Hello again!
One week already flew by? I am not completely sure how that happened, but I must say I think it was the most emotion-filled 7 days of my entire life! I have learned a lot this week about traveling, people, and being on the opposite hemisphere of the earth. Basically, life is not always rainbows and ice cream. Every situation, no matter how amazing people say it is going to be, is going to have it's mountain tops and it's valleys. But, more importantly, I have learned that there is no good in focusing on the valleys, rather gleaming in joy about the wonderful mountain tops will always make me feel better and more fulfilled. Also, I have learned that there is grave danger in having expectations, and rather I should take each experience and situation as it comes with no expectation, but rather live in the moment and not think so much about how things could have gone, or what I wish would have happened. Life is so short, this journey in Peru is going to be so short, so I am ready to let go, be joyful, and live every moment.
Now for a run down of the last couple of days, what I learned from them, and how some of those experiences changed my life forever.
Last week Jaime and I were pumped and ready to workout! We had our gym clothes on, waters ready, and motivation was at an all time high. We waltzed on into the gym connected to her apartment building to find gym equipment from the 1970's...or maybe every earlier. I honestly could say I could not figure out how to work this equipment. So, being my usual go-getter self when it comes to working out, Jaime and I headed to her roof, turned on the tunes, set my stopwatch, and we did an insanity workout from my memory. Pathetic that I have the videos memorized? Nah. After working out we hit the pool. Thank goodness I learned this lesson early before I went to the beach, THE SUN HERE IS EXTREMELY HOT AND I AM SITTING ON THE EQUATOR SO 30 SPF IS A JOKE.
Being as pasty as I am, I have to be very careful of the sun, so there was a lesson learned after getting fried from 1 hour in the sun.
The next day, Thursday, 10 of us from the UNK group decided to venture out and go visit the Centro de Lima. I thought this was going to be a typical market experience in a south american country with vendors selling everything and anything you could imagine on the sides of the roads while people stared at me with my not so (VERY SO) obvious blonde hair, pale skin, blue eyes, and 5'9" stature. Little did I know that during the bus ride there my heart would be broken into a million pieces. As we drove in a bus stuffed full of people with smells of all sorts (not good ones) I peered out my window to see the poorest of the poor in Lima. There houses were built on the sides of the mountains, only still standing by what looked like a thread. Dirt, grime and trash covered the area. As my heart broke into a million pieces I was reminded of how blessed I truly am. I know that saying is over used, and I wish I could think of a more powerful way to say it. But seriously, I live in such a bubble in West Omaha. I thank the Lord for giving me heart breaking opportunities such as these to take time out to pray for those who have little, and pray even more for those who have much, because those who have much do not always understand nor appreciate what they truly have.
The day in Centro de LIma continued on. We passed the stuff-filled shops on either sides of the road for what seemed like miles. It was amazing when we simply turned a corner and suddenly this poor, shambled area became this world of European looking buildings, breath-taking cathedrals, and coffee shops that made me feel like I was in Paris. This part of the Centro was beautiful. As we continued on we decided it was time to head home when suddenly we ran into a protest. Many young people in Lima are protesting against the government because the government is trying to lower their wages and take away their benefits. This caused an issue as traffic stopped for hours. We were stranded, walking miles upon miles searching for a taxi to get us home. When worst comes to worst, my reaction is to pray. I prayed so hard that the Lord would send us someone to show us an alternative route to get home, because if not, I don't know if getting home would have been an option. God answered my prayer that day in a matter of minutes as a man by the name of Carlos helped all 10 of us get on a bus, then used his train card to help us take 2 trains, and then continued on with us to get two taxi's. When we got off the first bus he said that when we got off we needed to run. My heart pounded and my palms sweat as I used Jaime's hat to hide my blonde hair. The Lord is so sovereign, gracious, and good though as we arrived home safely.
