Kyliana always draws attention, including the regular unsolicited advice that I am learning to handle with patience and grace, which isn’t always easy. Nelton figures the rate at which it comes my way is directly related to the fact that because I (a “gringa”) don’t have a nanny, I must not know what I’m doing. In their minds, “all white people have nannies.” My differences in methodology translate to ignorance on my part.
The trip to the jungle includes about 4 nights and 5 days of travel roundtrip on the public launcha. Because hammocks are crammed side-by-side as tight as hay bales in a barn at harvest time, there is no such thing as personal space or privacy.
On the trip into the jungle, one woman must have adopted me as her personal project. She came by several times a day to tell me what I was doing wrong with my baby. Generally is was not wrapping Ky warmly enough, so she would grab whatever blankets were in my hammock and start bundling her up. On one occasion I tried to protest, telling her that my child sweats profusely in the heat because she has “Northern blood.” I really thought that would throw her off, but no, she quickly informed me that that’s what I want, it’s good for newborns to sweat because they were always warm in the womb and they need to be as warm as possible on the outside.
On the trip home, when I saw my new “mentor in motherhood” approaching my hammock, I grabbed a receiving blanket and stuck it over her to avoid that conversation, it didn’t work. Her reprimand was that my baby was too hot and I shouldn’t have any blankets on her, which I would much rather hear.
I’m sure Kyliana’s arm is evidence that gringas don’t know what they doing, which demands much more patience in dealing with comments. Conversations generally go like this, “Her arm is squished!”
“No, it’s broken, that’s how it needs to be.”
Assuming I broke her arm, the next comment is, “You can’t yank on baby’s arms or lift them up by their arms, they are too fragile.”
The most insulting one was when one lady shock back at me in a tone iced with judgement, “How could you permit that to happen!?” As if I handed my baby over to someone and stood-by in silence as I watched them bust her arm in two.
Patience wasn’t so easy to encounter at that time, but I calmly and almost flippantly replied that I didn’t permit it to happen, there are things that happen in life that happen that we have no control over. I explained that it happened while she was being born and being in the position I was, I couldn’t exactly sit up and say “STOP!” More than that, we didn’t even know it until later.
When I tell them that it happened when she was born, it usually silences the comments. However, one girl, around the age of seventeen, quickly replied, “that’s impossible.”
I was shocked, and continued her that that’s what the doctor’s said (the “doctor” word is usually effective).
“No, that’s impossible,” she stated again.
Annoyed, I continued, “So you’re telling me you know more than 3 doctors?”
“No. But I just know that’s not possible.”
Finally, deciding to give up the battle, I asked her why.
She explained that the nurses check all babies over when they are born, and if they didn’t find it there, then it couldn’t have happened at birth."
A lot of advice rolls our way and I have no frame of reference on how to even reply, so I just humor them and use it as a way to learn more about the culture.
Two ladies told Nelton that we can’t comb Ky’s hair. When he asked why, they both said because she won’t learn how to talk quickly, it will slow her speech development down.
Another one was that we can’t give her a pacifier because it will give her gas, or another reason is because it will hurt her throat.
One question we get almost every time someone new encounters her is, “is it a boy or a girl?” Even though she’s decked out in pink and has bows in her hair. “It’s a girl.” OH!, “why doesn’t she have her ears pierced?” Or “When are you going to pierce her ears?”
Parenthood is a learning experience for everyone, but doing it for the first time in a new culture... well, lets just say I’m learning more than I ever imagined I would. Patience with the public being at the forefront. After two months I’ve relaxed so much and have learn to not let the opinions of everyone effect how we raise our daughter. It’s been great though, and I wouldn’t trade it for anything. Hope you get a kick out of those brief stories.
Friday, August 27, 2010
Friday, July 9, 2010
OLD POST
This is the post I meant to put up when I got home from the States. I still haven't had time to write about the birth, but plan on doing it. Hopefully it will be coming at you all soon.
So this is from April 29th, 2010.
Back to Peru
The trip home to Peru went well. My only downfall was that I was allowed one carry-on and one personal item, which I loaded down, as I could purchase most things in the USA for much less than here in Peru. So my baggage became cumbersome after about the first 3 minutes of my trip. I had a small rolling suitcase and a small duffel bag packed to the limit and I felt every pound.
