i learned!

Today, I was at home alone doing some laundry. For me, doing laundry mainly consists of doing some shameless dancing and singing to wonderful classic songs from my childhood... and fold some clothing along the way. Today, the CD of choice was Steven Curtis Chapman, and the second song that popped up was "Dive", one that I haven't heard in a long while, but I remember VERY CLEARLY belting it in the car with my mom when I was about... 9 years old. Hey, it's a good song. And, like many things tend to these days, it reminded me of my time in Arequipa. Here it is:

I'm not completely sure how my thoughts went, but it was something like this... I'm diving in, I'm going deep, in over my head I'm gonna be... Hey! That reminds me of Peru! I learned something about that in Peru... you know, I should make a list of what I learned. So I don't forget what I learned... Yeah!

So here's that list!

1. Dive in! While I was in Peru, I did some things that are quite wacky! I climbed an active volcano! I went swimming with wild sea lions! And I spent countless hours spending time with awesome awesome people, which isn't at all wacky, but much of it was very spontaneous. The hours that I wasn't spending with awesome people, I spent walking around the city of Arequipa or teaching math in Spanish at un colegio que me robó el corazón. I got places in taxi and in combi, I found some great panaderías and ate raw fish saturated in lime juice. All of that to say... God taught me to just dive in. Have fun! Do things! Learn! Make mistakes! Get lost! It's okay! Being spontaneos, doing wacky things, having the adventurous spirit that drove me to walk around the city alone and ask for directions when I needed them, to learn how to negotiate with a taxi driver and to navigate the city on a combi... I thank God for pushing me to do those things and for giving me the desire to get as much out of the semester as I could. God taught me to just dive in. And He went with me and it was great! I didn't always know how things would turn out. But God never left my side, and I have no regrets! 

 

2. God loves me a TON! Oh man. I met so many people who were amazing. They knew that I would be leaving in December. But they still spent time with me. They still wanted to get to know me. They still shared themselves with me. There was no reason for them to do these things. But they did. Every single day, God showed me His unconditional love for me through them.

 

3. Trust. This is a big one. When I first got to Peru, I knew... no one. Literally. I recognized the Calvin people from the plane ride. But I didn't really know anyone in the whole country. And on top of that, I had to communicate with people. In Spanish. And I was NOT comfortable with that. Oh no. My computer wasn't working. And I didn't know what was going on... most of the time. I didn't always understand what people were saying to me. I just really didn't know what was going on! I was clueless most of the time! I didn't know how to print out my homework! I didn't know how to buy shampoo! I didn't know how to greet people correctly! And God just telling me to trust Him. He taught me to slow down and to stop worrying. He reminded me that He was in charge and that He had my life in His hands. He taught me to take life a day at a time. A moment at a time, actually. I never knew what was coming, but He taught me that that is okay. He taught me that being uncomfortable is okay. And He never ever let me go! I lived moment by moment, trusting God, and He proved Himself to be so faithful and amazing!!!

 

4. Futbol and dancing are fun!! Who knew? Now I do!!! And I'm not going to stop doing these things just because I'm in the States!

 

5. Share. During the short time that I was in Arequipa, God used the people that I met to teach me to share myself, to be vulerable, and to speak my mind. In general, my friends in Arequipa showed me what it was like to be open. They shared themselves with me. A few moments stick out in my mind when individuals were particularly transparent and honest... and it was so beautiful.