The Story of The Alpaca

Last week, I had the opportunity to go with Gloria, Jim, the Dunn family, and two men, Victor and Osewaldo to Inca Alpaca, a store that sells clothing and blankets made of Alpaca wool. Interestingly enough, this store also has a very, very small zoo in which customers can walk through to see llamas and alpacas.

After perusing the sale rack, I decided it was time to investigate these animals. Just what was an alpaca anyways? When I walked outside, I was immediately greeted by the bays of a handful of alpacas. Some were black, some were brown --- but they were all really ugly! I think alapacas are oddly shaped. I commented on this to Osewaldo, a native Peruvian. His response, "No Meghan, you are crazy. They are beautiful." Beauty is definitely in the eyes of the beholder.

Here are the alpacas I saw.








I was finishing my viewing of the animals when Gloria called, "Meghan! There's one more!" And sure enough, there was an alpaca sticking his head out between the bars. "Oh," I said, grabbing my camera. I began walking towards the alpaca, and I heard Osewaldo say, "Escupe. Escupe." I didn't know what that meant, so I eagerly continued moving towards the animal for an upclose shot of his face. All of a sudden the alpaca reared back, grunted loudly, and SPIT AT ME. I screamed and grabbed Gloria, who was standing next to me. Everyone busted out laughing.

I learned a very important word in Spanish that day. "Escupe" means "He spits!"

Later in the week, I am happy to say that I ate alpaca. And I enjoyed every bite!

Where the Wild Things Are...

"Remember you are over the edge of the wild now, and in for all sorts of fun wherever you go."
J.R.R. Tolkien

This week, I have had the opportunity to explore the neighborhood in Alto Cayma, and I thought I would share with you pictures of what Alto Cayma looks like. Alto Cayma is truly a different world. Some of the things I have seen and participated in make my stomach drop. Some of them - particularly the ways in which these people work together, astound me.

This is the neighborhood.



This is a picture of a typical street in Alto Cayma.



In the next two pictures, you can see what the houses often look like.





Believe it or not, this is a bathroom.



In Alto Cayma, there are stray dogs everywhere. Some families choose to have a dog to protect their house. In this case, the dog is usually found on the roof. I'm not quite sure why yet.



This is a picture of people coming to the well. Most families do not have running water in their homes.



This well serves about 85 families in the Diecinueve de Enero neighborhood. We talked with one man who said his family collects 7 5-gallon buckets a day. Unfortunately, there is usually no water in the well by the weekend.



This is the volcano, El Misti, that can be seen both from where I live in Arequipa and in Alto Cayma.



These are the mountains surrounding Alto Cayma. Many of the people that live in these settlements actually came down from the mountains in search of a better life. Sadly, life here is not always better than life in the mountains.



Some of these pictures of sobering. Some of them are fascinating. I am truly over the edge of the wild now, and I believe with my whole heart that the youth of Alto Cayma and I are in for all sorts of growth and fun as we learn from each other.

What do you say?

It is day two of my five month stay in Peru, and already I have a favorite experience. Today, one of the many things I got to do was visit the Aldea (the oraphange) in Alto Cayma. The orphanage is run by a Maltese priest named Father Frank. Father Frank has been serving in Alto Cayma since 1990 and in the last two decades, he has done a lot to improve the lives of children in Alto Cayma.

When we arrived at the Aldea, we were greeted by a handful of smiling children. They immediately came over to say hello to Jim and Gloria, and I think they were curious as to who Jim and Gloria had brought with them. The Dunn Family, a mom and dad and two adopted 19 year old Peruvian twins, have been visiting Alto Cayma for the last four days - and they came to the orphanage as well. Kathy (la mama) brought candy and stickers to share with the kids - and before long, there were kids everywhere!

I got know some of the 45 children who live at the Aldea. We played hand clapping games and Gloria and I helped give them temporary tattoos. (Most of the kids wanted to put their tattoo on their face. They asked me if I wanted one on my nariz (nose) - of course, I told them they were crazy. But, they put stickers on my forehead and cheeks anyways.

Some of the younger kids asked me if Kathy was my mother. "No," I told them, "my mother lives in Carolina del Norte." "Why?" one of the girls, Alicia, asked. I thought this was a strange question. So what do I say? "Because my dad needs her." "Ohh," Alicia said. And then all the kids started laughing.

