The Christmas party and final words...

Hello everyone! It's my last day here in Peru...where have 121 days gone? (Yes, that is the exact number...my roommates and I counted this weekend, just to be sure). My thoughts are going in 20 different directions right now, so this email may be a bit scattered, but I wanted to give you all one last update before I return home.

Last night was the annual Christmas party. I am so thankful that they moved the date up a bit so that our servant team could be a part. Word Made Flesh collaberates with several other organizations in Lima that work with people on the street to throw an awesome party for them. Youth were lining up at the door at 5pm to be let in, even thought we didn't let anyone in until almost 7pm. 140 people atteneded this year's party. The festivities started with the traditional Word Made Flesh dance routine. About five years ago, a servant team decided to do a dance at the Christmas party. It was a great hit, so now every year since, the staff (and servant team, if there is one there) does a dance. We did a hip-hop number to "Let's Get it Started in Here". I'm not much of a dance, but it was a lot of fun. The kids went crazy over it, so we considered it all a grand success.

After the dance, there was a mix of singing and skits by other groups. The evening ended with a meal for everyone, complete with hot chocolate and panaton (a fruitcake-like thing that is traditional fare here) for dessert. All the youth were greeted by Papa Noel (Santa Claus...aka Aaron, my teammate) and a gift (a new t-shirt or a Barney doll for the little ones) on the way out. The staff said it was the most fun, most smooth Christmas party ever...yeah!

Since almost all the youth I've worked with were there, it was also an evening of goodbyes. Goodbyes have been strange here for a couple of reasons. First, I've never said goodbyes that felt so permanent. I'd like to come back someday, but who knows when that will be and if the same youth will be around if I do (I really hope they wouldn't be around because their life situation inproves). Second, I've never felt so much love for people that I really didn't know that well. I've never had a really serious converstaion with any of the kids. The language barrier has prevented me from getting to know anyone on more than a surface level. My life and the youths' lives couldn't be more different on the surface. Also, many of the goodbyes were left unsaid. The Christmas party was a little chaotic and several youth sleipped away before I could even tell them goodbye...which may have been for the better since my emotions were a bit unpredictable last night. I couldn't believe how sad some of the youth were that we were leaving and how much they wanted us to stay. So many times during the trip I felt that no one cared that I was here. Last night helped me realize that relationships do matter. That my weak attempts at building friendships with these people was not totally in vain. Finally, I have not been prepared to think of these goodbyes as goodbyes to good friends. Over the course of these four months, I've realized that I came here, partly, because I felt like I needed to "do my part" for humanity of something. I'm leaving, though, with my eyes opened to the fact that "doing my part" is useless, in a sense. What matter is that I do whatever I'm doing with love...random thoughts, I realize...thanks for bearing with me as I get some things off my mind.

Last night was also difficult because I saw a few eye opening things that I hadn't seen before on this trip. Before the party started, we divided into two small groups and walked around the neighborhoods near the church where many of the youth spend their time to remind them all to come. On the way, we walked past these trenches, probably about three feet deep, that are part of a highway construction project. I need to tel you a little bachground before I finish this story, I just realized. A couple of months ago, Mia (one of the staff) met a group of young boys that were living under a bridge on Javier Prado (a major street). They range in age from about 8 years to 14 years old. From what I understand, these boys are truly living on the streets. Word Made Flesh is getting to know these boys better in hopes of helping to place them in some of the homes for minors in Lima or in hopes of reuniting them with their families, if they have families (which many of the street kids do, I learned. That fact suprised me because before I could not imagine leaving a family to live on the streets. Now that I've learned more about some of the families these kids come from, I can understand more how one might make that choice). Anyway, back to my story. Last week we brought a bunch of these boys to Casa Job to hang out with them for the morning. When Mia and Martin (another man who works with street kids in Lima) went to get the boys, they found them sleeping in the constuction trenches I just mentioned. I don't know if they always sleep there, but it was a big slap of reality to see that for myself.

