Andrew's Peru Version

The last of Arequipa, and Photos. :-D

noreply@blogger.com (AJ) — Sat, 09 May 2009 20:52:00 +0000

05-05-09

Today the RC for Windows 7 should have been released, and I don’t have power or internet, oh well. There is some things I need to go back in time and tell.

In the middle of our stay in Arequipa we got the news that one of our fellow missionaries here had died. Since we hadn’t been here long we didn’t know them well. From what I have heard he worked on drilling wells to get clean water along the rivers. He died in motorcycle race accident. Please keep his wife and friends in your prayers.

On to lighter subjects, When we came back from Arequipa the tractor was all in pieces. Chris had tackled the job of getting it back to par. To just describe it, it had almost no oil in the crank case, the bearing for the PTO shaft was worn away, and the transmission wouldn’t stay in gear. Thankfully yesterday we found all the parts in town. He is hoping to have it together today, a good thing, because the runway needs mowing.

It has been nice to get back in the “normal” life pattern. Back to flight tracking, airplane fueling, school, and computer work. One of the things that has changed is that we no longer have a third airplane in our hanger. One of the other operators needed to do some work on his plane and was using our hanger to do it in. It is nice to have all the room to ourselves again. It is possible to have three airplanes, but tight.

On a technical note, I flashed one of my routers with the DD-WRT firmware, it makes it a lot more powerful! I wish my second router that I brought down could use it also, but unfortunately the Belkin isn’t as friendly to the new firmware. So I can’t do some of the inter-router communication I wanted to try. Maybe I’ll find a cheap one it the states I can pick up.

08-05-09

So as you can see it has been a few days since I got time to write. In the last three days not much has happened on the tractor. Now the starter is getting rebuilt in town, and Chris is working on the breaks. (one worked one didn’t) While he is trying to get it running the runway is getting longer and longer grass. Today was the lowest I had seen the Cessna climb out. I think that if we don’t cut it soon (As in Monday or Tuesday) it might get dangerous.

Sometime in that three day group my sister’s birthday present arrived. For her birthday she wanted a canoe. It isn’t one from around here; we wanted a real one from the jungle. So it is a real log that has been carved out. Another interesting point that it is a flat bottomed boat; so, unlike a canoe with a keel it can go sideways quite well, too well sometimes.

Things have mostly been normal here. Very busy as always, we have had several flights, and there are always other things to do. I think we need to build a snake bite clinic in Puerto Breu. We have done several flight to there for that reason; Also some civic work for the teachers there.

Also, if my pictures haven’t been enough, you can always check out our website. http://www.peruprojects.com. Kevin has done a great job of keeping it fresh and updated. Explore it and see what you can find. Any suggestions would be appreciated. Also here is a link to the photo galleries. http://www.peruprojects.com/gallery2/main.php

Tomorrow I will try to go though my pictures and select some for upload. Unfortunately, like I said, we weren’t able to go to some of the scenic places there. There is a cool water wheel image to show.

Write more tomorrow.

So I have uploaded my pictures, not much. http://picasaweb.google.com/andrew.donesky/Arequipa?authkey=Gv1sRgCPzstenwsZO1ngE#

And I know that a lot of you won’t read the rest. Also they are on FaceBook for those who like to comment.

So, come onto skype or facebook or google talk, and say hi!

Andrew

(I want to go for a canoe ride! We’ll see if that happens.)

I am, a confusion of cultures. I think this is good, but sometimes I despair of understanding others.

I am, and Island, and a United Nations. Who can recognize either in me except God!

--“Uniquely Me” by Alex Graham James. Shortened by Me.

Second Update from Arequipa

noreply@blogger.com (AJ) — Mon, 27 Apr 2009 02:39:00 +0000

24-04-09

So I left off with us having to go to Chile for a new visa. We left at 9:00 last night. The bus would take us to Tacna and then from there we took a taxi to the border and back. Then a bus ride from Tacna back to Arequipa.

