Just Our Life!

So this post is coming a week late. I wrote it last week but never posted it, so just know when you are reading it that it's from 2 weeks ago. I'll post for last week in the next couple of days! Thanks for reading!

Happy October everybody!! It’s crazy that it’s already October and that we have been here in Peru for a month now. At times it seems like time passes so slow but then I look back and can’t believe it’s already been a month. We still aren’t crazy busy but things are picking up a little. Caleb and the girls are doing more visits on their own and now that they are more familiar with the schedule, are able to find more things to do to occupy their time… haha like go to the gym. Caleb and I joined this gym. I haven’t gone yet because I haven’t been feeling well but Caleb has been working out. It’s a pretty ghetto gym but they have personal trainers there everyday that come around and help you which is pretty awesome. Christi got a job coaching a swim team, and Steph writes for her blog the mormonbuzz. So I guess we are all adapting to the life here.

Playing a game with the kids

Monday I had a leadership meeting for La Communidad the non-profit org, to get feedback on how the program is going and to talk about what we as volunteers can do better. It gives me something to do on Monday nights and pushes me to keep studying Spanish because they do the meetings in Spanish and only translate if I need them to. On Wed. we took the kids to the Botanical Gardens to educate about the plants and flowers and livestock that they have here in Peru. It was kind of a crazy day, no kids showed up so we had to go around to all of their houses to round up kids and then fit 4 adults and 4 kids into a taxi to take them to the gardens. Super illegal in America, but pretty normal here. The kids are really fun and cute, there are a couple of them who are kind of like demon children, there was one who kept throwing big rocks at the fish, stomping on plants and being very destructive. He only will listen to Diego, and it’s only kind of listening when Diego talks to him. I’m getting more comfortable at speaking to them and trying to put myself out there to make connections with the kids.

Our Art!

On Thursday, at the other location for the program, we had some local artists come to teach them about painting with this stuff called earth dust, and inspired them to pursue their dreams in the arts if they want to. The kids were actually really into it. There is this girl who is usually pretty crazy, running around, screaming and such so I decided to challenge myself to try to get her to focus and be more calm, and it actually went really well. She sat and painted and did great. Thursday was also a holiday here in Peru so everybody had work off, and our ward held an activity. The problem with the activities here is, THEY ARE ALL DAY LONG! Literally 9 am til like 6 or 7 pm.

Caleb and Diego eating KFC

On Friday we tried to go to the beach, but we ended up not getting out of the house until pretty late, so we decided to postpone the beach to Saturday. So instead of going to the beach, Caleb, Diego and I went to the mall! The malls here are like a little America, we ordered steamers at Starbucks, and ate at KFC! The clothes and shoes at the mall are way more expensive though, so we didn’t really do any shopping. 

Mini America!

On Saturday we decided to go to the beach, but it was really windy so we just went there, ate at a restaurant and walked on the beach. Diego told us more about his family and the jungle where they live. He told us some crazy stories but I’ll have to tell you them when I get home. While we were at the beach we ran into 3 of the girls that I volunteer with. One of the girls had just got her iphone stolen on the bus!! Apparently a bunch of Peruvians got on the bus, crowded around her, passed her around and someone reached into her bag, grabbed her phone and then they all ran off the bus. Apparently Iphones are pretty hot items here, they sell for 7,000 soles which is over $2,000 American dollars. Good thing my bag I carry around has a zipper on it.

On Sunday we went to church, and right after the sacrament, the Bishop got up and announced that all of us were going to get up and bear our testimonies. So Christi, Steph and Caleb bore their testimonies in Spanish and I got up and bore my testimony in English. Even though no one could understand me, I was super nervous. The bishop also gave us a calling, (we had no idea until he called us in sacrament) for the facebook/social media people. So we are starting that, making sure that every organization has a page and that they are posting and inviting less active members to activities and such. Fabiola also came to church and brought her daughters. They didn’t come to sacrament meeting but they came to primary. It was a pretty big surprise cause the missionaries thought she wasn’t gonna be able to make it because of her schedule. She told us that Brenda her oldest daughter had been asking for me, and asking when she was gonna see me. The primary has their program next week so they were practicing in the chapel, so we sat by Fabiola as her daughters sat on the stand pretending to sing the songs. Brianna her youngest daughter is only 2 so she didn’t stay focused for long so they left before it was over but Fabiola invited Caleb and I to Brianna’s birthday party on the 21^st of October.

