Life is so funny. Sometimes it feels like it goes by way too slowly. You feel like nothing changes- everything is consistently boring (or boringly consistent...or both). And then there are times where you turn around and notice another year has gone by, another month has escaped from your fingers, or the fuzzy feeling you once had when you turned over in your snuggly bed cocoon to discover you still had an hour to sleep has suddenly been overwhelmed with grief when the dreaded "timba" beats all-too-soon (okay, that part may just be me projecting). But there are also those wonderful days, weeks, or even just minutes where time doesn't matter. Everything is happening around you, and it's okay. You take it all in willingly and are just simply enjoying everything that God has given you. And that is exactly how I have been mostly feeling these past four weeks. And yet now I am staring at my schedule to find that I will be teaching my last lessons in Spanish in just two days. I will have played my last notes with my fantastic Peruvian orchestra family in 48 hours. I will be leaving Trujillo Thursday night, and God only knows if, or when I will be coming back (although I'm really hoping to next year! ;)). So for me, time here has been like the classic middle school orchestra playing Eine Kleine Nachtmusik: always either a beat behind in the boring parts or a measure ahead when playing the most delightful melodies. But I do still have a full week left in the beautiful country of Peru, so that eases my nostalgia a bit. I will be taking a nine-hour bus ride with all my fellow VivePeruvians to Lima Thursday night, will spend the day in Lima Friday and will fly out to Cusco to explore Machu Picchu, take pictures, and hopefully pet some llamas- all before I fly home to the States next Wednesday morning at precisely 1:25 am (ouchy).
So as redundant as it is to declare this again, I love it here. I have seen so many beautiful, mind-blowing things both in nature and in humans, I have met so many different people and learned much about the Peruvian music system and the culture it embraces. Some other things I have learned since I've been here: how to tell a taxi driver where I live ("La Merced (my neighborhood) por favor!"), how to french braid (finally!), how to maintain my uncontrollable laughter when random people on the street ask for a picture with me because I'm a foreigner, and how to put my foot down when little children all want the same coloring page you only have 1 more copy of. That was a tough one. I've also learned that wearing slippers outside the house and around the city by accident is a common sickness that has plagued almost every girl (including my host mother!) in my house...except me! Maybe tomorrow. I do love my red slippers from Grandma. ;)
So I have been able to once again experience some great new things this past week. Last Thursday, I helped participate in VivePeru's medical campaign, a 7am- 5pm event held in one of the poorest districts of Trujillo, La Esperanza. All the volunteers with the medical program of VivePeru were put straight to work doing triage, helping fill out patient histories, and doing whatever else was needed to be done in order to help the 150 people lined up to receive free medical care. I was in a group with the awesome volunteers from the social work, teaching English, and engineering sections of our organization. The small group of us set up little stations in a playroom with hearts and various cute drawings all over the walls and welcomed in all the children of the medical patients and any other child who happened to curiously stumble in. We had an arts and crafts station, a coloring table, and a little build-a-skyscraper-out-of-straws area. I'm not sure what else to call that, nor did I know how on earth the adorable triplet girls who were half my age could build better straw establishments than I could, so I quickly abandoned the attempt at a career in engineering small plastic objects and relaxed into my rightful place as a colorer of spiderman and rhinos. I sat and talked with the kids who came in and out, and the other volunteers often came and colored a few of their own pictures. We shared some great laughs together and even took pride in our own works of art as we bragged about them to one another. Honestly, it was mostly me; my rhino was pretty stellar. Let's just say a little girl totally asked me if she could have it: Win. We also blew up red and green balloons with the VivePeru logo on them and splayed them throughout the room, and I was happy to see how much the little children loved playing with them. In Spanish, balloons are "globos", which sounds even cuter. Watching the kids running around with their balloons, each holding onto their own one for dear life to ensure they did not fall onto the floor, made me think about how much I continually learn from children. They take as simple an object as a piece of latex filled with air, this globe, and they hold it in their hands as if it is their whole world in that moment. They don't need or want anything else, and they will do anything to not let it slip away. It was pretty fantastic to watch. And, of course, we 20-something year-old gringos love globos as well. We all thoroughly enjoyed ourselves, and I feel like we helped brighten these kids days in the process. That was fantastic. And I also have to give a shout out to Grandpa and thank him for teaching me his infamous duck noise all those years ago- it continues to be a hit wherever I use it! It was put to good use that day.
Friday night brought another fun memory in the form of a very familiar experience: I was able to travel with the Trujillo Symphony on a coach bus to a smaller town an hour away from Trujillo to play a concert for the locals. I loved playing in the concert and seeing another part of Peru, but I especially loved the bus ride! Growing up in orchestra, we "orchadorks" always looked forward to road trips to festivals and the fun, long vacations together. There is just something about lugging a cello onto a bus... and to then see a bunch of musicians dressed in tuxedos and concert black clothes, nestled with their own metal/ wooden instruments- it is like finding your long-lost clan. It is great. So I sat next to one of my good friends I've made here who has pretty decent English, and we would go back and forth between English and Spanish. One interesting thing I noticed when we arrived was the serious lack of women players in the Trujillo Symphony. I hadn't realized how many more men there were than women until I was directed to go into a room separate from the men of the ensemble as we warmed up for the concert. I think we were segregated into different rooms in case people needed to change, but it still boggled my mind a bit when the director told me to go join the other girls. I walked out of the room full of the men players, booming and blowing into their instruments, to a much quieter atmosphere that was being maintained by only 4 women. Yes, there are 4 women out of probably 40 players in the Trujillo Symphony. I had never encountered that before! But after a second of awkward silence, the girls began to ask me questions and we all talked and laughed and had a great time. It was great talking to them! I even found out that one of the girls had gone to Interlochen for camp one summer (where I went to music camp for two years and to boarding school also for two years!), so that was fantastic. So after playing a fun concert, we all ate a lovely dinner together (that may have been the cause of my demise later, but I'll never know for sure!), piled back onto the bus, and cackled to The Three Stooges in Spanish (with English subtitles- SCORE!) the whole way home. I know each culture has its humor and tendencies, but it's great how universal laughter is. It was awesome that both I and every Peruvian on that bus could comprehend what was going on completely because we could all laugh together. And oh, do Peruvians express every emotion dramatically. Love it. Aside from making music with the orchestra and worshipping with the people in church that first week, that was one of the most special times I've had here because I felt like I was connected with these people from a different world once again. Three Stooges- who knew? I'm so sappy.