So it is nine at night and we board a CamaBus. They are quite comfortable. We start out with a movie. We had watched one like it before on the airplane. It was all different things to make people laugh. One of them was an outhouse that they had put on a floating platform on a pond. When someone got in to go to the bathroom they pulled it out into the middle of the pond. When they got out they asked someone to help them get back to shore, and all that person said was “swim.” In the end they show the person they are on camera and we all have a laugh. :-D

The second movie was called “The Rock.” Considering in was a Rock n’ Roll movie it was actually ok. It had a good moral, but I could have found a better way to present it.

We arrived in Tacna at two in the morning. We found a taxi driver that would take us to Chile and back. At the Chilean boarder we were second in line. Going across wasn’t that big of a problem. Coming back into Peru we had to stand in line for awhile. After that is was back on the high way for Tacna.

At Tacna we were just a few minutes late of missing the CamaBus back. So we took the more run down bus. It wasn’t that bad, not as comfortable. But the videos were interesting.

First we had a movie about a spy that was 14. The second movie: Well, I haven’t seen that many people killed in a small amount of time since I was on a bus in Africa. The last was the best. It was called “RADIO” It was a great movie. The plot involved a Football coach (Amarica Football), and a black boy that had some mental problems. It was a great movie. I would recommend it weather you watch it in English or Spanish.

We arrived in Arequipa about 18 hours after we left. Ninty-nine percent of the time was riding in a bus or car! My legs were killing me when we got back. God blessed and we now have another six month visa for the three of us. The normal is three months.

On Sabbath (the 25^th) we were planning to go to Colca Canyon. The guy had told us to be there at 8:15. We got there at 8:00 to make sure we could get good seats, 8:15 no bus, 8:30 no bus, 8:45 no bus. At about that time we ask where the bus is. “Oh, it was here when you got here, but I forgot to tell you to get one it.” Well that really isn’t much of a problem for just me, but Christina gets car sick, also we wanted to be together as a family. We told him about the problems, they called the bus and they said they had reserved four seats together, in the back. Now for those of you that have ridden busses you know that in the back is the bumpiest. Now remember that we are traveling on Peruvian roads. That all equals Car Sickness. In the end we canceled and got a refund.

We sat in the square and fed pidgins. A guy came along selling tours of the city. We wanted to go on that tour, so we went ahead and asked him to set us up. We got to be first on that bus, a lot better company!! They took us to different places around Arequipa. We have some great mountains here. I will try to upload a photo album soon after we get home. We stopped by a Mill. It had a great example of how to harness water power. The tour instead of being four hours was about five and a half hours. We came back had some supper and a quiet evening.

On Sunday (the 26^th) we had planned to be at Colca Canyon, so we didn’t have much to do. We walked to the Plaza de Armas. Christina wanted to feed the pidgins some more so we got two kilos of birdseed. The birds weren’t hungry but somehow she got them to eat it. One guy was complaining that for the price of the seed he could have bought bread for a day. He said “I think I want to be a bird here, they don’t have to worry.” I thought of the verse in Matthew, “Behold the fowls of the air: for they do not sow, neither do they reap; For your heavenly Father feeds them.” (Matthew 6:26)

While Christina was doing this my dad and I did a bit more research on printers. Unfortunately most of the shops were closed so we couldn’t find out much. Then we went to lunch, not bad, but not the best.

My dad said there was a nice store we should visit. Now mind you, I have been out of the States for about six months. I don’t know if you can imagine what it is like to walk into a store the size of Wal-Mart after that long. I think I went into a daze. We shopped some, didn’t get much because we can’t carry it back home. I got to push the cart like normal. It was culture shock I guess.

Once back at the house we were staying at I decided to start writing all of this down. While doing this I was invited to come down stairs and play some games. It was nice to be able to play with some other kids. The first game was similar to Dutch-Blitz. They didn’t have enough card for every one so they teamed Christina and I together. Imagine what it was like when we beat them at their own game. (Little did they know we like to play it at home.) They split us up after that.