Not because of the baggage, but simply due to my pregnancy, it’s the first time in my life that I have really dreaded an international trip on my own. Every stretch of the way went smoothly, but felt so long, uncomfortable, and drug out.
It did make me laugh arriving in Iquitos though, as my husband looked right past me, not recognizing me. The truth is, he knows me well. See, when I travel, I generally do so in sweats, comfy clothes, and hair up, which I did until I arrived in Lima. In Lima, I changed into a cute maternity dress, put my hair down, and freshened up a bit. So when his brother saw me getting off the plane, he asked if it was me. Nelton glanced and said, “no, she never travels like that.” So he continued to watch everyone deplane and when no sight of his traveling beauty appeared, he began to wonder if I even made my flight.
His brother again insisted that I was the women in the dress, so he looked again, shocked that it was indeed his wife. It was a sweet reunion. :)
The weather absolutely knocked me out, however. My ankles quickly swelled up, along with my hands and fingers. It was uncomfortable to even stand. Energy? Gone, no sight of it. I am still wondering if that is due to running myself out in the States or really just the weather, it’s probably a combination of both.
Thanks to personal gifts received in the States, Nelton made an executive decision that we would get an air conditioning. He promptly purchased and installed it in the following day and a half. What a guy! And yes, I am continually thankful. It allows for much needed rest as I am cooler and can sleep, and for a change the doors and windows are closed.
Although, that doesn’t stop the neighbor kids, just reduces the frequency of their unannounced visits. Now it’s little hands under the door calling for us. We still have regular game night once a week. Tuesday night really was comical. We had all the kids come in and closed the door, the ones that knew we had air came decked out in sweatshirts and jackets, the ones that didn’t know were cold.
At the end I presented them with a surprise of stickers from the US, given to me for them by my sister Rebekah. Nelton wasn’t sure that the boys would really like them, as they were hearts and cartoons, and kinda girly, but it was the older boys (12-14) that were begging me for more. I insisted that everyone only got 2 sheets and if they wanted some for friends, they could tell their friends to come get them. Probably a mistake, because word spread in no time. Soon, not children, not women, but men were gathering at the door! I thought they were just bringing the toddlers to get stickers, but as I turned to close the door they just said, “and mine?” Nelton had stepped out to run some errands and I was really not comfortable with the gathering crowd of men, so I quickly gave them stickers and closed the door before the other ones could reach the door. As the door latched safely shut, I could only burst into laugher. Never had I expected that!
I’ve been resting a lot, which has been really good for me. In addition, I’ve been getting the paperwork and information together to present our boat proposal to out board. I hope to have that either posted or sent out somehow for all to know what our future plans are. Time is going by, and really, though I work on those things, my mind is constantly focused with anticipation at the arrival of our daughter. We really are only six weeks away! I can hardly believe it.
So this is from April 29th, 2010.
Back to Peru
The trip home to Peru went well. My only downfall was that I was allowed one carry-on and one personal item, which I loaded down, as I could purchase most things in the USA for much less than here in Peru. So my baggage became cumbersome after about the first 3 minutes of my trip. I had a small rolling suitcase and a small duffel bag packed to the limit and I felt every pound.
Not because of the baggage, but simply due to my pregnancy, it’s the first time in my life that I have really dreaded an international trip on my own. Every stretch of the way went smoothly, but felt so long, uncomfortable, and drug out.
It did make me laugh arriving in Iquitos though, as my husband looked right past me, not recognizing me. The truth is, he knows me well. See, when I travel, I generally do so in sweats, comfy clothes, and hair up, which I did until I arrived in Lima. In Lima, I changed into a cute maternity dress, put my hair down, and freshened up a bit. So when his brother saw me getting off the plane, he asked if it was me. Nelton glanced and said, “no, she never travels like that.” So he continued to watch everyone deplane and when no sight of his traveling beauty appeared, he began to wonder if I even made my flight.
His brother again insisted that I was the women in the dress, so he looked again, shocked that it was indeed his wife. It was a sweet reunion. :)
The weather absolutely knocked me out, however. My ankles quickly swelled up, along with my hands and fingers. It was uncomfortable to even stand. Energy? Gone, no sight of it. I am still wondering if that is due to running myself out in the States or really just the weather, it’s probably a combination of both.
