Church Bells, American Breakfast, and Horn Happy

Blessing of the Church Bells

The altar of my new Church

Kathy and I with the church in the background.

American Breakfast!!!!

This past week of school was filled with many projects and tests. When 6 P.M. Thursday finally rolled around it was time to blow off a little steam and play some soccer with our friends. It wasn’t pretty by any means, but it was fun attempting to play. About half of us were from Nebraska while the other half were native Peruvians. After soccer, a couple friends and I decided we would try our luck at a Casino. We each got ten soles worth of chips and some of us ended up with nothing, others broke even, and Laura and I even ended up ahead!!!

Friday night I went to church with my host mom, host sister, one of the grandkids, and a friend from Nebraska. It was amazing. Before church started there was a ceremony for the dedication of the new bells the church had recently acquired. The church I attend here is actually fairly new (4 years old). Ever since it was built, the church has been trying to raise enough funds for bells. Finally, after four years they were able to accomplish this task. The congregation filed outside to watch as priests blessed the bells. You could tell how happy and proud the people were through the smiles and tears that covered their faces. It was a BEAUTIFUL experience. Have you ever felt what it is like to stand in the presence of 15+ priests??? Words can’t describe the feeling.  

After church, we headed over to Kathy’s to cook an American breakfast. We were killing two birds with one stone-the UNK students were dying for American food and we also wanted to give our Peruvian friends a little taste of our culture. After we were done eating it was nice to just sit and talk for while.

Saturday my host mom, sister, and an aunt headed to a beach about an hour South of where I live. We met up with about 15 other family members and spent the day at two different beaches. In the evening we headed back to a cabin owned by one of the uncles and sat and chatted for awhile. I talked to one of the cousins that is 18 and attending a university close to where I live. She actually wants to study abroad somewhere in the United States next year. After we left the house, I was surprised at myself that I was actually able to have an hour or so conversation with this girl in Spanish!!!  Normally with I am with native Peruvians, my host sister who speaks English or Nebraska friends are nearby and when I do not know a word I just ask one of them or they help me describe the word I am looking for. This time, it was just the cousin and I having a conversation by ourselves. “Poco a poco” (little by little) I am acquiring new words and I continue to practice speaking!!!

On the ride back from the beach to our house I decided I would count how many times the bus driver honked his horn. I feel like I have not been able to illustrate very well exactly how many times a horn goes off here. I started counting right when we got on the bus and I stopped after 100 times. Whenever the bus driver saw someone walking he would honk the horn multiple times to try to get their attention to see if they wanted on the bus. If we were stopped at a light and it turned green but the cars weren’t moving, he would honk the horn. My mom often complains that my dad and I are “Horn Happy,” but we are nothing compared to the people here.

This week was a practically challenging one for me. It has been a month since I have seen my parents and siblings and over a month since I have seen my best friends. I was able to skype my three really good friends on Friday and it really really helped. It was so nice to be able to hear all about their lives and what is going on back home. Then yesterday, I received an e-mail from a friend that really cheered me up. Although sometimes I struggle, I have learned so much from being here already and as hard as it is being away, I know it was the right decision coming here. It has given me an opportunity to grow in my faith, to learn all about a different culture, to live with an incredible family, and to experience things that aren’t available in Nebraska. I have also discovered a lot about myself since I have been here. I think that while I was in Nebraska, I missed out on a lot of the little happenings in my life. For example, this past Wednesday, I gave a presentation during class that got torn to shreds by the professor. Afterwards, I had to go print something off even though I really didn’t feel like going through the whole process of trying to figure out how to log onto a computer and then figure out which computer to print to and then try to explain to the employee at the front desk which computer I had printed from and how many copies I wanted. I couldn’t even figure out the first step of how to log on to a computer in the library. I was sitting there ready to call it a day when the man next to me said something that I didn’t understand. He then took my mouse from me and logged me on for me. Wow, the kindness of a stranger who didn’t know that all I wanted to do was give up! Yet another angel sent to me to help me get through the rough times when all I want to do is give up!

Wishing you all a GREAT week!

<3 Mary