After the med campaign and the concert ended and the week came to a close, I welcomed my relaxing weekend in Trujillo with open arms. On Saturday, I slept in. Will I say until what time? Yes. 12. I never sleep that late unless I'm super tired, but I did it, and I was very proud of myself, yet slightly shocked I was capable of being that lazy. But I still enjoyed spending the afternoon going around the markets of Trujillo with one of my roommates, Julia, and another friend. Saturday night was another one full of music and great times. Julia, Bre (another friend), and I performed a trio for two flutes and cello at the opening of the concert of the UCV orchestra (the college-age/ youth orchestra we have been working with and teaching lessons through) in a beautiful old church. Before I walked on stage, one of my adorable students marched straight up to me and whispered, "Miss, I ask you one thing tonight. Play for me. Please, miss!". That made my night. I told her I would, and I then marched out to perform with my two fantastic colleagues. After that, Julia, Bre, and I were humbly surprised to receive certificates of recognition for our help with the orchestra. It was so sweet! Bre and I then joined the orchestra under Julia's baton and played two cute, intermediate-level pieces with the kids. It was super fun to sit in and help out, and I was very proud of the kids. They did a great job, despite some bumpy rehearsals along the way. I am also glad I played in that concert because only ONE other cellist out of four cellists showed up to the concert. So we had fun! The cellist girl next to me is one of my students who is great to work with and also giggles a lot. She asked me as I sat down if I could just play everything really loudly so she wouldn't have to be heard. Oh, I remember the days when I would secretly want my stand partner to do the same for me. After I exclaimed, "NO! Esto es TU concierto! Necesitas tocar!" I realized what every teacher wants: for their student to try. To try and to share their music with no shame or self-consciousness about how they sound. I couldn't have been prouder of her for actually playing, and it was an honor to share the stand with her. Once the final cadence of our last piece ended, the clapping subsided and the entire audience cleared out faster than I have ever seen. Maybe it was dinner time. Whatever it was, it was impressive. But I was pleasantly surprised to find that there had been a local news station broadcasting the concert, and the anchorwoman asked us orchestra participants to stand in a crowd behind her as she interviewed the program's main director. I kept shouting, "Soy famosa!" (I'm famous!) to make the kids laugh, and it was great. We had fun. Or maybe only I did, but the kids definitely got a good laugh from hearing the crazy gringa excitedly shouting. After my time to shine came to a close, I went out to dinner with my host family and Julia to celebrate the concert. Julia and I split a nice, rare steak (warning- also a possible "demise" factor!) and enjoyed chatting with the family.
And then Sunday morning happened. Let's just say when I woke up feeling slightly nauseated, I had no idea that I would be sick to my stomach for the following two days straight and that I would therefore become intensely dehydrated and almost pass out in my roommate's arms during that wonderful time in Sickville as well. It was an active weekend. After being sick all day Sunday, I concluded (with the help of my fabulous parents through facebook messaging) that I must have gotten food poisoning, and I am thinking it was either from the dinner I ate with the Trujillo Symphony Friday night or from the rather-rare steak I ate the following night. Either way, it was not good, nor fun. But I am incredibly thankful for my family for constantly messaging me, asking if I was okay, giving me advice, and googling symptoms to make sure it wasn't something worse (Oh Mom, you will forever be my googling queen). I am even more happy that my wonderful roommate, Julia used her awesome "mama bear complex"- as she calls it- to take care of me. She brought me many delicious cups of tea, bought me an electrolyte drink, brought me crackers, caught me when I was shaking uncontrollably and blacking out after losing too many fluids, and even dragged my mattress and stuffed turtle onto her floor so I didn't have to sleep alone. Yes, she was amazing, and I am eternally grateful. I took naps and watched great movies- I strongly recommend Into the Wild, by the way...it was so beautifully-made!- and finally progressed to eating normal meals and walking around for extended amounts of times by today. It all sounds so dramatic, but once I made it up the stairs to my room after lunch, I felt like Rocky Balboa when he was sprinting up the infamous steps of the Philadelphia Museum of Art. I would have sung along to my shaky footing, but I don't think I had the breath for it at the time. Nonetheless, I recovered quickly with the help of friends, family, Netflix, and sleep.