The other hard things about last night was that I, for the first time, saw the cuts, bruises and other injuries that the kids sometimes get from the police. Two of the youth, two of my favorites that I would consider friends, had been picked up by the police over the weekend, beaten and detained. I have no idea what they had or hadn't done, but no one deserves to be beaten. They spoke about it rather casually, but I could see in their eyes the pain. What was I suppose to do with information like that? What could I do beyond say that I was sorry and put my hand on their shoulder for a moment?

Now, I don't want to end this all on a depressing note because it was far from that. In fact, I couldn't think of a better way to end my time here than this Christmas party. Seeing everyone so excited, full of energy and joy was awesome!

Besides the Christmas party, it's been a busy week of packing, sorting, last minute shopping, and saying goodbyes. Yesterday the team and Craig visited The Punto, which is a penisula that sticks out into the ocean. There are pretty parks, fun little resteraunts, beautiful ocean views...it was a great relaxing day. Tonight Ester, the amazing cook at Casa Job, is making us a special meal...yeah!! Then it's off to the airport around 10pm, fly through the night, change planes in Atlanta, and arrive in Omaha before noon. So, many of you are probably reading this after I've arrived home...hope this final entry finds you weel. I can't wait to see you all soon!

Sorry I've been such a slacker...

First, aplogies for being such a slacker at writing you all in the last few weeks. We've been busy, but, really, that's no excuse. I think the mixture of being really excited about coming home, yet really sad to be ending this time, along with being overwhelmed by thinking of saying such permanent "goodbyes" to this place has just sucked all of the motivation right out of me. So, forgive me for not staying in touch.

Now, on to a whirlwind update of the last few weeks. The weekend after I last wrote (the weekend after the soccer game), Mia (one of the staff) took us servant team women to prison. Since many of the youth that Word Made Flesh knows have to steal at some point or another in order to survive, unfortunately that means that a good number of them end up in prison at some point. Mia said there are probably about 60 youth that they know in prison right now.

I've never been to a prison before, but I'm fairly sure that the ones in the states aren't like this one. There aren't individual cells. Instead, they have different pavillions, which consist of a big building and some sort of large courtyard area. When a prisoner arrives, they have to buy a space inside to sleep, buy a bed, mattress, blankets, etc, so not everyone has those luxuries. The prison doesn't provide food. Instead, the prisoners have set up their own kitchen system, or sorts, where everyone has to buy there food. They get money from jobs at the prison, from friends and family, and from illegal things that go on in the prison. The prison was built for about 2000 inmates, but currently houses around 8000, so, as you can imagine, it's very crowded. There are just men sitting and standing everywhere, with really nothing to do...a very hopeless enviornment, in some respects.

We talked to a lot of kids that the servant team had never met, but did see Freddy (I mentioned him in an earlier email). Seeing him was really encouraging. He is involved in a Christian recovery program at the prison, and it seemed like God is doing some good things in Freddy, so good to see that his time in prison can be redeemed, in a way. Seeing him made me realize, though, how hard prison must be for the kids who live on the streets. They don't have family that will come see them, and most of their friends don't have the means to visit. He asked about all his friends, said to tell them hi, even wrote one a letter for us to deliver...I can't describe it acurately, but that whole scene brought a big smile to my face and huge tears in my eyes, all at once...seems to happen a lot lately.

Funny thing about prison...women all have to wear skirts when they visit. I didn't bring a skirt to Peru, but, have to fear, in true Peruvian style, there is a vendor waiting to solve my problem. We rented skirts at a booth outside. I wore the ugliest sweater skirt...I wish I had picutres to share, but, you'll just have to sue your imagination....it was pretty funny.

