The beach and Colca Canyon!

So I'm going to jump back to the beginning of February and update everyone on a couple of little trips I had the opportunity to take…

The first of which was the beach!  They invited me to join the kids at Casa Hogar and spend the day at the beach.  I had to skip a day of language classes, but I had no problem whatsoever choosing a warm day in the sun over a grammar lesson :)  We left super early in the morning, spent several hours in the van, and arrived at the beach mid-morning.  I didn't take too many pictures seeing as sand and cameras aren't exactly compatible, but I did snap a couple.

The second trip was to the BEAUTIFUL Colca Canyon.  One of the recently ordained priests here in Arequipa is taking over the Anglican Mission we have there and so a group of us traveled to the little traditional town of Cabanaconde for his instillation service.  It's such a pretty church with an absolutely incredible view.

Language School

"Today, I am going to update my blog."  I have been telling myself this for the past 6 weeks.  I'm the worst…. and since all sorts of things have been happening lately I have lots of catching up to do…Starting with language school...

Since the months of January and February are summer vacation and there was no work to do at the school, I chose these months to do my language training.  During my 6 weeks of classes I lived with a Peruvian family, and I loved every minute of it.  They cooked all of the authentic Peruvian dishes, and served me portions large enough to keep me full for days at a time.  And best of all, since they spoke zero english, I practiced my spanish until I had brain-aches.  It was full immersion.  And it was awesome.   

The institute where I attended my language classes (ABC Espanol) is owned and operated by a preacher.  It's located in a house, giving it a small and comfortable feel.  The institute teaches Spanish to missionaries who have come from all over the world to serve the Lord and work in Peru.  There were missionaries from the U.S., Germany, Switzerland, Norway, Great Britain, and Canada.  It was so cool to meet people from all over and hear their stories.  I met some incredible guys and gals, made some good friends, and learned lots of Spanish.  I truly was inspired by everyone's overwhelming faith and love for our Lord.  Those 6 weeks weren't just a time of growth in my Spanish skills, but also my faith. It's a little hard to explain but to sum it up - I loved it.  Now I feel ready.  I'm excited to continue on with my mission feeling more confident in my communication skills, and therefore feeling more confident in my ministry.

My last day of class with my teacher - Abby - and three fellow classmates behind.
There was never a dull moment in our class and I never thought I would enjoy learning grammar as much as I did with them.

My new friend Sigrid, she will be here in Arequipa until mid-summer the same as me!  So grateful for this friendship

Tabea and Tabea - one from Germany and the other from Switzerland - Two of my roommates who were also living with the Peruvian family.

After our Bible study  we posed for a picture.
Crystal:U.S. - Sigrid: Norway - Yours truly: U.S. - Tabea: Germany

Tabea and I on the roof  of our house on a sunny afternoon.

Feliz Navidad

Well, the day after Christmas when I tried posting this I started experiencing some very strange technological problems.  My brother, the IT guy, came to my rescue and after hours and hours and days and days of troubleshooting and other things that I don't understand we seem to finally have solved the problem, a problem which I still don't understand.

The culture here is relaxed.  Time is not an issue and things get done when things get done.  So I'm adopting this mindset from now on with my blogposts.  I will post when I can and try not to stress out too much.

Anyway, since a picture is worth a 1,000 words I am going to let the slideshow do most of the talking for this Christmas post.  However, I do want to add how remarkable of a Christmas I had this year. It was incredibly special to be able to share it with these kiddos, and is one I will never forget.

To view the captions with the pictures in the slideshow move your mouse to the bottom left corner of the picture and click on the dialogue box (which turns green when you click on it)

MURRAY Christmas, y'all!

I feel like I never have anything to talk about on this blog that other people would actually want to read, and then all at once everything happens and I feel like I have so many things to talk about.  I want to apologize ahead of time if this post is all over the place…

Ok - well Friday was the last day of school for the year.  Peru’s summer break is during January and February.  I fully intended to come home from school on Friday and type up a blog post on the past two months of working in the school, but due to some emergencies I have been frantically shopping for Christmas presents for 20 kids. (Man, and I thought buying for my parents was difficult) I am going to postpone my post about the school until next time – it’s probably better for you and I both if I refrain from writing a novel-length post….