Caleb playing this unusual instrument
at Diego's house!

Then on Sunday night, Diego invited us over to his house for dinner. His brother Elliott is a chef so he made us Chinese food, and we got to meet him. He is super nice just like the rest of his family, and he served his mission in Argentina so Caleb and him had a blast talking all about Argentina. The Chinese food he made us was actually really good! 

Well that was basically all for the week, stay posted for more on our life here in Peru!

We've seen better days!

Well, to be honest, this week wasn't one of my favorites here in Peru. Not that it was bad, it just was not very exciting in the least. I did however go to my volunteer program on Wed and Thursday which gave me a little something to do. This week we taught the kids more about using recyclables by making these artistic pictures with recyclables goods. Apparently in Peru, there are these markings at various places, that look like crop fields (like from the movie SIGNS). They aren't really sure where they came from but they are real, so we took Styrofoam boxes and had them etch designs in them and cover them with paint and stamp them onto a different paper. It didn't turn out like we had hoped but it was fun to hang out with the kids. Sadly I will never have pictures of these events because we aren't allowed to take pictures of the kids for personal reasons. We aren't really supposed to speak English at the program because it makes the kids uncomfortable so, I'm still working on getting comfortable and truly enjoying the program, since I can't really speak to them at all. I guess it forces me to learn Spanish faster, but I think that is why I haven't fallen in love with the program yet. 

This week I felt good enough to go play soccer with Caleb at the institute which was really fun and a nice way to release some of my pent up energy. Peruvians aren't really known for their athleticism, so I feel like a star when I play soccer :) 

Caleb and I in our new Peruvian sweaters!! So comfy!

On Friday we went to this "fair" which was just tents of little shops where you could buy cool stuff from Peru and get souvenirs that are from Cuzco cheaper then they would be at Machu Picchu. Caleb and I got these awesome Peruvian sweaters, Caleb got some Peruvian hobo gloves, Caleb, Diego and I got matching leather bracelets, and then I got an awesome Peruvian purse and authentic handmade leather sandals. They are pretty awesome. These are the only pictures I have from this week. Sorry there is not a lot to look at. 

Caleb's nice sweater! He loves it.

Besides that, we just had a lazy weekend watching General Conference. It was nice to just relax and get spiritually rejuvenated. It was a little bit sad for me to not be able to do the traditions that we normally do during conference like Cinnamon rolls, or orange rolls or even eating anything delicious in the least since we don't really have a lot of options when it comes to cooking. 

So, that's all I really have for this week, so I've decided to make a list of some things that I like and don't like about Peru. 

TOP 10 LIKES (in no particular order):

1. The Weather! It's usually Mid to high 70's everyday! Not too hot, not to cold!
2. The Arroz! For those who don't speak Spanish Arroz is rice. I love the rice here. I can usually tell if the restaurant is a good one or not by the taste of the rice. 
3. Everything here is so Cheap!!! We eat a huge lunch for 6 soles, which is like $2. It comes with a appetizer, drink, and a huge meal. 
4. They have thousands of pairs of shoes. So many to choose from, literally any shoe you could imagine. There are also really nice leather shoes for really low prices, which is amazing. 
5. Manjar Blanco and Alfajores. Yum!! Manjar Blanco is kinda like Carmel, and alfajores are two cookies with manjar in the middle!! I could eat like 5 of them every day!

