Not an Author

I'm pretty sure I need to scratch the idea of writing a book because some days I can't even think of a decent blog entry. I mean it's not that I don't have the material for a good entry I just can't seem to put all of it into an interesting format.

I guess I'll start with what I know. I've been teaching my advanced English class every Sunday, Monday, and Wednesday. By "advanced" I mean conversational. I'm not so good with the English grammar; therefore, we've been doing quite the opposite-- learning Southern slang. I like to hear "ya'll" and "ain't" come out of my students' mouths. I know you won't hear that from your average English teacher, but I've never claimed to be average.

We have been reading the "Southern Journal" articles from the last page of Southern Living magazines. The students seem to really be enjoying the classes. I decided that since most of the missionary volunteers that come to Peru are from the South it is important for our translators, a.k.a. my students, to be aware of Southern culture and idioms.

We are doing this because I decided I needed to regroup on my Bible Storying lessons. I was having trouble helping my students understand the need for Storying. They were doing a great job memorizing the stories for themselves, but I'm not sure I was expressing the importance of learning this as a method of sharing the gospel with others. So, this week I found several articles online from the IMB which explain the reasons and methods of Bible Storying. Next week we will begin again. I hope that as a teacher I am able to help them understand the concept.

On to other news. . .

Yesterday, Sandi and I were able to go with one of our students, Mijail, to his church. We went there because he is teaching English to a small group. He came up with the idea of teaching English in order to encourage people to come to his church. He invited us to come because he wanted them to be able to hear "real live English speakers" first hand. The whole trip was quite the adventure and we had a great time! Mijail came from his home to get us at our office at 4:30 p.m. We rode with him by bus back to his home/church. The trip took an hour and 15 minutes. We taught for about an hour and a half maybe. I can't really remember because the time flew by. We had so much fun. The group consisted of Mijail's brother, Father, and 3 other students. They all had great attitudes and came prepared with the questions they had been learning. We left and went with him to catch a bus back to our home after class. We stood on the street for quite a while waiting for the right bus, but it never came. So after about 20 minutes, at least, we decided we would have to take 2 different buses. Mijail rode with us on the first bus in order to help us catch the second one. Again, the bus we needed never came, but we found an alternate that actually took us very close to our neighborhood. I know you probably think it is crazy that I have lived in Lima for so long and can't even catch a bus by myself, but just come here and you will understand. On any given day the drivers don't even know which route they will be taking! So, we finally arrived home about 9:45 p.m. I'm so glad I was able to go! It was such a great experience to be able to go with a student to his neighborhood and to also see him teaching others what he has learned from us.

A sign at Mijail's church. It says, "The Bible: light for our district"

Mijail's father (his name is Pastor, but he's not a pastor, he's actually a communist!), Sandi, Priscila, Mijail's brother(sorry I forgot his name), Roger, and Mijail

Our second bus on the way home. The most comfortable, and by far the most empty. The others had been standing room only and no cushioned seats.

The rest of the pictures are from today:

I ran into the Extreme Team in town (a rare ocassion). They were passing through and they HAD to enjoy a good meal at Chili's. I enjoyed sitting and getting to know the girls.

The guys also enjoying a break from rice and sugar (the meal they have eaten everyday for a month!)

Thanks for suffering through the post.

I love ya'll!

Llama Tails

I went to the Lima Zoo yesterday with a friend and his brother who is in Peru visiting. When I was invited my first question was "will there be llamas?" for you see I've missed these creatures something aweful. My buddy says, "I don't know we'll just have to see". So, as we are entering the gate my first question to the lady taking tickets was "Where are the llamas?". Well they were in the Sierra section of the zoo, of course. I was thoroughly excited when I saw a small field filled with llamas and alpacas and a few other breeds of similar animals. As we were passing by LJ, my friend, asks me, "Do you know how to tell the difference between a llama and an alpaca?". I reply with, well, the natives have tried to explain it to me, but I think they are just making it up. I mean some of them tell me that llamas are the big ones and some tell me that alpacas are the big ones. Some tell me one has more hair than the other (what about when you shave them.. how do you tell?) LJ, though, tells me that it's all in the tail. He says that "they" (the natives) told him Alpacas' tails are always up and Llamas' tails are always down! Now, go figure! Well, we are clearly not experts, but I sure did have a great time seeing my animal friends again. I've missed them since I had to leave the mountains. Too, I thought it was only fair that I dedicate a little blog space to my furry friends since, afterall, they were the inspiration for the blog title!

