Tick Tock, Tick Tock

Two weeks from today I will be heading back to Grand Rapids, Michigan after being away from home for nearly 7 months. Where did the time go? If you have been following these blogs from the beginning you will know just how much has happened as I traveled from Seattle, to Alaska, to Hawaii, and finally to Lima, Peru. I knew God was going to do big things, and he has. But, God always works in ways that you could never imagine. I have been so blessed through the relationships I have formed and the experiences that have stretched me and taught me a little more about what it means to be a disciple of Jesus in this world.

As I wrap-up here at A Rocha Peru, I am working to finish my project proposal for the lomas conservation project. It has been a challenge to integrate our initial assessment studies, meetings with local stakeholders, and literature research in such a short amount of time. I feel like at this point I know just about everything there is to know about the lomas. The most exciting part of this project will be over the next year as A Rocha secures funding and begins implementation. But, it has been fun to be part of the project's inception. Who knows, maybe I'll be able to come back and see everything in action.

Yes, I am one of the warriors.

Last week I traveled along the Peruvian coast to see a little more of the country before leaving. I visited my co-worker Ramon in Trujillo (Northern Peru) and did a little sightseeing with him. We went to some of the pre-Incan ruins in the area and even traveled a little farther north to Chiclayo. Every little trip was an adventure because the transportation is less than direct. And, that is putting it kindly.   But, we feasted well, saw some beautiful sunsets along the Pacific, and now have a greater appreciation for 1,800 year-old Mochican art. 

Ramon and the kids cleaning-up

At the end of the week we traveled south of Lima to Ica where I visited A Rocha's reforestation project in the Huarango dry forest. They are in their last phase and have 4,000 more trees to plant in local communities before February as it is summer here. We visited one of the neighborhoods where Ramon has worked most intensively to assess the progress. They have a community center there which local children come to plant trees, clean-up garbage and hear about what it means to take care of creation for Jesus. And, let me tell you, those children were so precious!

Most of this week has been filled with work to make up for my time spent away but, since today was feriado or holiday, the whole family went to a festival sponsored by the church. There was food, games, and entertainment for the nearly 3,000 members wandering around the plaza. One of the "fun" games is to pay the "police" to throw someone in "jail." Then the incarcerated have to wait until someone bails them out. I think a picture in this case is worth a 100 words. I was thrown in jail 3 times! Poor gringa. 

The next time I update will probably be when I have touched back down in the U.S. Then, I will being seeing many of you very soon! 

A Day Full of Gracias

I suppose it is a sort of "rite of passage" for a woman to take on the Thanksgiving feast. And, admittedly, I have usually have just enjoyed the fruits of the labor of my mother, aunts, and grandmother. This is usually because I am busy watching the Packer's game in the other room. But, as November 24th slowly approached here in Lima, Peru, I realized just how far away I was from roasted turkey and gravy. Usually if we use a tablespoon of butter to make our soup, we are really being generous. I thought, however, that although no one here really knows about or probably cares about El Dia de Accion de Gracias, I might be able to show through a labor of love, how thankful I was for my Peruvian family by cooking them "the feast." Because after all, Thanksgiving is a time for sharing a meal with loved ones, to celebrate and to fellowship.  

Our Fresh Chicken!!

I mentioned the idea to Amparo and she said she was game. Great! All I had to do now is find recipes that I could actually tackle here with the right ingredients and then find them at the market. Early Thursday morning Amparo and I headed out to the open air market (which I love) to find the freshest fruits, vegetables and meats you can get. We were pretty much at a loss for finding a turkey, it just isn't the season here apparently, but we did find a nice plump (and very, very, fresh) chicken. We carried our overflowing bags back to the house and unloaded the goods. 

All the Ingredients

What was on the menu?? Roasted chicken, stuffing, gravy, mashed potatoes, sweet potato casserole, green beans and corn, squash and apple pie for dessert. The mixed blessing of it not actually being a  recognized holiday here was that we weren't going to eat the meal until 8:30pm when everyone was home for work. This meant that I could watch the entire Packer's game (!) which I found on some obscure channel in Peru before preparing the meal.  This also meant that I would be eating a TON right before bed. Like I said, mixed blessing.

Basting the chicken.

