Well, Charlie and I are just finishing our little three week stint of each teaching an English class at the mission's language institute. Our classes were an hour and a half long, five days a week with just a handful of students each. Still, we were surprised at how much time and energy it took to teach, prep, and grade. Charlie still has to write, give, and grade his final, but I gave my final today and will grade it over the weekend. Our classes have been in the afternoon when the kids are home from school and at two separate times, which was not ideal but we had not thought things through very well when we signed up. Consequently, it's been a little crazy the past few weeks.
We've both really enjoyed actually teaching though. I really don't have a problem standing up and telling people what to do! My problem has been swallowing my last bite of lunch and then grabbing my stuff and jumping into a taxi. (Actually, Charlie has been walking me out to the corner, calling my cab, and giving the driver directions. Then, he hands me in, shuts the door, and we wave good-bye. Dare I say romantic? It has been a new favorite time of the day!) It seems like a lot of these taxis don't have any shocks left and there's about a dozen speed bumps on the way out of our neighborhood. Plus, drivers here will do things like get in the left lane to make a right turn or brake for a speed bump after the front tires have gone over it. So, I've been eating a little less lunch every day, but that doesn't keep the food coma from hitting right in the middle of class. It's a little embarrassing to be falling asleep when you're teaching... Honestly, I don't think any of my students will miss me at all, though lots of them really build rapport with the American teachers. Charlie's students will probably remember him though--he's been a little more creative. And while he got his students into a discussion of the origin of the Eastern Orthodox Church, I ended up trying to explain the character "Puss-in-boots" from Shrek 2 to my class and being asked, "What's pussy?" That's what I get for sticking to the curriculum.
One of my other new favorite times of the day has been 5:00 when I run the kids out to the park for an hour or so. Peru Mission currently has four long-term families here in Trujillo. You can meet them all through their blogs at the mission's website. They all have at least a couple of kids, and there are almost always a gaggle of them ready to play late in the afternoon. The moms sit together, watching the littlest ones and catching up on the day. I am really enjoying getting to know these folks--they have a warm and real bond with each other that is Christ-centered, encouraging, and inviting. We have also had game night, women's Bible study, movie night ("Diary of a Mad Black Woman"), Easter Egg Hunt, birthday parties, and eating out together. Honestly, writing about the mission team here is hard for me being mindful of my audience. If you're reading in Peru, I'm writing about you, who I hope will be my friends--a little awkward. If you're reading in the States, I can't even write about the concept of community and friendship without thinking of all I've left behind.
Hmm. Let's end on not such a melancholy note. The last of the four watches that we brought from the States ran out of batteries last week. That made for three watches with dead batteries and one with a shifted face (hard to tell which numbers the hands were pointing to). Pretty ironic, especially since the last watch didn't just stop. No, it just slowly lost time over the weekend until we were unknowingly twenty minutes behind on Monday morning and they locked the doors to Madeleine's school when she was just half a block away. Charlie was seriously irritated, because the school was being especially hard-nosed. Madeleine only cared because she was missing math, which she can actually follow, but she got to go back to the apartment and then to the mercado with Lucia. This made them both happy. Later we found out that Madeleine ate food from a street vendor that morning. This is a highly discouraged practice for gringoes and on top of it the food offered to her was leche de tigre, a pickled fish. Anyway, we finally made it to the watch repair shop and now have all four functioning, plus the fifth that I bought when my watch first went down.
Speaking of four, Charlie and I have watched four randomly selected movies together since we arrived (not counting "Over the Hedge," "Cars," and "Fly Away Home"). None of them was set in the U.S. and they all included scenes of main characters stressed out in foreign surroundings. In the order that we viewed them: "Fearless" (probably better if you don't watch the black market version with laughable English subtitles), "Apocalypto" (this really made our South American experience seem like piece of cake), "One Night With the King" (the Esther movie), and "King Kong" (just outright painful in many ways). I think "Cars" and "Over the Hedge" won first and second place and I'm not sure anything came in third.
Update on the kids next. Hey Charlie, where is the next batch of photos?
Friday, April 27, 2007
Tuesday, April 10, 2007
Questions?
One of my good friends has been sending me get-to-know-you questionnaires over the past few months. I finally took the time to fill two of them out and thought you might be interested in some of the answers.
5. What did you have for breakfast? First breakfast was assorted cold cereals--Kellogg's cornflakes, Arroz Atomico, Angel Fibra, and some pretty hard and chewy muesli. We were trying to skip the church Easter breakfast at 7:30 so we could eat in our jammies, and then arrive for Easter service at 9:00. Whoever in the family it was who had the capability to understand announcements had clearly not been paying attention. We arrived just after 9:00, in time for communion at the end of the worship sevice and a second breakfast. Whoops and hmm again. Second breakfast was black coffee with lots of sugar. Charlie took away Elise's, citing Hammie from "Over the Hedge," but let the rest of our kids drink theirs. That gives you an idea of how everyone is doing. There were also tuna fish buns and buns and butter. Yum, tasted pretty good since we'd already eaten breakfast.
7. What is your favorite cuisine? New fave is Peruvian. Lots of old favorites including dimsum, Cogan's pizza, fusion that actually tastes good not just looks good...
8. What foods do you dislike? Pig ears and hen ovaries. I don't want to talk about it.
9. Your favorite Potato chip? I have never met a chip I didn't enjoy. Here there are many varieties that would be expensive back home, so that is also a new favorite. Sweet potato and thinly sliced banana chips! Lots of roasted crunchy corn, too.
