Thank you, Peru

I am learning more and more everyday that the things that Peru has taught me are slowly but surely shaping me. They are molding me into the person I am now. The Hanna that arrived here on August 29, I am now realizing, was different. Not bad, just different. I am also realizing that the things I am learning here probably don't mean anything to the people I left behind. Because life back home is literally another world. So right now, I want to give a toast. An ode. Ballad. Whatever. 

Thank you, Peru:

Thank you, Peru. Because of you I can make a mean pot of rice.

Thank you, Peru. Because of you I can plan Sabbath School, church, write a children's story, a sermon, and plan J.A. in 5 minutes. 

Thank you, Peru. Because of you I can pee boldly anywhere. Outside. In the rain. On a train. With green eggs and ham. In a box. With a fox. Anywhere.

Thank you, Peru. Because of you I know how to use a machete to do anything from hack my way through the jungle to peel an orange. 

Thank you, Peru. Because of you I can give someone a shot in the butt. Or pull out an aching tooth without fear.  

Thank you, Peru. Because of you I can put out a fire with a lemonade bucket. 

Thank you, Peru. Because of you I can ride in a taxi with 8 people and somehow position myself comfortably. 

Thank you, Peru. Because of you I can take a 2 minute shower.

Thank you, Peru. Because of you I have learned how to live without a mirror. Or the desire to use one. (Although sometimes when I pass a store that happens to have glass in the window, I'm startled at what I see.)

Thank you, Peru. Because of you I can make soup at the end of the week with what little or no food we have left. Usually a carrot. An onion. Maybe one or two potatoes. Noodles. Rice. Soy sauce. Oatmeal. Whatever.

Thank you, Peru. Because of you I can openly talk about bodily functions.

Thank you, Peru. Because of you I have learned how to eat oatmeal for breakfast everyday for 6 months and still like it because I'm so hungry.

Thank you, Peru. Because of you I have learned how to fight in a language that is not my own with taxi drivers, motokar drivers, and mean men at the post office who don't want to give me my packages. 

Thank you, Peru. Because of you I have learned how to play volleyball in a lot of mud. And laugh when I fall down. 

Thank you, Peru. Because of you I could probably make a pretty awesome housewife one day. I have also gained a lot of respect for housewives. Boy, do they work hard. 

Thank you, Peru. Because of you I have learned how to burn trash.

Thank you, Peru. Because of you I have learned how to love like I never thought possible. 

Thank you, Peru. Because of you I now have a desire to do more with my life. 

Much much more.