FOUR MONTHS?

Say it ain't so!!!

I am so very sorry for the lengthy absence. Getting to the internet has been difficult, and it hasn't been high on my priority list. For that, I apologize. Please make sure you have visited our combined blog for Cindy's recent update with pictures! http://peruleinbachsisters.blogspot.com/

Our computer appears to be acutally working correctly in all the right ways. Please Lord, may it continue to be so. It's really affected our productivity, our communication with family and friends, and our mental health to be so disconnected and frustrated on so many fronts with our technology since moving to Lima. But, we're on the home stretch (hopefully) of things starting to come together, beginning with our computer working well. whoo hoo!

AND we're on the home stretch of our first year of teaching. we have only 17 days of school left. Yes, I am freaking out. I have so much that I didn't get done that I wanted to get done. And i'm going through a little bit of "I won't be able to do this with my kids" as i realize that after 17 school days i won't be their teacher anymore, and i won't get to see my boys (and three girls) every day... yes, they are a very challenging group of students, but they are such a WONDERFUL group of students, too! I love them all and will miss them terribly. So i'm trying to start looking forward to next year's third grade: all 18 of them... and this time, only three BOYS. what a difference! and i'm not sure i really want 15 girls to three boys any more than i wanted 9 boys to three girls... oh well. it will be different, that's for sure.

But i'll miss my boys. a lot.

please pray for me an dmy class over these last four weeks before school ends, our Christmas program occurs, and Cindy and I board a plane for Chicago. SO MUCH has to be done before then. There's some issues of an interpersonal nature that also need to be reconciled over the next weeks, in regards to some students and their families. PLEASE keep these things in your mind and prayers.

Things are getting better. It was a rough time for a while. I think i've just now started to realize just HOW rough of a time we went through, just how MUCH stress my brain and body were operating under... I'm praising God that I made it through with as little collateral damage as there appears to be! :)

Also, our roommate Katie (the teacher who's been here for three years already) is getting married in January. We are thrilled for her and Jose Manuel, but will miss living with her very much! Prayers for them would be great as they plan their wedding long-distance (it will be in Michigan) and also try to prepare here and find a place to live, etc. happily for us, since it's in Michigan, we'll get to go! YEAH!

Well, it's 10:30 and i need to go to bed so that i'll be able to hop out of bed in the morning! (yeah, right... like i EVER 'hop' out of bed!!!)

Love to you all, and thank you for your prayers even though i was MIA. -emily.

Say it ain't so!!!

*Sigh*
Football season just isn't going to satisfy the way it should this year. Watching my Denver Broncos just ain't gonna be the same... the last enduring vestiges of the "SuperBowl" dominant era with John Elway have fallen away from the Blue and Orange.

First, Lynch retires. sigh. Then, Elam defects to the Falcons. argh! and now, Rod Smith announces his retirement. NOOOOO!!!!!!

sigh. Broncos just ain't gonna be the same this year... no 47, 1, or 80...

and i didn't get ANY of their jerseys!

Geez, more than a month gone by...

I'm really sorry. the last month has been tough. cindy's been in tons of pain, and that affects me too, and it's been hard for either of us to feel like sitting down nad writing about how painful life is.

Many of you have been praying for Cindy's health- Thank you! It is improving! She is still in pain, but not nearly as much, and her feet are so much improved!

I'd like to direct you to the Leinbach Sister Blog and to the latest group of pictures posted from our Independence Day Celebration at school.

Fiestas Patrias: Independence Day Celebration!

I will write more later, but for now, the pictures and post at the Leinbach Sisters blog will have to suffice! Thanks for all your prayers and support!!!! I love you all!

Wow, it's the first day of summ--- I mean, winter...