10. What cd have you been listening to lately? Continuing my dad's tradition of waking up the family on Sunday mornings to praise music, Charlie woke us up this morning to Mormon Tabernacle Choir. Guess he figured we needed to rotate out the Red Mountain and Indelible Grace. We have loved our box set and are also intrigued by the random sample songs that seem to be spontaneously appearing in our Windows Media Player library at unpredictable intervals. Almost spooky. Really.
11. What kind of car do you drive? None--taxi! (or collectiva--a car that acts like a bus, or mini-bus, or a mototaxi--motorcycle rigged up to be a taxi.)
18. Favorite time of day? Falling asleep at night (as opposed to falling asleep during the day)
26. Pedicure or Manicure? Pedicure once a year. Right now my heels are charcoal gray, even after a shower.
27. Any new and exciting news you'd like to share? Teaching my first English class tomorrow.
36. Which store would you choose to max out your credit card? Right now, any grocery store that sells things in large packages. I would like to buy milk in a larger than one liter container.
2. What color are your socks right now? Charcoal gray on the heels. Oh, I'm not wearing socks.
3. What are you listening to right now? Intermittent traffic--almost all the vehicles have lost their shocks and are going over the speed bump in front of my apartment building. Earlier a car went by playing gangsta rap with the windows rolled down. Don't hear that too often. Madeleine said it reminded her of home.
6. If you were a crayon, what color would you be? charcoal gray
4. What was the last thing you ate? A lima, shaped like a clementine, colored like a grapefruit. Almost tasteless--citrus without tang or sweetness. Not a repeat purchase. Kind of like when I bought a cocona hoping for a persimmon, but ending up with a sour tomato. Not a good breakfast fruit.
24. When was the last time you cried? Teared up during "Ten thousand times ten thousand" which Charlie picked at the Sunday afternoon hymn/psalm sing-prayer time the missionaries have every week. "Knitting severed friendships up where partings are no more." Charlie looked like he was choking up which definitely pushed me over.
25. What is on the floor of your closet? Shoes and an interesting moisture removing gadget. Looks like a plastic container with white rocks on the top level--somehow moisture collects in the lower level. There's a centimeter already!
27. What did you do last night? Umm, filled out the 2007 version of this questionnaire.
28. Favorite smells. This month I really appreciate the clean laundry smell, as it's hard to maintain when your clothes hang dry inside for two days in a climate that requires moisture removing gadgets in the closets.
33. Number of keys on your key ring? I have an apartment key in the change compartment of my wallet.
34. How many years at your current job? 12 years as a mom, one day as an ESL teacher.
5. What did you have for breakfast? First breakfast was assorted cold cereals--Kellogg's cornflakes, Arroz Atomico, Angel Fibra, and some pretty hard and chewy muesli. We were trying to skip the church Easter breakfast at 7:30 so we could eat in our jammies, and then arrive for Easter service at 9:00. Whoever in the family it was who had the capability to understand announcements had clearly not been paying attention. We arrived just after 9:00, in time for communion at the end of the worship sevice and a second breakfast. Whoops and hmm again. Second breakfast was black coffee with lots of sugar. Charlie took away Elise's, citing Hammie from "Over the Hedge," but let the rest of our kids drink theirs. That gives you an idea of how everyone is doing. There were also tuna fish buns and buns and butter. Yum, tasted pretty good since we'd already eaten breakfast.
7. What is your favorite cuisine? New fave is Peruvian. Lots of old favorites including dimsum, Cogan's pizza, fusion that actually tastes good not just looks good...
8. What foods do you dislike? Pig ears and hen ovaries. I don't want to talk about it.
9. Your favorite Potato chip? I have never met a chip I didn't enjoy. Here there are many varieties that would be expensive back home, so that is also a new favorite. Sweet potato and thinly sliced banana chips! Lots of roasted crunchy corn, too.
10. What cd have you been listening to lately? Continuing my dad's tradition of waking up the family on Sunday mornings to praise music, Charlie woke us up this morning to Mormon Tabernacle Choir. Guess he figured we needed to rotate out the Red Mountain and Indelible Grace. We have loved our box set and are also intrigued by the random sample songs that seem to be spontaneously appearing in our Windows Media Player library at unpredictable intervals. Almost spooky. Really.
11. What kind of car do you drive? None--taxi! (or collectiva--a car that acts like a bus, or mini-bus, or a mototaxi--motorcycle rigged up to be a taxi.)
18. Favorite time of day? Falling asleep at night (as opposed to falling asleep during the day)
26. Pedicure or Manicure? Pedicure once a year. Right now my heels are charcoal gray, even after a shower.
27. Any new and exciting news you'd like to share? Teaching my first English class tomorrow.
36. Which store would you choose to max out your credit card? Right now, any grocery store that sells things in large packages. I would like to buy milk in a larger than one liter container.
2. What color are your socks right now? Charcoal gray on the heels. Oh, I'm not wearing socks.
3. What are you listening to right now? Intermittent traffic--almost all the vehicles have lost their shocks and are going over the speed bump in front of my apartment building. Earlier a car went by playing gangsta rap with the windows rolled down. Don't hear that too often. Madeleine said it reminded her of home.
6. If you were a crayon, what color would you be? charcoal gray
4. What was the last thing you ate? A lima, shaped like a clementine, colored like a grapefruit. Almost tasteless--citrus without tang or sweetness. Not a repeat purchase. Kind of like when I bought a cocona hoping for a persimmon, but ending up with a sour tomato. Not a good breakfast fruit.
24. When was the last time you cried? Teared up during "Ten thousand times ten thousand" which Charlie picked at the Sunday afternoon hymn/psalm sing-prayer time the missionaries have every week. "Knitting severed friendships up where partings are no more." Charlie looked like he was choking up which definitely pushed me over.
