Futbol and friends

Today was my first full day back in the States. And..... I tried to talk with the guy at the ice cream place in Spanish without realizing it. I went out to ice cream TWICE in ONE day! What a day! Thank you Ann and Lauren!!! I've also caught myself starting to give kisses on the cheek as greetings. But, that isn't quite how people greet each other here in the States. I think so far I have managed to stop myself before doing that. But it's only a matter of time before I let it slip accidentally. So, if I kiss you on the cheek as a greeting, just go with it!

Now I'm going to write about last Sunday. That day was awesome awesome!! After church in the morning, I spent some time with Sydney. We were both having a hard time, not wanting to leave Arequipa. We had a really good conversation in the park, prayed a while, and shed some tears. Sydney has been such a blessing. She's awesome. THANK YOU GOD FOR SYDNEY!!! 

Then, in the afternoon, we played soccer. This was the world championship game, our last game. And it was great great great fun! We had 15 people come!

Here, we've got Sydney, Fuller, David, and Alonso!

And Jorge and Alex!

And some new friends, too!!

Playing soccer every week with these great people was one (of the many) awesome things about this semester. I'm going to miss soccer! So... hey, if anyone wants to play, please count me in!!!

After our game, we all went to the park down the street and sat in a circle on the grass. We talked, laughed, played cards, sang songs, and spent time together for hours. It was the best way that I could imagine spending my last night in Arequipa. It was a really special time. I feel so honored to know all of the great guys who were there that night with us, choosing to stay up all night with us because it was our last night in Arequipa. The friendships that we have made with them really blow my mind. Even though they knew that we would be leaving, they did not hold back. They offered friendship to us completely unconditionally, and over the course of a short time, they became like brothers to me.

We all stayed up pretty late, spending time together, singing, and just being together. One thing that has hit me over and over about my friends and family in Peru is that they all seem to be very good at expressing themselves, whether it be through music or through words, they have shared their feelings and been very eloquent and intentional about telling me what our friendship means to them. Their words have meant so much to me and have taught me to value of really being open and vulnerable to other people.

I can't think of a better way to spend my last night in Arequipa. It was amazing.

On Monday, I packed all of my stuff, and I went to the university. On the way, I ran into Alonso!!! That was great! At the university, I got to talk with Anthony for a few minutes, and then I had one last conversation group with David. Those guys have been such a blessing to me this year... I am so glad that I got to spend some time with them on my last day in Arequipa.

God, You have blessed me so much. Every time I think of Arequipa, of my friends and brothers there.... oh man, God I can't do anything but thank You! Seriously, I don't know WHY You chose to bless me with all of those people. But, God, You did, and I thank You and I pray that You would help me to glorify You as I transition here back to life in the States. Help me, God, and I praise You!!!

DANCING!!!!

I think I've mentioned perhaps that the past week was absolutely and amazingly incredible! It was awesome, but I haven't written about it yet

On Saturday morning, I got to help mi familia decorate the Christmas tree!!

It's Andrea and Tita!

And after that, I went with Lauren, Ana, Jorge, Fuller, Adrianna, and Anthony to Kemil's house where Jorge taught us salsa! It was a super fun afternoon filled with dancing and laughing, and then in the evening we went to a discoteca all together. I was slightly reluctant about the whole discoteca thing... I had never been to a discoteca before (it's like a club), but they are very popular in Arequipa and our friends assured us that it would be fun and we would have a great time dancing. Trusting them, I agreed to go, and oh man oh man, I am SO GLAD I went! It was easily one of the best nights of the semester!!

We danced for many hours. We were all sweating profusely! I never would have guessed that we would have so much fun dancing!!! I'm pretty sure that we were laughing almost constantly, and it was super super fun!!

Here's the group! It's Alonso, Anthony, Fuller, Ana, Adriana, Lauren, Sydney, me, Kemil, and Jorge! These people are all great!!! Thank you, guys, for convincing us to go! Oh man, so much fun!!!

Sydney and I dancing!!! SO MUCH FUN!!!!!!

Lauren and Alonso!!!!

Anthony and Fuller!!!!!!!!! Look at how much fun we are having!!!

Adrianna and Kemil!!!!!!

Here I am with Jorge before we started dancing. This fellow is awesome! I'm so thankful for him! Over the past few months, he has become like a brother to me!!

It's Sydney and Ana and Lauren!!!! I love these ladies!! They have blessed me sooooooo much!

