Muchas noticias

Yes, it seems that in this blog there is much to tell -- the first that there are some new photos from April on my photo site (link at right) of our retreat in Lima and a recent local soccer game with friends.

RETREAT
April 18-23 Emily, Nicole and I traveled to Carabayillo (section of north Lima) for a retreat at the small but peaceful Oscar Romero center -- which also served up some great, healthy food and snacks for us. We enjoyed the amenities of running water (more on that in a moment) and Sister Lourdes, a Peruvian Incarnate Word Sister, accompanied us during the four days, though she could only be there in the evenings due to her university studies and other commitments. The overall theme was missionary spirituality, broken up into the sections such as Spirituality of: being sent, frontiers, margins, provisionality, Pascal Mystery. Each of which was introduced by a reflection guide with readings, scripture references, and questions. We completed a couple each day by taking a couple hours to read, journal, etc, and then we´d gather for sharing. Particularly, I found reflection on the provisionality of mission work -- I am here for a short time to share what I can, to leave footprints -- particularly helpful. Also, I think the time for the three of us together has helped us become closer and, for me at least, to share more openly and often when we are together. There was a large group at the center for the weekend with us, but then the second half of the retreat it was just us and the staff. It was a very positive experience, and we had some nice evening time on the roof where we had a view of north Lima through the haze. In addition, I had a good chunks of time to read a new book, 1491, that I recommend as a portrait of life in North and South America before Columbus arrived. Especially interesting to me were sections on pre-Inca Peru and the Maya of central America.

DOMESTIC LIFE
We returned from the retreat to find that, not too surprisingly, our water pump was still not working and therefore we had no water (and we just changed our shower heads!). However, our refrigerator had also died, blowing purely hot air in Nicole´s face -- along with a rather unpleasant smell. In a few days we had the fridge fixed (mostly -- still doesn´t freeze water) but our pump, despite some attention by our landlord Hector and his construction employee Eduardo, has managed to pump only one tankful of water up to the cistern since we got home a couple weeks ago. We are learning to manage as many people do here, filling buckets and pop bottles in the morning and evening when the city water flows (a couple hours each time) and then using the water during the day for dishes, ´showers´, and cooking. As a result of the refrigerator and water problems, we have eaten lunch out three times at neighborhood restaurants (cheap, $1-$1.50 for soup and main course).

I´m nearly out of time for the moment, so will have to continue this blog entry in a couple days. Tomorrow we three are making a trip a couple hours into the mountains to the small town of Pariacoto (where I went for the Confirmation retreat in November), which will be celebrating it´s patron saint fiesta for three days (Emily and Nicole also have the day off -- Day of the Worker, a national holiday). I´ll try to write again on Friday or Saturday.

God bless!