¡Te Amo Peru! (I love you, Peru!)

It's been a great week here in Lima! The highlight was the Peru vs. Chili soccer game that we went to on Wednesday night...it was awesome! My entire servant team (Monica, Jill, Aaron, and Mark), Craig and Brian (two staff), Craig's roommate and Alexis (one of the youth from the drop-in center) all went. It was crazy! The sea of people dressed in red and white (Peru's colors...which was funny to see, being from Husker land and all) started several blocks before the stadium. Police had streets blocked off, so we had to walk around quite a bit to actually get into the correct line. The lines to get in various gates would all around the stadium, into side streets, etc. Our line even ran from the stadium, over and overpass, and then back over the overpass again back to the stadium. All along there were vendors selling Peru stuff: shirts, bandanas, flags, hats, wigs...I settled for a bandana, but Aaron took full advantage of the attire. By the end of the evening he was sporting a jersey, flag cape, scarf, and the crowning piece: a giant red and white soccer ball hat...no worries about losing track of Aaron in a crowd!

At two points in the night I could understand how people could get trampled to death at a soccer game (don't worry mom, we weren't close to dying) but I could see how, if the crowd was especially unfriendly, it could get out of control. Once, on the way in, a bunch of people rushed out line, trying to cut in. We grabbed on to each other's shoulders and pushed ourselved against the fence in order to stay strong. Another time, on the way out, the crowd was so tight, I think I could've lifted my feet up and simply have been carried along...crazy!

The game itself was fabulous! Peru won 2-1, which is awesome because Chili has a great team. One of their best players got a red card early in the game, so that probably helped a bit. We were three rows from the field right by the north goal Both of the goals that Peru scored were in that goal, so we could see all the action close up. I'm not generally a soccer fan, but if I could always be at a live game like that, I definately would be! The atheltic ability of soccer players, especially their footwark, is amazing!

After the game we walked home because getting a bus or taxi would've been impossible. Their was exciement and energy in teh air the whole way. People were honking, shouting from windows, the whole city was excited about the win. Attending a big soccer game should be on the list of " things I have to do" when visitng a South American country...I highly recommend it!

The other big news of the week is that Melanie finally walked today! I don't know if I've told you about Melanie before. She is the 1+ year old daughter of a guy and girl that regularly come to Casa Job. She is one of the cutest kids I have ever seen (not counting my nieces and nephews, of course). We've been coaxing her to walk for quite some time and today she finally did it! The look on her mom's face was priceless! I think that Melanie has been holding out on us though, practicing when we're not watching or something because she walked a lot of times and always seemed pretty confident about it. It was so cool to be a part of such a special moment. Working with Word Made Flesh is so great in the way that I really feel like I am friends with the kids...not just a person that is here to do my good deed and go home. Hard to explain, but just know that they do ministry in a really great way here.

Other notable events of the week: Yesteday we had a girls day at Maria's house. Maria and her husband work for Mustard Seed, another organization that works with street kids in Lima. Word Made Flesh teams up with them on several things, like going out to the street on Tuesday and Friday nights. Five of the street girls came. First, the girls made lunch for everyone, which was really neat...and very tasty! None of them have homes with kitchens, so it's a real treat for them to be able to prepare an actual meal. Living with Carmen and not having my own kitchen has made me realize how crummy that would be, to never to able to cook in a nice kitchen. After lunch, Monica, Jill, and I entertained the kids while the girls had a devotional. There were 6 kids there, ranging in age from 6 months to 2 1/2 years, so we had our hands full!

After the devotional, we gave the girls pedicures. At first they were a little timid to let us to that, but they really got into it and had a great time. Everyone left with pretty pink toes and smiles on their faces from a fun afternoon. That motivated Monica, Jill, and I to have a little girl time of our own last night...my feet have taken quite a beating from being here (dirty street and sandals, because I'm too lazy to wear socks because then I'll have to wash them), so they needed a little TLC.