I was slightly sad because I felt I had "wasted" two of my handful of days left in this city, but there was nothing I could do about it, and I still think it was meant to be. So I am okay with that. When I woke up feeling 99% better this morning, I was eager to get back to business and was very excited to be back in rehearsal with the Symphony once again. Even though I won't be playing with them in any more concerts, I did not want to miss out on any of the fun times, so I'm still waking up to go to the rehearsals. Today I was able to talk with the guest conductor who had conducted the concert I played on the 4th of July with the orchestra, and that was fantastic. He is from England, so we chatted about Kate Middleton producing an heir today, which now leaves the throne solidified for another 100 years. It was so fun to talk to an actual citizen of England about their leaders and local news. It's hilarious because I'm pretty sure he thinks it's so weird how obsessed some Americans can get with watching everything that involves Kate and Prince William. The irony. The other amazing thing I experienced today was the funeral Mass of my host father. Here, they have a funeral Mass service for someone immediately following their death, a week after their death, and then a month later. This was the Mass service that marked a month since my host father's death, which is hard to believe. My three roommates and I dressed up and joined the family for the service, and we were all touched in different ways, which is incredible because we are all from such different faith backgrounds. Some of us are very involved in our faith, others of us have just been to religious services growing up, and others have never stepped inside a church for an actual service. Yet we all felt the connection of love, a celebration of family, and the pain of great loss through that hour in the service, and it was powerful to share. Afterward, my host mother and her family welcomed many friends, coworkers, and other family members into their house for a time of refreshments and talking. My host mother was wonderful enough to ask me and Julia if we could whip something up and perform for the large group of loved ones there. We eagerly agreed, printed out and sightread some hymns, and were deeply thanked by the entire audience and by Elsa. I also had some Bach movements (pieces for unaccompanied cello) I had been practicing, so I volunteered to play more once everyone asked for, "Más! Más!" And I loved it. I loved sitting and playing, watching people's expressions and nods out of the corner of my eyes. They just appreciated settling down and listening. Putting the delicious treats aside, stopping conversation, closing their eyes or looking straight at me to hear the music and take the time in the moment to do whatever they needed to do. It was a special moment. And yes, I did not play perfectly. I still wish my bow strokes could be more connected and my shifts were less audible at parts, but they didn't notice that. These lovely people burst with applause every time I took a pause in the music or needed to turn a page! And that was perfect and all any of us needed.
So I have two more nights and two more days in Trujillo, and I look back realizing I have had some fantastic times here. And I have heard so many great things about Cusco, so I'm looking forward to that as well. Being around the loving families here also makes me miss my own, so I'm pretty excited to run into a big Hogle huddle once I land. But for now, here I am, trying to soak up the moment and not miss a thing- here we go!!
Wednesday, July 24, 2013
Monday, July 15, 2013
Life is Beautiful
Wow, I haven't written in two weeks- bad Ruth! Not only does this mean my family and friends haven't been able to hear from me about how things are going, but that also means this post will most likely take me longer to write than it took for me to hike the THREE mountains I have dragged myself up in the past two weeks (well, hopefully it won't take that long)!
So, a lot of things have changed since I last wrote. First of all, many prayers were answered, and I have traveled a lot! Two Mondays ago, I got home from my first day of work in a new country doing something I was hardly an expert at; needless to say, I felt slightly overwhelmed and unequipped for this month-long journey. But throughout these past 14 days, I have adjusted really well to things here-such as speaking Spanish with my students- and have learned that laughing at oneself is the best way to find joy in new situations. As far as teaching cello lessons in a different language goes, I have picked up many phrases and terms in my teaching that I just repeat over and over, and it always works! I have also learned that the over-said phrase of "music being a universal language" is actually true- I can play something on my cello for a student to make a point or to show them what I want from them instead of saying it. It's so great, and it has made me very grateful that verbal communication isn't the only way people interact! I have 10 awesome, unique cello students- some from the conservatory where I rehearse with the Trujillo Symphony and others from Universidad de Cesar Vallejo (UCV), where I help out with orchestra rehearsals. I love them! They are between 14 and 24 and are all varying levels. I am having a blast teaching and am discovering each time how rewarding and enjoyable it is for me. I had these two adorable sisters both come in for cello lessons at the same time, and they kept exclaiming, "We love you so much, Miss Ruth! We don't want you to ever leave!", after I would encourage them or make a silly noise (which I discovered is ALSO universal and very helpful when trying to cheer up frustrated kids! ;)). I will hold onto those types of things and will always look forward to spending an hour with a student like that. The thing I have discovered here is that most kids don't play music as a hobby. It's not common for a Peruvian couple to put their child through piano or violin lessons at an early age just because. So the kids who are playing instruments now are mostly doing it because they really want to learn whatever they are playing, and their passion for music is so refreshing. I love how the tiny things can brighten these kids' days! A student of mine was asking if I had ever played the concerto that the main actress in August Rush performs, and I said, "Oh yes! I played Elgar Concerto last year. Want to hear it?", and she stared at me with her gleeful and sparkling, young eyes and exclaimed, "SI!". Just with the opening chords, she and her friends she had gathered around were enamored. It was like I was offering them three wishes from my magic genie lamp (sorry, kids- I left that at home!!), and it was absolutely precious. So overall, things have been super rewarding and a lot easier with speaking Spanish and teaching and doing musical things here. :) I have also made some great Peruvian friends in the Trujillo Symphony, and I have become closer with some people in the VivePeru program, which has been wonderful! I especially love my roommates and am very grateful for who I have been placed with in my house.