25. What is on the floor of your closet? Shoes and an interesting moisture removing gadget. Looks like a plastic container with white rocks on the top level--somehow moisture collects in the lower level. There's a centimeter already!
27. What did you do last night? Umm, filled out the 2007 version of this questionnaire.
28. Favorite smells. This month I really appreciate the clean laundry smell, as it's hard to maintain when your clothes hang dry inside for two days in a climate that requires moisture removing gadgets in the closets.
33. Number of keys on your key ring? I have an apartment key in the change compartment of my wallet.
34. How many years at your current job? 12 years as a mom, one day as an ESL teacher.
The Kids Speak
Thomas: When I went to Lima I went on a airplane I got to sit next to the window. On the seat in front of you on the airplane there is a tray clipped on for you to eat on
P.S. My loose tooth came out.
Elise: There are a lot more poor and/or homeless people here than in Norfolk, and they try to sell you everything from towels to watermelons. You often pass people merely sitting on the sidewalk holding up a cup as you go by. At stoplights people come to the car windows selling candy, begging or even juggling knives.
Thomas: Ther is a lizard in my bedroom and we took a pickchr of it.
Elise: School is GREAT,and all the kids are nice so far. I have a new friend named Luz (which means light in Spanish) who is really nice. There is also a Canadian girl named Emma. Her family is down here because they're missionarys. She comes to school every Tuesday so then I get a nice break from Spanish. All of my teachers are really nice. I miss everyone back at home and at church so much but I am still enjoying Peru.
Madeleine: We have the rest of the week off, because it's Holy Week. Easter is bigger here than the holidays. We saw a parade on Tuesday, showing the 12 stages of the cross. We didn't stay for all of it, though. We passed a shrine to Mary, and Daddy said, "Look, Diana of the Ephesians!" (You can say things like this without offending them, because they don't understand you)
Paul: [Once I offered to type for him, he had a lot to say.] We went on a field trip to the orphanage yesterday. At the orphanage I got sunburned the most. We got to walk down sand dunes and slide down the drifts.
Thomas got a ball for his birthday. He also got a small foosball table top.
The girls' bedroom door got locked and we couldn't get it open for quite a while.
The first time we went to the plaza we saw a man standing on a block. In front of him was a lantern to put money in. And he had painted his face and clothes silver so that he looked kind of like a robot. When he moved he would squeak! When you put money in the lantern, he would shake your hand. Sometimes he wouldn't let go. Sometimes when you weren't looking he would pull out a fake gun and point it at you. It startled me. At the end he pulled a ticket out of his pocket to hand to you but then he would keep moving it just out of your reach. When you finally got hold of it, you had to pull really hard to get it out from between his fingers. While he was waiting for someone to put money in his lantern he would walk in place on top of his block.
Thomas: [I typed for Thomas, too.] For my birthday I got a red ball with a strawberry on it and it smelled like strawberry. We were at the park and we kicked it up against a cactus and it popped. We got another ball and the same day we got it, it popped. It had Winnie-the-Pooh on it but it didn't smell. And it was blue. Well, actually, it was purple.
We were at a restaurant with our friends and outside we saw a lady selling white bunnies for Easter.
There is lots of dogs in Trujillo. In our apartment building there is a terrier who lives upstairs and he is black and little and fuzzy. You can hear him running upstairs. I think it sounds like a piano but instead of strings it has straw. [my note: all you can hear are the dog's nails skittering across the tile.] There is lots of guard dogs and they are a little bit dangerous. If you get too close to them, they'll try to get you.
You have to wear a uniform for school. I have to do a lot of coloring in my room.
We went to somebody's house and went on top of the roof and we saw a pet monkey in somebody's back yard.
Paul: P.S. The cement is really slick here. You can skate on the sidewalks in your regular shoes.
Madeleine: Finding a piano was just like buying one: we prayed that God would help us find a piano for me to practice on, and soon afterwards, a family said they had one I could use! I have only practiced twice so far, but I think I will be able to practice about once a week from now on.
Elise: Peru is really cool. A couple weeks ago we went to Huanchaco and walked along thd beach.Then we walked around on a dock. There were lots of people fishing on it,and most of them were pulling in fish.There were lots of kinds of fish. There were long, short, fat, thin, big and small fish. After that we went to a restaurant where we ate a whole fish!
In Peru there are tons of dogs wandering around the streets, both strays and pets. Most of them are mixed-breeds and they all look interesting. There are also many cats.We all went to Chan Chan where we saw a hairless Peruvian dog. It was pretty gross. The funny thing was that it just had a little bit of hair on the top of its head.
Paul: A couple of weeks ago you asked me about school. Well, there aren't any real bullies, but there is one boy who's not exactly nice. He pushes his way to the front of the line to the door while we're waiting for the teacher. He usually has a big suitcase too. The teacher is very nice and sometimes I understand what she says but usually not. My favorite class is English class. The English teacher is really nice too and speaks quite a bit of English. Another class that I really like is P.E. In P.E. we all go to the gym and do somersaults and cartwheels and headstands and stuff like that. And I have three friends in school. One girl is named Damaris and two boys--Luis and Juan Carlos. They're all seven years old. On Wednesday we had a field trip to the orphanage and played lots of fun games like one where we stood in a line holding cups and the person at the back of the line walked to a bucket of water and waited for the teacher to say "uno, dos, tres." Then he would fill up his cup from the bucket and then pour it into the next person's cup who would pour it into the next cup. When it reached the person in front of the line, the person at the back of the line would run back to the bucket until the bucket was empty. We won second place.