And here I am with Alonso, taking a dancing break. This guy is such a good friend!!! ALONSO, I MISS YOU!!!

God, thank You so much for that night!!! It was so much fun! Thank You that we had that experience, Lord. Thank You for fun times with friends. These people are great and I am so blessed to know them!!!!!!!!

home again

I am sitting in my parent's house right now! That's crazy!

Yesterday we had a free day in Lima. We had to be out of our hotel rooms in Lima by 12:30, but we weren't leaving to go to the airport until 6, so we shoved all of our stuff in one hotel room and went out for a few hours in the early afternoon to eat some food and do some shopping. I must say, I was quite tired of shopping, so while my friends shopped, I sang songs and kept suggesting that we find food. Eventually they listened to me, and we went to go eat! For my final meal in Peru, I took advantage of the delicious fruit juice, which I will miss very very much.

Eventually, we made our way back to the hotel room where all of our stuff was and we spent a few hours there just relaxing and laughing.

At 6:00 we loaded everything into a bus and road to the airport, where we hung out some more for a few hours! At about 2:00 AM we took off and headed to Atlanta. When we got there, we had about an hour to get through customs, get our luggage, check in our luggage again, and go through security before our next flight, which was on a different terminal. We were almost literally flying through the airport, but we got to the gate in time and made our flight to Grand Rapids where my lovely family was waiting for me!!

And now I'm back. It's been nice to relax with Mom and Dad and Ben. I feel like my mouth has been running non-stop, telling them all about everything that has happened in the last week, and other stories that keep coming to mind. I keep starting to talk in Spanish, only to realize that they don't understand me at all. Oops!!

This semester has been amazing and I am so grateful! As I think about it now, I realize that I was never ever sick this semester (unless we count when I threw up over the Nasca lines... but we're not going to count that). My body never reacted badly to the food, or to the altitude. And my computer worked all semester, only by the grace of God!

There are so many things about Arequipa that I am going to miss. It is hard to not be there. But there are good things about being here, too, and I know that God has a plan that will blow my mind, just like this semester has blown my mind. I trust Him, though I don't have any clue what is ahead. That's a pretty good place to be, I think.

it's a roller coaster ride!

Tomorrow is my last day in Peru. We are heading to the airport at 6 PM and we take off before dawn's early light on Saturday morning, to arrive in good old Grand Rapids at 11:00 AM. We have been enjoying our time in Lima thus far. Once I get back to the States, I am going to post some blogs about what we have done here and about the last few days in Arequipa, so... STAY TUNED!!! 

It's crazy to realize that we're actually leaving tomorrow. This country feels like home now, and it is so difficult to leave! I've been feeling a lot like David for the past few days. You know, he was a pretty emotional fellow. My emotions have been going something like this:

Minute 1: OH MAN!! This has been AMAZING!!! THANK YOU GOD!!! I am SO GLAD that this happened! Thank You for these friendships and these great people and the Calvin people who are so awesome!!! AHHHH!!! I cannot contain myself!!! THANK YOU!!!!!!!!! 

Minute 2: Waaaaaaaaa!!! I don't want to leave, God!! This place feels like home and I have family here!! I can't bear this!!! This hurts so much and I don't like it!! WHY???? Am I ever coming back? Will I ever see them again? When I'm in the States, things are going to be different! And that's not cool! Why are You doing this?? 

Minute 3: But... I'm SO GLAD that it hurts SO MUCH because that means that it has been SO BEAUTIFUL!!! AND OH MAN YES IT HAS BEEN GREAT!!! I CAN'T GET OVER THIS!!! AHHH! THANK YOU, GOD!!! Thank You that I have met such cool people and have such great friends in Peru!! I don't know how You did that!! God, You're so cool!!

Minute 4: Waaaaaaaaaa!!!! THIS IS SO DUMB. When is the next time that I will walk down the streets of Yanahuara? When will I go play cards at Pura Fruta with really cool people? Will I ever see Misti again? Will I ever ride a combi again? Will I ever drink chicha morada again???

I have decided to fully embrace both extremes. Sometimes, it is great to rejoice that this semester was so very amazing. Other times, it is okay to admit the pain that it causes to leave, to cry a little bit, and to voice my questions to the King of Kings, all the while trusting that His plan is infinitely better than mine and that the friendships that have sprouted in Arequipa are thankfully in His hands and not my own.

Lima

Hello all! I'm in Lima now, sitting on my bed in the hotel room with Sydney. The plan for today is to go to the beach.

