What did the Big Tomato say to the baby tomato?

This is the theme of my post today. I am sitting here watching my students complete their final exams for the month of February at SALI. And I am taking full advantage of this time I have to catch up on blogs, newsletters, on e-mails, on grading, and just in general on life, love, and the pursuit of happiness as well.

February has been an extremely busy month. Which as I ponder this more, I realize that in general, my February's are busier than normal. Perhaps it's because February is a shorter month, yet the amount of work remains the same, so it becomes necessary to cram it all in. Basically February is sweetened condensed milk. (The sweetened part only comes in because Valentine's is thrown into the mix, otherwise, there's nothing sweet about it).

I hope that your February was as pleasant as possible and that even if it was busy, it was a good busy. I hope to be sending out my February Newsletter soon (read: sometime still in February) with a more detailed description about February Activities.

Chau!

Faster than a speeding bullet...

Hello old friend. It's been a long time, hasn't it?

Do you ever feel that some weeks, though still consisting of the alloted 7 days of 24 hours each, have so much crammed into them, that by the time you are finished with that 7 day period, you have somehow time warped and actually completed 2 or even 3 weeks of your life? It's kind of like if you were Superman and running so fast around the earth, that time can't even keep up with you, and somehow you lap yourself in the process.

This past week was insanely busy, but also insanely blessed. Peru Mission had a team of about 20 from Independent Presbyterian Church in Memphis, TN, with us this past week to put on an intense medical campaign in the neighborhoods around Wichanzao Presbyterian Church. They did general medical consults (family, internal, gynocological, OB) out in the neighborhoods, as well as minor surgery, and dentistry. The team was wonderful, and the medical campaign was a success, and it was such after much hard work from the team members.

Um....so why are you tired, Gillian? You teach English, you don't do medical stuff.

True story, but this week they needed some help translating, so my roommate Heather Campbell, our friend/coworker Sam Love, and I woke up early everyday to be out at Wichanzao by about 7:45 and then to translate until 1:30 or so, when we'd eat a heavenly lunch, cooked by one of my favorite Peruvian moms, Hermana Lydia. Afterwards, we'd run home, shower and gear up for a full day of teaching until about 8:45pm. Like I said, it was busy. However it was a very blessed opportunity to get to know some more of the communities and people out at Wichanzao, to spend some time with brothers and sisters in Christ (Peruvian and U.S. American), and to continue to practice my Spanish. I never had worked as a translator before, and though I don't think I'm ready to print any business cards any time soon, it was nice to realize that my Spanish (albeit slowly) has improved over the past 8 months.

The first day I translated for the dentists. I don't recommend it. They pull alot of teeth and they make you hold the bucket where they put the extracted (read: bloody) tooth. Gross. I haven't ever had a tooth pulled, but I saw enough teeth being pulled to make me want to brush my teeth at least 3 times a day now. Have you seen the tools they use?! I'm just saying....don't forget to floss.

The rest of the week I ended up translating for the general medicine side, I sat with nurse Becky in Triage as she gathered the patient's history. Like I said, it was a great time to meet some of the Wichanzao folks, and it was very good for our medical clinic to make ourselves known in some communities where we weren't previously. Please continue to pray for the people out in Wichanzao, and the work that is going on there as well as throughout Peru. And if you're a dentist and need someone to speak Spanish and hold a spit cup...well...ask someone else first, and if nobody else can do it, I'm your girl.

Me telling a small Peruvian child to brush more, unless he wants to look like the guy behind me who is getting 5 teeth pulled (no joke).

**To read my coworker Sam Love's thoughts on this week, click to see his blog HERE**

**To see pictures from the medical campaign in Wichanzao this week, click HERE**

Public Service Announcement

Ok Three Things.

First, I was about to write a post about what a good mood I was in today, and then my favorite necklace from Peru just exploded into all 85 of the tiny parts that originally came together to make up my favorite necklace. Bummer, huh?

Oh well. All good things must come to an end. A fool and her necklace are soon parted. No use crying over spilled beads.
Better to have loved and lost a necklace than never to have loved at all.

Well, anyway.

Second: Things are still going very well here, we're in our 2nd week of teaching our February classes. Attendance for the institute is up to 207 students which is great, especially as our goal is to attract 300 students by the end of the year. SALI is experiencing a lot of growth and positive changes and we are continually working on improving the institute. Please pray for us as we continue with this year that our earthly goals will be met this year, but more importantly that we will grow as God will have us to grow.

Third Thing: I hope everything is well with all of you! Our vonage phone is still broken and I unfortunately am still relatively cut off from the Motherland. So this is your Public Service Announcement reminding you that only you can prevent forest fires, and that your friendly neighborhood missionary enjoys hearing from you through blog comments, e-mails, letters, postcards, and the occasional smoke signal, although that kind of conflicts with the forest fire warning. Well....you get the picture. Hope to hear from you soon!

The Native is Restless.

I am Restless.

Today is Ash Wednesday.

One of the things about being a Lutheran working with a Presbyterian mission is the differences in observation of church dates. Also, one of the things about being a protestant in a highly Catholic country is taking large steps to make sure the practices and observations of the church are not confused with Catholic practices. It's hard to explain, I suppose. It almost feels like I'm in a time of the Reformation, and the tendency is to run the opposite direction rather than take part in some of the good practices of the Catholic church. I do however understand that the evangelical church in Peru is at a point in its history that it needs to definitively distinguish itself from the Catholic church, and for good reason too. And at this point, part of making that distinction is to not observe Ash Wednesday.

Unfortunately, Ash Wednesday is one of the services that I usually treasure the most during the church year. First of all, it marks the beginning of the season of Lent, a 6 week of season reflection and repentance, something I feel I really need right now as well. True, in order to repent, I don't need to attend the Lenten Soup Suppers (potato soup's my favorite) or spend my Wednesday night omitting "alleluias" right and left, but it is something that I appreciate greatly to have a setting which is designed to make me focus. I need that. Ash Wednesday is such a unique time. Here's a short overview from the LCMS website:

A contemporary Lutheran appropriation of the Imposition of Ashes should begin with the two-fold biblical understanding of ashes: as a sign of our mortality and as a sign of our repentance. Likewise, the traditional formula, “Remember, you are dust, and to dust you shall return,” is most appropriate, since it paraphrases the words of God in the Garden of Eden (Gen. 3:19). By receiving the ashes, the worshipper acknowledges that God's judgment against our sin is right and just. But the ashes are also made in the sign of the cross—the very instrument by which our Lord took upon himself the punishment for our sin, in our place. Thus, the cross of ashes serves to remind us that we are sinners, and that Christ died for us sinners.

So on this Ash Wednesday, I will not be receiving the ashes on my forehead, but thanks be to God that His promises still remain despite the lack of outward signs.