howdy there!
i haven't done a blog post since the one right after i got back, so i am well past due. and considering that we fly home tomorrow night, it might be nice to put something up. jenny and taylor have done a great job with pictures, and i don't own a camera, so i'll stick with a few short words, and a few short stories.
agridulce is a new word that i learned a few days ago, and it perfectly describes how i (we) feel about coming back to the states. it is spanish for "bittersweet", and we are all in that state. the past several weeks have been much more relaxing since the aggies on the AFCSA trip and kyle headed out to brazil, but they have been perhaps my favorite time here. i had a blast with the ags here in lima, and we had some great adventures all over this beautiful country. between service work and good food in lima, a missions retreat and good food in arequipa, and lots of sand and questionable food in huacachina, we together had a packed two weeks. one of my favorite adventures of their time here was when we rented a large van to take to the ruins of pachacamac and to the beach. taylor and i went to pick up the van in a busy part of miraflores, and i was going to drive for the trip, which i was really pumped about, since lima is such a crazy place traffic-wise. as we walked up to the van, we realized that it had a manual transmission, and seeing as how it had been quite a while since i had driven one, we were initially a little stressed about the prospect of driving a big van in wild traffic with an inexperienced driver. but, it turned out to be smooth after all, and i only killed the motor once, though that was in the middle of a busy ovalo (roundabout). when we dropped the van off, full of diesel and with no scratches, i felt one of the most intense senses of relief of my life. but it was a blast getting to motor around the city, and i definitely have an affinity for using the horn now, like a real peruano.
as always, we all have many, many more stories than we can put on this blog, so please if you see us and you want to hear something about peru, ask! i (again, we) would love to tell you about life here, and how we can see God working in this country.
jenny mentioned our surprise party, which was a blast, but i'll finish with a story from last night (my ultrasound bone healer just finished, so i'm ready to crash). i have had the blessing of getting to do many things here in peru, but i got to visit with a few people that i will never forget last night. i have gotten to know a teenager here by the name of moises who lives in a slightly less nice part of town (in the district san juan de miraflores) near our friend from church christian. his parents own a restaurant in the house where he lives, and he seems like any other normal peruvian teenager, talking really fast in spanish and pal-ing around with his older brothers. but, moises has been battling leukemia for the past two years, and christian, several months ago, wanted me to meet and talk to him about my experience with cancer when i was in high school. as a cancer survivor, i definitely felt a bond with moises, and we were able to talk about how our relationships with the Lord were challenged by our sicknesses, but strengthened all the more by the experience. i ask that you will pray for his health, and for his treatment, as his family came to a point where they could no longer afford chemotherapy, so he is taking natural remedies and vitamins. as someone entering the health profession, i have some unease about those kinds of treatments, but he seems to be doing a lot better, and i have faith that God will provide. i am also so thankful for his mother, as she treats us to great food every time we visit. i will definitely miss her maracuya drink (passion fruit). one funny (and not so funny) story we shared together was when he showed me a cell phone video of one of his chemo meds, in the IV bag, draining into the IV in his hand at the time. it was bright kool-aid red, just like one of the most caustic chemo's i received, named doxorubicin/adriamycin. it turns out that we definitely received the same drug, and we both laughed about how it turns your urine bright orange, and how it freaked us both out the first time we went to the bathroom. after that visit, mark and i went to his apartment for a bible study. i have been so blessed to come to this bible study most every week since i have been back, and this was my final time. we began the book of luke, which is one of my favorites in the new testament, but what i will always remember is the time that we had laughing and reminiscing after the study. we had a bumper crowd, as nearly everyone who has come to the study was able to this week, and silvia made spectacular peruvian hot chocolate with a hint of canela (cinnamon), and roxanna brought a great keke (cake), which was full of dried fruit and nuts. they kept bringing me more and more slices of cake, and with all that sugar we all got a little hyped up i think! we told stories and was able to tell them about my medical school starting in august, and how excited i was that i was going to be able to see my family and friends soon, but also how pumped i was at the prospect of coming back to peru and lima, which i hope to be able to do some day soon. i will not soon forget the sweet peruvians that we have gotten to share the past months with, and i hope that we can mantener contacto (maintain contact) through skype and facebook and all of that.
i am going to miss this city and country, with its culture and food, but i am most sad about leaving these people, and i am so thankful for how God has blessed me (us) with so many wonderful friendships here in peru, and also for the team here, and for how they have taught me about the nature of our God not only through their words and mentoring, but also much more through their actions and love, in a 1 john 3:18 kind of way. but, that being said, i am so excited about coming home! in the next few weeks, i'll write another blog about what is going on, but as i was telling mark "selleck" clancy the other day, when you have so many things to look forward to, it is hard to be too sad about moving on. and i do have many things to be excited about: texas, mom, dad, and matthew, all of my friends, finding a place to live in downtown dallas with shelby, cars and coffee, two weeks of camp of this hills (whoop!), college station, beef bbq bigger than my face, schlotskys, playing nicer guitars, so much tex-mex, summer time (sweating and sunshine!), free refills, getting to use my spanish in a new context, starting medical school, and getting to continue to see God working everywhere. this has been a beautiful, sometime tumultuous, challenging, and blessed chapter of my life, but i am excited about turning the page.
keep us in your prayers today as we fly! and as always, thank you for your prayers for us, this country, and especially for the work of God here in peru.
-kyle w.
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