The first days

On Sunday, we were invited to dinner by 2 church elders and their Peruvian wives. At the beginning, there was the typical Pisco Sour as an aperitif. And an excellent meal with a lot of meat. It was a very entertaining, joyful gathering, mostly in Spanish. Despite being a German community, we constantly practice the Spanish language here.

On Monday, we met the secretary Ofelia, who is also very nice and always ready to help us. There was a lot to clarify, including technical issues, such as setting up our Peruvian phones, which took a lot of time. In the evening, the 1st church council meeting, where we were warmly welcomed again with great gratitude. After a round of introductions, I handed over the floor to Martin. The community has suffered a lot from the 2-year vacancy and the consequences of Corona. And especially the chairman and vice chairman have been working at the limit for the community for quite some time. There have been no in-person church services for almost 2 years. The next church service will also be streamed on YouTube, and we hope that there can be a church service in the church on the 1st Advent. By the way, the students have also not had in-person classes for almost 2 years! Here, you have to wear masks everywhere, even in the park. In stores, you have to wear 2 masks. Some also wear a face shield in addition, and some wear a hairnet (salespeople). Corona has claimed a total of 200,000 deaths here. But thankfully, the number of corona infections is decreasing here, which unfortunately is not the case in Germany.

This constant noise pollution is very exhausting. Most of the time, the city is covered in dense fog, and accordingly, it is cool. Especially our apartment, where the sun never shines. We have to deal with a lot of makeshift solutions, which is not always easy for me. Today we drove to the beach with the mozo (custodian) through chaotic traffic. We will probably save ourselves that in the future because it takes a lot of time and nerves. It was even cooler at the beach, but we watched the surfers for a while.

Martin has a wedding conversation right away. The wedding will take place in the countryside on the Saturday after next. Fortunately, we will be picked up. Driving here works almost like in Tehran. There are hardly any rules, the stronger one wins. You can't hesitate for a minute.

You see, the challenges are very big. It's very challenging, at least for me. I have to repeatedly remind myself of positive moments, which do exist.