quick explanation

Just a quick explanation, Day one was on the 21 of May, day two on the 22 of may, etc. . .

Peru: Day two

Seven AM comes with conversations and sunlight as I roll out of bed, grab my stuff, stumble down the stairs to ask Dimas "puedo duchar?" He points to a bathroom on down the hall on the third floor. Something is really striking, and that is that all of the Peruvians are really, really short, but all of the light switches are all up at my chin hight, so around five feet and ten inches off the ground. How does that work? Also, the showers are something different, they have the only hot water in the house- and the water is not adjustable. Just on or off- and quite hot for a few minutes, and a very little, small single stream of water which makes it difficult to wash. . . (Later, as of this morning- so the 25, day 5, I figured out that there is a small dial on the pipe which which you can control how much hot water mixes with the cold water.) Also, because all of the Peruvians are short, the windows come down pretty low in the bathroom. . . Next Dimas runs to the market and gets some fresh bread and milk. We then head over to the market together and pick out some Edam Cheese and weird looking ham- along with butter. The bread was some of the best bread that I have ever had, with butter and really good cheese and oddly spicy ham. . . The milk was really intiresting, it tasted like un-skimmed milk or half and half. But had a very strong taste. In the words of Daniel "La leche es muy fuerte. . . " (ya, the milk is VERY strong) The next several hours were spent trying to plan our next two weeks. After planning, we went to the roof to help and observe the games at recess. Then we got out a mini green soccer ball and played a little roof top soccer, until we learned that if you kick the ball off of the roof, it does not get retrieved, so after that lesson, we played hacky-sack. Next we went down to join the "marching" band. I played the snare drum, Joel played the cornet and everyone else played tambourines. It was fun and the name of the song was Lima Chorillos. After the band session, we said goodbye to the students as they left for their homes, then we headed down the road for lunch. We went to a restaurant run by a friend of Dimas, the restaurant is called La Rosa. Dimas told us we have to listen to him, and he will tell us whether or not something is safe to eat. He ordered a Peruvian favorite, Lomo Saltado, for all of us. He then instructs us to use napkins to wipe down everything, the plates, cups, silverware, etc. . . as they were washed with Peruvian water. The first course is sopa de sustancia (soup of sustenance), and comes in a huge bowl. We are pretty much full after the soup, when they bring out the Lomo Saltado. It is a bed of rice with pieces of tough beef on top, onion, french fries, tomatoes all with a kind of light cilantro sauce. This is all served with Inca Kola, Peru's coke product, which tastes like a cross between coke and bubble gum. it is weird, and oddly addicting. And bright neon yellow. Best meal I have had for $2.50! Next plan of action is to exchange some of our money into soles. the exchange rate today was 2.64 soles per dollar. the money traders examine each bill very carefully before giving you your soles, which you also should examine very carefully, because sometimes they try to rip you off. To get to the money trader that Dimas likes, we had our first experience on a a Peruvian bus. The buses are, at very best, a ride and a half. Between the hair pin turns and the unexpected use of the brakes combined with the petal hitting the metal, they are certainly exciting. Not holding on is not an option. When we return, we played some card games and had some free time until we left for dinner- a place downtown called Roky's Karaoke. It was a blast! We had fried chicken with a salad and french fries, all while singing karaoke to our hearts content. It was super fun! When we returned- we did more trip planning- then called it a night. Tonight Jacob and myself are going to sleep in a tent on the roof- so that will be exciting. Although I must say that it is very interesting as I sit on the roof of the roof (the fifth floor), writing this at 1:30 AM, the rosters are crowing, the many wild dogs are howling and there is a general din between the constant honking of the cars, and the random noisy animals. The temp is perfect, I am sitting on the roof with athletic shorts and flip-flops, and I am just right. It is very comfortable. Another observation is that although during the winter it is almost always cloudy, and you never can see the sun, during the day it is really bright outside. Tomorrow we will be helping teach in the school, so that should be a lot of fun, also there is a parade for some festival of the kindergardeners, which Dimas wants us to play in. (With the Marching Band) We have also been told to wear a white shirt and blue pants. One final closing remark, even though it is extremely dusty here, Dimas' floors are always shiny clean. (Later I found out from Daniel, that they are actually really dirty, but they use a wax that make is look shiny even though it is dirty.) Also, even though the streets are filled with trash, the people dress very nicely. They also wear a lot of soccer garb. You rarely see tee-shirts down here. En Cristo, Miguel

