A rat on Mother’s Day
My second Mother’s Day in Peru was really very wonderful. It started off a bit strange, though. I went out our apartment door to wait for Ricky, Kelsey and Sammy who were bringing me to church. Before heading down the four flights of stairs, I noticed that my fern plant had a frond on the floor and dirt beside it. This was unusual so I looked closer to see what could have happened. In peering through the foliage, I notice a small brown furry animal had found refuge from the cold by burrowing itself deep into the dirt of my plant. I went back into our living room and said, “Heh, Robert, there’s an animal in my plant!” He came to investigate along with Pastor David who was visiting from the jungle. Pastor David asked, “Una rata?” I said, “I don’t think so”. It seemed to be too small and brown to be a rat and I couldn’t imagine there would be a rat in my plant. Pastor David came out and looked into the plant and poked the animal. It didn’t budge. I began to think, if it is a rat I’d better close my apartment door. Soon Pastor David had the animal on the move and it was scurrying down the stairs but Pastor David cornered it and I hear the animal squeak. He asked for something to kill it and Robert brought his hammer. Pastor David made short work of it and I brought him paper towels and a plastic bag to dispose of it. He said, “Una rata!.” Pastor David became my hero from that time on. (We invited him over on Wednesday for a spaghetti meal with Ricky, Kelsey & Sammy, Jason and his two friends and David a young gringo ministering in the jungle.) We all went together to church for a wonderful time of praise and a great sermon by a young professional woman. When we got back to the apartment, I was so relieved to see the bag sitting in the same place at the top of the stairs that we’d placed it. It hadn’t revived and taken off so I’d have to worry about it showing up again. Robert brought it down to the garbage truck that evening. It is actually the first rat I’ve seen here in Lima….thankfully!
Ricky invited us to his sister’s for their family’s Mother’s Day fiesta. There was a large gathering of family members, a Peruvian meal, music and dancing. It was an enjoyable time. Then when we came home I talked with Julia then Jennifer then my mother. It was a perfect day spent with all my family.
Another different aspect to this Mother’s Day was that I participated in two school Mother’s Day events. One was at the Hogar de Ninos’ in Chilca and the other at a school in a San Juan Lurigancho, a poorer area in Lima, where I’ve been helping in their English classes. There were a lot of decorations and flowers to honor the mothers and a long program of poems, dramas, & songs from the different classes of children. They ended both programs by giving the moms a meal. I felt very honored to be a part of their Mother’s Day event. I love working with the children and meeting their families.