The next day (Friday) began a weekend of craziness. I packed my bags and headed to my host sister, Thalia, her friend Flavia's (what a funny, cute name) second house. She has a home on a vineyard, and my oh my was it breathtaking. We did not get there until later in the night so I did not have time to adventure on Friday, but when I woke up on Saturday I wandered around for hours eating fresh grapes and getting lost in this beautiful vineyard. On Friday night Thalia and her friend's took me to my first Discoteca! Woot Woot! What a shame, an absolute shame it is that we do not have Discotecas in the United States! We went to an area called the Boulevard where there were tons and tons of different Discotecas. We danced the night away till 3am and then headed back to the vineyard to sleep.
On Saturday the plan was to leave Flavia's house at 12:30pm to go to the beach where my host parents were staying. Well...Peru being Peru...when you are supposed to leave at 12:30 you actually leave at 3:30. And when you are supposed to leave at 12:30 EXACTLY, ON THE DOT, CANNOT BE LATE, then you leave at 1:30 or 2:00. Time here is relevant. Does it drive me crazy? Meh, maybe a little. Here I do not care as much because I have nothing better to do than wander around in a vineyard. But if I had to live on this weird time schedule forever in the states, I'm not so sure I could handle it. I am by no means someone to be early, but as my teacher likes to say "Mallory, you are not late, but you are simply the last student to class on time." I like to think of it as using my time wisely :)
Saturday was something that I don't even know how to explain, nor if I can put my experience into words. My brother and sister wanted me to experience a beach party! Sounds fun right? Little did I know that this would not be what someone would think of as their typical beach party. We spend 7 hours in an inclosed area, shoulder to shoulder with 4,000 or 5,000 people, listening to the same electronic booming sound (no lyrics of melody) while be surrounded by clouds upon clouds of smoke from people smoking anything from cigarettes, to pot, to crack, to other drugs that I probably do not know the names of. There was so much drug and alcohol use occurring that my senses went into overload and I thought I was going to faint. After 5 hours of standing with my brother and sister among the madness, I could no longer handle another minute. I went and sat in the sand next to the bathrooms so that I was at least partially removed from the situation. Steady tears streamed down my face as I looked around at what was happening. People. Deteriorating their bodies. Putting themselves in a deathly state of mind. It was absolutely terrifying. Like I said earlier with the Centro de Lima experience, when something goes askew, I pray. I prayed for 2 hours that night. God was knocking on my heart to pray for these people, so my only option was to obey. It is amazing the joyfulness feeling I get from prayer even when being in such a horrifying place where it seems like there is not possibility that God could be present. Wrong. This trip, in only 7 days, has reminded me that God truly never ever leaves you. And that, is worth every painstaking experience in itself.
Saturday I slept in a tent on the wavy beach sand. Woke up with my back screaming at me, but the moment I looked out in the ocean all of my pain washed away. The ocean. Oh what a marvelous sight to see. Spending the day on the beach was relaxing and amazing, just what I needed after a night of hardship. Like I said at the beginning of my blog, mountain tops and valleys. A wise pastor once told me that you are either in a hardship, just coming out of a hardship, or God is preparing you to begin a hardship. That sounds really negative, but I don't mean it to be. I love that saying because it reminds me that God does not like comfortable. Being comfortable does not further the kingdom, opening my arms and saying "Your will be done, Father" furthers the kingdom.
Now for my list of things I want to remember about this crazy fun country:
*I rode in my first combi and it was not nearly as scary as people made it sound! Just sit backwards, then you won't know what is happening :)
*Pisco Sour does not taste good. Whoever said that stuff is sweet...guacala! No thank you.
*I try to like alcohol and physically just cannot do it.
*They put their sheets upside down...like the faded color of the pattern is on top and the strong color of the pattern is on the bottom. They acted like I was insane when I said it goes the other way.
*Thank goodness for my stellar Conversation and Grammar teacher, rock on Ricardo.
*My literature professor... need to take some coffee to that class.
*So many American restaurants, English songs, American clothing brands, television is all in English with Spanish subtitles, jeez, no wonder everyone knows English even if they never studied it!