p.s. keep reading (below) to find out what else i did yesterday

Sellin' Shoes and Studyin' the Word

This week I've had the awesome opportunity to hang out with some new friends at their place of business. I introduced my friend Tania to ya'll in the last blog entry. She is one of the students that comes to our English classes during the week. When I met her a few weeks ago I was really touched by her sweet spirit. I felt the Lord telling me that she would be a good person to invest my life into. So, last week I asked for her email address and asked if we could hang out sometime. She quickly agreed that that would be a great idea and so began a new friendship. I am very thankful that she invited me to spend time with her at the shoe store that she and her mom run. It is one thing to meet my friends at a restuarant or some other mutual meeting place, but it is something entirely different to spend time with them in their homes or, in this case, business. Thankfully, Tania lives and works within a short commute of my house. (This is usually not the case with our students. Many times they travel an hour or two on a bus to be able to attend our classes.)

So, I say all that to say... on Monday and Tuesday, I went with Tania to her store. I met her mom and friend, Noemi. Noemi works across the isle in another shoe store and also lives in the same building as Tania and her mom. On Monday we worked on Tania's English, ate lunch together, and the four of us studied the Bible. Tuesday I had less time to spend with them, but I was still able to eat and read a passage of scripture with Noemi. Noemi actually brought her Bible in anticipation of me coming to read with her! Not to mention, Tania sold a pair of shoes! For me that was one of the most exciting things about being with the girls. Peruvians work so hard to acquire a business. They spend all of their waking minutes working at that place and yet many times the economy just doesn't cooperate with their need to earn money. So, I was thrilled to be present when she sold a pair of 120 sole (about $40) shoes.

I will be going with the girls to Noemi's church on Sunday. She attends an evangelical church. Tania is not a member of a church, but we invited her to go with us on Sunday.

Tania and her mom working

Left to Right: Noemi, Me, Tania eating lunch in the store

Tania going upstairs to get shoes (the store is so small they don't have a back room to store things in, but instead store everything in the ceiling)

This is the neighboring store owner's child. Notice the blue string that keeps her from rolling too far!

Please pray for these relationships. Pray that we will have time each day I go to study the Bible and talk more about what it really means to follow Christ.

Valentine's Party con los estudiantes

C-love, your wish is my command. Blog entry number 2 in the same weekend!

Last night we had our monthly English Fellowship Party. We always have about a bijillion more people come to parties than come to class. Okay so maybe only 50, but 50 is a lot! I asked them why everybody comes to the parties and not to class and they (the students) quickly told me that it's because Peruvians love a party! Well, that makes sense. I guess everybody would rather eat and make Valentine's cards than study.

Anyways, we did have probably about 50 students come. We talked to them some about what we do for Valentine's in the U.S. Susie wanted someone to tell a story about a good Valentine gift they had received and after plenty of awkward silence I spoke up and told them how Chris wooed me last Valentine's day. I really wish I had brought his card with me to the party since we were making Valentine's cards, but I just told them about it instead. Telling them that story served two purposes. Killing the awkward silence AND making sure all the guys knew I was taken. We made it very clear that the cards they made could not be given to Sandi or I. One pretty persistent guy wanted to know why he couldn't give me his card. I told him, "I already have a Valentine". First, I had to explain the whole idea of what a Valentine is as a person and then I happily explained who mine is!

This is the card that Chris made and sent to me last year for Valentine's Day. The rest is history!

