I can't leave my house, so I blog.

I just got home from a mini-adventure. I am supposed to teach at the University downtown every morning. I hop in my taxi, tell him where I'm going, and he says "Well, if we can get there..." I'm a little nervous at this statement already, given that we've hit day 3 of strikes in Arequipa. These strikes are "indefinite," so there is no telling how long it will last, and public transportation has shut down. It's interesting to see how these strikes affect the whole city: the workers, the stores, the schools, the whole economy in general. I've yet to get a really good answer about the reason these are occurring. Somewhere deep down I just think that Arequipenans like this kind of thing. Who knows. 

Okay, back to my story: I'm in the cab, on the way to school. We come to the bridge and I see what he means by "manifestantes." It is a MASSIVE "strike parade" going over the bridge into downtown. I see the throngs of people and think, "I don't really feel like getting caught up in that." I ask my taxista if he thought it would be best for me to go back, and he says yes; I also see some neighbors, who tell me the same thing. We're goin' back, I decide. Thus, I sit here for day 2 of sequestration (yes, this is a word, I looked it up). :) 

In other news, because of day 1 of being confined in my house, I did get to watch much of the inauguration on TV. That was very exciting. I'm still happy I'm not in the US for all this "change"--even given my current country's situation with "paros" (strikes). Nevertheless, I enjoyed watching history in the making. In my lazy state that day I also set up skype call forwarding, which means if any of you lovely people want to get in touch with me and I'm offline, you can call my name/number/whatever-it-is, and it will direct the call to my cell phone. I'm also setting up Vonage soon, which is just another step in the direction of communicating with family back home.

Tomorrow Malea (my new roommate, who is hysterical, by the way) and I are traveling to Lima for the week. I have a doctor's appointment, as well as business-related things to do. At the end of the week our whole team will leave the city for a mini-retreat of sorts. I don't really know what to expect, so pray that good things come of it. I am excited to go meet new friends, see old ones (Sandi, who is leaving in April!) and see a decent movie (I heard "Bride Wars" is out there now--I'm pumped!) So I'll be leaving the strike zone for the beach. I lead a hard life. :) 

And now it's time for "Cultural moments that I have to learn to get over:"

-I have now had to twice remove my feet from a chair/bench. Apparently people here have a huge problem with feet being propped up somewhere. I think this is very ironic, given some of their other habits. Anyway, the first time this happened, I was in a park with Christy, and we were chatting on a bench. I pulled my feet up to my chest (shoes on), and the guard comes over, blows his whistle at me and tells me to put my feet down. Weird. Well, the second time this happens is at a cafe. Once again, shoes on. I had one leg down and one foot resting on the chair I was sitting in. The waiter comes over and asks me to stop. At this point, I've gotten the hint. They clearly don't like that here, but like I said, I'm a bit confused that they condone certain things and yet I can't do this. 

-I have discovered since Malea came (because she points this out) that Peruvians have different sidewalk manners than we do. Ie, they don't move out of the way. You better be ready to just hop off the sidewalk if they are heading toward you, because they will not give anything. 

-I am still a tourist to them. This is frustrating after having lived here 3 months. I think it's because I am very blonde and appear either American or Chilean or Argentinian (I can't remember if I've mentioned that I've been told I look like I'm from Chile or Argentina...) I also wear some of the things that the tourists here wear: chacos, blue jeans rolled up, dresses, COLOR. Arequipenans wear very little color, I've noticed. Anyway, I still get awful taxi rates because they think I'm a stupid tourist, and I still get asked to go to all the tourist joints. I think I am going to start wearing a sign that says "Vivo aca" (I live here). 

On a fun note, I'm in the process of discovering some new music. It's been awhile since I've acquired a lot of spanish musica, so I thought I'd share what I've found: Fonseca, Reik, Camila, Black Guayaba, Tommy Torres, and Abel Zavala (a really good Christan artist). Check 'em out. 

Finally, continue to be in prayer over the ministry here. We are having our second class at the cafe tonight. We will be studying some in 1 John, as well as having some fun with a game or two. Malea and I have been discussing the possibilities of growth in the classes, and I'm excited to hear what her creative little mind has to say. I'm so blessed to have her here with me. We are also thrilled to have James come and help out. 

Blessings to all of you. Counting down the days until I get to see each of you again. Much love.