Halloween and top ten "only in Peru" moments!

Hello everyone!!
It has been pretty calm around here the past couple of weeks- the kids went back to school after a week of vacation and let me tell you- it is very quiet around here once again! :) All of the kids are over the sickness that swept through- so that is a huge answer to prayers! Other than that I have just been living life here- pulling lice out of all the girls hair (don't ask, it isn't pretty!), doing crafts with the girls, and just generally loving the kids!
For halloween Emily and I were invited to a party in the Tesoro's Casista- It is one of the casistas for boys and the only casista I had not spent time in. So I am so glad that I got to get to know all of them better. We played Jenga, Sorry!, Jr. Scrabble (for a about a minute when we discovered that none of us (adults included) could spell) and Uno. We also ate pizza and laughed- alot.

This is a picture of us playing the game, Sorry!. The kids all thought it was great because you can send other players back to start and you get to yell Lo Siento!! (sorry in Spanish) From the left is Jesus, Kevin Arnold, Hugo (he works here and is married to Sarita, a madre), Josue and Emily

This is Kevin Arnold showing you how you can use the game box as a hat- He is an adorable boy and loves to hug people! He just arrived her in July.

And this is us playing Jenga (I don't know how to spell it). Everyone thought it was funny to watch me during this game because I would get so stressed out and nervous that I was going to make it fall!! That is Jesus in front, and then Sarita and Hugo, Josue, and Kevin.

I love spending time with the kids and seeing them laugh and have fun. We seriously have the cutest kids down here!! (well aside from my nephew, of course!)

I have now been down here 9 1/2 weeks and there are so many things that are different, interesting, or just plain funny! :) When Emily or I see something that is particulary funny or unusual we will just look at each other and say "only in Peru, Only in Peru". We have compiled a top ten list of our only Peru moments. These things probably do happen in other countries but for Emily and I they are now synonymous with our time in Peru. OKay, here it is, our top ten list, in no particular order (drum roll please). .........

10. Here they have many modes of transportation- one of the funniest is called a collectivo. It is an older model chevvy sedan that is used sort of like a taxi. In downtown Trujillo they have a street where all the collectivo's wait for passengers. Each car is going to a different suburb of Trujillo. Normally, they wait until there are 4 people in the back seat and at least 3 in the front before departing. You can also flag one down on the street outside the orphanage and get in. My first time riding in a collectivo, I was with Nancy, a wife of one of the workers here, and her two little girls. We were going into Trujillo for something and she didn't want to wait for a Micro so she flagged down this car. I was standing there thinking- does she know these people? What is she doing? When the car stopped I started to say- well there is not enough room for both of us plus your children, so lets just wait for a micro- but Nancy just said no, no, just get in. What was I thinking! Of course a backseat that already has 3 adults and a huge kite that someone had could fit 2 more adults and 2 children. Nancy sat on the very edge of the seat, everyone else pretty much sat on each other, and I was sideways next to the door. (don't worry I made sure the door was locked). Both Nancy and I had a child on our lap and there were 3 more people in the front and maybe a couple more kids. I remember sitting there thinking- "is this happening?" and trying really hard not to bust up laughing- of course, technically I couldn't laugh because that would require some movement, and that was not an option!! Definitley only in Peru a car that seats 5 can easily hold 8 adults and 3 children. :)

9. Only in Peru can the words- it is a part of a cow - strike fear into my heart. One day for lunch the cooks made, what else-rice, but with something that Emily and I had never seen before. It was black and kind of looked like a mushroom. Emily asked Filomena, the cook, what it was and she smiled and said "dulce" which means sweet. So Emily thought- something sweet, I can do that! When we sat at the table I took one wiff of it and tried to fight back a gag- it smelled foul! Emily asked one of the other workers what it was and she just smiled. Emily said "is it a vegetable?" and the other woman shook her head. Emily asked "is it meat?" and the other woman said "it is a part of a cow". By then I was having trouble holding back my gags and Emily couldn't look at me without laughing. I looked at emily and said "Umm, I need to use the telephone" and ran upstairs to my safe room with my plate. Meanwhile, downstairs, after Emily had eaten a few bites, she finally found out what it was- a cow's stomach. The lining of a cow's stomach. So now when I don't like the food and I see no escape, I just look at Emily and say "I need to use the telephone."

8. Only in Peru can you have chicken soup for breakfast. Emily and I went with one of the Madre's, Rocio, to visit her family's house a few weeks ago. The next morning before returning to the Albergue, we went by her family's booth in a nearby market for breakfast. It was probably 8:30 in the morning and they asked what we wanted to eat- we were both thinking tea or coffee and maybe some bread. But our options turned out to be chicken soup, cebeche, rice and chicken or pasta with chicken. Emily went with the cebeche (which is raw fish marinated in lime and lemon juice- yes, I know she is crazy, but it is a favorite dish around here), Rocio had the chicken soup and I thought- I'll play it safe and get the pasta. You can't go wrong with pasta, right? Ummm, wrong. I took one bite and my mouth was on fire! Apparently the sauce had a lot of Aji in it- which is the spiciest stuff you can get. As soon as I took the bite my eyes started running and my lips swelled up. Turns out that I can't handle the aji.

