Life Abroad in Peru: What I'm Learning: Confessions

Ok....so vacation is really awesome, and that also means that I became really lazy. I had a ton of time (at certain points) to update my blog and I chose not to....so I feel a little guilty now that the normal 3 week post interval that I was keeping has long past. Because I feel guilty, I decided to channel that and do a little confession about what's been going on in my life since Christmas.
So here it goes.....this might get a little long....you don't have to read it all :-)

I've really enjoyed the boys not being around. I guess I really needed the break. The arrive back on the 13th of February and start school on the 1st of March. I start work tomorrow again with workshops and prepping the houses.
It makes me nervous that I still don't know in which house I will be working this coming year or even who. After having a really difficult time with co-worker relationships the past half year, it's hard not to be nervous.
I don't think I ever want to live in a city of 8 million people ever again. Lima is great and all, and yes, it's right on the ocean, but it still is basically a desert, and it's summer. I'm not loving the city right now....too hot and dirty.
I was reading another volunteers blog and she noted that she now more fully appreciates the washing of the feet, and I would have to agree. Walking around San Juan de Miraflores in sandals means that my feet get caked with dirt and who knows what else, so it is now much clearer the importance of washing the feet. It also demonstrates why the lowest servant always did it, my feet are really gross by the end of the day sometimes. I think before I understood the concept, but it always makes a difference to experience (not that it is the exact same thing.....I'm not in the holy land 2,000 years ago).
Retreats are once again one of my favorite things. We had our mid-year retreat, one of our Co-Directors, Marcia came down from Milwaukee with a Capuchin brother, Bill. It was exactly what the word means. I was able to take more than a couple of steps back and digest, process, and accept all that has happened. I never felt I had the time or the space to let everything sink in and learn to accept my failures and be ok with them. It was yet another learning experience for me; I had to learn to accept failing and move past that.
One of the most important conclusions that I came to on the retreat, was that it was ok to fail. I know people always say it's ok to fail, but I never really really understood that or felt that I could fail as completely as I have in instances here. Even though it has been hard to fail, I think it was a necessary process that I had never experienced like I have experienced here. Just another way God is working in my life :)
I can't sleep on buses. It's really uncomfortable. And the dubbed movies do not help. At all.
Over break I did some traveling. It was great to see some of Peru outside of Lima and be reminded of how big this earth is.
One of the first places I traveled to after Christmas was the Paracas/Ica area. It's about a five hour bus ride from Lima, so close by peruvian standards. Paracas is where the ballestas islands (nicknamed the poor man's islands) are and Ica is a hot spot for the production of the peruvian alcohol, pisco. So that was a quick 2 day trip with Mike.
After that quick trip, all of us volunteers decided to go up north along the coast to a city called Chiclayo. The city itself is nothing to write home about, but it's close to the ruins of el Senor de Sipan. In Lambayeque, which is close to Chiclayo there is a museum that very minutely details and shows how the excavation went down and what they discovered. El Senor de Sipan is a pre-Incan very important ruler/semi-God (if I remember correctly). One way or another, I really enjoyed the museum and how it was set up.
Sunburns really hurt. Chiclayo is next to some small beach towns, so natuarally we went to the beach on our trip. And naturally I got bored of laying out and doing nothing, so instead of picking up my book, I decided to make a sand castle. My mistake was not putting on my shirt the whole afternoon while I was building. The castle turned out pretty well considering I didn't have any tools to help outside of a feather, and my back turned pretty red....like a lobster. Yes...I'm sure the moms out there are wondering if I put on sunscreen, the answer is yes, but I did not reapply (big mistake!). Let's just say it makes the 12 hour bus ride back the next day even more difficult and painful.
After the retreat, I headed up north, but this time northeast to the mountains. The Capuchins have a convent in a town called Caraz and so Me, Tania and Marcia headed up there to meet the brothers and check out Caraz.
One of my new favorite place in Peru is Caraz. It is absolutely beautiful. Why is it beautiful you may ask? Caraz is located in a valley between the Cordillera Blanca and the Cordillera Negra, two of the biggest mountain ranges in Peru, and it's their rainy season. Mountains + green + breathtaking views of mountains everywhere you look = hard not to fall in love. It was a perfect way to end my travels during my vacationit beautiful you may ask? Caraz is located in a valley between the Cordillera Blanca and the Cordillera Negra, two of the biggest mountain ranges in Peru, and it's their rainy season. Mountains + green + breathtaking views of mountains everywhere you look = hard not to fall in love. It was a perfect way to end my travels during my vacation. It's an amazing world we live in and I think it's really easy to forget the natural beauty that is around us (not that I'm around it anymore, but it was a good reminder that it exists).
Ever since getting back from traveling, I've been sitting on my butt in front of the computer watching movies and tv online. It's horrible, I know, but traveling is exhausting in it's own right and my mind and body needed to recoup and gear up for starting all over again (at least that's what I'm saying). It's more because it was nice to be back at home and I became very very lazy. It was a nice freedom to have, but I am ready to start being productive again (that's why I'm writing this now!)