Perspective

The view from our casa

Perspective.  This view is from our house, and you might see adobe and brick houses, dry earth, and mountains, here in Peru.  I see families together, people visiting, hear children laughing, and the sounds of a warm and friendly community.

I learned a really good lesson on perspective today.  I woke up at 4am, and could not sleep.  My insides were twisting and turning, (yes, I am taking medicine for Giardia now), and I could hear that darn old rooster trying to wake everyone up.  It sure worked for me.

I also heard my computer start up and then stop.  FYI, I started a PhD program in September.  It is an online PhD program from the University of Nevada Las Vegas.  I got a good start on the three classes I am taking before we left November 1st, but the online part has been really challenging due to slow and poor internet access (no wireless here, only internet cafes).  I usually work on my assignments on my laptop, download them on to a flash drive, and then go to the internet cafe and send them.  I do the same with the information from my courses--download it onto a flashdrive, then work on it in the casa on my laptop.

My laptop charger has been finicky, requiring patience to get it to actually charge the laptop.  Sure enough, when I got up this morning, it was not charging, and my computer was dead.  I said a prayer, and that didnt work either to get it charging.

And I have two big papers due on Friday to finish two of my courses.

Nonetheless, I felt really grumpy.  Sam was slow to get up as always.  I was tired, and not patient.  I walked he and Ruth to school, and went to the hospital for my clincial experiences (I am there four hours every day).  Not a lot was happening at the hospital, (with the seven total patients there) so I cam home to work on my papers.

When I reached my calle, I saw an old woman.  She had sacks on her feet for shoes.  And it hit me.  Perspective.  What does it really matter if your basic needs arent met?  I went into my house, and my computer turned on.  The prayers worked after all.

And I have shoes to wear.  Life is very good to me.