Life in Lima: Update thus far

So... a lot has transpired since I last wrote, and that is because I am an absolute failure at keeping this blog updated. I remember talking to my friend Rebecca back in the States before I left and she asked me how often I intended to update my blog. I responded with a fervent "twice a month". It is now January, we've been here for almost 5 months and I have blogged twice.... My sincerest apologies.

Probably the biggest news that most of you know about, if not all of you because I've been telling everyone and their grandmother, is that I'm pregnant. That's right folks. I had no idea pregnancy was such a difficult process, but man does it take a toll on my body. I've been experiencing awful nausea accompanied with throwing up on the regular. The toilet and I have become close acquaintances. I've also felt incredibly weak and pathetic. Every week at church I can't stand for an entire hymn without feeling like I'm going to faint, so I sit down. I look around me and see people much older and weaker than I standing like champs. Bravo to them! Despite my general feeling of illness 24/7, Peter and I couldn't be more thrilled to be having a baby. We already chose names for either gender and love to stay up at night discussing various aspects of parenting that we may or may not disagree upon. We feel so blessed that we get to bring another human being into this world and raise him or her as a child of God.

I definitely didn't expect to be writing about pregnancy in my blog about my trip to Peru, but life happens unexpectedly. Moving on to more specific Peruvian life details:

I finished up the school year with Santisima Trinidad. I still can't quite wrap my mind around the fact that we are in summer break right now, but good thing reality doesn't depend on what my mind can fathom. My time at this school was challenging but also enriching. The language barrier was always a problem, but something that lessened over time. The children all grew to know me and expect my presence in the school. I'll never get over the affection of Peruvian children. I would be bombarded with hugs every time I walked into a classroom and it never ceased to bring me joy. One of my favorite moments was sitting next to a student who was and is the most mature 3rd grader I've ever encountered, and discussed our ways of celebrating Christmas. He was so patient with my broken Spanish and took his time to teach me new vocabulary. We carried on a conversation for the entire duration of snack time and we moved beyond "where are you from?" and "how old are you?". We ended the school year with a big Christmas celebration that included the children singing a song in English that I taught them. They never really nailed the verses, but they definitely got the chorus! Here is the video of that (don't make fun of my terrible singing, the audio quit working so I had to lead...):

Peter finished up his class on the first 500 years of church history in November. This was a wonderful class and as one of the students, I can say with full disclosure that Peter knows how to teach. This was a wonderful time for us to get to know more people attending the cathedral and also a few people who attend other churches. It was magnificent to see others and myself feeling more connected to the tradition of Anglicanism by understanding the roots of Christianity. There was one class when Peter described what a Sunday church service would have been like in early Christianity and I saw the excitement that people had (including myself) when we realized we do things very much the same way today. It is a gift to learn and be connected to the community of saints from centuries past.

Peter has preached a number of times now and also spent some time developing the advent devotional for adults. I have been helping with the children's ministry by writing curriculum and teaching a few Sundays out of the month.

Our Christmas and New Years was spent with great company. People have been making sure to welcome us and make us feel at home here during the difficult holiday season. Being away from family is more difficult than I had anticipated, but I am so very grateful to the hospitality that has been extended to us during this time.

Please continue to pray for us. We are headed to Cartagena, Colombia tomorrow for a week vacation. We needed to renew our visa and this is also a little pregnancy relaxation getaway. We'll explore more of Peru once I'm done with my first trimester. Pray for safe travels and that we will come back refreshed, ready to continue our service here with the cathedral (and possibly some new service opportunities which I'll update you on if it pans out). Thanks for reading folks. Enjoy a random selection of photos.