Holidays

Many of you are probably wondering how the holidays went for me here in Peru, without snow, without family, without the traditional movies, or mom’s goodies. Well frankly, it was quite different but still amazing. I celebrated with my “family” here,  caught a glimpse of the Madagascar Christmas movie, and mom even sent me her traditional Christmas mix. I was also blessed to experience the Peruvian traditions.

At the beginning of December, we had a “chocolatada” for the children. This consisted of having music, playing lots of games, and in the end distributing hot chocolate and pannetone (traditional cake/bread thing). Yes, even in the 80 degree heat everyone drinks hot chocolate, which happens to be a little bit better than Swiss Miss in my opinion.

Christmas Eve and Christmas day were quite different for me. Christmas Eve, we had a pretty “normal” day until after Vespers at 6. Afterwards, we began to cook a large dinner for after Mass. Here, the tradition is to go to Mass and then eat dinner at 12midnight on the dot. We varied a little from the tradition and began to eat around 11. At midnight, everyone started to light off fireworks all over the city. We live on a hill so we were able to see the fireworks from the street, so we ran outside to watch. We greeted some of our friends that were outside with hugs and others passed by the house to wish us a Merry Christmas. Afterwards, we went back inside to continue eating dinner, which consisted of chicken, rice, yucca, salad, refreshments, and brownie a la mode for dessert. After our friends left around 2am, we revealed our secret Santas, shared some more sweets and finally went to bed around 3ish. Ps-from my secret Santa, I received holy medals of JP2, OLOG, and Saint Martin de Porres/ St. Blaise. WIN.

Christmas day, we went to Pachacutec, a little town about an hour and a half away to visit the two families we visit there every month. The visits were a little more special than normal since it was Christmas and we gave the kiddos gifts. Also, since Edgardo and Flo were in the middle of their saying their goodbyes, it was nice to share this experience with them but also it was beautiful to witness just how much these two friendships have touched each one of them and I got a little excited to think about how the friendship is already developing between myself and the families. We drank some more hot chocolate, caught a little bit of the Madagascar Christmas movie, and headed home in the evening.

Now, I realize that my birthday is not an official holiday, but its in the season so why not share what that was like?!

The Tuesday before my birthday, we packed up and headed to the beach! Now, ever since Charlotte (the American that is on mission in Barrios Altos) told me we could go to the beach for my birthday, I was set on it. We went to the “Beach of Silence” and had a little picnic before some of us jumped into the big blue ocean. The picnic was awesome! From packages from mom and dad, we had PB&J so I got to eat a PB&J sandwhich, cheeto type things that we bought, brownies that Flo made, and we shared a beer too (they’re not like the bottle back home, they are larger and meant to be shared). Afterwards, Flo, Edgardo, Patrick and myself all braved the cold water and went swimming. The waves were a little violent and tricky at times, but nonetheless, we all still had a good time. While I was taking a break on the beach, enjoying some matté….. WE SAW WHALES!!!! Seriously, could my birthday celebration have one any better?? Oh yea, on top of all of this, the people behind us were playing American music all day, so I got to hear some Nelly, Pearl Jam and lots of others too! The best part of my birthday...getting to start the day off with Mass, in my house on the actual day of my birthday. WIN!

Now this brings us to New Years. Again, a normal day of visits and permanencia and then mass at night. After mass, we invited some friends for yet some more hot chocolate and pannettone before preparing for the main event of the night…climbing up to the cross that overlooks La Ensenada. A few of our friends joined us for the climb that took about a good hour to do. I didn’t die from asthma, thankfully, and was one of the first ones to arrive! From the cross, we could see the entire city! Again, at midnight, everyone started lighting off fireworks so we were entertained by the entire city for a good half hour. After this half hour, it was difficult to continue to see the fireworks because the whole city was covered in smoke. At around 1230/1245, we started to make our way back down to the house. This proved to be a little more tricky seeing as how gravity was not my friend a few times and I may have slipped once or twice…oops!

I hope you all had a blessed Christmas and a safe New Year and I look forward to returning to a white Christmas, a cold birthday, and a New Year with my friends in 2012.

Love,

Kari

I'm still alive!

To those of you who still check this and want to stay in tune with my life,

Thanks, first of all. Secondly, I am still alive, life has just been crazy busy with little time to think about sitting at a computer for more than a minute. I miss you all dearly and am patiently awaiting the day I see your faces. However, I am still extremely happy here and am not ready to leave just yet.

