New neighbors too

November 28, 2010:

This evening we went out to meet our neighbors and let them know of our Tuesday evening event. We walked to the nearest house to ours and talked with anyone that we could find. Everyone that we met and talked to was very nice and hospital. They all offered us a seat and even a little treat. We sat with them for a good 15 minutes and just chatted. We swapped names and they told us about their families. After our visitations there was one man in particular who touched my heart.

His name is Pedro. Thankfully, it’s a very easy name for me to remember. When we first arrived to a fenced area we called out, “Hola?” We then heard a funny voice answer back, “Hola.” We smiled at each other and walked in. We found a man who looked like he was in his fifties – we later found out he was 75 – just working away. He had a shovel in his hands and was clearing away weeds that were starting to grow around his plants. We told him what we were doing and we immediately hit it off. When we asked him what he was doing he got very excited and began sharing with us all his hard work. He even gave us a tour of all that he had done. He showed us his papaya trees, his planted wheat, rice, aguaje tree, yuka plants, and so much more. He even explained how he would gather some of his produce. After his tour he invited over to his house for a little treat.

At his house we enjoyed curichi. Curichi is a popular frozen treat amongst the Peruvians. It is aguaje juice poured in plastic little bags and then frozen. As we ate our delicious treat we admired his small yet beautiful house. He had a fence around his home with beautiful flowers at the entrance of his home. Of course, all the flowers he had planted and cared for himself. Looking inside his house, it was very clean and organized. We also got to enjoy listening to him talk about his story. It was actually very entertaining. When he would talk about his dogs he would act out exactly how they would act. You would have to been there.

After enjoying his presence, I remembered why I loved doing this. We have the chance to meet all these people and add them to our lives. Just by listening to their struggles and victories in life is such a blessing. It teaches me how to connect with others by sympathizing, laughing, or being excited with them. I’m excited for the many more families we have left to visit.