6. Fruit! They have awesome fresh fruit. The only fruit I really miss is lemons, they don't really have them here. They have a ton of limes, but no one has lemons, kinda odd. 
7. You don't have to tip waiters here which is nice because whatever the menu price is, is what you pay, no tax, no tip just simple and easy. 
8. People are really kind and welcoming. They kiss each other on the cheeks when you greet one another even if it's your first time meeting someone, and it's just kinda refreshing and endearing. The members of our ward have been especially kind and welcoming, and even though I don't understand them, they make me feel really welcome with their gestures and expressions. 
9. They don't really eat dinner. I actually really like this and so does my tummy. We eat a very big lunch, and then for dinner, eat something small like a fruit salad, oatmeal, yogurt or cereal. My tummy feels better since I've been here and I can't help but think it has something to do with my diet. Caleb is always hungry so he'll usually grab a burger or something at night, but their hamburgers are not really the same as American hamburgers. They just aren't my fave so I'll usually pass on them.
10. Peru really does have a lot to offer. We have some Aztec ruins and a beach super close to us, you have Machu Picchu which hopefully we can go to, and they have the jungle. There are so many places you can travel to while living here. Hopefully we'll get to do some of that. You normally have to fly to Lima to travel to other places, so traveling can cost a little bit of money, but hopefully we can make it work. 

TOP 10 DISLIKES:

1. Not being able to flush toilet paper down the toilets. I know that many south American countries are like that, but I will never get used to it or like it.
2. Cockroaches in my house. It's not that they really disgust me, but it's annoying having a variety of different sized cockroaches running around our kitchen.
3. NO OVEN. To be fair, this isn't as much Peru as it is my apartment, but nevertheless, I still hate it. 
4. No Rain! It never rains here, so it's not very green. As the weeks have gone by, it is getting a little more green since it is now Spring. Apparently however, in December it is supposed to rain like crazy because of something called El Nino, where it rains like crazy, flooding the streets even, which happens every 10 years ish. Because of this right now, all the kids have started having to go to school on Saturdays so that they can have the whole month of December off for the rain. 
5. It's so noisy. It comes with living in a city, but traffic is so noisy. The car horns or car alarms here, are literally the most annoying sounds I have ever heard. High pitched beeps going off all hours of the day. Not my fave.
6. The air quality. A lot of smog and pollution. I haven't really had two big of a issue getting used to it, but a lot of people have headaches when the first get here because of the smell and pollution. 
7. Either a lot of the foods they have are not like American Food, or they don't really have them (or they are super expensive) For example, Ketchup, they have it here but it's consistency is that of jelly with clumps in it. Hamburgers and bread, not the same. They have peanut butter but it's really expensive so people don't really eat it. Luckily I did bring some down with me, but I've only been here 3 1/2 weeks and it is already almost gone. 
8. Peruvians are pretty flaky. They have no concept of being on time, so they are either really late like a half hour to an hour, or they don't show up at all. This makes it very hard to plan things and get things done. 
9. Pedestrians NEVER have the right away. Don't get in their way!! The taxi's, buses, and moto's drive like crazy and I have had a couple of close encounters. 
10. They have a lot of theft and deceit here, so you have to be careful with who you trust and always keep your purses close and be aware of your surroundings. It also has caused Peruvians to be less trusting and very cautious, which isn't too bad of a thing, but they don't like taking risks.... EVER! 

So there you have it, now you know a little more of what life is like here in Peru, and what we love and what we don't love so much!! I'm sure as times goes on, I'll fall in love with more things and probably find a few more things that I don't particularly love. 

Here are a few more pictures that I found on Caleb's phone that I thought I'd share!! Enjoy!!

 Caleb made me eat cow heart from the street, I almost threw up. Of course he didn't tell me until it was in my mouth, I wished he would have waited until I swallowed. Caleb was going to the bank and saw this random couple dancing, and this delicious looking thing on the right is a Cremolada! A Coconut flavored one with real coconut in it!!

Well until I write again,
Chao