Heres a short video of some times we been havin.
VIDEO
Saturday, March 26, 2011
Wednesday, March 23, 2011
Lots happening around here.
I never though that I would eat lunch in the same room as a dead man, but we can get to that later. First off My family came down to visit this past week, and we had a grand ol time. They flew in at the wonderful hour of 4:30 in the am on Monday, and I met them in the airport at 6:30 am(still too early) to fly to Cuzco. We got to Cuzco and found our hotel, which was a beautiful little place built in the mid 1600s. The next day we took a tour of the amazing sacred valley in the cuzco province, and visited some pre incan ruins that were scattered about it. Pictures dont do justice to how large and stunning the mountains are in this area. Ill try to pick come good pictures, but it just doesn't compare to the real thing. On wednesday we woke up at 3:30 in the morning (my family is a little intense) to catch the fist train to the incan trail. The train dropped us off in the middle of the jungle with two other people we met on the train and our guide. Together we went off into the wilderness and hiked for hours and hours through amazing scenery and huge ancient ruins. After all this we made it to the entrance of Machu Picchu, called the Sun Gate. It was really cool to get to hike on a religious trail made by the Incan people a very long time ago. That night we stayed in a hostal in Aguas Calientes (Hot Waters). and as to be expected we were off again sometime in the early morning. we hiked around Machu Picchu some, then me and my brother conquered the infamous Huinua Picchu wich turned out to be one of the highlights of our trip. The next day we went back to lima for some R&R. I got to take my brother surfing on saturday morning and after I gave him a quick lesson on land, we went out and he caught his first wave on his first try, and rode it all the way out. It was pretty incredible.
On the Incan trail
Machu Picchu, and behind me is Huainu Picchu.
My fam and a waterfall.
One of my peruvian friends who I have connected very well with is named Luis. Luis's Grandfather had been sick for a while with cancer. Now Luis works as a security guard outside of Justin's house, and his grandfather lives in the jungle, pretty far away from us. When we heard his grandfather didnt have much time left we got pretty upset that he could see him, so we all decided to take him and his brother on a bus with us to Oxapampa, which is a jungle town started by german immigrants in the 1890s. We got to the bus station at 7 pm on sunday night, and drove from sea level to almost 14000ft in about 6 hours. I hardly slept at all on the 10 hour bus ride. When we got there, we took Luis to the hospital, and he got to visit with his grandfather as we all met his family. The rest of the day was a pretty fun adventure, as we borrowed Luis's Cousin's motorcycle taxi, and explored Oxapampa. We also ate at his cousins, and his grandmas house. Which was an adventure in itself. We had coffee that was grown dried and brewed at their house, that tasted pretty great.
The next day, we awoke to the news that his grandfather had just passed. we went to his grandmas house where they were preparing the body. We weren't sure what to do so we just sat around as everyone went about their business. About one hour later were told to pass into the room were the body was, so that we may view it. we went in, and were able to comfort Luis during this sad moment. Not long after that they all left the room, asking us to wait there. The brought us sweet milk with coffee, and some bread to eat while we waited. Im not sure why we had to wait there, but we sat there for a couple of hours in the presence of a dead man not knowing what to do. I have to admit it was pretty awkward at times. I think somewhere in my subconscious I decided to make it more awkard, as I accidently knocked my sweet milk all over the floor. I tried to handle it quietly, but the towel they gave me to clean it up was made out of leather, and didn't do one thing to help the situation but to spread it around. It became quite an ordeal, and the daughter wound up coming in to re clean the entire floor. I leaned over to Wes at this point and asked him, "How is anyone in the states ever going to understand what this is like". He said," We dont have the words to describe the awkwardness of sitting in a room before the funeral of a man we did not know, and being asked to say a few words to everyone. They will simply never know". I wish there was a way to describe the strangeness of such a situation.
Later that night we caught a bus back to Lima, another 10 hour trip, but this time we were on the top front row of the double decker bus as it passed other busses on the mountain roads with huge cliffs the whole way. You can imagine how well I slept.
Me, Luis, and Justin in Oxapampa.
Blessings,
Kyle Glaeser
Just Thinking (about how bad it would be to fall)
All in all we had an amazing vacation, but I got back to Lima to the news that Wes, Justin, and I were making a trip to the jungle the next day. Which leads me to my next story.One of my peruvian friends who I have connected very well with is named Luis. Luis's Grandfather had been sick for a while with cancer. Now Luis works as a security guard outside of Justin's house, and his grandfather lives in the jungle, pretty far away from us. When we heard his grandfather didnt have much time left we got pretty upset that he could see him, so we all decided to take him and his brother on a bus with us to Oxapampa, which is a jungle town started by german immigrants in the 1890s. We got to the bus station at 7 pm on sunday night, and drove from sea level to almost 14000ft in about 6 hours. I hardly slept at all on the 10 hour bus ride. When we got there, we took Luis to the hospital, and he got to visit with his grandfather as we all met his family. The rest of the day was a pretty fun adventure, as we borrowed Luis's Cousin's motorcycle taxi, and explored Oxapampa. We also ate at his cousins, and his grandmas house. Which was an adventure in itself. We had coffee that was grown dried and brewed at their house, that tasted pretty great.