The past week has been potentially the best week and the worst week of my life. I had such a great time in Arequipa with the many people who I have somehow become so close to in so little time. But leaving Arequipa is the hardest thing that I've ever done. I have never felt a pain this strong before or felt this near to tears all the time. I don't know if it is scientifically possible to be dehydrated from crying, but I think I am. I wasn't expecting it to hurt this badly to leave, but then I also wasn't expecting to meet people who are like brothers and sisters to me. I don't think that I have ever felt so sad in my life. But, at the same time, I don't think that I have ever felt so happy in my life. I have been so blessed in Arequipa by the people that I have met and gotten to know--I am SO HAPPY that those friendships have happened, and so sad that I am not physically there anymore. I don't know when I will walk down those streets again or when I will see those people whom I love again. But still... I am so happy that I have had the chance to be with these people and feel so close to them in such a short time.

Really, Lima is the last place that I want to be right now. I want to be back in Arequipa with everyone who is there. But I know that God has a plan, and I pray that one day we will be united again.

God, leaving Arequipa hurts so much. Thank You so much for the time that I had there and the people that I met there, and please guard those friendships, Jesus. I pray that they would continue to grow, despite the distance. Give me strength in these days and weeks to come. Teach me how to get back to life in the States, and be with all of the people that I left in Arequipa--bless them, God, and guard and comfort them. Father, show me what to do. It feels so strange to not be in Arequipa and to be leaving Peru in a few short days. I need You to show me what to do.

siempre en mi corazon

Alonso, Ana, Anthony, Anthony, Dahil, Danery, David, Denisse, Gracce, Jorge, Kemil, Leyda, Meda, y Tita... estas palabras son para ustedes!!

GRACIAS! Realmente, esta palabra es muy inadequada. Una sola palabra no puede expresar lo que quiero expresar! Supongo que, para expresar mi gratitud, tendría que bailar y saltar y cantar y gritar "GRACIAS!!" con todo lo que tengo para empezar a expresar lo que siento. He disfrutado cada momento con ustedes!! En serio, gracias por hablar conmigo, por escucharme, por jugar futbol conmigo, por ayudarme, por enseñarme, y por pasar tiempo conmigo. Le doy gracias a Dios por ustedes!! Todos ustedes son personas increíbles, y me siento feliz, agradecia, y honrada que les conozco.

A ustedes les doy mi amistad para siempre. Aunque vivo lejos, nunca voy a olvidarlos y quiero que saben que tienen una amiga en los EEUU y siempre están invitados a mi país.  De verdad, Chicago es una ciudad muy linda y quiero que todos ustedes la conocen! Por lo menos, dime si están en los Estados Unidos y voy a venir a cualquier sitio para darlos la bienvenida!

Aunque mi cuerpo va a volar a los EEUU muy pronto, me siento como mi corazon va a quedar aca en Arequipa. Que dolor! Pero es un dolor bonito porque indica que ustedes me han recibido y yo he recibido a ustedes en una amistad imprevisto y, seguramente, interminable.

Esta canción dedico a ustedes! He aprendido mucho de ustedes, he por estar con ustedes estos cuatro meses, he cambiado y crecido. Gracias a ustedes, soy una persona mejor ahora que era cuando llegué hace cuatro meses. Aunque estoy lejos, les prometo mi amistad. 

No les voy a decir "chau" ni "adiós" ni "goodbye". No. No me han visto por última vez. No sé cuando, pero ustedes van a verme de nuevo. Arequipa va a verme de nuevo... posiblemente más pronto que piensan ustedes! Que el Señor nos vigile cuando ya estemos lejos el uno del otro. Hasta luego! See you later! 

Un abrazo enorme!

Hannah

Oh Papá, gracias por poner Alonso, Ana, Anthony, Anthony, Dahil, Danery, David, Denisse, Gracce, Jorge, Kemil, Leyda, Meda, y Tita en mi vida. Te pido que les bendices, como ellos me han bendicido. Protégelos, guíalos, y ayúdalos a ver tu amor cada vez más! Yo no merezco estas amistades lindas, pero todavía las me has dado, Señor, y te doy gracias!! En el Nombre de Jesucristo, AMEN!

please pray for us!

I haven't written anything in a few days because I have been doing other things. I will write about the last few days eventually, though. They have been absolutely amazing. I'm leaving Arequipa this afternoon, and we'll be in Lima until Saturday.