Segundo Semana

Segundo Semana 9/30/2011

So I’m finally setting in some. I even got to try ceviche, Peru’s national dish. My host mom made it homemade. It was delicious! It’s raw fish with cilantro, onions, and lime, but there are many different types. The food here is fantastic but I have an innate fear of gaining weight from all the rice and potatoes…a high carb diet  (a woman’s worst fear lol).

Ceviche

I also went to a dance festival. It lasted for 5 hours and it only cost S./ 1 ~ $0.50. Nuevo sol is the currency of Peru. This dance festival was held at a school and over 20 dance teams performed traditional Peruvian dances ages 5- 17. They were all pretty great and very interesting dances and elaborate costumes. I want to get one of those cool skirts before I leave…so I’ve got a while.

5 and 6 year olds dancing

It’s very dry here and never rains. September 23 was the first day of spring…so it looks like I get to repeat summer over again….yay…ok not really. Anyone who really knows me also knows I hate the heat, but I’m a trooper and will survive. It has been really nice lately only in the 60s at night to 80s during the day.

Peruvian acrobats! haha

I also got to play soccer for the first time this weekend. My host brothers and I along with another volunteer and her brother started up a game of soccer on Saturday. I did much better than expected. Thank the Lord for my athletic abilities! Considering my skill or lack there of I did much better than expected. Thank the Lord for my athletic abilities! We lost the game on Saturday 10 to 3, but on Sunday I redeemed myself and we won 10 to 7. I scored 7 of those goals. Nonetheless, I need to practice!

Not so traditional Peruvian dancing...I think it's a Gorilla!

Training can be a headache. In a lot of ways I feel like I’m back in high school. Training is everyday from 8-5 then homework and “practice” aka working with my Spanish tutor. Somewhere in there I have to spend time with my host family, read, exercise, and keep in tough with friends and family back home.  Talk about a juggling act. As always I like staying busy.

This week we started our Pre-Service Training Community Diagnostic….yep…It’s a big of a headache as it sounds. We have to run a series of meetings, surveys, calendars, and a bunch of other “tests” to learn about our community and get a better idea of their needs and goals.  Basically, this is just the practice round for what we will be doing individually in on communities in a few months.

Traditional Peruvian Dance

I’m learning Spanish quickly. I now meet with a tutor every afternoon for an hour. I also got moved into a new “more advanced” Spanish class….that by no means says I’m an advanced speaker but it is definitely an encouraging step in the right direction.

This week, a group of us were conducting some community surveys in a local high school, just as we were about to leave the director asked the five of us to teach an English class. I was really fun but the students’ English levels were pretty low. Since we had about 30.2 seconds to prepare, thanks to my handy dandy M-Fuge training I was able to whip up a few games in a matter of minutes. We played a word recognition game, an old standby game of Hangman and Charades, and we even sang, “Head, Shoulders, Knees, and Toes.” I must say I thought we were a hit. The students appeared to be between 14 and 16, but in Peru kids are younger than they look for the most part. It was a very fun day and they invited us back!

About Peruvian television….they show any and everything…and by any and everything…I mean ANY AND EVERYTHING… from bloody car wrecks, murder, molestation on the news to cross dressing, and countless American shows dubbed in Spanish.  One of the most entertaining is a show a called, “Canta si puedes.” Which is basically a mixture of American Idol and Fear Factor. The show makes contestants do ridiculous stunts while they sing.  I’ve also watched Lord of the Rings, Titanic, and Footloose…all dubbed in Spanish.

Saturday I’m going to Lima and Miraflores. More on that next time!

This week as been a lot of firsts for me and everything continues to fascinate me. I know that will wear off but I will enjoy while I can. I have been in the Word a lot this week and God has continually been good to me. I don’t deserve it! I have been reading in Isaiah for several weeks but Chapter 46 really stuck out this week. “There is NO ONE Like God!”

I pray everyone is doing well. I pray for you by name and thank God everyday for the hope, peace, and salvation we have through His GRACE!

LOVE  you ALL!