The next day, we awoke to the news that his grandfather had just passed. we went to his grandmas house where they were preparing the body. We weren't sure what to do so we just sat around as everyone went about their business. About one hour later were told to pass into the room were the body was, so that we may view it. we went in, and were able to comfort Luis during this sad moment. Not long after that they all left the room, asking us to wait there. The brought us sweet milk with coffee, and some bread to eat while we waited. Im not sure why we had to wait there, but we sat there for a couple of hours in the presence of a dead man not knowing what to do. I have to admit it was pretty awkward at times. I think somewhere in my subconscious I decided to make it more awkard, as I accidently knocked my sweet milk all over the floor. I tried to handle it quietly, but the towel they gave me to clean it up was made out of leather, and didn't do one thing to help the situation but to spread it around. It became quite an ordeal, and the daughter wound up coming in to re clean the entire floor. I leaned over to Wes at this point and asked him, "How is anyone in the states ever going to understand what this is like". He said," We dont have the words to describe the awkwardness of sitting in a room before the funeral of a man we did not know, and being asked to say a few words to everyone. They will simply never know". I wish there was a way to describe the strangeness of such a situation.
Later that night we caught a bus back to Lima, another 10 hour trip, but this time we were on the top front row of the double decker bus as it passed other busses on the mountain roads with huge cliffs the whole way. You can imagine how well I slept.
Me, Luis, and Justin in Oxapampa.
Blessings,
Kyle Glaeser
Thursday, March 10, 2011
65 days is a long time. (sort of)
I have now live in another country for 65 days.
When I imagined what it would be like living in lima, my head was full of dreams of how different I would be in just a couple of months. I tried my best not to come into this with too many expectations, but by this point in my internship, I was supposed to be a gallant tan spanish speaking super intern, that was leading bible studies and saying beautiful spanish prayers that brought tears to peruvian eyes all while working into the pro surfing circuit. It looks like Im going to have to settle. Now I know thats a little over the top, but it is true that despite my best attempts not to, I made some expectations that may have been a little far fetched. That being said, here are some things that I feel like have developed or changed as a result of my living here.
Adaption
I have always felt like i had the ability to adapt to any situation, whether it be roughing it in the jungle for 3 months with only a pocket knife and a bag of gummy bears, or living in the lap of luxury with a leer jet and a house on three different continents. ( one of which would be antartica by the way). However I have found parts of that to be true and parts to be not true. The first thing I discovered once the initial excitement of being here wore off was that I am most certainly an American, and I do have a desire for things that are American. For instance BBQ is very American, and is something I struggle to live without. As silly as that sounds, in ways it is true. There are certain standards of cleanliness, and security that come along with being an American, and breaking through those has been uncomfortable at times. However I am proud to say that faced with a situation in which I am required to adapt I have succeeded in the overall.
My spiritual life
I dont spend much time talking about my spiritual life. Whether I should spend more doing so I really dont know. That being said I definitely had some notions on how my spiritual life would be developed from being here. But once again as the first stages of being here passed I realized that there is still a good deal of effort that must be put into maintaining my spiritual disciplines. Thankfully with some guidance from a new dear friend of mine, I have been able to push the boundaries on developing new habits, and seeking them daily.
Finally: My crazy story for the week
While we were in fortaleza (or villa maria) on sunday, me and Wes went in search of a service project opportunity for our church. We climbed to the top of the mountain to ask the newest residence what they needed the most. When we got up there we saw a group of about one hundred of them gathered for a meeting on the continued construction of a road for the water trucks. As I am very tall and very white, they immediately noticed us and sent over a slightly drunk messenger to query upon our presence. When we told him what we were doing there he insisted that we come tell the group. When we got to the group they gathered around us and were cheering and clapping and yelling whatever words they new in english from, "hello" to, "I love you". When the "leader" asked Wes a question everyone went silent and listened intently to the response. Wes went on to tell a little bit about the children's church we offer on sunday mornings, and we received a fair response from the crowd. We were invited to stay with some people, but had to decline due to "prior engagements". They also invited us to stay with some women for a different kind of visit. (again we obviously had to refuse. There will be no gringo kids running round that place any time soon.) The whole situation turned a little awkward at that point, so we made our great escape to the sound of more applause. It took a little bit of time to digest what had happened, but it was certainly an experience.
