I'm terrible at blogging when I say I'm going to blog. So much for my every-other-day goal. This weekend was busy and super fun! Friday night, I went to a Peru Mission Bible study with my fellow casita assistant, suitemate and friend Whitney. We met up with this awesome woman, Alleen, who is a missionary with Peru Mission. She lives in the the main city and has been here for almost two years working at there short-term trip supervisor. She was a lawyer in the States and the Lord told her to move Trujillo after a short-term trip she went on in 2008.
Yesterday morning, Whit and I went to Salavary, a town right by the orphanage, to scope out some fruit markets. We got some good stuff. Later, I took the micro (the bus) by myself for the first time to buy some blank CDs to back up my MP3s. I have a virus so my computer will have to be reformatted (everything gets erased and you start from scratch). If reformatting doesn't work, I'll just have to get a new laptop somehow.
Today, the other volunteers and I went to a different church than usual, Cristo Rey. Alleen and Peru Mission interns attend the church. It was a great service and the people there are super friendly. On our way back from church we ended up on the same micro as the teenagers! That was happy and we got to joke around and talk to them. They're wonderful. This afternoon, Whitney (of course) and I took Dante and his sisters, Lariza and Roxana, on his birthday paseo at a mall in Trujillo. We ate delicious cake and the kids rode there first roller coaster! It was a small one at a place in the mall called "Coney Park" (I know, the Western influence is ever present in Peru).
That's it for now. I'll write when I can, no more empty promises of every-other-day posts or the like :)
Sunday, September 5, 2010
Tuesday, August 31, 2010
Pictures and Starbucks
Pictures on facebook (you do not need to have an account to see them). In other news:
A married couple, Harrison and Leah, got here a week ago. They'll be here about 6 months and they are awesome. No. Really. They are both really awesome. We went to Starbucks (shout out to Kelsey and Taryl!) tonight to celebrate Harrison's and Leah's birthdays which are a few days apart. It was really weird. Exactly like Starbucks back home but most of the menu is in Spanish and the baristas speak Spanish. Oh and all the pastries are different; no scones :( It was kind of nice too because it was like I traveled home in an instant: drinking a chai latte while talking about random stuff with friends. Comforting but weird. Very weird.
Okay, I'm going to sleep now. I intend to start writing shorter blog entries but more frequently. Every other day would be ideal, with a long contemplative one once a week. We'll see how that goes.
 |
| Yuli and Roxana being hilarious, like always. |
A married couple, Harrison and Leah, got here a week ago. They'll be here about 6 months and they are awesome. No. Really. They are both really awesome. We went to Starbucks (shout out to Kelsey and Taryl!) tonight to celebrate Harrison's and Leah's birthdays which are a few days apart. It was really weird. Exactly like Starbucks back home but most of the menu is in Spanish and the baristas speak Spanish. Oh and all the pastries are different; no scones :( It was kind of nice too because it was like I traveled home in an instant: drinking a chai latte while talking about random stuff with friends. Comforting but weird. Very weird.
Okay, I'm going to sleep now. I intend to start writing shorter blog entries but more frequently. Every other day would be ideal, with a long contemplative one once a week. We'll see how that goes.
Thursday, August 19, 2010
Useless
New blog design! So, my plan was to post pictures, but my computer has been really slow lately (it has some immortal virus in it that won't go away no matter what scan-type thing I run) so it would take forever. I'll do it another time or post them on flickr and link them here. This one is just me in the taxi on the way to the bus station from my hostel in Lima. It was the first picture I took here in Peru.I've thought of about 50 blog topic ideas so far but between doing kids' laundry, mopping, helping with homework, studying Spanish, talking to fellow volunteers, and contemplating life, I haven't had much time to write. I know my last post was somewhat deep so if that was tough for you to get through, don't even finish reading this post.
