Cultured.

Hi world!  This week has been quite a busy one! Here is a breakdown of my week:

Monday.  A new second grader was enrolled. She is sweet and speaks practically no English.  She keeps calling me "Teacher, Teacher."  So we are working on being at a name-based status. It is cool to watch Grace (a late start second grader as well) help out the newest second grader, Cielo.  Grace shows Cielo the ropes and you can tell she has transitioned well to school. (Grace had a bit of rough patch acclimating, but has turned a corner! PTL!) I now have 14 second graders in my class.  They are getting better about doing the Daily 5 routine but sometimes they baffle me with their choices.   They have sweet hearts and want to please.  We are working hard at our manners and independence! I want to share their names so you can be in prayer over them: Sarah, Donna, Bryce, Layne, Oliver, Lucas, Beltran, JeongWon, Daniil, Cielo, Kianna, Mone, Jakob, and Grace.  I have changed up my furniture in my room, but it still doesn't all fit!  I will take a picture of the maze! :)

Wednesday. I ignored the warning and bought Peruvian q-tips.  I put it in my ear and the cotton remained in my ear. I tried to get it out even enlisted my roommate.  No such luck. I went through out my day having muffled hearing and aching beginning to start.  I went to a doctor that afternoon.  He extracted the substance.  I was expecting to feel immediate relief but it actually hurt more. Apparently, when I tried to get out the cotton swab I managed to bruise my eardrum. He did a hearing test and seemed concerned. The whole time I was thinking, "I can hear just fine! It's my eyes that are bad!"  Here is what I have learned from this experience: 1. I would do something like this.  2. Cotton swabs don't belong in your ears and now I know the CORRECT way to clean your ears. I am happy to share these new insights with you.  3. For the money I was paying, a "free" hearing test was totally ok.  4. I work with some of the best people.  Rebecca took me to and from the appointment, translated the paperwork as well as spoke Spanish, and Lindsey (our school nurse) sat with me and understood any medical lingo. They definitely took care of me.  5. NEVER buy Peruvian q-tips.

Thursday. Jess (a roommate) and I went shopping for presents for Gabbi's (roommate) birthday celebrations.  Jess took me around Mira Flores and I got some cute scarves and accessories as well as some nice pottery from Jess' pottery guy. (She has a connection with a boat load of places.)  We had to stop at Dunkin Donuts and get a snack!  It was a nice! After a large and quick shopping trip to Wong, we dashed over the Gabbi's birthday dinner at Danika's.  Danika's is an Italian restaurant in town. It was super good.  A nice atmosphere and the waiter tried so hard to work on his English with us and we wanted to practice our Spanish.  We ended the night with the Wobble (birthday style) and our house favorite, Bruno Mars' "Treasure."  To say that I love these girls might be an understatement. They are fabulous and I so glad that we LIKE each other on top of able to live with one another. :)

Friday. Katelyn (roommate) and I went to the symphony. It was a delightful experience. I might have fallen asleep during some parts of it (because I was soooo tired), but the clashing cymbals awoke me quickly. :)  We are planning on making more dates to experience more of Lima life.

Saturday. The day started out with a  baby shower for the Baby Graham.  They are having a little girl at the end of October. It was nice to hear how God worked on her about marriage and a baby before all this had planned out.  She was talking about how she wrote a list of things she wanted in her husband.  Everyone began to get chill bumps, sitting in amazement on how God had orchestrated her meeting her husband.  I was thinking about how I had written my list several months ago and I haven't seen anything happen yet!  :)  God's timing, not mine. 

Later Saturday. We (all the roommates) headed to Mistura. It is a LARGE food festival that has different expos of different kinds of food. There was a whole expo for chocolate.  We decided it would be best to divide and conquer so Missy, Gabbi, and I were in a group together. I haven't laughed that hard in a while.  We looked (and probably sounded) like such gringos.  We ate cow heart, guinea pig, a gyro-ish wrap, and CHOCOLATE - hot chocolate, brownies, muffins, fudge. It was DELISH.  It almost had a fair like atmosphere - crowds and dirty feet.  It would have been amazing with funnel cake and some rides, but you take what you can get.  Mistura was set up along ocean so the view wasn't so shabby. :)

Missy Parks. Missy is head of member care with the NICS organization.  My school is part of that organization.  She came to check in with everyone especially the newbies to see how the transition was going. She also but Reese's Peanut Butter cups! What a gem! :)  She was such a breath of fresh air. She spoke words of encouragement and laughed along side of us.  Something God has really been teaching with this whole foreign country move is to not compare my experience to anyone else's and put unrealistic expectations on myself.  In devotions one morning, Missy shared this thought that has stuck with me thus far. "When you compare yourself to others, you are comparing your inside to their outside."  SOOOO TRUE. :)  I may not get everything here as quickly as others around me or may not feel as confident to speak Spanish in front of a native, but that doesn't devalue me or my experiences.  I think it is impossible to go throughout the week and not have an "Oh, I wish I was in America" moment, but I am being so stretched by being here it is hard to imagine life. Growing can be painful and uncomfortable, but is cool to look back and see how you have grown.

Wow. What a week!  I am thankful for these new experiences and friends to share them with!

You is kind. You is smart. You is important.
Have a blessed week,
Megan :)