It was great to spend the afternoon with just the girls. At Casa Job, it seems like the girls are alsways a bit more reserved, partly, I think because the boys are kind of loud and rowdy, so they feel like they need to be a little more "on guard" I think. Also, Casa Job isn't exactly the most baby-friendly place, so it's great to be around the girls when they are relaxed, not having to worry about what their kids might be getting into, not having to worry about getting all their laundry done, showers taken, babies bathed, etc, all during the free period. They could just be themselves.

Well, that about sums up Lima life for this week. It's beginning to set in that in a little over three weeks I'll be home. That thought makes me excited and sad, all at the same time. Who knows what the future holds, but I do know that I am excited to see and talk with you all soon! As always, thanks for the prayers and emails...they are fabulous! Adios amigos!

¡Cumpleanos Feliz! (Happy Birthday!)

So, why am I sitting at the computer at midnight, updating my blog? Because I currently have egg drying on my head and need to take a shower, but, gotta love Peru, it takes about 45 minutes for the hot water to warm up, so since I have to be awake anyway, I thought I'd recap the last few days.

Now why do I have egg on my head, your wondering? Well, today was my birthday, and in Peru, it is tradition to smash an egg on the head of the lucky person celebrating a birthday. Wierd, yes, but think about birthday spankings...every country has it's weird birthday traditions, I guess. I thought I was going to escape the day without getting egged, but as we were leaving the guys' apartment at 10:30pm, Jill got me...she seemed to enjoy smashing that egg...I wonder if I should be concerned about that :)

I must say that my 27th year is off to a good start. Yesterday, Casa Job got over about an hour early, so a group of us decided to walk to the park that overlooks the ocean on Salavary Street. It was a perfect day to lay on a blanket, read a good book, play MASH (do you all remember playing MASH in elementary school?), chat, listen to the ocean, and watch the sunset. Seriously, I could go to the ocean every day.

Today, after getting some much needed laundry out of the way (Mom, you'd be proud of how clean my clothes are here!), my roomies made me breakfast...French Toast...yummy! The festivities officially started at 1:30pm. We visited the Inca Market, a tourist trap for neat Peruvian stuff. Shopping there is a little stressful because they call at you to come in their store and try to show you everything once you get in. I just want to say to them, "Leave me alone! You don't know what color my house is or what kind of things my friends like!" but, of course, I didn't. Instead, I just play the tourist part and ignore them.

Next stop on the adventure was the Parque de Amor (The Park of Love). We went there because we've all been dying to see the main attraction there...a giant...and I do mean giant....statue of two people kissing. And not just a peck on the cheek...laying on their sides, kissing (fully clothed, but still weird). We've seen it on postcards and joked that we had to see it in person. The funniest thing about the park (which also contains some awesome mosaic artwork) is that all around the statue are people actually kissing. They come to the park especially to stand around and make-out! That's one thing about Latin culture...they definately believe in public displays of affection!

There is a park nearby that overlooks the ocean. There we played Ultimate Frisbee (I was so excited!) and watched the sun set over the ocean...beautiful! Then we enjoyed dinner at a great sandwich shop, where I had the best chocolate cake I've had in this country. To top off a great day, we played Nerts at the boys' apartment. Nerts is the one card game I am consistenly good at, so that was fun.

Upon leaving, I got the egg smashed on my head, so that rounded out the day. I highly recommend a birthday abroad if you get the chance. I guarantee I won't forget my 27th! Today reminded me of what a great group community I have developed here in Peru and what a blessing it is to be part of a community of people who really love and care for you....life is meant to be lived and celebrated with people. It also reminded me of how much I love all of you back home and look forward to celebrating life with you when I return.

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas...

No, it's not snowing here but, just like in the states, as soon as Halloween was over, Christmas decorations starated to appear. Metro (the grocery store near our house) has a growing display of crafty decorations. Two things are funny about that to me: first, some of the decorations have English words like "Merry Christmas" or "Seasons Greetings" on them, which is odd to me since most of the people here wouldn't be able to read them. Second, lots of the deocations have snowmen or some other snow related thing on them, which, again strikes me as odd because lots of people here have never seen snow (a thought which boggles my mind as well, especially when I think about the feet of snow I shoveled off my driveway last winter).