So every weekend, most VivePeru volunteers travel outside Trujillo by bus to visit surrounding places. Last weekend, I went to Huaráz, a gorgeous city full of glaciers, unrealistically-blue lakes, and mountains. I had never seen anything like Huaráz! It was very, very cold, and none of us were equipped with clothing that could keep us warm in snow during our hikes both days, but we all survived. However, Huaráz is a very high elevation, sitting at over 10,000 feet, so we all suffered from altitude sickness. A group of 7 other volunteers and I took an overnight bus into Huaráz and arrived around 6 am on Saturday morning. After napping for a few hours, we all got up and hiked to Pastoruri, a huge and amazing glacier that sits over 15,000 feet above sea level! By the time we all stumbled down from the snowy hike, I felt completely dizzy, out-of-it, groggy, and breathless. I fell completely asleep on my friend's shoulder on the car ride back to our hostel. ;) The next morning, 4 out of the 8 of us dared to hike to Lake 69, a once-in-a-lifetime view of a lake that sits at the base of a glacier and is the most stunning shade of blue I have ever seen! All 8 of us had planned to hike this 9-mile trek, but the altitude had taken half of the group (rest in peace...just kidding! Although a couple of them literally did rest and sleep most of the day because they were so sick!), so they stayed around town in the lower elevation for the day. So at 6 am, my three friends and I met up to take a long bus ride to the base of the mountain we would hike. After a grueling 5-/ 6-hour hike, we all made it back...barely haha. One of my friends threw up, and another felt so terrible that it took him an hour longer than everyone else to get back down the mountain! We were all worried something tragic had happened to our friend after thirty minutes had passed and he still wasn't back, so I was relieved to see him when he crawled back to the bus another thirty minutes later. The moment he fell in his seat, we all asked, "What happened?!?", and he said, "Give me a minute to catch my breath." Well, three minutes later, he was in a comatose-state of sleep, and he remained "unconscious" for the next three hours or so. "A minute" never felt so long. So the other guy and I were the only ones from my group who didn't have a traumatic experience on that hike, although my head was splitting at the seams with a terrible headache once I collapsed on the bus! Even though the hike was over 17,000 feet above sea level and was very grueling, it was totally worth it and made me feel so accomplished, excited, and bewildered at the beauty of God's creation in this world. It was stunning.
Another week of work flew by, and I taught some more wonderful lessons, got cat-called at by many Peruvian men (I'm still not used to, or am okay with that!), heard many interesting car alarms that go through cycles and last for a long while, participated in VivePeru's El Progreso (a really neat workshop where we go into a very underdeveloped part of Trujillo and play with the kids and teach them important life lessons!), ate a lot of amazing pastries with manjar (basically caramel and sugar) in it, played bananagrams, and took hundreds- and I mean hundreds- of pictures! Then this past weekend, I went to a city called Chachapoyas (affectionately called Chachas by all) in another group of 8 people. After attempting to translate the Spanish movies while the loud group of Peruvian college students next to us were attempting to party it up the whole 14-hour bus ride, I fell asleep and woke up to find myself in this beautiful, green, full-of-life city. On Saturday we visited the ruins of Kuelap and learned many interesting facts from our great tour guide. I saw many cows, some llamas (YAY!), and a lot of dogs! Our group sang songs and played "hot seat" (where someone is in the hot seat and we all ask them questions about themselves) to pass away the time in the long car rides. We became friends with a woman from Brazil who was also visiting Chachas, and she ended up taking the same tour with us to Gocta, the world's third-largest waterfall, the next day! So on Sunday we hiked for 2 hours each way to go see the lovely and awe-inspiring Gocta waterfall. A few of us- including me!- took mules up to the waterfall, which was perfect for me because I was feeling hiked-out from Huaráz the weekend before. :P I had the same exact feeling seeing the waterfall as I did seeing Lake 69: complete and utter shock over something being so beautiful...and actually being real! I could not believe I was standing at the base of this gigantic, misty, wonderful body of water. It was unreal. It was also pretty cold after a while! But we all enjoyed taking pictures and snacking there before we made the walk back from the waterfall. It was also amazing to walk through the edge of the Amazon as we were making it to and from the waterfall. The scents, the moisture, and the sounds were so crazy-cool. I kept thinking, "This is SO much cooler than walking through those rainforest buildings at the zoo!". It was unbelievable! I am still completely shocked that I have seen so much beauty in the past few weeks. I can't contain it all in my head or comprehend how gorgeous all of it was. But good thing I took over 1,000 pictures during my two weekend trips to relive it all. ;) Oh dear. Although one memory I will never forget is this morning, when my group and I got off the bus for 30 minutes in a city four hours from Trujillo at 4 in the morning. After having already been asleep for 10 hours on the bus, we all stumbled off the bus, toilet paper rolls in hand (most public bathrooms don't have toilet paper or soap, remember!), all sporting different 80's-inspired hairdo's that could only have been styled so attractively from the precision of tossing and turning on a bus. Once we all used the restrooms and attempted to get back on the bus, a Peruvian bus guard man kept exclaiming something in a slurred Spanish accent none of us could even comprehend and kept shooing us away. We all stood with wide, tired eyes- some of us without shoes!- in front of a large seated crowd of natives who probably thought we were all insane and very strange for trying to keep getting past the guard and onto the bus. Finally, he let us back on, but we will never know why our group was not allowed to get back on the bus after using the restrooms at 4 a.m.!
