Settling in...
Sometimes it's a bit bizarre to think that this is now my home. I live in Abancay...! I go from ohmygoodness to AWESOME!
Going to youth group and church, wanting to sing in Spanish but not knowing the words (they all just seem to know all the songs so they don't always put words up!), drinking something pink and sweet for communion, greeting people with a kiss, itchy bites all over my body, the soft Quechuan handshake, going shopping at the markets, bumping into people you know on the street, catching the combi, walking along dirt roads, jumping over gross things I don't want to step in, getting stared at - all things that sometimes seem unfamiliar which in time will become familiar.
A small town in the Andes - Abancay is very different to Lima. I feel like a city girl pretending to fit in and live in the country! Funny thing is, many people come into Abancay from the surrounding district, so it is supposed to be the "city". But I feel like I live in the middle of nowhere.
At the same time... this is where God wants me to be and I'm really looking forward to getting to know the girls from church better. I wish my Spanish was heaps better too! It would make it so much easier to get to know people. Listening to Spanish and trying to speak can actually be quite tiring too... I look forward to the day when I will be able to think and dream in Spanish!
Today as I was walking around town with Stacey (my orientation mentor), I met the Chinese couple who have a Chinese restaurant in town and they invited me to have Chinese tea with them! They speak Mandarin (not Cantonese) so that should be interesting - but we did manage a conversation with my really bad Mandarin and broken Spanish. How funny!
Tomorrow, we will go to visit the Peruvian family I hope to live with from next week.
Pray that
- I will continue to settle in
- I will be able to build good relationships with the other missionaries and some of the girls at church
- I will be a light for Jesus to the Peruvian family and the Chinese couple
Going to youth group and church, wanting to sing in Spanish but not knowing the words (they all just seem to know all the songs so they don't always put words up!), drinking something pink and sweet for communion, greeting people with a kiss, itchy bites all over my body, the soft Quechuan handshake, going shopping at the markets, bumping into people you know on the street, catching the combi, walking along dirt roads, jumping over gross things I don't want to step in, getting stared at - all things that sometimes seem unfamiliar which in time will become familiar.
A small town in the Andes - Abancay is very different to Lima. I feel like a city girl pretending to fit in and live in the country! Funny thing is, many people come into Abancay from the surrounding district, so it is supposed to be the "city". But I feel like I live in the middle of nowhere.
At the same time... this is where God wants me to be and I'm really looking forward to getting to know the girls from church better. I wish my Spanish was heaps better too! It would make it so much easier to get to know people. Listening to Spanish and trying to speak can actually be quite tiring too... I look forward to the day when I will be able to think and dream in Spanish!
Today as I was walking around town with Stacey (my orientation mentor), I met the Chinese couple who have a Chinese restaurant in town and they invited me to have Chinese tea with them! They speak Mandarin (not Cantonese) so that should be interesting - but we did manage a conversation with my really bad Mandarin and broken Spanish. How funny!
Tomorrow, we will go to visit the Peruvian family I hope to live with from next week.
Pray that
- I will continue to settle in
- I will be able to build good relationships with the other missionaries and some of the girls at church
- I will be a light for Jesus to the Peruvian family and the Chinese couple
3 Comments:
heya prilz,
love the whole irony of your 'outback'/city life. ;) Isn't God amazing! So happy for you!
i bumped into a guy from East Columbia the other day asking for directions on the train. Asked me if i knew Spanish, which I replied with an 'hola!'... hehehe
take care and keep us posted!
Hey Prilz,
thanks for blog, great to hear how your settling in is going. We are on holidays now wich means for me time to catch up on overdue essays!!! Hope you have wonderful Easter celebrations, praying for you, God bless, Love Sue
Hi Prilz,
Glad to know you are geeting down to settling down OK.
Having dinner with your parents tonight. I am sure they're pleased with ur progress.
DanielW
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