*Driving. Still insane. Got more insane this week as my father drove backwards down the freeway because he dropped on Thalia a block to far. So naturally he decided to drive backwards. Then on the way home we came to a closed off road, so naturally he jumped the median but DID NOT flip a U-ee. So what does that mean? Yes. We were driving towards oncoming traffic, dodging cars for about a mile. Again, no one thought anything of it except the silly American girl in the backseat with her palms sweating.
*I'm going through chocolate withdrawals. This happened in Costa Rica, too.
*If the gym does not open I will have to run outside at night...I hate the dark.
*Snowboard in Spanish is Snowboard
*I stay up way to late. Seriously communicating with people through Facebook takes hours.
*I miss dryer sheets and fabric softener.
*Sunscreen is SO expensive for a TINY bottle.
*Ice cream here tastes grainy if you get it from vendors, the freezer stuff is good though.
*I can't decide if it costs more for taxis or gas and your own car.
*The struggle of whether to close my window or not is real. Close it= wake up drenched in sweat because the sun streams through my window. Keep it open= mosquitoes attack me and the traffic wakes me up because sirens go off every 5-10 minutes.
*Not being able to drink water from the sink is strange.
*I'm still trying to understand how they don't eat dinner.
*Thalia's nickname is TaTa and she calls me Mali and I love it.
*I had a towel fiasco and tried to hide a towel from Giselle. Apparently I have a problem with using to many towels, or the wrong color and size of towel.
*I drink SO MUCH water. I think that is why my face is insanely clear of acne, yet it should be the opposite since it is so humid here.
*Talking to Kim Harper is the greatest blessing because she gets me pumped for all the fun things to come!
*My parents want to come see me and every time I think of that I cry tears of joy.
*I wrote everyone a thank you letter this week and think I will try and do it every week so that those 16 letters are their little memories of me.
*I don't know Spanish. Ugh.
*My family is like angels from heaven in comparison to a lot of the other host "families." I am FOREVER grateful to be in the house I am in.
It is only week one, I'll get the hang of things soon,
Peace & Blessings,
Mali
One week already flew by? I am not completely sure how that happened, but I must say I think it was the most emotion-filled 7 days of my entire life! I have learned a lot this week about traveling, people, and being on the opposite hemisphere of the earth. Basically, life is not always rainbows and ice cream. Every situation, no matter how amazing people say it is going to be, is going to have it's mountain tops and it's valleys. But, more importantly, I have learned that there is no good in focusing on the valleys, rather gleaming in joy about the wonderful mountain tops will always make me feel better and more fulfilled. Also, I have learned that there is grave danger in having expectations, and rather I should take each experience and situation as it comes with no expectation, but rather live in the moment and not think so much about how things could have gone, or what I wish would have happened. Life is so short, this journey in Peru is going to be so short, so I am ready to let go, be joyful, and live every moment.
Now for a run down of the last couple of days, what I learned from them, and how some of those experiences changed my life forever.
Last week Jaime and I were pumped and ready to workout! We had our gym clothes on, waters ready, and motivation was at an all time high. We waltzed on into the gym connected to her apartment building to find gym equipment from the 1970's...or maybe every earlier. I honestly could say I could not figure out how to work this equipment. So, being my usual go-getter self when it comes to working out, Jaime and I headed to her roof, turned on the tunes, set my stopwatch, and we did an insanity workout from my memory. Pathetic that I have the videos memorized? Nah. After working out we hit the pool. Thank goodness I learned this lesson early before I went to the beach, THE SUN HERE IS EXTREMELY HOT AND I AM SITTING ON THE EQUATOR SO 30 SPF IS A JOKE.
Being as pasty as I am, I have to be very careful of the sun, so there was a lesson learned after getting fried from 1 hour in the sun.