Ok, where was I?...Oh yeah - Every year a church in Dallas provides the presents for the kids at Casa Hogar.  Each child receives one box filled with t-shirts, socks, toothbrushes, school supplies, little toys, etc.  Well somewhere between Dallas and Arequipa the boxes went MIA.  We learned this news last Monday – the week before Christmas.  Kym was flying home to spend Christmas in the States that day, so I eagerly volunteered to take on the task.  The church from Dallas sent me money, and once I had it I got to SHOPPIN’! 

I shopped every day after school and all weekend, except for a couple of hours on Saturday when I did a small little Bible lesson about Christmas at Casa Hogar.  The lesson was about the Christian significance behind the candy cane.  They were very patient with my poor Spanish and I think it went well.  I gave them all candy canes afterward so they seemed happy :)  

Anyway, shopping was very fun, but also terribly EXHAUSTING.  I missed Target.  I even missed Wal-Mart.  But most of all I missed my 4-Runner.  Shopping is much harder when you do not have a trunk to throw everything in while you move on to the next shopping destination.  I covered ever inch of the mall that is nearest to me, and then I branched out.  Naty took me to some local markets near the center of town, and after church Sunday we explored a new mall further away.

Then today a group of us went to another market to buy all of the food for the Christmas feast. It was a very interesting experience. Check out the pictures.  I had to laugh a little inside when they were talking about the thickness the steaks they were buying.  When I showed them how thick the steaks are in Texas they thought I was crazy.  After the market we went and bought fireworks.  It is a Peruvian tradition to set off fireworks at midnight, so I’m looking forward to seeing that!

The presents are all done and ready to go for tomorrow.  I am so excited to spend this holiday with the kids and everyone at Casa Hogar.  As weird as it feels to have Christmas during the summer – I’m liking spending the holiday season down here.  My favorite part is all of the nativity scenes! They are EVERYWHERE!! There are Christmas trees too, but the most important decoration is definitely “El Nacimiento.” 

One last little tidbit - At church on Sunday we all wrote our name on a little sheep, and after lighting the 4^th Advent candle we put our sheep around the nativity scene.   It was so cool.   While doing so Padre Juan Carlos told us to remember, “We are all God’s sheep.”

Family in Lima!

I woke up to a message saying that my Very Most Favorite Aunt Katy and two of my cousins, Bert and Will, were going to be in Lima on a business trip for Bert and Will's new golf apparel line - Devereux.  They had meetings all weekend and wouldn't be able to leave Lima and come to Arequipa.  They were going to be so close I just HAD to see them... sooo I asked Momma (very kindly) if she would purchase a plane ticket so I could travel to Lima and spend the weekend with them.  She said, "Of course!" I know deep down though she was a little jealous her sister would get to see me before she did.  

It was a great weekend and some much needed family time.  Even better - I got to pretend like I knew what I was talking about regarding all things Peru.  I knew the most Spanish out of the group which was a weird change.  Usually I know the LEAST!  

I got to go to the meetings with them. SO INTERESTING! So much work goes on behind the scenes I never would have imagined.  When we had free time we went to a mall over the Pacific Ocean, ate at several very tasty restaurants, and walked around a park that is swarming with cats! No joke.  Arequipa is pretty different, so it was great to have the opportunity to see another side of Peru!   

To make the weekend even better the hotel where we stayed was only a short distance from the Anglican Cathedral of the Good Shepard.  On Sunday morning we got to go to their (English) service and I was able to meet some of the other SAMS' missionaries that I have heard so much about! I also got to see a couple of familiar faces of people I had met through Kym and through SAMS' bridger training.

I'm sure Guillermo, Beto, and Katherine (they changed their names for the weekend) thought the only thing I talked about was the kids back in Arequipa.  It's true.  I thought about them the entire weekend and found myself checking my watching thinking "I wonder what they are doing right now."  I missed them so much and I was only gone a couple of days!  Although I was sad to say goodbye to my family, it was good to get back home and back to loving on the kids.