Thanks to personal gifts received in the States, Nelton made an executive decision that we would get an air conditioning. He promptly purchased and installed it in the following day and a half. What a guy! And yes, I am continually thankful. It allows for much needed rest as I am cooler and can sleep, and for a change the doors and windows are closed.
Although, that doesn’t stop the neighbor kids, just reduces the frequency of their unannounced visits. Now it’s little hands under the door calling for us. We still have regular game night once a week. Tuesday night really was comical. We had all the kids come in and closed the door, the ones that knew we had air came decked out in sweatshirts and jackets, the ones that didn’t know were cold.
At the end I presented them with a surprise of stickers from the US, given to me for them by my sister Rebekah. Nelton wasn’t sure that the boys would really like them, as they were hearts and cartoons, and kinda girly, but it was the older boys (12-14) that were begging me for more. I insisted that everyone only got 2 sheets and if they wanted some for friends, they could tell their friends to come get them. Probably a mistake, because word spread in no time. Soon, not children, not women, but men were gathering at the door! I thought they were just bringing the toddlers to get stickers, but as I turned to close the door they just said, “and mine?” Nelton had stepped out to run some errands and I was really not comfortable with the gathering crowd of men, so I quickly gave them stickers and closed the door before the other ones could reach the door. As the door latched safely shut, I could only burst into laugher. Never had I expected that!
I’ve been resting a lot, which has been really good for me. In addition, I’ve been getting the paperwork and information together to present our boat proposal to out board. I hope to have that either posted or sent out somehow for all to know what our future plans are. Time is going by, and really, though I work on those things, my mind is constantly focused with anticipation at the arrival of our daughter. We really are only six weeks away! I can hardly believe it.
Thursday, June 10, 2010
A Baby Soon
So, we had a doctors appointment Monday (this is my first time to the net in over a week I think), and she said that she would be surprised if the baby takes two more weeks to be born! Her head is good and in position and ready to be born! She thought this week even would be possible. Well, here we are on Thursday and still nothing, but I know it will be soon.
After that visit I was sooo nervous as I am going natural, the other options that include drugs aren´t very common here, and I don´t really want to be a tester on advancing such progress in this country.
Mom and Hannah are here, along with Sarah Hoobyar, they have been a HUGE help! We have gotten things in the house all set up and organized for the baby, and they pretty much take care of all of the meals and dishes, which is totally great! I really hadn´t been able to rest until yesterday though, because after Dr. appointments, I had different testing and things I had to get up for. Today I was able to sleep in and totally loved it. However, it isn´t paying now, because I´m drousy. Oh well.
Naomi sent us a card and money for a date for Nelton and I before the baby is born, which is scheduled for tonight. I´m looking forward to it. It was very sweet of her!
So that´s a quick update, sorry these are so not as constant as I´d like them to be. But thus is life right now.
After that visit I was sooo nervous as I am going natural, the other options that include drugs aren´t very common here, and I don´t really want to be a tester on advancing such progress in this country.
Mom and Hannah are here, along with Sarah Hoobyar, they have been a HUGE help! We have gotten things in the house all set up and organized for the baby, and they pretty much take care of all of the meals and dishes, which is totally great! I really hadn´t been able to rest until yesterday though, because after Dr. appointments, I had different testing and things I had to get up for. Today I was able to sleep in and totally loved it. However, it isn´t paying now, because I´m drousy. Oh well.
Naomi sent us a card and money for a date for Nelton and I before the baby is born, which is scheduled for tonight. I´m looking forward to it. It was very sweet of her!
So that´s a quick update, sorry these are so not as constant as I´d like them to be. But thus is life right now.
Wednesday, May 19, 2010
Waiting...
I posted something last week, or so I thought, as I don´t see it now.
I´m back in Peru and have been for over a month. It´s been wonderful to be with my husband. However, the heat was so bad and aweful! We finally broke down and got an AC, thanks to a gift from a friend in the States. It´s been much better to live with this pregnancy.
It is funny though as everyone that comes over seems to freeze a bit. My sister-in-law asked if we´d be shutting it off when the baby comes so she doesn´t get sick. I explained that she´ll get used to it and that I was born into much colder climate. It´s funny to hear some of their concerns and comments.
