Livin' La Vida Loca En Peru Part I

Prior to receiving the "Okay" from Mission to the World, I had all but given up on this going abroad bit. I was putting my career on hold, wondering if anything would ever work out or if I was just being completely foolish. My discouragement culminated the day before I was accepted: I came home from work, made a fort in my living room, ate take-out sushi and listened to classical music alone under the blankets. I knew that I had been wasting my time.

So glad I didn't give up on my dream.

Here are the limited details that I knew before I hopped onto the plane: Jim & Sara, along with their 3 kids, would be my host missionary family. My time would be spent volunteering full-time between three different privately-run orphanages:
1. El Refugio (The Refuge), a home for orphaned and abandoned children.
2. KidsAlive, a Baptists children's home in Sol de La Molina, a wealthy town.
3. KidsAlive in Manchay, an underprivileged area in the mountains.

I actually just found 2 YouTube videos about KidsAlive, check them out if you're interested-- I know most of these kids & taught in those classrooms! :)





Before I proceed, I must tell you: When I was in high school, I spent time in state-run orphanages in Costa Rica and Romania. Ever since those experiences, the idea of someday running an orphanage in a Spanish-speaking country sounded downright dreamy. However, the thought of creating emotional bonds with these Peruvian children seemed dangerous and self-seeking, given my short time-frame to do life with them. I knew that navigating this would be messy, so I committed to being conscious of my upcoming interactions.

November 14, 2008. The 8th day after I received my acceptance call.
I remember sitting in the miniature airplane (Spirit Airlines, for anyone that might be familiar) and watching the sunset. An excerpt from my journal...

"The sky is beautiful. I have felt so numb for so long. I want to feel-- to experience small things in life that make me feel alive. I want to have real human moments. I almost forget what those are. The sun is setting. When I look at it... really look, I feel a stirring within me. It's a loss, almost. A deep sense of remembrance for what it used to be like to stare at a sunset in awe. It's been a long time."

My plane landed. Here is a excerpt from my journal while I was sitting at the airport, trying to figure out how to find Jim. I chose it because it serves as a overall picture for much of my time in Peru:

"So I am sitting on the ground in Lima thinking, This is funny. Jim's only instructions were, ´Go straight when you get off the plane.´ I am here, after having gone straight, looking for a man that I haven't seen since age 5. That's right, 17 years ago. I wonder how well find each other.

Well, I went to a man with a suit on sitting at an information booth. He was sleeping. So I kindly woke him up and asked him how to use the phone. He told me I was pretty and gave me his cell phone. Ha um, so I just called Sara and she told me I had been waiting for an hour in the wrong place. I was supposed to make a left. Ha but all is well and I found Jim among a crowd of hundreds. And he wasn't even holding a sign."

Jim & I reunited, caught a cab, and made it home just in time to be welcomed by the lovely Sara and go to bed.
I made it to Pervian soil.