How depressing... it's the first day of winter here. I've been organizing some photos on my computer, and looking at the summery greens and blue skies is a little disheartening... it's been since last Sunday that we've actually seen sunshine here, and that's par for the course during the winter in Lima. Last Sunday was glorious- not winter at all. This past week it's also been raining. mind you, not really raining as in midwest rain (and the midwest has had more than it's fair share lately), but for Lima, the rain here has been unusually long in duration and heavy in amount. that means that it's drizzled more than just in the early morning. it's actually drizzled in the afternoon, too, sometimes for hours at a time. no, not a midwest thunderstorm, but it's enough to make everything wet and puddle-ly and that's not good for recess and it's not good for the cabin-feverness attitude of my third-graders! :)

cindy and i do kind of laugh, though, and the people wearing full-length raincoats and getting out umbrellas... oy. it is humid, though, and that makes for a permeating coldness that creates a real longing for the sunshine!!!

here are a few pictures taken in the last two weeks. our thanks to our newest roommate Heidi for taking some pictures of us with her camera.

Now it becomes difficult...

And now it becomes difficult

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Tuesday afternoon in my classroom: I am cleaning off my desk at the end of the day. I open my lesson plan book to put some papers to grade inside the back cover to take home with me. But there in the back cover are two pieces of paper with color the same color photo printed on each: cindy, dad, and me, dressed in our warmest Denver Bronco blue and orange clothes, standing in front of Soldier Field in Chicago. We are on our way into the Bears-Broncos game on November 25 of last year. I look at the picture, and remember that it was from Mike, my dad’s cousin, who took the picture and used the fourth ticket for the game. Of course, he was rooting for the Bears, but we didn’t mind- so were tens of thousands of other people at the game. :) I put the pictures back in the lesson plan book, and think to myself, “I’ve got to email Mike and ask him for the electronic files for the pictures he took that day.” He was the only one with a camera, and he took several pictures at my request of Jason Elam, the Broncos (now former) place kicker, who was one of my favorite players. He also took some pictures of us in the stands. I laugh as I think about how COLD we were that Sunday afternoon. How the second quarter it actually rained a light constant cold rain and we were very wet, which made us very cold. I kept thinking that Mike was going to wish he’d turned down the ticket. But dad said later that they both had a good time. Mike’s a big Bears fan, and he enjoyed it.

I have Spanish tutoring after school on Tuesday, so I rush home and have my two hours of Spanish class, then cindy and I go run some errands. I forget to log on to look through my email from family members looking for Mike’s email address in the header of one of the mass mailings. Probably, I think, it will be in the one that Anita sent out about the Christmas gathering in January. Anita is married to Mike’s younger brother Jim, so I’m sure that she’d have included Mike in the email, and I’m relatively sure Mike HAS email…

So, yesterday, at school, I see the pictures again, when I take the papers that I graded out of my lesson plan book. And I think again, I’ve got to remember to get Mike’s email and ask him for more pictures. My computer is at home, and I’m at school, and I end up not leaving school until 9:45 p.m. (Yes, I know that’s late. But I was on a roll, and very productive.) Needless to say, I didn’t think about emailing anyone when I got home. I pretty much came home and got ready for bed. “I’ll email Mike tomorrow about the pictures, and copy dad on the message, just in case Mike’s already given them to him, and then he can just reply to both of us that he has them so Mike doesn’t have to send them to me.”

Today at school the pictures fell out of the back of my lesson plan book, and one of the kids picked them up for me. They’ve seen them before (the first time they fell out weeks and weeks ago) and so they all know the story and who’s in the pictures, etc. So Diego smiles and says “oh Miss Leinbach, this was when you went to the American football game with your father and the other Miss Leinbach.” (Isn’t that funny- “the other Miss Leinbach”? but what else can they call her? Sometimes they call her the P4 Miss Leinbach.) “Yes it was, Diego.” “Yeah, and but your team was not the one to win.” (love that ESL English). “No, my team didn’t win” I say laughing, thinking: geez, kid, thanks for reminding me! and I’ve really got to get the rest of the pics from Mike so I can show them to the class.

Sometimes I stay late after school (like yesterday) but I was exhausted today and wanted to just come home and take a nap, so I left around 3:40. I cross the street to the park facing the school and begin walking down the path toward my apartment. Thirty yards into it, I catch sight of cindy walking toward me. Her classes end at one, so she’s home earlier than I am. Why is she coming back to school? I wonder if she’s coming to ask me if I’m staying til 9:30 again, and if so, can we go get something to eat NOW.

