focus.

i'm learning that things tend to look different

depending on what you choose to focus on.

------------------------------------------------

[thanks to my wonderful friend sam for the idea of taking these pictures]

kittens.and.pancakes.

monday october 11th: a beautiful afternoon at larcomar

tuesday october 12th: the typical parking spot, green grass but with concrete so that you can drive on it and not damage the grass. pretty smart if you ask me.

wednesday october 13th: i ate way too much canchita.

thursday october 14th: ice cream from burger king with sam. complete with shovels as spoons.

friday october 15th: the cute little kitten that spent some quality time on my lap during my deporte y vida.

saturday october 16th: i made pancakes for breakfast.

here's to happiness.

i've been feeling a bit sad lately.

so i'm trying to focus on the happy things in my life.

so here is a little list of things that currently make me

terribly happy

1. sunshine. just makes the world a bit brighter.

2. when someone tells me that i speak spanish well or

that i barely have an accent any more. i just can't help but smile.

it's just nice to hear someone else say that all my hard work is actually paying off.

3. getting to skype with wonderful people.

(most recently: jennie-rose, laura and sarah mo)

4. this song: Rock of Ages

5. this verse: "Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything,

by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.

And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding,

will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus" Philippians 4:6-7

6. The Message's version of the same verse:

"Don't fret or worry. Instead of worrying, pray.

Let petitions and praises shape your worries into prayers,

letting God know your concerns. Before you know it,

a sense of God's wholeness, everything coming together for good,

will come and settle you down. It's wonderful what happens when

Christ displaces worry at the center of your life."

7. the noise my boots make when i walk.

8. canchita serrana.

9. the realization that i am blessed by having wonderful friends

who are actually interested in my life and concerned about how i am doing.

and vice versa - they are people that i care deeply about.

10. napping.

sometimes.

Sometimes I’m afraid that I’ll sneeze out my nose ring.

Sometimes when I read comments on Facebook in my head I hear the voice of the person that wrote the comment.

Sometimes I actually miss Lane food.

Sometimes I sleep too much.

Sometimes I spend the whole day in my pajamas.

Sometimes I pretend to be listening or paying attention but I’m really thinking about something completely different and unrelated.

Sometimes I don’t want to be here.

Sometimes I never want to leave.

Sometimes I wish I were raised bilingual.

Sometimes I forget how to spell simple words in English.

Sometimes I can’t find a word to say what I want in any of the three languages I know – English, Spanish or French.

Sometimes I pretend I can talk to animals.

Sometimes I make up life stories about the people I see walking around.

Sometimes I would rather be alone.

Sometimes I need people around me.

Sometimes I go a whole day without praying.

Sometimes I consider deleting my Facebook.

Sometimes I hate putting forth any sort of effort.

Sometimes I enjoy a challenge.

Sometimes I eat peanut butter right out of the jar with a spoon.

Sometimes I don’t understand what is going on, but I laugh just because everyone else is.

Sometimes I feel like I’m making progress.

Sometimes it’s like I haven’t learned anything and I’m right back where I started.

Sometimes I don’t pay attention in class.

Sometimes I skip class.

Sometimes I do things I know I shouldn’t.

Sometimes I’m a pirate.

Sometimes I eat ice cream for dinner.

Sometimes I eat pizza for breakfast.

Sometimes I can’t believe how wonderful my life is.

Sometimes I lie.

Sometimes I wish I were a kid again.

Sometimes I cry.

Sometimes I miss my Mom and Dad.

Sometimes I pretend that I have things all figured out.

Sometimes I like walking around campus listening to my iPod because it’s like I’m listening to the soundtrack of a movie of my life.

Sometimes I think that running away and living in the Andes mountains sounds like a very good idea.

Sometimes I cheat at Uno.

Sometimes I eat too much chocolate.

Sometimes I daydream.

Sometimes I'm jealous.

Sometimes I'm funny.

Sometimes my humor doesn't quite translate.

Sometimes I feel like I belong.

Sometimes I feel so incredibly out of place.

Sometimes I worry way too much about what others think of me.

Sometimes I don't drink enough water.

Sometimes I take on more than I can handle.

Sometimes I try to do everything myself.

Sometimes I need help.

Sometimes I forget to depend on God to give me strength.

Sometimes I wonder how different my life could be.

Sometimes I'm afraid of the dark.

Sometimes I sleep with stuffed animals.

Sometimes I talk to myself.

another week gone by.

{monday oct.4}

my friend dani with santa clause

{tuesday oct.5}

oops.

{wednesday oct.6}

they are selling pumpkins!!!

amelia was quite excited.

{thursday oct.7}

oops.

{friday oct.8}

delicious meal cooked with sam and megan.

pecan chicken, rice and veggies.

