A little news...

Many of you already know, but we are very excited to announce that Noah is going to be a big brother! I am about 6 weeks pregnant, so the baby is expected to arrive in mid-February. I found out the day before Father's Day and decided to wait to tell Michael until that Sunday, with a tiny Father's Day note on his breakfast tray from his seasame seed-sized baby. Then we explained it to Noah. We think he gets it. Lori Berry, on our team here, is expecting her 5th in July, so Noah is familar with the fact that babies come in tummies. This is going to be a big change for him, though - he's already learning about Mommy not being able to carry him as much as before. That's hard for both of us, but we still get lots of snuggle time to make up for it. (c: From time to time, Noah has mentioned the fact that there is a baby in my tummy.

We've told all of our friends at church - things like that have a way of getting around anyway. We felt comfortable doing so, even at this early stage, because if I were to miscarry, I would want the prayer and physical support of our friends here (and of you all as well!). They are all praying for a girl. Apparently, here, the perfect little family is one boy and one girl and that's it.

For those of you concerned about my delivering this baby here in Peru, don't be worried. I'll be making an appointment soon with one of the best OBs in the country, the one that Lori is seeing. Mark and Lori's last child, Abigail, was born here 6 years ago with the same OB in a lovely clinic that Lori said was as good if not better than the ones she had been to in the States.

So far, I'm feeling just fine. Often just really tired and sometimes without any desire to eat. But once I do eat I feel better. Today, Michael left for another trip to San Clemente for a couple days, so pray for my patience and energy with Noah as I'm not quite as energetic as before.

Please pray with us for the healthy development of this little baby. He or she is already so blessed to have so many around that care! I'm really happy to be pregnant along-side my teammate, Amanda Ross! She's just a few weeks ahead of me, so it is wonderful to have someone to go through this special and sometimes trying time with.

Our Little Fireman

This week, Noah did his first school project on being a Fireman (un bombero). Luckily the costume was only missing the classic hat, which we rented for the day. Surely, these projects are far more the homework of the parents than the 2 1/2 year old child, but the teachers must get a kick out of all the parents' hard work. Noah did do his share of coloring, though, so he did have something to do with it. We were asked to bring something for each of his classmates that related to the topic - they each got a segment of garden hose. I think everything went well for it. Noah was just sad when his cool hat had to be returned.

Back in Touch

Our Vonage phone is working again! I know nothing about computers, but after resetting the modem for the zillionth time, it was back.
No idea.

And yes, there was mild depression in Lima today (outside of the normal cold fog-induced variety). My friends definitely did NOT want to talk about the game. It was a national embarassment (see last post). Peruvian football directors and coaches are resigning left and right, and players are speaking of "a cross we will carry for the rest of our lives". So I will mourn with my brothers here. It does seem a bit unfair that the USA team almost gets a free pass to the World Cup since the only truly competitive team in the region is Mexico; they are hardly recognized, relative to other sports, and largely unsuccessful upon arrival, while an entire nation of Peruvians waits breathlessly on every play, only to be devastated yet again, hopelessly overmatched by the many top-class teams on this continent. The last time they were in a World Cup was 1982.

Lastly, a couple of websites to make you go hmm.....

Global Rich List

Do the Test

Whew...

Things have been busy lately, with a short-term team from Georgia visiting, youth group activities, Father's Day, several birthday parties, extra planning for music, and beginning piano lessons. I'm trying to get out a prayer letter update, and there are some other things I will mention later this week. The trip to San Clemente and Pisco was great, and I'll post on that later, once the team sends me pictures.

Just a round-up of today....it was my first "off" day in a while, so we tried to get a few things fixed here, including our Vonage phone - sorry that's been out to those who have called. It may be up again soon. Then I saw two routs - first of Peru by Uruguay in futbol, 6-0. Ouch. I feel so bad for everyone here. The whole country is so passionate and committed to the sport, but they can't seem to field a competitive team. They lost 4-0 to Mexico in a friendly last week, and there was a palpable sense of shame in the air. Tomorrow could be rough.
Then the NBA finals, which they do show here. What a game! I generally try to avoid the NBA, but the renewal of the great 80's rivalry was irresistable. Congrats to Boston fans, who have had a pretty amazing sports year.

More to come, stay tuned, many things to share.....