I am currently counting down the days for the arrival of my mom and sister. I would be counting down the days ´til the birth, but it really is not too set in stone, especially because every doctor we have visited has given us a different due date.
I´ll try to repost that last post, as i have it on my laptop at home.
I´m back in Peru and have been for over a month. It´s been wonderful to be with my husband. However, the heat was so bad and aweful! We finally broke down and got an AC, thanks to a gift from a friend in the States. It´s been much better to live with this pregnancy.
It is funny though as everyone that comes over seems to freeze a bit. My sister-in-law asked if we´d be shutting it off when the baby comes so she doesn´t get sick. I explained that she´ll get used to it and that I was born into much colder climate. It´s funny to hear some of their concerns and comments.
I am currently counting down the days for the arrival of my mom and sister. I would be counting down the days ´til the birth, but it really is not too set in stone, especially because every doctor we have visited has given us a different due date.
I´ll try to repost that last post, as i have it on my laptop at home.
Sunday, April 11, 2010
Pregnancy Update
I went with my sister-in-law Andrea, who is also pregnant, to her regular check-up and took the chance to talk to her doctor about my little episode in the hospital.
He said that spotting is common in about 40% of all pregnancies and when his patients have it, he tells them to take it easy and rest for a week, if it continues after that, he takes action, if not he tells them to continue life as usual. Because my spotting was only one night, he said he didn't think it was too serious.
In addition, he said that contractions are normal, even up to 4-6 an hour. The key is to listen to your body, sleep or drink plenty, and if they don't go away, then take action.
As for the cervix, if it's only softening and not thinning, then it's okay. From what I understand my cervix was only softening, but I used the term thinning, because I didn't know there was a difference.
He said I could make an appointment to see any of the doctors there if I still felt I needed to, but that most of them would probably say I was fine and normal.
So the plan is to return to Peru and my honey as scheduled. I'll fly out April 21st.
Thanks to all for your concern and prayers. Please continue to pray that things will be fine as well as the insurance/billing from my little spell.
Thanks again!
He said that spotting is common in about 40% of all pregnancies and when his patients have it, he tells them to take it easy and rest for a week, if it continues after that, he takes action, if not he tells them to continue life as usual. Because my spotting was only one night, he said he didn't think it was too serious.
In addition, he said that contractions are normal, even up to 4-6 an hour. The key is to listen to your body, sleep or drink plenty, and if they don't go away, then take action.
As for the cervix, if it's only softening and not thinning, then it's okay. From what I understand my cervix was only softening, but I used the term thinning, because I didn't know there was a difference.
He said I could make an appointment to see any of the doctors there if I still felt I needed to, but that most of them would probably say I was fine and normal.
So the plan is to return to Peru and my honey as scheduled. I'll fly out April 21st.
Thanks to all for your concern and prayers. Please continue to pray that things will be fine as well as the insurance/billing from my little spell.
Thanks again!
Thursday, April 1, 2010
Life in These United States
The day after Nelton didn't get his visa, he suggested that I still make a trip to the States for a couple reasons. First, we still need to raise support to move ahead in the ministry. Second, he wanted me to have time with my family. and Third, it's easier to travel before the baby comes.
Sooo... the biggest news for me is that I am state-side!
I would have put it in my last newsletter to let everyone know, but since I had such a short-time to plan, I decided to come as a surprise for my mom's birthday. She was surprised! Along with everyone else. I only told those I needed to tell in order to line up a schedule to speak in churches.
I have been going, going, going since I've been home. I got home April 19th, and since then until today, I have spoken at four events and visited daily with one or two different people, at the least. I have been busy! Last night I was scheduled to speak in Edgewood, IA, but we had to cancel due to more complications in the pregnancy.
I came over here on Tuesday, March 30th, to spend sometime with Kevin and Sherri Kubly. Tuesday night I began spotting, which made me a little nervous, but since we were going to the hospital on Wednesday morning to pray with Sherri's sister before her surgery, we didn't worry too much. We thought we'd just ask a doctor there.
When we got there, we asked a nurse, who didn't know much, but never saw the doctor we hoped to see and ask. So while we were in the waiting room, Sherri called her doctor back home and asked her about it. She said that I should get in to a doctor right away. Sherri said we were at the Finley hospital in Debuque and she said, get in and see someone.