We have a housemaid for our house. She usually makes big lunches after school. Once she bought a chicken with an egg and some yolks in it and she made chicken soup with it. She also bought a whole bunch of big eggs and they all had double yolks.
Elise: I really like Peru so far. Our apartment is really nice exept for the fact that almost every Saturday night our crazy neighbors (I think they rent out their lawn for people to have parties on or something) start playing music at about 5:30 P.M.[my note: they actually start around 10-11 PM] and then gradualy increase the volume or something so by 8:30 it sounds like someone has the radio on, full blast just outside your bedroom door! They keep this up until about 5:00 A.M. Aparently that sort of thing is acceptable.
Thankfuly school is really great ... All of the teachers are very kind and understanding. One of my teachers is named Miss Monica (but the kids in my class pronounce it "Mees Moeneeca") she is really nice. Whenever she says something that the class doesn't like, they all yell, "NOOOO MEEEEEEEES!!!!!!"
A lady named Lucia comes 6 days a week. She washes our clothes (by hand), cleans the bathroom and scrubs the floor. (She also cooks our lunch) Lucia is very short, like many of the people here. (She is only about as tall as me)
Even though I like Peru, I am really looking forward to the end of May when I get to come home.
Madeleine: Since we keep our windows open way more often ,there are tons of mosquitos.Each night before bed, we have a mosquito hunt.As no one wants to scrape the dead mosquitos off the walls,each room has several old,new,dry ,and fresh pressed mosquitos on the walls.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
If you're still reading, I've got a couple little stories about language acquisition. Charlie has a little drill that he does with the kids almost every day, "[in Spanish] Yesterday was Sunday, today is Monday, tomorrow will be Tuesday." So most of us have the days of the week down pretty well. Additionally, Thomas' class, mostly four year olds turning five, is covering basics like the days of the week pretty thoroughly.
So, last night I was reading a devotional with the children, "'When Jesus came to earth the angels in heaven sang for joy. One of them came down to earth to tell some shepherds that they could find Jesus, God's Son, in a stable! He was a baby then. Do you know what that day was?' Thomas?"
Thomas replied, "Uhh, I can't think of how to say it in English. All I can think of is the Spanish word..."
"Okay, just tell us in Spanish."
"Uhh, martes...[Tuesday]"
Don't know where that came from, but speaking of martes, here's the potty humor. Feel free to skip the rest of the post if you're sensitive about flatulence. Now, keep in mind that though everyone in the family has been known to pass gas with questionably timed execution, we never joke about it or even comment much, unless to give a mildly shaming admonishment. So, this past Tuesday night while Charlie was turning out the light of the girls' bedroom, he was drilling them and concurrently using his own natureopathic method of fumigating mosquitos, "[Yesterday was Monday, today is...] Ayer fue lunes, hoy es..."
Elise interrupted, "[Today is...] Hoy es...FARTES!"
P.S. My loose tooth came out.
Elise: There are a lot more poor and/or homeless people here than in Norfolk, and they try to sell you everything from towels to watermelons. You often pass people merely sitting on the sidewalk holding up a cup as you go by. At stoplights people come to the car windows selling candy, begging or even juggling knives.
Thomas: Ther is a lizard in my bedroom and we took a pickchr of it.
Elise: School is GREAT,and all the kids are nice so far. I have a new friend named Luz (which means light in Spanish) who is really nice. There is also a Canadian girl named Emma. Her family is down here because they're missionarys. She comes to school every Tuesday so then I get a nice break from Spanish. All of my teachers are really nice. I miss everyone back at home and at church so much but I am still enjoying Peru.
Madeleine: We have the rest of the week off, because it's Holy Week. Easter is bigger here than the holidays. We saw a parade on Tuesday, showing the 12 stages of the cross. We didn't stay for all of it, though. We passed a shrine to Mary, and Daddy said, "Look, Diana of the Ephesians!" (You can say things like this without offending them, because they don't understand you)
Paul: [Once I offered to type for him, he had a lot to say.] We went on a field trip to the orphanage yesterday. At the orphanage I got sunburned the most. We got to walk down sand dunes and slide down the drifts.
Thomas got a ball for his birthday. He also got a small foosball table top.
The girls' bedroom door got locked and we couldn't get it open for quite a while.
The first time we went to the plaza we saw a man standing on a block. In front of him was a lantern to put money in. And he had painted his face and clothes silver so that he looked kind of like a robot. When he moved he would squeak! When you put money in the lantern, he would shake your hand. Sometimes he wouldn't let go. Sometimes when you weren't looking he would pull out a fake gun and point it at you. It startled me. At the end he pulled a ticket out of his pocket to hand to you but then he would keep moving it just out of your reach. When you finally got hold of it, you had to pull really hard to get it out from between his fingers. While he was waiting for someone to put money in his lantern he would walk in place on top of his block.
Thomas: [I typed for Thomas, too.] For my birthday I got a red ball with a strawberry on it and it smelled like strawberry. We were at the park and we kicked it up against a cactus and it popped. We got another ball and the same day we got it, it popped. It had Winnie-the-Pooh on it but it didn't smell. And it was blue. Well, actually, it was purple.
We were at a restaurant with our friends and outside we saw a lady selling white bunnies for Easter.
There is lots of dogs in Trujillo. In our apartment building there is a terrier who lives upstairs and he is black and little and fuzzy. You can hear him running upstairs. I think it sounds like a piano but instead of strings it has straw. [my note: all you can hear are the dog's nails skittering across the tile.] There is lots of guard dogs and they are a little bit dangerous. If you get too close to them, they'll try to get you.