I came on this trip to Peru looking for some adventure, while also hoping to help people and wanting to explore my musical interests from a different angle. So far I have been so deeply surprised by how fantastic my experience has been. Honestly, when I am usually in a place, like a new music camp or even school or anywhere else, I usually begin to realize after a while that that specific place is not home and is not where I want to be long-term. Besides wherever my family is/ will be, Peru is the one place that feels like home to me. This is the first time I have been somewhere new and haven't been partly wishing I could be somewhere else or with someone else. And of course, I am excited to be back in Detroit in a couple weeks and see family and friends and then return to Chicago for school, but I just feel unbelievably happy here! And I am just feeling so thankful for the fantastic people in my program and for the people of Peru I have been meeting. If I could find somewhere in the U.S. that is like Peru where there are so many adventures to be had and so much beauty to see AND there are students willing to learn and be passionate about music, I would move there in an instant! And if there isn't a place like that in North America, hmm..well, I've already got a good idea of where I'd want to go! :)
So, a lot of things have changed since I last wrote. First of all, many prayers were answered, and I have traveled a lot! Two Mondays ago, I got home from my first day of work in a new country doing something I was hardly an expert at; needless to say, I felt slightly overwhelmed and unequipped for this month-long journey. But throughout these past 14 days, I have adjusted really well to things here-such as speaking Spanish with my students- and have learned that laughing at oneself is the best way to find joy in new situations. As far as teaching cello lessons in a different language goes, I have picked up many phrases and terms in my teaching that I just repeat over and over, and it always works! I have also learned that the over-said phrase of "music being a universal language" is actually true- I can play something on my cello for a student to make a point or to show them what I want from them instead of saying it. It's so great, and it has made me very grateful that verbal communication isn't the only way people interact! I have 10 awesome, unique cello students- some from the conservatory where I rehearse with the Trujillo Symphony and others from Universidad de Cesar Vallejo (UCV), where I help out with orchestra rehearsals. I love them! They are between 14 and 24 and are all varying levels. I am having a blast teaching and am discovering each time how rewarding and enjoyable it is for me. I had these two adorable sisters both come in for cello lessons at the same time, and they kept exclaiming, "We love you so much, Miss Ruth! We don't want you to ever leave!", after I would encourage them or make a silly noise (which I discovered is ALSO universal and very helpful when trying to cheer up frustrated kids! ;)). I will hold onto those types of things and will always look forward to spending an hour with a student like that. The thing I have discovered here is that most kids don't play music as a hobby. It's not common for a Peruvian couple to put their child through piano or violin lessons at an early age just because. So the kids who are playing instruments now are mostly doing it because they really want to learn whatever they are playing, and their passion for music is so refreshing. I love how the tiny things can brighten these kids' days! A student of mine was asking if I had ever played the concerto that the main actress in August Rush performs, and I said, "Oh yes! I played Elgar Concerto last year. Want to hear it?", and she stared at me with her gleeful and sparkling, young eyes and exclaimed, "SI!". Just with the opening chords, she and her friends she had gathered around were enamored. It was like I was offering them three wishes from my magic genie lamp (sorry, kids- I left that at home!!), and it was absolutely precious. So overall, things have been super rewarding and a lot easier with speaking Spanish and teaching and doing musical things here. :) I have also made some great Peruvian friends in the Trujillo Symphony, and I have become closer with some people in the VivePeru program, which has been wonderful! I especially love my roommates and am very grateful for who I have been placed with in my house.
So every weekend, most VivePeru volunteers travel outside Trujillo by bus to visit surrounding places. Last weekend, I went to Huaráz, a gorgeous city full of glaciers, unrealistically-blue lakes, and mountains. I had never seen anything like Huaráz! It was very, very cold, and none of us were equipped with clothing that could keep us warm in snow during our hikes both days, but we all survived. However, Huaráz is a very high elevation, sitting at over 10,000 feet, so we all suffered from altitude sickness. A group of 7 other volunteers and I took an overnight bus into Huaráz and arrived around 6 am on Saturday morning. After napping for a few hours, we all got up and hiked to Pastoruri, a huge and amazing glacier that sits over 15,000 feet above sea level! By the time we all stumbled down from the snowy hike, I felt completely dizzy, out-of-it, groggy, and breathless. I fell completely asleep on my friend's shoulder on the car ride back to our hostel. ;) The next morning, 4 out of the 8 of us dared to hike to Lake 69, a once-in-a-lifetime view of a lake that sits at the base of a glacier and is the most stunning shade of blue I have ever seen! All 8 of us had planned to hike this 9-mile trek, but the altitude had taken half of the group (rest in peace...just kidding! Although a couple of them literally did rest and sleep most of the day because they were so sick!), so they stayed around town in the lower elevation for the day. So at 6 am, my three friends and I met up to take a long bus ride to the base of the mountain we would hike. After a grueling 5-/ 6-hour hike, we all made it back...barely haha. One of my friends threw up, and another felt so terrible that it took him an hour longer than everyone else to get back down the mountain! We were all worried something tragic had happened to our friend after thirty minutes had passed and he still wasn't back, so I was relieved to see him when he crawled back to the bus another thirty minutes later. The moment he fell in his seat, we all asked, "What happened?!?", and he said, "Give me a minute to catch my breath." Well, three minutes later, he was in a comatose-state of sleep, and he remained "unconscious" for the next three hours or so. "A minute" never felt so long. So the other guy and I were the only ones from my group who didn't have a traumatic experience on that hike, although my head was splitting at the seams with a terrible headache once I collapsed on the bus! Even though the hike was over 17,000 feet above sea level and was very grueling, it was totally worth it and made me feel so accomplished, excited, and bewildered at the beauty of God's creation in this world. It was stunning.
