Family

One thing that this year has impressed upon me forever is family. Yes, blood family, I always have had the best family and have always know that they love me and will always be there for me, but the family I am talking about right now is the one that God has created for me here in Peru and my church family back home, they are becoming a very important part of my life and support that I didn’t realize before. My family here in Peru consists of Caleb, who is always there to lift people up and to thank them for their work, Chris always offers a witty little comments that makes everyone laugh, and he also has good spiritual insights anytime he gives worship, Jonathan is another one of the funny men and always is betting everyone that they can or can’t eat something be it a turkey foot or a large bowl of sweet potato casserole, Anthony is the one who always smiles and teases the chicos right back when they give him a hard time. Rachel and Stephanie are the team nurses when anyone of us is having issues; recently they’ve been getting calls late at night to administer meds for upset bowels and stomachs. And they are also my companions here at Km 8, and we have a good time together. Cecilia is the newest addition to our group, but she’s very helpful in getting bargains when it comes to shopping in the market and she is also a very fun doctor to work with. Jenessa is the organizer of the group and all of her many responsibilities and Rebecca is the other teacher who always has available time to talk to anyone who needs to talk. Laura is always teasing everyone and giving us a hard time. Hanna is the person who knows everything about everyone in the group, I guess that is her job, but she is also keeps us all together and is very concerned that everyone in our group is happy. Alfonso is the quietest of the chicos, but he loves to laugh. Elias is the little brother to everyone, and he hates Monday mornings.  Erick is also quiet, but when he does talk it’s usually pretty funny and good for a laugh, he is also a very hard worker and a leader for the group. Daniel Pua is Elias’ older brother, and very good at building stuff, like the majority of stuff we have here at Km 8. Daniel Ruiz is well-known for his love of music during worship times, and blasting his computer in the mornings with praise music, in Spanish of course. Doctor is most definitely the leader of the group, like the dad of the group, and I respect him very much for all of the work he does here. If a man ever had a full plate, he does. He makes sure all of us are healthy and happy first of all, then he does a lot of administrative work for Amor, he sets up medical campaigns, makes new connections to help Amor, and he has three kids. Shirley, the doctor’s wife, is like the older sister/mom figure of our group here. She doesn’t mind laughing at us girls when we mess up cooking in the kitchen, or teaching us better more efficient ways to cook for so many people. Hermana Welfa is a grandmotherly figure, and a very stable spiritual example for all of us. Her sermons are very good and personal. She also is great at teaching us how to make empanadas.  This makes up our family here in Peru, and I know that I wouldn’t be doing as well as I am here in Peru without having these people as my brothers and sisters.
Another group that has really been there supporting me every step of the way is my church family. I just recently received a package from the Women’s Ministries department there that had a whole bunch of letters and verses for my birthday and to give me additional encouragement. I have received several letters from my church family, and it never ceases to amaze me that in each letter there is a verse or a personal note that lifts me up and that I needed just at the moment that I read them. It’s about halfway through my time here in Peru, and I’m missing home a lot and sometimes I just want to go home and leave, but the letters I recently got in the mail have lifted my spirits considerably and reminded me of the important work that God has here and that he IS always by my side even when I mess up. In the New Testament it is written that as brothers and sisters in Christ we should take care of one another, be a family, fellowship together. This has become a very real reality for me this year, thank you. This is why God doesn’t ask us to be hermits and not talk to anyone, we need each other.
My family has become very big this year.  I love getting the calls from my family every week. I know that it has been very hard for them to have me so far away. They have given me so much love and support this year that I’m serving God, even though they would be much more comfortable to have me home. It boosts me every week just to hear from them and to know what is going on in their lives at home.
Thanksgiving was yesterday, and this year my biggest thanks to God is for Peru and the huge family that this year has given me.

Thanksgiving Day in El Peru

The night before thanksgiving the Doc told me that Alfonso had turkeys at his house, so we asked him that night when we got to 38 about it and he said that he didn’t have turkeys and never had. Not sure where those wires got crossed, but it was kind of funny. Lol. At first, when we were going to get the turkey from Alfonso, I thought I was going to have to de-feather it and season and cook it. Good thing I didn’t have to de-feather it because number one, I don’t think we had a pot big enough to boil it in so the feathers would come off, and number two, I would have been guessing on how to do it. Lol. I was kind of excited to figure it out anyway. I called my mom the night before and asked her how to season the turkey and how long to cook it and all that cuz I was really worried about messing up the Thanksgiving Day Turkey. So, Rach and I ended up going to Pucallpa the next morning to buy one because you can’t buy one in Campo Verde. I assumed that it would be like every other meat you purchase here, freshly killed that morning, but surprisingly the lady who sells the turkeys sells them frozen. Who knew you could buy a frozen turkey in Peru? Lima, yea, but here? Anyway, I got worried because I didn’t think there would be any way to get it done before dinner that night. Anyway, so as not to bore you, I’ll cut this short and tell you that I seasoned it and took it to Campo to be cooked by a lady because our oven needs a little help in the consistency department and then I carved it and everybody thought it was the best thing ever! I was happy that it turned out. We also had sweet potatoe casserole, mashed potatoes, green bean casserole, apple pie, and pumpkin pie, cranberry sauce, gravy gluten for the vegetarians, stuffing. We got a lot of the stuff in a box that Jenessa’s mom sent here, otherwise I don’t think it would have turned out as nicely. We worked really hard and it turned out amazing! After dinner we all went around the table and said one to three things we were thankful for, it felt like a real thanksgiving with a family!