Day one parte dos

Here is the next installment from my journal: Next we head over to the baggage claim to see a regular looking conveyor belt carrying the luggage around. While waiting for our luggage to come around on the very long belt, we get sniff "searched" three times by police dogs. After getting our packages we had to claim them with our baggage claim tags at yet another scary-looking Peruvia guard. The time is 11 pm when we head over to customs, where another fast moving line awaits. We show our documents and customs claim, and get directed to push "the button of decision," basically a big green button that you push- if it lights the pole above you green, you are free to entre the country, but if the lights turn red, then you have to go into the search room, where they x-ray all of your bags and search "random" people. Out of all of us travelers, Joel was the only one who got the green light, the rest of us were subjected to a search and had to try to figure out what the annoyed security guard, who didn't speak English and spoke very fast, wanted. Finally, after finishing customs, we headed out and met Dimas Vivanco and Daniel Pfieffer. We then had to wait for Peter to come through as he was on a later flight that got delayed. So when we where all rejoined in the center of the airport with about 200 peruvian eyes staring at us, Dimas instructs us to wait while he bartered with the taxi's before they saw we were "Gringos." Ten minutes later Dimas returned and beckoned us to follow him. We got to our taxi, and it is a regular sized Volvo style hatchback station-wagon weird thing with four doors. So four of us climb in, and the driver gets in after packing the back with our luggage. However not all of it fits in the back, so we have our laps very full. next thing we know, the driver of the the taxi is motioning and telling us to pile all of our luggage from our laps into Joel, who is riding shot gun. We didn't realize what is happening and tried to say that we were fine, that we were comfortable. But the driver became more insistent, and completely buries Joel in duffels and backpacks. We enjoy the space until the driver starts saying "uno mas, uno mas!" (one more, one more). Then we realize, what was a tight fit with Jacob, Dalton and myself became and impossible game of sitting of each others laps as Daniel tries to squeeze in. The driver had to physically help us push the door closed. We soon figured out that if Jake sat backwards facing us, it worked slightly better. Ten minutes of laughter turned into hysterical laughter when we passed Dimas' car, and say that Emily Marzofka was sitting in the front seat, with Elijah and Peter in the back. After a fifteen minute ride, we arrived at Dimas' house. We were then very promptly told to go into the house and let Dimas and the taxi driver get all of the stuff because it was not super safe in the street at one in the morning. We get settled in, and get introduced to Blanca, Dimas' wife. We chat for an hour or so, drink a "special" drink which turned out to be Coca-cola. After much conversing, and some comprehension, Dimas broke out the guitar and started playing and singing several songs including something having to do with the flower of canola and the National Anthem. After more musical enlightenment and talking we head upstairs to our sleeping quarters. Being two AM, I am very surprised while walking up the stairs to find that I am out side- on the roof. There are two rooms and a Bano on one side of the roof, and an open roof on the other side. We very quickly fall asleep after being instructed to use bottled water even to brush our teeth. This concludes day one, sorry it took so long to post this. But it is finally up. Enjoy and feel free to comment, subscribe, share, etc. . . Gracias! En Cristo, Miguel

Peru: Day One!

