Thanksgiving & Birthdays

The last two days have been fairly eventful around here in Lima. Although Turkey Day is not celebrated in Latin America, our team decided to have a good, old-fashioned Thanksgiving meal at Justin & Alison Thompson’s house. The afternoon was filled with turkey, stuffing, green bean casserole, pie, cookies, Dr. Pepper (yeah, that’s right…praise the Lord), and Aggie football. More important, we were with loved ones, celebrating with our entire team and our special guest, Kelly Davidson, who was in visiting. Even though it is hard to be away from family, especially on days like Thanksgiving, it is a huge blessing to have loved ones to celebrate with. It was truly a wonderful day!

Then, last night, I was able to celebrate another birthday here in Perú. One of my new friends here turns 20-something (even though you probably don’t know her, I figure that is always better to safeguard a woman’s age ) on Monday, so she decided to celebrate the weekend before. And, as I promised before, I went and danced. That’s right, read it again. I danced. For three hours. Crazy, huh? It was a super fun night with some new friends. I can’t wait to do it again. Never thought that I would hear those words coming out of my mouth.

The Local Gym

Today I was able to go work out at our friendly, neighborhood gym. It is just up the street from my apartment, and it costs 50 soles per month (about $17). It was an interesting experience, seeing as the trainer told me (and everyone else there) exactly what to do the entire time that I was there: 3 sets of 10 reps here, 4 sets of 10 reps there. I’ll adjust.

The great part came at the end. One of my main purposes of going to the gym (other than for my health) is to get to know people in my neighborhood. As I was walking home, I noticed that one of the dudes from the gym was walking right behind me. So I waited for him, introduced myself, and we talked all the way to our neighborhood, where he lives with his family. I am definitely looking forward to getting to know Cesar (trainer), Jansen (dude), and others from the gym better over the coming months.

The Sun

Well, we have had sunshine here in Lima for 3 out of the last 4 days. It is wonderful! You never know how much you love the sun until you move to a city that has overcast skys for eight months per year. Soakin’ up every minute of it…

Responses

Thanks for those of you who have piped in with responses. Those are definitely some great thoughts, and they have helped me work through some of my own thoughts.

As of now, I am seriously leaning towards not getting internet. I could take my laptop to a coffee shop with free wi-fi once a week on my day off, which would solve the issue of online banking, as well as other financial stuff.

It just seems to me that internet cafés are major hubs of activity (at least in my neighborhood) since most people can’t afford their own computers or internet at home. Thus, it seems like it would be a good idea. We’ll see. Any other thoughts?

Internet

So, I’m seriously considering not getting internet at my new apartment. It would be a great way to meet more neighbors (at internet cafés), a much cheaper option, and probably make me spend my time more efficiently. At the same time, I would have to be much more intentional about keeping up with people in the States. Also, the fact that most people in my neighborhood do not have internet in their homes makes me wonder if this would be a good choice. Any thoughts? I could use ‘em.

Starting Again, Again

After living at both the Thompsons’ house and the Fletchers’ house, I have been blessed by the chance to build relationships with the people that live and work around their houses. And now, as I officially live in my own place, I am starting the process all over again: meeting my neighbors, getting a feel for the flow of the neighborhood, learning where to shop & eat, discovering how to get around on public transportation. It has definitely been fun thus far, and I am looking forward to the relationships to come. And I also feel blessed to have pre-established friendships with people in other parts of town. I guess there are some benefits of being a nomad…

The New Pad

Well, last night was my first night to sleep in the new apartment. It was a great day: hangin’ with the Fletchers in the morning, cleaning and organizing the apartment, and receiving the appliances. Unfortunately, the mattress didn’t arrive. So….I slept on the floor. The tiles were definitely cold, but the mattress should be arriving soon – hopefully

Almost Complete…

The Fletcher family (with a good friend of theirs) will be arriving in Lima, Perú within the next several hours!!! We are all super pumped about their arrival. After living in various parts of the world for the past 11 months, we will all finally be together again! We can’t wait…

On another note, I officially bought my first ever appliances today: refrigerator, stove, and washer (no dryer; one word – clotheslines). The experience was quite fun, surreal, and somewhat frustrating at the same time. Fun because it was my first time to buy appliances, and I was doing it in another country for that matter. Surreal because I have never even so much as looked at appliances before moving to Perú, so the whole experience was weird. Frustrating because I was doing something that I had never done before in Spanish, using vocabulary that I definitely didn’t know. But, let’s not end on a negative note. I am really excited about them bringing them to my place tomorrow!

Finally, our team is in the midst of planning our second annual Thanksgiving-abroad-celebration. Last year, we had a marvelous time celebrating this wonderful holiday in Costa Rica with some of our closest friends from language school. This year, Thanksgiving in Lima! While we all miss our families (as well as the “feel” of turkey day in the States) during this season, it is such a blessing to share the holidays with our “framily”. I, for one, am definitely looking forward to some sweet potato pie, made specially with Peruvian camotes…mmmm.

Tomorrow…

I move my stuff into my new place. That stuff consists of the three bags that I brought to Perú, two boxes of books that were shipped from the States, and some things that I have bought since arriving – mainly cooking stuff. Then, the fun begins. Furniture, accessories, appliances, internet, painting. It is going to be a busy week coming up between the “settling in” process and the arrival of the Fletchers.

Speaking of which, please keep the Fletchers in your prayers. The next several days will be very tiring and stressful as they get ready to leave, and the adjustment process to Lima will also be difficult. Lots of things to do, lots of goodbyes to say, little sleep, and lots of emotions. I know that they would appreciate some shout-outs to the Lord. Thanks.

It’s Official!

I signed a one-year lease on my new apartment this past Saturday! My excitement has only been slightly contained by the sickness that continues to trouble my very being (ok, so that’s a little exaggerated). I am super pumped about moving in early next week, and then spending time getting the place set up. Even more exciting is the fact that our last teammates, the Fletchers, are flying in on the 10th!

Our team has also been very blessed by the presence of several visitors over the last week. The team going to Cusco arrived last Monday night (Oct. 26), and we were able to spend significant amounts of time with them the next three days. Then, on Thursday night, Garrett Bradford, a friend of ours from A&M, came in from Arequipa. After spending several years working on the mission field in both Chile and Brazil, he is making is way up through the continent. I was able to spend almost every waking moment with him while he was here, and I enjoyed all of it. We had great conversations, ate great meals, prayed for our ministry, joined the team for worship, practicing Spanish praise, and Halloween festivities, talked with Peruvian friends, and even made some new friends. Good times.

So, here is another picture of the place. I will definitely put much more up as it starts being filled with furniture.