Thats all for know,
Blessings,
Kyle Glaeser
When I imagined what it would be like living in lima, my head was full of dreams of how different I would be in just a couple of months. I tried my best not to come into this with too many expectations, but by this point in my internship, I was supposed to be a gallant tan spanish speaking super intern, that was leading bible studies and saying beautiful spanish prayers that brought tears to peruvian eyes all while working into the pro surfing circuit. It looks like Im going to have to settle. Now I know thats a little over the top, but it is true that despite my best attempts not to, I made some expectations that may have been a little far fetched. That being said, here are some things that I feel like have developed or changed as a result of my living here.
Adaption
I have always felt like i had the ability to adapt to any situation, whether it be roughing it in the jungle for 3 months with only a pocket knife and a bag of gummy bears, or living in the lap of luxury with a leer jet and a house on three different continents. ( one of which would be antartica by the way). However I have found parts of that to be true and parts to be not true. The first thing I discovered once the initial excitement of being here wore off was that I am most certainly an American, and I do have a desire for things that are American. For instance BBQ is very American, and is something I struggle to live without. As silly as that sounds, in ways it is true. There are certain standards of cleanliness, and security that come along with being an American, and breaking through those has been uncomfortable at times. However I am proud to say that faced with a situation in which I am required to adapt I have succeeded in the overall.
My spiritual life
I dont spend much time talking about my spiritual life. Whether I should spend more doing so I really dont know. That being said I definitely had some notions on how my spiritual life would be developed from being here. But once again as the first stages of being here passed I realized that there is still a good deal of effort that must be put into maintaining my spiritual disciplines. Thankfully with some guidance from a new dear friend of mine, I have been able to push the boundaries on developing new habits, and seeking them daily.
Finally: My crazy story for the week
While we were in fortaleza (or villa maria) on sunday, me and Wes went in search of a service project opportunity for our church. We climbed to the top of the mountain to ask the newest residence what they needed the most. When we got up there we saw a group of about one hundred of them gathered for a meeting on the continued construction of a road for the water trucks. As I am very tall and very white, they immediately noticed us and sent over a slightly drunk messenger to query upon our presence. When we told him what we were doing there he insisted that we come tell the group. When we got to the group they gathered around us and were cheering and clapping and yelling whatever words they new in english from, "hello" to, "I love you". When the "leader" asked Wes a question everyone went silent and listened intently to the response. Wes went on to tell a little bit about the children's church we offer on sunday mornings, and we received a fair response from the crowd. We were invited to stay with some people, but had to decline due to "prior engagements". They also invited us to stay with some women for a different kind of visit. (again we obviously had to refuse. There will be no gringo kids running round that place any time soon.) The whole situation turned a little awkward at that point, so we made our great escape to the sound of more applause. It took a little bit of time to digest what had happened, but it was certainly an experience.
Thats all for know,
Blessings,
Kyle Glaeser
Wednesday, March 9, 2011
Cosas Nuevas - New Things
First of all, I would like to apologize for not posting more often... I have no excuse haha Basically everything that everyone has been saying applies to me too, so I'm just going to update you on some of my favorite recent activities.
Kids Club in Villa Maria
So I know we've talked about this before, but recently the interns have been given the responsibility of organizing the activites for our kids' time in Villa Maria on Sunday mornings. We've been doing a different Bible story every week with games and coloring sheets and lots of great songs, and it's been going really good. It seems like the kids are getting more and more excited every week to be there and hang out with us, and that is making us more excited as well :) The kids are really sweet and attentive and great about participating in most everything. It has also been a good opportunity for some of the team kids to interact with the Peruvian kids! Here is an awesome video, made by the talented John Mark Davidson, of one of the mornings :) most of it is in Spanish, but you'll get the gist of it...
El Tiempo Para Niños En Villa Maria del Triunfo
Bible Studies
Pretty much as soon as we got here, Jenny and I jumped into a women's Bible study that was already going on with Stacy, Alison, 2 other missionary wives from England and another intern from Oklahoma (staying with one of the families from England). We are studying Discerning the Voice of God by Priscilla Shirer, and I must say, this has been an inspiring experience, both from the encouragement that the text itself is giving me and from the different points of view that I am getting to see from the other women. We have all been pretty open with each other about things that are going on in our lives, and just getting to hear some older (by a little) and wiser women discuss things that are pertinent to my life right now has been a great experience for me.
Also, starting this Saturday, March 12th, we are going to be having another women's Bible study with several of the Peruvian girls in our church!! I'm am SO excited about this. It is something we've been talking about for a while, so I'm glad it's actually going to be happening! It's only going to be once a month at first, because it was difficult to coordinate everyone's schedules, but this first time, our Peruvian friend Carmen will be organizing the discussion :) She is definitely one of the leaders among the women that I've met so far, and one of my best friends here. I'm so glad to be working on this with her, and I'm excited to dive into the Word with my new friends!
Adventures with American Food
Although I LOVE the "comida peruana" here, I have definitely been looking for ways to keep a little American-ness in my diet. One such thing is I have found the Peruvian version of Frosted Flakes! They are called Zucarias (I think because they are covered in sugar - azucar) but they really are just like Frosted Flakes :) and I love them!! and I eat them almost every day!
