Enjoying the joys and walking through doors

So, in my post-writing reading of this blog, I realized it’s a lot more introspective than I’d planned. Oh well…

So, a couple of happy things this week. I’ve gotten to play a couple of games of Sunday afternoon football and ultimate Frisbee after Sunday lunch with the missionary families, which was lots of fun, especially since the weather has been really nice. And last night fulbito (our Saturday night small-sided soccer game) was great, with a big group of people and several really good players. I’m still a soccer/sports-nerd at heart…just makes me happy getting out there and playing, especially now that I get to do it for fun.

Another fun thing was getting to have coffee and catch up a bit Friday with Rosa, a friend I haven’t seen in awhile. Well, that in itself was good, but the happy thing was that, about halfway through our conversation, she said, “You know, your Spanish is a lot better than it was last time I saw you.” Since I’m around my Spanish every day, I can’t really tell if I’ve improved, so it was really exciting to hear her say that it seems to have gotten better in the last 6 or 8 weeks.

Also, I’ve decided for sure that I’m staying through July next year. I was trying to figure out if I should come back at the end of May when the fellowship program officially ends or stay through the summer. After doing some thinking, praying, and talking with Dale (the clinic administrator) and Alleen (the fellowship director), it looks like it’s going to work out. I’d wanted to make sure I’d be able to stay practically, be able to be of help at the clinic and translating for short-term teams, and frankly that I’d be staying for the right reasons. But it looks like the Lord has opened up the door, and I think I’m gonna walk through it.

It’s funny – I feel like, at least for me, a lot of times the doors open slowly. The door rarely bangs open or is blown open by an explosion, leaving a hole big enough to walk through. It’s more like, little by little, the door creaks open…or after awhile, after taking some steps backwards, forwards, twisting and turning, I realize it’s open. I hope that happens with what I should do next year. I spent about three hours in front of a computer this morning beginning to look at some grad school possibilities, and it kind of fried my brain. And afterwards I didn’t feel like I’d made much project figuring out my life or future. But since when have I known what I’m going to do? There are certainly some ideas floating around, but they still seem pretty nebulous, amorphous, and idealistic. So for now, I’m just praying that God continues to do what he does – leading me step by step, opening the doors at the right pace, at the right time.

Now if my racing mind and every-so-often anxious heart would just get on board. But, at the same time, it’s nice not to have anywhere to be in any time in particular. So, I’m not in a hurry. And right now I’m in Trujillo, Peru, and hopefully, wherever I end up, I’ll really BE there in every sense of the phrase.

LenninTours - al toque no mas!

October 8th was a holiday (they happen pretty frequently, with which I am perfectly fine), so we didn’t have SALI classes, and the clinic was closed. Therefore, we – the interns and Alleen, our “boss” – decided to take advantage of our long weekend to travel to Moyobamba. Moyobamba is a town in the high jungle, and we actually have a lot of friends and people involved in our churches and ministries here who are from Moyobamba. Therefore, it’s built up a certain amount of fame, and I was excited to get to finally see it. Plus, it would be the first big trip and opportunity to see another, very different area of Peru.

Some things here seem to make perfect sense, and I look back and think, “In the States, I’d think that was crazy.” For example, leaving at 3:00 on a Thursday afternoon, driving 16 hours in a bus, and returning three days later. I mean, that’s a really, really long time in a bus, and I’m generally not that big a fan of long car rides. But I will say it was definitely worth it. Lennin, one of the members of the Cristo Rey church, is from Moyobamba and was there a couple of weeks doing some work. He met us as we emerged, stumbling and bleary-eyed, from the bus at 7 am Friday, and we didn’t slow down much until we got back on the bus to return to Trujillo Sunday evening. Lennin took pride in taking us on the premier way to see the best of Moyobamba: “Una experiencia inolvidable. ¡Diversión al máximo! LenninTours – ¡al toque no más!” “An unforgettable experience. Maximum fun! LenninTours – “…and I’m not sure how to translate this part. Basically, “just a taste of as much as possible.”