My new friend, Tania. She was allowed to make me a Valentine card.

This is the card that Tania made for me. How sweet!

My table making their cards. I'm not quite sure what kind of pose I'm striking!

Some of the students. These guys were too cool to make cards.

Sandi and I actually went recruiting (for more advanced English students) on Thursday at one of the local English Institutes and the four guys above are some of the students we talked to.

This is one that I thought was really good! I told Javier that he is an artist. He was really humble about his creation.

A few of our students waiting patiently in the food line.

Well, I guess that's it. I had another really fun English class tonight and I forgot to take a picture of them again! But three of the people in the above picture are in my class. Hope this pleases some of you blog stalker types or just interested boyfriend types.

Doin' What They Do and King Cake

I know it is now Saturday and I said last Friday that I would be doing a better job of keeping up with my blog. I mean, really, who wants to know more frequently than every week what I'm doing? But anyways, here is the next post whether some think it is late or others believe it to be right on time.

I really wanted to wait until I had a picture of my English class before I posted again, but I keep forgetting to take their picture. I guess I need to pencil that into my lesson plans. Even without a picture I can tell you that my class is going GREAT! I love my students and they tell me I'm a good teacher. Of course, they could be lying, but we have a great time anyways!

Even though I didn't get pictures of my class, I did manage to take several pictures of Peruvians at work this week. I was actually killing some time at a local park and started taking pictures of what people were doing around me. As I was leaving I walked about two blocks to my destination and realized that there were so many people working. I don't think I've ever really noticed how many people are working in the length of two blocks. There are the construction workers who whistle at me on a daily basis (maybe that's why I don't notice them, I have chosen to ignore them). But there are others, like the lady who works at a little corner fruit stand, men washing cars, guard for apartment buildings, and of course taxi drivers. So, I started taking pictures of these things just so I can remember the "normal" people of Peru. Then, I went to the Inca Market (the souvenir place) yesterday and saw a few of the vendors working on their goods. So, I asked some ladies if I could take their picture. Maybe it's me thinking ahead to the fact that I will be leaving soon and I just wanted pictures of the people or maybe it was sheer boredom. Either way, I hope ya'll enjoy some of the many jobs of Peru.
These guys were taking a break (it was siesta time). I think they are the park maintainace men.

This is an Ice Cream cart. They are on almost every block in Lima. They have a funny little whistle they blow to let you know that Ice Cream is close by.

This is a typical fruit cart that you find on lots of corners in Peru. You also see these carts filled with candy, cookies, and other junk food.

A man washing a car. Some apartment guards wash the cars of their tenants and sometimes random people just offer their car washing services. Either way you can get a very thorough car wash for about 15 soles ($5).

Construction worker. He appeared to be digging up the sidewalk and putting it in that dump truck. Not sure why.

This was one of the ladies in the market. She was working on her painting. I really wanted a candid, but when I asked to take her picture she posed (she was pretty shy about it too).

This lady is carving a gord. These things require sooo much time and talent. There are tiny little pictures carved all over. They are one of the more expensive things in the market because of the amount of time it requires to make them. This is one of the few things you can't talk them down on in price.

Another "normal" thing in Peru that I do not think will ever seem normal to me is the fact that people drink all drinks warm -- even soda drinks. I know this is not a shocker to all you people living overseas. I've read on many of your blogs that the locals in your country do the same thing. Maybe it's us Americans that are so different, heck, maybe all that ice does make us sick... who knows!! Anyways, I was in Burger King with some friends and there was a lady sitting next to us with two children. I looked over and noticed that she was pouring a steaming hot cup of water into the girl's Pepsi. I said, "Man, I wish I had a picture of that." Well, as I'm saying that she is telling the girl to go get a refill of hot water so that she can pour it into their other two drinks. So, as the girl goes for the refill I get my camera ready. After about 3 failed attempts I got a pretty good picture of the actual pouring action -- steamy hot water from a styrofoam cup into the Pepsi. Ah, Peru!
And lastly our King Cake Party. The Austins (http://hands-n-feet.blogspot.com/) are a good ole Louisianna family and they enjoy lots of the traditions that go with that state. (Including that purple and gold team so hated on my beloved Ole Miss campus) So, when Susie's friend, Kim, came all the way from Baton Rouge this past weekend with a King Cake mix in hand there was no doubt that they would be eating it on the day of Mardi Gras. They graciously invited over several of us single types (that never have food, much less cake in our homes) and it turned into a regular Austin Party. So here are a few photos from the night of Mardi Gras. It wasn't quite what you think of when you think "French Quater" and "Bourbon Street", but we did have beads!

