2011: A Year of Changes, Challenges, and Celebrations

¡Feliz Año Nuevo!

Well, it's that time - time to say goodbye to 2011 and welcome in 2012.  I haven't posted in forever and I have so much to say that it's all jumbling around in my head.  So I thought, what better way to hop back on the "blogging wagon", than to try and summarize my thoughts of 2011.

Changes

It has certainly been a year of change for us.  Last January, Ike and I were beginning our second trimester of language school in San Jose, Costa Rica.  As we wind up this year, we find ourselves living in our new home of Cusco, Perú.
In San Jose we lived at 3500 ft. above sea level, while here in Cusco we find ourselves at 11,000 ft. above sea level.  We went from being able to drink the tap water in San Jose to drinking bottled water in Cusco.  We went from the green, lush beauty of the countryside and beaches in Costa Rica to the rugged, brown, majestic mountains of the Andes in the central southeastern part of Perú. (Can you tell that I have a thing about green and brown?  I think that green has always been my favorite color - and now I know why!)
In San Jose, we were able to find many things (or close substitutes) that we needed/wanted.  Here in Cusco - well, not so much.  We don't have chocolate chips (yes, chocolate chips are a very important food item :) , cheddar cheese, peanut butter, etc.  We're learning how to make many things from scratch - like cream of mushroom (chicken, etc.) soup, ranch salad dressing, pizza dough, pizza sauce, and the list goes on!

An area of downtown San Jose

The countryside near our apartment in Cusco

Challenges

Well, take it from us, learning a new language is not easy - especially at our ages!  Perseverance became a very important word in our vocabulary during this time!  Being humbled ran a close second!   Though we have completed language school, studying and learning the Spanish language and culture continue for us.  We are far from fluent - that bubble was burst for us during our first week of language school!  We were told that learning a new language is not an overnight process.  The language school we attended provided us with a solid foundation of the spanish language and now we are immersed in the Spanish/Quechua culture of Cusco.  Most conversations that we have - with neighbors, shopkeepers, people riding on the combi with us, taxi drivers, people at the market, etc. - are in Spanish.  In October, Ike had the opportunity to attend a two-day Dental Conference at one of the Universities here in Cusco.  It was conducted entirely in Spanish!  Of course, every Sunday the church services that we attend are conducted entirely in Spanish as well.  We can carry on conversations, etc.; but our desire is to be able to have deep, meaningful conversations with people - to talk with them about their ideas, opinions, beliefs, feelings, etc.

Learning to make tortillas in Lenguaje class in San Jose

Fiesta time in Cusco

In September, we arrived in our new home of Cusco - a city of about 400,000 people located high in the Andes Mountains.  Adjusting to the altitude, becoming accustomed to water outages, and learning to cook and bake all over again are just a few of the challenges we are facing.  In addition, I must say that there is an amazing amount of dust here!  Much of it is a result of the road construction that is being done.
We have adjusted well to the high altitude here.  I still get winded climbing two flights of stairs (granted, I am not in the best of shape, but I could climb two flights of stairs Georgia without becoming winded) and walking uphill.
We also have learned to keep several buckets full of water at all times.  That helps reduce the difficulties that arise when we lose our water.  Of course, we have also learned that it's okay to leave dirty dishes in the sink overnight when the water goes out before we can wash the dinner dishes :)
Wow - cooking and baking at 11,000 ft. in Cusco is very different than cooking at sea level.  Water boils at a lower temperature - 194.7º F as opposed to 212º F at sea level.  That means that food cooks much slower here.  As far as baking is concerned, well trial and error is the name of the game.

Outskirts of Cusco -  where we live :)  The altitude here is over 11,000 ft.

Lima is about a 1-hour flight from Cusco.  You can drive it - but it's about an 18-hour drive through some pretty rugged terrain.

Yes, that's snow on the mountains in the distance.

Celebrations

We graduated - yay!!!!  Despite the struggle, on August 12, 2011, Ike and I both graduated from the Spanish Language Institute in San Jose.  After a year of hard work, it was rather exciting to gather with fellow classmates and celebrate this milestone.  As I mentioned before, we're not finished learning yet :)

Graduation Day!!

Classmates Angela and Monica with me.  We're now all living and working in different parts of 

Latin America.

Ike and me with Marcos - our tutor and friend in San Jose

Since arriving in Peru in early September, we have found much to celebrate amidst our adjustment process.  Though there have been hardships, we know that we are indeed in the place where God wants us.  As our MTW Cusco team gathered together for Thanksgiving, we shared the many ways that God has blessed us this year.  As we continue to follow God's call in 2012, we know that things will not always be easy (we've gotten a good taste of that already :).  But we also are confident "that He who began a good work in (us) will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus." - Phil. 1:6 

Celebrating Thanksgiving with our MTW family in Cusco

Ike and his buddies