I really did not want to go in, because since moving to Peru, I don't have American insurance. Sherri convinced me there are options, so we checked-in, which turned out to be a good thing.
The doctor came in to give me an exam and said that I haven't been resting. I'm like "yeah, how do you know." She said that my cervix is thinning and at a point it shouldn't be for another month and a half at least. Basically, had I kept going at the rate and speed I was chances are my water would have broken before the end of my trip and I would have been delivering a premie baby.
She wanted me to stay and rest for a few hours and then check me out again before deciding if I could go home or would have to stay. They had me hooked up to the machine that monitors the baby's heartbeat and watches me for contractions.
When the nurses switched duty, the new nurse came in and her first question was if I was having contractions. I was like "NO! Why? Should I be?" I figured she thought I was in to deliver and made it clear I was only there for a check-up. She told me it was just a routine question and not to worry.
A little bit later the doctor came in and asked if I was having contractions, I said "no." And she's like "well, that's funny, because you're having a pretty big one right now." "REALLY?!," I said, "So that's what that is. I thought it was just the baby moving like crazy, doing flips or something." So turns out I have been having warning contractions for a little over a week now because I have not been resting enough, which is probably why my cervix is thinning.
The nurses were all great and took so much time to talk to me and answer all my questions, which was my crash course in child-birth. The funny thing is, we were in the hospital for more time then Sherri's sister who had surgery and was released, and we had the same doctor!
They released me, but I have to rest, rest, rest. They are treating it like early labor, or something like that.
So it turns out that it's a good thing that I didn't announce I was coming home, because chances are I'd be even more booked, and now I'm just having to take traveling a day at a time. And it's a good thing I came home, because hopefully due to that episode she won't be a premie.
Please be in prayer for the duration of this pregnancy that things will go smooth and I'll learn to say "no." If not for me, for my baby. Also be in prayer for insurance stuff. I have no idea what that afternoon bill will come to, but we don't have the means to pay the American rates. We have some leads, but that means... (my favorite) more paperwork!
Sooo... the biggest news for me is that I am state-side!
I would have put it in my last newsletter to let everyone know, but since I had such a short-time to plan, I decided to come as a surprise for my mom's birthday. She was surprised! Along with everyone else. I only told those I needed to tell in order to line up a schedule to speak in churches.
I have been going, going, going since I've been home. I got home April 19th, and since then until today, I have spoken at four events and visited daily with one or two different people, at the least. I have been busy! Last night I was scheduled to speak in Edgewood, IA, but we had to cancel due to more complications in the pregnancy.
I came over here on Tuesday, March 30th, to spend sometime with Kevin and Sherri Kubly. Tuesday night I began spotting, which made me a little nervous, but since we were going to the hospital on Wednesday morning to pray with Sherri's sister before her surgery, we didn't worry too much. We thought we'd just ask a doctor there.
When we got there, we asked a nurse, who didn't know much, but never saw the doctor we hoped to see and ask. So while we were in the waiting room, Sherri called her doctor back home and asked her about it. She said that I should get in to a doctor right away. Sherri said we were at the Finley hospital in Debuque and she said, get in and see someone.
I really did not want to go in, because since moving to Peru, I don't have American insurance. Sherri convinced me there are options, so we checked-in, which turned out to be a good thing.
The doctor came in to give me an exam and said that I haven't been resting. I'm like "yeah, how do you know." She said that my cervix is thinning and at a point it shouldn't be for another month and a half at least. Basically, had I kept going at the rate and speed I was chances are my water would have broken before the end of my trip and I would have been delivering a premie baby.
She wanted me to stay and rest for a few hours and then check me out again before deciding if I could go home or would have to stay. They had me hooked up to the machine that monitors the baby's heartbeat and watches me for contractions.
When the nurses switched duty, the new nurse came in and her first question was if I was having contractions. I was like "NO! Why? Should I be?" I figured she thought I was in to deliver and made it clear I was only there for a check-up. She told me it was just a routine question and not to worry.
A little bit later the doctor came in and asked if I was having contractions, I said "no." And she's like "well, that's funny, because you're having a pretty big one right now." "REALLY?!," I said, "So that's what that is. I thought it was just the baby moving like crazy, doing flips or something." So turns out I have been having warning contractions for a little over a week now because I have not been resting enough, which is probably why my cervix is thinning.