I began by dressing the chicken. Which first meant we had to clean it really, really, well. We also had to dry our spices on the stove, because they are all fresh here. We put the prepared chicken in the oven (which is only the second time we have used it) and let it cook for nearly 3 hours. Don't worry, it came out really moist. Then Amparo and I worked for the next few hours to make sure everything was ready to go when the chicken was done. Boiling the potatoes, making our own bread crumbs, chopping up the veggies, and using a lot of butter. I think Amparo's eyes just got wider every time I used another stick of butter. I think it is the American equivalent to Aji (chili) here. 

Everyone getting ready to enjoy

My grandmother who lives below us let us borrow her little electric oven so we could cook things a little faster and also came up to help us mash and chop. Improvisation was the name of the game but, when it was all said and done, I was happy with what I smelled cooking away on the stove top. Ronald came home from work around 8:00pm and Amparo and I worked to make sure everything was hot. My grandparents and aunt came up for dinner bearing gifts of apple pie and of Chica Morada, one of the best drinks in Peru and a perfect accompaniment to our meal.

A yummy success! 

We were ready to eat well, to laugh well, and to love well. True, we certainly did not need an American holiday to do that, but, it was an opportunity for me to say thank you in a small way to the people I love and who have treated me as one of their own. We went around the table and each gave thanks to God for something in our lives. It was beautiful to listen to their words of praise to an ever faithful God, no matter the circumstance. We literally stuffed ourselves and everyone had seconds! When my grandpa asked for more because it was muy rico, I knew I had done alright. 


We finished at 11pm and I was more than ready for bed. Full of food and tired from a day full of shopping and cooking. But, it was totally worth it. I think I really understand now why there are usually five busy women in the kitchen! 

New Dance Moves & Questionable Cookies

Well, life moves along here and I have recently come to grips with the fact that I have only 5 precious weeks left here! Hard to believe that almost 6 months ago I was starting out on this multifaceted adventure with no idea how many blessing God would bring into my life. As the days pass ever more quickly, I am learning how to live more fully in the present and soak-up all that my Peruvian family has yet to teach me. But, it is going to be very hard to leave them.

A glimpse into my typical week here would show a never-ending supply of things to do. But, really, what is new?

I am working to finish the lomas project proposal for A Rocha Peru and building long-term contacts for the organization. Last week, my supervisor and host-mom, Amparo, were at a university presentation about a new lomas project started by a student group. Afterwards, we met their supporting professor and he invited us to a meeting with the Municipality of Lima that he was going to right then. We were definitely in the right place at the right time. We were able to gain the support of the local government for our lomas project and this is huge! A Rocha Peru was asked to be part of their technical support group and we met other interested stakeholders at the meeting. I had a chance to talk about the work we were doing and where I thought the Municipality could be of most help. Thank goodness I had been doing a little research!

I have been recently thinking how much I would love to come back to Peru while in Graduate school to do some additional research/implementation on this project. Who knows? It very well could happen. I really have been privileged to work with A Rocha during the formative "baby steps" of the project and learn about all the falls and smiles that are part of learning how to walk. Perhaps, I can also be around when the walking turns to running.

In other news, I have been learning how to dance the Marinera with my "aunt" Cielo. Slowly but surely I say. It is fun and we have quite a few laughs while doing it. Apparently, it is all about how well you can flirt....instead of the language of the hand fan, it is the language of the handkerchief. I'll keep you posted on how it turns out. I suppose it will depend if I can convince someone to be my dance partner or not ;)

Tonight I tried to make cookies for the first time since coming to Peru. It is hit and miss with ingredients here so I thought I would use the recipe on the back of the Spanish Quaker Oats package. I followed the instructions with a few improvisations and inexact measurements but the dough appeared to look normal. We never use the oven here because it cost too much to heat up, so we borrowed a little electric oven to bake them. It was while baking them at some unknown temperature that I decided they looked funny and did not smell like my mother's delicious oatmeal chocolate chip cookies.

However, I put them all on a plate and hoped I would be judged to harshly for the results. It was quite to my surprise, therefore, when Esteban came bursting into my room to tell me, "Congratulations Rachel, your cookies are a success, I LOVE them." I think I will count it as a success if it makes him happy. And, I am quite content to let him eat them all.