Ripples

     While I hang clothes, towels, curtains and sheets on the green wires we’ve strung across the roof, I squint in the sun’s glare despite the sunglasses I’m wearing.  I keep my mouth shut and look down so as to avoid eating dust carried by the wind.  I notice the ripples of dust along the cement near my feet.  I think about the ripples of the bean fields at home on windy days, the ripples in the water when skipping stones (something I’ve never been particularly good at) and then I think about the ripple effect of our actions and how positive behaviors create a ripple of hope with positive reactions and in turn more positive actions; yet, negative behaviors do the opposite. 

     Despite having had a few rough days, there have been moments that have brightened my days.  A wise person once said, “Never get tired of doing little things for others. Sometimes, those little things occupy the biggest part of their hearts.” 

     I love it that Doña María, an elderly woman that spends each day watching the traffic pass by as she sits outside her home, always greets me and blesses me when I walk past her corner.  The other day, my mother-in-law brought us a bunch of delicious red grapes from a rural community that she’d visited.  The following morning, Igor’s dad prepared oatmeal for us, so that we would have more time to eat breakfast.  We got a letter from home!  Mail is always appreciated.  A doctor offered Igor a few minutes of his time to give him a few pointers on his thesis.  And today, my friend Sarah showed up with a bouquet of flowers and a pot of violets for me just to visit and catch up.  Those are the beautiful parts of our last few days.  And last but not least, I just found out that my application for residency has been approved!  One more step down :)

What's New?

   Just two weeks ago, I woke up to the sounds of frogs croaking and the fresh scent of living plants carried in through the window by the breeze.  I went to bed in the heat shortly after the sun said goodnight.  Now I go to bed several hours after the sun, wearing long sleeves, with a few layers on the bed.  The window is cracked, but it lets in the drone of cars and the honking of their horns as they race along the Pan-American Highway.   When I look out the window, instead of being greeted by evergreen trees, green grass and cornfields, I see a few small banana trees, paved streets, and brick buildings that show evidence of having been constructed one room or floor at a time. 

   Some things seem so long ago and some things so recent.  At other times I wonder about things that have or haven’t changed.  Home always seems the same, although I know it too, like the people in it, are in constant evolution.  Our home here in Chiclayo has much of the same furniture in it, but we’ve made improvements such as installing warm water in the shower, fixing broken windows, and purchasing a table.  Outside too, the street is now paved and less dust bursts through the seams of the windows.   Some of the streets in the center of the city have also been paved and there seems to be more security. But as I flag down a Combi and am forced to jostle my way to the back and cram myself into a space too small for me to fit, I look out the window and see the same people who live in the streets- the woman who wears plastic sacks, an old man who packs his bags of possessions along and sleeps on the curbs, an elderly woman selling gum, a man playing a recorder waiting for alms in a can, and the money changers near the banks, I am reminded that perhaps not much has really changed.       

The Chaos of Bureaucracy

   After a wonderful time spent with family and friends, a fun wedding, and and many miles, Igor and I are trying to learn the ropes of the bureaucratic system to receive all the documents we need to legally be in either one of our countries. 

   Last year we visited the small immigration office in Chiclayo for Igor to get his passport.  In January he visited the US Embassy for his visa.

   In Pender we got our marriage license although having a foreigner without residency raised a perplexing issue.  In Denver we found out that colored versions of marriage licenses are the preferred, but with a lot of persistence and some great help from others, one of our papers would do.

   Now back in Peru, we’ve visited the RENIEC, the international police station, the huge immigration office in Lima, the Foreign relations building, banks for payments and many bus stations to get to and from our destinations.  Believe it or not, at the police station I got my teeth examined and checked for tattoos or scars; unfortunately for the man checking my teeth, because of the overnight bus ride and all the rush we’d been through in the morning to make payments and fill out paperwork before the time was up, I hadn’t brushed my teeth.  I’m pretty sure that was the case for a good portion of the foreign applicants.  As for the man who was constantly playing with stray cats that wandered beneath our feet as we waited in the cold outside on broken chairs, there was no doubt he was struggling to figure out how to handle his forms and paperwork.

   For any of you who have been through these processes, you know what it’s like- the headache, the nerves, but with each document that is a success, you feel elated!   It’s back to Lima for an interview with all my documents in hand next week.  Looking forward to a new ID card shortly after that J