where I live...

Here are some pictures of where I am living in Ancon.
I realized that I haven't posted any photos of my church, street or neighborhood yet!
I am going to try to take my camera out more and get photos of all the other parts of my Ancon, but this is a start!!!

This is where I live/worship. The front half of the building is the Church- 1 big room, and the back part of the building is our house!

 

 

The front door plaque for La Iglesia "El Camino" of Ancon.

This is my street, if you were to walk out the front door of the church and look left

And this is my street, looking  to the right

This is the "main Street" . We live on a hill and this is the is just a short walk down the hill from our house. It is the road that we take to go anywhere. Every trip to the market, the beach, the bus stop, Las Palmeras, resturant, store etc. 

Another view of the Main Street, just down the hill from my street.

(Looking to the left down the main road.)

I can't tell you how many times I have ridden one of these "moto" taxis in the last 3 months. With no car, and super cheap fare, we ride these motos everywhere. At night time the streets are comopletley full with these cute, honking, little motos! 

 

 

Looking right down the main road

Walking home from the main road, to get to our house you go up this hill and take the first right!

update 2/21/13

One of the hardest things about trying to keep a blog here is that when I sit down to write, I am just flooded with all that I have been experiencing and learning- and it becomes overwhelming to try to sift through and choose just a few things to talk about or explain. 

There is no possible way I could bring you all up to date on everything, or be able to accurately describe my experiences over a blog post.
Its just such a different world. Such a different life. So much has changed and happened.

So much of what I am experiencing is the rich and vibrant Peruvian culture, and that is one of the hardest things to be able to translate into a written english blog post.


I am going to try to post more frequently, and at least attempt to give you a flavor of what life in Peru is like.


God has been doing so much.
I have been learning so much


-> My Spanish has gotten so much better and I am picking up more everyday. This was the hardest thing - going from absolutely no formal Spanish study background at all- to complete immersion. In the past few weeks life here has really changed (for the better) now that I am actually able to understand and participate in conversations.As well as being much more informed and understanding of the culture.

Even more than the spanish that I have learned- My heart has been taught so much, spiritually.
My huge leather journal is already 1/2 way full. (And the very first entry was in the airport on my way to Lima) I feel like I just can't write down fast enough the things I am becoming aware of, and learning.
Stepping out of my culture, out of my normalcy, my comfort zone, the noise of my life, and even just the comfort of the people I am used too has been opened up my heart in a new way to learn from God.  I am learning what GRACE looks like in a new and completely life changing way. I am learning what true fellowship, what true community looks like. I am learning to see people apart from what they "do" and simply for who they are.


-> In other news, I have been teaching english classes to the kids at Las Palmeras. Last week we learned how to greet people as well as some basic nouns. Starting out simply but hoping to build.

->The dates for my missions trip to the jungle are being finalized. Right now the plan is for the first week of April.
(I am having to change my return ticket to the USA to a later date. I should be back in the USA sometime in mid or late- April)

 
Here are some completely random photos taken from the past few weeks- to give you a glance of my what my life has been like.

Me and my "chicas"- Kate and Gabby at a valentines dinner we had at the Church

this is La Kimberly, the pitbull- a.k.a  our 12-year-old pigeon killer, cat chaser and house protector

CEVICHE! one of the most well-known and popular Peruvian costal dishes. Made out of raw fish, lime, onions and spicy peppers. It may not sound so from the description but believe me- its DELICIOUS!

3 more delicous peruvian foods here- the orange potato on the left is sweet camote marado, the white corn in the back is "choclo" it is sweet and juicy. and in the front is peruvian version of pop corn, ( thats not popped.) Salty, crunchy goodness!

A guy has been making sand sculptures at the beach for the past month. A different one every week! cool!

Pastor Walter- Preaching! love being part of a gospel centered church here.