Another week of work flew by, and I taught some more wonderful lessons, got cat-called at by many Peruvian men (I'm still not used to, or am okay with that!), heard many interesting car alarms that go through cycles and last for a long while, participated in VivePeru's El Progreso (a really neat workshop where we go into a very underdeveloped part of Trujillo and play with the kids and teach them important life lessons!), ate a lot of amazing pastries with manjar (basically caramel and sugar) in it, played bananagrams, and took hundreds- and I mean hundreds- of pictures! Then this past weekend, I went to a city called Chachapoyas (affectionately called Chachas by all) in another group of 8 people. After attempting to translate the Spanish movies while the loud group of Peruvian college students next to us were attempting to party it up the whole 14-hour bus ride, I fell asleep and woke up to find myself in this beautiful, green, full-of-life city. On Saturday we visited the ruins of Kuelap and learned many interesting facts from our great tour guide. I saw many cows, some llamas (YAY!), and a lot of dogs! Our group sang songs and played "hot seat" (where someone is in the hot seat and we all ask them questions about themselves) to pass away the time in the long car rides. We became friends with a woman from Brazil who was also visiting Chachas, and she ended up taking the same tour with us to Gocta, the world's third-largest waterfall, the next day! So on Sunday we hiked for 2 hours each way to go see the lovely and awe-inspiring Gocta waterfall. A few of us- including me!- took mules up to the waterfall, which was perfect for me because I was feeling hiked-out from Huaráz the weekend before. :P I had the same exact feeling seeing the waterfall as I did seeing Lake 69: complete and utter shock over something being so beautiful...and actually being real! I could not believe I was standing at the base of this gigantic, misty, wonderful body of water. It was unreal. It was also pretty cold after a while! But we all enjoyed taking pictures and snacking there before we made the walk back from the waterfall. It was also amazing to walk through the edge of the Amazon as we were making it to and from the waterfall. The scents, the moisture, and the sounds were so crazy-cool. I kept thinking, "This is SO much cooler than walking through those rainforest buildings at the zoo!". It was unbelievable! I am still completely shocked that I have seen so much beauty in the past few weeks. I can't contain it all in my head or comprehend how gorgeous all of it was. But good thing I took over 1,000 pictures during my two weekend trips to relive it all. ;) Oh dear. Although one memory I will never forget is this morning, when my group and I got off the bus for 30 minutes in a city four hours from Trujillo at 4 in the morning. After having already been asleep for 10 hours on the bus, we all stumbled off the bus, toilet paper rolls in hand (most public bathrooms don't have toilet paper or soap, remember!), all sporting different 80's-inspired hairdo's that could only have been styled so attractively from the precision of tossing and turning on a bus. Once we all used the restrooms and attempted to get back on the bus, a Peruvian bus guard man kept exclaiming something in a slurred Spanish accent none of us could even comprehend and kept shooing us away. We all stood with wide, tired eyes- some of us without shoes!- in front of a large seated crowd of natives who probably thought we were all insane and very strange for trying to keep getting past the guard and onto the bus. Finally, he let us back on, but we will never know why our group was not allowed to get back on the bus after using the restrooms at 4 a.m.!
I came on this trip to Peru looking for some adventure, while also hoping to help people and wanting to explore my musical interests from a different angle. So far I have been so deeply surprised by how fantastic my experience has been. Honestly, when I am usually in a place, like a new music camp or even school or anywhere else, I usually begin to realize after a while that that specific place is not home and is not where I want to be long-term. Besides wherever my family is/ will be, Peru is the one place that feels like home to me. This is the first time I have been somewhere new and haven't been partly wishing I could be somewhere else or with someone else. And of course, I am excited to be back in Detroit in a couple weeks and see family and friends and then return to Chicago for school, but I just feel unbelievably happy here! And I am just feeling so thankful for the fantastic people in my program and for the people of Peru I have been meeting. If I could find somewhere in the U.S. that is like Peru where there are so many adventures to be had and so much beauty to see AND there are students willing to learn and be passionate about music, I would move there in an instant! And if there isn't a place like that in North America, hmm..well, I've already got a good idea of where I'd want to go! :)
Tuesday, July 2, 2013
1 Corinthians 15:55
So have you ever had one of those days where you need to take a few seconds (or minutes- depending on how traumatic your day was!) to cheer yourself up and hold onto the good things? Yeah, it was that sort of day today. But, thankfully, it is that kind of night where, once everything is done and quiet, I can reflect on the amazing things that happened in the past 24 hours and feel excited to start another crazy, hard, thrilling day tomorrow. So let me explain.
This past week was great and was jam-packed with integration into Peruvian culture. Our organization set up some great tours and activities for all of us to do once we arrived in Trujillo. So I have now seen the ruins and the museum of Chan Chan, I have sandboarded in the dunes of Conache, been to the beach in Huanchaco (twice!), taken a cooking class on common Peruvian cuisine, and even attempted to sway my move-like-iron hips in a Peruvian dance class that was led by a guy who was probably three years younger than I am and was WAY better at being attractive when he danced. So after many fun adventures and many pictures of some adorable animals, the week came to a close and my friends and I took the weekend to explore Trujillo on our own. I visited the city's botanical gardens twice in one day and was pleasantly surprised to find many peacocks I can take pictures of and then chase around a pole in circles. I then went to some outdoor markets with my friends, including an artisans' market near La Plaza de Armas, a big and beautiful historic area in Trujillo. On Sunday I went to church with one of the Peruvian girls on staff with VivePeru, and it was fantastic! Of course everything was in Spanish, but the worship and love for God was completely obvious and alive there. It was amazing to see how universal the Body is, and it was super encouraging. I even knew a few of the songs' melodies, and that felt like a little piece of home. Five people got up and received Christ after the service, which was in-and-of-itself mind-blowing, but then something even crazier and more mind-blowing happened. The sermon was based on one of the miracles Jesus performed- the time He rose a 12 year-old girl from the dead. The pastor took this story and tied other passages to it to illustrate the point that Jesus has total victory over death. Well, if you read my last blogpost, you might remember my host father just passed away, and my host mother and her family have all been having a very difficult week as they mourn over this unexpected loss. As the pastor spoke, I kept thinking how perfect it would have been if my host family had joined me in church- to hear this Truth when they so badly need to hear those comforting words right now. Well, I got home after the service ended and went to the dining room to eat lunch. While I was there, my host sister-in-law was asking which church I went to, and I pulled out the sermon outline to show her the name. She looked at it and commented that she knew which one that was and was talking in her usual I-speak-really-quickly-in-Spanish-and-you-can't-understand-a-word-I'm-saying way, but then she stopped mid-sentence when she began to actually read the outline. And although I really can not understand what she is saying most of the time, I could feel exactly what she was saying. Her face dropped and tears began to creep into her eyes when she looked up at me and began to express in a very heavy voice how the family really needs to hear these words right now. She called her husband in the room (the son of the deceased father) and showed him, and he got very quiet and also a little teary-eyed and walked out of the room with the paper. He took it straight to his mother in the kitchen, and I gave them some time and then followed him in there. They were all sitting at the table with that outline sitting in front of them. They thanked me for showing them and said other things I could not understand, and I eventually stumbled to say that they could keep the paper, by all means. All of that happened in Spanish, a language I have recently discovered I barely know, and I could tell that this is exactly what was supposed to happen. I literally did not say a word to make any of that happen, nor could I even understand what they were really saying to me. But I felt the sadness and that sigh of peace they released together when they read those words- even if that peace was short-lived, it was nice to see their pain eased for a moment. And I felt so grateful and in awe of what had just happened as I walked out of that kitchen. Some may say that that was just an accident or may not matter or help anything, but that was everything to me, and I believe with all my heart that all of that happened for a very specific and beautiful reason. And it was amazing and wonderful. But the funny thing is, even though that miracle was only two days ago, I have already forgotten how amazing that experience was and how blessed I am.