Our Time with Annmarie

It's been a week since Annmarie left us. I am still feeling the wake of encouragement that she left behind. We had so much fun together and it couldn't have come at a better time. Michael was really busy with the short-term team that has been here and preparing for the church's anniversary celebration.
We had such an adventure in Pucallpa, visiting and staying with friends from language school, Todd & Stephanie Edgar and David Speyers. It was a huge blessing to see their ministry at the SAM Airbase - David as a pilot, Todd a mechanic, and Stephanie a teacher at the mission school in town. She had just finished school and was free to tour us around, take us to the zoo, some great resturants, and host us in her home. We thoroughly enjoyed life on Koshibo Cocha (the lake). It's about 30 minutes by car and (bumpy) dirt road to get to town. We also had the privilege of meeting women from the neighboring native tribe that lives across the lake - the Shipibo people. They were so kind to sing us a song of welcome in their language and return to show us all their handicrafts, mostly jewlery. Annmarie just loved the jungle! The Lord worked it out for her to visit, since she just graduated from New Tribes Bible Institute and is considering the mission field, potentially in a jungle setting. While we were there, we were spared from the normal inferno that it is - it was mostly cloudy during the day and it rained at night, so that made for comfortable temperatures.
We also had the incredible opportunity of going for a tour of Pucallpa by air, in the float plane! What a treat! Stephanie's Dad (she herself grew-up on the base) was our pilot. Noah really liked it. Taking off and landing in the water was a really thrill. He was only a little disappointed when he found out that this plane wasn't the one bringing us home to Daddy. (He really missed him!)
Our last night there, we walked to the dock and just enjoyed some sweet time chatting, catching a few shooting stars and marveling at God's creation as the reflection off the lake made for an endless sea of twinkling lights. Must say though, the mosquitoes there can bite you even through your clothes!
After all the fun we had, she assured me she'd be coming back, at least to visit, if not to live here as a missionary herself. (c:

Michael's turn

Finally, it's Michael's turn to travel outside of Lima for a couple days. Noah and I are now holding down the fort while he is in San Clemente, accompanying the short-term youth group team who have been helping with the disaster-relief efforts there. They have been there for about a week already, so Michael left yesterday for their last day of work. Today, however, they are going to Paracas, otherwise known as "the poor-man's Galapagos." We miss him and can't wait to hear about his adventures when he returns tomorrow.

Coming soon...all the fun we had with Annmarie

Aniversario

Well, it's been almost a week now, but it's still worth posting - our church here celebrated its one-year anniversary last Sunday. It was a beautiful service, a great time of rejoicing in what God has done here, starting with a couple of small groups, now a growing family seeking to serve and make an impact in Salamanca.

During the service we celebrated with the welcoming of new members and several baptisms, in addition to a newly unified worship team and guest preaching from Keith Powlison of the Cusco team.

Afterwards, we had a big party. Those in the church with means really wanted to go all out, so there was a cake worthy of a royal wedding, seen here with many of the original families of the church....

....and for a special surprise, what else but a Mexican mariachi band!

Really, you never know what you're going to get in Peru. We also had musical showcase for members of the church, so a couple of my students (on drums and bass) and I played some praise songs. Jimmy and Tito shared some of their own songs,

and Eliseo, Harvey, Robinson and Basilia played beautiful Andean music.


It was a great day, a fitting celebration of the Lord and what he is doing at "Luz de Vida".

Off to the Jungle....

This last week has been very exciting and busy with Annmarie visiting, a short-term team here from Georgia, and a big celebration for the 1-year anniversary of our church. But this morning, Laura, Noah and Am left for Pucallpa, in the jungle. I am here holding down the fort, getting caught up on a lot of things, and praying for their safe return. I should have much more time to blog as well, so there will soon be pictures up of recent events, and some reflections on culture.

Annmarie is here!

Hooray! Our dear friend Annmarie arrived last night, here to visit for a week and a half.

She's already had some good Peruvian experiences - trying Inca Cola, our taxi running out of gas, riding the bus and a crazy birthday party. The ladies are having a fabulous time catching up, and Noah is glad to have his "Aunt Am" here too. She'll get to see our church's one-year anniversary celebration this weekend, and then off to the jungle on Monday....

Piano!

