


Our Peruvian Quest...
Captains log:
We have two goats that live adjacent to where we live. We have tried to put into words how they sound, but it just doesn’t give them justice. Here are two short video clips that show the two goats having drastically different sounds. One of them sounds normal, but the other sounds like it is dying. The dying one has awoken us many times in the night and early morning due to its annoying sound. Hear for yourselves…
We continue to have torrential downpours out here in the jungle. From what we have read, the worst is yet to come (January and February are notably the worst time of year). With all of the rain and electrical storms (the lightning and thunder are intense at times), our power goes out frequently. We have yet to have water enter into our room, however, water has/does go into the kitchen and dining hall. Here is a short video showing our new river; this literally popped up over night from all the rain. Word has it that with the rising water levels comes more snakes (Kelly is ecstatic) as well as some baby crocodiles.
Hey, remember my words on snakes? Well, a couple nights ago, Aaron and I were showering before bed and I noticed a little dude under our toilet (probably swam up the drain). I grabbed the machete we had in our room and had Aaron kill it. Then he finished his shower and we went to bed in peace. The girls say it was poisonous, but we’re learning they say everything is poisonous—even the toads we touch daily. So now we don’t know if it was or not. It had no red color so we couldn’t use the cool little poem. It was merely yellow and black. Oh well. I am sure that there will be more… grr…
The title makes it sound so scary. Really, it’s not that bad…yet. Rainy season is coming, waters rise (as you can see on the other blog about the river that appeared behind our place overnight) and apparently we get some extra wildlife with that. We will have to keep our grass cut, and, by the way, it grows like its on steroids, so that alligators don’t make little homes in them…or so that we can see them coming before they get to the sala. J As for the crocodiles, they are probably smaller and rarer than they sound.
Snakes…well, we’ve had a couple minor encounters, but I guess we could have some boa visits. A neighbor killed an anaconda at his place a couple weeks ago and came to us gringos to see if we wanted to buy it. We politely declined. I was never afraid of snakes…until now. Poison and the ability to swallow me whole play a role in my newfound fear.
For the ants, we have a little video. They don’t eat people, people like to eat them. Casey was catching them to feed to the monkeys and some of the girls and our grounds worker were telling us how delicious they were (only the butt part of the ant, not the whole thing). They fly and they are not tiny. One bit a girl and drew blood. Take a look.
A few weeks ago, an Adventist Book Fair came to town. We were able to find, and purchase some much needed items. One of which were some music/karaoke CD’s for the girls. The girls LOVE hearing the music, watching the video, and then singing along with the words as they appear on the screen. We have about 3-5 currently, but the girls listen to those over and over again until they drive you insane, and you sing them in your sleep (this literally happened to one of us). We purchased 4 new CD’s, and the girls are LOVING them. It felt a little weird to barter with the conference, but it paid off –we saved a few bucks from it.
Every morning we have worship with the girls. This past week we began going over end times and prophecy with the girls. Casey and Lisa brought an awesome Doug Bachelor CD from the States that gives detailed Bible study outlines on last day events. It’s a lot of information, especially since most of these girls were never Adventist before coming here (or still are not). We’ve only covered the tip of the iceberg, but the girls seem to be really interested and excited about the topic. Some have come to ask more questions about the Sabbath and others have asked about getting to know God and their Bible better. It’s been awesome and we could use all your prayers.
Here are two short videos, from two different locations, of where we live. Kelly gives a short little commentary with each video. Hopefully this will give you a better idea of the facility in which we live. It is a beautiful little paradise.
In Spanish, Sucia means dirty. This little dog lives up to her name. She literally eats anything, and is in to everything as well. She is still just a puppy, so it is hard to get frustrated at such a cute little dog. She is always in play mode, but always barking at anyone she does not recognize. She makes the best guard dog of all. She has the biggest bark, but has NO bite. Check out this video.
The other night Kelly and I were able to take Keyla out to dinner and give her an opportunity to spend some time in the city. We dined at the, “Yellow Rose of Texas.” This establishment is owned by a gentleman from Texas, and has incredible food for reasonable prices. This is also the gringo hang out. This restaurant is known for having great food among the American tourists. It felt good to sit, eat, and relax. After dinner, we headed over to a near by ice cream joint and indulged ourselves in some awesomeness. Here is a photo of Keyla and her humongous bowl of ice cream.
This last Saturday, October 18, we had a bunch of kids over for some social activities. This was originally for the pathfinders, but with our fires burning, blaring Christian music, and our gate open, neighboring kids were soon apart of the festivities as well. We played games, sang songs, socialized, and had an amazing time. We made two big bonfires, had prizes, some food, and over 80 kids. We even had some crazy drunk guy who thought Kelly was Russian wanting to come play with us. Here is a video, I hope that you can view it and it is not too dark.
Kelly and I have been spending more and more time teaching the girls English. This is a challenging task. We have so many rules, and then, we have so many contradictions. We have started small with questions like, “What is your name,” “How are you,” and my personal favorite, “Don’t bother me.” The girls are learning slowly. It works out nicely for me because they are spending more time teaching me Spanish during this whole process. The girls are starting to use more English in their everyday tasks.
It has been simple, but still an improvement from when we first arrived. They say, “Excuse me,” “How are you,” and “What time is it?”. It may sound simple, and not very exciting, but for us this is a beautiful beginning. The girls have full time English tutors, but have not taken advantage of it. It is exciting to see them branch out and not be afraid to try our challenging pronunciations and uniquely ruled vocabulary. The girls are showing growth, what more could you ask for?
Ironic story, the English teacher out here at Santo Tomas does not speak English. This is not meant to be rude, but makes our lives slightly more challenging. The girls have English class once a week for two hours, and work out of a workbook which is entirely in English –not the best learning environment. The education system has a severe lack of funding, staffing, and motivation.
The girls are required to complete homework which they do not understand. Our girls have a tremendous advantage, but are not required to practice conversation in class. The girls are also unable to bring home textbooks. Class is done on a chalkboard, problems and homework are copied down in a journal, and books are rarely used.
It is frustrating to see how education is treated down here. You never know when there is class. School could be canceled, a teacher may just decide to not show up, supervision is a joke (the gates are actually monitored by other students, not teachers or staff), and class gets out early frequently. Motivating the girls has been challenging due to the teachers having minimal motivation themselves. Our girls are performing well considering, but there is still more ground to cover.