Beauty in the Mud

I can not believe I am at the halfway point of my time in Peru. When I first returned, I told the stories of my 20 shots for rabies and how it was Gods providence I was sent home for them because I was able to help with my grandfather in the hospital almost every other conversation. Everyone was so glad to have me back but also so glad that I was there for my family during that trying time, they fully believe it was Gods providence I was bitten and I must say I agree. Tula (my madre Peruano) bought me a Pizza Hut pizza and balloons for my first night back in my home here. I love my Peruano family, they are without a doubt some of the nicest people I have ever known.

Since my return so much has happened. The first week I got back I was blessed to help lead a team from North Carolina with their work in Manchi. Manchi is a town in Lima about 30 minutes from where I live. It is not very large and all the houses are little more than plywood and metal with the streets inbetween muddy with excrement. It is not a "nice" place, but it has a strange sense of peace and beauty unlike anywhere else. I think it is because of how still Manchi is, even the people there are just still, content, and calm. I feel like I learned so much more than I taught during my time there. We were blessed to be able to work in this community. We put on an "EBDV" (VBS) and every morning would split up into 4 groups of 3-4 people, I got to lead one of these groups and we marched through the streets while I strummed the only chords I know (Wagon Wheel and White Blank Page, of course) and when people would poke their heads out of their houses I would eagerly say, "Que Paso!" and explain to them that we would begin EBDV at 3 on the court in the middle of the town. The first day I got many confused looks and laughs and later learned it was becuase in Peru, "Que Paso" is equalivent to "Hey, you there. What is your problem. You want to fight?" Luckily, all the people I talked to were children and mothers so no trouble came of it. Once 3:00 hit we would gather up on the courts and just play with the kids for about an hour. Futbol, Volleyball, Swinging in the air, or just tag. Then we would sing songs, the team would perform a short skit from the Bible, and then Maestro Bob would teach a lesson in English while Alex translated it for the gathered crowd. After the lesson we did a craft and worked on memorizing Juan 3:16 and by the end of the week many kids knew it and its deep importance. It was very sad leaving Manchi at the end of the week but I may return with another of the 2 teams that will be coming during the rest of my time here.

While the team was here the songs we sang in church were even more beautiful, I would close my eyes and just listen to the intermingled crowd of Peruvian and North Carolinian family singing in both Spanish and English and it was absolutely beautiful, the difference in the words being sang did not matter becuase the purpose and praise behind them was the same. The team has left now and I have been working at the MTW office and in my free time explored Jockey Plaza (a HUGE area of stores) and spent time reading in the park beside my house. It has actually been raining the past few days, not just the typical grey skys of Lima, legit rain. Today is the first day the rain has stopped and it feels great and Lima looks as if I got a bath.

My computer broke and wont turn on so no pictures for a while, hope my words will be enough to hold your attention. I love and miss you all!

"I am with You and will watch over you wherever you go" Genesis 28:15

Back in Lima

Hello all, I am back in the wonderful land of Peru! It feels like I never left, its a little colder and the skys ares still white but I love being back! This afternoon I will be working on VBS with a missionary team from ATL! Maybe I can make an Auburn family connection with this team! I can't wait to see my Peruano family and Dylan and Lindsey and Alex and Paulo and everyone else today! More stories to come later this week, hopefully no hospital involved this time. Hasta Luego, Chao!

From Home, to Home

The last post on here was June 7th and its now the 17th, the past 10 days have been some of the most trying days ever. My passion and my heart for this summer was Peru and being abroad, I was prepared mentally and fully ready to not be back in the states for 3 months. As you all know, I have been undergoing treatment for rabies and as of Sunday I will be fully vaccinated! I had to get 5 shots total for the Rabies Vaccine and 16 shots into my legs for the RIG-shot.

Now I can hunt down that dog in Peru and play with the monkeys and have no worries. (kidding mom) The second day I was home we got a phone call at 4:00 am and Pops had stopped breathings, Mimi called a HEMSI and they were off to the Hospital.

That was a week ago Wednesday so its been a week and two days now and Pops is still in the hospital. He had surgery and thankfully they were able to do it all Laparoscopically! Recovery time has taken a while and he is still on a liquid diet, hopefully he will be out before I go back to Peru this Sunday. I am not a fan of hospitals, I love the work and relationships doctors and nurses have with their patients, but the unspoken fear of the occasional inevitability of avoiding death is felt in every fake smile and dark corner in every hospital, be it in Lima or Alabama.

I am more than ready to be back in my room on the roof of Tula's house in the foothills of the Andes mountains, eating delicious Peruano cuisine and singing Spanish Hymns with my Peruano friends and family in the open aired church in the heart of the town of Salamanca, Lima, Peru. Only two more nights in the states, three airports, 10 hours of flying, and I will be home again.