You have to wear a uniform for school. I have to do a lot of coloring in my room.
We went to somebody's house and went on top of the roof and we saw a pet monkey in somebody's back yard.
Paul: P.S. The cement is really slick here. You can skate on the sidewalks in your regular shoes.
Madeleine: Finding a piano was just like buying one: we prayed that God would help us find a piano for me to practice on, and soon afterwards, a family said they had one I could use! I have only practiced twice so far, but I think I will be able to practice about once a week from now on.
Elise: Peru is really cool. A couple weeks ago we went to Huanchaco and walked along thd beach.Then we walked around on a dock. There were lots of people fishing on it,and most of them were pulling in fish.There were lots of kinds of fish. There were long, short, fat, thin, big and small fish. After that we went to a restaurant where we ate a whole fish!
In Peru there are tons of dogs wandering around the streets, both strays and pets. Most of them are mixed-breeds and they all look interesting. There are also many cats.We all went to Chan Chan where we saw a hairless Peruvian dog. It was pretty gross. The funny thing was that it just had a little bit of hair on the top of its head.
Paul: A couple of weeks ago you asked me about school. Well, there aren't any real bullies, but there is one boy who's not exactly nice. He pushes his way to the front of the line to the door while we're waiting for the teacher. He usually has a big suitcase too. The teacher is very nice and sometimes I understand what she says but usually not. My favorite class is English class. The English teacher is really nice too and speaks quite a bit of English. Another class that I really like is P.E. In P.E. we all go to the gym and do somersaults and cartwheels and headstands and stuff like that. And I have three friends in school. One girl is named Damaris and two boys--Luis and Juan Carlos. They're all seven years old. On Wednesday we had a field trip to the orphanage and played lots of fun games like one where we stood in a line holding cups and the person at the back of the line walked to a bucket of water and waited for the teacher to say "uno, dos, tres." Then he would fill up his cup from the bucket and then pour it into the next person's cup who would pour it into the next cup. When it reached the person in front of the line, the person at the back of the line would run back to the bucket until the bucket was empty. We won second place.
We have a housemaid for our house. She usually makes big lunches after school. Once she bought a chicken with an egg and some yolks in it and she made chicken soup with it. She also bought a whole bunch of big eggs and they all had double yolks.
Elise: I really like Peru so far. Our apartment is really nice exept for the fact that almost every Saturday night our crazy neighbors (I think they rent out their lawn for people to have parties on or something) start playing music at about 5:30 P.M.[my note: they actually start around 10-11 PM] and then gradualy increase the volume or something so by 8:30 it sounds like someone has the radio on, full blast just outside your bedroom door! They keep this up until about 5:00 A.M. Aparently that sort of thing is acceptable.
Thankfuly school is really great ... All of the teachers are very kind and understanding. One of my teachers is named Miss Monica (but the kids in my class pronounce it "Mees Moeneeca") she is really nice. Whenever she says something that the class doesn't like, they all yell, "NOOOO MEEEEEEEES!!!!!!"
A lady named Lucia comes 6 days a week. She washes our clothes (by hand), cleans the bathroom and scrubs the floor. (She also cooks our lunch) Lucia is very short, like many of the people here. (She is only about as tall as me)
Even though I like Peru, I am really looking forward to the end of May when I get to come home.
Madeleine: Since we keep our windows open way more often ,there are tons of mosquitos.Each night before bed, we have a mosquito hunt.As no one wants to scrape the dead mosquitos off the walls,each room has several old,new,dry ,and fresh pressed mosquitos on the walls.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
If you're still reading, I've got a couple little stories about language acquisition. Charlie has a little drill that he does with the kids almost every day, "[in Spanish] Yesterday was Sunday, today is Monday, tomorrow will be Tuesday." So most of us have the days of the week down pretty well. Additionally, Thomas' class, mostly four year olds turning five, is covering basics like the days of the week pretty thoroughly.
So, last night I was reading a devotional with the children, "'When Jesus came to earth the angels in heaven sang for joy. One of them came down to earth to tell some shepherds that they could find Jesus, God's Son, in a stable! He was a baby then. Do you know what that day was?' Thomas?"
Thomas replied, "Uhh, I can't think of how to say it in English. All I can think of is the Spanish word..."
"Okay, just tell us in Spanish."
"Uhh, martes...[Tuesday]"
Don't know where that came from, but speaking of martes, here's the potty humor. Feel free to skip the rest of the post if you're sensitive about flatulence. Now, keep in mind that though everyone in the family has been known to pass gas with questionably timed execution, we never joke about it or even comment much, unless to give a mildly shaming admonishment. So, this past Tuesday night while Charlie was turning out the light of the girls' bedroom, he was drilling them and concurrently using his own natureopathic method of fumigating mosquitos, "[Yesterday was Monday, today is...] Ayer fue lunes, hoy es..."
Elise interrupted, "[Today is...] Hoy es...FARTES!"
The Kids Are In School!
How are the children adjusting to being in school? Well, besides having to learn Spanish, the hardest part about school for them is getting up at 6 AM! School starts early here for everyone except pre-schoolers and kindergarteners--even the language institute offers classes at 7:30 AM. This way school ends in time for students to make it home for lunch. [Lunch is a little later, typically 1:00 or 1:30, and is a large meal followed by down time. Dinner is a snack or very late if it's going to be another real meal. Restuarants (not cafes, which stay open all day) open at 7 PM. Thus, the city gets pretty busy again in the evening.] Thomas gets picked up a little late and the others a little early so that we can collect everyone at once at 1:00.