The next day, Thursday, 10 of us from the UNK group decided to venture out and go visit the Centro de Lima. I thought this was going to be a typical market experience in a south american country with vendors selling everything and anything you could imagine on the sides of the roads while people stared at me with my not so (VERY SO) obvious blonde hair, pale skin, blue eyes, and 5'9" stature. Little did I know that during the bus ride there my heart would be broken into a million pieces. As we drove in a bus stuffed full of people with smells of all sorts (not good ones) I peered out my window to see the poorest of the poor in Lima. There houses were built on the sides of the mountains, only still standing by what looked like a thread. Dirt, grime and trash covered the area. As my heart broke into a million pieces I was reminded of how blessed I truly am. I know that saying is over used, and I wish I could think of a more powerful way to say it. But seriously, I live in such a bubble in West Omaha. I thank the Lord for giving me heart breaking opportunities such as these to take time out to pray for those who have little, and pray even more for those who have much, because those who have much do not always understand nor appreciate what they truly have.
The day in Centro de LIma continued on. We passed the stuff-filled shops on either sides of the road for what seemed like miles. It was amazing when we simply turned a corner and suddenly this poor, shambled area became this world of European looking buildings, breath-taking cathedrals, and coffee shops that made me feel like I was in Paris. This part of the Centro was beautiful. As we continued on we decided it was time to head home when suddenly we ran into a protest. Many young people in Lima are protesting against the government because the government is trying to lower their wages and take away their benefits. This caused an issue as traffic stopped for hours. We were stranded, walking miles upon miles searching for a taxi to get us home. When worst comes to worst, my reaction is to pray. I prayed so hard that the Lord would send us someone to show us an alternative route to get home, because if not, I don't know if getting home would have been an option. God answered my prayer that day in a matter of minutes as a man by the name of Carlos helped all 10 of us get on a bus, then used his train card to help us take 2 trains, and then continued on with us to get two taxi's. When we got off the first bus he said that when we got off we needed to run. My heart pounded and my palms sweat as I used Jaime's hat to hide my blonde hair. The Lord is so sovereign, gracious, and good though as we arrived home safely.
The next day (Friday) began a weekend of craziness. I packed my bags and headed to my host sister, Thalia, her friend Flavia's (what a funny, cute name) second house. She has a home on a vineyard, and my oh my was it breathtaking. We did not get there until later in the night so I did not have time to adventure on Friday, but when I woke up on Saturday I wandered around for hours eating fresh grapes and getting lost in this beautiful vineyard. On Friday night Thalia and her friend's took me to my first Discoteca! Woot Woot! What a shame, an absolute shame it is that we do not have Discotecas in the United States! We went to an area called the Boulevard where there were tons and tons of different Discotecas. We danced the night away till 3am and then headed back to the vineyard to sleep.
On Saturday the plan was to leave Flavia's house at 12:30pm to go to the beach where my host parents were staying. Well...Peru being Peru...when you are supposed to leave at 12:30 you actually leave at 3:30. And when you are supposed to leave at 12:30 EXACTLY, ON THE DOT, CANNOT BE LATE, then you leave at 1:30 or 2:00. Time here is relevant. Does it drive me crazy? Meh, maybe a little. Here I do not care as much because I have nothing better to do than wander around in a vineyard. But if I had to live on this weird time schedule forever in the states, I'm not so sure I could handle it. I am by no means someone to be early, but as my teacher likes to say "Mallory, you are not late, but you are simply the last student to class on time." I like to think of it as using my time wisely :)
Saturday was something that I don't even know how to explain, nor if I can put my experience into words. My brother and sister wanted me to experience a beach party! Sounds fun right? Little did I know that this would not be what someone would think of as their typical beach party. We spend 7 hours in an inclosed area, shoulder to shoulder with 4,000 or 5,000 people, listening to the same electronic booming sound (no lyrics of melody) while be surrounded by clouds upon clouds of smoke from people smoking anything from cigarettes, to pot, to crack, to other drugs that I probably do not know the names of. There was so much drug and alcohol use occurring that my senses went into overload and I thought I was going to faint. After 5 hours of standing with my brother and sister among the madness, I could no longer handle another minute. I went and sat in the sand next to the bathrooms so that I was at least partially removed from the situation. Steady tears streamed down my face as I looked around at what was happening. People. Deteriorating their bodies. Putting themselves in a deathly state of mind. It was absolutely terrifying. Like I said earlier with the Centro de Lima experience, when something goes askew, I pray. I prayed for 2 hours that night. God was knocking on my heart to pray for these people, so my only option was to obey. It is amazing the joyfulness feeling I get from prayer even when being in such a horrifying place where it seems like there is not possibility that God could be present. Wrong. This trip, in only 7 days, has reminded me that God truly never ever leaves you. And that, is worth every painstaking experience in itself.