The other big event of the last few weeks was the retreat we took 17 of hte youth on this past Sunday, Monday, and Tuesday. As a Servant Team, we have been saving all the money that is left over from out weekly allowance for basic living. We heard that the last team saved enogh to take the kids on a little retreat, so we made that our goal. We almost ran out of time, had some mescommunications about dates, thought we didn't have enough money, and got stressed out over it, but, in the end, it was a smashing success.

The retreat was held at a center in the country about 2 hours outside of Lima. It's owned by a seminary that's affliciated with a church that some of the staff attend in Lima. There was a river and pool to swim in, a campfire every night (I was in charge of handing out hotdogs to roast the first night...big mistake, putting pushover Jane in charge of hotdogs...several kids had four or five, I think, but then we ran out before several of the staff even had one...whoops!), a little chapel (with a thatched roof that leaked on us the night it rained), a big dining hall, a soccer field and other lovely green spaces....its was awesome. We organized some games and activities (including an art project that turned out "abstract" at best), but also gave them plenty of time to just relax and enjoy their time away from the reality of their lives. Monica and I shared a room with four of the five girls, each of whom has a child. Let me just say that sleeping in a room with four kids, all under 3, is not the most restful thing. I wouldn't trade it, though, because I really got to know the girls in a new one. I feel like I am much more their friend now, which is awesome. There are many stories to be told, but most would lose their essence in an email, so you'll just have to ask me about them later.

Oh, yes, almost forgot to mention Thanksgiving. It was awesome! The staff from Bolivia visited for the holiday, so all together, we had about 25 people at our Thanksgiving feast. Monica, Jill, and I were in chrage of making pies, which takes on a whole new meaning when it's done in a kitchen with zero counter space, an oven that is only big enough for one pie at a time (until Carmen showed us the rack to stack them, but then the bottom of the bottom pie gets burnt unless you remember to rotate them...trust me), not to mention that the oven doesn't have any temperature markings on the dial. We made it, though, and the pies were a smashing success.

The boys were in charge of applesauce, which was hilarious as well, because they bought really cheap apples that disintegrated on the peeler, so Aaron and I ended up peeling many with a knife over the trashcan. Then they ran out of gas before the sauce was completely done, so they put it in the blended to get rid of the big chunks. So it looked really smooth, but was actually a little crunchy. It was great, though...I wish you could hear our laughter in the midst of making all that food, though...great memories.

Wow, what else to tell you al? As I get ready to come home, my list of questions about Peru and life in general seems to be getting longer, not shorter...but in a good way, so I can't wait to tell you all about it when I get back.

For those of you who might be wondering, I get back to Omaha at 11:45am on Wednesday, December 15, on a Delta flight from Atlanta.

Love you all lots...I'll see you stateside in less than a week!

¡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.

Back from Bolivia!

Hi all! Sorry it's been a while since I've written. We just got back last night from a 10 day trip to Bolivia...it was awesome!

Our trip had two parts, kind of. The first was definately like a vacation. We flew from Lima to a town about an hour from Lake Titicaca (one of the highest navigable lakes in the world). We took a bus from the airport to Puno, a town on the Peru side of the lake. Right off the bus in Puno, we decided to visit the Floating Islands.

You may have heard about these in your fifth grade social studies class or something. Native people have made large islands out of water reeds. These islands just float in the lake (well, they are staked down to the bottom so they don't just float everywhere, but you know what I mean)and the people actually live on them! It was crazy! When I say large, I do mean large. Ten to fifteen families live on each island. They have a telephone and post office (both in little reed booths), a school, medical clinic. The entire group of "islands" is called Uros (I'm not really sure how many islands there are in the group...quite a few). The people live on fish, mostly, and the other staples that they get in town when they take the fish there for trade. They navigate the river in large boats made of reeds. Some of the boats have been fashioned to have llama heads or look like other things. Really, I cannot do the islands justice with just an email desciption. Maybe you can check them out on a website or something. If you ever find yourself on the Peru side of Lake Titicaca, you must visit!