Praise the Lord! Thanks to the generosity of one of our supporting churches, we have a new digital piano at our house! It belongs to our team, and will stay here when we eventually come home, but we are extremely excited to have it here for now. I will be using it to teach as many youth as possible, as there are many eager to learn. Noah is very happy with the new arrival (as the pictures show), and I'm in heaven, having been piano-less for over a year. What a blessing - thank you, Christ Presbyterian!

Choral Music!

I recently happened upon a news report about the Idaho State University Chamber Choir touring Peru, and tonight they performed in Lima centro with the Women's Choir from the Universidad Católica. It was a great concert, both groups singing a range of works from Bach to Duruflé. Favorites.......the women performed some really lovely works by Peruvian composers (I would give the names, but their part didn't have a program), and the Americans did a John Tavener piece, "Exhortation and Kohima," which I was not familiar with, but that was just beautiful. But their "Lux Arumque" by Whitacre was my favorite of the night - a stunning performance. They all joined together at the end for Moses Hogan's "Ride on, King Jesus". The fabulous acoustics (and architecture) of the Basilica San Francisco made the whole thing that much more impressive. It's not often that one gets to enjoy a concert like this in Lima, and it definitely makes me miss the choral world I left back in the States.

Eating Cheap

I'm not sure how prices are back home, but here they are on the rise. Of course, we're not feeling it quite as strongly as the Peruvians, but our salary has certainly taken a big hit from the devaluing dollar. So, we're learning how to eat cheap. Just in case you're interested in a couple new recipes that are easy, tasty, and economico here they are:

Elita's Lentils

1 onion, chopped
1 tomato, chopped
3 garlic cloves, crushed/finely chopped
2 T. oil
3 cups boiling water
1 beef boullion cube (or 300g bacon, chopped/ground beef)
250g (half a bag?) of lentils that have been soaked for at least a couple hours, drained
1-2 t. salt
1-2 carrots, chopped

Using a large pot, fry onion, tomato in oil. Add garlic after a couple minutes and fry until golden. Add the boiling water and boullion cube/meat. Once everything is boiling, add lentils (drained) and salt. Cook over med-high heat, covered, for about 45 minutes - 1 hour. About 5 minutes before finished, add carrots. Serve when cooked through, over rice. Great source of protein!

And now for dessert...

Postre Limón
This one reminds me of Key Lime Pie...

1 can (large) evaporated milk
1 can (large) sweetened condensed milk
juice from 8 limes
Package of square Vanilla crackers

Blend the two milks and lime juice in blender. Line the bottom of a 9x13 pan with vanilla crackers. Pour half milk mixture over crackers. Place another layer of crackers and cover with remaining milk mixture. Top with lime zest for decoration if desired. Place in the fridge for a couple hours, until it's a little more congealed. Cut into squares and serve.

Serving

Here's a small example of a cultural difference we're learning. At your typical American party, the appetizers or snacks sit on a table with little plates or napkins, and each person serves themself when they wish, to the extent that they wish. Not so here. Here at these parties (or even at any celebration following church), all foods and drinks are passed. Usually it is the responsibility of the host to bring the sandwiches or empanadas or popcorn or soda to each person where they sit, and to make these rounds several times with each item. People will even take just one potato chip at a pass, expecting to grab more a few minutes later. If you leave food on a table with plates (as we have learned), it will not be quickly eaten. That is literally considered "gringo-style". I'd be curious to hear from others who have lived in a different country - how does party food work there? Passed? Self-serve? Other?

Big News in the City

Lima has been a bit more crazy than usual this week, with the arrival of the European Union - Latin America and the Caribbean (EU-LAC) summit. Some 60 heads of state from these two regions are here, and security is tight. Protests are expected, so they have closed off large sections of many major roads. The city has even built a brand new press center to accomodate the over 1,500 journalists planned to cover the event. The conference will mostly focus on poverty, sustainable development, and the environment.

El día de la madre

Happy belated Mother's Day! I am learning more all the time just how much there should be a day like this at least once a month, if we wanted to give the proper appreciation for all that Moms do. Mothers are really the backbone of Pervian culture, receiving much more respect than Fathers. For this reason, Noah's preschool worked for weeks to do a special show in honor of all the kids' Moms. They rented a special municipal building for last Friday evening and had everyone get animal costumes (see our puppy below).



Each age group had a couple songs, for which they either acted (the older ones), danced, or in Noah's case, stood there watching the crowd of smiling people. It was absolutely adorable.

In church on Sunday, there were decorations, food, and a cute song about Moms from the kids.

