Words

We thought you might be interested in hearing Noah's voice. I had been writing down all of his new words, but now, I can't keep up! Just this weekend, it was "knee" and a new favorite "elbow."

We returned yesterday from a trip to Arica, Chile to pick-up Noah's visa - more to come on that adventure...

Feliz Navidad!

Merry Christmas! We have had a wonderful time celebrating Peruvian-style, and then this morning just as our family. It's quite a story, and I'll post about it in the next day or two.

Here's a little present from Noah especially for his grandparents - helping with cookies and showing off his latest words. Hope your Christmas is a great one!

Reflections

(Laura) Where to begin...here we are in Lima. At last! How long we have waited to be here! (I know it's been a couple months now, but I haven't blogged in forever) We are so enjoying our church, our community, our neighbors, our team. We feel so blessed to have our apartment - just what we were looking for! We're getting into the groove of working here, building our schedules and daily activities - something I realize is crucial for me. I'm learning how much I love structure and regularity after being so transient for about a year and a half.

How's my Spanish? I'm a work in progress, constantly needing practice and often correction, but I understand most of everything that is spoken to me and can usually respond appropriately. I need to review what I learned in Arequipa. Sometimes, I find myself thinking in or automatically translating into Spanish, so that's encouraging.

How's my job? I get to be wife, mom, and active volunteer in our ministries here, so I'm working a lot! Thankfully, we now have Elita working with us 3 days a week, who makes meals for us, helps with all the cleaning, and watches Noah from time to time, allowing me to be more involved in the ministries of the church. She is a dear woman from our church and has an incredible testimony of God's provision in her family's life (I'll have to share more of that later). My role of being Mommy is center stage right now, and it is a lot of fun - tiring too!

So, Christmas is about a week away! We're doing everything we can to make it feel like Christmas here, all but buy an air conditioner to lower the temperature of our home, which is currently in the mid-70s. We have a lovely, full-sized Christmas tree, which we're borrowing from the Berrys (our team leaders) as they are leaving today for the States until the end of February. This was a treat since I really didn't know if we would have a tree or not this year. So two weeks ago we put it up and decorated it with all the Peruvian ornaments we've been collecting.

We've made Christmas cookies, watched "Elf," "Christmas Eve on Seasame Street," and on friday, saw a performance of "Cascanueces" (the Nutcracker) with some of our teammates. The Christmas shopping is all done! The Berrys are even bringing some packages home with them to send in the States for us. We are still looking for a quality tricycle for Noah, but maybe we'll find one for his birthday. The decorations are kinda funny here - most christmas lights sing, and even though the stores are selling snowmen decorations, right next to it there are beach accessories since summer just started.

Noah did a very good job at helping me make Christmas Cookies! He helped me put the mini M&Ms on like a champ - then he realized he could eat them, and that they tasted good! Let's just say, the cookies might have missed a few, but it was totally worth the looks on his face when he would eat them
But we miss being home - the Christmas parties and abundance of performances with real brass ensembles, and especially being with all of our family and friends. With so many changes in our lives, I've felt the desire to have our own family traditions. We're going through a book this season called "Family Celebrations" by Ann Hibbard that has a whole section on Advent and Christmas. It lays out each day of Advent with short readings from the Bible, songs to sing, verses to memorize, and activities to do. They are not long, and it has been a really special time for us as a family to remember and anticipate the birth of Jesus. It also explains the Advent Candles, so we're enjoying lighting those each Sunday and eating by their light.

We do feel very blessed to have each other and such wonderful new friends with us this year to celebrate Christmas together and bring in the new year.

Articles

Is it really already December? Happy Christmas season!

I've stumbled upon a number of great articles in the last couple months, and I think they're worth sharing.

First, good news from back home - Arlington's welcoming spirit, with a quote from my former boss at Gunston. Also congratulations to my other former boss at Wakefield, Doris Jackson!

Moving on to politics, I really enjoy Michael Gerson's op-ed pieces in the Post. He is conservative, though moderately so, offering critique of both sides and addressing from a moral perspective issues that don't always fit the narrow list prescribed for "values" voters.

This on farm subsidies, a topic I've linked to before.