7. Only in peru do you get sick from drinking cold water. (or say they say) Since being here Emily and I have both had a few bugs- we have had the sniffles, the sneezes and coughs. We are both fine now, but when we were sneezing, we were told soooo many times by everyone here that it is because we drink cold water. They said since we like our drinks cold, that infects the throat and makes you sick. This is a nation-wide belief. We were told by nurses, mothers, social workers and kids that we should never drink cold drinks. Furthermore, if you are sick you should not take showers- having water around your face or throat makes you much sicker. Also, when you are having trouble with your stomach or having bathroom issues, you should only drink warm water and occasionally tea- no juice, no soda, and especially no cold drinks!!

6. Only in Peru do I rate the food by how many gags I have. For example, yesterday was only a 1/2 gag day- so it was a really good meal, but there have been meals with as many as 7 gags- that might have been the stomach day. :)

5. I know I have talked about taking the micro before- but just for a recap- they are these buses that each have different routes and go around picking up people. You just have stick your hand out and wave and the bus stops (or sometimes pauses) and you get on. One day Emily and I were in downtown Trujillo and were wanting to go back the Albergue. It was around lunch time and the micros were a little bit overcrowded. When we got on all the seats were taken but there was plenty of standing room- at first. The micro kept letting more and more people on. They never refused a person even though we were standing so close. Emily was farther back on the bus and she eventually got a seat but I was at the very front. I had positioned myself so that I was in a corner by the window- but I was surrounded by people- I had nothing valuable so don't worry about pick-pocketing- but lets just say that there is no such thing as personal space here. I was completely against the window and had 3 people pressed against me from 3 sides. I didn't know them but after that ride i felt like we should be friends or something. Only in peru would they have no capacity number and transport people like animals.

4. Only in Peru would you spend a friday night picking lice out of little girls hair. At the orphanage, there is a little problem with lice- okay so it is a huge problem and all of the girls have it. It is so hard to get rid of because there are 20 girls and if one of them has it, they all do. The teachers at the school decided that they were going to crack down on it so they said- you have 2 days to get rid of all the lice or the kids can't come to school anymore. So Emily and I have now spent hours upon hours sitting with heads in our lap picking out lice. I would be okay with never seeing one again in my life! The girls would all be picking out of each other's head and there would be 3 or 4 of them all at different levels in a train looking through hair. We haven't gotten rid of the problem because the madre's don't feel it is necessary to wash the brushes and sheets after you pick it out of the hair- but i pray that someday before I leave we will be living lice free!

3. Only in Peru would a girl with green eyes and a girl with blonde hair cause a commotion. So I have dark, dark hair and green eyes- not very unusual or exciting, but here in Peru I am amazing to other people. Because everyone here has dark hair with dark eyes. I have been told about a million times that my eyes are pretty by people on the street, waitresses, every worker at the albergue and even the nurse when i was in the hospital. Emily has long blonde hair and is tall- both of which are very unusual here- people stop her on the street, yell "hello" at her all the time and generally are amazed. So the two of us together cause quite a scene- we have gotten really good at ignoring stares and whispers. Don't worry, it is not dangerous and the people just like to stare but it kind of makes you feel like a rock star! :)

2. Only in Peru is a twin size bed more then big enough for 2 adults. I have spent the night in the casistas a number of times now with the kids and the madres. It is always fun until we get to the part when it is time to go to sleep. The first time I was so confused because the madre said that two of the older kids could sleep in the room with us. They just pulled in one extra twin size mattress- I was thinking ' you just have a twin size bed, and so now there are only enough spaces for two people' - but no, the two girls layed down on one bed and she told me that we would sharing her bed. You can't move without waking up the other person and you have to both sleep sideways or hang off the bed. When Emily and i went to Rocio's house to spend the night a few weeks ago it was the same story- Emily and I shared one twin size bed, Rocio and her sister shared another and then 1 person slept on a couch cushion on the floor! Sometimes you can fit two adults and a child onto one bed. Needless to say, I always prepare myself before going to one of these sleepovers and come to terms with the fact that there won't be much sleeping going on. When we have slumber parties with the girls they always think that they should be allowed to sleep with us- For the slumber parties,Emily and I share a full size bed, so to them, we could fit all 4 kids plus us with no problem!!

1. Only in Peru would you get hugged by 40 kids everyday and get to see God at work in everyone's life around you. It really is amazing here to watch God work in the kids and the workers lives. I know that my heart is changing and I am maturing and growing. It is such an honor to be part of this ministry and to live my life with them. I love walking into the cafeteria and hearing 40 little voices say "Tia Janie! Tia Janie!". Those are the times I am reminded why I am here. I miss my family and friends like crazy and would love to have a hamburger and french fries, but when I see the kids smile and they come running to give me a hug, it is all worth it!