“I’m happy to see you leaving school now,” she says.
“Why?”
“Well, cuz you tend to stay at school very late sometimes. Actually, a lot of the time.”
“Yeah, well, I have a lot of stuff to do, and it isn’t ever done. I have a lot to do today, too, but I’m so tired, all my body and brain want to do is go home and take a nap.”
“Ah. Okay. Um, they found Mike Ramer in his house dead today.”

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
And now it becomes difficult.
Death visits my family and I can’t visit them.

Mike is the son of my grandmother’s sister. Heart disease runs in my grandmother’s family history. Her father died of a heart attack relatively young- like 60? My father, as most of you know, had quadruple heart bypass surgery a year ago last September, and only did NOT have a massive heart attack by the grace and mercy of God. Mike lived in the home that his parents had lived in until their deaths, first Walter, then Elsie years later. Lots of good memories in that house. His brother Jim, went over to the house this afternoon and found Mike. Apparently he had died during the night. Heart attack? Don’t know. I know only what I’ve written, what mom emailed to us as soon as Grandma called her, as soon as Jim called her. I am glad that it was Jim, the veteran firefighter, who found him, not his sister Janet. Janet lives just a mile down the same road as Mike. She just retired and is enjoying cooking classes. She makes the awesomest jams and jellies and wonderful hand-sewn potholders. I brought two of her potholders with me, just to have a bit of Janet with us here in Peru. But I digress.

Janet and Mike are both single. Janet always has been, and Mike was married years and years ago but has been single for the duration of my generation’s experience with him. Because they are both single, the kids in my generation tend to like them a lot- single aunts and uncles are always more fun. Granted, they were “Cousin Janet” and “Cousin Mike”. Mike was the one who helped with fireworks. Mike was the one who made his own potato launcher guns and brought them to grandma and grandpa’s house to fire off potatoes into the field behind their back yard. Mike was the one who, every year for Christmas for years on end, would bring brown paper lunch bags stuffed to overflowing with candy- one for each person. And not cheap yucky candy, he used good stuff. The last few Christmas gifts from him were pints of real maple syrup, with a homemade custom label- syrup he’d made from the maple trees he tapped. He went to a sugar shack that a friend of his had, took all his syrup over and combined it with theirs, and helped make the syrup, and then got a take of the product. This past year, Dad started doing the same thing with his syrup. Instead of dad standing out by the fire in the back yard for hours on end, boiling sugar-water, he loaded up the five-gallon buckets full of sugar water every day and took them over to Mike’s sugar shack. No, it wasn’t really “Mike’s” sugar shack, but that’s what we called it, since it was through Mike that Dad started doing it. Mike was a welder, and had quite the shop on his property, and Cindy asked him this last winter if she could come and learn to weld from him. Who knows when- just sometime in the future, could I come hang out at your shop and learn from you? (she’s always wanted to learn to weld. Go figure.) so, yeah, sometime in the future, mike would be happy to show her what welding is all about.

Except now, there is no future sometime. There is only an unexpected funeral to plan, and an unexpected hole in our lives. And I am thousands of miles away, and cannot be at the funeral, cannot be with the family to grieve and to celebrate my Cousin Mike’s life and wonderful spirit. I can’t go play games at Grandma’s and talk and remember her nephew Mike, unexpectedly gone to be with our God in the company of angels. I can’t give my Cousin Janet a hug. I won’t be there on the fourth of July when there’s no potato gun. I won’t be there for mush breakfasts where the dry humor of the men in our extended family will no longer include Mike. I am far away. And besides, I don’t want Mike to be dead. His nephew’s children need to know their Uncle Mike. His nephews and surviving niece (one niece passed away in 1995(?) after heart/lung transplant complications) need to continue to know their Uncle Mike as adults- it’s so different than when you’re a kid. He was solid. He exuded silent loyalty- you knew he’d be there for those he loved. His presence was always one of quiet, just-under-the-surface gentle, happy, mirth. Our gatherings need him. We need him. We don’t want him to be dead.