Susie found the baby!!!

Highlights of the Week

I have decided to become a better blogger. We will see how long this particular "kick" lasts, but hopefully for my readers' sakes it will last until I leave Peru at the end of May.

I want to start by giving credit to my wonderful boyfriend for redesigning my blog. Aren't ya'll impressed with his handy work? He was making changes to his blog on Wednesday and I got a little jealous and asked him to make mine look "prettier". And of course I had to work on the title, I'm mean how could it still be "Jungle Bound" when I left the jungle nearly 9 months ago now? So, we talked on skype and worked on the new look. He actually was able to put one of the photographs (the llamas) that I took up in the mountains and make it into the header thing. I'm just so impressed. He also added that little international counter thing to the bottom. So ya'll tell all your international friends to come and visit so they can be counted! If you want to tell Chris how well he did you can click on his link to the right and leave him a comment on his blog.

Chris--just in case ya'll forgot how cute he is (or maybe you never knew)

Now, on to the highlights of the week. Wednesday night I went to ESL class with my roommate. (My class will begin on Sunday night.) They have a rule in class that no one can use a Spanish word to explain something unless the teacher asks for the Spanish word. If the person does use a Spanish word they have to wear "Regina" until someone else slips up and uses Spanish.

The following is "Regina": The girl is not Regina, the hat is. This is Kristen (one of my roommates) wearing the hat after Solomon (a good friend and one of our translators) tricked her into speaking Spanish. Daniel, a student, asked me if I had a camera so that I could take her picture. So, I did, but ironically the very next person to speak Spanish was Daniel. He wasn't quite as excited about me having my camera with me then!

Daniel

After class several of us went to McDonalds so that we could eat french fries with ice cream. Solomon LOVES ice cream and several of our summer missionaries from last year had told him how good french fries and ice cream are together (you dip the fries into the ice cream-- usually done with frosties at Wendy's, but we had to improvise). So, we promised him that when we returned from Chile we would go get some french fries and ice cream.

Here we are. . .

Annibal y Solomon (two of our ESL students)

And last but not least, today my roommates and I had a day out with the girls. A couple of girls from Delaware are helping an ISC couple here with their English ministry and the girls will be leaving on Sunday. So, they invited us to go hang out at a local pool and then have a homemade supper afterwards. It was so much fun to hang out with them and hear about how the Lord has led them thus far in their lives. We just sat around sharing testimonies and listening to one another. And of course there was talk of boys and love-- I mean what girls' outing is complete without that?

This would be me going down the slide at the kiddy pool, yes i said kiddy pool

Judy fixed us an amazing meal when we returned from the swimming pool. We had roast with potatoes and carrots, an amazing salad with Bacos and Ranch dressing all the way from the states, and an apple pie a la mode that was out of this world! Oh, and dare I forget the sweet tea?!

I was pretty excited about the ranch dressing!

But before digging into all of that I decided that it was time for my braids to come down. All the girls helped me get them down and the reverse process was 3 hours less than the ordeal 2 weeks ago.

The girls patiently taking down my hair

Enjoy the crimped look all over again (is anyone besides me having flashbacks to the 80s?):

Ya'll leave me some comments and let me know what you think about the all new "Llama Tales".
I love ya'll!

p.s. I washed my hair and it's back to normal... just in case ya'll were worried. :)