What a crazy week it’s been and it’s only partially over! I moved house on Tuesday and aside from unpacking and dealing with the chaos of moving, I had to contend with an unfinished house, getting my landlords to put in a kitchen (incredibly, the house was never built with a kitchen in mind, no comment on this!) in an area that made sense and not right smack in the living room area (again, no comment on this) and to have them place a secure door to the entrance of the rooftop so intruders could not enter the house, a broken pipe in the wall where the shower is and having water in the wall gush into the living room, light sockets in the ceilings that did not have switches that belonged to them so they were actually redundant, bedrooms (except for mine) that never had doors planned as part of the architecture and annoying dogs left in the backyard by the owner’s mom who still had not moved out and whose dogs would not allow my dog into the yard area. All I can say is that people in this country think very differently.
The main thing is that I have moved in and my animals with me and I will be getting what I asked for from the landlords which is good. I might have to wait till the end of this week to have a fully functional kitchen and to be able to wash my clothes, but that is alright, for as they keep saying in this country, “patience, patience”. I think that is just a cop out for taking their own time to do things at times!! However, I have met some amazing people who have surprised me with the magnitude of their kindness when they find out that I am part of an organization that is going to help out in the community. The contractor who lost his baby a month and a half ago to some congenital birth defect that is unknown here in Peru and who had to sell everything (house and all) to try to save his child had been helped by various NGOs in various parts of the world and now he is offering me and Siembra S.O.W the help of his company to fix up stuff should I need stuff fixed as we go along. He also told me that he and his crew would come and clean out the backyard and put up a real fence and make it into a yard. I was saying how I was thinking it might be good to be able to have a vegetable garden to be able to use it for food. I am so glad that God is showing me people who have great hearts.
Everyone in this neighbourhood thinks I am a mad foreigner who has completely lost her mind in renting this entire house and from the looks of it has chosen to live by herself with only a cat and dog for company. Hannah my cat is basically living in my room as it is the only room with a door so she can have some peace and quiet from Mayah and all the work people traipsing in and out of the house. I don’t know if she will recover although I want her to but she has relapsed and has stopped eating and drinking again. This time around I don’t want to force her to eat like I did with a syringe because it was so hard on her and on me to have to do it to her. She loves spending time with me now, hanging out in my room with me. Mayah, on the other hand, is having the time of her life. She bosses the tradespeople around and is the most excellent guard dog. She tells them off when she thinks they have crossed the line and should not be in an area where she thinks they are not permitted to be in. She follows me like a shadow, making sure I am all right and has a hard time going to the bathroom in the dirt as she is used to grass. The roof top is her playground and there she can exercise to her heart’s content, playing fetch with me, dancing with me and generally racing around. And when we go for our walks, she is the best dressed dog around with her pink studded collar and fuchsia leash. I know people think I’m doubly mad in this neighbourhood but until they know what I’m doing here, they will continue to think I’m a crazy foreigner, especially with a black mini labrador-like dog dressed like she’s from the movie, Legally Blonde.
I am going to have to get used to being a homebody now instead of being able to go out and hanging out with friends like I used to when I lived in the suburbs. I am now in a place where the buses stop going into Lima by 8:30pm and the last bus back is at 9pm. I have been told I should not be out walking past 9pm and if friends come over, they should plan to sleep over and likewise if I go hang out with friends in the suburbs, I should plan to do an overnighter with them. Huge lifestyle change. But it’s all good. Perhaps this is what I need to prepare me for the next stage in my life. Only God knows and that’s what He’s doing, changing me and molding me and stretching me for whatever lies ahead, as He always does.
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