Next we played Uno, (In the right language might I add.) First we played it regular. Then we started playing the all the weird rules. The worst one that killed me was the no talking after a eight was laid down. That was a lot of fun.

They are now playing a game I don’t know. I’ll probably head down here and figure it out.

Well hope you enjoyed my long email.

Andrew

I am, a confusion of cultures. I think this is good, but sometimes I despair of understanding others.

I am, and Island, and a United Nations. Who can recognize either in me except God!

--“Uniquely Me” by Alex Graham James. Shortened by Me.

Arequipa/Chile

noreply@blogger.com (AJ) — Fri, 24 Apr 2009 00:45:00 +0000

22-4-09

I don’t like the three thirty wake-up call any day, but I guess it is now part of my life to travel. Today’s traveling involved a 4:00 AM trip to the airport, a flight to Lima, a day’s wait in Lima, and a flight to Arequipa. It was all quite uneventful. In Pucallpa everything went well. I set off the X-Ray alarm in Lima. (Why don’t they let you carry flashlights?) In Lima I sat, sat and read, sat and looked, sat, and did I say I sat? While in Lima we got a call from my dad, he said that the guy that was studying here with him had only two pairs of pants. He had to leave his carryon because it was over weight. We weren’t carrying much so we agreed to pick it up for him. I didn’t want to go battle the crazyness of Lima, so I self appointed myself “Suitcase Guard “ of our luggage. (I was reading a good book at the time) My mom and sister went out to look for the place the backpack was left at. I don’t know their adventures. I do know (Like all moms) my mom was worrying about leaving me. So she gave me money and the ticket and said to go onto Arequipa if they didn’t get back.

At 11:00 (AM) I hear a intercom call for Arequipa, I am reading and ignore it. About an hour later I think “I don’t even know what time this plane is leaving.” So I check my boarding pass. Like everything in Peru it is in twenty-four hour time. I forgot my conversion factor and subtracted six instead of twelve, that gave me eleven. I checked my iPod, 12:10. Then I use my common sense and realize that we were supposed to have a layover of nine hours. Rereading the boarding pass and subtracting the right number (12) gave me three o’clock. So, I got back to reading my book. (Do I dramatize things good??)

My mom got back and we had a delicious lunch of Papa John’s Pizza. That is one of the advantages of being in Lima, Food from the States. Then we went and got to the gate for our flight. (That is when I set the alarm off) At the gate I got a low strength connection to the internet. I updated my Twitter and Facebook statues at that point.

On the flight to Arequipa we got to look at some beautiful mountains with snow on top. We got to look into some big canyons as we flew by. Landing in Arequipa was IFR. (for those who don’t know, Instrument Flight Rules) For a short summery of Arequipa airport: Airstrip is good, Type is Paved, Parking available, nice terminal, Suitable for both the Renegade and Cessna. (I think this airplane thing is rubbing off on me)

In the terminal we didn’t know who to look for, we figured they would recognize us first. My dad told them, “Tall boy with Blue eyes.” That took care of it. Here in Arequipa it is FREEZING!! That is another thing that is telling me I am getting used to living here. We landed with a temperature of 63 Degrees Fahrenheit. I am beginning to like our 80 and 90 in Pucallpa. It is also dry up here, for the last eight days we were in Pucallpa it rained, not all the time, but it did it at least an hour each day. Here it is dry, my sensitive nose has been having trouble.

This is a tourist town, they have a RadioShack! We got to eat Italian, a bit pricy but nice to get a taste of home (which home?). We went walking in the cold after that. Christina got a hat that she has been wanting for a while. I will have to take some pictures and upload them. Just before we left the printer in the office broke. I am hoping to be able to find another one here. I’ll have to find out if it is a good price.

The beds are soft here, at home I have about a three inch mattress, here it is a normal sized one. Also there is great blankets here made from the alpaca wool. A good thing, if not I would freeze.

