I finally made it to Pucallpa!!!! The strike was suspended at midnight Saturday, March 19. Then the leaders met with Government Representatives on Monday, March 21 and they came to some resolutions and didn’t restart the strike! I had already delayed my flight till Friday, March 25, so I left it as is and finally arrived here around 2:15 pm, Friday afternoon! As soon as I exited the plane, the heat wave I hit made it clear that I had indeed arrived to my jungle home.

I spent the rest of Friday greeting everyone that lives here, chilling, and assessing what I need and want to do in my house. Saturday after Breakfast, Ana (Pastor Victor’s wife) and I headed off to do some shopping! They have a new mall in town which we spent about 5 hours at…I loaded up on cleaning supplies at one of their versions of Home Depot. Then we went to 3 other stores to compare prices on kitchen appliances. I ended up buying my fridge at one store, my washer at another store, and my stove and microwave at a 3rd store. Poor Pastor Victor and some of the younger guys from Refugio ended up having to come over with their truck and loaded my appliances in and unloaded them into my house. They are such a blessing! We ate a late lunch when we finally got back, then I spent the rest of Saturday cleaning half my house.

Easter Sunday started with a Sunrise Service at 5:30 AM. After the service, I spent the morning cleaning the rest of my house and putting together a shelf I bought Saturday. Then after lunch, I took a short nap before the handyman on campus came to install 8 more outlets. The whole house only had 2…now granted, my house is only 4 rooms and a bathroom, but still…passed out exhausted…

Monday I was woken up at 6:05 am by the driver of the truck with all the stuff from the container informing me they were here but were having trouble finding the entrance to the school. I quickly got someone to give them directions, then I threw some clothes on ready to unload. Once again Pastor Victor and a bunch of the young men that live here came to help. I don’t think some of them had woken up yet, so I felt really bad. But after getting everything unloaded from the truck in a little over an hour, we all decided it was actually a blessing because that meant the truck wouldn’t arrive in the middle of the school day and cause a distraction. Most people didn’t even realize a truck had brought a bunch of stuff! This is definitely to our benefit. :-)

The rest of Monday through today has been a flurry of cleaning all the shelves, etc., that came on the truck, putting together my table, 2 shelves and my couch, unpacking, organizing, getting my gas tank delivered for my stove, getting my leaking kitchen sink fixed, making lists of what else I need to buy, etc. And of course all of this has happened with curious onlookers watching from the windows…. Lol :-)

I still haven’t started cooking in my house yet, but thankfully I’ve been able to eat with Pastor Victor’s family. I felt bad at first, but they keep telling me to calm down and don’t rush. I will definitely need some time to really get integrated into their slower, more relaxed pace of life. Although the fact that I can’t use my stove yet because I need to buy an extension cord for it should have decreased the self-imposed guilt…. Lol :-)

I have this whole week to get settled in before I start teaching next Monday. I finally got my laptop connected to the internet this morning, but its not even showing bars of internet, just the dot to show I'm connected and only once put in a specific place in my room. My Kindle apparently has a wider range cause it stays connected with 2 bars most of the time, but I can't upload pictures or write blogs, etc. on my Kindle. :-( Once I get my residence visa, I'm definitely going to buy my own router, but this will have to do until then. This just means that blogs may be a little more spaced out and pictures may be delayed, but updates on Facebook will be a little more often. :-) Thank You All for your continued prayers and support! Praise the Lord, the container arrived!!! Now lets focus praying on me getting my residence visa. Pastor Victor is going to Lima this week to meet with the organization they have to partner with in order for me to continue with the process of getting my Visa. Pray that everything goes well with that and things can start moving along. I have until August 10 to get my Visa, and if I don't get it by then, I have to leave the country and I can't return for a whole year(thanks to all the law changes last Dec 1..).

So much has already happened and there is so much more to learn! I’ve even started thanking God for the roaches because I figure the more of them I see and kill, the less freaked out about them I’ll eventually become. But I am soo grateful for everyone’s patience, love and grace as they deal with my broken Spanish and acclimation to their culture. Although the comments have quickly commenced again about how I’ll be fine living here because I eat everything…. :-)

#Peru #missions #provision #spanish