I've been here almost 3 weeks now and last week, on Tuesday, I found myself feeling useless. Here I am this American girl who knows nothing about being Peruvian, nothing about not having loving parents, and little knowledge of Spanish. Here I am coming in to an orphanage with all my ideals about love and Jesus and poverty. I realized that I knew nothing. For a good portion of the morning, I felt like anyone could take my place and no one would hardly notice.
I read my daily devotion later that night. The last paragraph stood out to me:
"Notice God’s unutterable waste of saints, according to the judgment of the world. God plants His saints in the most useless places. We say--God intends me to be here because I am so useful. Jesus never estimated His life along the line of the greatest use. God puts His saints where they will glorify Him, and we are totally incapable of judging where that may be."
I immediately knew that the Lord was saying, "Are you kidding me, Kristi? Really? Like I just told you to go to the orphanage for nothing?" My feelings of uselessness escaped me in that moment. I struggled during the rest of the week and I still do sometimes. I probably will feel useless a lot more during this year. But that useless feeling has only brought me closer to the Lord and made me more determined to get my validation from Him.
I'm reading Gracias: A Latin American Journal by Henri Nouwen (thanks to Maggie and Molly!). During my what-am-I-doing-here crisis, I read a passage that God was using to speak life into my discouraging thoughts:
"At home we at least had our own niche in life, our own little place where we could feel useful and admired. Here none of that is present. Here we are in a world that did not invite us, in which we can hardly express ourselves and which constantly reminds us of our powerlessness. And still, we know that we are sent here, that God wants us here, and that it is here that we have to work our our salvation."Nouwen is in my head. If you're wondering how I am doing, I would say I'm having fun, I'm learning Spanish, and the kids here are wonderful. Those things are true as equally as I am feeling useless and powerless. Please do not say, "Hang in there!" or "You're doing a wonderful thing, don't be discouraged." I am honestly at a paradox where I feel that I am right where I am supposed to be, but also right where I don't belong. I am not sad or depressed or worried. I am just processing a world that is very different from the one I've lived in for the past 24 years. All I ask of the Lord is that he use my weaknesses for His glory. I love Him a lot.
Friday, August 6, 2010
¿Sabes?
I would have written again sooner but my internet connection has been shady lately. I've been at the albergue for a little less than a week now and I have so much to say that I don't know where to begin. I'll do my best to make this post concise...but we'll see. 3 fun facts first! (Well, interesting at least.)
1. I ate cow stomach on Wednesday. I didn't know it was cow stomach. I made a point not to ask what the fuzzy looking meat in my lunch was so that I would try it. It wasn't too bad. It had a rubbery texture but I ate most of it. It was cut up and cooked with peas and carrots so it really wasn't bad. I don't think I'll ever eat it again though.
2. We don't have napkins at the albergue. Napkins are too expensive in Peru so we just don't use them. This has been one of the biggest adjustments for me because I'm a messy eater.
3. Peanut butter is expensive in Peru. Thankfully a service group that was here last week left a huge bag of peanut butter for us so we won't run out any time soon. I don't eat peanut butter much but I guess I need to start if I don't want it to go to waste ;)
Overall, I feel very comfortable here. The orphanage reminds me of most of my jobs I've had in the past. It feels like camp (but with less insects), YouthWorks! (but I get more sleep and free time), THINK Together (but none of the kids speak English), and the group home (minus anyone assaulting staff). It's like all those past jobs wrapped into one plus Spanish and a different culture mixed in.
The Spanish language part of the albergue is the most challenging thing to adjust to so far. I imagine that if I were fluent, everything would be a little easier to do. Plus, I would get to know the kids and staff more quickly. But part of why I'm here is to learn Spanish, I've learned and recalled a lot already in the past five days!
I'm a casita assistant, so I help out the madres who run the four casitas here. I help regularly in two of the casitas - the Amigos boys' house and the Luces girls' house. The madres use the word "sabes" a lot with me. It means "you know." Usually it's a question, "¿Sabes lavar la ropa?" Most of the time, they say something that I don't understand so I'm constantly saying, "¿Que? No entiendo." That means, "What? I don't understand." They are so patient and will talk more slowly and use hand motions to help me out. I can't wait until I know enough Spanish to say, "Thank you for putting up with me."