Also, I recently decided to try and make a recipe I got from my grandmother called "Chicken in the Floor." (The story behind the name is long and not the point, so ask me about it sometime haha) I shopped for the ingredients and cooked it with my Peruvian friend Gaby, and it was fun helping her practice her English through cooking! I had to make a few adjustments to the recipe, but surprisingly it turned out great! Not exactly like Lana's, but close enough for me :)
There are also restaurants like McDonald's, Pizza Hut and Chili's that I can resort to if I get a hankering for some "American" food.
Ejercicios (exercises)
One thing that I have been really conscience of since coming here is my over-all health and how easily it can be affected by changes in diet and location, etc. Every Monday and Wednesday morning and sometimes Thursday, we have a girls work-out time. And when I say morning, I mean MORN-ING! We get to the park where we work out close to the beach around 6 am.... ugh that is so early!! But doing this has most definitely helped with my health and getting adjusted and my energy during the day as well. But man it is early! haha I am personally so proud of myself for sticking with this, but I have a bunch of really great encouragers that get on to me if I sleep it :) Stephanie and Tara were both exercise instructors when they were still in Texas, so we are getting some intense workouts! But yeah, working out has never been something I have really been dedicated to or really even enjoyed very much, but I love this time to spend with the team girls and some new friends that joined the class!
Families!
This weekend starts the crazy week of visitors! Kyle G's family (extended as well), Jenny's family, my family, Lee's parents, Stephanie's mom, and John Mark's sister and brother-in-law will all be here in Lima this week!! It's crazy, but we are all SOOO excited for them to get here. I know personally, I am looking forward to showing my parents and sister where I work and live and hang-out and introduce them to the people I see every week, and at the same time have a fun vacation with them and show them some of the really cool parts of Lima. Kyle and Jenny's families will also both be going to Cuzco to see Machu Picchu, so that's exciting! I think this will be a great time, especially for us interns, to take a little break from normal every-day life and do some different fun things! I'm hoping this will be a refreshing time for us :) SO EXCITED!!!
Language School
One last thing: after a much-longer-than-planned break from language school, we are starting that back up again this week on a less intensive schedule than before. We will all be doing 6 hours a week of one-on-one study with an instructor as well as a couple of hours of focused practice with a "language partner," one of our new Peruvian friends. Mine will be with Gaby (the girl I mentioned cooking with) and the time will be spent half in Spanish and half in English. I think this will be a great way for us to grow our relationships with these particular people, and it will be great practice for both parties.
Ok, that's all I had! Thanks for keeping up with us and keeping all of us in your prayers :) I know that it means a lot to all of us to know that we have SO many people supporting us while we are here! After being here for over 2 months now, I can say that this experience is going to change us and grow us in ways that we don't even really realize yet, and I am so excited! Thank you all for partnering with us in this crazy adventure!
Love, Taylor
ps Sorry I didn't have any pictures... there just weren't really any related to my topics haha
Kids Club in Villa Maria
So I know we've talked about this before, but recently the interns have been given the responsibility of organizing the activites for our kids' time in Villa Maria on Sunday mornings. We've been doing a different Bible story every week with games and coloring sheets and lots of great songs, and it's been going really good. It seems like the kids are getting more and more excited every week to be there and hang out with us, and that is making us more excited as well :) The kids are really sweet and attentive and great about participating in most everything. It has also been a good opportunity for some of the team kids to interact with the Peruvian kids! Here is an awesome video, made by the talented John Mark Davidson, of one of the mornings :) most of it is in Spanish, but you'll get the gist of it...
El Tiempo Para Niños En Villa Maria del Triunfo
Bible Studies
Pretty much as soon as we got here, Jenny and I jumped into a women's Bible study that was already going on with Stacy, Alison, 2 other missionary wives from England and another intern from Oklahoma (staying with one of the families from England). We are studying Discerning the Voice of God by Priscilla Shirer, and I must say, this has been an inspiring experience, both from the encouragement that the text itself is giving me and from the different points of view that I am getting to see from the other women. We have all been pretty open with each other about things that are going on in our lives, and just getting to hear some older (by a little) and wiser women discuss things that are pertinent to my life right now has been a great experience for me.
Also, starting this Saturday, March 12th, we are going to be having another women's Bible study with several of the Peruvian girls in our church!! I'm am SO excited about this. It is something we've been talking about for a while, so I'm glad it's actually going to be happening! It's only going to be once a month at first, because it was difficult to coordinate everyone's schedules, but this first time, our Peruvian friend Carmen will be organizing the discussion :) She is definitely one of the leaders among the women that I've met so far, and one of my best friends here. I'm so glad to be working on this with her, and I'm excited to dive into the Word with my new friends!
