Dogs - 2, Carl - 0.

It's 1:06am right now, Thursday night, and I can't sleep. I've been avoiding writing a blog post because I want to post picture of the things I've been doing, but I can't. A friend let me borrow her camera before coming here (thank you Chelsea!) but unfortunately the cord that provides power for the camera was chewed up by a dog when I went on missions a month ago (sorry Chelsea!). A few weeks ago I spend a full day going to every Radio Shack in Lima looking for this stupid cord. After six other camera shops I ended up at the store that specifically sells Chelsea's camera, only to find out they didn't sell the cords or know where I could find one. Needless to say, I decided to celebrate the end of that day at a delicious crepe shop. My parents will be sending the correct cord through the mail.

Today was a national holiday for St. Rose of Lima and I had the day off. A few of the brothers asked if I wanted to play a game called Civilizations which is this ridiculously long board-game, similar to Risk mixed with Settlers of Catan. We are about nine hours in and are 75% of the way through the game! I think we are finishing on Sunday.

Warning: This game takes longer than Jumanji, and is otherwise very similar.

The game is very addicting to me and I think part of the reason I can't sleep is because I can't stop thinking about it. I believe we will finish the game tomorrow or the next day. The second reason I think I can't sleep is because when I got in bed earlier it was wet. Not the whole bed, just a nice round circle that the dog seemed to think needed some watering. Luckily I took a photo of the dog my first week so I can show you the culprit.

Don't let the cuteness fool you.

I changed the sheets earlier and was somehow wide awake. Tomorrow I will be tired. In fact I'm tired right now and I'm going to finish this post later.

It's tomorrow and I'm tired. I got pretty frustrated at work trying to explain math to a volunteer who both didn't speak my language and was absolutely sure of her answer. It was only in the aftermath that I realized that I should have dropped trying to explain it pretty much right away. I think we both ended the day frustrated with each-other when there was no reason to be.

My sister is coming to Peru in November and I'm going to go to Machu Picchu with her. I actually haven't traveled or explored Lima in the two months I've been here. I've been content working with the students at Alegria En El Senior and haven't felt the need to leave. I think that it's important to travel since I am in Peru and it's possible I won't return. I'd like to visit a city called Ica where they have sand dunes and an oasis. I also want to visit Lake Titicaca because they have a man made island that the natives have lived on for centuries. Apparently it smells kinda funky because they make it out of these reeds that need to be replaced every few months since the island is constantly rotting. I will post pictures if I ever make it there.

Why Peru?

I think it’s time to admit something to you. I’m religious. Even people who are fairly close to me don’t know much about this aspect of my life. I’ve kept it to myself, partly because some stupid Christians gave a bad name to religion, and partly because I never liked it when some stranger told me all about how much I needed the bible. 

Sometimes you think you have good intentions when in reality, you're an idiot.

My faith is fairly new. I can’t tell you I have an expansive knowledge of the bible or that I can answer all of your questions. What I do know is that I believe there is a God. I believe that there is a greater reason we were put on Earth than to just exist. And for various reasons, I believe in the Catholic Church.

This blog post began with the goal of explaining to you why I’m in Peru. Like my religion, I've kept quiet about exactly why I am here. I believe that most people think I just want to have a grand adventure before I settle down and get a ‘real job’. Although there is a partial truth to this, it is not the whole story. I am in Peru volunteering with the Sodalitium Christianae Vitae, a religious brotherhood. You can read more about them on Wikipedia. I was introduced to a Sodalite in Colorado. He gave me the opportunity to come to Peru after I realized I wasn’t going to be happy with any of the jobs I had applied for. In my entire life I don’t remember having a career I’ve always wanted or a field I wanted to work in. In college I remember truly enjoying exactly two classes. One of which would provide me a career path I don’t want, and the other would damn me to 40 hours a week in front of a computer, both of which I cannot currently accept. I am no longer willing to waste my life in some mediocre pursuit of a high-paying position with ‘job security’. In fact, screw job security. In my opinion, if you love what you do, you won’t do bad enough to need job security. And despite present day logic, I am also not willing to spend 5+ years job hopping until I settle for the best of what I found.

Indeed

At the risk of sounding like one of those crazy religious people, I will return to why I’m in Peru. I’m in Peru because in my experience, the Sodalitium does a great job of providing the questions, help, and support needed to find a path in life. Again, I believe there is a greater reason we were put on Earth. If this is true, God has a plan for me, assuming I'm willing to accept it. The reason I'm in Peru is because I see the Sodalitium as the key to finding Gods plan for me. I have surrounded myself with good, religious people. Though the world has proven that good and religious don’t necessarily go hand in hand, it does in the Sodelitium. I am in Peru asking great people to help me find myself. I’m attempting to avoid that mid-life crisis, where so many people wake up and realize that they’ve done nothing worthwhile in their life. I am looking for direction before diving headfirst into my currently unknown vocation.