On Wednesday morning, we hopped on a bus to drive from Puno to Copacobana (a tourist town on the Bolivia side of Lake Titicaca). The view on the ride over was amazing! Lake on one side, countryside and mountains on the other. We saw a lot of people and farms on the way...I can't imagine living life as simply as these people do. Small fields, sheep and cows staked out along the road, women in bright colored skirts, hauling packages, children, you name it, all wrapped in brightly colored blankets that are tied onto their backs. We were all very curious how they wrap those things and get them to stay on (and how many times they drop their kids befor they get the hang of it...just kidding)

At one point on the ride, we actually had to cross the lake. We all got off the bus and boarded a small boat that took us across. Our bus floated across on a larger, barge-like boat. It was really funny to see the bus floating on the lake ahead of us.

We had a little problem crossing the border. Aaron (a fellow team member) and I accidentally only got 60 day stamps on our passports when we entered Peru in August. We were supposed to receive 90 day stamps. Since we were on day 67 of our trip, that was a problem. At first the immigration officer told us we would have to go back to Puno (about a 1.5 hour bus ride) to fill out a form of some sort, but after some talking (and a little money to help things along), they gave us some other form to fill out and let us go through...just had to keep the day exciting, you know.

In Copacobana, we shopped, ate fresh fish at the local market (I don't usually like fish, but this was amazing! The lucky fish was probably still alive the morning of the day that I ate it)...I have to say something about the local market. It's a large room where about 10 local ladies each run a little lunch counter. They all serve variations of the same things (trout), so when a person walks in (especially a bunch of "gringos") they all start to call out to you, trying to get you to eat at their counter. All their food is prepared in a little makeshift kitchen area they have in the middle of their little group of tables and benches...it is so neat!

Ok, back to my story. In Copa, we hiked, swam in Lake Titicaca for five minutes to win a bet (it was a little chilly, let me tell you...a lake at about 12000 feet in the spring time...brisk!), shopped, ate, read, caught up on sleep, watched the sunsets and looked at the stars (both of which we never see in Lima)...it was just a great time of rest and relaxation.

One morning, we took a boat out to the Isle del Sol (Island of the Sun). It's an island in the Lake Titicaca, beautiful for hiking around and such. Some people live on it, for the tourists. There is even a hotel and "resort" area...very fun.

On Friday, we hopped a bus to La Paz, Bolivia (the capital). Word Made Flesh (the organization I am here with), has a field in El Alto (a "suburb" of La Paz) that works with women in prostitution. La Paz is situated in the Andes Mountains. I think the elevation of the city is around 13000 feet or so. El Alto is another part of the city that sits on a plain in the mountains just above the city. You can get La Paz to El Alto in under 30 minutes by bus, but in that short time, the elevation changes almost 1500 feet, if I remember correctly. It was crazy to think that I spent the week at the same elevation as some of the mountains that people in Colorado will climb. Needless to say, I spent much of the week out of breath from the altitude...climbing a flight of stairs usually required a short rest break afterwords! The landscape in the area was amazing though...mountains (several 20,000 plus feet peaks) to be seen in every direction...it was awesome!

The Baker's (Andy and Andrea and their adorable son Eli) are the couple that runs that field...they are awesome! They arranged housing for us with local families. I stayed with Vicki and her three kids: Jordan (who is almost 9, his birthday is on Nov 1), Elba (6 years old), and Brianna (20 months old...I called her Brittney for 3 days and Vicki never said anything...I was a bit embarrassed about that one). Staying with Vicki in El Alto was fun and a great learning experience, but it was not easy. Vicki's family is very poor. Her husband works down in La Paz and only comes home on Sunday so he doesn't have to pay for bus fair every day. Andrea says that Vicki lives on about a dollar a day right now. The house had two rooms: the bedroom that I stayed in and the other room that had a pink curtain down the middle...living/dining room on one side, family bedroom on the other. The kitchen was a lean-to addition on the front of the house. The bathroom was a cement "room" in the corner of the front yard (aka, dirt and rock area inside the steel gate).