The last few months were crazy but life has returned to more of a normal rhythm now with prayer in the morning, lunch, permanencia/visits, evening prayer, and whatever the night brings (which does seem to change every day but whatever!). Right now, Flo and Edgardo are in the middle of their despedida, something which is sometimes very hard for me to accept. In less than a month, I will be the one who has been here the longest so I am trying to step up to the plate a little more and be more aware of the little things and to think of everyone in my community a little bit more, especially Patrick and Sophie since they have been here less than 2 months. I often forget that they are still learning about our friends and the life here and what it was like to have been here for less than 2 months since I was no longer the newbie when my 2 month anniversary. I have learned a lot about managing the money for 6 people and taking responsibility and exercising prudence with this. I swear, I feel like life here is preparing me for marriage someday. I have learned to apologize immediately, not hold grudges, forgive without questions, take care of children, and slowly but surely I am figuring out this whole cooking thing.

In the last few days, it has really hit me how important our presence is to our friends. I often forget that sometimes we are the only people that truly appreciate these people for who they are, a gift from God. Sometimes their own families reject them or they are simply rejected by the rest of the neighborhood. I am sure I will write about him again, but I have a story about Santiago (Santi) that really struck me the other day and I feel like I might as well share something with you all.

Santi has a developmental issue of sorts, some say autism, but I don’t think so. Anyways, he comes to el Punto almost every day asking for water or if he can come in. Whenever we let him in, he just stands there, or paces, or sits and joins us at the table. He doesn’t talk much but definitely understands what you are saying and can tell when he’s struck a nerve and will keep doing whatever it was that bothered you just to bother you a little bit more. His appearance is a little rough around the edges but I have truly come to see a light in him, a light that truly shines CHRIST. Some people think he is dangerous and don’t see him for who he truly is. The other night I was at mass in a town 10 minutes away in bus and while I was there, I spotted Santi. He saw us (I was with Javier) came and sat down next to us (normally, he paces for the entire mass so this was a little out of the ordinary). He was with us for most of the mass and afterwards followed us to the bakery and then to the bus stop. While we were at the bus stop, a lady came up to me and told me to watch out because the man was going to rob me. When I realized she was talking about Santi, I replied (maybe with a little too stern of a tone…) that he is our friend and I trust him. This just really struck me and made me see that not everyone loves Santi the way we do. Since that night, I have been trying to be even more willing to show him love and friendship, the reason why he comes every day. I have a few more stories about Santi but I will keep it to just this one (although there is a pretty awesome one about the time he kissed the monstrance).

I hope you are all staying warm and preparing for Christmas, keeping in mind that “Jesus is the reason for the season” and not stressing too much about what gifts remain to be bought.  I am slowly taking out the skirts and tank tops as summer is approaching but I actually am missing the snow this time of year. I would love to hear from you guys. A quick email or letter (which is preferred…) always makes me smile and makes me feel a little more connected to life back home. Know that I pray for you all daily and have not forgotten your faces.

Until next time,

Kari

What do you do when...

These are some of the things I have been faced with while living in Peru. The other night in Adoration, I was overwhelmed by the amount of trials and struggles I have been presented with and overcome because of the prayer life I have promised to live here. If it weren’t for the life of prayer or my faith, I am sure I would have broken down by now.

What do you do when:

-you hear a priest is essentially leaving his vocation

-a child tells you her dad beat her with a broom

-a child cries because you have to leave the orphanage and you are the only that visits her

-hear a permanent member has left the life of compassion because she fell in love

-hear a priest committed suicide

-a drunk knocks on the door at 6am wanting to show you a piece of wood

-live with someone you don’t always understand

-someone knocks on your door or waits outside almost every morning to invite themselves to breakfast

-you meet someone who has been bed-ridden for 14 years

-get a call at 630 am that a friend was cut in the face at a party

-are in an uncomfortable situation

-a friend is thrown out of their place

-lose patience

-you have to say goodbye

-you miss the people you love

-find it difficult to pray

-you have no choice but to face the day

-can’t communicate

-are stressed

-you have silence

-you’re confused

-can’t communicate

-want to help but can’t

-a child can’t get into their house because their mom left for the day

-you get jealous

-you’re exhausted

-at the end of every day, you realize your life is beautiful

Sr. De Los Milagros

Señor de los Milagros is a big deal in Peru and the entire month of October has been declared a 2nd Easter in honor of it, that’s how big of a deal it is. The story comes from way back when (not in a galaxy far, far away) when a slave painted a picture of Jesus, Mary and an angel on the inside of a cave. The painting has survived many natural disasters such as earthquakes which destroyed everything else, except the painting. Naturally, a devotion to this painting grew. Today, the entire month of October is dedicated to this painting. It is currently housed in a church in downtown Lima, Church of the Nazarenes (not sure on spelling). During the month of October, the painting leaves the church 3 times in procession. One of these times was October 18 and my community and I went to watch!

