Right now the sky is white and there's a breeze over the rooftops.
Yo necessito los lentes de sol.
I've kissed a lot of cheeks. The custom here is for all the girls to be kissed and kiss everyone whenever you say hello or goodbye. The men shake hands. I guess there's a bit of a catch 22 in this, but I don't mind it at all. Angelita, the pastor's wife loves it when we call her mami. They are a really fun couple, with 3 kids, one who just left for university for a year. Culturally, this is a really big thing for a kid to move out, tons of the middle aged men we've met still live at home with their mothers, sometimes even if they are married. Parents have a hard time letting go here, there are a lot of mothers who still make sandwiches and do everything for their kids, no matter how old they are.
Another Peruvian culture fact we definatly haven't seen the last of yet: people don't ever leave.
On saturday the church had a breakfast, and some of the people that came at 9 in the morning stayed until 10 at night. No big deal.
Today was our first church service. More kisses.
Each week one of us will be sharing our testimony. Sarah spoke this morning and Lidia is writing down translations so we can read it out in spanish. I hope the people will appreciate our efforts, even if we butcher the language. I'm going next week and I'll be nervous, but I'm also excited because no one really knows much about us yet.
I really wish I could speak spanish. It takes so much brain energy to always have to strain to understand, especially in devotions and sermons where I can only pick up the pieces of a few words and phrases I know. I wish I could have more than simple conversations with the people here, but I know it will take some time. We still laugh a lot. I get along really well with this one girl named Marina.. she always makes me laugh.
I've been drinking a lot of Yerba Mate.
Otto and Lidia funk are so Paraguayan, and I find it really comforting. They've had us over to their house a few times, which is just down the street. They baked us bread. I really like them. We went over and played wii a few days ago and Lidia made donuts. The way Otto talks is just like Levi Giesbrecht, with a lot of the same humor.
There goes the doorbell. It rings at least 10 times a day. So far I'm okay with that.
What else can I tell you so far...?
Oh ya, the big meal of the day is almuerzo (lunch). Breakfast and dinner are usually pretty small, usually just fruit or a sandwich. I'm okay with that too, tho it's such a huge transistion from Trek training when every meal was made for us, and always amazing. We're always cooking for ourselves here, and the fruit from the market is soo good. Guanabana and cactus fruit are our recent favourites.
I can see a river of blue sky now, which is my cue to leave you.
One last bit of insight:
On tuesday we're getting a baby monkey. Party on.
Yo necessito los lentes de sol.
I've kissed a lot of cheeks. The custom here is for all the girls to be kissed and kiss everyone whenever you say hello or goodbye. The men shake hands. I guess there's a bit of a catch 22 in this, but I don't mind it at all. Angelita, the pastor's wife loves it when we call her mami. They are a really fun couple, with 3 kids, one who just left for university for a year. Culturally, this is a really big thing for a kid to move out, tons of the middle aged men we've met still live at home with their mothers, sometimes even if they are married. Parents have a hard time letting go here, there are a lot of mothers who still make sandwiches and do everything for their kids, no matter how old they are.
Another Peruvian culture fact we definatly haven't seen the last of yet: people don't ever leave.
On saturday the church had a breakfast, and some of the people that came at 9 in the morning stayed until 10 at night. No big deal.
Today was our first church service. More kisses.
Each week one of us will be sharing our testimony. Sarah spoke this morning and Lidia is writing down translations so we can read it out in spanish. I hope the people will appreciate our efforts, even if we butcher the language. I'm going next week and I'll be nervous, but I'm also excited because no one really knows much about us yet.
I really wish I could speak spanish. It takes so much brain energy to always have to strain to understand, especially in devotions and sermons where I can only pick up the pieces of a few words and phrases I know. I wish I could have more than simple conversations with the people here, but I know it will take some time. We still laugh a lot. I get along really well with this one girl named Marina.. she always makes me laugh.
I've been drinking a lot of Yerba Mate.
Otto and Lidia funk are so Paraguayan, and I find it really comforting. They've had us over to their house a few times, which is just down the street. They baked us bread. I really like them. We went over and played wii a few days ago and Lidia made donuts. The way Otto talks is just like Levi Giesbrecht, with a lot of the same humor.
There goes the doorbell. It rings at least 10 times a day. So far I'm okay with that.
What else can I tell you so far...?
Oh ya, the big meal of the day is almuerzo (lunch). Breakfast and dinner are usually pretty small, usually just fruit or a sandwich. I'm okay with that too, tho it's such a huge transistion from Trek training when every meal was made for us, and always amazing. We're always cooking for ourselves here, and the fruit from the market is soo good. Guanabana and cactus fruit are our recent favourites.
I can see a river of blue sky now, which is my cue to leave you.
One last bit of insight:
On tuesday we're getting a baby monkey. Party on.
2 comments:
Breanne, I miss you writing on my blog....but I'm enjoying reading yours.
Ooo Yerba Mate. That is awesome! How're you liking that???
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