The nurses were all great and took so much time to talk to me and answer all my questions, which was my crash course in child-birth. The funny thing is, we were in the hospital for more time then Sherri's sister who had surgery and was released, and we had the same doctor!
They released me, but I have to rest, rest, rest. They are treating it like early labor, or something like that.
So it turns out that it's a good thing that I didn't announce I was coming home, because chances are I'd be even more booked, and now I'm just having to take traveling a day at a time. And it's a good thing I came home, because hopefully due to that episode she won't be a premie.
Please be in prayer for the duration of this pregnancy that things will go smooth and I'll learn to say "no." If not for me, for my baby. Also be in prayer for insurance stuff. I have no idea what that afternoon bill will come to, but we don't have the means to pay the American rates. We have some leads, but that means... (my favorite) more paperwork!
Friday, March 5, 2010
Fire Ants, Cookie Dough, and Neighbor Kids
Catchy title, huh? Unfortunately the fire ants are not related to the rest of the title. I just want to tell that story because I don’t want the pain to be in vain.
Upon arriving home from Lima, we discovered that our house had been taken hostage by ants, but not just any ants... fire ants. However, these ants aren’t the most obvious about their work, either that or we weren’t the most attentive. In a short time, as I would sit in our living room with my feet on the ground, it wouldn’t be long before something was stinging me. Looking down, I hardly noticed anything; but looking closer, I realized a small ant had decided my foot had gotten in the way of whatever it was doing. NOT FUNNY!
As we began to look around the room, we noticed lines of these little guys, marching in order on about 4 different trails through the living room, into the study, and back outside.
The climax of my fire ant story was when I was almost taken down by a whole army of them. We have a towel on the floor in front of our sink because the sink tends to splatter water in every direction when washing dishes. I went to do dishes one evening and in a matter of seconds my feet were on fire! Top and bottom! I looked down, but couldn’t see anything, because I was only lending the light from our window. I went over and turned on the light in the kitchen to find the towel was COVERED with fire ants! Never had I seen so many gathered in one place. I promptly grabbed the bleach and made a counter attack, successfully defeating the majority of the army in one swift pour of bleach.
It took me at least a day before I mounted enough courage to return to the kitchen sink.
So Cookie Dough and Neighbor Kids? Those two are related.
Several months ago, in the first trimester of pregnancy, I was craving sweets. It dawned on me that I had all the ingredients to make cookie dough; except, I didn’t (no brown sugar or baking soda). So I just improvised and it came out alright. Not my favorite, but it did the job. Considering the fact it wasn’t the best in the world, I stuck it in the freezer and let our guests try it as they wanted. Time slipped by and I sort of forgot about it. UNTIL Sunday, when we received four suitcases from home, delivered by a friend who was coming down with another mission. One of the suitcases was filled with chocolates, candies, cookies, goodies, cooking ingredients, etc.
That suitcase is the sole reason I feel like we are running the Peruvian branch of the Willy Wonka Factory. I do love it, because I always have something on hand to share with neighbor kids, or unannounced visitors (a daily occurrence). Admittedly, it is a little comical as sweets aren’t a real big thing here, so most people can hardly handle one bite-size candy bar.
Of course, in this climate, the chocolate needs to be stored in the freezer, which was when I ran into the cookie dough. I made it all fit snugly, until we went to the grocery store and bought a whole chicken for all our guests this week. I had completely forgotten about our lack of freezer space, and was forced to laugh when I got home to put away groceries and found no room in the freezer, rather heaps of chocolate. Well, when deciding what to remove, it’s no doubt that the not so great cookie dough was the first to go. When my nephew came later in the day, I tried ponding it off on him, but he wasn’t hungry and only wanted cool aid. So I stuck it on the counter and figured if I didn’t get rid of it by the end of the night, I’d just throw it out.
Now the link...
In the last newsletter, I wrote about the possibility of getting a kids ministry with our neighbors rolling. Well, we certainly did it. We are at once a week, but they would love it if we did it all day everyday. Anyway... our big thing is game night with them. They come over, play games for about an hour, then we give them some sort of treat and they go home. We are slowly incorporating a Bible time of sorts, which started last night (more on that in the next newsletter).
