Water on the Rise

Rumor has it that rainy season will be over in a month, and we are praying to make it through that time.  In the past few weeks, the weather has made it perfectly clear that rainy season won’t go out without a good fight.  Apparently, this year’s season has brought more rain than usual.  Here are some photos of our water levels at POPPYS.  I will do my best to explain for the majority of you who have never seen our place in person.  A handful of you out there know very well what these pictures implicate.

 Above is a picture of our laundry area.  We no longer use that area because it has become our pool.  For a couple weeks the water level out of the drain covered about 3/4 of the cement (that would be the more green areas to the left and towards the back).  Even through some rains, the water level hadn’t changed much.  Well, Friday night brought a downpour that filled the entire laundry area and won’t go away.  Saturday night did the same and water has risen since we’ve taken these pictures.  Once it gets up over that ledge, it will be in our room.  Hopefully sandbags can help redirect the water.

 Here is a shot of the other end of the dorm building.  We wrote a blog about that back field sometime in September or October.  That would be the field where we had a fire that started getting out of control.  Now it is a lake.

 The water level has become a serious issue with our toilet usage.  Our pipes drain out openly way back into the back field, but now, thanks to equilibrium, we can’t drain out anywhere and our pipes could get dangerously backed up.  It has already begun.  I won’t go into much more detail.  We will just keep praying that the water starts going down soon.  At least hopefully it won’t continue to rise.

A Slithery Predator

This last Friday evening, as we were calling the girls to worship, I went to go turn on all of our outside lights. As I was heading into our upper building, something with orange caught my eye. After focusing in, a 3.5 foot coral snake came slowly into view. First thought: scream. Second thought: run. Third thought: kill it. Next thought: how? I found a canoe paddle in the corner and went after it. I got one good stab, but then ran around the corner because it came after me. Herkie hid behind my neck, I hid behind the paddle. After watching the snake attach a black garbage bag for a few minutes, and then slither off into a corner, Herkie and I decided to go get backup.

We went and got Casey, two machetes, and two flashlights. Herkie was left with his mother, because this was a man’s battle. We found the snake, agitated it enough so that now it wanted a piece of us face to face, and then fought it. It took a few minutes, some screams, and Casey’s precision accuracy with the machete to finally kill it, but we got it. This guy was definitely poisonous. We cut off its head, and played with its fangs enough to see the venom shooting out. God took care of us. The snake was hanging out where one of our workers lives, and where our night watchman sleeps… I mean sits. We were fortunate to find the snake before it found them. 

A Santo Tomas Dump Truck

In Iquitos, we probably have as many full size dump trucks as you can count on both hands. Those trucks however, do not go house to house or street to street. They just pick up the piles. The little trucks, like the one pictured below, do all the dirty work. They have a driver, and somehow manage to fit in a 2-3 man crew. And, from what we have seen, the strong majority is comprised of women. These motorcycle/trucks are more efficient, can go deeper into the jungle, and are more affordable. It is crazy to see these with a full load of garbage as well as a 2-3 people hanging all over. This is a photo of one picking up some trash out in Santo Tomas. 

A Meal in a Leaf--Beat that, Crunchwrap!

Juane (pronounced “who-on-ay”, for you super-gringos out there) is a cuisine of the jungle. This popular food is sold nightly by vendors in front of their houses. Everyone seems to know how to make it. Everyone loves to eat it.  It is quite tasty –depending on what surprise you get inside. Check out the process.

1)      You go pick giant leaves out of your back yard and heat them over a stove

2)       Fill leaves with flavored rice, chicken, eggs, and aceitunas (olives that kick you in the face –nothing at all like olives in the can).

3)      Tie the leaves up with a stringy-grass-also-from-your-backyard-thing.

4)      Boil the leaves for hours and hours.

5)      All done. Now you have an entire meal in a leaf.

Kelly and I really do enjoy eating this food. The only issue we have is when it comes to the chicken. Only after arriving down here, did we begin to realize how many pieces you can cut a chicken into. It is actually rather impressive –to watch, not eat. The girls, bless their little hearts, love, love to eat the legs and necks of the chickens. A 

few weeks ago, as a famished Aaron eagerly picked his prized Juane, he quickly untied the grass and came to a grave realization. Out of 35 Juanes, he landed one of the two with a foot. But it was not just one foot, but two feet. As the leaf unraveled, two feet were sticking out to say their farewells. What luck! He lost his appetite. Fortunate for him, he was able to fill up on Coca-Cola instead. You can never judge a Juane by its leaf…

A little Herkie video

This was a fun game that Herkie really enjoyed. It's not as cruel as it looks. He is jumping to get most of that height. He's so cool!

Yet another nasty, slimy, crawling, thing...

I do not know quite how to explain this, except that Lisa wanted to try it. She did not eat it; however, this picture is crazy. This bug was found in a tree on our property by one of our girls, and quickly became the main attraction. It was enormous. It had 6 legs up front, and nothing on the whole backside. It was a squishy, slow, and an ugly bug. Thought you might enjoy the photo.