Prayer requests/Praise reports


I Praise God for...
1. an opportunity to teach english to the sweet kids at 'Las Palmeras'
2. improvement in my spanish
3. Overall all good health
4. Placing me in a church and a family where the gospel is preached, Christ is proclaimed and the Love of God leads.
5. Beautiful sunny weather

Please join me in praying for...
1. Health- Over all I have been really healthy the past 2 months, but the past week the whole house is struggling with some sort of  nasty cold, cough, flu, virus.
2. Funds- The church here is really struggling financially. We are undergoing some much needed construction and are lacking funds to finish the roof. Also, I have found out that for my trip to the jungle, I am going to have to change my return trip date and there is a pretty big fee for that, as well as purchasing my ticket to Iquitos. Please pray that God will provide.
3. Opportunities- Please pray that God will give me more and more opportunities to share and minister and give me the words and actions to do so effectively

A mountain adventure

Once upon a time, a tall "gringa" from Oklahoma had an adventure in the mountains of Peru....

(And this is part of that story.)

First you need to know a little more about the country. Peru is a very diverse and multi-cultural country- it is divided up into 3 main sections- The coast (Costa), the Mountains (Sierra) and the Jungle (Selva)

Each of these areas are completely different. Different climates, different food, different scenery, different wildlife, different customs, sometimes different languages even!

My whole time here so far has been only in the coast. I have traveled quite a bit, but only in the coastal region.

It NEVER rains here in Ancon. Like, Never.
The ground is made up of dust, rocks and sand (and seashells!)

I live about 5 minutes away from the beach (as I write this, I am as red as a lobster from enjoying the sunny sand a little too much the past few days)
We don't eat guniea pig. We don't have a pet llama or alpaca. We don't wear ponchos.

The mountain country is very different.

 I think most people think of the SIerra when they think of Peru. Thats where you will find the llamas, people eating guinea pigs, herds of lifestock, and women with broad hads and embrodered skirts, and little kids with rosy cheeks.

We (Pastor Walter, Clarisa and Myself) left one day after breakfast (bread, ham, cheese and coffee)
to join some other pastors and go visit a campground in the mountain country.

The group! lovely christians!

Transportation is one of the biggest differences between the U.S.A and Peru.
We walked to the bus station corner, took a open taxi to another city,  and then met up with 5 other pastors and took this van the rest of our journey.

Every year they have a peruvian pastor conference and wanted to find a new location to host it.

The journey by van was about 3 1/2 hours.

This is the van. 

 Most of the way was unpaved, narrow, rocky roads high in the side of the mountain.

The altitude is about the same here as Breckenridge Colorado.

Immediately as we entered the mountains I began to see a different Peru.

 When we arrived at the campgrounds- I came face to face with my first Peruvian llama!

I was very excited to see the llama....( but sadly, the feeling was not reciprocated… at all)

i am pretty sure he hated me :(

I also saw my first real mango, banana, avocado and gaunabana trees! 

Árbol de Plátano a.k.a Banana tree!

We ate at a road-side restaurant in the little town of Yangas. I had Trucha- Fresh river trout!

Fresh, fried trout, french fries, rice, salad and of course- the most popular drink in Peru- INCA KOLA-*

* the psychedelic yellow liquid! taste a little like bubble gum... but you gotta try it to understand the addiction.

On our way back through the mountain passes, we were stopped by construction workers and told that we couldn’t go back the way we came for 2 more hours because they were working on the road!!!

Eventually, we found another route on the other side of the valley…  

 A very bumpy but good solution.....

 until we found out that we had a BIG problem.

2 lovely sisters in Christ. The one on the right is my "Peruvian mom"- Pastora Clarisa

Now I know very little about cars (especially when the problem is explained to me in Spanish...)

I am not sure what a belt does, but it had snapped in half…  Even I know that’s bad. (And I know absolutely nothing of cars.)

2 of the Pastors hitched a ride to the city to buy a new one, and meanwhile the girls got out and walked and the men pushed the van.

Here are some of the sights I saw in the middle-of-nowhere-countryside of Peru.

Mountains!

More mountains!

Is it just me, or is that a JOHN DEERE TRACTOR In the middle of a valley in the middle of peru?

little farm houses

this okie girl felt quite at home in the country side- tractors, cows.... feels like home

Goats! (or cabras)

Finally by sunset (hours later), and by slowly making our way in the van (with pushing, gliding down hills, and making a make-shift belt out of rubber and sacks…)

we met up with the pastors with the new belt, changed it and headed back to Lima! 

A bus, and taxi later and we made it back home! 

Whew! What an adventurous day! But we made it back about 9:30. 

Covered in dust but all in one piece 

(I suffered the only injury- a goose egg on my head- the result of a metal van roof with a sharp corner and a big pot hole.)