I’d somewhat prepared myself for the circumstance of a family member dying while I was in Peru. But I’d been thinking about Grandpa and Grandma (especially Grandpa, since he was in the hospital when we left for Lima). I’d prepared myself somewhat, knowing as I hugged and kissed goodbyes that when you’ve got more than eighty years of life, every hug and kiss might be the last. I’m not ready to start losing the other people in my life- the ones that AREN’T dying at an old age. I dealt with the specter of sudden death a year and a half ago when Dad’s surgery prevented a heart attack at a location cardiologists call “the Widow Maker”. My mind played through the scenarios of losing my father, losing my mother, before they were 85 years old. Of losing them while I was “still young”. My friends have lost grandparents, sure, but my parents were both blessed with parents who lived fairly long lives. They were blessed with their presence well into their own adulthood. My mom’s dad died in 1992 or 1993(?), but then her mother lived until just two years ago. My dad’s parents are living well into their eighties, and have mostly been in relatively good health. I’m not ready to start losing the next generation, my parents’ generation. I want my family to always be here. And they won’t be. I will go to Peru, and things will change. I will go to Chicago, and things will change. I could live next door, and things will change.

I don’t especially enjoy change.
And I really don’t enjoy unexpected change.

Death for me is not frightening, not when I know Jesus is escorting that person to his Father. Death is loss and change over which I have no control. If I didn’t have the peace of the Holy Spirit living in me, the fear of that certain but unpredictable loss and change would paralyze me. I realized that sitting in the surgery waiting room during Dad’s surgery, and then four days later sitting at the funeral of my mother’s younger brother Bob, who died after a long struggle with cancer. It would freeze me emotionally, were it not for the peace of God in me that assures me that He will help me through anything that happens, and that separation from my loved ones is only temporary. I have to focus on that peace, on that promise, on my Savior, my God, and my Advocate (the Holy Spirit of God within me). I have to focus and dwell in their sustaining presence and power, so that I will learn to live through the loss and change of the unexpected and expected but still unwanted deaths that will only become more frequent as the years proceed.

Lord, help me live my days loving those around me, living in their presence and appreciating their life and love. Help me live in the peace of Your care. Help me be thankful for the opportunity to see them and love them and be blessed by them and be a blessing to them every time I meet them. Or email them. Or call them. Help me remember that every day is a gift from you, our merciful God, and that you will call all your children home sometime in the future. Help me remember that “sometime in the future” has to at some time also be “today”. Help me remember that with you, there is an after “sometime” that will go on for all future. That that is truly my future. It is truly the future of everyone.

But God, I wouldn’t mind if you allowed my family to have a lengthy future here on earth.
:)

And now it becomes difficult.

MORE PICTURES! (of the school)

Now there are some pictures of the school! How exciting!
This will help me feel better about writing for a solid hour yesterday morning and having everything disappear from my screen as i'm literally typing my closing. It's nowhere to be found. i was in such a state yesterday that i must admit, after losing an hour's worth of writing to you all, a few tears of frustration were shed. (this was not the computer's fault- it was Blogger's...)

Anyway, some pics of our new school. we feel a little like we live here. Click the link below to see all the pics BIG and read the descriptions.

Go here for pictures of our apartment

Here are some pictures of the inside of our GREAT apartment in Lima. click the link above for bigger pics with captions describing them!

Go here to see some pictures!

So I've figured out that Picasa is really quite wonderful. (Thanks Dana! your posting your England pics on Picasa made me curious, and lo- there on my Programs Menu was a Picasa option! It is wonderful and easy to use and my new best friend. well, you know what i mean.)

so there are some pictures on my picasa web album that you may see by clicking the link or entering the address http://picasaweb.google.com/leinbacker in the future. There are only a few pictures there right now. I will add some more tomorrow. but as i'm writing this, a video clip is uploading (17% done). this is exciting because i've tried several different ways to post some video, and this one seems to actually be working. we'll see. (18% done)

WARNING: the video may not be for the motion-sick-inclined (Melissa!). Although, it is pretty short, so prolly won't be a vomit-inducing event. The 6 minute video we have of take-off from Ft. Lauderdale on the other hand, well- Lis should never watch that. (It's WAY too big to post though, so you won't have to worry!)

We are still not up and running with our telephone. I spent some time on it tonight and realized that the power lights weren't even coming on. (on the Vonage router) I think it's because the transformer we'd been using is not good- it was left by a former teacher and pulled out of a drawer the first day we were here. i'd never really looked at it, and Katie (our roommate) says that she thinks she remembers that it didn't always work well. oy. So, my next move is to go and shell out some cash for a transformer (sorry, Kris, the one you gave me isn't big enough for the router) and then try the installation/hook-up again. Don't know when that will happen.

