Check out the Peruvian artifacts … Hey look at the American!

Well, today has been an interesting day. I felt very much on display. The day started with a trip to the museum with my language helper. We have been studying the different past tenses and she thought it would be good to go to a history museum (most of that’s in past tense … haha). The first hour went well. We chatted about Peruvian history and all kinds of other neat stuff. The second hour hit and all the little school children who were there on tour suddenly noticed the tall American girl (me!). From this point, we would have groups of students walk over to the exhibit we were looking at, stand close like they were looking at the exhibit, and then turn and stare up at me. These had to be elementary age students, and Peruvians are naturally shorter than I am anyways, so they were definitely looking up at me. The first group that it happened with, I just kind of ignored. The second group even made my language tutor chuckle a little bit. By the third group, we just couldn’t contain it anymore and burst out laughing. It was SO obvious by the third group that we just had to laugh. It completely stopped all historical discussion. I wasn’t too annoyed by this but more so amused.

We finally finished at the museum, and I went home to take a nap. I haven’t been sleeping well this week, so I figured while I had the chance, I would try to get some sleep. Because I’m tired, I know I’m feeling a bit crankier than I should. I didn’t realize how much until I walked to the bank …

Every missionary that I’ve talked to has said that they have ‘those days’ where they just get annoyed with the culture or something about it. One thing I am still getting used to in this culture is how forward people are. If they want you to buy something from them on the street, a simple ‘no’ does not make them go away. A strong ‘NO’ doesn’t always make them go away. A strong ‘NO, go away and leave me alone’ doesn’t always make them go away. The Lord has been teaching me a lot about ignoring people since I’ve been here. J Well, today, after getting up from my nap, I decided to walk to the bank. It’s pretty cold here right now, so I layered up and headed out. As I was almost to the bank, I heard some guy (I think he was a crazy, old, drunk guy) saying something to me in Spanish from the corner. I thought I heard what he said, but just ignored him and went to do what I needed to do in the bank. When I came out, I tried to cross the street away from him, but was still in earshot of him. This time, he decided to tell me his thoughts in English … well, sing them to me is more like it. “You’re beautiful! You’re beautiful!!” he sang. Now, if you remember back to the beginning of the paragraph where I talked about being cranky and being annoyed with this aspect of the culture today, you’ll understand how I was feeling. I really just wanted to scream at him, “I’m not beautiful!! I’m cranky!! Leave me alone!!” Somehow, however, I just don’t think that he would’ve gotten it. I had to turn my head away because I was just ready to laugh. What else could I do???

It’s funny though that even on days like this, in situations like this, I still feel an ever growing love for this country and these people (perhaps not this language yet because I’m still struggling to grasp it … but that’ll come too). God has been doing some amazing things in me. Even as I was walking around the museum (when I wasn’t on display), I was just in awe of this culture and all its history. And I was thinking just how amazing it is that I get to be here. Even with all of its idiosyncrasies, I really do love this country and am so thankful that God has called me to this time and to these people. Now, if they would only stop whistling at me, that would be great!

Let me tell you a story about an earthquake ….

Okay, so my first experience with an earthquake was quite an interesting one. It was a Wednesday evening and I was headed off to teach English class. This was actually my first time trying to find the office (where classes are held) on my own. I thought I knew the way, but I took a left instead of a right. This left me wandering around for quite some time. I had left in plenty of time to make it to class, but as I continued to wander, the time slipped away. I knew I had the right area; I was just slightly off the mark. As I was wandering around, and passing the same security guards multiple times, I began to hear some shouting from one of the houses I passed. A few kids came running out the door and I immediately felt bad for them. “What did those kids do to deserve that kind of shouting??” Of course, I didn’t have any grasp of the language at that point, so I had no clue what was being shouted. As I continued down the street, I passed by a construction site that had a makeshift fence around it. When I passed this fence, it started to open into me. My first thought was “how rude!” and kept on walking. As I turned the next corner, still glancing back and forth between my watch and my map, I noticed more commotion in the streets and looked up to see people standing outside their buildings crying. “What in the world is wrong with all these people?” I continued my quick pace trying to find the office and just glanced up to see if there was a fire in the building I was passing. I got further down the street, however, and discovered that everyone was outside their apartment buildings and most of them were upset and crying. It was about this time that a second wave of the earthquake hit and I stopped walking. I looked up and could see the street lights shaking, but mostly I could hear them shaking. Right about that time, I felt the ground moving under me almost as if it was a wave … a very small wave, but a wave nonetheless. At this point, I honestly thought “This is so cool!!” I continued to wander around lost, with people crying in the streets around me, until I finally called a friend from our office to come get me. It’s funny though what I saw around me during this earthquake.

I almost missed an earthquake happening around me, but I couldn’t miss the hopelessness in the eyes of the people who were affected around me. I was thinking this was an amazing show of God’s power and they were standing in the streets in complete despair. Granted, I had never been in an earthquake before and had no prior traumatic experiences to be frightened by, but I was still so struck by this hopelessness. This hopelessness seemed so prevalent in the faces of everyone I saw standing in those streets, and then that I saw in the days to come on the news as they reported on the earthquake. God used this earthquake to remind me of this hopelessness … not just in the face of an earthquake, but in light of eternity. This is why I am here … because people need hope and I have been blessed to be sent here to help share it with them.