Little prayers...

This week has been pretty basic. Russel, Robbie and I did the Dental patients all alone on Wednesday  It was extremely nerve racking, the whole time i was just saying little prayers to help me not mess up and pull the tooth out smoothly. A thought always comes into my mind while doing anything in the clinic or dental. What are these people thinking when we are working with them. If I ever came to get my tooth pulled and there was a bunch of people talking a lot before actually doing it, i would second guess them. 

It blows my mind the amount of trust that these people have in us. The only thing that makes them confident in us is that we are with the "Gringo Clinic" and i guess that we are wearing scrubs. They come in and with complete trust let me poke around in their mouth, not thinking twice. This makes me think about my mom for some reason. She is always stressing on how we need to always be praying while we do our work here. She is right, this complete trust that they have in us missionaries sets us up to have a HUGE impact or totally destroy their idea of God. It is a little intimidating if i really stop and think about it. This responsibility to be good examples because they are watching us very closely, not to judge us but to learn and just observe. i hope that when a hard day comes, and i know one will come sooner or later, i will still be kind to those i meet. Not forgetting that i am not just there representing myself. But i have to represent AMOR and most of all God. 

I was walking back to the clinic on saturday night and a small boy runs up to me and walks with me holding my hand. Telling me this and that about where he lives, pointing out the house with all the snakes, telling me that his dad drives a motokart. Just being happy that i was taking an interest in him. He pretty much sums up everyone i have met while in Peru. They are all so welcoming and nice. Easy to joke around with and just have a good time. They are genuinely interested in just talking to you, even if it you teaching them a couple phrases in english.  I played soccer with a group of Ever's friends from the university all of them welcoming us in, even though we weren't very good and probably brought down the quality of play. Everywhere we go, people say hello and smile, i like this. A lot of people know my name already, i need to start learning their names. I have a hard time remembering the kids names when i meet them for a split second before they leave to play soccer or something. I'll be working on that. 

Short video

Martin asked me to put a video together for REVO, which is a fund raiser that La Serria does (or something like that) Here it is. click on that link below

https://vimeo.com/58055342

Rainy day at the clinic

It has been raining all day here. The doctor is at the hospital today so we did not open the clinic. With the unexpected free time this evening i decided to work on my blog. Before I get started i just want to apologize for my grammar in my last one. It has been brought to my attention that it sucked, but just remember i am not really too worried about that. So if it bothers you i am sorry...coughGABYcough.

First off on this past friday night we went out to the property at km 38. Out there is mostly agriculture projects, where a few families live that work on the land. We went out there to spend the night and meet the families. It was a beautiful clear night, we had vespers outside under the stars. Saturday morning we went to an orphanage in the city and hung out with the kids. Martin wants to make this orphanage a little side project that we go to once a month or something. I hope that happens because i enjoy playing with all the kids. Over all it was a relaxing weekend, except for saturday night. Saturday night it hit me, hard. I had been asking Taylor (another SM) if it had sunk in yet, that we couldn't leave if we wanted to. Well saturday it hit me, not in like a "...man i wish i had never come", but in a "...man this is going to take a little getting used to". It is a pretty dumb and superficial thing that made it sink in. The fact that i was sweating a ton in a hot muggy room trying to sleep. It was horrible i just could not sleep, i finally dozed off around 3 am when i threw my mosquito net off in frustration. Not the best idea of the night but it helped me get to sleep.

A summary of my clinic and dental experience. If had to describe it in one word it would be GREAT, or QUICK. Great because I am getting to do a lot of stuff, quick because you are kind of just thrown into it. I have had a chance to spend more time with the doctor, i really like him. He is all about letting the sm's get as much hands on experience while here in Peru. He wants us to learn and do all we can, but he made it clear that he will not spoon feed us. He was removing warts, and after the first set of local anesthesia shots. He looks at me and Robbie and says you guys do the rest. The doctor is one of the busiest people i have met, he works a ton. I respect him for all the extra stuff that he is doing beyond working at the clinic. On the dental side, Martin (who does the teeth cleaning and pulling) started teaching Russel and I how to give Lidocaine shots and pull teeth. It was pretty cool, being able to do it right after he demonstrates it. Today on this rainy day we learned how to place IV's, Wendy taught us. All of you know i am scared of shots, i was forced to get an IV, i ALMOST freaked out but i fought it. I placed it on my first try so i was proud of myself for that one.