We left the house at 5 am to make the 630 mass. Just before the mass, the painting left the church in a solid gold frame that was carried by faithful men taking rather small steps. At the mass, there were numerous priests, seminarians, and the bishop. Communion was crazy and beautiful at the same time. There were so many people wanting to receive communion, but there was no organized manner of doing so, so there was a lot of pushing, yelling, and some people were using their elbows to push their way through, something my stomach didn’t appreciate too much. The crowd was ginormous. After the mass, the procession continued throughout the city streets, which has pictures made of flower petals decorating them. It was an interesting experience for sure but definitely worth the little sleep and bearing the crowds.

Lets Go Fly A Kite

Heart’s Home has been around for 21 years now, however, no house has ever reached 20 years of existence…until now! On October 16, we celebrated our home’s 20^th anniversary, the first house to reach this milestone! We didn’t have a big celebration because that is coming later in the year when Fr. Thierry is able to come. Instead, we spent the days beforehand making homemade kites to fly with the children on Sunday, being a Theta, I was definitely a little excited about this kite thing. It was an interesting process of trial and error as we figured out what worked best and what didn’t. We used a bamboo type material, string, and plastic bags. Very simple, but they flew better than any kite I have ever bought from a store. The kiddos made their own kites and on Sunday, we made our way up one of the giant hills near our house. Below are some pictures of the process and the flight. I hope you enjoy.

Little things

I have really begun to realize the little things here. These little things bring me the greatest joy at times and I wanted to share some of them with you. When people ask me how I am doing, when I say I am great, that is an understatement and I hope this will help shed some light on the enormous amount of joy in my heart and the smile on my face (yes, Kelly, I will have some pretty awesome smile muscles when I return).

The children. For example, today when I was leaving the home to go to the internet, a child that I didn't recognize and I am pretty sure I don't know came running up to me shouting "PUNTO CORAZOOOOON" how could that not make me smile? Every day, there are children who come to our house for water and are often quite intrigued by the gringa but nonetheless, they give some of the best hugs I have ever gotten in my life.

The people.Again, I still don't know everybody's name, but when people see me, they will often stop to say hi to me and remember my name. Pretty awesome that after just one time of meeting someone, we are friends. They also help me with my Spanish at times, which is nice.

My community. AWESOME. We are all really crazy in our own ways and don't take ourselves seriously unless we need to. In other words, there are a lot of laughs in our house. Also, the love that my community gives me blows my mind. For example, I was having a rough time last week with this whole language business and went to the chapel and just sat there one night for a good 20-30 mins before Edgardo came in to ask me something. He saw I was upset and asked what was wrong. I said I was ok but really just needed a hug. He didn't probe the situation much more and just stood there and hugged me which was really all I needed to feel better. He is also like my big brother and even though the communication is still faulty at times, we have an understanding of when the other one is frustrated or we are often on the same wavelength...kind of weird at times.

Prayer. The first and foremost aspect of our life. Every day, I am in prayer about an average of 3 hours. An hour of Adoration, Mass, and Liturgy of the Hours. The fact that I have drastically changed this aspect of my life is wonderful. I have been able to receive many graces from it and without it, my time here would be much more difficult.

There are a lot of other little things that happen every day so I am often amazed by them and can't help but think "man my life is awesome right now, how am I ever going to leave this place?" In other words, I am extremely happy and for now, this is my home.
Take care.
Kari

Comida

When I knew I would be doing mission work, I accepted I would have to leave behind some of my favorite food and it was a sacrifice I was willing to make. At orientation, I was talking with Nati one night and she said that everyone she has seen come back from mission has lost weight. Well, I can assure you, that that probably won’t happen for me.

The people here pride themselves on the food they have, as they should. There are some ingredients that you can only find in Peru, for example, aji. It is a type of pepper that is quite spicy, but I am a fan of a little bit of it here and there. When I gave my presentation at orientation about Peru, I included a slide on the food and really didn’t spend much time on it. I did mention that Peru is nicknamed the “Gastronomical Capital of the Americas” which is so true. Apparently, Peru has the most unique dishes second only to France, go figure. I encourage you to Google the ones below that I have tried because they are interesting and you probably wouldn’t think I like them, but I haven’t met a dish I don’t like (with the exception of onion soup from France…)

Favorite to date: Aji de Gallina-has aji in it some chicken and is a thick yellow creamy sauce typically served over potatoes with half a hardboiled egg. I forget what else we typically eat with this, probably some vegetables of some sort. I am determined to learn how to make this dish and try to find a substitute for aji when I get back. If you ever go to a Peruvian restaurant, try this.

