Alright, after living in the 'Emerald City' for almost 2 years I felt it was time to move on. Returned to the Golden State in spring where I spent time with family, old friends and made some new. Heard about a Presbyterian mission that had a clinic in northern Peru, yada yada yada, off I went to learn Spanish. Spent the fall (our fall, their spring) in the southern part of the country, headed back to the states for Christmas, and now here I am. Arrived in Trujillo (northern Peru) on New Years Eve. Reunited with the
Ueltcheys (who I studied Spanish with in Arequipa and will work with in the clinic) at their new digs where I also met some of the other missionaries. Went to the beach where we we saw a mostly drunken firework display at midnight, and then stopped by the church office for the non-drunken after party which I hear lasted until 5am. I really think I'm going to love living here. It'll be nice to be near the ocean again. Can't wait to meet tons of new people, work in the medical ministry and be a part of taking over Peru for Christ, yeehaw! Our mission has tons of other outreaches to the city including biweekly soccer games, free English classes daily,
a paper company, a furniture company, a micro-financing program, three churches, plans for a school and more. Even out and about it's so much easier to preach the gospel here than in the states. Folks everywhere are more interested in engaging in conversations about life and death, God and man, sin and redemption, etc. They seem to be more conscious about the need to depend on something greater than themselves in contrast to what you find when chatting with your neighbor in the States. Why is this you think? Share your thoughts under comments if you like :)
My first impression of Trujillo is similar to Arequipa except for subtle differences like brighter colored buildings, more options for public transit, different word for menu, things like that. I was advised to take the first week easy. Didn't do it, now I'm pooped. Will try harder this week. Have a huge apartment to outfit for being hospitable. It's really secure. I have five keys and a watchman. Already locked myself out twice (the stinkin doors lock automatically). The second time, our watchman had to pull a spiderman and propel down into my third story window from the above apartment via a rope he dashed home to get on a little pink bike. The lady to who lives in this apartment was also there when I locked myself out the first time which was a little embarrassing but hey, now we're good friends. Made the decision not to bring my laptop in hopes of reading more. Pastor Wes says I'll be sending for it within weeks. I think I can hold off as there is a place across the street from my apartment that only charges one sol per hour (35 cents) of internet/computer usage. I apologize for the lack of pictures to go with this fascinating entry but I haven't had the courage to pull out my camera in public much in fear of it being stolen. Anyhow, stay tuned for my next installment about the
clinic!
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| View from my window |