Saturday I slept in a tent on the wavy beach sand. Woke up with my back screaming at me, but the moment I looked out in the ocean all of my pain washed away. The ocean. Oh what a marvelous sight to see. Spending the day on the beach was relaxing and amazing, just what I needed after a night of hardship. Like I said at the beginning of my blog, mountain tops and valleys. A wise pastor once told me that you are either in a hardship, just coming out of a hardship, or God is preparing you to begin a hardship. That sounds really negative, but I don't mean it to be. I love that saying because it reminds me that God does not like comfortable. Being comfortable does not further the kingdom, opening my arms and saying "Your will be done, Father" furthers the kingdom.
Now for my list of things I want to remember about this crazy fun country:
*I rode in my first combi and it was not nearly as scary as people made it sound! Just sit backwards, then you won't know what is happening :)
*Pisco Sour does not taste good. Whoever said that stuff is sweet...guacala! No thank you.
*I try to like alcohol and physically just cannot do it.
*They put their sheets upside down...like the faded color of the pattern is on top and the strong color of the pattern is on the bottom. They acted like I was insane when I said it goes the other way.
*Thank goodness for my stellar Conversation and Grammar teacher, rock on Ricardo.
*My literature professor... need to take some coffee to that class.
*So many American restaurants, English songs, American clothing brands, television is all in English with Spanish subtitles, jeez, no wonder everyone knows English even if they never studied it!
*Driving. Still insane. Got more insane this week as my father drove backwards down the freeway because he dropped on Thalia a block to far. So naturally he decided to drive backwards. Then on the way home we came to a closed off road, so naturally he jumped the median but DID NOT flip a U-ee. So what does that mean? Yes. We were driving towards oncoming traffic, dodging cars for about a mile. Again, no one thought anything of it except the silly American girl in the backseat with her palms sweating.
*I'm going through chocolate withdrawals. This happened in Costa Rica, too.
*If the gym does not open I will have to run outside at night...I hate the dark.
*Snowboard in Spanish is Snowboard
*I stay up way to late. Seriously communicating with people through Facebook takes hours.
*I miss dryer sheets and fabric softener.
*Sunscreen is SO expensive for a TINY bottle.
*Ice cream here tastes grainy if you get it from vendors, the freezer stuff is good though.
*I can't decide if it costs more for taxis or gas and your own car.
*The struggle of whether to close my window or not is real. Close it= wake up drenched in sweat because the sun streams through my window. Keep it open= mosquitoes attack me and the traffic wakes me up because sirens go off every 5-10 minutes.
*Not being able to drink water from the sink is strange.
*I'm still trying to understand how they don't eat dinner.
*Thalia's nickname is TaTa and she calls me Mali and I love it.
*I had a towel fiasco and tried to hide a towel from Giselle. Apparently I have a problem with using to many towels, or the wrong color and size of towel.
*I drink SO MUCH water. I think that is why my face is insanely clear of acne, yet it should be the opposite since it is so humid here.
*Talking to Kim Harper is the greatest blessing because she gets me pumped for all the fun things to come!
*My parents want to come see me and every time I think of that I cry tears of joy.
*I wrote everyone a thank you letter this week and think I will try and do it every week so that those 16 letters are their little memories of me.
*I don't know Spanish. Ugh.
*My family is like angels from heaven in comparison to a lot of the other host "families." I am FOREVER grateful to be in the house I am in.
It is only week one, I'll get the hang of things soon,
Peace & Blessings,
Mali