Sorry that this is so late, I have been quite busy in this very laid back country. I have been writing everything down each night in a notebook, so that I won't forget by the time I get the chance to update the blog. So here I will begin the recount, as recorded on May 21. PERU, DAY ONE WOW! Back up- we are still in Minnesota . . So we all get to Jacob's house around 8 pm on Sunday evening, go into the basement and start dividing up the massive quantity of books, tee-shirts, and crafts into our bags. We are called from our labors to partake in a decadent feast put on by the Gambles comprised of delicious smoked BBQ ribs, potatoes, vegis and finished with New York cheese cake topped with peanut butter fudge. This is our last supper in America for a while. We conclude the night with some billiards. We awake the next morning to the smell of bacon and eggs. After eating a hearty birthday breaky for Jacob, we head off to the airport. Our adventure has now officially begun. We get dropped off and head through security. Waiting at our gate brings a couple of rounds of 500 to the table. Finally we board our very small plane headed to Houston, Texas. They didn't like running the A/C, so it was a sweltering ride squished in a claustrophobic environment. After a very long flight, we finally arrive in Houston. In Houston, we were struck with the Spanish influence. Everything had both Spanish and English. We had about a four hour layover- so we enjoyed some lunch at Chili's. We met up with Elijah here and we soon boarding the Boeing 767 that was going to take us to Peru! During our 6 and a half flight they served two meals, one was your choice of two microwaved meals- either pasta with "meatballs" or BBQ chicken. They were served with a dry dinner rolls, and a salad with Caesar dressing and a chocolate bar. The second meal was a soggy turkey sandwich, carrots, and a kit-kat bar. As the plane begins its descent, our excitement rose through the sky. Because the plane was VERY full, our carry on bags had to be put all over the plane in the overhead bins, so after finding them, we were just about the last ones off the plane. Right when we exited the plane we were hit with the fact that we were in Peru by the lady directing us into the Immigration lines, in full frenzied Spanish, and the airport sported Spanish only. Immagration consisted of a long line and a dude who stamped our passport. Well, that's all for now, I must go to bed. . . I will post the rest of Day one, and continue shortly. Gracias! Miguel.

¡Perú!

Hola from Peru. We are here and having a GREAT time! We all have a bit of a headache trying to keep up with the Spanish, but we are having a blast! Tonight I will have more time, and will bring you up to date on the trip as of now. Adiós, Miguel

Prof G writes the following about our packing list: "Packing List -- Peru Trip 2012

As I was putting together the packing list for the Peru trip, I was reminded of the packing list that Jesus gave His disciples when He sent them out two-by-two to teach from village to village (in Mark 6:6-12). It was actually a list of what NOT to take though. They weren’t allowed to take money, food, a bag, or extra clothes! They were only allowed to take a staff and their partner. Why was that? Perhaps it was a reminded to rely completely on God to take care of them. Perhaps it was also a reminder of how Jesus was their Good Shepherd in Psalm 23, “Your rod and your staff, they comfort me.”

Of course, I’m not going to suggest we don’t take money, food, bags, or clothes on our Peru trip! However, it’s a great reminder for us to rely completely on our Good Shepherd, who provides for all our needs, whether we are here in the U.S. or traveling to Peru!

Baggage:  United Airlines offers the first checked bag (up to 50 pounds) for FREE  on flights to South America and the second checked bag for $70. I suggest weighing your bag before you leave for the airport. In addition, you are allowed one carry-on item and one personal item.

1.      Apparel

a.    It looks like it will be in the lower 70’s during the day and drop down to the lower 60’s at night.

b.    Keep in mind Dimas’ house doesn’t have heat or air conditioning, so I suggest being prepared for both cooler and warmer weather.

c.     It doesn’t rain much there. Instead it mists. Keep in mind this is the winter season where they do get more moisture. So a light water-proof jacket might come in handy.

d.    Something dressy/nice for social event. They just now started having weekly church services on Sunday.

e.    Good walking shoes.

f.      Sunglasses/hat

g.    I’m not yet sure what they do for washing clothes. I’ll get back to you on that.

2.      Documents

a.    PASSPORT!

b.    Copy of passport to carry with you on day trips

c.     I also highly recommend scanning your passport and e-mailing it to yourself. That way if you lose your passport, you have a copy of it on the web to access.

d.    Gov issued photo ID probably isn’t necessary, but might be handy to have with you for some form of ID.

f.      Minors need notarized permission to travel and medical release form. Give to Prof. Gullerud to carry with him.

g.    Medical insurance card and/or travel insurance information

h.    Dimas's contact information. This is included on the permission slip.

i.      Spending money (These are just rough estimates.)

