Making Wishes

Remember awhile ago I mentioned some of my favorite books.  One of those was Flat-Out Love by Jessica Park. In the book one of the characters has a Christmas tradition of laying under her tree and making wishes for the coming year. I told this to the kids and they decided that was a great idea. Josh says we are weirdo's but here are our under the tree photo's and even the cat got excited and she makes wishes under the tree as well.

          

Going to School

Katy and Z have been in homeschool basically since a few weeks after we settled into Lima. But over the past few months Josh and I have discussed how getting the kids into a school program here might be the best idea.  

Its a very hard decision to make especially when you live in a foreign country. The American english speaking school is pretty far from our house and we'd have to take a taxi every day to get to it or the kids would have to ride a tiny bus to it. Also the american school is rather expensive, like so high I wondered if it was actually a college. So after talking to several missionaries and discussing what we thought our kids could handle, together we decided on a small private school that is very close to our house, very reasonably priced, and has a great curriculum.

The school is very small, the staff is friendly, the students are exceptionally behaved, the programs that the kids will get to be a part of are pretty amazing, the classes are very small and a lot of the teachers speak english so when Katy or Zechariah are more extensively learning the language the teachers can help with explaining something to them in english and such.  They do have an hour of english class each day where they will be learning english, grammar, etc. 

There are opportunities for them to learn dance, music, tennis, swimming, etc. There classes go from 8 am to 5 pm and they are sent home without homework. 

The kids were able to go to classes for free this past week and they loved it. They are already making friends and such as well. 

On the second day I went to pick up both kiddos while waiting this boy kept peeking out of the kitchen/lunchroom at me and smiling. One of the teachers brought Zechariah out and then went off to grab Katy from her class. While Zechariah and I were waiting on Katy the little boy who had been peeking around the door came out and asked me "¿Eres la madre de Katharina?" Are you the mother of Katharina? I replied with Si/yes and he smiled really big and when Katy came down the stairs with another boy from her class he came back out to wave bye to Katy and both boys wished her a good afternoon and see you tomorrows, and so it begins.  :)

Time to Catch Up!

It's been awhile since I've posted anything and there is good reason for that. We finally found a place to live here in lima, and we've been getting settled in. Also a lot has been happening with the church in La Victoria, we've also found a school for Katy and Zechariah to attend.  We have also been exploring other neighborhoods and areas of the city as well.  Josh and I also were able to meet the US Ambassador at a town hall meeting in the US Embassy here in Peru. That was a fun experience.

We decided that for the family it would be best for us to live in a neighborhood called San Borja. There is plenty to do the neighborhood and the ones surrounding it and a lot of things are only a bus or taxi ride away. We can actually walk to a lot of things like the kids school, the park, starbucks, a mall with a huge arcade, etc. Josh can walk to the mission offices, and he can take a buss ride to the church in La Victoria.

Because we are living in another country our dollar can go a lot further. So we were able to find a nice apartment that has a roof top terrace, and a room for guests if anyone ever visits. Right now the area that we will use for guests though is home to a deaconess intern for a few more months.  The area is on the second floor of our apartment and it is sort of separate from the rest of the house. The kids each have there own rooms and they have a bathroom to share. My favorite part is a small but functioning kitchen and my huge red couch.

Our building we are the top left.

