Driving in Lima is craaaaaazay!!

If you were to see me driving in Lima, I would appear somewhat crazy as I whip out my cell phone to snag a photo of the traffic.  I snap shots at the stoplight, the drive-thru, stopped in traffic on the freeway, going through an intersection (while Jeff is driving of course), or even passing a vehicle.  This many years in Peru and the sights we see each and every day never get old to me.

4 lanes, turning left to squeeze into 2 lanes.

Robot in the middle

It's a car full of produce

I actually had a green light to go straight.

I couldn't even guess what he might be transporting

If two lanes won't work, try three!

produce

We were completely stopped at a round-about. Completely. For a long time.

And I get a sticker that says I'm a terrible parker...it literally says, "I park horrible".  

Sometimes it's light traffic around the round a-bouts

Anyone want to hop in?

Care for a banana?  Anyone?

I love Sundays...no traffic!!

Most people hate Lima traffic. Some days I hate Lima traffic.  But honestly, most days I'm just so happy I survived driving in Lima traffic that I want to do a little motor vehicle jig to celebrate.  Consider a city of 9 million people (possibly more) and an infrastructure that can't support said population and here's where you arrive.  I've never seen such variety in vehicles.  I wish my grandfather were alive so I could send him pictures of cars that he hasn't seen in 40 years sharing my road!!

Probably should stop for her

No huffing or puffing could blow this thing down!

And the buses.  Don't get me started on the buses.  You've got big buses, Coasters, Combis (similar to a really ugly and dented up 15-passenger van...but smaller.  Most of the time my knees don't even fit in between the seats, and I'm not tall by any means.  Sometimes I've had to stand up...in a combi...with a low roof.  Which technically means I'm hunched over with my shoulders/back literally touching the ceiling.  I've braced myself with my back on the ceiling before...can you say that?

So many people on this late bus--jam packed in there with not even any standing room!

So why do I actually, for the most part, enjoy driving and riding the buses?  My love/hate relationship with driving here is the challenge and inconsistency it brings--it's never the same and never dull.  My love/hate relationship with riding the bus is similar--it's inconsistent (I even have gotten charged different amounts on the exact same route), never dull, but most of all it's a glimpse into the lives of the real people here.  Where are they going?  Do they have enough money to get where they need to go?  Do they get tired of being squeezed in together like cattle?  Did it take them forever to find their way around the city like me?  Do they know all the bus lines and where the streets intersect?

Most days I feel like all you need to do to drive here is honk your horn and wave your left arm out the window to indicate you are going to: stop, turn left, turn right, park, blow through the stoplight, move into my lane, cut me off, flip me off, or possibly and quite rarely, give me a thumbs up.

Seems like a million goodbyes

It might be exaggerating, but I think one of the hardest things about living overseas are the goodbyes.  You would think the first time would have been the hardest, the goodbye at the airport 11 years ago (2002) when we took our 15 month old by the hand and walked through the gate to come to Peru.  But I can honestly say, that every goodbye in the past 11 years have been tough, and they never seem to get any easier.

Saying goodbye to Papa-2003

Saying goodbye to Ama 2003

Saying goodbye to Tio Jeremy 2003

Cousins at the airport-2003

What is it about saying goodbye that just makes you want to weep at the thought of the loss.  I think for me, it's the idea that everyone will be continuing on with their lives in the U.S., the country where I was born and raised, and my life will remain standing still.  The trends will come and go, and my closet will remain the same (yes, I still have a few things that I brought with me 11 years ago).  The four different seasons will come and go, and Peru will still only have a rainy and dry season.  Nieces and nephews will grow and win awards and play on sports teams, and we'll miss all their achievements and games.  Siblings will get married, grandparents will pass away...and here we'll be.  It's not realistic to think we can jet back home on a whim, not even for something as important or special as a wedding or a funeral.

Jonathon pulling his backpack with Ama 2006

Saying goodbye to the Krohns-2006

The boys are excited to have rolling backpacks-2006

On the plane, headed to Peru after furlough-2006!

Recently our son, Jonathon, had to say goodbye to a good friend.  His best friend.  Jonathon is one of our more sensitive children, and any sort of change in routine or disruption in normal, daily life is extra hard for him.  When I told him in the car, that his friend wasn't going to be coming back I just wanted to wrap my arms around him and let him know that I have been in his exact shoes.  It's never easy no matter how old you are.  He'll make more friends, we all do, but those special ones that bring us joy and make us smile or laugh, and know just exactly what we like and who we are...those ones can't be replaced.

Trying to stay occupied in the airport

I don't ever doubt the decision we made to come to Peru, but the impact that goodbyes have on our family isn't something that everyone can understand.  And so we bear this burden together, it makes us stronger and closer as a family, and we know that while it doesn't get easier, we can choose to be thankful for such wonderful friends and family that making leaving so hard.

11 years in Peru...game on!

It's been an amazing 11 years in Peru, amazing enough that a simple blog post can't do it justice.  When we made the decision to, quite literally, pick up our cross...it was not taken lightly.  I want to revel in the lessons I've learned, the friendships I've made, and the Grace I've been given.  On those days when the traffic of 9 million people overwhelms me, I want to smile and find the good in this culture.  And on those days when the smells of 9 million people seem to be floating around the one bus I'm in, I want to grab on to the unconditional love that I've been given, and freely give that back.

There are a gazillion cultural nuances that drive me crazy, many within my own culture that I strive to throw off;  how can I be the hands and feet of those people that are making sacrifices so I can be here if I can't even get past myself?