Some great thoughts on Republican ideals, and to be fair, his words for the Democrats a couple days later.

That's all for now. I have a few more articles and links, but I'll post them in a bit. Hope you enjoy!

Visiting friends, Noah pics continued

A couple weeks ago, we had the great privilege of hosting some wonderful friends, our first overnight visitors here. David (far right) was returning to Arequipa for more language study after flight training in the States, and of course had to come through Lima, so he stayed a couple nights. During the same time, our dear friend (and Laura's college roommate) Jess arrived! Admittedly, she was mostly here to see her boyfriend Seth - with whom we also studied Spanish, and who is now working in the mountains. It was so much fun to see them all, and we only wished they could have stayed longer.

In other news, Laura says that the pictures I posted didn't show enough of Noah's winning smile, so here's a couple more just for fun. His talking has really increased in the last couple weeks, and he picks up a new word or two every day now.

Latest Noah Pictures

It's been a while since we posted anything about our little stud, and he's changing so much!

We got him a little table and chairs

His favorite frog boots

He likes wearing my headlamp

With his good friend Moises at Sunday School

Thanksgiving

Almost a week late, our Thanksgiving post!

It may be the strangest major holiday to celebrate here because there's no sign of it anywhere. We had a wonderful day, though, at the Berrys' house with our team. We also joined with some other MTW missionaries in Lima, and had about 20 people in all. Everyone brought a dish or two, and it was a feast!

Noah and Moises certainly had a great time together

After dinner, we had a beautiful time singing hymns together and sharing things we are thankful for.

Here's the whole group!

Pictures

Apparently there has been a high demand for pictures of our apartment, so it's time we gave a little tour. We really couldn't be any happier with it, and actually feel a bit spoiled.

First, as you walk into the apartment, you come to our kitchen.

It actually came with cabinets! That is the washing machine in the foreground; having them in the kitchen is normal here.

This is the "dining room" part of the living room/dining room. On the right is a little house that Laura made out of the refrigerator box. Noah loves it!

And this is the other side, with the couch from our friends down the road. I think it's possibly the most comfortable couch we've ever had.

Our little office/extra bedroom.

And finally, Noah loves his new room. He's still sleeping in the port-a-crib, but may graduate to the real bed in the near future.

Now, I think one of the coolest things about our apartment is the roof. It would be the 5th floor, which means it has great views. So to finish off this initial tour, here's a bit of Salamanca from our building.

Online

It has been quite a process, but we feel pretty well settled into our new home. We now have internet and phone - vonage too, so our 703 number is still good. Wow! Feeling very thankful for this place that we have. It is a 3rd-floor apartment with three bedrooms (extra one so you can all come visit!), and if it isn't new, it hasn't been lived in much. We really feel quite spoiled here. The process has been long because when one moves out of a house or apt here, they take everything - stove, fridge, up to the lightbulbs, sometimes even toilets. So we have had to start from scratch (thankfully there were toilets). Some things purchased, some graciously given or loaned, some crafted at one of Lima's most humble and well-known merchant areas (see upcoming blog); we would have been very lost without the cheerful help of many new Peruvian friends. Today a couple folks came over to help paint, and we all enjoyed lunch afterward. Goodness, there is so much to say! Now that we have the connection here, we will catch you up on everything. Thank you again for reading faithfully, and for your prayers.

Moving In

We're still getting everything moved in, and don't have any kind of phone or internet access, which is why you haven't heard from us. Again, this has to be a short entry, but thank you for all your prayers. It has gone relatively well, and Noah is getting used to his new room. We're definitely enjoying learning about Salamanca, and it was beautiful to get to walk to church and worship this morning with all our new friends. Once we have internet, we'll be able to write more and include pictures. Chau!

Apartment!

Praise the Lord, we finally have an apartment in Salamanca! We've been absent from the blogosphere for a while, as we have been searching and preparing. But just this week, though a story we'll have to explain another time, we got a place! The contract was signed this morning, and tomorrow morning (Friday) we start moving in. Our landlady is very nice, and the apartment is actually new. Pictures will come eventually. After so much transition time, it is very exciting to think of staying in one place for a long time, especially right where we wanted to be, walking distance from the church, the market, and most of our new friends. Thank you for praying!