                                                    i.            Food = $270

                                                  ii.            Transportation $200

                                                iii.            Other = $100

                                                 iv.            All U.S. bills must be almost new, no tears or wrinkles. Otherwise they will not exchange the money.

                                                   v.            Optional: Credit Card

                                                 vi.            Dimas is looking into the possibility of going to Machu Picchu. I’ll have to let you know the extra cost on that. It might be around $300 extra.

                                               vii.            We plan to use some of the fund-raising fund to pay Dimas for housing us.

3.      Sleeping

 .      Since Dimas doesn’t have enough bed for everyone you should bring a mattress pad/bed roll/air mattress, along with bedding or sleeping bag & pillow.

4.      Toiletries/Personal Items

a.    at least a half-roll of TP; most restrooms don’t have TP, so you’ll want to carry some with you at all times

b.    hygiene items

c.     bath, hand, wash towel

d.    sunscreen

e.    medicine = pain reliever, cold/alergy

f.      hand sanitizer

5.      Media/Technology

a.    cameras & batteries or charger

b.    phone (unless special plan is purchased, you’ll only want to use your cell phone in the U.S. of course)

c.     Wi-Fi is available at the house

d.    I will be taking my laptop with web-cam, so video Skype conversations will be possible. If you don’t already have a Skype account, I suggest doing so. It’s free and easy to use.

6.      Teaching & Writing Material

a.    paper & pens

b.    journal

c.     craft and puppet show materials

d.    lesson plans

e.    Bibles

f.      music

g.    Spanish dictionary

7.      Transportation/Map Information

a.    city/area maps

b.    tourist attraction information

8.      Travel Items (all of this is optional, so just consider what you might need/want)

a.    water/drinks

b.    snacks

c.     book

d.    music

e.    cards/games

f.      extra sweatshirt (last time I went the plane was very cold)

g.    backpack for day/overnight trips

9.      Gifts/Donation Ideas

a.    money donation for housing us (I will take care of this from the fund-raising fund)

b.    candy

c.     crayons

d.    books

e.    toys/balls

f.      hacky-sac

10.  Other

a.    personal snacks for when we're there"

PERU MISSION TRIP UPDATE 4-3-12 

            Notes from Meeting

Documentation- does everyone have a passport? YES! It is a little important. . .

Make a photocopy of passport, or two. Prof will do this for us.

Plane Ticket- Gamble, Emily, Micah, and Prof G have tickets, Barthels will get one through American Airlines. Elijah is working on getting one/ has one and will fly out of Milwaukee.

Notarized consent/ permission form and medical consent release forms needed for all students exept Micah (I am 18).

Medical insurance coverage Check it out! Gamble, Emily, and Prof are covered- the rest of us need to get that figured out. Here is a suggestion from Peter- allianztravelinsurance.com

Bible Lesson:

Jesus Camina sobre el agua puppet show (walking on the water)

Divide the parts (4 speaking, several puppet-tiring)

Gamble- Pedro

Elijah- Jesus and puppet-tiring

Micah- Narrador uno

Dalton- Narrador dos (Derek is back-up)

Emily- Puppet-tiring

Prof G and Peter- set up and watch/ help with questions/ responses.

Went over words/translations

Visual Aids-- Colouring assignment

Emily is on the JOB! Then Prof G will laminate and Popsicle stick them

Sermons4kids.com activities and colouring sheets

Bring supplies so that they can make their own puppets.

Weather-

Low 70s and 60's

Packing list

First bag free on United Airlines (50 Lbs) second $70

We might invest in one additional “group bag” for supplies

Laptops for some of them, one for village and one for Demas' son.

I hope to post a "packing list" soon. . .

UPDATE

2 church services in Spanish -Daniel Pfeiffer

several baptisms

Itinerary

Dimas is working on it

That's all for now, sorry about the format, I wanted to get it up today, and ran out of time to type it up in a nice paragraph, so I left it in note style from the meeting.