Llegamos a Peru

We have arrived. I am writing this on the second night that I am here, and I'm going to try to put up some observations that you all might be interested in. It has been an amazing 1.9 days here in Peru, and I know everything will not be as well as it has been so far.  Entonces, while I am feeling up, I shall describe some things that I have noticed.
First off, yes Peru is a third world country if you were wondering.  You can get real picky and say that it is not but en realidad, it is.  The picture on the left is the view from atop the house where I am staying. Down a flight a stairs is the courtyard and sunday school classrooms along with the entrance to the house.  Down another flight of stairs is the Nazarene church, in which my host parents is the pastor of (20 years now and running.)
My host parents are the sweetest, nicest, most considerate couple I have ever met.  Within 10 minutes of being in their house, they said that Micah (my American partner) and I were their "hijos nuevos" or new children.   Their daughter and son moved out and started their own life.  Genaro y Susana are the names of our host parents.  They have so little, but love so much. When they saw that Micah and I had a computer their eyes lit up.  They asked if they could check their correo electronico, or e-mail.  David y Susana, my house parents' daughter and son-in-law, stopped by.  We actually talked to them for about 3 hours.  They were trying to sharpen up their English, which was about as good as our Spanish, so they would talk to us in English and we would respond in Spanish.  They are very interesting people also.
In Peru, if you're making 1000 soles a week, you're doing very well.  There are about 3 soles to every 1 American dollar.  Arequipa looks like the slums, I guess that's the best way to put it.  You can get a tiny taste of what it looks like in the photo above.  The traffic is absolutely insane.  Rarely is there a stop sign or even rarer a stop light.  You just go into an intersection and use experience and knowledge to maneuver around cars and people.  It's even worse trying not to get hit by a car when you are trying to cross the street.  It pretty much smells like gasoline, oil, or diesel fuel whenever you're not in a building or sometimes when you're in a building.  Yes, the water in the toilets does spin the other way.  Enough said there.
With the food, I was humbled right away.  I've talked about eggs en Los Estados Unidos (U.S.) and how I don't like them at all.  How I will be okay with everything but eggs.  Well for my first meal in Peru, desayuno, guess what I got to have.  You are correct if you guessed eggs.  Other than that, I've had platefuls of rice, chicken, no soup yet, and potatoes.  I did well on everything but the potato today at lunch.  They have "Inca Cola" here in Peru.  It's a soda made by Coca Cola but it has the flavor of bubble gum and it is yellow.  It's interesting, and I like it a lot.

I think besides Trevor, my American friend, I am the tallest in Peru.  The people are very short here, but obviously I'm exaggerating a little.  I find how people react to the weather a little humorous.  Every Peruvian is wearing a coat and pants right now because it is winter.  I'm out in shorts and a tee.  The weather varies by about 5 degrees Fahrenheit between summer and winter.  It was the nicest day out but people were wearing coats and pants.  They asked us in our prayer meeting if we were cold, and we joked and said hace calor, or it is hot.
We also walked around with our professors of the language school.  I am attending a brand new language school started by the organization I came here with.  They want to immerse us in the culture and language. So instead of sitting in a classroom all the time, we are going to go out and they teach us life on the streets or el mercado or with our families.
I'm super excited to continue on and hopefully master the language.  Please pray that I embrace this culture fully and grasp the language greatly.  I presented a lot of information in this one, hope you enjoyed it. Gracias!

Thompson Pea

What a guy, Thompson Pea. Roy and I were doing laundry and on our way back said "hello" to a passerby. He stopped us and asked what we were doing. This pass by turned in to 20 minutes of intriguing conversation. Thompson, a native of New Guinea shared his heart with us and it was so obvious to see how huge of a heart he has. Thompson left 5 children and a wife to get an education in ministry. If I could only describe what this man was telling us and how he was going to pray for us. The passion in his voice was indescribable. It was much more deep than I could ever describe it and it had a deeper meaning that only Roy and I would understand.

This just topped off the most emotional days of my life. We basically had a psychologist come in and mess with our minds and hearts. She created situations and thoughts to stir our minds. She did a fantastic job. The last two days, we as a team, transitioned from "team" to "family." It was incredibly tough on the heart but each and everyone of us opened up to a large extent. It was great to hear our conference leader share that our group was very special to her.

And so this is the last night I am in FL. I am emotionally drained but the spirits are up. I never thought I'd say this, but I am more than excited to leave the state of Florida.

Lima and Arequipa, look out.

P.S. - That's my girl Ella.

Flo Rida

Airports. Orientation. Lollygagging. Bumming around. Orientation. Beach. Orientation. Orientation. Beach. Bumming around.

It's officially day one, nearing the end. Today and yesterday have consisted of the previous statements. Met some people on the plane, I feel inclined to talk to those who are next to me. Luckily the crew is legit and it's easy to dive into deep conversation with any of them. We're just living at Hobe Sound Bible College in the dorms, it's pretty chill. Pretty small. Pretty conservative. Pretty much blows Olivet strictness out of the water. Orientation is a thrill ride, except the opposite most of the time. The best part is just probably interacting with the fellows. But the deed must be done in order to go on, understandable. Nothing eye opening here, just an update to show ya that I'm still alive. I said good day.