Adventures with American Food
Although I LOVE the "comida peruana" here, I have definitely been looking for ways to keep a little American-ness in my diet. One such thing is I have found the Peruvian version of Frosted Flakes! They are called Zucarias (I think because they are covered in sugar - azucar) but they really are just like Frosted Flakes :) and I love them!! and I eat them almost every day!
Also, I recently decided to try and make a recipe I got from my grandmother called "Chicken in the Floor." (The story behind the name is long and not the point, so ask me about it sometime haha) I shopped for the ingredients and cooked it with my Peruvian friend Gaby, and it was fun helping her practice her English through cooking! I had to make a few adjustments to the recipe, but surprisingly it turned out great! Not exactly like Lana's, but close enough for me :)
There are also restaurants like McDonald's, Pizza Hut and Chili's that I can resort to if I get a hankering for some "American" food.
Ejercicios (exercises)
One thing that I have been really conscience of since coming here is my over-all health and how easily it can be affected by changes in diet and location, etc. Every Monday and Wednesday morning and sometimes Thursday, we have a girls work-out time. And when I say morning, I mean MORN-ING! We get to the park where we work out close to the beach around 6 am.... ugh that is so early!! But doing this has most definitely helped with my health and getting adjusted and my energy during the day as well. But man it is early! haha I am personally so proud of myself for sticking with this, but I have a bunch of really great encouragers that get on to me if I sleep it :) Stephanie and Tara were both exercise instructors when they were still in Texas, so we are getting some intense workouts! But yeah, working out has never been something I have really been dedicated to or really even enjoyed very much, but I love this time to spend with the team girls and some new friends that joined the class!
Families!
This weekend starts the crazy week of visitors! Kyle G's family (extended as well), Jenny's family, my family, Lee's parents, Stephanie's mom, and John Mark's sister and brother-in-law will all be here in Lima this week!! It's crazy, but we are all SOOO excited for them to get here. I know personally, I am looking forward to showing my parents and sister where I work and live and hang-out and introduce them to the people I see every week, and at the same time have a fun vacation with them and show them some of the really cool parts of Lima. Kyle and Jenny's families will also both be going to Cuzco to see Machu Picchu, so that's exciting! I think this will be a great time, especially for us interns, to take a little break from normal every-day life and do some different fun things! I'm hoping this will be a refreshing time for us :) SO EXCITED!!!
Language School
One last thing: after a much-longer-than-planned break from language school, we are starting that back up again this week on a less intensive schedule than before. We will all be doing 6 hours a week of one-on-one study with an instructor as well as a couple of hours of focused practice with a "language partner," one of our new Peruvian friends. Mine will be with Gaby (the girl I mentioned cooking with) and the time will be spent half in Spanish and half in English. I think this will be a great way for us to grow our relationships with these particular people, and it will be great practice for both parties.
Ok, that's all I had! Thanks for keeping up with us and keeping all of us in your prayers :) I know that it means a lot to all of us to know that we have SO many people supporting us while we are here! After being here for over 2 months now, I can say that this experience is going to change us and grow us in ways that we don't even really realize yet, and I am so excited! Thank you all for partnering with us in this crazy adventure!
Love, Taylor
ps Sorry I didn't have any pictures... there just weren't really any related to my topics haha
Saturday, March 5, 2011
La Vida Diaria - Daily Life
Over the past couple of weeks I've been making a list of things that I think would be interesting to tell people about. I just realized that it's a pretty long list... consider yourself warned. :)
Some of the smaller moments are what I think makes life so interesting. This probably has something to do with the fact that my primary love language is quality time (take the quiz and find out what yours is, you know you want to). Take a haricut, for example. Everyone gets them, but not always at 11p.m. in the middle of a kitchen. Well that's what Kyle decided to do a couple weeks ago. We've started watching Survivor (my new favorite show haha), so one night after it was over Kyle came into the living room with the clippers and got Wes to cut his hair while Taylor and I laughed the whole time. I'm sure you can see why:
Last week a group of us went to a praise night at a local church. I've been to lots of events like that before, but I was really touched by this one. I have to pay so much more attention to the words of the songs, prayers, and messages. So I am more invested in the words God is speaking to me in those times. Also, the church was started years ago by missionaries and it has grown into a huge group of believers. It was so encouraging to me to know that the work of missionaries is impactful here in Lima.
That saying is so true: you learn something new every day. A lot of what I learn is about the culture including the Catholic wedding I got to go to, complete with traditional little kid Peruvian dancers, and that there are people everywhere trying to sell you things. In fact, last time we had a beach day I had the option to buy scarves, swimsuit cover-ups, sunglasses, jewelry, ice cream, sandwiches, and even books. And that was just at the beach! All of these vendors (and hailing taxis) has taught me about bargaining skills that I never thought I would know. I've also learned so much about how a team of people works together. It's a longer process than I first thought and it involves more meetings than I expected. Through a couple of our most recent team meetings (one at the beach and one with our mentor David) I've realized that the meetings help me to know more about the people I work with and about myself. I'd like to ask you to pray for our continued patience and that we would come to find out even more.
