Clean beginnings

I am so happy I could laugh out loud and so tired I could fall asleep right this minute. I spent most of the day scrubbing the place clean so I could stay here tonight. I also ran around in the department store and town market to get some things I needed. I need a lot right now to get started up in a new home, but I am prioritizing. Instead of trying to figure out how to get a bed delivered today, I just bought a small roll-up mattress that will work for a while. I've spent many years sleeping on a mattress on the floor, so I'll be comfortable enough. I also found some storage cubes, a clothes rack, mop, bucket and other cleaning supplies. It was great to be able to unpack my suitcases!

Tomorrow is my first English class with the kids, so after moving and unpacking I walked to the office supply store to get a bunch of notebooks. I told them I'm going to need 30 more by Saturday or Sunday for the Monday class with the girls. Excited to get started with classes again.

Since I still don't have any cooking abilities since there are no appliances in the apartment, I got some yogurt and bread for dinner tonight. It was a perfect first meal in my new home!

Found it!

After a few intense days of walking/driving around, I found an apartment! It was even better than I was hoping for. It is in the exact area I wanted to live in, the price is almost exactly what I budgeted for housing expenses, it even has an on-demand water heater and they don’t shut off the water during the day even in the summer months! I am so blessed!
The owners seem super sweet and there are only 4 other apartments in the house. At the bottom there is a locked door with intercom buttons, so I feel very safe here. There is a cleaning lady that comes to clean the stairs once/week, so it’s clean and smells fresh and the stairs have adorable tile work. One of the favorite features turns out to be the top “deck” right above my apartment, where my private laundry room is located. By laundry room I mean a room with a sink, not a room with a washer and dryer! Turns out the room will be perfect for storing my cleaning supplies and suitcases so I don’t need to clutter up my apartment with stuff like that. What a sweet perk!
But, as I was saying, the roof area is open, with short walls around and an amazing view of the whole area, (all the way to H uara I believe), but it will be a perfect spot to check out the amazing sunsets. Thank you God!
He has also brought such amazing people into my life to help me during this sometimes awkward transition. I can get by with basic Spanish, but making phone calls and signing contracts are out of my comfort zone. Tonight I got help former my former neighbor, an 18 year old who speaks both English and Spanish very well, who took the time out of his evening in between shifts at work to come with me to sign my contract. I had a lot of questions. For example: When and how do I pay rent?, Where and how do I pay water and electric? How does the intercom and hot water switch work? Questions about my deposit etc… I am so thankful I had Jonathan with me to help us communicate! When he left the apartment he told me he was impressed how nice it was and that he didn’t think apartments like that existed here in this town! I feel super blessed it will be my home for awhile. Another person God has blessed me with is Senor Tito, one of my neighbors. A few days ago, I was walking around asking God for a home and turned down a street where I saw a sign. I went up to the window that was open, and asked if they rented out a room or an apartment. Tito was in the middle of lunch with his wife, but he came out to talk to me and tried to show me a place that had apartments for rent. One was no longer available but I got the number for the other landlord. Yesterday I was standing outside on the Big Town Square, waiting on another landlord who was a no-show. Just as I was about to give up, Senor Tito yelled my name and came over and gave me a big hug and kiss on the cheek. I explained that had problems with the landlords not showing up and that I didn’t have a phone on me. He whipped out his phone and called the landlord on his street, and 10 min later I found my new apartment! Thank you Lord for Senor Tito! He told me I can ask him for help anytime. Nice to have a neighbor like that.
I didn’t go to the orphanage today, but yesterday I hung out with the girls for awhile and then went over to play some soccer with the boys. I also got to snuggle with one of the little ones when he was crying after being picked on by one of the older boys. I wish they could all have a mommy to comfort them and love them…
This will be my last night at the hotel, so I am planning to watch as much US TV as I can possibly stand tonight! Don’t know when I’ll get another chance.