BUT- if you call the phone numbers, YOU CAN LEAVE US MESSAGES AND WE GET THEM VIA EMAIL! Vonage sends us your messages as email attachments, so that we hear your voices coming right out of our computer! SO- i know you would love to hear from us, and believe me we'd love to call you all! BUT you CAN call and leave messages and we'd get to hear your voices! and that would be groovy! So far we have amessage from Dana (yes, you were the FIRST message on our new phone!) and Kris. So, please, feel free to call! (If you don't have the numbers, email me- i don't want to post them.)

Don't let the scary-sounding man on the greeting scare you- it's just Kris. He recorded a little greeting for us since we can't do it ourselves. (Now the video is 25% done!)

Okay, so i am really tired (what's new?) and cindy and i are planning on going into the school around nine tomorrow (yes, a saturday) to do some work, so i should have been in bed an hour ago. i just got so excited about sharing pictures, i couldn't go to bed without uploading some!

I love you all, and even though i'm too busy to always consciously think about missing you, my soul is missing all of my friends and family every day. when we stop and think about it, we miss everyone too much to stop and think about it! not being able to talk via telephone has really made that worse. thank you, God, for giving us the email we've got! (And i did sort of "talk" to Lisa Martin tonight- read an email, replied, and minutes later read her reply. nice to know she's there with me in the moment.)

(29% uploaded. I'm leaving it to it's uploading and going to bed.)

Buenes noches! (i *think* that's spelled correctly.)
emily

Earthquake drills

So, in Peru, the kids have earthquake drills. no tornado drills needed. i don't even know if there are fire drills- seeing as how it's all open-air set up anyway, so you go out my classroom door and you are outside. but we have earthquake drills! on Monday we had an earthquake drill during class time. today we had a drill during lunch time. i'm going to try to upload some pictures.

Please see the Leinbach Sisters blog

Please see the Leinbach Sisters Blog entry "Technical Difficulties".
Going to bed now.

And now I live in Peru

Lima, Peru. It's been easier in ways and harder in ways than I was expecting. Easier in having the apartment and school feel like "home". Harder in that I severely underestimated how exhausted I would be. Always. Every Day. Over and over again, needing naps and fighting to stay awake. It's been such a blessing that we are surrounded by people who have done this before: Katie, our roommate is starting her third year teaching 2nd grade; Ivan and Kristie came down 14 months ago; and Rich and JoAnn Davis who are long-time veterans at several decades of experience in South and Central America. And they have all told us: the exhaustion is normal, it will last for at least several months, you just have to be aware of it and take care of yourself accordingly. So, it's good to know that what I'm feeling is normal. But, I'd rather be feeling fully rested and energetic.

Also, harder than I thought is the fact that Peru has earthquakes. Wasn't really fully aware of that until we got here and Thursday morning Katie told us what to do in case of a tremor, just so we'd be prepared. Well, ok. Just in case. She says a really big one hit last year and so we're not due for another for like 30 years. But tremors can happen. Ok. Whatever.

Didn't expect to experience two within 48 hours of that conversation. Friday night at 1:44 a.m. it woke me up. The noise was really the most surprising. Windows rattling, but something else, too. Just not right. So Katie comes and tells us yes that was a tremor, and if another doesn't start within a minute or so, we're likely done. ok. nothing else so i went back to bed. I had to take a little bit to write in my journal, because it unsettled me (no pun intended) more than i thought it would. Then, SAturday morning I was awoken again by another stronger one, just before 7:00 a.m. A little longer, stronger. Long enough for KAtie and I to get to the living room and sit down in front of the couch. Cindy was otherwise occupied. Check out her blog for more on that. (www.zeeblebop.com)

Saturday was very tiring all around, mostly i think because of the unsettling way it started. But it ended very well: we went to a "youth" meeting at the church affiliated with the school. In Peru, "youth group" is basically anyone who is single, from like age age 20 to 40. It was all in Spanish, but Katie translated for us, and I even got a lot out of the Pastor's talk, and enjoyed the singing. They had a small group of worship band people and words so that Katie could show us which one to sing. Most we knew in English, too. They had gotten soda and munchies for us, too. Afterwards, starting at ten o'clock at night, we started playing volleyball. It was fun and I managed to NOT make a total fool out of myself.