I love making connections with people here. Last week Kyle, Taylor, and I got to meet and have dinner with our good friend Carolina's family. Carolina was so helpful in our preparation, we asked her so many questions about Lima before we left since she grew up here and now lives in College Station. We had a great time and are so thankful for our friends everywhere.
We've almost always got something to celebrate here Just yesterday it was Maddox's 4th birthday. The interns and the Fletchers went to Cieneguilla to play at the pool, let the kids ride horses, and enjoy the sun. For dinner the whole team got together at Pizza Hut (which is considerably nicer here than any I've been to in the states). We had a great time and everyone enjoyed the blue cake!
Some of the smaller moments are what I think makes life so interesting. This probably has something to do with the fact that my primary love language is quality time (take the quiz and find out what yours is, you know you want to). Take a haricut, for example. Everyone gets them, but not always at 11p.m. in the middle of a kitchen. Well that's what Kyle decided to do a couple weeks ago. We've started watching Survivor (my new favorite show haha), so one night after it was over Kyle came into the living room with the clippers and got Wes to cut his hair while Taylor and I laughed the whole time. I'm sure you can see why:
Another one of those small moments is watching a movie. And here I mean a kids' movie: animated, Disney, usually about 15 years old. Something as simple as sitting on the couch or the floor with Sofia and Maddox and watching a movie is so fun and makes me feel like a little kid again. I love it. Something else I love: competition, which is great since I'm surrounded by boys who have to name a winner for whatever situation may arise. Recently, after acting like the grown up 30 somethings that they are at a team meeting, the team guys decided to have an impromptu arm wrestling tournament. And after the next meeting, there were races on the beach. I was included in these (and obviously lost haha) and it was great to just have fun with the people I work with everyday.
Some of the small things have a stronger impact in the moment. I feel like we mention the sunsets here in almost every post, but they really are great. And we see them way more than I ever did in Texas. Each time I'm reminded of the power and greatness of God. It amazes me that He made something so beautiful and unique for our enjoyment.
 |
| One of the most recent sunsets over the Pacific |
That saying is so true: you learn something new every day. A lot of what I learn is about the culture including the Catholic wedding I got to go to, complete with traditional little kid Peruvian dancers, and that there are people everywhere trying to sell you things. In fact, last time we had a beach day I had the option to buy scarves, swimsuit cover-ups, sunglasses, jewelry, ice cream, sandwiches, and even books. And that was just at the beach! All of these vendors (and hailing taxis) has taught me about bargaining skills that I never thought I would know. I've also learned so much about how a team of people works together. It's a longer process than I first thought and it involves more meetings than I expected. Through a couple of our most recent team meetings (one at the beach and one with our mentor David) I've realized that the meetings help me to know more about the people I work with and about myself. I'd like to ask you to pray for our continued patience and that we would come to find out even more.
I love making connections with people here. Last week Kyle, Taylor, and I got to meet and have dinner with our good friend Carolina's family. Carolina was so helpful in our preparation, we asked her so many questions about Lima before we left since she grew up here and now lives in College Station. We had a great time and are so thankful for our friends everywhere.
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| The interns before we went to eat with Carolina's sister (and nephew) and parents |
Friday, March 4, 2011
the healing process.
howdy from texas!
first off, i thought that it should be known that this is being typed with two hands! this might not seem remarkable, but let me tell you, when you've only been able to do everything with one hand for four weeks, it is incredibly liberating to be able to use the other one too. bunches of people have asked me how things are going in texas, and how the healing is going, so i figured that an update might be nice. this one won't have any interesting pictures, because i am in dallas. haha there are interesting things here, but i reckon that y'all can visualize what i'm talking about.
so, texas. i came back to the states two weeks ago last saturday, and it has been an interesting time back. on the monday after i arrived back, i had my first visit with my orthopaedic surgeon here in rockwall, and from the x-rays he took he said that everything looked good in terms of the surgery that i had in lima, and at the time he advised me to keep the sling on pretty much all the time, and to limit movement as much as possible. i had a follow-up visit two weeks later (which was this past monday), which i will get to later. so, the first appointment was encouraging, but not very informative. oh side note, first impressions upon coming back to america. it smells so ridiculously clean here. my point of entry back was miami dade airport, which isn't known as a particularly sterile place, but as soon as i got off the plane, there was this indescribable sense of cleanliness and sterility to the terminal. it was very strange! i reckon that it had been about six weeks since i had experience any air filtration, so that was a peculiar shock. anyways, my first week back in the states was excellent, and mostly spent relaxing with my sweet mommy and daddy, american food (whoop tex-mex!), and all of the car magazines that had come to the house since i had been gone. fortunately, the weather was pretty nice and warm when i got back, so i got to spend some time outside strolling around too. it was definitely a little bizarre to be back. you know how if you plan for a week-long trip, by the end of the week it feels like you've been in that place for a really long time? i have learned how powerful expectations are to our brains, because i was in lima for exactly five and a half weeks, but it felt like i had hardly left the states, and i think that it's because i had my mind psyched up for a six month trip. when we were preparing to go to lima, we worked intentionally on not making expectations about what our trip would be like, but we hardly realized that we had made one crucial expectation: that we/i would be there for six full months! anyways, all that to say that it really wasn't that weird to be back.