All the schoolkids and the teachers have been very nice, warm, patient, and accomodating, but I have to say that this school is not a quaint, little, third-world school with tiny classes and few resources like I had imagined. The Colegio Cristiano Elliot, named for Jim Elliot by his brother Bert, has around 200 students, 3 years old through high school, and probably as many rules, regulations, procedures, and forms. Education in general is a very serious business in Peru, and this school is no exception. There are many, many private schools and institutes. Everything at the school starts on time, and lots of parental involvement is expected. As homeschooling parents used to a high degree of autonomy, Charlie and I have also had to adapt. I must say that, knowing this to be only a temporary arrangement, I have been able to really let go of the kids and their education for the morning and have been enjoying helping with homework and packing snacks. Also, the children don't have all the educational expectations they would encounter at a private school in the States; it's understood that they're focusing on picking up the language.
Interesting cultural note: the bathrooms have no toilet paper, soap, toilet seats, or towels. Charlie found this completely alarming and was arming each child with toilet paper every morning. Eventually, we realized that the students are supposed to ask the teacher for toilet paper before leaving for the bathroom and that towels and soap are personal supplies that each student owns. Still not sure about the toilet seats. A lot of public restrooms don't have them either.
The kids have been forthcoming with their thoughts on attending school in a foreign country. Some of their more amusing comments were in the first couple weeks. The boys both got in touch with their negative sides, though this was just before I realized they were both coming down with Madeleine's fever/cold. Paul--"I learned some Spanish today. I know how to say 'Stop bothering me!'" Charlie told him he wasn't allowed to use this phrase though. It seems some boys were just trying to get him to play with them. Thomas--"I don't like being with people who don't speak my language!" Imagine him, elbows on the table, disgruntled expression on the face cupped in his hands, pushing his glasses up. He fell asleep right on the table after eating his supper.
Madeleine remarked near the end of the second week, "I feel like the class pet. People like to pat me on the head, and one girl likes to stroke my cheek." Some of you may know that Madeleine does not enjoy being the focus of attention and does like to have some personal space. Elise chimed in that everyone likes to crowd around her desk after a quiz and check her score. If it's high, this creates a buzz of excitement among the other students. I guess that would make Elise the idiot savant. She can't speak the language, (though you can imagine how much she communicates by pantomime), and her handwriting is terrible, especially compared to her classmates who all learned cursive quite early. Actually, both girls seem to be able to help out during English class a lot, circulating around the room and answering questions about seatwork, almost like TA's. They both enjoy this--I'm sure it feels good to be capable at something!
As of this week, I can say that we're adapting to the early wake up. Nobody has asked to stay home from school yet and everyone is progressing in language acquisition, at least a little bit.
Coming next: quotes from the kids' letters, more photos, and a little bathroom humor.
All the schoolkids and the teachers have been very nice, warm, patient, and accomodating, but I have to say that this school is not a quaint, little, third-world school with tiny classes and few resources like I had imagined. The Colegio Cristiano Elliot, named for Jim Elliot by his brother Bert, has around 200 students, 3 years old through high school, and probably as many rules, regulations, procedures, and forms. Education in general is a very serious business in Peru, and this school is no exception. There are many, many private schools and institutes. Everything at the school starts on time, and lots of parental involvement is expected. As homeschooling parents used to a high degree of autonomy, Charlie and I have also had to adapt. I must say that, knowing this to be only a temporary arrangement, I have been able to really let go of the kids and their education for the morning and have been enjoying helping with homework and packing snacks. Also, the children don't have all the educational expectations they would encounter at a private school in the States; it's understood that they're focusing on picking up the language.
Interesting cultural note: the bathrooms have no toilet paper, soap, toilet seats, or towels. Charlie found this completely alarming and was arming each child with toilet paper every morning. Eventually, we realized that the students are supposed to ask the teacher for toilet paper before leaving for the bathroom and that towels and soap are personal supplies that each student owns. Still not sure about the toilet seats. A lot of public restrooms don't have them either.
The kids have been forthcoming with their thoughts on attending school in a foreign country. Some of their more amusing comments were in the first couple weeks. The boys both got in touch with their negative sides, though this was just before I realized they were both coming down with Madeleine's fever/cold. Paul--"I learned some Spanish today. I know how to say 'Stop bothering me!'" Charlie told him he wasn't allowed to use this phrase though. It seems some boys were just trying to get him to play with them. Thomas--"I don't like being with people who don't speak my language!" Imagine him, elbows on the table, disgruntled expression on the face cupped in his hands, pushing his glasses up. He fell asleep right on the table after eating his supper.
Madeleine remarked near the end of the second week, "I feel like the class pet. People like to pat me on the head, and one girl likes to stroke my cheek." Some of you may know that Madeleine does not enjoy being the focus of attention and does like to have some personal space. Elise chimed in that everyone likes to crowd around her desk after a quiz and check her score. If it's high, this creates a buzz of excitement among the other students. I guess that would make Elise the idiot savant. She can't speak the language, (though you can imagine how much she communicates by pantomime), and her handwriting is terrible, especially compared to her classmates who all learned cursive quite early. Actually, both girls seem to be able to help out during English class a lot, circulating around the room and answering questions about seatwork, almost like TA's. They both enjoy this--I'm sure it feels good to be capable at something!
As of this week, I can say that we're adapting to the early wake up. Nobody has asked to stay home from school yet and everyone is progressing in language acquisition, at least a little bit.
Coming next: quotes from the kids' letters, more photos, and a little bathroom humor.
Thursday, April 5, 2007
Where in the world are the Gibsons?
