident who is interested in the individuals who live here. Or so I hope. I am beginning to be accustomed and feel more comfortable, at least with the environment and my basic responsibilities. And I hope that, as that continues more and more, that my curiosity and compassion would increase. That I would be genuinely interested in and invested in each person I attend, whether it’s someone I see once for two minutes or someone with whose circumstances I really become familiar by seeing them week after week. So I’ve been there three weeks now, and I feel like I’ve made progress. But sometimes that makes me realize just how far still I need to go. I guess, though, that’s the goal. Day by day, encounter by encounter, mistake by mistake, little victory by little victory, challenge by challenge, smile by smile…poco a poco.

I’ll write more later about what the clinic actually does and how it serves people, so be on the lookout for that. For now, enjoy these few pictures…
Noemi and I with Señora Victoria, an elderly lady we went to visit about a week ago (see http://www.pmmedicalministry.blogspot.com/ for more on this and other work of the clinic)

This is a view of the clinic from outside - Consultorio Medico Pastoral.

Lunch with some of the clinic staff (Daniel - dental student/fellow intern with me; Angel - dentist at the clinic who always gives me a hard time; Nila; Dale - clinic administrator and missionary with Peru Mission; Noemi) at the end of the second week. My first ceviche after they found out that I had yet to try this typical Peruvian dish.

A Different Kind of Beautiful

I think I've mentioned that one of the best parts of being here so long is actually living here - making my own routines or fitting in what I know as normal to make it seem a little more like home. For example, usually when I travel, I don't slow down much. I like to try to see and experience as much as possible because I know I'm only there for a limited period of time. While my time here is still limited, it's long enough that I can go home and get to bed early a night or two a week, or I can spend a Saturday skyping, catching up on emails, cooking, shopping, playing soccer, hanging out, etc. It's nice to take that as a Sabbath, to be able to actually rest and not feel like I am missing out by having a more relaxed day.



That being said, last Saturday was not quite as uneventful as the previous couple had been. I ended up going with Tyler and Seth out to Wichanzao (the area of town where the clinic is) to climb the mountain Serro de Cabros that had been teasing and enticing us since the first time the smog and clouds cleared out enough to tell that there are actually mountains around Trujillo. Despite loving not having to do things on the weekends, it was really nice to get out and do something a little different. Like the rest of this area, the mountain is extremely dry. In fact, it's pretty much all sand, rock, and shale. It's stark and looming (although not incredibly high), and its steep areas and lack of green make it look like the set of an old western movie where you might expect a pack of cowboys to come galloping by in a cloud of dust.

I think we took the hard way, at least at the beginning as we clambered between huge rock structures, but even when we reached the more open (but still steep) spaces higher up, the paths that seemed evident from the bottom where hard to find. I guess the slightly different shade of dirt that makes them visible isn't as easy to distinguish when you see it up close. (I'm sure there's a profoud metaphor somewhere in there). The only live things we saw were a few bugs, a couple of lizards, a struggling cactus, a bunch of snail-like creatures that looked like you should have found them at the beach, and a tiny, scrawny coyote that scrambled past a few dozen yards below us when we were taking a break.

Despite the stark environment, it was beautiful in its own way. And arriving at the top you could look one way and see how expansive Trujillo actually is, with houses and buildings flung for miles east toward the ocean (which we couldn't see because of the haze). The amazing part, though, was looking west. From the top you could see more mountains that aren't visible from the bottom of the mountain or through the haze of the city. But above it all, looking at their beauty (even more impressive and imposing than our "Goat Mountain"), it was exciting to think about how far they stretch. I'm not sure that these are even technically part of the Andes. Maybe they're just the beginning, but it sure made you wonder what beauty and adventure lies beyond what you can see. Sounds a little like Pocahontas... :)

One of my favorite parts was actually getting to the mountain. You had to walk a good 20 or 30 minutes through Wichanzao and then the poorer area of Clementina to reach the base of the mountain. It was really interesting and eye-opening to walk through the area where people lived, to get a glimpse of the reality - even if from outside their walls - of what life is like for these Peruvians. It's probably similar to that of many people I see in the clinic every day. It's by no means the poorest place in the world, but it's still a reality check. Kids playing soccer, dozens of dogs wandering around, women washing and hanging clothes, people bringing buckets of water...just another Saturday. And equally - if not more - beautiful here.

But God forbid that I ever romanticize it.

The Lay of the Land

One of my favorite ways to get to know a place is by just wandering around. Or, in many cases, getting lost. I’ve tried to do this (well, not necessarily get lost!) several times since I’ve been here, and while I still have a lot to learn about Trujillo, I’m beginning to learn my way around. On a couple of runs (of the very few I’ve taken hasta ahora), I’ve managed to get a little lost, ask for directions, and find my way back to familiar territory (don’t worry, Mom, it’s all been in safe places and in full daylight). It’s a great way to see places I might not necessarily see otherwise and, after I get home and look at a map to figure out exactly where I was, I add another piece to the slowly-growing picture of my familiarity with the city.