I've always thought of myself as a person who would be good at living very simply, but this did take some adjustment. The only running water was the shower in the bathroom (which had great pressure, but I could never figure out how to get the warm water switch to work, so I took refreshingly cold showers all week), and the water hydrant just outside the bathroom...no running water actually inside the house. I definately cut down on drinking things before bedtime because running outside in the cold in the middle of the night to visit the bathroom was not high on my list of things to do while in Bolivia.

In spite of all the beautiful things in nature around me, El Alto was a very dreary, hard place for me to be. Almost all the houses were just dirt-colored brick because painting a house takes money that could be spent on other things. Many of the street are dirt (which is so strange to me, considering that El Alto is bigger than Omaha by quite a bit). There are big piles of rock, trash, random dogs wondering the streets...it's just a very poor place.

Many of the people there look older than they actually are, I think. For example, Vicki is only 25, but I never would've guessed that. I think the combination of the very strong sun (which was nice, compared to the overcast skies we have in Lima all the time, but also meant that sunblock was an absolute must!), and hard, physical labor that lots of people have to do, makes them age quickly. I can't imagine living like that. Once again, makes me feel very blessed to have grown up and currently live where I do. Things are so easy and convenient back home...I was definately missing that this week!

While in El Alto, we did several things. We spent two days at the center that the Bakers run for women who are in prostitution in El Alto. One day we walked down several blocks of a street near the center. Andy said that we passed at least 10 brothels on our little walk, although you never would've known it. Prostitution is legal in Bolivia, but that still doesn't make the conditions that these women work in any better.

It's hard to explain the ministry that the Bakers have to the women. In a nutshell, they build friendships with the women, so the women know that they are valued and loved by people, and more importantly, by God. Most of the women don't want to be in prostitution, but making a living is very difficult in Bolivia (I believe that Andy said it was the poorest country in South America), so they often have very few options in order to make money to support a family. Once again, this whole experience is teaching me that one of the biggest things God calls us to do is to love people right where they are at because through the relationships that genuinely caring for people will build, God will be able to work. Again, it's hard to explain all the thoughts that are running through my head...I guess I'll have to save that for conversations when I return.

On Tuesday, we took about 10 of the women to a ropes course outside the city for a day of fun, teambuilding activities. That was a hoot!

We also had an "observation day" where we walked around La Paz and El Alto, just taking in life there, some free times to be with our families, community night where we cooked a meal and hung out with the Bakers and some other Americans in El Alto...overall it was a great, eye-opening, learning experience, that (just like the rest of this trip) has left me with more unanswerd questions...but I'm getting use to all that now.

The trip back was a crazy one. We caught a bus in El Alto (after running around the huge outdoor market for about 20 minutes, looking for the bus area), to Copacobana...then another bus to Puno, where we learned that there wouldn't be any flights to Lima for two days after the next flight which left in 1.5 hours...problem was, we were at least 45 minutes away! We found two taxis, told them to get us to the airport as fast as they could...they did, we made the flight, and found ourselves back in Lima at 8pm last night...whew! What a day!

So, that's what I've been up to for the last two weeks. Today we are taking a rest day (I even cheated and took some laundry to the laundramat instead of handwashing this morning), having lunch as a team to discuss our trip, and then who knows. We have about six weeks left, and I know that time will fly by, so before you know it, I'll be seeing you all stateside again. Thanks, as always, for your messages, thoughts, and prayers. I'm loving it here, but miss home a lot, so I love hearing from you! Until next time...

Random thoughts for the week

Well, here it is, Saturday morning again. I just got out of a very warm shower, the house is quiet, my roommates are still sleeping...perfect time to update you all on how things are going here. Problem is, I don't have any major thoughts this morning. Instead, there are just a bunch of little things swimming around my head, so forgive me if this entry skips around a bit.