Sunday we went to church, in Spanish, again excellently translated by Katie, and again, I got something meaningful out of it. Pastor called us up to the front at the end, and introduced us and prayed for us, and also prayed for all our friends and family who we left, and who are missing us, and thanking God for them and asking God to be with them while we are gone. It was cool. AFterwards a lot of people came up and greeted us, which in Peru includes a "kiss" on the cheek. I wasn't sure if i'd like that, but I don't mind it at all.

Today was the first day of classes that I was "the teacher". It went ok. No huge problems. Again, very very exhausting. This evening, cindy and went back to the school (after naps and dinner) and arranged my room in a way that i like more than it was. I can only hope that the way I've arranged my students won't be a complete and entire disaster. I'm literally writing lesson plans the day before, if even that. I should probably be writing some now, except that SOMEONE (who shall remain nameless) told my sister to firmly but gently tell me to blog. So, i have now blogged. And, I will have some times tomorrow to do lesson plans. Tuesday starts with Peruvian History, which is taught in my classroom by a Peruvian teacher, so I'll have 40 minutes of work time. So I can plan English. Then after English is Spanish Communicacion, also taught by a Peruvian teacher, so I'll have 40 minutes more to plan, for Reading and Math. Then after that they have a special kind of Math that they use in latin american countries, so i'll have another 40 minutes, and then lunch, to plan for Spelling/Handwriting, which won't take that whole time to plan, so i'll be able to start grading some papers, or planning for the next day! Then after Spelling, they have Choir. Another 40 minutes to grade papers and do more lesson plans. Then we go to the library. Actually, no we don't, because I just mentioned that to Katie and her class goes to library then, and that was an error on the part of scheduling by the person filling in for my class until now, and so i'll have to figure out tomorrow morning what is going on. But, I think I can get through tomorrow. I think I will like Tuesdays.

There's SO MUCH to plan, to do, to set up- everything a teacher would do for the start of school, basically. And i'm doing it while already at full speed, and trying to also get the hang of living in a new country, and working around other people's schedules to go places because we're not able to go more than a couple of blocks in any direction by ourselves... Cindy needs new shoes, some capris, and i need some shoes, and shirts. But we can't do that on our own, we've got to have someone to take us on a bus, in a taxi, or in their car. We will get the hang of it (especially busses) and be able to be more independent, but for right now, it's a lot to try to manage and organize and still get enough (extra) sleep to not collapse.

So, your prayers are a big part of sustaining us, I know. And i am not regretting any of this for a moment. I'm very glad we came. I think that it will be challenging, but rewarding and enriching, and life-changing. I know it will change how I trust God, continue to change, since the three years in Chicago were a very big start of changing the degree in which i trust Him. I think our time in Chicago was very much a kind of preparation for this. We'd both be MUCH more lost and overwhelmed if we'd come directly from Indiana. So, God's timing and plan was in motion even when I couldn't possibly see how.

I should get to bed. Mom, I really would like to have that foot bath I gave to you when we moved! My poor feet are not very happy having been suddenly forced into wearing shoes 14 hours a day when they usually have a month to slowly build up callouses as the weather gets warmer and I wear sandals, etc, a little bit more day by day. Nope- this was POOF! You're in winter, and now you're in SUMMER. get out all the shorts and summer clothes you have. Oh wait, don't have very many because you thought you'd have plenty of time to buy some before June? HAH. too bad. And here, it's "fall" (although with 80 degree days....) and so a lot of the summer clothes are being changed out for "winter". oy.

HEre are a few pictures of our apartment. And the view from the apartment. WE are on hte fourth floor. it is wonderful. the apartment is a gift from God.

Well, nevermind. Soemthing is not working right and it's taking forever, and I really need to be in bed.
Goodnight.

