Arrived at Peru Projects!

I finally arrived at Peru Projects (in Espanol, it's pronounced pe-rU pro-YECTS). If I haven't already told you, we call Peru Projects the “air base” or just “base.” It is not to be confused with the SDA Conference which is called the Mission. Well, I arrived after spending a night in Lima, the capital of Peru. Since it is winter in the southern hemisphere, it can be chilly in parts, especially in the Lima Airport. lol. It was very nice (at first) to arrive in the hot climate of Pucallpa (pronouned PU-call-pa). Edie, the director, picked me up, and I began a small part of my culture shock.

We took a short tour of Pucallpa and ate at one of the nice restaurants in town. Apparently, if we had not eaten at one of the three "safe" restaurants, I wouldn't have been doing so good, if you catch my drift. Besides being a third-world country, theft and robberies are quite prevalent here due to limited police, limited police action, and bribes. Edie told me of a local pastor who was mugged because he owned a very-nice-for-here motorcycle. I will have to make sure and use common sense and always be on my guard whenever in town. However, the Lord led me down here, so I'm guessing I have an extra battalion of angels keeping tabs on me.

The air base is beautiful. It is sort of in the jungle. We pretty much just live in semi-developed parts of the jungle, the Amazon Basin. Surrounded by fencing and a lake, the base has eight to ten buildings and features you guessed it, a runway. I walked down it last night, and it seems quite large, though I have never walked down any runways. If you search for Pucallpa, Peru on Google Maps, you can pick up the runway by the lake almost due north from Pucallpa.

In comparison to Linda and Kristen, my best friend Jeremy who's SMing in Nicaragua, and probably most of the SMs, I have it cushy. We have full time electricity, plumbing and running water (though it has to be boiled for drinking), two landlines, dial-up internet (I'll tell you more about that later), more than one washer, did I mention full time electricity (which is marvelous)? The base has other things like a couple of personal missionarys’ cars; two planes (though one is missing it's engine due to repairs), funding (which I guess I'll find out more about later on); conference support; and most importantly, the Lord's guidance, leading, and blessing. We also have houses. Right now, I will be in the mist of transititioning between houses but will have my own in a couple of months.

I am also blessed with an English presence, though I need to quit the crutch soon. I have to admit, after traveling all the way here and trying to pass off my lousy Spanish, it was really nice to speak English with Edie when she picked me up. However, I did practice my Espanol with Edie and our administrator's wife, Gloria, last night. I was able to carry on light conversation with Edie's help. Hey Mom and Dad, my studies in Espana really did help! One of the most difficult things for me is that I feel like I'm being rude to people when I meet them because I really can’t say much, especially since I'm talkative.

Speaking of hard things, just remember me in your prayers. I'm still in the vacation stage of my trip, and I know that the culture shock/wanting-to-go-home stage will hit me at some time. So just keep me in your prayers. It's hard to explain, but EVERYTHING is different down here. The change of pace is good, but it's hard not having someone here fulltime who's my age who speaks English. lol. In time, I'll make more friends when my Spanish is better. However, not to be a downer, the Lord has blessed me with so much! First, He got me here safely without problems. The staff here is wonderful and couldn't be nicer. The food has been very good so far. Edie is letting me eat with her, and I'll give her money for groceries. Plus I have to remember that the Lord led me to Peru for a specific reason. I'll keep a smile on and let Him continue to lead me.

Before I go, I wanted to tell you about the internet (what internet?). The internet as we know it doesn't really exist at the base. Why? Because I am surfing Slooooooowly. I think I'm averaging 0.0005 MB per second. I think most broadband connections are between 0.5 and 2 MB per second, so you can see how slow it is. To put it in perspective, Google's homepage took about twenty seconds to completely load. lol. But I am going to make the best of it. Hey, I guess I can get some good reading in while I surf.

Thanks for your prayers and support. I'll try to write at least something most days, though right now, the modem isn't hooked up to my computer, so it makes things a little more difficult. Adios from Peru!