I've claimed 2013 to be all about me...and not in the selfish, self-serving way that it sounds...but in intentionally getting myself healthy physically, emotionally, and spiritually so I can be all to those around me.  I have amazing blessings that I need to cling to...and after 11 years I think I can finally count my blessings in this place where I've been placed.

It's been a long journey and I can't see it letting up any time soon. :)

Sweet, sassy Sophia turns FOUR!!!

She is joyful, yet spunky.

She is sweet, yet sassy.

She is caring, yet independent.

She is courageous, yet cautious.

She is my daughter.  And she just turned four.

After having 3 boys in 3.5 years, not only was I sure I didn't want more kids, but I thought it absolutely impossible to produce a girl.  Yet on March 3, 2009 a sweet child was born, and not only was this the most beautiful child in the entire world, this sweet child was a girl.  Our Sophia Noelle.

We love you, we're proud of you, and we can't wait to see your sweet face every single day.  You bring joy and balance to our family, and I pray that this year you will learn more about who you are, how much you are loved, and that you will be proud of who you are.  

 

February changes

February brought some fun things to the Krohn household...nothing spectacular, but simply fun.

I used one of the drawers from the dresser below and painted it turquoise...then put it in our dining room.

I transformed an ugly, cheap, brown dresser into this set of shelves!

Brandon got new glasses!!  Such a handsome boy!!

Dinner time is never boring at our house!

Special Valentine's Day dinner

January 1st again already?

Goodness, where has the time gone?!  I swear we were just welcoming in 2012 and now here we are already 2 days into 2013...is it just me, or are the years flying by?  I've seen posts about writing down what your kids are "in to" each year, asking them what they want to be when they grow up, and then you have it all there, each year to reflect on.  I think this is genius, and I wish I had thought of it oh, about 12 years ago!!  I want to remember these years, I want to enjoy these years, and even when I'm ripping my eyelashes out with frustration, I want to cherish these sweet times.  I don't want the years to fly by without at least thinking of a gazillion ways my kids make me laugh, or ways my husband makes me smile and feel loved.

So don't go by too fast, 2013, I need more time to love on my sweet family...

2013...ready or not

New Years Eve is the time to make those resolutions for the new year.  The goals that you want to accomplish, the diets that you want to go on, the races you want to run, and basically anything that you didn't do the last year.  So, here are the top 13 things I’m aiming to sort of get close to nailing right on the head in 2013 (in absolutely no order of importance):

1.  Being more intentional in calling people.  If you know me, you think I jest, but just you wait when I call you instead of emailing, texting, or Blackberry messaging…and don’t pass out.

2.  Saying “no” to the things that weigh me down. Vague much?

3.  Reading 5 non-fiction books.  Yes, this seems like a low number…but when the reality of living in Peru gets the best of me, I love to curl up with an FBI Thriller and pretend I’m an undercover Russian agent.  Maybe I’ll lower it to 4…

4.  Only go out for coffee 2 times a month (budget anyone?)

5.  Watch less on Netflix—I admit it, I love watching an entire 6 seasons of LOST one right after the other.  Hey, don’t judge--with 4 kids, carpooling in a city of 9 million to get the boys to school, no canned goods, and paying $4.80 for 8oz of imported cheddar cheese…I think I deserve one guilty pleasure, right!?

6. Complain less.

7. Run more.

8. Count my blessings. As in really literally count them.  By writing them on a piece of paper and posting it.  I’ll be forcing encouraging my kids to do this also.

9. Build up my toolbox of things to pull out when I have to try and understand my incredibly sensitive, intense, and spirited child.  A hammer is not an appropriate tool.  I know this.

10. Seek out service projects to do as a family—since moving to Lima, we don’t see the poverty in our face as much as we did in Abancay.  We want our kids to learn to be more giving.

11. Serve others.  

12. Be less selfish with my time and dare I say it, try to be more flexible. Ahhh, just typing it out has me gnawing on my arm with anxiety.

13. Spend more time devoted to the things that mean the most to me and that I’m passionate about.

One of "those" days

Ever have one of “those” days?  Yeah, you know the one I’m talking about.  The one where you wake up thinking you will conquer the world, but you end up burying your head under a pillow crying your eyes out? Yep, one of “those” days.  It’s not so much the fact that you ended the day in tears that has you scratching your head, it’s the fact that you thought everything was going well, dandy indeed, when all of a sudden, BAM!  Out of nowhere.  Those are the sucker punches that hurt the most.  And you know, it doesn't really matter who/what caused it, it hurts the same no matter what.

So what do you do when life gets the best of you?  I tend to want to make a cup of coffee and just feel sorry for myself, but with four kids and a husband, that isn't realistic.  These moments humble me, because I see my selfishness and the mantra I say to my kids over and over plays in my head, "Happiness is a choice."

I was reading something today by Beth Moore, she can be wild and crazy sometimes, but she was right on today.  Or maybe it was just right on for me.  She was referring to James' "consider it pure joy when you encounter various trials".  I can't for the life of me, imagine instantly finding joy in awful circumstances, it's just not me.  I'm more of an Eeyore than a Tigger, so those awful circumstances take me down for the count.  But she said this, "The word 'consider' calls us to a mental exercise.  Not an emotion.  James isn't telling us to have a knee-slapper over all we're going through.  He's telling us to think, to reflect, and to esteem the unalloyed joys available to us 'whenever [we] experience various trials."  We can't purposefully dive into a garbage dump and count it all joy...sometimes we just happen to fall in.