Easter in Arequipa

Our Easter season in Arequipa began a couple weeks ago when our school had an Easter Party.  During the party everyone participated in making the traditional Good Friday soup, and then while it was simmering we took turns sharing (in Spanish) about Easter customs in our home countries.  It was a fun and informative morning with our teachers and classmates at school!

Here we are chopping onions for the soup!

It was so much fun working together with our classmates from around the world!  In this picture you can see American, German, Swiss, and Peruvian friends of ours all working together to make the soup!

One of our teachers preparing to put the ingredients in the stock pot:

The recipe posted on the wall:

Team USA sharing about Palm Sunday, the Easter Bunny, and Easter Sunday church services!

Lase week, we were off from school on Thursday and Friday, and we were invited to lunch by Finn's sweet nanny, Celia.  We had a wonderful time eating with her and her family, and doing our best to converse in Spanish!

 

Finn enjoyed playing with Celia's granddaughter (above) and seeing the cows that graze near Celia's home (below).

 

Then on Good Friday, it was interesting to see the way the whole town puts out these little shrines in front of their homes or places of business (or even on the back of their vehicles).

 One interesting tradition that many of the Catholic people in Arequipa observe is a sort of pilgrimage on Good Friday to 14 different Catholic churches where they say certain prayers.  This custom is meant to call to mind the 14 stations of the cross.  I came across one group of people walking down the road that seemed to be observing this tradition, led by a man carrying a cross.

 

Later that afternoon, we had the opportunity to babysit for our missionary friends here in Arequipa, so that they could go out on a little date.  I had been wanting to do an Easter craft with Finn, so we decided to bring supplies so that he could do it with the other children.  We all had a blast painting together!

  

 

 

That evening we had a couple of American families from our language school over for tacos, movies, and games.  It was a lot of fun!

Saturday was a fairly restful day.  Apparently not a lot happens on the day before Easter here.  I guess everyone is resting from the Good Friday activities and preparing themselves for a super early morning of "burning Judas," an early morning activity that apparently kicks off with fireworks at 4:45 a.m. (I know this because it woke me up).  Read more about that here.  

On Sunday we enjoyed a lovely Resurrection Sunday service at La Roca (our church), and then lunch with the Gutierrez family afterward.  

All in all, it was a delightful long week-end and a wonderful time of celebrating the resurrection of our Lord with brothers and sisters in Christ.  This morning we returned to our Spanish classes feeling refreshed and ready to take on our final 4 weeks of school here!

- Laura

How In The World Could They Hate Jesus?

* explanation of this picture below

I read Matthew’s account of Christ’s arrest and crucifixion this morning, and the thing that has gripped me on this reading is the total hatred that the Pharisees and Sadducees had for Jesus.  Even Pilot himself could find no fault in Jesus, and yet these people were so bothered by him that they wanted him dead.

I’m sure there are many things that played into it.  They were worried about Jesus messing up their fragile arrangement with Rome and ruining everything they’d worked for.  But it seems to me that one aspect of Jesus’ ministry which infuriated these guys was His constant offer of grace to sinners—the age old controversy of works versus grace.  And I think I experience this agitation myself.  Like the pharisees I tend to idolize my personal standards and plans for “pleasing God” so that when someone else gets in the way of these plans, I feel disdain for that person in my heart.  I disdain them for getting in my way and what’s more, I disdain them because it makes me feel better about myself. 

And I’m not talking about criminals and “pagans” here.  I’m talking about my family members.  Like the Pharisees and Sadducees I so readily find fault in the people I ought to love, and when someone extends grace as Jesus did, I’m quick to write it off as weak or foolish.  “They’re just being nice,” I think.  “They don’t really know this person like I do.”

Why do I feel such a strong need for wrong doing to be exposed and corrected?  Is justice a stronger human trait than Mercy and Grace?  Perhaps.  But ultimately I think it’s all about my own desire to accomplish my own salvation.  Like those “spiritual leaders” of Jesus day, who had it all figured out and had cleaned up their lives meticulously, I, in my subconscious, most instinctual part of me, have this notion that I can take part in my own salvation, and that you could too  if you’d just see yourself and your foolishness the way I do.  And every time my heart accuses someone in this way, I accuse Christ and spurn the mercy and grace that He offered.


How could the “good guys” have hated Jesus so much?  Couldn’t they see the good things He was doing and the kindness He showed? 


Here in Arequipa there is a traditional burning of Judas which takes place every year at Easter.  They hang up a life size, flammable (and sometimes pyrotechnic) doll to represent Christ’s betrayer, and after reading his “will,” by which they air their grievances against city officials, they burn him.

I find it a fascinating representation of how eager we are to accuse and extort justice from others rather than face our own guilt.  This is what the religious leaders of Jesus’ day did, and this is what I do in my heart, if not always verbally, whenever my plans for peace, happiness, and productivity are infringed upon by those around me.  So what must I do?


Repentance.  Daily, constant, repentance, and acceptance of Christ’s sacrifice, forgiveness and grace.