(Next morning)

Breakfast was about the same as home (Pucallpa Home). Oatmeal and bread with jam. I am going to run now. Time to go see what printers we can find! No clue when I’ll find internet.

(In the afternoon)

So, this morning my mom left to go buy bus tickets, tonight we go to Chile. When she came back we went printer shopping. The office printer broke a few weeks ago. We have spent morning going around looking at different printers. I think we have it narrowed down to three. We also got some food for the trip.

(Night)

Well we are eating a delicious meal of Clementines. The printer hunt was semi successful. I have a few more printers on the list to look into. I also had my first hot shower in five months! It was soo nice!!

Tonight I am headed off to Chile tonight. I do have internet at the place in Arecquipa.

TTYL
Andrew

I am, a confusion of cultures. I think this is good, but sometimes I despair of understanding others.

I am, and Island, and a United Nations. Who can recognize either in me except God!

--“Uniquely Me” by Alex Graham James. Shortened by Me.

Short email. (Don't believe me? Look inside)

noreply@blogger.com (AJ) — Sat, 04 Apr 2009 21:31:00 +0000

04/04/09

April Fools!!! Wait, I mean April 4^th. So what is happening? Well I’ll try to write in summery.

I am very happy to announce the arrival of our new mechanic. Chris and Amy Borcherding arrived right as the groups were leaving. They are now living in the guest house until we move out of our current house to Beto’s house.

Second on the list, as a few days ago my dad will be leaving to attend a language school for a few weeks. I have been telling him that while he is gone I am going to study hard and make him look bad when he comes back. In reality, (Don’t tell him this) I probably won’t do it.

Lastly a new photo album has been uploaded. You can find it here. http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=22727&id=1171340696&l=bda8c905fb

That’s all

141 words, a record

Andrew

I am, a confusion of cultures. I think this is good, but sometimes I despair of understanding others.

I am, and Island, and a United Nations. Who can recognize either in me except God!

--“Uniquely Me” by Alex Graham James. Shortened by Me.

My time at Tiruntan

noreply@blogger.com (AJ) — Sat, 28 Mar 2009 17:01:00 +0000

Typed on 19/3/2009 (Happy Birthday Christina!! {I’ll tell about that later in the email})

Well, I am being bad. I am sitting in the meeting with the generator running and instead of listening I am writing this to you. (Go ahead, come and sue me :-p) So what has happened so far in my two weeks without internet?? Well let me start at the beginning.

4:00 AM 11/3/2009

I am up and at it, we are boarding a boat to go to Tiruntan. We left port on time, an amazing feat of the Peruvian boat captain! When we left the moon was out and we where gliding across the water. A very nice start, also it was cool with the breeze. We started our ten hour trip to Tiruntan.

App. Two hours into the trip

What is the shortest distance between two places?? As the crow flies, well the river doesn’t follow the crows. In fact, it is very unstraight. (Is that a word?) So what the boat drivers try to do is to cut corners. We were cutting a corner, and unbeknown to us there was an obstruction that had planted itself in the corner. Well to say it short, we hit it. Thankfully I didn’t have to use my swimming skills. So they decide to “high tail it” out of the corner. On the way out they hit another “Unknown Obstruction.” We were all awake at this point and where able to counter act better. (You should have seen our cook’s eyes as she woke up!!)

9:55 hours into the trip

So the boat driver doesn’t know the path to the village. We stopped at a house along the way. The people pointed at a spot my dad had noticed. It was covered with wama. Wama is a plant that grows on the top of the water here. It is really thick in this lake. We headed straight into it. The nice thing about a Pecky is that the locals have designed them for wama running. We rammed into it at full power. Eventually we made it through, just to find that we had two lakes to go. Most of the lake is open, but you have to hunt for a passage through the trees to get to the next. Long story short, we made it.