Ceviche-made with pota (octopus) or pescado (fish) that is uncooked. Now, I am not a sushi fan by any means, but man this stuff is good. I like it more with pota because of the texture factor. It is made with a lot of lime juice (freshly squeezed by hand), a little aji, onions (I eat around them and then give them to Flo) and some little herb that I don’t know the name of. Typically served with canchitas (basically it’s popcorn that isn’t popped but way better in my opinion), and camote. Now, in the states I don’t typically like camote because really, sweet potatoes aren’t my thing. I didn’t like the sweet potato fries at the Hut or McNellies and never put them on my plate at Thanksgiving. I don’t know why, but here, I LOVE THEM. They are quite delicious, and yes, I plan on making sweet potato fries one day when it is my turn to cook.

Chicharrones-basically, chicken nuggets, or whatever meat you make it with nuggets. Fried, but made fresh with real, 100% chicken! It was what I made on my first day of cooking this past Thursday. You add some garlic, ginger, and pepper to pieces of chicken that you have just cut and prepared from the body of the chicken itself (something I have no idea how to do so Edgardo did it for me) roll it in what I think is corn starch (still learning the translation of ingredients) and drop it in some hot oil.

Picarones-pretty sure this is God’s gift to me in Peru. It is kind of like a funnel cake but a little crispier and is served in circles, like donuts. They are quite scrumptious by themselves but with something very similar to syrup but not as thick, they are amazing. There is a lady that makes and sells them on the street in Pro where we go to mass at night if there is no mass in La Ensenada or we didn’t go in the morning. We have even gotten them free one time because it was late and she was closing down. Win.

Lunche-really this is the name of the hour at night when we eat. It isn’t dinner like I am used to, pretty much just finger food and appetizer type stuff. However, I have a new favorite and ya’ll should try it because everything is in the states. Bread (but not like sandwich bread, you need fresh rolls, ciabatta is good), avocado (my new fave thing ever), lime juice (again from freshly squeezed limes), salt, fried egg (I do over hard to avoid a mess), cheese if we have it, and ham (which is really bologna but sometimes we have the real stuff!). It sounds weird, but if you want a piece of what I am eating a few times a week, here ya go!

Cuy-aka Guinea Pig. So, the one time I have had this so far, I didn’t know beforehand that this is what we were going to eat. We went to the house of a friend and there were 3 decent sized cages of guinea pigs. Then I realized, that is where my “lunche” (it was supposed to be lunche for us but she prepared dinner) probably lived earlier that week. I tried to not think about that when served because I wanted to give it a fair shot, after all, these Peruvians know how to prepare their food. It wasn’t that bad. I lucked out and got a leg so it was like I was eating chicken. Slightly different texture and taste, but chicken in my mind.

Side dishes-Fresh veggies (yes, I am eating my veggies more here than I did in the states). Typically a mix of green beans (I have no idea how to say it in Spanish and forget the name every time because it is not “frijoles verde”), carrots, choclo (corn but not Iowa sweet corn that’s for sure), every now and then broccoli. These are tasty with a Chinese sauce that I thought was soy sauce but when I tried it, it was much sweeter. Puree aka MASHED POTATOES! I enjoy these in the states so every time we have them (at least once or twice a week) I feel a little more at home. However, I am going to make it a point to not eat these on my birthday this year since last year, mashed potatoes were my birthday cake because of my wisdom teeth coming out. Rice delicious. I love it in the states, but here I have learned a new trick to making it even more awesome. Adding a little bit of garlic to the pan. I love garlic and I love rice (they were always in my apartment last year) but I never thought of putting them together! Genius.

I am still learning my way around the market and how to cook with various ingredients. Also, I learned the hard way Wednesday night that I need to make sure we have the ingredients in our market for what I want to make so I am not scrambling the night before to find something to make. I had every intention of making lemon pepper chicken for my first day. Simple, easy, delicious. Well, we don’t have yellow lemons in our market. It was suggested I make it with lime but I wasn’t sure how it would taste so I ex-nayed that idea. I am hoping to find a simple recipe for how to make glazes out of fresh fruits because really, I think that ______ glazed chicken will be my specialty. For example, I have oranges and pineapples here. Both would make delicious glazes but I don’t know how to prepare them. So if any of you who read this have a simple recipe (I am talking real simple we don’t have fancy things and ingredients down here) please send it my way!

Well this is quite long so I am going to head out now. Take care!