We are all arriving

 Since Christmas I, Sandy, have arrived as well as people from Japan, Hawaii, and other places around the US have arrived.  There are different languages being spoken, all with different degrees of competence.  As everyone tries to learn someone elses language, and help someone else learn their language.  It is a lot of work for me to be constantly trying to understand, but it is also fun. This morning I found myself helping to translate a conversation from a Japanese speaker to a Spanish speaker.  I was pretty amazed that I was able to do it.  It almost worked which was even more amazing. 

I find the hardest part of getting to know people is getting names straight.  I have a hard enough time remembering people´s names in the St. Louis Province, now I have so many people from so many places that I am falling back on name tags when they are being worn, and just talking when not. Hopefully people, including myself will get better at wearing them.

My first impression of the Center House here in Lima was that the courtyards were wonderful.  As I walk through the house to go from one side to another I move from inside to outside in a way that makes me feel like I am in a wonderland.  Here is a picture of the first courtyard that you see as you come into the house and head to the kitchen.  The walkways you see are the connections on the 2nd and 3rd floors.  The walkways on those floors are covered, but on the 1st floor it is open all the way up.  The poster board that you see is a list of arrivals and departures, and a list of activites we can sign up for while we are here.  The doors you see lead to the dinning room.  On the 2nd and 3rd floor there are bedrooms. 

The weather here is hot, but it cools down at night. I am always hot at home, some of you know, and have been hot here during the day.  This evening before dinner I was up on the roof, and found that I had to go inside as the breeze was making me cold.

From left to right:  Nancy, Lucia, Sandy

Yesterday I was told to sleep in, and I did.  I slept until almost lunch time.  Then, I went back to my room and rested, not slept, and at 4pm some of us went for a walk to the near by park.  As you can see in the picture things were decorated for Christmas. The tree behind us is made of milk and juice cartons.  Up close it is really neat to see the different colors that are on the cartons. They were all recycled.  We actually went to 2 "parks". One was a city park, and one was an Exposition Park.  Exposition Park is where the picture was taken.  They also had a market there with various things to buy.  Food, drink, clothes, purses, and New Year´s gifts.  We did not have any money at that time, so we just looked. 

Today we went to the History Museum.  I thought it was great.  It told snipets of the entire history of Peru.  Of course it was all in Spanish, but some of it was told with movies, and pictures.  I was able to get some of it, and Sarah translated some as well.  I was unable to get the dates straight, but I am interested enough to try to find some books or websites.  I may even try to do it in Spanish.  I think then I will get a more accurate history, and I will learn some Spanish. 

Tomorrow we are going to see where some of the sisters here live, and go shopping.  It is a chance to see the poorer and richer sections of the city compared to where we are staying.  I am interested in seeing the contrast.  Stay tuned for more adventures from the group meeting in Peru.  Many of us will take turns posting.  Sandy Schmid