Influence

We were amazed in Arequipa by just how much American culture shows up in Peru. A few examples: American rock music is all over the place - in fact the most common radio station heard is a "Best of the 80s" (interestingly found on 99.1, the same frequency of the Latin music station in Washington). If I had a dollar for every time I heard "Footloose" in the grocery store, or "I Can't Fight this Feeling Anymore" in a taxi....

It also seems to be a selling point to use the names of famous Americans for schools here. I noticed it so much that I had to take pictures. These are all from Arequipa.

First, a taste of home:

Then, a two-for-one - Edison and King:

JFK is also popular here:

A very prestigious colegio:

And my favorite, a beauty and fashion school:

Just so you know, colegio is used for school in general, inicial means preschool, primaria is elementary, and secundaria is high school.

I'm sure we'll observe much more of the unfortunate side of American influence here in Lima - we've already seen McDonald's, Papa Johns, Nautica, Abercrombie, and Starbucks. Tomorrow we're going to spend the morning in Miraflores, so we'll let you know how that goes.

Still here

Hey friends,
Sorry about the lack of posts. We've had a full house here, though still not one of our own. We're still at the Berrys, having lots of fun, keeping busy. Mark and Lori have been out of town for nearly a week now, so the four kids have been under the charge of all of us on the team. The Rosses were here last week and again today through wednesday, and Laura Hoyt, Becca, and Susan all took turns over the weekend. We have been here throughout, and Noah loves the company. The Ross's have two sweet little girls as well, so at times with 7 kids under the age of 11, it has been quite a zoo!

Our boy is having such a blast, playing with all their toys, and running through the yard all day. This little house is his favorite place.

The girls, horsing around

The Berrys have a new Jack Russell Terrier pup, Noah's new best friend

Emmett, the oldest, helping with banana pancakes on Sunday morning

The girls are even trying to teach Noah to ride!

More posts will come, with more pictures, and more observations on Lima, as we get to know the city....

Welcome to Lima!

All our language teachers & Concho on our last day

Parties! Peruvians love an excuse to have a party and this week we were it! It was so wonderful to get the chance to formally say thank you and good-bye to all of the people that helped us transition to life in Peru. Bob and Noél Rich (our hosts) took us to the airport and then our good friend Wolfgang from school surprised us, met us there to say good-bye and sent us along with some good Arequipeño chocolate. When we arrived in cloudy and cool Lima, we met our buddy Seth in the baggage claim area! He had just returned from the jungle and was on his way to Arequipa. It was great to see him after he had left language school in July. (Jess- he's doing just fine!)

Mark and his son, Emmett, picked us up from the airport and we arrived at the house an hour later in time for another party! Our whole team and some of the church members were there to welcome us. We had a delicious meal topped off with ice cream cake - a tradition in the Ross family. We were also celebrating Taylor Berry's and Susan Crenshaw's birthdays. Michael wasted no time in getting a futbol game going in their backyard, and Noah wasted no time in getting to know all his new friends and a Jack-Russell Terrier here named Luna. We are really going to enjoy living with the Berrys while we search for a place to live. Noah is so entertained by his new buddies.

This morning, we got to attend the church in Salamanca where we will be working! We are so grateful to finally be here and get to know the community! We have felt so loved both in leaving Arequipa and being welcomed to our new city! Thank you for praying for this step in the process. We have a few more obstacles to work through before feeling at home here, but we can trust that the Lord had gone before us and will help us with each piece of the puzzle.

Our new mailing address is:

Michael or Laura Salvatierra

(Queovadis Estrada)

Apartado 1529

Lima 100

Peru

Queovadis is a man that works for our team and helps us with many things. He will be picking up our mail for us, so if you send a package, put his name on it with ours, and he can pick it up without us having to go as well.

Emmett Berry, Enrique's daughters

Kayla Ross, Abigail Berry, Bella Ross, Anna Berry, Noah, & Taylor Berry

Leaving!