On Monday (yesterday) I started doing the actual work with the music students, and it was great but definitely different than expected. There are three music teachers with VivePeru...and there are probably almost 40 people with the medical program! So we are a very small minority and it would be sane to say that we are rather short-staffed. The music part of the program is not as developed as the medical program, so many things are just getting off the ground. There have been many surprises thrown my way these past few days. I learned the other day that I am actually teaching college-age kids (16-early 20's), and not young kids like I thought. That was very surprising to me, but I was still excited. I also learned that the music program has a big issue with each student consistently attending rehearsals, and often only half of them show up. I have dealt with this same issue with the YOURS program I mentioned in my first post, so that wasn't too much of a shock. I also learned that I will be helping teach an orchestra of college students who attend a nearby university: I will be leading sectionals, helping the cellists out while they are playing in rehearsals, teaching private lessons, and anything else that will help, which makes me very excited (and slightly nervous!). I can't wait to get that all started, but, as I said, attendance is very inconsistent. So when I showed up to the first rehearsal yesterday to meet my cellists and schedule lessons with them, what happens? Not one cellist shows up! Bummer!! It's not even April, so I know that wasn't a joke! But I am really hoping they come to our next rehearsal on Thursday because I am so eager to meet them and start helping out! But the main thing that has been the hardest for me is the language barrier. I overestimated my Spanish-speaking abilities in the months leading up to my trip and hoped that I would remember everything that I had learned...5 years ago in high school... But, time makes you bolder, children get older, and..I have forgotten most things I had learned. So I have been struggling with understanding people and have been having an even more difficult time with trying to communicate with others! For example, I am going to be sitting in on rehearsals with the Trujillo Symphony Orchestra every morning and will perform in concerts with them this month (one is on the 4th of July!!), which has been super fun but also difficult because I cannot communicate with the other cellists very well. They don't speak any English, and my Spanish consists of some key words and many pauses right now. I ended up just bringing a dictionary to rehearsal this morning so I could have a somewhat-functioning conversation with the young Peruvian guy next to me, and it did actually help! But I am honestly feeling pretty discouraged about my capabilities as a Spanish-speaker, and I am starting to wonder how I can help these students if they can't understand me. I taught half of a lesson with another teacher (who also only speaks Spanish!) yesterday, and it was a long ride on the awkward train!! So I just really hope that, no matter how awkward or embarrassing it is, I am helping these kids get a better musical education than they currently have. I just want to contribute so badly and am starting to feel worried that I am not capable of helping anyone. And just not being able to understand what people are saying in general is 15% entertaining most of the time, but it's also 85% terrifying and frustrating all of the time! If only I could build a time machine or find a nifty wormhole in this nice Peruvian bedroom of mine and go back to junior year of high school when I decided that because I was about to learn a bunch of scary verb tenses I didn't want to deal with and because I switching to an arts high school, I just didn't need to keep up my Spanish! But it's okay. Especially after just reflecting on the fact that God can use anyone, anywhere and in any way He wants, that makes me realize that I am adequate- not because of any skills or knowledge I have (although using that is great as well!), but because I have already been equipped by the One who knows all things, can speak any language, can tear down barriers and break chains. Yeah, I think I can rely on THAT a lot more than I can on anything that comes from me. So tomorrow I will get up again and go to rehearsal, make music, stumble with my words, make others laugh (maybe if I just laugh with them, it won't feel as much like it's just them laughing at me), and hopefully I can help brighten someone's day. Yeah- I'm excited to do it all again tomorrow. And what is life but a series of hard days that end, still holding the promise of a better one to come?