the next weekend, my best bud shelby anders came up from college station to visit me in rowlett, and we had a grand time hanging out, driving around dallas looking for places to live next fall, eating taco bell, and playing gran turismo 5. i was hoping to come the college station the next weekend (this past weekend) to visit everyone, but since i am not supposed to drive yet, i was at the mercy of others for transportation. my parents were going to bring me down for the weekend, but there turned out to be stuff at church they had to be around for, so shelby and i were talking, and since i didn't have anything going that week, we decided that it would be awesome if i just rode back to cstat with him, and chilled there for the week! so i did. and it was one of the best weeks of my life, full of good food and the best conversations ever. i was so blessed to spend really extended amounts of time with people that i love in deep conversation, and it was cool water for my soul. and being in college station with no class or anything hanging over your head is pretty sweet. so that was an unexpected blessing, and it was so great to see everyone back home in aggieland. i will be back for a few more weekends once i can drive again soon, and i am already looking forward to the one college station fav food that i missed, a good ole half-pound burger from koppe bridge.
on monday, i had my second visit with the doc, and i got a lot of interesting news. first off, the x-rays showed that i am having great healing of the bone and is grows back together. this was somewhat of a concern, considering the radiation that i had during my cancer treatments years ago. radiation is known to brittle bones by frying the blood vessels that promote circulation, and because my bone appears to be healing at a normal rate, it would seem that i have good circulation to the break, so hallelujah it ought to heal nicely! so that was good news. but interestingly, i will not begin physical therapy for my shoulder and all for three more weeks. but in the meantime, i am able to not wear my sling all the time, and i am allowed to do any movement of my arm that keeps my elbow below my shoulder, and with minimal weight lifting, like five pounds max. so that's why i can now type with my left hand, sort of play guitar, and generally be a little more useful. but i'm still hurting a little, especially as i am starting to move my gimpy shoulder around more and loosen it back up. so the healing process is well underway :) also interestingly, my return date of april 13th looks good, because that will be about 11 weeks from surgery, and the projected healing time of my injury and surgery is 10-12 weeks. but, that time allows for recovery of full range of motion, such that i can do normal life activities with no worries. but, it will be july or august before the bone itself will be fully healed, so for the last two and a half months that i'll be back in lima, i won't be doing any flag football or rock climbing or anything too intense, which is a little sad but probably a good thing :) ill stay in one piece this time around i reckon! i am looking forward to being able to use my arm with no worries in august though, lifting weights, playing basketball, and not skimboarding anymore haha. that will be grand. but, just being back in lima again, even with limited abilities, will be most wonderful.
i feel like i am naturally predisposed to being a positive person, so this whole episode hasn't been a huge hit to my happiness or anything like that, but there has definitely been some dealing with disappointment. but, i am confident that i will look back on this time, and be thankful that i was here in texas rather than lima. i don't know how yet, but i know that god makes all things work for the good. i think that my week in college station played into that. so as i'm here, god has already been showing me, and teaching me so much more about his nature and about how he works. i still feel like im on serve abroad, on in texas i figure. im speaking lots of spanish with people i meet here, reading my handy spanish bible (thanks mark!), and trying to keep an open eye for god's leadings here in rowlett. all that, plus healing and eating great american food too :) but oh man, what i would do for some good aji de gallina right about now!
anyways, thanks for all of your thoughts and prayers, and i'm so excited about getting to spend more time here in rowlett, but also getting to head back south to that country i love. i covet your prayers for healing, and also for the three who haven't broken and all of the work in lima. god is good!
¡chau!
the other kyle (kyle w)
first off, i thought that it should be known that this is being typed with two hands! this might not seem remarkable, but let me tell you, when you've only been able to do everything with one hand for four weeks, it is incredibly liberating to be able to use the other one too. bunches of people have asked me how things are going in texas, and how the healing is going, so i figured that an update might be nice. this one won't have any interesting pictures, because i am in dallas. haha there are interesting things here, but i reckon that y'all can visualize what i'm talking about.