Foaming at the mouth

Hello everyone, I'm writing this post in my bed back in the familiar mountains of Huntsville, AL. Not exactly what I had planned for this summer. Never once did I ever in my wildest dreams or anticipations about Peru have any fear or any type of mental preparation for the possibility of rabies. I am overwhelmed by everyone who has expressed concern over my potential lycanthropic future, thank you all for your caring and humorous texts, calls, letters, posts, facebook, tweets, and most importantly prayers. I have had many people ask me the story of the attack in all its details so this post is where I will do so. But before I begin I want to update everyone who is concerned or praying for me: I went to the doctor yesterday and he completely reassured me (and mainly my mom) that everything the ER in Peru did was up to date and correct. Today I anxiously am waiting a phone call that my meds have arrived and when they do I will be going to either Huntsville Hospital or the Medical Mall to get shots in each leg in the bite sites and also the second of the five shot series into my arm (thankfully not bellybutton like they used to do).

Bad News: 5 more shots to go in total

Good News: I'm not scared of needles, I will NOT have rabies, I will not have to go to the forbidden forest when it becomes a full moon.

So, heres what I have written down in my journal for those two scary days:

Friday, June 3, 2011 began just like every other day thus far in Peru, up early to eat breakfast and drill new Spanish vocab with my Peruano family. A typical morning consisting of a quick stop at the Starbucks for internet and a trip to Plaza Vea for food and necessities turned into a full morning.

We ate lunch with Dylan and Lindsey's family and them I hopped on a combi to make my way to Salamanca to go to the MTW office and meet with Jim to discuss plans for Jovenes, worship, the teams coming in, and just to talk.

It was my debut solo trip on a combi to Salamanca from Los Fresnos and I made it. I even paid the price the other Peruano citizens paid for the combi ride, maybe I'm becoming less of a Gringo! Once I got off at the second bridge I quickly slung on my backpack consciously snapping front strap for security in the streets, grabbed it by the sides, and put on my 'determined, knowledgeable, experienced, not intimidated by anyone' face as I immersed myself into the crowd cramming onto the two bridges that cross safely over the highways to the neighborhood of Salamanca. Gloating on the inside at my success on the combis, I walking down the last steps and into Salamanca. I knew the path of turns (right, right, left, left, right) to get me to the church through the streets and as I was reviewing them in my head I was distracted by people screaming and yelling and clattering noises behind me. (Pic below is exactly where it happened, taken the day after the attack on my way to the church)

I turned and saw in the distance a pack of dogs (or so I wrote in my journal, for clarification "a pack" means three dogs) tearing through the crowds in front of the tiendas, and when people ran to get out of their way the dogs would bite at their feet and chase after them. What seemed to like a 3 hour decision making process in my mind happened in probably about 10 seconds, I was internally debating on wether to run or not and decided dogs can smell fear and thats why others were being bitten so I determined it would be better to stand still, back turned to the dogs, and to stay calm. My instincts served correct for the first two dogs and they raced by me but not the third, I watched it come straight for me determined and not in the least bit scared of me. It attacked.

Because my back was turned when it pounced it went for the back of my legs, thankfully I was wearing Carhartt pants and the first few bites did nothing but as I kicked at it, it got rather vehement and more determined to eat some gringo meat. Then it ripped a hole in my pants and I felt its teeth sink first in my right calf, then it went to work on the left. Thats when things got serious and I decided yelling and kicking at the dog wasn't enough. For all you PETA people out there I'm sorry but I drop-kicked that mutt as hard as I could. It finally took its leave to terrorize others further down the street. The crowd around me was silent and staring at me so I, embarrassed and kind of shocked, quickly rounded the corner and made my way through the streets to the office. (Thats all that is important about that day, the rest of this story began the following day)

Saturday, June 4, 2011. Woke up at 5:45 to shower and ate a 6:30 breakfast, we began extremely early because today there was a yard-sale we were working at and that began quite early. We hopped on a combi and made our way there, joking about the stupid dog that attacked me yesterday and commenting on how beautiful it was with the sun out in Lima. When we got there we found the table and were setting up. Not ten minutes after Mrs. Lori came and asked, "Cary, were you bitten by a dog yesterday?" I said yes and the series of questions about time, location, etc that followed sent me into a cold chill and absolute shock. Not five minutes later Mrs. Sarah (another MTW missionary) and I were in a taxi on the way to the Anglo-Americana Hospital.

We arrived and (in Spanish, of course) explained what happened and I was taken into a room, put on a bed, they cleaned the bite sites with a bunch of different liquids, (see picture below)

and then put guaze with antibiotic ointments on it and them covered that gauze with gauze then tape. Oh, and they gave me the first shot. It all happened quickly and calmly and though I had on a calm face (thanks to HHS theatre I can be a good actor when needed) I was absolutely freaking out.

After all was done we hopped back in a taxi and the phone calls with insurance, the other missionaries, MTW USA office, etc began. We got back and worked at the yardsale the rest of the afternoon, I was useless and in a state of shock and unbelief still. At the used books for sale table this is what I saw.