The Next Big Step

The Next Big Step for the Leinbach Sisters is Lima, Peru! Yes, South America! Cindy and I have decided to accept a very whirlwind call to serve as teachers in a English-immersion elementary school in Lima. We first heard about this school and its need for teachers at the very end of January. At the end of February (two weeks ago) we decided to go for it. We leave for Lima two weeks from tomorrow- Wednesday, March 26! (I know! Terribly fast and I've done a TERRIBLE job at keeping this blog current. All I can say is that I've had a LOT on my mind, and a LOT to do!)

We STILL have a LOT to get done. We will purge our apartment of as many items as possible, giving away to friends and family everything we can, and donating everything else to Salvation Army, etc. That all has to be done by Good Friday, and Saturday we will load a truck with the furniture and items we wish to keep in storage. We drive the truck to Elkhart Indiana to unload into several locations, the primary one being my Mom and Dad's. (Just when they thought they were good and rid of all our belongings!)

We'll spend Easter, Monday and Tuesday in Indiana with family and friends. Our flight to Miami leaves from O'Hare at 6:00 a.m. (yikes!!!). We will land in Miami at 10:00 a.m. and wait around until 5:15 p.m. for our flight to Lima, Peru. Yowsers, I still can't believe it.

The link with the title of this blog is for the school we will be serving: Monterrico Christian School. Their school year started yesterday; they are covering with subs for our classes, and the classes of 3 other Americans who are answering the call at the eleventh hour. Ironically, all 3 of those other people are also from Chicago! (or suburb)

Cindy and I went down to the US Passport Office in Chicago yesterday and applied for the fast-track process, which means we will have our passports TOMORROW (Wednesday) afternoon! Now we have to muddle through the Visa process. Prayer for that would be much appreciated, as I am currently getting mixed signals about the requirements. I am waiting for a call back from the Peruvian Consulate in Peru (an English-speaking staff member) to try to clarify whether we need a Tourist Visa. Why tourist? Well, because we are going so quickly, we don't have time to apply for and wait for our religious visas before we go, so the school recommended coming down on a trouist visa, applying for the religious visa once there, and we can take an overnight trip into Chile to pick up the religious Visas when processed. (You have to pick up visas outside of the country.) Please pray that we can get all the Visa info straightened out.

I'm not working now, and Cindy's last day of work is this Friday. We're taking only what will fit in the bags on the plane- we each get 2 suitcases for minimal fee (like $5 each) and can reserve up to 3 more for a rather hefty price. We will be living in an apartment with one or two other female teachers. The part of Lima we will be in is fairly wealthy, and therefore safer. The principal and administrator both said that if we've lived in CHicago then we should be a step ahead of other 'newbie Americans' since we will not suffer culture shock of rural to urban as well as American to Peru. I'm sure Lima will be very different from Chicago, but there are just things endemic to big cities that living in one helps you understand- like navigating safely, keeping bearings, using taxis/busses safely, etc.

We should also have access to very good medical care at the private clinics in Lima. God has also done wonderful things here in CHicago to provide for both me and cindy to have the meds we need and prescriptions for refills through the time we're gone. Praise Jesus!

So when will we come back? Right before Christmas, Lord willing. Their summer break starts then, and we'll be home for all of January, possibly some of February before heading back down for the start of the second year of teaching. We decided early on that if we went for one school year, we'd go for two. We're not completely opposed to three, we'll see what God tells us.

As you see, Lima isn't TOO far from the famous Andean Incan ruins of Macchu Pichu- Anyone wishing to come down and visit us is more than welome!!! Dad is already asking for our school schedule of week-long breaks, and Mom has said she'll go get her passport (just as soon as she's up and walking about after her second knee-replacement surgery two weeks ago!).

I will post more information and pics of our future students in my next blog.

Word to the wise...

Should you ever find yourself needing to “reboot” your colon, make sure you have unrestricted access to restroom facilities.

That’s all I have to say about that.

So, this is my LAST can of Diet Caffeine Free Dr. Pepper, the last of the gift from a woman named Val who lives at the apartments where i am working (the office is located in the apartment building, and Val is a part-time receptionist at the office). The last day before Christmas weekend, she comes wheelin' in (she uses a motorized wheelchair) saying "you KNOW what you're getting!" And i turn around and there on her lap is a twelve pack of Diet Caffeine Free Dr. Pepper! This then is one of those gifts that i classify as "the best" because it was so perfect for me, and showed that she'd been paying attention to when another coworker and i were talking about how i was going to have to "lay off" getting packs of diet dr. pepper to share with her because i really needed to cut out caffeine, and how much i was going to miss the diet dr. pepper... There she was with twelve cans of happiness!!! I laughed and every time i drank one chuckled again and thought, this was one of The Best Gifts Ever.