{saturday oct.9}

the white board in my kitchen.

{sunday oct.10}

cute graffiti of a window box.

little tid-bits.

I recently realized that I have been doing a terrible job of keeping this blog updated with what is going on in my life. So here are a few little tid-bits of what my life has been like as of late. Let's see, where to start...

I'm currently in the midst of midterms. I don't have any actual exams, but instead projects and essays to do. I think I'd prefer to take an exam. None of this reading a 400-page ethnography and then answering questions comparing it to another one of 180 pages. No thank you. Side note about reading the 400 page ethnography, library books can only be checked out for a period of 4 days. How am I supposed to get all the reading done in such a short amount of time? I suppose I could renew the book, but wait, during midterms you aren't allowed to renew books. Strange? I think so. So I've just got to plan out when I check out books and when I'll actually have time to read them. I think I've got it figured out. But it's still a bit frustrating. I also recently found out that I have 3 major projects/essays due within two days of each other - two on Tuesday and one on Wednesday. It's a bit stressful and overwhelming, but I'm just trying to take it a little bit at a time, because honestly that's all I can handle.

So I guess since it's midterms that means that the semester is halfway over. What? When did that happen? I haven't yet decided how I feel about it because thoughts are pretty mixed. But I think I've come to the conclusion that I want to go home but I'm not ready to leave Peru. (I'm not so sure that I'll be ready come December, but I'll cross that bridge when I come to it.) Yup. That's how it is. So I just try not to think about it. I've got to be here now.

I started attending a church here in Lima about 5 or 6 weeks ago. I go each sunday with my friend Anna from CIEE. It's a Christian Missions Alliance church. I really enjoy it although we haven't met anyone and aren't involved in any way. I just don't have the time to make a commitment to something else, but Sunday morning worship is necessary. We've decided that we really like sitting in the balcony - one of the reasons being that it provides a better view of the cute drummer. Gosh, that sounded so girly and high-schoolish. Oh well. I promise thats not the only reason we go each Sunday.

Alright...what else can I share? I leave to go to Buenos Aires in 19 days!!! I am so incredibly excited!!! I LOVE traveling and haven't been out of Lima yet this semester. I'll be going with Amelia and our program director Melvin. Since Amelia and I are here for our second semester we've already been on the program trips to Cusco and Lunahuaná so we get to take the money from those trips to go on another trip. We chose Buenos Aires!!!!

Oh, here's a good story. So on Monday I was asked if Sam and I would be able to do something "special" for the meeting that CBU was leading on Thursday night. All of the CBUs from different universities in Lima get together once a month and they rotate which university is in charge. This month was "our" turn. And we were asked to help out. Which is great! It made me feel good to be included. But at first we were a bit unsure. It seems a little bit like throw the gringas up on stage and watch them be funny. Amelia decided that we are not circus freaks, as much as it may seem like it at times. Once we established that that is not what it was about, Sam and I decided to participate. All we were told was that they wanted our "special" act to be funny. Alright. So we thought a bit and decided to do that skit where one person has their hands behind their back and the other person stands behind them and puts their arms through and acts as their hands. We didn't tell them what we were going to do but we promised that it would be funny. They all seemed very curious and a bit unsure, but I guess they trusted us or something. Also the day of the meeting (Thursday) we were eating lunch and one of the guys asked me to help him lead worship, aka singing with him. Well I wouldn't say that I've got a great voice and I've never really sang in front of anyone, but I wanted to help him out and he seemed a bit desperate. So I agreed. It turned out alright. And our little skit went well. There were probably about 50 peruvians in the room and two little americans. We were so worried that they wouldn't think it was funny, but they laughed. And we got positive feedback throughout the night. I made a peanutbutter and jelly sandwich and ate it. Which meant that there was PB&J everywhere. And drinking out of the water bottle proved to be quite the challenge. But like I said, it was successful. And our friends are still friends with us so all is good.

So I suppose I should wrap it up, go eat something and do some more homework. (Who am I kidding? I probably won't do anymore work.) I hope all is well wherever you happen to be. I'll be posting some pictures from my week tomorrow.

week in photos.

[monday sep. 27]

ugly traffic on javier prado in the morning

[tuesday sep. 28]

gelato tuesdays with sam and amelia

[wednesday sep. 29]

hydrangea flowers on campus

[thursday sep. 30]

los danzantes tijeras (scissor dancers) at la dama juana

[friday oct. 1]

out with some friends from cbu for pollo a la brasa

(l to r) ángel, jonatan, amelia, miki, paola, nora...and me and sam

[saturday oct. 2]

oreo truffles made with love by abby and amelia

[sunday oct. 3]

christmas items are already in stores.

a bit early it seems.

(i (obviously) didn't take this one, but it still counts)