First, I can give you the highlights of the week. Sunday I ran to the beach after church. That was two days in a row that I got to see the ocean...woohoo! I miss Nebraska a lot, but I will have to admit that living on the ocean is a perk. There's just something so amazing about looking out on the endless water, listening to the waves come in...reminds me of how awesome and big God is, how really little I am in the grand scheme of things, and yet how amazing it is that God knows me personally. Looking at the ocean really brings to life the Bible verses that talk about how creation proclaims the name of God...sorry I don't know the exact verse...scripture memorization has never been one of my strong points.

Monday was a strange, but good, day at Casa Job...only one kid showed up! We found out later that it was just a bunch of coincidences that kept youth from coming. Some were tired and/or sick, so they were sleeping. Others had errands they had to run. It was just the weirdest thing! So, we packed up the sandwiches and Quacker (that runny oatmeal-like stuff that I'm beginning to love, which, we learned this week, isn't made from Quacker Oats at all, but bread that has been soaked in water, then blended and mixed with milk and stuff. Who would've known?) and headed out to Sandia Street. I think I may have told you about Sandia Street before. It's a narrow, crowded street in a poorer part of town. It is lined with Menus (small resteraunts), random businesses and shops, several buildings where people can rent rooms, and a bus station. As we walk down, we gather the youth up. Then we sit on the sidewalk right outside the bus station (so we are constantly haveing to watch for huge buses pulling out) hang out with the kids while they eat breakfast. It's always eye-opening for me to come out to Sandia Street because that is where the youth are. This is where they live, hang out, spend part of their lives. I always leave there feeling very thankful (and a little guilty) for how well I live back home.

That brings me to a little "bunny trail" in this letter, I guess. For the last two weeks, our book study has been on the book "Rich Christians in the Age of Hunger". What an eye-opening book! Not necessarily fun to read, but very interesting. I recommend it if you want to understand how much of the world lives and God's thoughts on the rich and poor. Probably every person reading this journal entry is rich, at least compared to the rest of the world. In the past, whenever I read information like that, I just left feeling guilty for what I have (like I already said, I guess...little repeat here). Now, I feel excited about what I can do to help balance things out a bit. How I can change how I live and how I can raise awareness for the poor so other Christians will be encouraged to do the same. The thing is, it's not just cutting back on a few things so we all have a little more money to give away to charities...that's great, but the real issue is really having a change of heart, and that has to start with me. I can't look any farther than myself on this issue. Well, I guess that's a pretty random thought there...just a little glimpse into some of the things I've been thinking about lately.

Ok, so back to my story about weird Monday. After taking breakfast to the kids, we headed back to Casa Job. For breakfast (at 11:30am) we had what was going to be the Entrada (appetizer, in a way) for lunch. It was one of my favorite things here so far: Papa Rellina. They were this ball of mashed potatoes with meat and veggie filling that was then deep fried...so tasty! After breakfast we deep cleaned a lot of Casa Job. Monica and I (more Monica, don't want to steal her thunder) tackled the first floor bathroom. It was gross, let me tell you, and although it didn't look sparkling when we got done, there was vast improvements. Definately incentive to clean my bathroom at home more regularly. I love days like that, at least occasionaly, where I can really see the fruit of my labors.

Tuesday night was my night to go out to the streets. There weren't a lot of kids there at first, but a large group slowly amassed. During worship, one of the girls stood with her arm around me almost the entire time we sang. I think we had met once before...maybe. It just made me think why she felt so comfortable to do that: is she just that kind of person, was she a little high, does she really need love and attention that much that she'll cling on to a stranger for 20 minutes? Probably a bit of all those things, I would guess. Another reminder of just how many stories there are out there.