So let me show you around Trujillo a little bit. We girls live in an apartment building (La Casa Blanca, as some people call it) on the busy corner where Larco, a main road, crosses Avenida España. It makes for a lot of noise as traffic and honking taxis pass on both streets, but that part has been pretty easy to zone out, and the location is great. Our apartment is quite nice and actually has twice as many beds as we need, as sometimes there are more female interns. But we’ve got a nice kitchen fully equipped with a fridge and gas stove/oven, as well as a dining/living area where, on the enviable occasions we have some free time, it’s nice to relax and people-watch on the busy street below.

La Avenida España actually encircles the historic center of downtown Trujillo, made up of a grid of streets filled with everything from panaderías (bakeries), farmacias, and optometry clinics to restaurants and beautiful old Catholic churches every couple of blocks. There’s also the Mercado central, which sells everything from clothes to flowers to household wares and, of course, just about any fresh food you can imagine (just be sure to wash your produce in the appropriate bleach solution before eating it!). Like many Latin American cities, the heart of this 15-square-block circle boasts the main Plaza de Armas with its impressive ring of refurbished, colorful, colonial-style buildings (including a church and several municipal buildings) anchored by a statue whose subject I haven’t quite figured out yet.

Although the city’s center has a very definite downtown, it isn’t marked by tall buildings or a noticeable skyline. In fact, very few buildings are more than 5 or 6 stories tall, and most only have between 2 and 4 floors. Trujillo is laid out sort of like a wheel, with la Avenida España encircling the hub and other main roads raying out like spokes toward the outskirts of town. These main roads delineate and connect the other areas of town, which are distinguished by their own business districts or residential neighborhoods. Bodegas (small stores where you can get most of your basic food or household items), larger supermarkets, or even one of Trujillo’s several public or private universities (such as la Universidad Nacional or Universidad de César Vallejo) are easy to find dotted around, as are little squares and parks where you might find a coveted patch of green space, or neighborhood concrete courts where kids play soccer or basketball.

La Avenida América parallels España in that it corrals a circular area of Trujillo, but it is a little further out and contains more, including España and the city center as well as other neighborhoods. Further out from América, things aren’t quite so organized, and the outskirts of Trujillo sprawl out pretty expansively. As in many urban areas, the average household income and standard of living drop as you get further from the city center, and the PanAmerican highway takes you through these levels of suburbs and districts as you leave Trujillo: through Milagros, La Esperanza, Arevalo, Parque Industrial, Wichanzao, Clementina. There are countless others, I’m sure, and I’m not exactly sure how they’re organized, but I supposed they are all, more or less, part of Trujillo.

So… welcome to Trujillo! The local time is 8:00 pm. I hope you enjoy your stay here, or wherever your final destination may be.

SALI y Sol

Happy Tuesday to you. As of tomorrow, I'll have been in Peru two weeks. I can't decide if it feels like much less than that, or infinitely longer. Both, I suppose...

I thought today I'd tell you a little about SALI (San Augustin Language Institute) and show you some pictures. SALI is where we (the fellows and a few other teachers) teach our English conversation classes. They take place at La Casa San Agustin - also known as La Casa Amarilla or simply la oficina - which is Peru Mission's primary and administrative building, located en el centro, in downtown Trujillo. See exhibit A.

I'm not sure all the history behind it, but SALI used to be a larger endeavor and a more distinct, central ministry of Peru Mission. For various reasons, about a year ago they decided to close it, but when we moved into this new building about six months ago, it was revamped to offer purely conversation classes. Between the hours of 3 and 6 each weekday, three levels of English are offered each hour. For example, this month I'm teaching the 6:00 intermediate class, but next month I could be teaching a basic level class (obviously not quite "conversational" yet) at 4:00. From what I've heard, the new structure is working really well, and it provides a relaxed environment for people learning English to simply come practice speaking - which, in my experience with Spanish, is by far the best way to improve.

The classes are free, as well, so that makes it an appealing offer for students. I think right now there are 125 students enrolled, although it's rare that everyone attends each class. Most people are balancing the classes with a job (or job search in several cases) or other studies. The majority of students are in their twenties or so, many studying at one of Trujillo's universities or finishing a master's. Although the location, content, and environment of SALI caters more to the young professional crowd, students come from all ages and walks of life. I'm really enjoying it as a way to meet people, learn about Peruvian culture and traditions, and have good conversations. The nature of the class - focusing on a particular topic or article each day - makes it easy to discuss a wide variety of topics, from food to faith to current events, common interests, or personal opinions. My students are great too - Daniel, Jose, Carina, Odana, Nestor, Miguel to name a few - and it's a lot of fun getting to listen to them practice and hear what they have to say. They aren't incredibly comfortable with English so sometimes it takes them longer to say things, but they speak pretty well, and after class we usually hang out and speak in Spanish for awhile. It's fun to see them really open up and be themselves then. They are fun and full of personality in class, but it's amazing how much more comfortable and "yourself" you feel in your own language. I hope I can get that way more and more in Spanish...although I'm not sure I'm always like that in English either. :)