Wow, we have been running around like crazy people. We leave for Lima tomorrow! It’s hard to believe how fast 7 months have flown by, and harder still to imagine not seeing all of the Peruvians and extranjeros who have become so dear to us here. It has been a week of despedidas (goodbyes) and logistics. We took our hosts, Bob and Noel out on Tuesday, and last night we got to go out to dinner with the two directors of the institute and their wives. Today we had our despedida at the institute, complete with empanadas and gift exchange, and tonight we will go out with some of our student friends. In between, we have packed up the apartment and run around the city on last-minute errands. We’re exhausted.

One more thing we wanted to post before making the move and signing off for a few days: It has been remarkable just how many of our friends’ families have grown since we arrived in Peru. So many babies! We never took the time to congratulate them on the blog, and welcome these beautiful new lives into the world! We wish we could meet them in person, but thankfully many have blogs of their own, so we've been able to see pictures. Here they are, in no particular order:

Titus Powers, to Andrew and Karly
Trinity Iverson, to Danny and Kimberly
Macey Mitchell, to Scott and Andi
Liam Chase, to Matt and Carly
Nora Prather, to Justin and Jacquie
Ephraim Aday, to Adam and Catherine
Eve Rider, to Tyler and Becky
Luke Secrest, to Scott and Tori
Josiah Beardsley, to Matt and Laurie
Mary Catherine Munsell, to Joe and Cathy
Grace Mattson, to Dan and Marianne
Dallas Lacy, to Darryl and Lindsay
Nathanael Conyers, to Brian and Allison
Uzoamaka Ezejiofor, to Ifeoma and Ike
Jude Lookabill, to Josh and Tabitha
Grace Bingham, to Brandon and Sarah

Congratulations to all!!
We’ll write as soon as we can from Lima.

A Confession....

I understand that from a missiological perspective, and from the perspective of seeking unity and solidarity with those among whom we will be ministering, meals and food are important. These are symbols of community, and it is best in building relationships to learn to eat as those in the community eat, where they eat, in the way they eat, on the budget with which they eat. And I frankly do get annoyed with American travellers who, upon arrival abroad, head for the nearest familiar fast-food chain. I also realize the many problems caused by multinational corporations, the way mega-stores can destroy local businesses and hurt the community in general. And finally I acknowledge that franchising one culture as such is exactly what we DON'T want to do as we work with churches here in Peru.
So with all that in mind, I have to confess....Domino's recently opened a store in Arequipa; we caved and went the other day, and it sure was (shamefully) delicious.