I usually do laundry, clean, or play with the kids. Real moms know all about this I'm sure. It's fun to play with the kids and the cleaning/laundry is a great time to think in English. I say this because most of the time I'm trying to think in Spanish. It's like I don't have time to think in English because everyone else is speaking Spanish and I have to respond in Spanish too. I can't wait until I can have deep thoughts in Spanish.
I can't say too much about the kids here right now without crying...oh well, so what if I cry you can't see me. I'll do my best to keep it short. Four brothers, Julio, Miguel, Juan, and Jorge lived on the streets and begged for money before coming to the albergue. They steal food from the kitchen because they don't understand yet that they will be fed every day here. Julio, the oldest, ran away earlier this week. I have nothing else to say about it now because I'm still processing it all.
I haven't heard all the the kids stories but in general I've been told that 50% of the children here have been sexually abused and most of them have been abused physically in other ways. I knew that the stats were something like that coming into this. However, seeing the kids every day who are attached to the statistics is heartbreaking. Please pray for the niños here. They need prayer far more than I could ever imagine needing prayer. I thank God that He chose me to help take care of them.
P.S. Pictures coming soon, I swear!
1. I ate cow stomach on Wednesday. I didn't know it was cow stomach. I made a point not to ask what the fuzzy looking meat in my lunch was so that I would try it. It wasn't too bad. It had a rubbery texture but I ate most of it. It was cut up and cooked with peas and carrots so it really wasn't bad. I don't think I'll ever eat it again though.
2. We don't have napkins at the albergue. Napkins are too expensive in Peru so we just don't use them. This has been one of the biggest adjustments for me because I'm a messy eater.
3. Peanut butter is expensive in Peru. Thankfully a service group that was here last week left a huge bag of peanut butter for us so we won't run out any time soon. I don't eat peanut butter much but I guess I need to start if I don't want it to go to waste ;)
Overall, I feel very comfortable here. The orphanage reminds me of most of my jobs I've had in the past. It feels like camp (but with less insects), YouthWorks! (but I get more sleep and free time), THINK Together (but none of the kids speak English), and the group home (minus anyone assaulting staff). It's like all those past jobs wrapped into one plus Spanish and a different culture mixed in.
The Spanish language part of the albergue is the most challenging thing to adjust to so far. I imagine that if I were fluent, everything would be a little easier to do. Plus, I would get to know the kids and staff more quickly. But part of why I'm here is to learn Spanish, I've learned and recalled a lot already in the past five days!
I'm a casita assistant, so I help out the madres who run the four casitas here. I help regularly in two of the casitas - the Amigos boys' house and the Luces girls' house. The madres use the word "sabes" a lot with me. It means "you know." Usually it's a question, "¿Sabes lavar la ropa?" Most of the time, they say something that I don't understand so I'm constantly saying, "¿Que? No entiendo." That means, "What? I don't understand." They are so patient and will talk more slowly and use hand motions to help me out. I can't wait until I know enough Spanish to say, "Thank you for putting up with me."
I usually do laundry, clean, or play with the kids. Real moms know all about this I'm sure. It's fun to play with the kids and the cleaning/laundry is a great time to think in English. I say this because most of the time I'm trying to think in Spanish. It's like I don't have time to think in English because everyone else is speaking Spanish and I have to respond in Spanish too. I can't wait until I can have deep thoughts in Spanish.
I can't say too much about the kids here right now without crying...oh well, so what if I cry you can't see me. I'll do my best to keep it short. Four brothers, Julio, Miguel, Juan, and Jorge lived on the streets and begged for money before coming to the albergue. They steal food from the kitchen because they don't understand yet that they will be fed every day here. Julio, the oldest, ran away earlier this week. I have nothing else to say about it now because I'm still processing it all.