For our games, we try to give the winner of the game a special prize in addition to the treats everyone gets. Last Tuesday, we remembered the tub of cookie dough. So I gave it to the winner, relieved to be rid of it, and wondering if they would even like it. Well, five minutes later a string of 6 kids were marching right back into the house with gobs of cookie dough sticking to their fingers, led by the proud winner of the loot, Elio.
“Senorita Betanya [for some reason, they all still call me “senorita” -miss-, although I have rightly earned the title “senora” -mrs.-],” he starts, “I gave some of this stuff to all the kids, my mom, and other people at my house. Senorita Betanya, it’s DELICIOUS! We all want to know, what is it? Where is it from?”
Admittedly, I was a little shocked and slightly embarrassed that it had made it that far around the neighborhood... let alone so quickly. Even still, how do I even explain what cookie dough is in a culture that doesn’t really eat cookies, and if they do, it’s just packaged snacks. So I just called it some sort of sweet and that I made it.
“Senorita Betanya,” all the other kids chiming in at once, tongues clicking as they lick their little fingers, “do you have more of this stuff? Can we have some? We love it! Will you make more?”
As they filed back outside to spread the wealth, I just stood at the kitchen sink over a pile of dirty dishes, laughing. The whole scene was just comical as they all burst right in without knocking, walked right past Nelton and the two guys in the living room, until they reached the goal of the gringa in the kitchen to inquire about the new tasty treat that had reached this land. It was as if they owned the place.
When I thought the cookie dough hype was over, it got funnier later that night when Nelton came home from running some errands. I was in the bedroom, getting things straightened out, but was quickly filled with curiosity at the sound of his laughter as he entered the room.
“You’re not going to believe this,” he told me, “as I was coming home Paulo (our other neighbor I wrote about in the newsletter) stopped me and asked me where that jam was from.”
-Stopping him there, I burst out laughing, but had to clarify, “Jam?” I asked.
“Yeah, your cookie dough, he had no idea what to call it, so he called it jam. Anyway, he said ‘IT WAS SO DELICIOUS! The kids just gave me a nibble and I tasted it and wanted to grab the whole tub from them and send them away. Why haven’t you ever offered me any before?’” As if to imply that we were wasting it on the kids.
Nelton’s relaying of the incident with Paulo was filled with imitations of his facial expressions, hand gestures, and voice inflections, which made it that much funnier.
Oh, the random things that catch me off guard everyday in this culture. Such a mess-up of cookie dough would have never drawn such a positive response in my culture. My only hope was not to hear anything more of it after it left the door, but am so glad I did.
Although I’d love to draw a lesson from these experiences, or at least make a valid point, I don’t feel inclined. Maybe this will just give you a peak into some of the events of everyday life in another country.
Upon arriving home from Lima, we discovered that our house had been taken hostage by ants, but not just any ants... fire ants. However, these ants aren’t the most obvious about their work, either that or we weren’t the most attentive. In a short time, as I would sit in our living room with my feet on the ground, it wouldn’t be long before something was stinging me. Looking down, I hardly noticed anything; but looking closer, I realized a small ant had decided my foot had gotten in the way of whatever it was doing. NOT FUNNY!
As we began to look around the room, we noticed lines of these little guys, marching in order on about 4 different trails through the living room, into the study, and back outside.
The climax of my fire ant story was when I was almost taken down by a whole army of them. We have a towel on the floor in front of our sink because the sink tends to splatter water in every direction when washing dishes. I went to do dishes one evening and in a matter of seconds my feet were on fire! Top and bottom! I looked down, but couldn’t see anything, because I was only lending the light from our window. I went over and turned on the light in the kitchen to find the towel was COVERED with fire ants! Never had I seen so many gathered in one place. I promptly grabbed the bleach and made a counter attack, successfully defeating the majority of the army in one swift pour of bleach.
It took me at least a day before I mounted enough courage to return to the kitchen sink.
So Cookie Dough and Neighbor Kids? Those two are related.
Several months ago, in the first trimester of pregnancy, I was craving sweets. It dawned on me that I had all the ingredients to make cookie dough; except, I didn’t (no brown sugar or baking soda). So I just improvised and it came out alright. Not my favorite, but it did the job. Considering the fact it wasn’t the best in the world, I stuck it in the freezer and let our guests try it as they wanted. Time slipped by and I sort of forgot about it. UNTIL Sunday, when we received four suitcases from home, delivered by a friend who was coming down with another mission. One of the suitcases was filled with chocolates, candies, cookies, goodies, cooking ingredients, etc.
