My first week in Moyobama was very interesting. For the first 4 full days I had a fever. Two of those days I pretty much just slept. I didn't start checking my fever until the third day. And I am really glad I didn't check it before because I would have probably gone to the doctor. Since, I was resting a lot I wasn't really interacting with my family. I couldn't. It is also really hard to try and learn spanish when you can't focus on anything. My host family thought I didn't like to talk or eat, which is true when I have a fever over 100.
However, my host family is great. My host mom Magda is great and everyone is very friendly. I live with 2 host sisters and 2 host brothers. There are two other brothers that moved out of the house but always stop by to visit. There are also 6 other girls here: 3 girls from Spain, one from Holland and one from Florida. I have a very hard time understanding the girls from Spain. I couldn't even understand them when they said gracias. There accent is so strange and they say or ask different questions than what I am use to from Costa Rica. Although I have a hard time understanding the distinct accents of Spain and Moyobamba, everyone is very friendly and nice. I have gone to the hot springs a couple of times with everyone from the house. There are a few natural hot springs within this inclosed area. Each spring has a different temperature but they all are warm. One is exceptionally hot which feels great at night.
My job at Paz y Esperanza is suppose to get going this week. This week we will traveling to two different smaller towns about an hour outside Moyobama. Around Moyobama they have a lot of commercial deforestation which causes a lot of water problems. So we will be talking to different members of the community about what needs to be done ect. Work Hours are from 8-1 (2 hour lunch break) 3-6. I am not a huge fan of the big break. I'd rather have a 30 minute break and get off earlier. There is a lot I can't do right now because my lack of spanish. My main goal right now is to really improve on my spanish. I am hoping in the next month that I will be where I need to be.
Things I miss and things that I am not use to:
The first thing I miss is good coffee. It is a tease down here. They have a lot of instant coffee here. I have never had instant coffee until I came here. Its awful. I have to put sugar in it to make it taste decently. Last week I went out to breakfast with 3 people from my work and we all ordered coffee. They just gave me a cup of hot water. Than with the coffee, they brought a little creamer container like a restaurant but it wasn't cream it was our coffee and we all had to share it. This coffee that was in this little creamer container was very concentrated (which I love) and we poured only a little amount like you would pour cream into your coffee. That tasted worse than the instant. My first goal this year is to find a place that serves good coffee.
The other thing that I have to get use to is the toilet seats at my house and at my work don't exist. And the water in the entire city is shut off during the day. So we have to use buckets of water if we ever have to go. Cold showers are not fun to take in the morning and my hair is getting really long for me. Because I have to take more showers than I want to because my hair get really messy really easy. So trying to grow out my hair this year has not been fun yet.
Other than that I am grateful for all the chance that God has given me down here (besides the 3 hour + church service). My host family is great. The people at work seem to enjoy their work and they are glad to do it.
I appreciate all your support,
James
Sunday, September 19, 2010
Thursday, September 2, 2010
First Week in Lima, Peru
Lima, Peru has many similarities to San Jose, Costa Rica. Besides the traffic. I thought San Jose had crazy drivers but in Lima it is a different story. There are stop signs but no one stops. There are intersections with no stop signs. Hardly any stoplights. I have never really been scared riding in a taxi before but every morning we have to take a taxi over to the office. Since there are few stop signs the taxi driver pretty much has to play chicken with the on coming traffic. The drivers switch lanes often and fast. No one ever really stops. They will drive down the middle of two lanes in order to go around a car that is trying to turn. If there are two lanes going in one direction many times the car will make a left turn while they are in the right lane just cutting of the other driver. This is common. There are no rules.
My room is upstairs on a rooftop. We are living with a host family in Lima until we move to our different locations. I guess we live in a "bad" neighborhood. My host mom wont let me run by myself she wants me to run with a Peruvian. I have someone to run with but I really dont care to run in the city with all the traffic and cars so I think I'm taking a small break. Riding the buses hear are fun. They are really small. They are like large VW buses in a way. Some day we might be able to ride the bus more but for now we have to take a taxi to the office were we meet to learn about the organization we work under and Peru in general. I usually have a good since of direction but each taxi driver has taken a different way to the office or to our house. Even if they took one way the streets with all the turns and traffic would make it difficult to remember.
It is winter here. People dress up for the cold. Many look like they are prepared for a winter in Minnesota and it is only in the low 60's. So Dad you would fit in well. There is no central heat in any of the buildings. None. And I forgot my sweatshirt. My warmest thing I have is a long sleeve shirt but I wont have to be in the weather for long. The one thing that my Mom told me to pack was a belt. I had it on my bed ready to be packed away (along with my sweatshirt) and some how I forgot that too.
I leave sept 11 for Moyobamba. I here the weather there is nice and hot. Since it is a warmer climate they can grow more over there so I hear there is a lot of fruit to eat. So I guess that is better than potatoes and rice all the time which I was expecting.
The spanish is coming along well. I have retained more than I thought from costa rica but I have a lot to learn. I am trying to learn 20 new words a day.
My room is upstairs on a rooftop. We are living with a host family in Lima until we move to our different locations. I guess we live in a "bad" neighborhood. My host mom wont let me run by myself she wants me to run with a Peruvian. I have someone to run with but I really dont care to run in the city with all the traffic and cars so I think I'm taking a small break. Riding the buses hear are fun. They are really small. They are like large VW buses in a way. Some day we might be able to ride the bus more but for now we have to take a taxi to the office were we meet to learn about the organization we work under and Peru in general. I usually have a good since of direction but each taxi driver has taken a different way to the office or to our house. Even if they took one way the streets with all the turns and traffic would make it difficult to remember.
It is winter here. People dress up for the cold. Many look like they are prepared for a winter in Minnesota and it is only in the low 60's. So Dad you would fit in well. There is no central heat in any of the buildings. None. And I forgot my sweatshirt. My warmest thing I have is a long sleeve shirt but I wont have to be in the weather for long. The one thing that my Mom told me to pack was a belt. I had it on my bed ready to be packed away (along with my sweatshirt) and some how I forgot that too.
I leave sept 11 for Moyobamba. I here the weather there is nice and hot. Since it is a warmer climate they can grow more over there so I hear there is a lot of fruit to eat. So I guess that is better than potatoes and rice all the time which I was expecting.
The spanish is coming along well. I have retained more than I thought from costa rica but I have a lot to learn. I am trying to learn 20 new words a day.
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