Performing is definitely something new for Noah, but I know he'll get used to it.

In the evening celebrated by going out to get good old American pizza, one of Laura's favorites. I hope all you Moms out there had a great day and felt appreciated!

Short

I think the reason I don't post blogs as often as I'd like is the same reason for which I don't call family and friends at home as much as I'd like. That is, I feel like it has to be more elaborate and complicated than is really needed, a major event for which I must clear hours. And the more time passes between blogs (or chats), the worse it gets. As nice as it is to write a long, well-thought-out blog (or have a long, deep conversation), it often is just not realistic in the busy lives we all lead. Even a short update, or a quick hello can mean a lot, and is certainly better than nothing at all. So hopefully, I'll follow this advice and post short reflections, more frequently. That said, I'm off to call Mom and Dad.

Garúa

The fog has officially arrived.
Wikipedia says:

"Garúa is the dry winds that hit the lower western slopes of the Andes creating a low-level of cloud. Within the Andes Mountains the garúa blocks out the sun for the cooler six months of the year, and there is almost no rainfall during this period."

(actually the word means mist or light drizzle)
We had always heard about the dreary cloud cover that engulfs Lima for half the year, but now we get the full experience. Winter is here. On Sunday the temperature dropped some 15 degrees and the sun was gone, supposedly not to be seen again until October. It did make a farewell appearance in the late afternoon, but today not a trace. With depression already setting in for some, and Limeños bundling up as if they were in Toronto, I actually see it as a bit of a relief. It probably seems odd to complain about too many sunny, warm days, but that's all we've had for over a year, and I like seasonal changes. It's nice to have to put on a sweater.

Big Boy Bed!

It's about time! Noah has been capable of climbing out of his crib for quite a while, but had simply decided not to. Maybe he liked the security of the crib. So we didn't push the issue of getting him to sleep in a regular bed - it's not like we're hurrying to have his crib for a little sibling, at least not yet. (c: But I had always said that after Matthew and Kerry's visit we would make the switch, since we needed the twin bed for Uncle Matthew to sleep on anyways.

On Friday, Noah was playing around his pack'n' play when he accidently flipped himself over the side, landed on his head and got himself a nice abrasion on his forehead from some ribbed fabric inside the crib - I was right there when it happened and of course not quick enough to do anything about it. All this to say, that was the final straw and the crib had to go.

He went off to school, and of course we got lots of people asking what happened to his head - it's hard enough to explain in English, let alone Spanish. While he was at school, I made his big-boy-bed up with sheets and put all of his bed buddies and softy blankets just how he likes them. His mattress rests on the floor, so I'm not worried about him falling out. I left the crib in the room, but changed its position and put his bean bag chair in it to make it look off limits. I made a big deal of the whole thing when he got home from school and explained how he would get to sleep in the big-boy-bed today for his nap. We read our books, sang, and prayed together just like normal, and when I put him down I told him I would leave the door open, so he would know I was still there. And after maybe one whimper, he was out! I couldn't believe it! I made him a little chart just to encourage him.

Now we're two days into it. He's slept through the night both times and my only complaint is that he's waking up around 6am - but we'll work through that. The crib is now stowed away, hopefully not to be seen until the next one comes along.

His favorite spot in the kitchen, this time helping me make omelets

Our Big Boy, sitting in a Big Chair, with cup and straw instead of a Sippy Cup - well, maybe he spilled a little...

Despedidas

If we haven't mentioned it here before, despedidas (farewells) are very important here. Even upon leaving any event, it is polite to say goodbye to each person in attendance with a kiss (or handshake guy-to-guy). But when someone is moving away, it is an especially important occasion. Sadly later this week we say goodbye to Laura Hoyt, who has finished her two years with the team. So in her honor, there are despedidas almost every day. Actually there have already been two, one for their bible study and another for the music team. Today Paulo and Kike have rented out a grass (yes, grass!) soccer field, and we are having a big game - Laura plays futbol every week - to be followed by a cookout at her house. Tomorrow there will be a little party after church, and Tuesday, Robin and Elita have their own despedida for her. Wednesday there may be two - a team lunch and then Karaoke at night with some friends from the neighborhood. Finally, on Thursday, there is one last big party at her house, and Friday she flies home. We will miss Laura, but hopefully this week full of fiestas will bring a sense of appreciation and closure as she says farewell.

To finish the epic...