21st Birthday!

Today was my 21st birthday.  I’ve been anxiously awaiting it all week because I got two packages from my family for my birthday that I had to wait to open. I love surprises, but I’m horrible at waiting for them! So, the first thing I did when I woke up was to open the packages that they sent me. My parents sent me a “party box” that had noisemakers, a party balloon tablecloth, napkins that said “Happy 21st”, and matching plates, and also cupcake mix with Hershey’s flavored frosting!!! That was the best frosting I have ever had. Lol. Tonight, I got banned to my room for a couple of hours while they set up the other house for my birthday dinner. So, I watched a movie and got all prettied up with the new hair things my mom sent me and the eyeliner and mascara thought I bought here in Peru. Then, right before the party I got to talk to my little brother and my mom and my grandparents!! I got a little teary when talking to them, but it was good, and I hadn’t talked to my grandparents since I left last August, so that was very exciting. Then, Rachel came and got me and blindfolded me for the walk to the other house. While were walking I could hear the noisemakers blowing in the other house and then Daniel came up behind me as a was walking blindfolded and blew one of the horns in my ear. Scared me to death! I had no idea he was there! Lol. Anyway, I got to the party and everyone started singing “Happy Birthday”, and then after that Daniel, Alfonso and Elias had three more birthday songs in Spanish to sing to me. It was so funny, because they thought that the noisemakers were the greatest things, and continued blowing them for a good twenty minutes. Lol. The girls had gone full out on the meal, and made tortillas with all of the toppings, but while we were eating the boys kept singing “Quieremos comer la torta, quieremos comer la torta” to the tune of “For He’s a Jolly Good Fellow”. Which means “We want to eat the cake”. Hehe. Fortunately, I made it through the night without getting a egg smashed on my head.  Guess they forgot about that little tradition for one night. 

Moving Day!

So, we have officially moved to Km 8 for the rest of this mission year. We brought all of our stuff on Tuesday and immediately started a clinic after we unloaded everything. Then, after a very busy clinic, we started to get settled in our rooms. And of course, we had to kill at least one more of the same spiders that we killed during construction that just happened to be the size of my hand. So, the spider killings in total add up to 5, all the size of my hand, not counting all of the little ones. Lol. They seem to have moved out of our house for the most part because we’ve disturbed their home. Clinic had gone well so far this week. I’ve done triage, pharmacy, and dental extractions so far this week. Rachel and Stephanie have even been doing consultations to help the new doctora out. We met her on Monday, her name is Cecilia and she is very nice. She’s about the same age as Dr. Matthews. Rachel, Steph, and I are going to be living here with her for the rest of the year. I actually kind of wish we didn’t have to move here because the rest of our team lives at km 38. We’ve grown so close together, it’s kind of hard to leave. Although, we will be able to go back every Sunday to do our laundry and take a day off. We’re not quite sure what we are going to be doing next week, but I think they would like to start a regular clinic here at kilometer 8. Something interesting happened yesterday, a lady came in for a tooth extraction yesterday, but she had some sort of panic disorder. We knew she was nervous, but we didn’t know it was that bad. Caleb had anesthetized her and was in the process of extracting her tooth when she started to shake uncontrollably, like she was shivering really bad. Caleb didn’t realize it at first, but when I looked over at her, I knew something wasn’t right, I thought she was having a panic attack. We called Dr. Cecilia and it turns out that the lady was having an attack. The doctor got her to focus again and to calm down. She pinched her and applied pressure with a pen to her figure to get the lady to snap out it. After she calmed down, Caleb was able to extract the tooth just fine. Today was kind of slow as far as patients go, but I still pulled quite a few teeth. I saw several patients who had very few teeth, one lady was 48 years old and only had six teeth in her whole mouth and no molars! Towards the end of the day we had no patients, so I was just chilling in the pharmacy, then Hanna came and asked me if I could do a cleaning, so I said , Yea, sure. It was an 11 year old girl with about 3 younger siblings. I started cleaning her teeth and all of the kids started asking her if it hurt, she of course said no, because it was just a cleaning. Next thing I know, I had at least six kids hanging over my shoulders watching my every swipe of the scaler on her teeth. After they figured out that it didn’t hurt, I was soon cleaning the teeth of every single one of them. Lol. They were very cute. After clinic we had to go to someone’s home because a lady had a high fever and couldn’t walk. I was curious to see what the average Peruvians’ home looked like, and I wanted to know what was wrong with this lady. Their home was a one room, with 3 children and the parents, it was very cramped. And they had their kitchen and their laundry hung up in the same room. It made me think of the little one room houses that you read about when Americans had a big push towards the west, like Little House on the Prairie. Something very exciting happened today! I got my packages for my birthday! I’m so excited, but I’m trying to wait very patiently to open them. Also, I heard Christmas music for the first time today. It made me miss home a lot and at the same time seemed out of place here because it is So Hot! And at home, it’s pretty cold by the time Christmas season rolls around. I can’t wait for Christmas!

