Leaving Peru would be just as painful as being away from home does. I have got myself into a trap and the only way to get out is to chew off my leg.

Chatting with Dale online just now caused me to come up with the above quote. Sometimes, through talking with people I discover more than I would thinking through things out on my own.

El Niño con el Pijama de Rayas

Last night I went to see this movie with the Grupo. Though it was a intense and mournful film, I only teared up once through the entire thing (and I was humored to see that the supposedly macho latino guys with us were struggling to not break down in sobs right there in the theater by the end).

After the final credits came up, all of us just sat there

staring at the screen in horrified shock.

"Did you like the film?" I asked Adriana later.

"Well, how can anyone like that kind of film?" she said, "though it did make me think."

I nodded even though I didn't fully agree as I really had enjoyed enough aspects of it to be able to say that I enjoyed it. The acting and filming were beautifully accomplished. Additionally the film was extremely honest and truthful - not adding rays of sunshine where there actually are none (to make us viewers feel better inside when we shouldn't), but not glorifying darkness either.

However, even with all that being said, I probably will never watch it again.

The one where I finally write something serious

I have begun to get to know Peruvians my age by going to the young adult group at the church I attend. Last night, three girls were accompanying me home and we were walking next to a busy street. Gabi, one of the girls pointed across the street, and asked us if we knew what was going on.
We all looked across the street to see chaos: pedestrians clearing off the street, cars driving out of control. We looked closer to see a crowd of shouting, angry looking men carrying sticks. Then we realized that the crowd of men was running full speed in our direction.
Cynthia, another girl with us, yelled, “RUN!” and so we did, frantically looking for somewhere to hide ourselves. We stopped at an apartment building and Cynthia pressed the intercom button frantically to see if someone would let us in. Fortunately, someone did and we sat down inside, watching men run past, police on their tail.
Meanwhile the girls explained to me that the men were likely a part of a gang and that the worst they would do is steal wallets and scare people.
They said that this kind of thing happens only occasionally in Lima, but that it is especially rare that it would happen in the area we were walking through.
I have never before seen a large group of people so out of control unless you count going to Wal-Mart for an after Christmas sale (How do I miss thee Wal-Mart? Let me count the ways…)

My understanding is now stretched, the definition of civil unrest is now truer in my mind, the world is a much more serious place than I once thought it was.
My faith in my own world has been shaken up and I see now there is only one thing I can ever have complete faith in.

Though it wasn’t as scary as it was interesting, afterward, I had an unpleasant nightmare about my school being attacked by the Sendero Luminoso, the Maoist guerrilla organization in Peru. They were dressed up as clowns which put it on my top 10 scariest nightmare list for sure.

Newsletter 2: A Bunch of Lists

Hello Friends!

Let me tell you the things I have learned these last few weeks:

• students at the school I work at are not afraid of stopping by their teachers' homes and staying to chat for over an hour just because they are in the neighborhood
• over 7 people can fit in a taxi
  

• new kindergarteners need to learn that throwing scissors is "not ok"
• my favorite flavor of ice cream is sold here and can be obtained within walking distance of the school (I wasn't sure which list to put this statement under)
• God has taken away my old life and all the things I once looked to for satisfaction only to show me clearly the depths of satisfaction I can find in serving and knowing Him (Isaiah 19)

Pray for me:

• as I decide which church I ought to attend
• as I build relationships with the parents of my students
  

Praise God for:

• the loving staff at the school
• the joy I have getting up every morning and going to work

Because of His grace and through His grace I serve Him.

Thank you all for your care,

Eden

Isaiah 55

1 "Come, all you who are thirsty,
come to the waters;
and you who have no money,
come, buy and eat!
Come, buy wine and milk
without money and without cost.

2 Why spend money on what is not bread,
and your labor on what does not satisfy?
Listen, listen to me, and eat what is good,
and your soul will delight in the richest of fare.

3 Give ear and come to me;
hear me, that your soul may live.
I will make an everlasting covenant with you,
my faithful love promised to David.