In the end, I don’t want my life to be a grand adventure. I want my life to have meaning. Many of the people I love in this world are not religious. I am not writing this blog post to try to desperately change your beliefs. But I think it is important that you understand my choice.

 Miss you all.

"Flatulence is the expulsion through the rectum of a mixture of gases that are byproducts of the digestion process of mammals and other animals." [1]

Three days ago I entered my first battle with Peruvian bacteria. It was a well planned surprise attack, and I didn't expect it.

You never expect the surprise attack.

The first day I got here I started drinking the water because I decided if I was going to be in Peru for five months, I should just get my body used to the bacteria in the water. I was pretty happy when I didn't get sick at all and this somehow led me to believe I have the best immune system ever. Over a month in, and suddenly BOOM! It's like I'm in an Olympic boxing match with a tiny microorganism, and for a day or so, I was getting slaughtered every round.

I think the most valuable part of this experience has been the fact that I never realized how much I overvalue my independence. The family I live with cares a lot that I haven't been feeling well, but for some reason I don't want their help. I feel like I don't need anyone. I think to myself, "I'm an adult, I can do this on my own." It's taken me three days to come to the correct conclusion. Whether I think their advise on what will make me feel better is right or wrong, the point is that they care about me. It's building unneeded tension in relationships that matter and I just need to man up, give in, and do things that seem to have no point for the sake of the people I care about.

Anyways, I think what I'm really trying to say is this:

Sorry that I'm being an idiot.


Works Cited
[1] Wikipedia, duh

One Month In

I got back from missions a few days ago. I didn’t really know what to expect or what I was going to do before I left. When we first got there, I encountered our toilet.

Figure 1: Looks like I'm not going to poop for five days.

Needless to say, I was extremely happy when we were told that there were toilets on the property that were more relevant to the times. About fifty students came on the trip. Some groups worked with older people who had mental illnesses, others in schools. My group worked with children in impoverished neighborhoods. Most of the children had parents who didn’t have time to take care of them during the day. We colored pictures and played games which I had fun with.

Figure 2: Maybe I went a little overboard when we colored.

Figure 3: Nah!

Over 80% of the population is Catholic and the other volunteers provided catechesis for the children so they could have a greater understanding of the faith. Unfortunately, I still don’t understand enough Spanish to know what went on, which I found somewhat frustrating. The good news is, I’m becoming better at both understanding and speaking Spanish.

I think if you asked most people, they would have said their favorite part of the trip was helping those in need. Although I believe it is important to help others, I feel like 5 days wasn't enough time to make the impact that these children require. They need a role model, someone to look up to, who will always be there for them. I wish I understood how to help them best, but right now, all I could do is to be there for them for the short amount of time I was around.

Figure 4: I have no idea what we are doing.

I don't really feel like writing right now so I'm just going to end this blog post with a bunch of pictures from the trip. It will probably be way more interesting than me writing a few more boring paragraphs.

Hope you enjoyed!

My Favorite Kid

Some Of The Volunteers

Teaching Peru about S'mores

 The Children We Worked With

The Town Of Chincha

We randomly ran into the Mayor

Cat is on the menu!

Honey bees

 

Time Is Flying By

I apologize that it's been more than a week since I made my last post! Although in my mind I was going to make posts weekly, I've gotten busy with different activities and volunteer work. On the 26th, I'm going on a five day mission trip to a town called Chincha and will likely post at a time after that. For now It's going to be a quick and somewhat choppy post.

The last two and a half weeks have gone by quickly. I actually feel like I know a little bit of Spanish now. Enough that I recognize words and can *somewhat* (read barely) follow conversations. The community is great, and it feels like I've been in Peru for a lot longer that I have. Below are pictures of the Church I go to.

Figure 1: Church.

Figure 2: A lucky picture of the courtyard not being used.

Although I am learning, most of the time I don't have the vocabulary to vocalize what I did for the day, what I'm going to do later, or how I'm feeling. Not talking (as much as I normally do) has caused me to feel somewhat contemplative. I think it's a good thing for now. I see Peru as an opportunity to understand myself more, and part of that, is time away from other people. On the other hand, it is important that I fully throw myself into learning Spanish since I am going to be here for 5 months.

In my last post, I promised to take pictures of the people I hang out with and my family.  I forgot, of course, so I raided Facebook for some photos! Below are the pictures.

