Chimbote, mi nuevo hogar.

I made it to Chimbote from Lima safely. Its hard to beleive that Ill be living here for the next two years. The people are really nice, and the two missionaries who have already been here for a year, Kelli and Emily, are cool.

Im still figuring out how to use the whole internet cafe system so Ill have to be quick to post before my computer shuts off:

Cool stuff about Chimbote:

1. The weather. Its awesome. With a high of about 70 and a low in the evenings of about 50, you really cant beat it. Especially compared to 105 during the day and 104 and night in Texas.
2. The people. Apparently there has been a lot of people anticipating the new missionaries and the parish community has really welcomed us. The people in general here are really open and nice.
3. The house. The missionary house is awesome. Its two stories, I get my own bedroom and we have a back yard with a hammock and a cat. Its pretty sweet.

Unexpected stuff:

1. It seems like everyone has a dog here. But guess where they dogs live? ON the roof. Apparently there is a problem with people breaking in to homes from the rooftops so people started keeping their dogs on the roof. Its crazy to be barked at from above. Also, they let their dogs out onto the street during the day and the way that you can tell that they are owned is that they have little T-shirts on. Its funny to see a popluation of clothed dogs wandering around almost like theyre people.
2. There are a lot of religious denominations here. I thought that it would be primarily Catholic, which it is for the most part, but there is also a large Mormon, evangelical, and Jehovahs witness presence. And they are outspoken. One woman at the migration center in Lima had a pretty blunt conversation with Emily about what she thought of the Catholic faith as she was stamping our documents. Separation of Church and State? Not here. I can definitely forsee some challenges in that department later.
3. The smell. Okay, it really does smell like fish here. You get used to it for sure, but that first moment when I got off the bus I thought, "Man...how am I live with this smell for two years!" But I dont really smell it much now. (But every now and then, Its pretty powerful)
4. There is a big Asian influence. Apparently there is a lot of diffusion between Japan and other Asian countries due to Chimbote being a fishing area. Japan is one of Perus largest trading partners. So its not uncommon to see Peruvian-Asian looking people and chinese food restaraunts.

Some negatives:

The people here are great but Ive already heard some pretty sad stories. One little girl told Katie while they were learning how to add and subtract that her older sister who was fifteen was shot and killed in their neighborhood. Another little boy had a cast on his armand said that the moto-taxi (motorcycle powered carts used for public transportation) taking him to school was driving to fast when it took a turn and flipped. Ive already seen a lot of men, who look like hardworking fishermen, with jaundiced eyes who look like theyre suffering from alcholism. So overall Chimbote has good people but the hurt is already apparent.

Hopefully Ill be able to do something good for this community.

And sorry for the typos this spanish keyboard is taking some getting used to.