That suitcase is the sole reason I feel like we are running the Peruvian branch of the Willy Wonka Factory. I do love it, because I always have something on hand to share with neighbor kids, or unannounced visitors (a daily occurrence). Admittedly, it is a little comical as sweets aren’t a real big thing here, so most people can hardly handle one bite-size candy bar.
Of course, in this climate, the chocolate needs to be stored in the freezer, which was when I ran into the cookie dough. I made it all fit snugly, until we went to the grocery store and bought a whole chicken for all our guests this week. I had completely forgotten about our lack of freezer space, and was forced to laugh when I got home to put away groceries and found no room in the freezer, rather heaps of chocolate. Well, when deciding what to remove, it’s no doubt that the not so great cookie dough was the first to go. When my nephew came later in the day, I tried ponding it off on him, but he wasn’t hungry and only wanted cool aid. So I stuck it on the counter and figured if I didn’t get rid of it by the end of the night, I’d just throw it out.
Now the link...
In the last newsletter, I wrote about the possibility of getting a kids ministry with our neighbors rolling. Well, we certainly did it. We are at once a week, but they would love it if we did it all day everyday. Anyway... our big thing is game night with them. They come over, play games for about an hour, then we give them some sort of treat and they go home. We are slowly incorporating a Bible time of sorts, which started last night (more on that in the next newsletter).
For our games, we try to give the winner of the game a special prize in addition to the treats everyone gets. Last Tuesday, we remembered the tub of cookie dough. So I gave it to the winner, relieved to be rid of it, and wondering if they would even like it. Well, five minutes later a string of 6 kids were marching right back into the house with gobs of cookie dough sticking to their fingers, led by the proud winner of the loot, Elio.
“Senorita Betanya [for some reason, they all still call me “senorita” -miss-, although I have rightly earned the title “senora” -mrs.-],” he starts, “I gave some of this stuff to all the kids, my mom, and other people at my house. Senorita Betanya, it’s DELICIOUS! We all want to know, what is it? Where is it from?”
Admittedly, I was a little shocked and slightly embarrassed that it had made it that far around the neighborhood... let alone so quickly. Even still, how do I even explain what cookie dough is in a culture that doesn’t really eat cookies, and if they do, it’s just packaged snacks. So I just called it some sort of sweet and that I made it.
“Senorita Betanya,” all the other kids chiming in at once, tongues clicking as they lick their little fingers, “do you have more of this stuff? Can we have some? We love it! Will you make more?”
As they filed back outside to spread the wealth, I just stood at the kitchen sink over a pile of dirty dishes, laughing. The whole scene was just comical as they all burst right in without knocking, walked right past Nelton and the two guys in the living room, until they reached the goal of the gringa in the kitchen to inquire about the new tasty treat that had reached this land. It was as if they owned the place.
When I thought the cookie dough hype was over, it got funnier later that night when Nelton came home from running some errands. I was in the bedroom, getting things straightened out, but was quickly filled with curiosity at the sound of his laughter as he entered the room.
“You’re not going to believe this,” he told me, “as I was coming home Paulo (our other neighbor I wrote about in the newsletter) stopped me and asked me where that jam was from.”
-Stopping him there, I burst out laughing, but had to clarify, “Jam?” I asked.
“Yeah, your cookie dough, he had no idea what to call it, so he called it jam. Anyway, he said ‘IT WAS SO DELICIOUS! The kids just gave me a nibble and I tasted it and wanted to grab the whole tub from them and send them away. Why haven’t you ever offered me any before?’” As if to imply that we were wasting it on the kids.
Nelton’s relaying of the incident with Paulo was filled with imitations of his facial expressions, hand gestures, and voice inflections, which made it that much funnier.
Oh, the random things that catch me off guard everyday in this culture. Such a mess-up of cookie dough would have never drawn such a positive response in my culture. My only hope was not to hear anything more of it after it left the door, but am so glad I did.
Although I’d love to draw a lesson from these experiences, or at least make a valid point, I don’t feel inclined. Maybe this will just give you a peak into some of the events of everyday life in another country.
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