I haven't heard all the the kids stories but in general I've been told that 50% of the children here have been sexually abused and most of them have been abused physically in other ways. I knew that the stats were something like that coming into this. However, seeing the kids every day who are attached to the statistics is heartbreaking. Please pray for the niños here. They need prayer far more than I could ever imagine needing prayer. I thank God that He chose me to help take care of them.
P.S. Pictures coming soon, I swear!
Sunday, August 1, 2010
"Jesus is sneaky...He wears sneakers."
I'm in Peru! I'm in a hostel in Lima now watching what seems to be the Chilean version of Sesame Street. (Much funnier than Sesame Street!). I got in last night at 1:30am. The plane ride was smooth, I just wish I had slept more. My flight was about 10 hours (7 hours to Bogata, Colombia, and 3 hours to Lima). I sat next to a Christian guy, Jhonathan, for the first leg of the flight. He was from Ontario and goes to a Spanish-language Calvary Chapel. I say Jesus is sneaky because Jhonathan too was on a ministry-focused trip as well--to see his family and share the Gospel with them. Our conversations about the Lord, movies, and music made the 7-hour flight go by much faster! It was like God telling us both, "You're doing the right thing." In your prayers for me, throw out a prayer for my friend and fellow believer Jhonathan and his family in Colombia.
I sat next to a precious 7-year-old Peruvian girl at the beginning of my flight from Bogata to Lima. She was so talkative and her sister and her were excited to learn I was from Los Angeles. "Do you see movie stars there?" I proceeded to list the few celebrities I have seen, or met, in L.A. but she didn't know most of their names. I guess most Peruvian 7-year-olds don't watch John C. Riley movies. Unfortunately, the flight attendant asked me to switch seats with the little girl's young cousin because he was sitting alone further up in the plane. I was happy to help him out, though I would miss my conversation with the little girl.
The change of seats was good because I sat next to a Peruvian man who didn't know English so I practiced my castellano (what they call Spanish in most of Latin America). I was terrible but he was patient. I was proud to step out of my box and I could tell he appreciated my efforts.
I also met some other young Americans on my flight, Megan, Mike, and Amanda. Megan is volunteering at an orphanage in Lima so it was cool to talk about orphanage stuff with her.
The hostel I'm staying at, Pay Purix, picked me up from the airport. The two girls who picked me up, one a Peruvian and another an Argentinian, were so friendly and kind it was ridiculous! And everyone at the hostel has been really kind and helpful. I met a Brazilian lawyer, Nicky, who's doing a presentation for Congress. He apologized for his "bad" English, but his English far exceeds my knowledge of Spanish!
So you know, Peru is only a 2 hour difference from L.A. so it's almost 10:30am here. I'm taking a taxi to the bus station at 11am. The bus leaves at 12:30 and it will be a 8-hour ride to Trujillo, so I should arrive around 9pm. I'm so happy to finally be here and I can't wait until I get to the orphanage! I'll post some pictures when I actually start taking some and get a chance to upload them.
Praise the Lord for a safe and smooth trip so far!
I sat next to a precious 7-year-old Peruvian girl at the beginning of my flight from Bogata to Lima. She was so talkative and her sister and her were excited to learn I was from Los Angeles. "Do you see movie stars there?" I proceeded to list the few celebrities I have seen, or met, in L.A. but she didn't know most of their names. I guess most Peruvian 7-year-olds don't watch John C. Riley movies. Unfortunately, the flight attendant asked me to switch seats with the little girl's young cousin because he was sitting alone further up in the plane. I was happy to help him out, though I would miss my conversation with the little girl.
The change of seats was good because I sat next to a Peruvian man who didn't know English so I practiced my castellano (what they call Spanish in most of Latin America). I was terrible but he was patient. I was proud to step out of my box and I could tell he appreciated my efforts.