The rest of the 11^th and 12^th where spent checking minor details that need to get done to get a group comfortable; including rewiring most of a building.

13/3/09 5:30 A.M.

So I wasn’t in Pucallpa, but it was about this time that 50 white Norte Amaricanos arrived at the airport. I can only imagine the mess. I guess it was something like herding cattle. Eventually they were herded to a boat, when fully loaded the boat had about two inches of running board. Both our Capitan and First Mate (from the missionary launch) told my mom not to go with that much load. So they loaded the luggage on another “slow” boat. (You know, the ones that break down and float to the destination)

4:00 P.M.

I am watching from the roof of the building we are staying in. I see a fast boat come into the lake. I knew the Pail Faces had arrived. (Ok, Ok, so yes, I was born in the country they came from) Thankfully our group came out of the back country of Utah. Most of them were used to “Roughing it.”

That was Friday, on Sabbath we had a church service in the meeting hall. Church was good, but Sabbath School left much to be desired in the Youth area. Titman, our young Bible worker, used the adult lesson study, not a bad thing, But, We are in the Prophecy lesson booklet. If it was your first time in church and the study was on prophecy, what would you get out of it?? In the end it sounded like he got diverted off the main lesson. A good thing for all the new people.

So many things have happened!! I don’t know how long this post will be!! Here is the next paragraph. Sunday morning work began. Amiel (The contractor that builds our churches) had already done the main posts. So we got started on trusses and framing. I’ll just say that ya’lls hardwood ain’t nothin’!!! You haven’t seen hardwood till you come and build a church with me. We have bent several pounds of nails. Amiel taught us a trick, wax. How many of you would have thought of that?? So we setup waxing stations. You would not believe the help that it is!! I am getting better at handling my hammer.

Also the boards are as heavy as if they where iron beams. (Ok so I am over exaggerating a bit) We had to carry them to the worksite. For what I was carrying I could carry five of the normal U.S. boards, and I am only carrying one 2x4. The church is going up fast. We should be done tomorrow or Sunday.

So it was Christina’s birthday today. Well she had a few things coming to her. We still haven’t done the traditional egg crack. (Aner has been singing a song about it all day!) First at worship, we sang happy birthday to her in two languages. Then for her present; Rosita and Jesus and fam. got her a turtle. It apparently will grow to about two feet wide. Right now it is only two inches. I have seen several shells laying around after being cleaned out for dinner.

For dinner we got a vegan chocolate cake. (Go figure) It was excellent! Just needed some ice cream!!

Meeting is over, more tomorrow night

Typed 20/3/2009 7:28 PM

So we never got her with an egg. (Much to her happiness.) We have moved onto other things that are more interesting than eggs. We are still waiting for her birthday present to be delivered. (Hopefully Sunday)

Well I don’t know what I am going to do with myself. After pounding nails in this wood and carrying it I am sure I have built some muscle. When we say 2x4 we don’t mean a board that is 10 feet long, 1.5 inches tall, and 3.5 inches wide. We are talking about a board that is two meters long (about 12.5 feet), two inches tall, and 4 inches wide, and heavy as a brick of iron. It is also soo hard that the termites will not eat it. It also “eats” nails; both finger and steel. (I think I have talked about this already)

On the 18^th I had talked to my inside information experts (ie my parents) and found out that there may be a flight. We ended up canceling it because the wama was to closed in. Beto called again on the 19^th and the village people said it was ok to land. They were right, but with the load he had he wasn’t able to takeoff. (I’ll tell more later)

He brought us some supplies that we needed, and also brought some of the people that were working in San Jose at our Base. Now, I was born in the first world. I have adapted to living in the jungle. What I call normal some of you could not stand. The people I am telling this story about are just not used to being in the jungle. So now I will tell you some stories from the view of a MK. (Missionary’s Kid)

Landing isn’t that bad on the lake, and docking is quite simple. You roll your pants up, (Unless you already have shorts) wade in, slow the airplane down, and tie it up, Simple. Maybe my senses are dull? To help make things more interesting; one of the passengers was terrified of flying in the small plane.