In Peru it is common for people to have someone to clean there house and often times that person lives in the house. We do have an area in the house that is reserved for a maid but we do not use it for this purpose.  I actually have a huge metal shelf in the shower in the servants bathroom to use as storage.  But we keep the bathroom open enough so guests can use it when we entertain on the terrace. The room that is meant for the maid to live in is really not that much bigger than a twin bed, we use it as a reading room. Over all we are blessed with and very grateful to have a wonderful place to live.

~~~La Victoria~~~

There have been several events that have happened in the church and school in La Victoria. We have had five services so far in the church and a few events for the school.

Church and School Sign.

Some of the students dancing a folk criollo dance. Click here to see them dance.

The Alter in the new church in La Victoria.

The Church right before our first service.

Job and his son Gabriel playing music at the lunch after our first service.

This is a recent school field trip. We went to a local fountain park for the kids to play in the water. Including 3 staff, the deaconess, and our family we had 79 people show up. What a turn out!!

The Food Blog

I'm going to be making peruvian / latin american foods and posting them on my food blog so make sure that you check it often.  I'll also be making other things too and posting them but at first there might be quiet a few posts about foods from latin america.

The Venerable Cuisine

Large white corn, aka chocholow

Where we're at in Peru

We are finally in Peru and have been settling in this past week. We were originally going to rent a furnished vacation home until we found something more permanent. But Caitlin the deaconess intern working here in Peru offered up her apartment to our family. She said she could stay at the office while she looks for a peruvian family to live with. We are really grateful for this because the apartment in literally two house down from the main office/church for the mission in peru. And we aren't stuck with a place that isn't what we saw online. That's happened before and doing that in a foreign country is would be really scary. 

So here is a look at our temporary home that we will be in until we find our permanent place.

Our welcome to Peru gifts.

First morning breakfast in the garden room.

The Master bedroom.

The dinning room table.

The rack by the door that has a lot of peruvian
and guatemalan wears on it.

The Kitchen

The dining room to living room, and off the
side that's a basket full of homeschooling supplies.

Peruvian Birds

The kids room.

The outside of our building.

In La Republica Domincana

We got to The Domincan Republic late on the 15th, and were greeted by two members of the team. They helped us load all of our worldly possessions and the cat. Then they drop us at the Krey's house and Katie Ziegler took Zoe to stay with her in her home just down the street.  

We were going to stay in the home of another deaconess but as we have learned sometimes in latin america the electricity isn't really all that reliable. So her house was without power and was currently being fixed. We stayed with Pastor Ted Krey. (who also happens to be one of Joshes bosses.) We are thankful for everyone in The DR for welcoming us so warmly and helping out with everything from finding us fresh veggies, and cheddar cheese, too helping get the documents we needed for Zoe to get to Peru. 

The veggies and cheese might seem odd but for us eating raw veggies wasn't something we could do in Guatemala. It wasn't very safe or most of the time when cleaned they tasted like iodine. And I could never find cheddar cheese there.

During our time in Santiago the kids and I stayed in the house and only visited a few places, while Josh explored the different places the group works with. The second week there we enjoyed a work retreat at the puerto playa.

While at the retreat we had morning matin's services, and a bible study taught until lunch. We then had our afternoons free to go to the beach or lay by the pool or whatever. In the evenings we had a small bible study and vespers service before dinner.  We got to meet a few of the other Latin America missionaries. That includes meeting the team in Peru for the first time as well.

Below are some pictures of our time there........  

 Z was played on this trike. He loved that he could ride it through inside and around the outside of the Krey's house.

We saw a lot of Katie Ziegler, and I think Z took this picture or maybe our Katy did.

Im not sure if this is actually used as a swing, but during naptime I would find Katy out here swinging on the rope.

We were introduced to HUGE avocado's that we ate with like very meal. Which was awesome by the way.

We visited the church in Santiago twice.

Katy drew this picture of the altar in the church in santiago. She even has the altar book, and communion in the picture too.

She folded up that picture and wrote this on it.

Did I mention how HOT it was in The DR? Well it was sweltering.  :)

I got really excited because Katie Ziegler brought me books from the states that my mom sent to her.

We ate soo much avocado, but I loved it! Also in the back of this picture is fried plantain which was delicious.

Katy washed the dishes a lot!

A puppy followed josh back to the house and the kids loved it. He was adorable and sweet, but in the end he had to stay in The DR. But we are hoping to get a puppy here in Peru.

At the retreat I did more re-reading, from books that I had brought to us from the states.

And the kids enjoyed the pools, and the beach.

And Josh discovered that along with buying and learning to play a guitar he wants one of these. It's an instrument made in Peru. Its a hollow box with a hole in the back and a spring pulled across the front top inside. You tap your hands and such on it like Josh is doing in the photo, and it sounds like a drum but so much cooler.  

Mi Tiempo en Antigua Guatemala.....My Time in Antigua Guatemala

Ok below the spanish is English so don't fret if you can't read spanish you can read the english, its in blue. Also I wrote this for my teacher for homework so it might read a little strange. :) Enjoy!

Hace tres mess yo llegué a Guatemala. Yo vine a Antigua a estudiar español. Durante mi tiempo en Antigua yo estuve probando muchas comidas, yo aprendí  español, yo compré hechas a mano botas, Yo aprendí mucho sobre la diferente cultura, y yo tuve un buen viaje a la playa negra.

Three months ago we arrrived in Guatemala. I came to Guatemala to study spanish. During my time in Antigua I was able to try many different types of food, learn spanish, buy hand made boots, learned a lot about a different culture, and took a weekend trip to the black beaches.

Muchas Comidas

Yo obtuve un tatuaje nuevo en el fin de semana pasado. El tatuaje va a recordar me Antigua Guatemala.

I got a new tattoo last weekend. Now when I see the tattoo it will remind me of my time in Guatemala.

Mi tatuaje nuevo.

En la escuela yo tuve solo una maestra de Guatemala, se llama Nancy. Nancy vive en a pueblo se llama San Antonio. Su pueblo es indígena y muchos personas quien viven en San Antonio somos tejedoras. Ellos hacen tapetes, ropas de mesa, ropas de ellos indígena en el telares. Mi maestra es bien, yo aprendí mucho español para ella.

In the school I've had only one teacher, her name is Nancy. Nancy lives in a small town called San Antonio. Her town is indigenous and a lot of the people who live in it are loom weavers who make rugs, table runners, and indigenous clothes by hand on large looms. My teacher is great, I have learned a lot of spanish from her.

Ropas De Indígenas

Personas indígenas.

En Antigua hay que beber el aqua de botella, porque el aqua del grifo puede hacer nos enfermos. Es igual con frutas y verduras, estos tienen que limpiarse bien antes que nosotros las comamos. Esto es porque nosotros vivimos con una familia que es de Guatemala.

Zoe fue capaz de viajar con nosotros. En la mañana el lunes yo coya llevar a ella al veterinario, porque yo necesito papeles para viajara la república dominicans.

In Antigua it is necessary to drink clean bottled water, because water from the tap can make us sick. It's the same with fruits and vegetables, they have to be cleaned before we can eat them.  This is one of the reasons we live with a family from Guatemala. The family cleans and prepares all of our food for us.

Zoe was able to travel with us to Guatemala. On Monday I am going to take her to the vet so that we can get the papers for her to travel to The Dominican Republic.

Mi tiempo favorito de nuestro viaje fue el fin de semana en la playa negra. Nosotros celebramos el cumpleaños de Zechariah. En la playa por tre días. Quedamos dos semanas en Guatemala, estoy triste y emocionada al mismo tiempo. Yo tuve mucha diversión pero yo estoy mirando adelante para finalmente instalarme en Lima Peru.

My favorite time in Antigua was our trip to the beach. We celebrated Zechariahs birthday, and we were there for three days. We have two weeks left in Guatemala, it is sad but exciting at the same time. I've had a lot of fun but I am looking forward to finally getting settled into Lima Peru.