a walk in peru

This weekend is a quiet one.  There were only five, soon to be three of us at home.  Everyone minus us (including Katie) went sand boarding, and two of the five left are leaving tonight.  I've taken this weekend to get things in order.  Yesterday, I got my banking account ready, figuring it needs to be in reasonable shape before I head to school.  Today, I made the trek to Plaza San Miguel (the closest thing to a mall in Lima) and Tottus (think Walmart) to get out some money and buy my parting gifts.  Being the only one who needed to go there, I took the opportunity to take a nice long walk by myself and really take in my surroundings. Since it's a good thirty minute walk, most people want to just take the bus there, but I enjoy walking!

After today, I feel like I must not be doing a very good job of living in the present moment.  I noticed so many more things when I was looking for them.

Here are a few things I love about Peru.

Looking at the grass and thinking it must have poured over night because there are so many puddles, only to remember that it dosen't rain in Lima.  What happened?  Let's just say that they really like to water the grass here.  A better term might be drowning.  Yes, they really like to drown their grass.

Watching a father and son play football.  Not typical Peruvian football, but American football.  This is actually the first time I have ever seen an American football in Peru.  They do get points for trying, but I think I might be able to catch better then they could.

The dogs.  There are so many dogs, and they are always a good form of entertainment.  A few days ago, there was a big dog that was inside a gate. He could just barely get his head and one leg to stick out between the bars.  On the other side was a small dog that thought it would be funny to get a close as possible to the big dog without getting eaten.  The big dog was going crazy.

Being sold things everywhere.  I decided to keep track of the things I saw people trying to sell through car widows today: gum, hard candy, cookies, rags, brooms, q-tips, and car fresheners are just a few.  Some memorable things that I didn't see today include kites and ice cream.  Coming out of any major store, you are likely to find pople on the side of the road selling DVDs, CDs, candy apples, crackers, cookies, drinks, candy, meat on a stick, rice pudding, popcorn, corn on the cob, and many many more things.  There are also people who get on the public buses and try to sell things. Some of the more creative things I have seen sold on a bus are magazines, children's books, pens, and office supplies. If you happen to need something other than what is being sold through car windows and on busses no worries, most likely you can find it just a few houses down at the corner store.

There is so much to be said for living in the present.  I think it may be one of the hardest things to do given how our society functions today.  Being connected is everything.  Thinking on my last visit to Peru, one of the things the other volunteers and I loved was the lack of cell phones.  Yes, Peruvian have cell phones, but most of us didn't.  It is so much easier to talk when the person your talking to isn't looking at their phone every 30 seconds.  It really makes you feel like you matter to them.

Along with being connected, comes a lack of silence.  Silence is the dwelling place of the Holy Spirit.  Here, the Holy Spirit speaks to our hearts; directing us to God's path and showing us things that are hidden within.  Silence is the time between comments in a meaningful conversation where everyone thinks about what is being said.  The thing people are so uncomfortable with that an "awkward turtle" comment or something similare breaks the silence after a moment more often than not.  Silence is where we can reflect on ourselves, the bad and the good.  Maybe this is why we don't like silence.  Music in cars, TV at home, facebook and twitter news feed to our phone 24/7; maybe all of this noise lets us ignore the ugly things inside.  I know for me, it is a lot easier to turn on music sometimes than think about the hard things. To watch TV instead of praying, to listen to music in the car instead of sitting in silence with the Lord.  I think that in spite of being so connected to the world, I am quite unconnected to the one person who matters the most.