New Home Construction!

This week has been a lot of fun! We started building on to our new home at km 8. I think we’ll be moving there next week after the clinics. We’re going to start a clinic on Sunday that will go through until Friday. Once we move to km 8, Rachel and Stephanie will be assisting a lady doctor run a daily clinic and I am going to be working at the local school teaching music and English. On Monday we went to Km 8 and cleaned out the rooms because the property there hasn’t been used since last year, so it was a little dusty to say the least. The chicos have been working hard all week to repair the bathroom, construct a shower, and build three consultorio rooms for the doctor lady. On Tuesday, poor Rachel was sick from a bad mango, so just Steph and I went to help the boys. They were building the frames for the rooms and they gave Steph and I the job of cutting the wood planks for the walls. Using a hand saw we cut over 90 pieces of wood! My arms were a little sore at the end of the day, but it felt so good to just work hard and accomplish something! For lunch that day we tried something new, it was called “Lomo”, which consists of tomatoes, onions, carne de res, and potatoes and served with rice. It was amazing! The soup we had to go along with the meal was interesting, we found out later after we were almost done eating it that the meat in the soup was horse meat. Haha. The things you eat in Peru… I tasted it, and I didn’t like it, so I didn’t eat the rest of it. I think the reason the horse meat tasted funky is because it has a lot more fat on it then other meats. Lol. By the end of the day we had completed the front walls for two of the rooms and a door, and the boys had finished clearing the tall grass and such from the property. Yesterday, Wednesday, Rachel was feeling better so we all three went to the km 8 property. The day started out slow, but we helped Lucho finish the shower and Rachel helped Daniel finish the 3rd front wall. After lunch, we had a lot more work because they bought more wood and nails, so we constructed four more doors and the two walls that go in between the three rooms. It was fun because the boys actually let us nail the boards into the frame for the wall and for the doors. The wood here is so much harder than wood at home! I don’t know what kind of tree it comes from, but even the locals sometimes have a hard time with it. Let’s just say it always took me a while to get a nail to go in straight. Today, we’re not going out there because the medicines in the pharmacy need to be inventoried for the clinic Sunday. Right now, though, we don’t have money for the meds, but it will all work out. Speaking of money, when I came to Peru at the end of August, I was short just over $1,000 for my fundraising goal. I found out this week that it has all been paid in full! Praise God that it’s all paid! My parents were going to have to come up with the difference and now I’m a couple hundred dollars over what I needed to raise.  Thank you so much! Well, until next time! I think I’m going to make Locro for supper tonight and do some cleaning. Chau!

Busy as ever...

So, we´ve changed our dental filling lessons to Campo Verde because that ís a little closer and not quite as expensive travelwise. This next week Rachel, Steph, and I are possibly moving to a new location, Km 8. There will be a Peruvian lady doctor there and we will be helping her run a daily clinic. Km 8 is a piece of property that belongs to AMOR Projects. We´ve been told that here in Peru, once a doctor finishes his/her medical schooling, then they do a year of service, which is what this doctor lady will be doing this next year. As of right now, the km 8 property doesn´t have a bathroom, shower, or a stove, and we will be hauling our water everyday because it doesn´t have running water either. lol. This should be a new adventure! :) Hopefully in the next two weeks the manual labor team will make it out there to build us a bathroom and add some more rooms to make it better for a clinic.
I´ve been really craving cheez-its this week! The majority of the food here in Peru is sweet or not spicy. I miss spicy food! Sometimes we have some, but usually on weekends when the locals aren´t here because they don´t like spicy food. Especially Elias. Elias is the youngest here, being seventeen, but he´s probably the most fun sometimes. Poor guy basically has five or six older sisters to tease him now that the SM´s have been here. lol. Well, that´s all I have for now! Please continue to pray for our team! We need God´s strength and protection daily!

Fillings!

For the next month and a half, myself and the rest of the dental team will be training with a dentist from Pucallpa! We are going to be learning how to do fillings and getting a few more pointers on dentistry in general. We went today to meet with him, and I think we understood most of what was going on, but I’m pretty sure some things were lost in translation. Lol. It’ll work out. I think we are going to be working in schools in Pucallpa, checking kids’ teeth to see if they need fillings and/or extractions, and then the dentist will teach us how to do fillings by showing us on the kids that need fillings. It should be a very interesting month and a half. We will be going to Pucallpa five days a week for 2-3 hours in the morning.
It’s definitely gotten a lot colder down here since the rainy season started. Being cold at night is a new sensation that I haven’t felt for a while, it’s kind of nice.  Jenessa and Hanna went to Lima today to get Hanna’s passport, yay! They’re traveling with an SM from Southern who is working in Lima and just came down over the holiday to visit us. Hopefully everything goes smoothly for Hanna! Please continue to keep us in your prayers!