Celeste

P.S. I’m realizing how many awesome movies I’m going to miss in the next year or so....It would be awesome if someone would compile a list of all the awesome movies I will need to catch up on….that kind of sounds like a list for Drew!

iYo vivo en Peru!

Well, I’ve finally made it to Peru. I’ve been here 2 days now and I really do love it. My training group seems very nice.  Health training has been separated from the other training groups. We have 30 trainees and only 6 are male.  (Poor guys.) This should be interesting.

I just moved in with my training host family, The Morales.  I’m living in Huscaran a neighborhood Chaclacayo about an hour outside of Lima. The father is a building contractor. They have a very nice home. Delia, mi mama, is very sweet. It was great. Looks like I’ll be running more due to the high carb diet here. The Morales have 2 sons. Oscar, who is almost 8…his birthday is soon. Or at least that’s what I think he said. Ha! The older son, Fabreseo. is 11.  They remind me of Drew….they absolutely love their Playstation, Power Rangers, Spiderman, and Cars.

Mi familia

After lunch on my first day, we took a walk around the neighborhood visiting family and neighbors. My Spanish is better than I expected but still extremely limited. In only a couple of hours I’m pretty sure I had exhausted all the Spanish I know. Delia just keeps saying, “Poco a poco.” (little by little)

Training includes with intensive Spanish classes and job training for 4 weeks. The weeks following include site visits and job application.  I’m excited. Delia walked me to the  centro de Cuerpo de Paz (Peace Corps Center) for my “first day of school.” She’ll even pack my lunch. It’s like going to kindergarten all over again. J In 10 weeks, I’ll be a PC Volunteer and hoping to be a lot better in Spanish.

It has been a whirlwind week. I haven’t had a lot of free time but I am managing to stay in the Word.  As far as I can tell the Morales are not Christians as well as most of the trainees I will be working with. Pray I can be strong and stay in the Word and also be a light to the people I am around for the next couple of months.

I read a little quote from Beth Moore today, “We make life so much more complicated when our approach to life is “all about me”…Life vastly simplifies and satisfaction greatly amplifies when we begin to realize our awesome roles. God is God. Frankly, it’s all about Him. Thank goodness, He is the center of the universe.”

I really liked that. I want to focus outward and help give hope to those who need it. Without Christ, we cannot realize our role. I pray I can make life NOT about me but about God and bringing Him glory and honor.

I hope to go to church in the next couple of weeks …but my Spanish will have to get better first. Until then I will have to stick to downloaded sermons. There is a Baptist Church down the road I just have to figure out what time it starts.

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The stack of books I'm using to learn Spanish....yikes! 5 hours of Spanish class a day!

The food here is very good. Lots of potatoes and rice….practically with every meal. There are over 300 types of potatoes in Peru so there is a chance I could try them all! They also eat a lot of eggs. Mi mama makes this stuff I my mom would love. It’s called Cancha…it’s maiz (corn). It’s cooked like popcorn but it doesn’t pop but is still soft inside. It’s a great snack and is consider a protein. You can even make cookies with it. I’ll have to get the recipe for them. They were delicious. Juice is made fresh here every day. I’m hoping to bring back lots of recipes for everyone to try…though it does seem that many dishes take a while to prepare….don’t know about that !

Cancha

 Last night I went to a birthday party for my "cousin," Jordan. I got to dance and eat awesome food.

Daning with mi abuelo 

I know this post is all over the place. I was hoping to get on the internet sooner but that didn't happen. I promise there will be much more to come.

Love and miss you all!

Celeste

iAdios mis amigos!

Well I'm heading off today. A lot of things are running through my head.

I've decided to make a list of things I will miss:

1. My family
2. My friends
3. Fans
4. Netflix
5. Peanut Butter
6. Road Trips
7. Fall
8. Football season
9. A Christian community
10. Subway cookies

Things I'm looking forward to:

1. Meeting new people
2. Sharing Christ
3. Learning a new language
4. SEEING THE WORLD!!!!!
5. Making a difference
(I know this list isn't as long but it's just as sweet)

I've gone MAD (making a difference) My mom told me this as I was heading to camp about 10 years ago. I never forgot it. So I guess I have gone MAD.