We gave them the normal tour, fed them, and then tried to find the one that wandered off. That is when Beto broke the news that there was too much weight to take off. So Jesus and Rosita get the “boat” ready. I have told about the Pecky. It is a motor (Like one on a gokart.) with a drive shaft, and a propeller. This is balanced on a pivot point on the back of the boat. This “outboard motor” has no gears or belts. It is made for pushing through the wama and the small channels and being cheap. (It works great. {not for boat racing})

That is when the fun began. As we load the boat I found out why one of the passengers had nail marks in his arm. The same one that was terrified of the airplane was also terrified of the boat. First, Lifejackets? What are those?; Leak? Get bailing; Boat only two inches out of the water? No problem!! We run like that all the time!

To help things she couldn’t swim. So we head out, two inches of running board and ramming through the wama. It was tons of fun! I got the first shift of bailing for the 20 minute ride. Because the lake had too much wama, we were ferrying the passengers to the river for takeoff. So we finally make it to the river. It was definitely a good case of culture shock. When we arrived at the river it was raining. We wanted to meet the airplane on dry ground but since it was high water we couldn’t take the boat to the other side of the river with our load. In short, the airplane landed and we got them transferred without damage to the airplane or them.

The best part is I got Pecky driving lessons! On the way back Jesus (yes that is his name) taught me how to drive. It is quite a bit of fun. I’ll have to build one when I get a chance. I have already described them to you, now you can imagine me at the rebar. (yes, it is just a piece of inch rebar sticking out to steer it) Lots of fun!

I am going to go. Meeting is over. Today we finished up most all of the trim work. We should be done Sunday. More of my adventures later!!

Written from my Desk at home. 25/3/09

I made it!!! I am back on the internet again!! So I will just tie up them email, send it off to the proof reading person, and then to you!

Here is a “quick” paragraph on the departure. Beto flew a pastor in for the dedication. It was a great one. We had more people than we expected. The next day we got ready to go; we first sent my dad off with the luggage. Then we had a few hours to have breakfast. After that we sent the airplane off. We again had to take a boat to the river with passengers. We had one that was afraid of flying, but she was a trooper and did it anyways. On the way back I got to drive the Pecky again. Jesus said I now have my Pilot’s license, and that I need to get working on my airplane one. Lastly we headed out on our faster boat for HOME!!!! It took us four hours, to get down, it took my dad and I ten. So I am now here and happy to be here!!

This last two weeks have reminded me of what I am, here is a poem I found.

I am

A confusion of cultures.

Uniquely me.

I think this is good

Because I can

Understand

The traveler, sojourner, foreigner,

The homesickness

That comes

I think this is also bad

Because I cannot

Be understood

By the person who has sown and grown in one place

They know not

The real meaning of homesickness

That hits me

Now and then

Sometimes I despair of

understanding them.

I am

An island

And

A United Nations

Who can recognize either in me

But God??

--“Uniquely Me” by Alex Graham James

Over 2,000 words now!!

See ya’ll around the ‘net!!

Andrew

(I am working on pictures. That may take me awhile.)

I am, a confusion of cultures. I think this is good, but sometimes I despair of understanding others.

I am, and Island, and a United Nations. Who can recognize either in me except God!

--“Uniquely Me” by Alex Graham James. Shortened by Me.

Atalaya

noreply@blogger.com (AJ) — Sat, 28 Feb 2009 21:46:00 +0000

2-28-09

Well I have some short stories to share. (Have I ever been short??) First off I should say that I was off on our date that we were leaving for Tiruntan to build a church. It is the 13^th of March and we will be there for about ten days.

The cool news is that there was an extra seat for someone of Thursday’s flight, and I got the extra!! So what is it like flying across the jungle?? Boring. And did I say boring?? And boring. The most fun part is being able to spend time with my dad.