God DEFINITELY has a sense of humor. White Fang? I was laughing so hard. A little over 24 hours later I was in a plane and made the trip back to the states to begin the series of shots needed to insure that the potential rabies would forever remain dormant and dead. Mark Berry, the head MTW Peru missionary told me as I was leaving not to be discouraged, he told me Satan must really want me out of his way in Peru and because of that I absolutely must get back as soon as possible. So as I lay on my comfortable bed back in Alabama all I can think about it getting back, I am trusting God to get me there as soon as possible.

Dylan and Lindsey I miss you guys! Take care of Tula for me! Doc says it will be about 2.5/3 weeks till I get back to yall!

PRAYER

Hello all, please do not freak out when reading this, God is in control and I am ok. I was bitten by a stray dog yesterday in the streets of Salamanca in Lima, Peru. I was walking to Luz de Vida (my church) and three dogs fighting and running were behind me in the crowd of people, as people jumped out of their way the dogs chased them so, I decided to not run because ¨dogs can smell fear¨so I stood still and two ran by me but one did not, it pounced and I fought back. This part of town is dangerous and the dog was potentially rabid SO today I had the experience of going to a Peruvian ER to get my Rabies vaccine. Thankfully I got it within 24 hours of being bitten and because of this rabies will be avoided. Tomorrow I have to fly back to the states (alone) to get a vacination that is not anywhere in Peru to fight the potential rabies, it is up to my doctor how long I have to stay. The rabies vacinations are 5 shots which Peru has and I started this morning (HUGE needle yall) and after getting the other shot back in the states its up to my doctor if I need to continue the rest of my Rabies vacination in Huntsville or back in Lima, I am PRAYING for Lima and would appreciate yalls prayers as this next 24 hours willl be quite trying. Thanks for all your love and find security in the fact that God is sovereign and this is happening for some reason, thats what Im clinging to now and it is absolute truth. Chao todos

Los Fresnos, Por Favor

Hola everyone! I really appreciate all of your prayers these past few days, the transition period is always one of the hardest parts. I’ve learned a lot my first week here. Where to begin… Yesterday was the second anniversary for “La Casa de la Gloria” a Christian home for girls who are pregnant or have a baby. These girls are as young as 13 and during their time in the home they are taught how to do some type of work (making jewelry, cooking, etc) to be able to provide for themselves and their baby, they get to continue their education, and they are living in a community that stresses the power of the gospel in everything they do (Hagaí 2:9, Isaiah 40:30-31) it’s an incredible home. The girls and that mission is what Dylan and Lindsey (the other two MTW interns here with me) will be devoting their time, love, and energy to all summer.

Like I mentioned previously, I am working with “los jovenes” which is the youth group of my church here, and with the missions teams that will be coming in to work. So far we worked with the “jovenes” meeting (games, songs, scripture) and with the church’s prayer meeting that was last night. Every lesson, prayer, and basically conversation dealing with these things are in Spanish. The first sermon I went to I just wrote down all the words I recognized because my brain could not process them, change the tense back to one I know, and understand before the next word came. Thankfully (gracious a Dios) I am surrounded by patient teachers in my home and work. Tula (my madre) introduced me to one of our neighbor’s who is a Spanish and English professor at one of the local colleges who is going to be giving me Spanish lessons this summer if I will do the same for him in English!

My friend Alex is teaching me all the slang terms I need to know as well as helping me with my accent. Every morning at breakfast my brothers drill me with vocab. It is really getting better daily but definitely is still a wonderful (no sarcasm intended) challenge that I thoroughly enjoy. Another fun challenge is our means of transportation in Lima the rest of the summer. “Cambi’s” (buses) are how we will be getting around the rest of the summer, we will take a cambi from our neighborhood in Los Fresnos to either Salamanca (the church and office’s neighborhood) or to Avenida la Molina (the Berry’s neighborhood). Now these buses are very small and very fast and very crowded and we stick out like sore thumbs, especially myself because of how tall I am, and the drivers will try to rip us off with expenses so we have to be on guard for that as well as thievery on the buses and taxis which is very common. Mom, I know you are probably freaking out at the idea of my using Peruvian transportation all summer but I swear it’s okay and actually fun!

The sun has been out the past few days and the frigid mountain air has retreated and it’s absolutely beautiful all day long. A few nights ago Paulo and Alex took Dylan and I to this internet café where we went to a back room and climbed a ladder into a hole in the roof that opened up to a room with pool tables and an incredible view. It was so much fun! Peru is full of surprises like that, I’ve learned (once again) to never judge anything or anyone by how it may first appear, no matter how good you intuition may be.

Also, I went to the market, not Plaza Vea which is like a Peruvian wal-mart but the real market, and it was such a fun experience. We saw chickens getting plucked, strange fruit that we don't have in the states, flowers, and I bought my first pair of Peruvian crocs because everyone wears crocs in their houses, NEVER barefoot and my Chaco's are very Gringo but thats ok with me!

Prayer Requests:

Definitely continue to pray that my Spanish grows stronger, pray for los jovenes and that we will be able to help foster a stronger Christian community during my short time here, pray for Peru because the presidential elections are this Sunday and the two candidates are very extremist and Peru definitely needs prayer. Thanks for all who read this and comment! Let me know what you want to know and I’ll include it in my next post!