so, texas. i came back to the states two weeks ago last saturday, and it has been an interesting time back. on the monday after i arrived back, i had my first visit with my orthopaedic surgeon here in rockwall, and from the x-rays he took he said that everything looked good in terms of the surgery that i had in lima, and at the time he advised me to keep the sling on pretty much all the time, and to limit movement as much as possible. i had a follow-up visit two weeks later (which was this past monday), which i will get to later. so, the first appointment was encouraging, but not very informative. oh side note, first impressions upon coming back to america. it smells so ridiculously clean here. my point of entry back was miami dade airport, which isn't known as a particularly sterile place, but as soon as i got off the plane, there was this indescribable sense of cleanliness and sterility to the terminal. it was very strange! i reckon that it had been about six weeks since i had experience any air filtration, so that was a peculiar shock. anyways, my first week back in the states was excellent, and mostly spent relaxing with my sweet mommy and daddy, american food (whoop tex-mex!), and all of the car magazines that had come to the house since i had been gone. fortunately, the weather was pretty nice and warm when i got back, so i got to spend some time outside strolling around too. it was definitely a little bizarre to be back. you know how if you plan for a week-long trip, by the end of the week it feels like you've been in that place for a really long time? i have learned how powerful expectations are to our brains, because i was in lima for exactly five and a half weeks, but it felt like i had hardly left the states, and i think that it's because i had my mind psyched up for a six month trip. when we were preparing to go to lima, we worked intentionally on not making expectations about what our trip would be like, but we hardly realized that we had made one crucial expectation: that we/i would be there for six full months! anyways, all that to say that it really wasn't that weird to be back.
the next weekend, my best bud shelby anders came up from college station to visit me in rowlett, and we had a grand time hanging out, driving around dallas looking for places to live next fall, eating taco bell, and playing gran turismo 5. i was hoping to come the college station the next weekend (this past weekend) to visit everyone, but since i am not supposed to drive yet, i was at the mercy of others for transportation. my parents were going to bring me down for the weekend, but there turned out to be stuff at church they had to be around for, so shelby and i were talking, and since i didn't have anything going that week, we decided that it would be awesome if i just rode back to cstat with him, and chilled there for the week! so i did. and it was one of the best weeks of my life, full of good food and the best conversations ever. i was so blessed to spend really extended amounts of time with people that i love in deep conversation, and it was cool water for my soul. and being in college station with no class or anything hanging over your head is pretty sweet. so that was an unexpected blessing, and it was so great to see everyone back home in aggieland. i will be back for a few more weekends once i can drive again soon, and i am already looking forward to the one college station fav food that i missed, a good ole half-pound burger from koppe bridge.
on monday, i had my second visit with the doc, and i got a lot of interesting news. first off, the x-rays showed that i am having great healing of the bone and is grows back together. this was somewhat of a concern, considering the radiation that i had during my cancer treatments years ago. radiation is known to brittle bones by frying the blood vessels that promote circulation, and because my bone appears to be healing at a normal rate, it would seem that i have good circulation to the break, so hallelujah it ought to heal nicely! so that was good news. but interestingly, i will not begin physical therapy for my shoulder and all for three more weeks. but in the meantime, i am able to not wear my sling all the time, and i am allowed to do any movement of my arm that keeps my elbow below my shoulder, and with minimal weight lifting, like five pounds max. so that's why i can now type with my left hand, sort of play guitar, and generally be a little more useful. but i'm still hurting a little, especially as i am starting to move my gimpy shoulder around more and loosen it back up. so the healing process is well underway :) also interestingly, my return date of april 13th looks good, because that will be about 11 weeks from surgery, and the projected healing time of my injury and surgery is 10-12 weeks. but, that time allows for recovery of full range of motion, such that i can do normal life activities with no worries. but, it will be july or august before the bone itself will be fully healed, so for the last two and a half months that i'll be back in lima, i won't be doing any flag football or rock climbing or anything too intense, which is a little sad but probably a good thing :) ill stay in one piece this time around i reckon! i am looking forward to being able to use my arm with no worries in august though, lifting weights, playing basketball, and not skimboarding anymore haha. that will be grand. but, just being back in lima again, even with limited abilities, will be most wonderful.
i feel like i am naturally predisposed to being a positive person, so this whole episode hasn't been a huge hit to my happiness or anything like that, but there has definitely been some dealing with disappointment. but, i am confident that i will look back on this time, and be thankful that i was here in texas rather than lima. i don't know how yet, but i know that god makes all things work for the good. i think that my week in college station played into that. so as i'm here, god has already been showing me, and teaching me so much more about his nature and about how he works. i still feel like im on serve abroad, on in texas i figure. im speaking lots of spanish with people i meet here, reading my handy spanish bible (thanks mark!), and trying to keep an open eye for god's leadings here in rowlett. all that, plus healing and eating great american food too :) but oh man, what i would do for some good aji de gallina right about now!
anyways, thanks for all of your thoughts and prayers, and i'm so excited about getting to spend more time here in rowlett, but also getting to head back south to that country i love. i covet your prayers for healing, and also for the three who haven't broken and all of the work in lima. god is good!
¡chau!
the other kyle (kyle w)
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