Día de Acción de Gracias

Happy Thanksgiving, everyone!  

I skipped school today, and Kym and I cooked a Thanksgiving meal.  Since we had to make do with the ingredients we were able to find here and we have a funny oven, we knew there was a definite possibility we would be eating cereal for Thanksgiving dinner.  

But, everything turned out perfectly!  My favorite part was the dressing, or the stuffing.  My mom mailed us cornbread mix, and we used Kym’s mom’s recipe.  It was great!  We also had turkey, green bean casserole, sweet potato soufflé, macaroni and cheese, and pie!  With way more food than two people are capable of eating, we will be having leftovers until next year. 

These are some picture I snapped buying sweet potatoes at the little Saturday street market near our house.

And….drum roll…the finished product… 

 I have to share the pictures cause we are pretty proud of ourselves. 

We even had iced-tea.

So, maybe I’m slightly biased, but I think Thanksgiving ought to be a worldwide holiday.  It’s one of my favorite holidays because it isn’t about getting stuff!  It’s a day when you sit down for a dinner with friends and family, and focus on all the blessings of life.  

My list seems to be extra long this year and I want to share a few.  This year I am thankful for:

1. Supportive family and friends:  

I can’t even begin to express how grateful 

I am for the prayers, uplifting words, donations, 

and unending love and encouragement.

2. A terrific new sister-in-law. 

This picture was from their rehearsal dinner 

and pretty much sums us up.

3. Internet.  It

allows me to keep in touch while I am so far away.

4. A cousin who is in remission after battling breast cancer!!  Praise the Lord!

Picture of Christen (sister) and Rebecca (cousin) at Race for the Cure 

5. My English-Spanish dictionary and my translator app.

6. Peruvian coffee. 

7. A new mentor, friend, and 

roommate - Kym.  

To the left is a picture of her 

getting ready to start a Bible 

lesson with the kids at the orphanage.

8. And last but certainly not least…..The opportunity to live in Peru and work with sweet, endearing, and rambunctious kids at the school and in the orphanage everyday.

 

My sister had a Thanksgiving/Christmas party for me before I left back in September since I wouldn’t be able to celebrate the holidays with family, and I am cherishing those memories today.  I have to admit, I was a little nervous about how I was going to feel today.  I didn’t know if it would be hard spending my first Thanksgiving apart from family…..

But, it has been one of the best thus far because I am still surrounded with family here, a new family of brothers and sisters in Christ.

Give thanks to The Lord, for He is good; His love endures forever. 

Psalm 107:1

My name is Mary Moore-Eye.

Today was my first day working at the school!  I am helping the English teacher, who speaks English but still needs help with pronunciation, checking papers, etc.,   By the way, here it’s not like the United States where during any given day you probably see several different ethnicities.  My hair might as well be lime green, because I pretty much stick out like a sore thumb.  So, when I walked in the classroom all of the little kids were excited/curious/bewildered.  It was pretty fun.  Maria, the English teacher, let them ask me any questions they wanted before we began our lesson, as long as it was in English.  

Typical questions I got were:

What is your name?

“Madi” Which they have a terrible time pronouncing.  They think I’m saying Mary so I always have to spell it out.  They think it’s a weird name.

How old are you?

What is your favorite color?

What is your favorite animal?

Where are you from?

What part of the United States is that?

One boy asked me if I was from California?  I said “Noooo! I am from Texas.  It is much better.”

What is your last name?

Wow, if I thought Madi was hard for them, Murray was next to impossible.  They did the rolling r….and they pronounced it like Moorrrrrrrrrr-eye.

What are the names of your parents?

            Scott and Suzy. Again, lots of difficulties and strange looks.

How many brothers and sisters do you have?

“Wow” they said after I told them.  I also made sure to say that I am the youngest, and the favorite.

What is your favorite sport?

Oh, and my favorite question of the day:

What is your telephone number?

            When he asked this one, he and several other little boys got their pencils ready.  I told them I do not have one.  White lies are ok sometimes, right?