Later, we were introduced to a seven year old named Jose Manuel. Jose has had some serious health problems - he was born without an anus and therefore cannot use the bathroom like other people can. When he went to Lima for surgery, the doctors botched the surgery and accidentally cut his urethra, so now he can no longer urinate like other people can. Jose Manuel has had a difficult time, but you wouldn't know it by looking at him. Dan, Kathy's husband, seemed to connect well Jose. He kept saying, "Man, this kid is tough." I couldn't agree more. Perhaps this is why Dan slipped Jose not one, not two, but THREE starbursts. When Father Frank saw this, he said to Jose, "Que debes decir?" (What should you say?) Jose answered politely, "Gracias." And then, Kathy echoed the same question to her husband Dan, "What do you say?" And Dan answered, "De nada." Talk about a cultral exchange : )

The children at the Aldea play hard. They also live hard. Some of them have overcome many, many obstacles already, and it seems that there are many more waiting for them. I am looking forward to getting to know these kids better in the next five months. Hopefully soon, I will have pictures.

Where in the world is Meghan Large?

When I woke up this morning, I had no idea where I was. It took me a full minute... was in Slovakia? Charlotte? Cary? Ohio? Asheville? And then, I remembered, "Oh yeah, I live in Peru now."

The city in which I am staying is Arequipa, in southern Peru. You can see it on this map.



Arequipa has about a million inhabitants - so it is the size of Charlotte. In fact, Charlotte and Arequipa are sister cities. Who knew?

In Arequipa, I live with a host family - a host mother (Mama Charito), and two host sisters (Pia who lives with us and another sister I haven't met yet because she studies at university in Lima, the captial of Peru). My host sister, Pia, is the same age as my own sister, Lauren. Pia speaks wonderful English - but after today, she and I are only going to talk to Spanish. My host mother speaks no English, and our conversations at the breakfast table are fabulous.

My work is in Alto Cayma, which is a suburb of sorts of Arequipa. I have just begun to get to know the people and the settlements of Alto Cayma. I am hoping to sit down this week and share with you pictures and descriptions of my first impression of this place. Stay tuned for much, much more.

"A ship in the harbor is safe, but that's not what ships are built for."

In three days, I am hopping on another plane and travelling across the world - again. This time, however, I will be heading southward instead of eastward. This is particularly exciting for me because it means that I am in the same time zone as my friends and family. Life --- particularly skype calls home ---- just got that much easier!

In the last three weeks, I have felt like I have been going round and round in a revolving door. I have visited New York City; Toledo, Ohio; and Cary, Taylorsville, Hickory and Asheville, NC. I have preached at two different churches, and I have had more lunch and dinner dates than I have ever had in my life. I have so enjoyed my time at home. It has been a blessing to see the faces of family and friends that I have missed over the last year. Time with you all is good for my soul : ). These last few weeks have been a whirlwind, but I wouldn't trade a second of them.

I am going to continue blogging about my adventures in Peru. The blog rules are still the same: what you read here is for your eyes only. Whatever you do, Shh! Don't tell mom.

Time to Get Goin'

I have two days until I am stateside and five days until I am home. My travel plans are as follows:

I leave for Bratislava on Saturday afternoon and arrive in the evening. I wake up with Heidi and Eric on Sunday morning and together we catch a bus from Bratislava to the Vienna airport. The three of us are on three different flights but we all leave between ten and eleven o’clock. My personal flight has me going further east to Warsaw before I finally head west. I arrive in NYC at 4pm on the 4th of July. I’m going to spend three days with Meredith, one of my best friends in the whole world. Then, finally, I fly from NYC to CLT on Wednesday, July 7th. I touchdown at 3pm and will be home by 4. I can’t wait to see you guys. Thank you so much for all the ways you have loved and cared for and supported me while I have been so far away. Your prayers and thoughts have meant the world to me.

Beginnings and Completions

The school year at EGT begins and ends with a church service. I remember the worship service at the beginning of the year. Everyone was in formal dress and met in front of Tisovec church. Students and parents were everywhere. I walked through this sea of faces, not recognizing one of them, and made my way down the aisle of this huge, cold church to sit in the designated “teacher” pew. I sat through a church service in a language that was as foreign to me as gibberish. And I was welcomed as a teacher-missionary into this school community with no idea of what the year would hold.

Our closing worship was on Wednesday. Again, everyone was in formal and met in front of Tisovec church. Students were everywhere, but this time as I walked through the crowd, I realized that I knew every student’s face. Not only could I call them by name, but I could ask them questions about the things that were going on in their lives and the things they had planned for summer holiday. I talked with so many students that it took me a while to find my way to the font set of pews. Just as in August, I sat through a church service in a language that I still don’t know. Yet as I was sitting, I watched my students and I was struck by the way these worship services bookend my school year and time in Slovakia. It seemed that nothing had really changed, and yet so much had. I have grown in confidence and in experience. And I have formed relationships with my neighbors and friends in Slovakia. While this year has certainly not been a walk in the park, I am thankful for both our first worship – where I knew nothing and no one , our last worship – where I realized that I had a place in this Tisovec community, and most of all, I am thankful for all the time in between.