It has been raining since last night so i slept like a baby in the cool breeze, i wish it rained every night. It poured all day today so i decided to go for a run with Steph, Robbie, and Ever. It was awesome, very refreshing. We found some kids playing soccer so we stopped and i played with the. Robbie got some video and pictures, i would put them up but it would take forever! so maybe this week i will go to an internet cafe to do it. I probably wont write till something happens, hopefully there is a surgery soon, there was supposed to be one tomorrow but the doctor has to work. Alright keep me in your prayers and thoughts.

Feel like a Zombie

            We made it Pucallpa after many hours of traveling. I met up with Taylor, Russell, and Stephanie (the other missionaries) in Atlanta. From there to Lima then to Pucallpa, it was pretty standard traveling nothing to special. In Lima all night till around 6 am when our plane finally left after delays due to heavy rains in Pucallpa. I was worried I had over packed with my massive back packing bag that I was taking, but my worries quickly faded when I saw everything the other SM’s brought. Each brought two large bags plus carry on, it made me chuckle to myself. Joking around with Russell I told him that it would be funny if when we arrived they told us they were not expecting us and we had too much stuff, I was half right.

            We arrived in Pucallpa and walked out with all the bags and Martin ( AMOR’s coordinator) greeted Stephanie and had a confused look on his face when I walked up to shake his hand. He was under the impression that only Stephanie was coming down, was not aware of us three. It was miscommunication, which was easily resolved by just cramming into 3 motorcarts. These are just motorcycle tricycle with a seat they are everywhere!  I was put in the one with all the bags with a very talkative driver. As we talked he said that there is a lot of theft if you are not careful. About ten minutes later I watched as everyone else turned and we went straight, not going to lie I got worried. My first day in Peru and I get robbed along with everyone else’s stuff. To my relief we took a detour for gas. We eventually got to the clinic and met everyone, two missionaries, Robbie and Hayden, and two locals that worked there, Wendy and Ever. I also met the doctor we were going to be working with for like two seconds. So far everyone has been extremely kind and welcoming. We spent the day in the city getting familiar with the market, post office, bank, and local places to eat. By this time I hadn’t slept for more than a day so I was extremely tired. Eventually we made it back to the clinic and where we sleep and I slept for like 5 hours till around 6.

            Today has been one of those days that just feels like 3 in one. It has been the longest day ever. Things that happened this morning feel like forever ago. I am looking forward to settling in and starting the routine of the things that I’m going to be doing mostly. The clinic is in the poorer part outside of town. (this is me assuming from the roads and houses) The roads are just straight mud with the recent rain, dogs walking around, and just motorcarts. We are staying in a very simple living quarter. Tin roof with like half walls splitting it into three rooms with bunk weds where we will sleep. It is a lot more primitive than I expected, which surprises me that I can get internet. Not sure what I expected I didn’t sit and think about what it would be like. It is not a bad thing, but still very simple and I am looking forward to the change of pace.  Not sure what I’m going to be doing this weekend we are still working out cooking schedule, worship schedule and a lot of other things.

            That is all I have to report for now, probably won’t put anything up till after the weekend. Happy Sabbath, I am trying to journal so that ensures I won’t forget anything if something awesome happens. 

PLANE TICKET!!! :-)

It is as official as it is gonna get until i'm actually on the plane, I HAVE A PLANE TICKET. :-) I am extremely excited for this up coming trip. It is hard to actually put all the thoughts that are running through my mind down into writing, but I will before I leave promise. I just wanted to put up my official first post that is actually about Peru. I am going to Pucallpa, Peru with AMOR projects. AMOR projects is a foundation that is focused on improving the health and well being of those less fortunate in the areas of Peru. You can read more about it on their website. (AMOR Project) A longer more detailed post will be up next week, once I have had a chance to get my thoughts together.

Prayers are always appreciated, and if you want to give a finical donation those are more than welcome.  You can do it through the Southern Adventist University website, putting my name in the special instructions. (SAU; Donations)

Esteban Covarrubias