Hospital General

On Friday, I had the opportunity to visit a state hospital here in Arequipa. Thankfully, it wasn’t because someone we knew was there. One of our teachers, Edgar, and I had been talking recently in class about the health system here, and I told him that I really wanted to see a hospital. Michael and Edgar’s wife, Julie, watched Noah and their 3-year-old, Sebastian, while Edgar and I went to visit Hospital General.
Edgar is actually a Biologist, but teaching English is what pays the bills. So, he knew a few people that worked in the hospital from his university days. Unfortunately, none of them were working that day, but he had another motive to visit as well. His mom is on dialysis and he needed to donate blood on her behalf.
The basic, concrete structure is at least 40 years old, but seems as though no repairs have been made on it since the day it was built. There are six floors and a basement, and on several floors you see broken windows – cheap ventilation, I guess. We tried to enter through the Emergency room to get to the blood bank, just one floor above, but of course we had to walk around to the other side of the building to get there. In the Emergency room, though, it is the secretary that is doing the triaging, not even a nurse. Once she determines what problem you’re having, they let you pass through the door to pay upfront for services you haven’t received yet.
Edgar talked to the lady in the blood bank, who gave him 2 orders/receipts, one to buy the equipment for the collection, and another for the lab processing – bills adding up to over 200 soles (about $60). I honestly don’t know if you need to do the same thing in the States if you are donating specifically for someone, BUT I always thought donating blood should be free. Then she told us we needed to walk back to the Emergency room cashier to give proof that items would be paid for – confusing to me, it all seemed like pointless paper-passing, and the guy receiving them didn’t know what to do, just put a rubber stamp on them and we were on our way to explore the rest of the hospital.
One thing that continually surprised me as we walked through the hospital, was the lack of patient privacy. Edgar showed me the laboratory where, through the window, there is an envelope filled with lab results of patients. If your family member was in an emergency, you could come, reach through the window and find the lab results of your family member, or anyone else’s for that matter. We took the one functioning elevator (out of 4) to the 2nd floor and walked down the dingy, dimly lit halls. This was the pediatric unit. On one side there were rooms that had up to six patients in them and the other side had private rooms. At the end of the hall was the nurse’s station (there’s only 1 on duty for about 40 patients), with a list of all the patients’ names, room number, even their category of illness – there for anyone to see. Past the station was a large room filled with more patients, three sections of two sides, with six patients in each side. If the family wanted to bring a T.V. from home to make things a little better, they could. If the family wanted to buy/bring a pitcher for water and cups, they could. Truly nothing is really provided except an old bed and sheets that are often ripped or sewn back together and meals (those didn’t appear to be exactly gourmet, either). You even need to bring your own towels and toilet paper. I peeked inside the bathroom (yes, just one for the unit) to find an enormous pile of soiled linens in the corner. But, these patients are only paying about $5 a day to stay there, if they can afford it, otherwise they pay nothing at all – which I believe is the majority. Without family members to do all the buying of medicines and supplies needed, they have nothing. And, of course, if your loved one is in the hospital, you can’t go to work and you will not be paid any sick leave.
We passed the surgery unit, where families were just lining the halls waiting from any word about their loved ones – no waiting rooms. For deliveries, fathers are still not permitted to be with their wives, they just pace up and down the halls just like in old movies. We passed through the burn unit, which, not-surprisingly was exactly like the other ones we had seen – not particularly clean with only rudimentary equipment. We did notice that they were constructing a new ICU, which looked like it would be an improvement.
Before we left, Edgar ran to return the papers to the Blood Bank, while I waited outside the emergency room door. I noticed their two ambulances, one of which was a Land Rover, clearly from the “M.A.S.H.” era, the other a Chevy Van from the 80s, but I suppose they serve their purpose. I watched as one young patient, in a wheel chair with an IV, was pushed to the curb as they waited for the taxi. She had a blanket around her head and her arm was in a sling. When the taxi pulled up, they removed the blanket to reveal a bandage around her head; she could barely stand. Something happened inside me and before I knew it I was helping her get into the car, along with her mother and a tech that was with them. All I could say was, “Que Dios le bendiga!” as I closed her door.With all the pain I saw in that hospital, God truly is the only one that can give them hope beyond the sufferings of this world. They surely can’t rely on the government, or the health system to do it for them.

Rafting Fun

For our last weekend in Arequipa, we decided to do one more outdoor adventure and went rafting with a group of friends from school. Michael went 2 weeks ago with another group from school and said that I would really enjoy it. As we talked it up at school, there were more that were interested, including another mommy who couldn't go the 1st time, so we set it up. I put Noah down for his nap after a fun-filled morning at the park for Daddy's last fútbol game, so he was asleep when our sitter arrived, a dear friend from church here.

We drove about a 1/2 hour up the Río Chili, the river that goes through Arequipa. (We started in the same area where we went hiking with Erin Houlihan back in July - just in case your reading, Erin) What a blast!! I have never done rafting before and this was a perfect course for beginners. There were mostly class 2 and 3 rapids with one class 4, for all you rafting pros out there. Yes, we got soaking wet in very cold mountain water. Those suits we were wearing were definitely not waterproof, but they did help against the breeze after being so wet. Michael, however, got much colder than I did after deciding to jump from a big rock at one of our breaks.

It felt so great to get to do something adventurous together! We decided it would be great fun to take a family rafting trip together when Noah (and the others (c:) are older.

Above: Dorothy(Germany, the other mommy), Miriam(Germany), us, Todd & Stephanie (US), Alex (US), Frank (our guide)

One Week

Yikes, more than a week since our last post. I'm finally getting on the computer to try to get back into some communication, including putting pictures up on facebook and writing some emails. I've also edited the blog links on the right - added some, removed others, and tried to make it more user-friendly with categories. If anyone can tell me why the font changes partway down, and how to fix it, let me know. I know there's a lot, and one might think I spend all day reading blogs, but I just take a little time once a week to catch up on as much as I can. It really helps us feel much more connected to our friends and to the rest of the world.