And he lived up to his self-appointed slogan. He took us to some lovely hot springs baths to wake up a bit and then showed us a real jungle breakfast from the market, complete with juanes, cecina, tacachones and maduras con maní (bananas with peanuts and cheese). We all loved the beautiful waterfalls and the hike to get there, and everyone jumped off. It was about a 30 foot drop and a lot of fun, and Seth and Tyler probably jumped from every surface and in every way possible. Lennin also showed us various different sites around the town, some with the personal service of his moto(rcycle), which none of us complained too much about. I’m pretty sure Heidi is plotting to buy one for Trujillo, or maybe to take her back to Moyobamba…I’d tag along! It’d be a great way to see Peru.

My favorite part of the trip was taking the boat along the Río Mayo out to the Tingana Reserve. It’s a 6000 hectare jungle reserve that does a little tourism on the side, but it was rustic and real enough to feel very legitimate. After the boat ride, we walked about half an hour through the beautiful jungle and came upon the open-air main bungalow, flanked by cabins and a couple of treehouses for people to sleep. We were the only people there, along with the people who live and work there, so it was cool to just step into their lives for a day. They were very welcoming, let us relax in the hammocks under a pavilion, and served us some delicious food. (Note: if you ever get offered a yucca empanada, eat it. It could change your life). The next morning included an early morning walk through the jungle, including several sightings of monkey communities swinging through the trees, a couple of swings for us gringo monkeys on a swing our guides Juan and Tito had rigged up at the end of the hike, and canoeing back to the lodge along the river. It was pretty awesome.

Unfortunately, my camera had a run-in with a rock when we were on the way to see some caves later that day and didn’t come out so well. So I have some pictures from the trip, but I’ve had trouble uploading them, so I hope I don’t get too much hate mail for not posting pictures yet. ;) If I get it figured out I will. But maybe you can imagine a little until then… Peru is a beautiful place and people, and this was a great way to get to taste another piece of it.

Politicians and Plans

So yesterday were mayoral, district, and regional elections in Peru. It was interesting seeing everyone out and about - here it's required to vote or you get fined. I can see pros and cons to that, but all the same it was an interesting dynamic to be here for that. We had church early because you can't have public gatherings during voting hours so people can go vote. And a lot of people had to travel home to where they were registered in order to vote...kind of like Mary and Joseph...

The past few weeks at SUSA (Sociedad Universitaria San Agustin - the university ministry we have for young adults) we have been focusing on the elections. Pastor Jaime, one of the pastors who works for the mission and has been working with SUSA, wanted to encourage those who come, as young, educated citizens, to not only be interested and informed in the political process, but also to take responsibility for choosing responsibile leaders who will (hopefully) do the best for Trujillo and Peru. While I'm not particularly into politics, I thought it was a cool idea to focus on for the young people who come to SUSA.

SUSA is actually doing well and, excitedly seems to be growing. We meet on Friday evenings, and it's drawing a lot of students from the SALI language classes. Some of the people have a church they are involved in, but a lot of them haven't had much exposure to the Gospel, so it's a great opportunity to build relationships with people, especially taking conversations beyond the classroom environment. There are a lot of cool people that I'm enjoying getting to know. And at the last SUSA meeting, we had over 60 people there! We took a paseo - outing - a couple of weeks ago to Huanchaco, a little beach town right by Trujillo. It was fun to "fish" (even thought it was cold), eat, and hang out. Hopefully we can continue to build unity with the core group and welcome in more and more.

Juan, everyone's favorite "little brother" (he's 15) on our SUSA fishing paseo to Huanchaco.

One thought/prayer request before I go. I'm trying to figure out how long I'm going to stay here - through next May or through July. Perhaps two months won't make a huge difference, but I am trying to start deciding how I can best be used next June and July. Some of that depends on what happens for me next fall, so thanks for your prayers and encouragement as I try to be open for what I should do.

blessings to all!