I also met some other young Americans on my flight, Megan, Mike, and Amanda. Megan is volunteering at an orphanage in Lima so it was cool to talk about orphanage stuff with her.
The hostel I'm staying at, Pay Purix, picked me up from the airport. The two girls who picked me up, one a Peruvian and another an Argentinian, were so friendly and kind it was ridiculous! And everyone at the hostel has been really kind and helpful. I met a Brazilian lawyer, Nicky, who's doing a presentation for Congress. He apologized for his "bad" English, but his English far exceeds my knowledge of Spanish!
So you know, Peru is only a 2 hour difference from L.A. so it's almost 10:30am here. I'm taking a taxi to the bus station at 11am. The bus leaves at 12:30 and it will be a 8-hour ride to Trujillo, so I should arrive around 9pm. I'm so happy to finally be here and I can't wait until I get to the orphanage! I'll post some pictures when I actually start taking some and get a chance to upload them.
Praise the Lord for a safe and smooth trip so far!
Friday, July 23, 2010
Done fundraising!
I'm finished fundraising! The last few donations came from my Uncle Tom, Liz Johnson, and my cousin Kim Joller. If any of you still want to donate, give to the orphanage.
THANK YOU TO EVERYONE WHO GAVE! YOUR SUPPORT MEANS SO MUCH!
Yay! I leave for Peru in 8 days. Ah!
THANK YOU TO EVERYONE WHO GAVE! YOUR SUPPORT MEANS SO MUCH!
Yay! I leave for Peru in 8 days. Ah!
Tuesday, July 20, 2010
Almost to $5,000 goal!
Let me tell you something. I hate fundraising. Or I thought I did. When the Lord told me I was supposed to go to the orphanage, I told Him, "I can't afford to go on what I'm making. I would have to raise support. I hate raising support. But I know you want me to go." He replied, "Then raise support. I'll give you the money." I was reluctant when I first started asking people to give. But God showed me through this experience that it truly is His will that I serve at Hogar de Esperanza.
What blows me away about it is that many of the people who gave barely even knew me. My close friends gave, but many of the people who gave hundreds only knew me casually. It just shows how amazing God is. He used the people I didn't even expect him to use! Plus, friends and family who don't even know the Lord gave.
When I saw that my newest roommate, Julie Lubinski, gave $300 today it really hit me how much God has blessed this fundraising experience. I just met Julie about a month ago and the Lord put it on her heart to give so much! With just $114 left to raise and 11 days before my departure, I am overwhelmed by Jesus' love shown through my friends and family. Every single dollar is a sign of support for the vision God gave me for this trip and I am looking forward to sharing all the great blessings He will provide this upcoming year. I'll leave you with this verse from Matthew 19 that Julie told me inspired her giving:
Jesus has shown me crazy love and it blows me away. I thank Him for every moment and opportunity.
Funds raised online: $1665
Funds raised offline: $2921
Total raised: $4886
Total needed: $114
What blows me away about it is that many of the people who gave barely even knew me. My close friends gave, but many of the people who gave hundreds only knew me casually. It just shows how amazing God is. He used the people I didn't even expect him to use! Plus, friends and family who don't even know the Lord gave.
When I saw that my newest roommate, Julie Lubinski, gave $300 today it really hit me how much God has blessed this fundraising experience. I just met Julie about a month ago and the Lord put it on her heart to give so much! With just $114 left to raise and 11 days before my departure, I am overwhelmed by Jesus' love shown through my friends and family. Every single dollar is a sign of support for the vision God gave me for this trip and I am looking forward to sharing all the great blessings He will provide this upcoming year. I'll leave you with this verse from Matthew 19 that Julie told me inspired her giving:
"And everyone who has left houses or brothers or sisters or father or mother or children or fields for my sake will receive a hundred times as much and will inherit eternal life."
Jesus has shown me crazy love and it blows me away. I thank Him for every moment and opportunity.
Funds raised online: $1665
Funds raised offline: $2921
Total raised: $4886
Total needed: $114
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)