- Laura


"But when the goodness and loving kindness of God our Savior appeared, He saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to His own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit, whom He poured out on us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that being justified by His grace we might become heirs according to the hope of eternal life."  Titus 3:4-7

Our Trip to Lima

Thanks so much to those who prayed for our recent trip to Lima to apply for our religious visas!  All things considered the trip went pretty smoothly.  I wouldn't want to do it again any time soon (though we might have to...), but as far as I can tell we accomplished what we set out to.

Here we are waiting at Interpol to get finger printed, questioned about body markings, and have our teeth examined.  They're pretty serious about knowing who is in their country!

 

One kind of nice thing about Peru is how they always offer "preferencia" to anyone who is old, pregnant, or with a small child.  Thanks to this policy I got to skip ahead in several lines provided that I had Finn with me.  Since we finished earlier than Derek we headed down the street to the 2nd largest mall in South America.  I enjoyed shopping for a few things that we haven't been able to find in Arequipa (crock pot, waffle iron, allspice, and garlic salt), and Finn enjoyed playing at this play place.

I learned that there's no point in paying for tickets or whatever to make the arcades and rides actually go.  As long as they're already lighting up and making noise he doesn't know the difference!

So hopefully in a few weeks we'll get word that our applications were approved and that we can pick them up and begin the process of getting one for Finn.  They won't let you apply for a visa for your child until you already have one yourself.  So there may be more trips to Lima in the near future, but hopefully there will be fewer lines and offices to visit since Finn is a minor (I can't imagine they'd want to finger print him too!)

- Laura

When last week's rain makes your internet drop

I'm pretty sure the few hours of rain we had a couple weeks ago just caused our internet to drop.  You see, rain in Arequipa causes big problems for the infrastructure.

 This is how our neighborhood was affected.

So due to some damage like this a little further down the road, some roadwork was begun a few days ago.

And I'm pretty sure they cut a line that brings in our cable and internet.

:/

So we are forced to entertain ourselves with archaic things like books, toys, and games for a few days.

At least the power and water only went out temporarily!

- Laura

My Morning Walk

My mornings all start out exactly the same.  Maybe yours do as well?  And yet the range of my satisfaction in life from morning to morning is so great, depending on how I focus my mind.

I took the two photos above on our walk to school this morning.  Our house is just on the other side of the buildings on the left.  In the picture just above, you can see "El Misti," the volcano, over to the right.  I see this beauty every day, and yet it's so easy to keep my eyes on the broken pavement in front of me...  or on the German Shepherd looming over me as the case may be - -

"Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind..." Romans 12:2

It's so easy to miss the beauty of God's work around us isn't it?  It's so easy for me to focus on accomplishing things and consequently miss opportunities to enjoy God and the opportunities He brings my way.  I suspect this will be a life-long journey of dying to self and receiving God's grace.


While on these early morning walks to school I've enjoyed listening to different podcasts.  Podcasts are a fairly new thing in my life, but the 20 minute walks we take to and from school each day are perfect for it and it feeds my need to learn something other than just Spanish!  Lately I've enjoyed listening to...

• the Personality Hackers podcast, which discusses the different Myers Brigg's personality types and how our minds are wired differently, and how to grow in our relationships with people based on that knowledge.
• the Theology Refresh podcast, nice and short 10 or 15 minute inspiring and thought provoking podcasts on different doctrines and issues facing the church today.
• and the Mason Jar podcast on Charlotte Mason style education (of school-age children)

I've thoroughly enjoyed each of these and would happily discuss any of them with you.


- Laura

Summertime in Arequipa

 A few pictures I took recently...

Don't mess with these guys...

Trying out Dad's earbuds...

spaghetti...

A little friend we sometimes run into at the park...

- Laura

Hola and Gracias

The other day I was at a farmacia (pharmacy) down the street picking up some pepto-bismol (the world traveler's best friend!) and after paying for the goods, the cashier smiled and said, "Thank you"--in English.  And that simple gesture of kindness and welcome was so meaningful.  I doubt that he really knew much English, but he recognized that I was an English speaker and used a simple phrase that he knew.  It made me so happy.  Not because I'm starving to hear an English word, but because in speaking it, he communicated to me that he was happy for me to be in his country and that he wanted to make me to feel welcome and at home here.

This exchange made me think about so many times in the US when I have interacted briefly with Spanish speakers and chosen not to use my few Spanish phrases out of fear that I might get a whole bunch more Spanish in response.  How silly is that?  Using a simple, "Hola" or "Gracias" could have really made a foreigner's day, and even if they did try to communicate further, there's no harm in explaining that that's all the Spanish you know.

As an amateur Spanish speaker here in Peru, I am forced to use Spanish that I'm not completely confident in on a daily basis, and I realize that that is likely the case (with English) for many foreigners in the US.  How snobbish and self-centered was I for being unwilling to take very small, very safe risks once in a while by trying out a bit of Spanish with speakers of that language in the US?

I think my time as a foreigner here might make me more drawn to foreigners in the US whenever I am there again.

- Laura