I promise more posts in the future - this week should include a hospital visit, recent pictures, a book review, and lots of babies!
It's hard to believe that in one week we will be on our way to Lima!

Be Careful

I just have to relate this story from my teacher, Edgar, today. I'll try to do it justice, translated just the way he told it.

Yesterday he wanted to buy a thermos for his 3-year-old Sebastián, so he went to Estilos, a local department-type store which is actually among the more modern and "trustworthy" in town. He went to the kitchen section on the third floor and soon found a small lunchbox (with thermos inside). He asked the saleswoman the price, and when she went to find out, he found another that was bigger and sturdier. Upon opening it, though, he was surprised to see that the thermos already had water inside! In his shock, he spilled some on his hands and other papers he was carrying. When the saleswoman came back, he informed her of the "used" product, and asked for a different one. She inspected the thermos, gave it a sniff, and said, "Señor, ésta no es agua. Es pis." The thermos was actually filled with urine! EEEEEEEEW!! Can you imagine?? They had no idea how it got there, though most likely a mother had a young child with an urgent need, and she looked for the nearest thing - then of course closed it up and set it back on the shelf. Sadly, as Edgar said, not entirely acceptable, but not all that surprising either. He went to the bathroom to wash off (as usual, it had neither soap nor toilet paper), then had a few words with the woman and left, never to return.

The awful conclusion is that, from what he could see, the saleswoman took the thermos to the back room, washed it out with disinfectant spray, and set it back out to be sold again. What in the world??

Things....

We love Peru. But sometimes we miss home.

Things missed
--thunderstorms
--bookstores
--grass
--humidity (yes, really!)
--seatbelts
--summer bbqs

Things not missed
--cell phones
--beltway traffic
--driving in general
--microwaves
--air conditioning (or "climate control")
--mosquitos

To be continued...

Weird

Actually I forgot to note how watching that game last Monday was an interesting cross-cultural experience. First, having spent the last six months immersed in soccer, I had nearly forgotten the American TV sports world, just how many breaks and commercials there are, and frankly was almost bored at times. As I’ve learned, it seems to bore most of the world, who prefer soccer’s 90 minutes of action, stopped only by halftime.

Second, on two different occasions in the evening, I was asked by a Peruvian to explain American football – really a complicated game when you think about it. The abundance of rules and nuances don’t make sense to most non-Americans; again soccer’s simplicity wins out. The second gentleman, clearly a businessman just getting off work, showed up late in the game and was very drunk. He claimed to be from Puno, but spoke Spanish with a thick French accent. He really tried to understand, but preferred to shout, “Ooo, merde!” at the screen whenever somebody (of either team) was tackled. So it was that much more bizarre trying to explain, in Spanish, concepts like quarterbacks, 10 yards for a 1st Down, punting, pass interference, and the scoring system, to this well-dressed inebriated young Frenchman from Puno. At least I had somebody to rejoice with when we won.

We're in trouble now

Short update....we have crossed a new threshold. Noah has discovered how to climb out of his crib. It's a portable one, so pretty high, but he's a little acrobat. He's very proud of himself, and we're not sure what to do. Any experienced moms feel free to write a comment with things you found useful when your kids reached this stage. He gets more travieso by the day!

Monday Night....

One of the nice things about Peru, is that (even though nobody here cares) they still show the occasional American Football game on tv, and always good old Monday Night Football. I admit I've become quite settled in the culture here, and nearly abandoned American sports for futbol, BUT this week was Redskins vs. Eagles, so I couldn't pass up that opportunity. I found the nearest restaurant with cable (since we don't have it), and enjoyed a great game. Now, we have several friends who are serious Eagle fans, including at least a few who I know read this blog, so this is a special message for them, sent with the utmost respect and Christian brotherly love......YEAH!! How do you like that?? Hail to the Redskins, baby: 20-12, good guys!

Anyway, I doubt we'll see much more of the season, but it was a nice treat on Monday. Noah says, "Go 'Skins!"