I'm just wondering...

What is the best Christmas gift you’ve ever gotten? Or, just gift in general. I’m not necessarily talking biggest or most impressive, but the “best” in terms of the circumstances of who it was from, where you were at in your life, meant the most, hit just the right nerve, etc. So really, it doesn’t even have to be just ONE, cuz there’s likely to be a couple that come to mind, for different reasons.

 

For instance, this year’s Christmas included two gifts that I would highlight as “the best” (picture high school girl gushing to her friends on the bus- “oh my gosh, it was like, The Best gift eh-VER!”)

One is the digital camera cindy and I got jointly from Mom and Dad. Usually, gifts that I’ve asked for specifically, don’t always fall into that “the best” category because, well, part of “the best” for me is the surprising aptness of the gift upon the reveal. But this case is different because this camera is “the best” and it will (already has) give cindy and me many happy times. We’ve been without a camera now for years, and we LIKE to take and have pictures. We are very excited about our new camera, and I’m sure you’ll be seeing many pics taken with it.

 

So the second gift from this year I’d categorize as “the best”? I’m not telling you. Well, not until tomorrow, because today I don’t happen to have the camera, and I’d rather just post a picture of it. Those of you that know me well will understand immediately.

 

But thinking about it this morning has made me wonder, what are some of those memorable gifts that others have gotten? (A big huge stuffed Nemo (from the movie, yes) is another of my “best” gifts.)

Welcome the New Year

Well, it's 2008. And yes, Lawanna, the Broncos DID finish with a losing record, and yes, Indy DID finish wtih a winning record. I choose to focus on the hope that in another month the world can tell the 1972 Dolphins to just stuff it, and there'll be a new undefeated team. That is now just about my only interest in the NFL post-season.

As far as life in general, this winter's been a difficult one for me emotionally and relating to my depression. It appears as though the meds i've been on for years need to be adjusted- not surprising considering that one's body changes a great deal between ages 25 and 35. So, in the coming months i'll be working to find a new pyschiatrist who can help me adjust or change meds to a better therapeutic level. that task is made harder because i do not have any medical insurance. in the meantime, i'm trying hard to be more proactive about doing things to combat the depressive symptoms i'm seeing more of in recent months. i'm sure cindy is eager for me to find a new doctor too.

My mental health is not helped by the fact that two of the biggest variables in life, two of the things that affect a person most on a daily basis, are still very much in limbo for me: where i work and where i live. our lease expires in April, and we're not renewing, but where to go and who to live with (meaning a new third roommate) are nowhere near resolved. and the temp job that seemed to be leading to permanent hire hasn't resulted in that yet, despite it being nearly a month past the time they could have. (temps usually have to be there 3 months before the company can buy out the employee and hire them.) so now, i'm wondering if they've decided not to hire a person full-time (not necessarily not wanting to hire ME, just ANYONE full time) and if so, what that means for me in the future. i'm ready to not be temping anymore.

prayers for all of the above (except maybe the NFL stuff) would be greatly appreciated.

Here are some pics from over the holidays. (which were a BLAST.)

Here you see me and Cindy, with our cousins' kids, Cole, Alec, Jace, Kira, and Kirsten. Can't see us all? Well, the white arm on the far left is me, as are the glasses just visible beneath the aqua arm of the little girl standing up, which is Kira. The young man under MY arm, wearing blue jeans, is the oldest of the Leinbach great-grandchildren, Cole. The two little boys in matching red pjs are Cole's younger brothers, Alec (whose face you can see) and Jace (whose face you can't see). Then there's Cindy wearing the brown sweatshirt and she's in the process (i believe) of tickling Kira's older sister, Kirsten, whose face you also can't see. The green stuffed frog clutched by Jace, is (i believe) known as simply "froggy".

The second picture was taken mere moments after the first. Same cast of people, different body parts visible. hee hee.