Back in the States

Hello everyone.

I've been back in the states for 3 weeks and I've been completely silent in the blog, mostly because I haven't been doing anything but hiding myself away in my parents home. I've been unsure of what I'll do for the future of my blog, since my life is probably going to be a bit more mundane in the near future. However, I still have some stories about the boys in an intern packet that I haven't posted to the blog, so expect to see those, and I've just recently planned my next trip to Peru around New Year's. So I won't be totally devoid of interesting material after I move back to Northern VA this Saturday (if anyone wants to help!) and return to IBM to do the consulting thing.

How am I adjusting to life in the states? That's the big question. In a way, I hope I never really adjust. I learned what abundant luxury we have in the U.S.: clean water out of the faucet, hot showers, quality meat in our food. Most of us don't have to worry about crime every time we leave our house, and pedestrians have the right of way... If I haven't mentioned this before, you don't walk across the street in Lima, you run across the street.

A couple good things that I'm enjoying about the states - people don't yell at you to buy things everywhere you go, and young couples aren't making out in public everywhere you go. That seemed to be popular for Lima...

One thing that I've become increasingly aware of from my trip to Peru is how I spend my money. Every time I spend money on something unessential, I think about the fact that I am spending frivolously on myself, at the expense of the people I could be helping with that same money. It's hard to live with the simple luxuries of American life when you have friends that don't have those luxuries. I sometimes wonder if the boys would be disappointed if they saw the huge gap between the way I live and the way they live.

As for my future in Peru, I've come to the realization that my money can probably help a great deal more than my visits to Peru, because the work at Scripture Union Peru will best be managed by native Peruvians. However, I have lots of friends in Peru, most of whom are between the ages of 8 and 19. Because of my new friends, I've already planned my next trip for the end of December. I'll be visiting Puerto Alegria for 2 weeks.

As for longer term plans, I would like to improve my Spanish so that I'm fully fluent, and possibly translate for American and British mission teams. I'm also interested in finding a full time Christian ministry in the states where I could support international missions or evangelism.

So make sure you check back to the blog every now and then. I'll be posting some stories about the boys in Peru. Thanks to everyone that supported me and SUP on my trip this summer. I hope to see you in person soon.