I'm heading to DC and Friday I actually leave for Lima. I'm pretty sure I'm way over packed. How do you pack for 2 years? This is what mine looks like.

The fun part will be carrying it. Yikes! I'll rig it somehow!

Love you all!

Next time,

Celeste

Here I go again....traipsing the world

Alrighty, being brand spanking new at this I don't know where to begin. If you're reading this you probably know me and well...the fact that I don't blog. So I'm attempting over the next 2 years and some change to share my experiences in the Peace Corps.

So here's the deets: I've up and joined the Peace Corps. I'll be living in Peru for 27 months (~800 days). I will be a Community Health Promoter aka health educator. Don't worry I won't be stranded in the Amazon jungle like many seem to think. I will be living with a Peruvian family in Lima for 3 months and after training I head to a different village for my 2 years of service.
Yep I'll be living here!

Why you ask? Well, I'll take a stab at explaining. I'm an adventure seeker...always have been. I had a "plan" for my life but it seemed God has called me in another direction. I know I have always been drawn to other countries....I have itchy feet...I'm a nomad...however you want to put it I never stay in one place very long. Even though the Peace Corps is a secular gov't organization. I feel very strongly that God will allow me to use this time to grow spiritually and train for future. I will finally be able to cross "learning a foreign language" off my bucket list. I truly believe my time with the PC with better equip me for future positions with an NGO and working with international disaster and relief projects.

I know God has given me guidance and peace about my decision...especially since I'm not even nervous (weird...huh?).

So here I go, "traipsing the world again" as many family and friends have told me. But the definition of traipse is "to walk or go aimlessly without finding or reaching one's goal." Well I'm definitely not wondering the world aimlessly so I'm on a quest to find a better word..hmmm quest? Nah. How about adventure or journey. Either way I really do know God has a hand in all of this. Trust has been an important word to me lately. :)

I suppose I should end this with a little more inspiration: 2 stories

Story #1: Most of you know I worked at M-Fuge this summer. Teaching Day #2 of Bible Study was about "Relating to those in authority" We discussed Matthew14:22-33 AKA The Story of Jesus walking on water. We were supposed to have our students draw a boat and above it write Matthew 14:29 which says," Come! And climb out of the boat, Peter started walking on the water and came toward Jesus." This verse is relating to how Peter stepped out in faith and completely trusted Christ, knowing He has all power and authority. Subsequently, I would have my campers fill in this blank: If I could do one big thing for Christ and I need I couldn't fail I would ________. Then the campers would write this in the bottom of their boats. I had done a sample boat before camps started and in my boat it said, "Go to the far ends of the earth." And guess what? That was a week before I got my invitation to Peru. Crazy, huh? God is amazing. His timing is perfect. And if we completely trust Him, He can do amazing things in and through our lives.

Oh, here's a pic...I keep it in my Bible...Yes I know I cannot draw... Thanks for pointing it out.
(Note: the pirate, the lookout, the monkey, and Kate Winslet)

Story #2: Is not really a story but inspiration none the less...Today I was reading in 2 Corinthians 5. One of my favorite verses is verse 17. But today I took more notice of verses 20 and 21. "Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ; certain that God is appealing through us, we plead on Christ behalf, "Be reconciled to God." He made the one who did not know sin to be sin for us, so that we might become the righteousness of God in Him." Ambassadors....we are to be ambassadors. Representatives of Christ in our speech, our actions, and our attitudes. We are to reflect Christ and be salt and light as it says in Matthew 5:13-16.

Well the rest of my blogs will be in Spanish...jk. I had my Spanish speaking level interview yesterday...yikes! I have forgotten so quickly. Oh well....more on that later.

I'll keep everyone posted on these next few weeks!

If you would like to write me while I'm gone or send peanut butter ;)

Cuerpo de Paz - Peru 

Celeste Grisham, PCT

Via Lactea 132

Surco,

Lima, Peru

Until next time,

Celeste