Reunion with the kids

What an amazing day 3! Went straight to the orphanage this morning and after speaking with the administration about visiting the kids and wanting to set up English classes for their summer vacation, I was allowed in to see the girls first.
Oh, I can’t even explain how amazing it felt to see their little faces, hug and kiss them and how great it was to hangout out and help them with their math and word puzzle games.
It felt like Christmas, my birthday, New Years and Easter, all fit into one day! After spending some time with the girls, I went to see the boys and stayed until it was time for them to eat lunch. I am so very, very happy to have them back in my life. Eight long months without them was really hard, but now it’s like all that time almost vanished. The only dark cloud today, was that one of my favorite boys, whom I was really close with last year, has been moved to an orphanage in Lima. I will do my very best to find out if I can visit him. I also found out some of the kids have gone home to live with their families, and I would love to see if I can locate them and check on them. 
Spent some time this afternoon with my taxi driver friend, looking for rentals. I got pretty pink today, just from being outside a little. The temperature got a little hotter. When I was in Sweden a few months ago, going through old toys and things, I found a small wooden fan which I bought in Spain many years ago. I brought it with me and it sure came in handy today!

11 hours!!

I can hardly believe I slept 11 hours last night!! I guess I had almost 2 nights of sleep to catch up. Went to the orphanage, but the lady who worked with the boys didn’t know me and wouldn’t let me in until I spoke with administration tomorrow. Since it was the weekend they are closed today. Boooo… At least I was able to see and say Hi to some of the kids through the little opening in the door. Saw several new boys I didn’t recognize. My friend came with me to look at a couple rentals. One was cute and super cheap; a partially furnished room with a shared bathroom, but no cooking allowed. There are tons of room for rent just like that, but if I am going to be here for a few years, I really want to be able to cook. Eating out and making sandwiches will get costly and boring after awhile. I think I will hold out for a real apartment.
After lunch I ran into my friend, the taxi driver, and he offered to drive me around to look for more rentals. I wrote down a bunch of new numbers to call. Tonight I am crashed out in my hotel watching the US channel. My brain is too tired to do anything else. The heat, the language, all the walking around wore me out!

Arrived in Peru

After spending a couple of days with my family in Dallas, I have now arrived back in Peru. I met a lovely Peruvian lady on the plane. She lives in the States, but comes down to visit her mom once/year for a few months. She works 2 jobs, 7days/week so that she can travel like that. She was also going to spend the night at the airport with her husband, who was on a different flight, and we agreed o find a place at the airport where we could huddle together to stay safer. It turned out that there were so many other people with the same idea, that we had to split up because there was hardly any room on the floors. Of course I couldn’t relax enough to sleep with all my luggage next to me, but stayed awake reading and doing S udoku. A coffee shop at the airport has Wifi, so I was able to call home with updates before leaving in the morning. By 7am it was light enough outside to where I felt safe enough to take a cab to the bus station. The first 2 taxi drivers offered extremely expensive rides, but I eventually talked the next one down to where I only paid $4 more than I wanted to. I made it to the 8am bus and spent the next 3 hours dozing on the bus. After a short taxi ride to the hotel I crashed for several hours. I’m so glad I found this cheaper hotel before I left last year. It will allow me to search for an apartment without being super stressed about throwing away too much money every day.
After my lovely nap I went to visit my friends. One had a baby since I last saw her and I got to meet her plump baby girl for the first time. Some of the baby clothes I had brought were too small for her. Luckily I had a few different sizes with me.
I ran into one of my former neighbors close to the beach later when I went for a walk. He is about 13 years old, but spent several years in the US, and it was great to have a conversation without having to concentrate the whole time. I walked around a bit and wrote down some phone numbers of potential apartments or rentals before heading back to the hotel. I’m so happy to be back. Things are familiar and I hope I can settle in soon and make it feel like home.
I am super happy I brought my own pillow, as the hotel pillows feel like they are stuffed with rocks. My earplugs are also one of my favorite possessions right now, since there are lots of snoring and TV noises all around me at the hotel!

Happy New Year!

2013 is gone and 2014 is here!
Lots of stuff happened in 2013; 4 months in Peru, warmest summer in AK since I moved here, experienced my first hiking/camping combo trip, spent 3 weeks in China with friends and a very special baby that I can't get out of my mind (Bennett) and I got to climb the Great Wall of China with 8 sweet Chinese children. The year ended with a month in Sweden with my mom and aunt (long overdue visit) and Christmas and New Year back in AK. I did get my white Christmas.
Tomorrow I get on another plane with a stop in Dallas for family time before I head back to Peru. I never thought I would say it but I am kind of tired of planes and airports after all that travelling and look forward to find a place to call home for awhile. It's been 8 months since I have seen the kids and I can hardly wait to see their faces again and meet the new kids too.
Welcome 2014. Let's see what you have in store...