I know it's been a while since I've posted but this one is worth waiting for. Two weeks ago I was using Google Maps to try to figure out the layout of the city (maps are not easy to come by) and I was thinking, "it sure would be cool if I could put points on these satellite photos for our friends to see where we are." Then today I got an email from Isaac Spencer where he did just that for the stops his ship is making. So I whipped a map up for us. Here it is! It has some key sites from the Gibson Odyssey thus far. I'll add more as I think of them. I'll add pictures later. Let me know what you think.
Sunday, April 1, 2007
Learning Spanish
Within the first week of arriving, I'd already had my share of language mix-ups. Instead of "Merpisa" (the local supermarket chain), I came out with "mariposa" (butterfly), and instead of "empleada"
(employee, i.e. Lucia), all I could pull up was "empanada" (meat bun). I'm also prone to resorting to French, which after four years of high school drilling, makes up most of my brain's foreign language compartment. This is especially for little words like "okay," "here," "there," "maybe," "nothing," or at the end of a Spanish phrase that has a French sounding word. Thus, "would you repeat" seems like it should end "podrias repetir, s'il vous plait!" Hmm, that's not right--how about "podrias repetir, por favor."
All to say, I have enjoyed Charlie's little mistakes--telling Lucia's husband that she should take the medicine every "ocho anos" instead of "ocho horas." Eight years instead of eight hours! Another day when we were looking for a place to buy light bulbs, we stopped to ask directions from some nice young jewelry vendors. Charlie asked them to speak more slowly and they bemusedly complied, directing him to turn at the "pared a Maria." "The wall to Mary? The wall to Mary??" Charlie looked at me confused. As if I would actually know anything, I replied without hesitation, "Sure, it's a Catholic country, the wall to Mary...we'll find it, let's go!" Wisely, Charlie asked them to repeat again and they did patiently, and in great amusement. Then Charlie heard his mistake. "Ah! Pared amarilla--yellow wall!" I guess sometimes more slowly can be too slowly.
I must say that at times it feels like my Spanish is getting worse, but I think it's partly because I'm attempting more. Sometimes, there just is so much I want to say and I feel like I almost know how! The first time I took a cab by myself, knowing everything I needed to get where I was going, I eagerly addressed the driver and ended my directions with a bunch of garbled words. He was so taken aback that he didn't even reply, but just waited for me to compose myself and attempt a repeat. I am a mumbler by nature which doesn't help. Indoors tends to be echo-ey with all the tile, cement and outdoor noises from the open windows, and outside is just, well, noisy. There are no monthly inspections or vehicle emissions tests, so riding in a taxi can be quite loud. Anyway, another time I tried to take a cab to the 1200 (doce ciento--twelve hundred) block for church. The driver took me to the 260 block (dos sesenta) and the whole way I was trying to figure out how to say I thought we were going the wrong way.
All to say, I was really glad to start official Spanish lessons last week. I am being tutored for one hour, four mornings a week with Noemi, the pastor's wife from the Arevalo church (more on the three parishes later). She is gentle, but precise, and somewhat formal during lessons. I feel like I would be very embarassed (not to be confused with embarazada--pregnant) to show up without my homework completed. Therefore, it's time to go do some conjugations!
(employee, i.e. Lucia), all I could pull up was "empanada" (meat bun). I'm also prone to resorting to French, which after four years of high school drilling, makes up most of my brain's foreign language compartment. This is especially for little words like "okay," "here," "there," "maybe," "nothing," or at the end of a Spanish phrase that has a French sounding word. Thus, "would you repeat" seems like it should end "podrias repetir, s'il vous plait!" Hmm, that's not right--how about "podrias repetir, por favor."
All to say, I have enjoyed Charlie's little mistakes--telling Lucia's husband that she should take the medicine every "ocho anos" instead of "ocho horas." Eight years instead of eight hours! Another day when we were looking for a place to buy light bulbs, we stopped to ask directions from some nice young jewelry vendors. Charlie asked them to speak more slowly and they bemusedly complied, directing him to turn at the "pared a Maria." "The wall to Mary? The wall to Mary??" Charlie looked at me confused. As if I would actually know anything, I replied without hesitation, "Sure, it's a Catholic country, the wall to Mary...we'll find it, let's go!" Wisely, Charlie asked them to repeat again and they did patiently, and in great amusement. Then Charlie heard his mistake. "Ah! Pared amarilla--yellow wall!" I guess sometimes more slowly can be too slowly.
I must say that at times it feels like my Spanish is getting worse, but I think it's partly because I'm attempting more. Sometimes, there just is so much I want to say and I feel like I almost know how! The first time I took a cab by myself, knowing everything I needed to get where I was going, I eagerly addressed the driver and ended my directions with a bunch of garbled words. He was so taken aback that he didn't even reply, but just waited for me to compose myself and attempt a repeat. I am a mumbler by nature which doesn't help. Indoors tends to be echo-ey with all the tile, cement and outdoor noises from the open windows, and outside is just, well, noisy. There are no monthly inspections or vehicle emissions tests, so riding in a taxi can be quite loud. Anyway, another time I tried to take a cab to the 1200 (doce ciento--twelve hundred) block for church. The driver took me to the 260 block (dos sesenta) and the whole way I was trying to figure out how to say I thought we were going the wrong way.
All to say, I was really glad to start official Spanish lessons last week. I am being tutored for one hour, four mornings a week with Noemi, the pastor's wife from the Arevalo church (more on the three parishes later). She is gentle, but precise, and somewhat formal during lessons. I feel like I would be very embarassed (not to be confused with embarazada--pregnant) to show up without my homework completed. Therefore, it's time to go do some conjugations!