I don't think I've ever told you about the older man who come to get milk and sandwiches whenever we are on the streets. I don't know his name (althought I am determined to find out). He's a quiet guy, alsways comes with his big flat basket of snacks that he sells on the street. He brings a little stool with him that he sets down against the wall of the building. He will either sit on that stool or stand right beside it, quietly waiting for us to have the worship and then hand out food. He claps and sings along with the songs, gets his food, and then leaves. He always has a cap and scarf on, and has a larger nose. For some reason, I was thinking about him this week. Who is he? Does he have a home? Does he have a family? How long has he been selling his little snacks? What's his story? Again, one of these times that I wish I knew the language better. There are thousands of people on the streets of Lima, selling their snacks, trying to make a living at that. I pass by many every day, rarly making a purchase. I'm not writing this to put you or myself on a guilt trip of any sort. Rather, it's just a reminder to me of how much I really want to make people the most important thing in my life...just another random thought, I suppose.

Wednesday was a great day at Casa Job. Lots of kids, beautiful weather. The highlight for me was the presence of one guy I'll just call R. R is an interesting guy. I don't know much about his story, other than he has had a hard life. He is often one of the dirtiest youth at the center. The last time we saw him, he was looking pretty tough. He had a big ball of black trash bags over his feet. He hadn't showered in quite some time. Drugs, the harshness of life, and probably a bunch of other things, have caused him to be a little crazy at times. He says he knows Chinese and will speak it sometimes. He often is quiet, not talking much, and sleeping on the floor quite a bit. Wednesday, though, he looked so different! He showered, had on cleaner clothes (although still all black...his "Michael Jackson look" is what one of the staff calls it). He was really talkative, asking Monica and I questions about our homes, families, etc. For the workshop time in the afternoon, he wrote a long letter as part of the project they worked on. R. has a sweet heart, I can just tell. Just wanted to give you all a face to put with the imperonal stories I tell about life here. That's the hard thing about writing these journal entries. There are so many things I'd like to tell you all about, but words on a computer screen just don't do the stories and people justice. I wish I could bring you all own to meet the people here and experience the things I am experiencing.

Thursday was a special girls day at the Casa Job. About 10 girls came. The female members of our Servant Team were responsible for babysitting, which is always highly entertaining. The young women worked on baby books for their kids that they had started at the last girls day in May (everyone present had a baby except for one girl who is due with her first in two weeks and one who doesn't have any), then ate lunch, had a worship and devotional time, then made a potato snack they could sell for income. Among other things, Word Made Flesh staff tries to encourage the women in different ways to make money besides prostitution, which some (but not all) of them have turned to. My feelings about that would be an entire long journal entry in itself, but, suffice to say, I am beginning to see how tough decisions need to be made when it comes down to the most reliable way to feed your family.

It was so neat to see the girls all together, without the guys around. They seem to come alive in such a different way, like they are more free to be themselves, not have to be so guarded. It helps me to really get to know them as individuals, not just this group of people that I am here to serve. That's a lesson that I am learning each day...one of the most important things I can do for someone is to know them as a friend, to do whatever I can to restore their dignity in life, to feel like real person, not just this poor individual that their society looks down upon or that we feel we need to come and "save". Hope that makes at least a little sense.

Watching their kids was a blast. I, by the grace of God, was in charge of a little guy named Angel. He was almost 2 years old, I think, and just so sweet (except that he didn't wanted to eat very much of the lunch). We spent quite a bit of time playing on the rooftop patio with two other kids in a small makeshift sandbox. Kids, wherever they are, love to play in (and sometimes eat) dirt.

Whew...I just looked at my watch and realized that I have been typing for almost an hour. I better finish this out before I put the few brave people who are still reading this insanely long journal entry to sleep. I also need to see about making breakfast. Jill, Monica, and I decided that today feels like a pancake day. Carmen's kitchen is always an adventure when it comes to cooking, so hopefully all goes well. Thanks, again, for all your thoughts, prayers, emails, and letters. Home is always close to my thoughts! Love and miss you bunches!