Why I know I'm not in California anymore :)

     Just as Dorothy knew she wasn't in Kansas, I now know that I am not in California anymore.  There are many things that have given it away.  Some subtle, and some not so subtle.  Some that make me giggle, and others that I have to be careful not to stop a stare at.  I have tried to take pictures of as many as I could.  However, there have been times that I haven't been quick enough to snap the picture, so I will try to just explain those things.
     The first things I noticed was on my first full day in Peru.  I was in Lima and needed to use the restroom.  We were at a big mall.  All  the family were taking care of business at the cell phone store, so I thought I could take myself to the bathroom.  I opened the door to the first stall and noticed something wrong....can you see what is wrong?

Stall after stall, the same thing...no toilet paper, they weren't just out of toilet paper... there weren't even toilet paper dispensers.  I started to walk out wondering what to do, and then I noticed that by the row of about 10 sinks (which only had 1 soap dispenser) was ONE toilet role dispenser!  I'm still not sure how a person is to know how much toilet paper one is to take in with them, but I was told I should be thankful that there was even toilet paper at all.  Most public bathrooms you must supply your own toilet paper.  This would explain why on all the street candy carts in Lima you also see roles of TP being sold :)

The next thing I noticed while in Lima is that any single lane road can be made into a multi-lane highway!! I have never been so scared in a car in my life.   It is also legal here to make a left hand turn from the right hand lane.  Do not step off a sidewalk either.  They do not stop for pedestrians!

Hadn't seen one of these in a long time either...a phone booth!

When we got to Baños our family showed us around our new home.  I was excited to see our bedrooms and our bathroom.  (A bathroom I will always be sure is well stocked with TP.)  This is what I found...

Yes, a urinal in my bathroom....right next to my sink!  That was about the grossest thing I could imagine. So I have fixed the problem...

Many visitors now leave my bathroom chuckling.

Fast food in Baños is a little different than what I was used to.  Instead of Hot Dog on a Stick, we have Anti-cucho on a Stick.  (Anti-cucho is fried cow hearts.)  And no, I have not tried it, but the kids and Don love it.

You can also go to the Mercado for a quick meal...you could get something like this...
(look closely in the first picture for the pig's head)

 

 

As I walk around Banos I never know what I'll see. Maybe I'll see a sheep in the back of a taxi (I didn't have my camera when I saw that), or instead of dogs in the back of the truck I'll see a cow.  As I passed by a neighbor's house I saw a donkey in the front yard eating a plant.  In another neighbor's yard I saw the biggest pig I have ever seen in my life!

 

I had fun the other day exploring our backyard where there are 3000 turkeys being raised for Christmas.  Our landlords also have cows, sheep, guinea pigs, and bunnies.  The little girls were taking me on a tour and I asked them what their bunnies names are.  Of course this was all in my very broken Spanish.  They looked at me as if I was crazy.  I wasn't sure if it was my bad Spanish and they didn't understand me, but the girls then giggled and said something to Don.  Don then told me that the bunnies names were Breakfast, Lunch, and Dinner.  I guess they don't name their animals...at least not the ones they use as food.  I didn't bother asking them the names of the guinea pigs because I know those are food too.

 

As different as Peru is from California, I'm excited to get up each morning and see what this country has in store for me.  Dorothy may have clicked her heels and said, "There's no place like home."  But I won't be clicking my heels because Peru IS now my home. I love this place, the people, and thankful for what God is doing in my life!



(On our way to church on a rainy evening. 

Yes, this is the only type of raingear we could find...don't laugh :)