Figure 3: Alejo, who's pretty much my boss. As you can tell he likes to rap.

Figure 4: This is Carlos. He is the only child of Janet and Augusto, the family I live with.

I'll try to get more photos at a later time.

Miss you all!

First Week

It´s been quite the week. First of all I apologize for spelling words wrong, my spell-check is in Spanish and I can't seem to fix it. One of the most surprising things about Peru is the amount of bugs we eat! It's a lot like the Lion King. Below is a picture of dinner.

Figure 1: Dinner. Thumb size for comparison.

Just kidding! Judging by it's colors, that bug looks like it would taste like me dieing. I did think it was cool that I found such a huge bug though. Pertaining to the picture, it is important to note that I have big hands.

Have you ever stood in a river, about waist high, and the water is strong enough that you almost can't hold your footing? I kind of had that experience earlier this week, which I will explain in the next few paragraphs. I´m volunteering in a kindergarten for children who are 2-5 years old. I can´t really remember being that old but the kids are semi out of control, which, I imagine, is how young Carl was. The children are great! whenever I do anything, they laugh at me.

The first time I met the 5 year old kindergarten class, they rushed me like it was black Friday. Luckily it's hard to get trampled to death by 25 screaming children. Apparently the children just wanted to give me a large impromptu group hug, which I imagine was a lot more fulfilling than a 50% off television set. Who knows though? I never liked shopping.

My first days here I visited the shanty towns. They are built into the hills where there is no electricity of running water. I made the picture large so it was easier to see everything.

Figure 2: Houses built from cardboard, scrap metal, and wood. The poverty continues for some distance in all directions.

The disparity between wealth and poverty is much more obvious here than in India. In India, everyone seemed poor. Here, there is a wall on top of the hills pictured above. Because of the view, there are ten million dollar houses on the other side of the hill. I find it somewhat sad that literally within a 300 foot distance, one man make millions of dollars a year, and his neighbor makes less than $5000 per year.

I also spent Saturday asking people for money to help kids with cleft palates seen below.

Figure 3: My collection box and the picture I pointed at before demanding money.

I didn't speak much Spanish and could pretty much only tell people, "help me" and, "thank you". I tried to make up for my lack of Spanish using smiles and shamelessness. It seemed to work pretty well because I collected more money than many of the volunteers.

I was touched by the amount of people who are willing to give in Peru. In the US, I would have raised more money, but less people would have been willing to give. The people in Peru aren't as well off as in the US, but many more are willing to part ways with the little money they have. I believe this is an important lesson for me to learn, that there is more to life than being financially well-off.

Afterwards, everyone was pretty impressed by my money collecting skills, so I decided to impress them even more using my intimate knowledge of Spanish. I told everyone I made so much money because I was the, "Magic Gringo". Unfortunately, when I talk, 'mágico' sounds a lot like 'México'. Everyone was super confused about what a, "Mexican Gringo" was, and why a Mexican would be so terrible at Spanish. I was confused why everyone kept asking if I was from Mexico.

Anyways, sorry for the long post. For the next time I write, I'm going to try to get a picture of the family I'm staying with, the people I hang out with, and maybe the places I work. I miss you all.

Day 1

Hola from Peru!

My flight to Peru left yesterday at 7:30am. Unfortunately, the night before I mistook my arrival time with my departure time and woke up about 30 minutes late for the flight! I spent a good part of the morning on the phone with American Airlines trying to fix this self-inflicted complication. Needless to say, I felt pretty dumb. The good news is that I got to have an extremely short and wonderful breakfast with two great friends before leaving, plus I got to sleep in.

Since it was the fourth of July and nobody was flying, I was able to rearrange my flights. I was supposed to have a 12 hour layover in Miami before flying out to Peru. The layover gave me time to find new flights. With a small flight change fee I left Denver around noon for Dallas and from Dallas made it to Miami for the flight to Lima. On the flight to Dallas I got to talking to the guy next to me. He bought me a beer, likely for my stunning good looks.

Above: A picture of my seven dollar beer, courtesy of my handsome features. (Thanks Paul!)

From Miami I left for Peru at midnight. About six hours and 3000 miles later I arrived. After making it through the swarm of Peruvians demanding that I get in their taxi, I was picked up by a brother at the airport. By 6am I was in the home of an extremely generous family who are housing me for the week. They are a family of three. All of the boys in the house have a name that is some variation of Carl which I find hilarious.

Anyways, I thought everyone would appreciate a quick update. My Spanish is bad but I can somewhat understand people. I´m looking forward to seeing where I work, learning about Peru, and becoming better at Spanish.

I love you all.