So, what's been going on in my life lately that has kept me busy enough to not write in almost two weeks? Not much different than usual. I've just turned into a computer slacker the last few weeks. But, no fears, I'm going to catch up a bit tonight.

The hard thing about writing, sometimes, is that after being here for almost 13 weeks, there aren't a lot of new things happening anymore. We still go to Casa Job on Monday, Wednesday, Friday. Still have Spanish tutoring on Tuesday and Thursday. Still have meetings, go to the street, etc, as usual. Being in ministry, being a "missionary" could definately start to feel like any other job if people lost focus on why they are doing what they are doing.

You're probably wondering just what I've been up to lately. Well, last week I spent quite a bit of time painting that new apartment of Mia and Jennifer (two of the women on staff here). I was the official edger, and, if I must say so myself, I did a darn good job of it. They picked some crazy colors: dark purple, bright orange, and neon green, just to name a few. It was a good time, and the apartment looks great!

We've also had some funny moments as the "Casa de Carmen" this past week (Carmen is the older woman we live with, so that's what we fondly call her house). Last night, Jill and I were getting ready for bed when she called me into the bathroom too look at the teeny tiny plant that was growing behind the cold water knob of the bathroom sink...yes, a real, live plant growing in the bathroom...nice.

Speaking of knobs, last Saturday night we had a pretty funny thingn happen. We had spent the evening together as a team grilling hamburgers and sitting around our makeshift campfire on the patio of Craig's apartment. (Small side note: in case your wondering about how my team is getting along, things are great. Before we went to Bolivia, we were all getting along great, but since returning, I feel like even stronger bonds have been built. I can honestly say that I am really going to miss Monica, Jill, Aaron, and Mark when I leave here in five weeks. That's another hard thing about this trip...making great friends that I won't get to see very much when we go our seperate ways from here....such is life, i suppose, changing whether I like it or not). Anway, back to my story. We girls got back to our place at 12:30 am. Monica went into the kitchen to fill a tea kettle to boil some water to drink in the morning. Suddenly we hear her call to us, "Uh, girls, I have a little problem here." We go into the kitchen to find her standing with the hot water know in her hand and the facuet running....not good. We've been really excited that they've been leaving the water on at night now, but this was one night where having it off would've been in our favor.

Try as we might, we could not get the water turned off. Eventually we woke up Carmen, she chastised us for having the hot water on in the kitchen, and then called her son who lives upstairs. He has to come down and completely shut off thehot water in the apartment until the morning...funny evening

Other fun things of the last week: on Tuesday we all went swimming at Generacion (the home for youth that we visit every week)....with all of our clothes on! Jill got pulled in by the kids, so then the rest of us decided to join her. I really should use the term "swimming pool" more loosely because it didn't have any filtration or chemical system, so it was really pretty gross. I tried not to think about it as I played around. The kids were having a fun time, so I figured that was all that mattered. We looked pretty funny when we got out. A bunch of wet gringos in regular clothes...good times in Peru!

Random thought abou the recent presidential election: It's amazing to me how interested the people here were in who won our presidential election. I was asked about it by the woman at the corner store (where we buy all our water and snacks, about a block down the street from our apartment) and at the copy store. They knew more about what was going on that I did. It was a reminder to me of how much the world watches the United States and what we do and the great responsibility we have in the world.

Well, it's almost midnight here, and I feel like I'm out of things to say for the time being. Hopefully I'll have time to write a bit more this weekend. As always, love and miss you all bunches. See you in five weeks!

New Mailing Address

In case anyone is thinking of sending anything my way via "snail mail", I wanted to let you know that my mailing address has changed. The address now is Jane Koehler, c/o Jennifer Green, Jose Morelos 144, Lima 21 Peru, South America.