This past week was great and was jam-packed with integration into Peruvian culture. Our organization set up some great tours and activities for all of us to do once we arrived in Trujillo. So I have now seen the ruins and the museum of Chan Chan, I have sandboarded in the dunes of Conache, been to the beach in Huanchaco (twice!), taken a cooking class on common Peruvian cuisine, and even attempted to sway my move-like-iron hips in a Peruvian dance class that was led by a guy who was probably three years younger than I am and was WAY better at being attractive when he danced. So after many fun adventures and many pictures of some adorable animals, the week came to a close and my friends and I took the weekend to explore Trujillo on our own. I visited the city's botanical gardens twice in one day and was pleasantly surprised to find many peacocks I can take pictures of and then chase around a pole in circles. I then went to some outdoor markets with my friends, including an artisans' market near La Plaza de Armas, a big and beautiful historic area in Trujillo. On Sunday I went to church with one of the Peruvian girls on staff with VivePeru, and it was fantastic! Of course everything was in Spanish, but the worship and love for God was completely obvious and alive there. It was amazing to see how universal the Body is, and it was super encouraging. I even knew a few of the songs' melodies, and that felt like a little piece of home. Five people got up and received Christ after the service, which was in-and-of-itself mind-blowing, but then something even crazier and more mind-blowing happened. The sermon was based on one of the miracles Jesus performed- the time He rose a 12 year-old girl from the dead. The pastor took this story and tied other passages to it to illustrate the point that Jesus has total victory over death. Well, if you read my last blogpost, you might remember my host father just passed away, and my host mother and her family have all been having a very difficult week as they mourn over this unexpected loss. As the pastor spoke, I kept thinking how perfect it would have been if my host family had joined me in church- to hear this Truth when they so badly need to hear those comforting words right now. Well, I got home after the service ended and went to the dining room to eat lunch. While I was there, my host sister-in-law was asking which church I went to, and I pulled out the sermon outline to show her the name. She looked at it and commented that she knew which one that was and was talking in her usual I-speak-really-quickly-in-Spanish-and-you-can't-understand-a-word-I'm-saying way, but then she stopped mid-sentence when she began to actually read the outline. And although I really can not understand what she is saying most of the time, I could feel exactly what she was saying. Her face dropped and tears began to creep into her eyes when she looked up at me and began to express in a very heavy voice how the family really needs to hear these words right now. She called her husband in the room (the son of the deceased father) and showed him, and he got very quiet and also a little teary-eyed and walked out of the room with the paper. He took it straight to his mother in the kitchen, and I gave them some time and then followed him in there. They were all sitting at the table with that outline sitting in front of them. They thanked me for showing them and said other things I could not understand, and I eventually stumbled to say that they could keep the paper, by all means. All of that happened in Spanish, a language I have recently discovered I barely know, and I could tell that this is exactly what was supposed to happen. I literally did not say a word to make any of that happen, nor could I even understand what they were really saying to me. But I felt the sadness and that sigh of peace they released together when they read those words- even if that peace was short-lived, it was nice to see their pain eased for a moment. And I felt so grateful and in awe of what had just happened as I walked out of that kitchen. Some may say that that was just an accident or may not matter or help anything, but that was everything to me, and I believe with all my heart that all of that happened for a very specific and beautiful reason. And it was amazing and wonderful. But the funny thing is, even though that miracle was only two days ago, I have already forgotten how amazing that experience was and how blessed I am.
On Monday (yesterday) I started doing the actual work with the music students, and it was great but definitely different than expected. There are three music teachers with VivePeru...and there are probably almost 40 people with the medical program! So we are a very small minority and it would be sane to say that we are rather short-staffed. The music part of the program is not as developed as the medical program, so many things are just getting off the ground. There have been many surprises thrown my way these past few days. I learned the other day that I am actually teaching college-age kids (16-early 20's), and not young kids like I thought. That was very surprising to me, but I was still excited. I also learned that the music program has a big issue with each student consistently attending rehearsals, and often only half of them show up. I have dealt with this same issue with the YOURS program I mentioned in my first post, so that wasn't too much of a shock. I also learned that I will be helping teach an orchestra of college students who attend a nearby university: I will be leading sectionals, helping the cellists out while they are playing in rehearsals, teaching private lessons, and anything else that will help, which makes me very excited (and slightly nervous!). I can't wait to get that all started, but, as I said, attendance is very inconsistent. So when I showed up to the first rehearsal yesterday to meet my cellists and schedule lessons with them, what happens? Not one cellist shows up! Bummer!! It's not even April, so I know that wasn't a joke! But I am really hoping they come to our next rehearsal on Thursday because I am so eager to meet them and start helping out! But the main thing that has been the hardest for me is the language barrier. I overestimated my Spanish-speaking abilities in the months leading up to my trip and hoped that I would remember everything that I had learned...5 years ago in high school... But, time makes you bolder, children get older, and..I have forgotten most things I had learned. So I have been struggling with understanding people and have been having an even more difficult time with trying to communicate with others! For example, I am going to be sitting in on rehearsals with the Trujillo Symphony Orchestra every morning and will perform in concerts with them this month (one is on the 4th of July!!), which has been super fun but also difficult because I cannot communicate with the other cellists very well. They don't speak any English, and my Spanish consists of some key words and many pauses right now. I ended up just bringing a dictionary to rehearsal this morning so I could have a somewhat-functioning conversation with the young Peruvian guy next to me, and it did actually help! But I am honestly feeling pretty discouraged about my capabilities as a Spanish-speaker, and I am starting to wonder how I can help these students if they can't understand me. I taught half of a lesson with another teacher (who also only speaks Spanish!) yesterday, and it was a long ride on the awkward train!! So I just really hope that, no matter how awkward or embarrassing it is, I am helping these kids get a better musical education than they currently have. I just want to contribute so badly and am starting to feel worried that I am not capable of helping anyone. And just not being able to understand what people are saying in general is 15% entertaining most of the time, but it's also 85% terrifying and frustrating all of the time! If only I could build a time machine or find a nifty wormhole in this nice Peruvian bedroom of mine and go back to junior year of high school when I decided that because I was about to learn a bunch of scary verb tenses I didn't want to deal with and because I switching to an arts high school, I just didn't need to keep up my Spanish! But it's okay. Especially after just reflecting on the fact that God can use anyone, anywhere and in any way He wants, that makes me realize that I am adequate- not because of any skills or knowledge I have (although using that is great as well!), but because I have already been equipped by the One who knows all things, can speak any language, can tear down barriers and break chains. Yeah, I think I can rely on THAT a lot more than I can on anything that comes from me. So tomorrow I will get up again and go to rehearsal, make music, stumble with my words, make others laugh (maybe if I just laugh with them, it won't feel as much like it's just them laughing at me), and hopefully I can help brighten someone's day. Yeah- I'm excited to do it all again tomorrow. And what is life but a series of hard days that end, still holding the promise of a better one to come?
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)