Sarai Helps Cook

Occasionally, depending on what needs to be cooked, we use an open flame stove outside. Here we were cooking a type of drink made from Pineapple called Chicha Morada –made up of pineapple peels, corn flour, and lots of time. It is a long, tedious process. After hours of cooking, it sits for hours marinating. Sarai decided to dawn her cooks hat and try her hand at cooking -we have noticed her increased interest in helping as of lately, as she continues to grow up. This was an adorable photo we could not pass up. A gourmet cook might just be in her future...

Playhouse Completed!

With much thanks to Felix’s family, the playhouse is now completed. We have a beautiful thatched roof, making this jungle gym look a little more local, and natural. The girls, and kids, exceptionally love this structure. Last minute, we decided to add an additional partial floor (now 3 floors), allowing the girls to go even higher. They love hanging out up there. Our plans include having a hammock on one floor, and we are in the midst of treating most of the wood, but other than those two items, this thing in now completed (and within budget –how many projects can say that…).
In the future, we plan on making a slide (covered) out of wood, but we will need to raise some more money first. For now though, this playhouse is fun, unique, and fully functional. Thanks to all the people in Michigan, as well as the numerous volunteer groups that have assisted in the creation of this fortress. We out at POPPYS House are particularly grateful.

And, now we just added 3 hammocks. Woohoo! It is the place to relax.

Random Pictures

Marcos falls asleep in his high chair every lunch and supper...every time.  It just so happened that this time, his plate had a bunch of food on it.  I guess it could be like a pillow.
Ants are taking apart pieces of soap.  Ants take apart everything down here.  They are very helpful cleaners, if you want to be optimistic.  Leave anything out with the slightest hint of flavor or aroma (even wet shoes outside to dry) and it will be in a similar condition as this soap within minutes.
Big ugly bug.  Never seen it before and hope to never see it again.  It was a 6 a.m. surprise.  I think the dogs tried to eat it and got it very wounded...temporarily.  It was moving its head around.  Veronica wanted to hold it.  I wanted to erase it from my memory, personally.  This picture does not do justice to its terrifying size.  It was 10 times bigger than it looks.

Our beloved guacamayos (you might refer to them as mccaws?...something like that).  Since the passing of the man who took care of them next door, they have joined us on our side of the fence.  They were just taken away today...for good.  I actually will miss them, even though their squacks were unnecessarily loud, they would occasionally attack us, they ruined every coconut tree they hung out in and took out some of the roofing on the public bathrooms.  They were beautiful birds.  

Fighting with Charcoal

Here is a photo, and blog, that we could not pass up. We still have no idea what happened, or how he got access to the charcoal, but Marcos found a way. We took this photo as he was enroute to find his mother. He knew something went wrong. He knew that he was dirty, but had no idea what to do from there. Hooray for kids!

Kevin Starts School

It took some time, but we were blessed to find a school in town that could address, and teach, Kevin’s needs. This is just the program that he has needed. His learning curve has been a little slow due to some unfortunate circumstances in his past, but his desire to go to school is still rampant. School is simple.  Through its simplicity though, it makes it easier for him to learn. It allows him not only to grow mentally, but also in his growth of being able to be apart from his mother (something we never thought was possible). Although his mornings start early –he leaves Santo Tomas with his mother at 6 a.m. –he is still excited and eager to head to school every morning. He is able to eat a small breakfast every morning at school, and his mother packs him a lunch. Here he is in his nice uniform and backpack. He is completely ready to head to school. This picture says it all.

Ice Cream Comes to POPPYS House

Our second business is now underway. Through the profit that we made with the ice selling business, and a little help from Andrew Corson (down representing Walla Walla University doing micro-loans) through a loan, we were able to get a contract with an ice cream company. We now have our own, little machine and plenty of ice cream. Being only the second ice cream vendor in town –the other one being on the far side –we have an ample supply of business. We have already made enough to pay off the loan from Andrew.

Our idea is to have the girls run this endeavor by themselves, but we are a ways from reaching that goal. Right now, Olga, our oldest girl, has been devoting a little time throughout the day to sit and sell both ice and ice-cream. Business hours are not consistent, and with that our sales have also been inconsistent. This is a learning process. One in which the girls can actively take part and see (hopefully) that their investment is paying off (It is also a beautiful convenience for me and my ice-cream addiction. It has been fun, and costly, rationalizing how the more I purchase ice-cream, the more it helps the girls…). 

Medical, Dental and Soccer Care with Shenandoah Valley Academy

A youthful group of about 55, representing Shenandoah Valley Academy (Virginia), came to offer a helping hand with the People of Peru Project. We were fortunate to be apart of some of their side projects out at POPPYS House.

First, they brought a plethora of medicine, allowing them to treat many people –here they are working in Santo Tomas. People were lining (actually crowding, there are no such things as lines) to visit with the nurses and doctor.

 Secondly, a dentist was able to treat some of our girls. He was even able to take care of Angel’s front tooth issue –now allowing him to grow some new teeth. Here is a photo of him working on Ana Victoria –from the look of this photo; she was not scared at all. 

Thirdly, our girls, upon hearing that this group had some good, female, soccer players, challenged them to a game. It was comical to watch as two cultures and styles clashed upon the field, but in the end, the gringas (girls of Shenandoah) pulled away with a win. Our girls (Lisa and Kelly played as well) LOVED the interaction and opportunity to play. We even had a few of local people (kids really) that showed up for support and commenting.