Friday, March 30, 2007
More pictures!
http://picasaweb.google.com/cnrgibson/March2007InTrujillo
Here are some more photos, many of them taken by Andy Sumpter--one of the sons of our pastor when we lived in Maryland and Alaska. He´s been here sightseeing, helping, and checking out Peru Mission this week. A lot of places he and Charlie visited while the kids were in school. Our brand-new camera battery is faulty, so it´s been nice to have Andy acting as the group photographer. I tried to get a shot of Thomas´bulletin board this morning on my own for everyone to see, but the battery was depleted! The class is studying parts of the body, and there have been a three foot high naked cartoon boy and girl on the white board for a week and a half. This is a Christian private school, but evidently, some curriculum is mandatory for the country.
Big news this week, besides Andy´s visit. We found that our payment to the phone company kicked in and now we can dial out local numbers. This came just in time as Andrea, Lucia´s daughter, locked the girls´bedroom door and we could not get it unlocked (the first locksmith also failed). We used our neighbors´ phone a few times, but they had company and it was getting late, so we gave our phone a try and--hooray! Also, Charlie found that he was able to get a wireless connection in the apartment, at least for yesterday and this morning! God hears all our prayers.
Here are some more photos, many of them taken by Andy Sumpter--one of the sons of our pastor when we lived in Maryland and Alaska. He´s been here sightseeing, helping, and checking out Peru Mission this week. A lot of places he and Charlie visited while the kids were in school. Our brand-new camera battery is faulty, so it´s been nice to have Andy acting as the group photographer. I tried to get a shot of Thomas´bulletin board this morning on my own for everyone to see, but the battery was depleted! The class is studying parts of the body, and there have been a three foot high naked cartoon boy and girl on the white board for a week and a half. This is a Christian private school, but evidently, some curriculum is mandatory for the country.
Big news this week, besides Andy´s visit. We found that our payment to the phone company kicked in and now we can dial out local numbers. This came just in time as Andrea, Lucia´s daughter, locked the girls´bedroom door and we could not get it unlocked (the first locksmith also failed). We used our neighbors´ phone a few times, but they had company and it was getting late, so we gave our phone a try and--hooray! Also, Charlie found that he was able to get a wireless connection in the apartment, at least for yesterday and this morning! God hears all our prayers.
Monday, March 26, 2007
Lucia, continued
Well, we´ll see how this entry goes. I´m back close to home now at the Sticky Keyboard Internet Cafe which has a new feature--timers on the computer. I´m a pretty slow and inaccurate typist and the Spanish keyboards seem to have significant rearrangements on top of it all. I´m not sure what happens when time runs out and I only brought enough money for half an hour!
Anyways, to continue, Lucia has been a big part of my life the past two weeks in her presence and absence. First of all, I´m not used to having someone in my ¨space¨all day. Also, we´ve been a little isolated with the kids in school all morning and some of them sick the first two and a half weeks. The missions team here had their hands full with an RUF team of 24 from the States and some of the families have had sick kids as well. Since I wasn´t teaching English or taking Spanish yet, I took the time to go to the mercado with Lucia three times (she´s a pretty shrewd shopper) and to ask her for a lot of vocabulary. She´s been very indulgent and patient, but since I´ve started lessons, I´ve discovered, too indulgent. She´s let pass some significant mispronunciations!
One of the things that amazes me about Lucia is that she is only twenty years old! She is married and has a three and a half year old daughter. They are members of the mission church. Lucia usually works full-time cleaning the main mission building where the language institute, seminary, college ministry, and administrative offices are housed. I think she is enjoying being on loan to us. She said that the work is not as hard and she loves to cook. She´s definitely used to hard work though. Apparently she first started working at eight years old! Her mistress beat her for not washing the dishes properly, so she stopped working and didn´t take another job until she was ten. That employer taught her a lot, including how to read and iron. She said that when she was pregnant she would spend four hours a day walking around the city with her mother, gathering recyclables from the trash for money.
Well, time to go again--I ran out of time at Sticky Keyboard yesterday and am finishing up at the nice internet store near the kids´school this morning. Both times I checked email first, so I ran out of time. More photos to come!!
Anyways, to continue, Lucia has been a big part of my life the past two weeks in her presence and absence. First of all, I´m not used to having someone in my ¨space¨all day. Also, we´ve been a little isolated with the kids in school all morning and some of them sick the first two and a half weeks. The missions team here had their hands full with an RUF team of 24 from the States and some of the families have had sick kids as well. Since I wasn´t teaching English or taking Spanish yet, I took the time to go to the mercado with Lucia three times (she´s a pretty shrewd shopper) and to ask her for a lot of vocabulary. She´s been very indulgent and patient, but since I´ve started lessons, I´ve discovered, too indulgent. She´s let pass some significant mispronunciations!
One of the things that amazes me about Lucia is that she is only twenty years old! She is married and has a three and a half year old daughter. They are members of the mission church. Lucia usually works full-time cleaning the main mission building where the language institute, seminary, college ministry, and administrative offices are housed. I think she is enjoying being on loan to us. She said that the work is not as hard and she loves to cook. She´s definitely used to hard work though. Apparently she first started working at eight years old! Her mistress beat her for not washing the dishes properly, so she stopped working and didn´t take another job until she was ten. That employer taught her a lot, including how to read and iron. She said that when she was pregnant she would spend four hours a day walking around the city with her mother, gathering recyclables from the trash for money.
Well, time to go again--I ran out of time at Sticky Keyboard yesterday and am finishing up at the nice internet store near the kids´school this morning. Both times I checked email first, so I ran out of time. More photos to come!!
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