Oh, Peru!

My teammates and I have adopted a new saying that we use with frequency here. It's a multi-purpose phrase that can express so much with two little words, "Oh, Peru!"

Depending on how and when one says it, it can express joy, frustration, acceptance, and various sorts of amazement. Let me give you some examples.

Joy - Driving over ginormous sand dunes in a dune buggy with the sun shining brightly on a gorgeous day, and being amazed by the variety and beauty of God's creation. "Oh, Peru!"

Frustration - Going for a three mile run and being chased/barked at by at least 10 dogs (one of which is running frantically back and forth on the roof of a house, and you hope it doesn't pounce on you), having every other male between the ages of 14 and 70 make cat calls at you, and being honked at by about 20 cars (some honks are "hey, baby" honks and others are "watch out, I'm speeding down the mountain, and I'm not going to make much of an effort not to hit you, so get out of my way" honks). "Oh, Peru!"

Amazement (positive) - Running into the neighbors and their whole family as they are leaving the birthday party of their grandma (who died 2 years ago--yes, they still celebrate their birthdays long after they are gone), and having everyone hug and kiss you and run inside to get you some cake to take home with you. "Oh, Peru!"

Amazement (maybe not so positive) - Having a guy (someone you consider a nice, decent guy) ask you to go with him to Lima to the store where his girlfriend works and walk by her counter holding hands to see if she'll get jealous. This is apparently the best way to see if his girlfriend really loves him. He specifically wants you to go because she also has light skin (but not as light as you), and she told him that he couldn't find anyone prettier than her. Thanks for the compliment (I guess), but no thanks. Ever heard of trust? "Oh, Peru!"

Acceptance - Realizing that when taking public transportation, you will probably always be squeezed hip to hip, shoulder to shoulder with friends and complete strangers alike. Seatbelts? Not anymore. 5 people in a 5 passenger car? It's usually a minimum of 8. "Oh, Peru!"

Here are a few other "Oh, Peru" moments for your reading enjoyment:

--Excursions with our Peruvian friend, Nilda. I think her motto must be, "Why do something in 2 hours when you can do it in 5?"

--The horns of Peru. There's quite a variety - normal horns, siren horns, musical horns, handheld horns. Vehicles and people use them for various reasons (see the two mentioned above), in addition to "watch out, I'm merging along with 4 other cars on a two-lane street," "do you need a ride?," and "step on it!" Not to mention the horns people carry by hand and blow as they walk up and down the street trying to sell things. The local fresh bread seller comes by on his bike with his horn at about 6:30 every morning. Love it.

--Every party turns into a dance party. I really love that.

--The electricity goes out in the whole town at least once a week, sometimes for less than an hour, sometimes for a whole day. I'm waiting for it to come back on now so I can go take a shower...we have an electric heater for the shower. It might be a cold one today.

--Devotions and prayer in my back yard while looking at the mountains and the papaya trees, and feeling the warmth of the sun shine on my back. It doesn't get much better.

(And now it's time for a cold shower. Still no electricity.)

Oh, Peru!