So, leading English class and taking Spanish with Heidi, Patrick, and Rachel (taught by Priscilla - she's great) takes up my evenings. Some afternoons we have a meeting, and Wednesdays we eat lunch with one of the missionary families. The rest of my afternoon is spent in a somewhat sporadic combination of eating lunch, checking emails, going grocery shopping, taking laundry, doing Spanish homework, preparing for class, or most likely some other random quehacer that comes up. If I'm lucky I'll get to read or journal a little bit, but things are still so much in the settling in stage that I haven't had that luxury much. But winter in Trujillo is typically pretty gray and dreary (although not too cold - just aroun 60 all the time). However, several of the last few afternoons, the sun has come out to warm things up. Even if the temperature isn't actually so much warmer, it's amazing how much nicer the sun makes things. One of the best parts, though, is how it lights everything up. When hace sol, it's like the world wakes up. Colors on the buildings come out so much more, you can actually see some of the sandy desert mountains that surround Trujillo (albeit through the city's pollution), and honestly, I just feel happier when the sun is out.

Maybe it's not a completely fair comparison since the subjects are so different, but maybe you get the idea. The first picture is looking down Avenida España from our apartment window. The second is a municipal building in Trujillo's central Plaza de Armas.

So I'm thankful for SALI and for sol, for learning from the good and the hard parts, and for the warmth they are both bringing me.

Overdue

Well...I made it! Sorry for the late update. Actually, I don't expect there will be a very predictable rhythm to my blogs, but I'm hoping they will be a little more often than this. The last week and a half has been really good, but really busy, and I kind of feel like I have been drinking water from a fire hose. So, there is no way I can adequately describe what all has been going on in this one post, so I'll try and spread it out a bit more over the next several posts - and maybe be a little more prompt with them. But no promises. :)

So, Wednesday night each of the seven interns arrived in Lima sometime betwen 9 and 1. It made for a late night, but it was great to actually meet everyone. I'll tell more about them later, but for it's a good group of people, and while I know we still have a lot to learn about one another, it still feels like I've known them more than just 10 days. I guess that's how it is when you're all thrown into a new situation together. Seth is from Saltillo, MS, Patrick is from Arkansas, Tyler is from Texas, Daniel and Rachel are both from Jackson, MS, and Heidi is from Virginia. Heidi was actually a fellow last year as well, so it's been great having someone who already knows the ropes and can show us around and introduce us to people.

After sleeping in Thursday morning, a relaxed brunch, and a stroll through the market in Lima, we flew to Trujillo. It was funny getting off the plane to a dry, desert environment near the beach and driving past sugar cane and other semi-tropical plants. What made it strange, though, was the breezy, cloudy, upper-50s temperature that is typical for Trujillo's winter. Heidi, Rachel, and I are sharing an apartment downtown on the busy corner of Avenida España and Larco. It's quite nice, actually, and it was (is) fun getting moved in and settled.

Life settling in physically, culturally, and emotionally is pretty draining. I'm looking forward to finding the rhythm, and this weekend will be a welcome time to be a little more laid back. The great part about being here for a year is that I don't have to leave right as I'm starting to get into the swing of things. Rather, although I'm just beginning to scratch the surface, I know I can take time to actually live here instead of running around trying to see and do as much as possible in a short period of time. My days are filled with working in the clinic in the morning, running errands or preparing for class in the afternoon, and then taking a Spanish class and teaching an English class in the evenings (more details on these things at a later point). In between everything there are meetings and get-togethers with the interns, the missionary families, and new aquaintances that will hopefully soon be real friends. But that's not something to rush, and I've never been one to make close friends in just a week or two. But I think that's okay - maybe even good - and it's another perk of being here so long.

Even with all the whirlwind, I'm loving being here and diving right into everything. Last Friday and Saturday we had some orientation with Josh Eby and Alleen McClain, who are in charge of the Fellowship program (among other things). It was really good to all get on the same page by going through the mission's purpose and vision and our role as fellows. I'll delve more into that later, but one thing that really resonates with me is hearing how the purpose behind the combination of all this - serving, ministry, relationship-building, discipleship - is the idea that we are a part of bringing about God's kingdom and restoring work. In other words, if we really believe what we say about loving one another, having Christ develop His compassion in and pour it through us, and sharing Good News, we can't isolate one part of each other and only focus on it. Developing and encouraging one another spiritually is paramount, but if it is prioritized while turning a blind eye to the very real physical, economic, or emotional needs of those around us (and I include myself in that group), our service is incomplete. True compassion, I believe, loves the whole person, not just one aspect. I think, even knowing this, I am tempted to compartmentalize people, put them in boxes, or assume that it's only reasonable to minister to them in one aspect. But I hope that this experience plays a role in my continual process of learning otherwise.

Peru Mission's website summarizes their approach in Trujillo: "We plant missional churches, raise up Christian leaders and develop transformational institutions. These vibrant, reformed churches are actively involved in bringing God’s justice, mercy, and peace to the world around them." I think this explains some of what I'm trying to say.

Perhaps some of my ramblings (as I sort through this for myself) will make more sense as I try to explicate different areas of ministry here, struggles and successes, and specific experiences. Thanks for listening. :) Until next time...
Blessings