Most flights involve a takeoff, looking at LOTS of trees, punching through a bunch of clouds and landing. Many people think flying is exciting; it is, for the first ten minutes. We had two Pastors riding along with us. It was their first time in an airplane like this. They were all excited, after about five minutes of IFR flight they were asleep. (IFR = Instrument Flight Rules. Like inside of clouds)

We normally don’t like exciting flights. Things like engines skipping, instruments not working, and turbulence don’t make a good flight, but it is exciting. Thankfully this one was boring. We were flying a new engine and were wondering how it would perform. Anyone remember what airplane has a new engine??

Our first stop was Atalaya. Atalaya is a center south of Pucallpa. They actually have a control tower and a paved runway. The MOP (Like the local conference) President and Treasurer went and visited several churches. One church that we visited was nothing but a shack. No windows, dirt floor, and some wires strung up with lights. It was about 16 x 16 feet square. Talk about small, but devoted to God.

Our mission isn’t just about the bigger centers. I was reminded that there are hundreds of little villages that we haven’t been to. Every time we broke through the clouds you could see villages at every bend in the river. Off the main river there are smaller rivers with more villages, and off of that river smaller rivers with more, and more, and more villages! The rivers get small enough that we cannot take our amphibious aircraft there anymore, but we are still told to go. Just a few years ago a new tribe was discovered on the Peru/Brazil border. I am just telling you about Peru. We are told to share with the world! What a challenge.

I encourage you to do whatever God has called you to do.

Andrew

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
If your not reading it you might not know about my blog.
adonesky.blogspot.com check it out, you can readit when you not at your email.

February Update.

noreply@blogger.com (AJ) — Sun, 22 Feb 2009 16:45:00 +0000

So it looks like I am now almost at the end of February, wow! It has
almost been a month since I wrote. So let's see what has happened….
First off the best thing is that we now have the Cessna 182 flying!!
After TONS of paperwork and prayer it was able to fly on Thursday (the
19^th ). That was a fun trip. Since it was a new engine the pilots first
went to break it in. After about thirty minutes they landed and
switched. (First Beto was flying then my dad took over.) When they
landed they asked Christina and I if we wanted to go. We didn't do much,
just circled the airbase and made sure the engine ran ok. We got some
good pictures of the surrounding area. Across the lake from us the
village is flooded. The only way to get around is by canoe. It is a good
thing that people here build their houses on stilts!!

One thing about the missionary life is that it is busy, yet you get
nothing done it seems. So what have I done this last month? Well to tell
the truth, I couldn't tell you. You do something and then you get
interrupted, and then the interruption gets interrupted and then you
finish the second interruption and go back to the first, finish it and
go back to work on what you wanted to accomplish, and look at the clock
and see that is it time to go and eat supper…. (Was that a run on
sentence or what!!) An airplane flight here, Boat there, Bible works
there, and then for the Cherry on Top, Groups! I like people. (Well not
meeting them but when I get to know them…) and we get groups. The only
problem is that it is like a family reunion that you're in charge of.
But with this one it isn't about keeping cousin Edgar and cousin Bill
from killing each other. The questions are more like, Where do you get
transportation, How about food, laundry, water?? The last one is
somewhat of a challenge where we are going.

And that brings me to Tiruntan. So where is Tiruntan?? It is north-west
of Pucallpa where I live. My parents are in charge of taking a group
from Daystar Academy to build a church there.

(Just to remind you how the mission life is I was just interrupted by
the airplane coming back. I had to go clear out junk from the boat ramp.)

So where was I… Oh yes about building a church in Tiruntan. We are
planning to leave on Friday and be gone for two weeks. Not only will we
be building a church but we will have meeting and a VBS while we are there.

The challenge of Tiruntan is that there is no electricity that is always
on. They do have a generator that they sometimes run. Now, no
electricity is survivable (amazing, some of you thought I needed my
computer for survival!), but then we got word that there was no water to
drink. Since they didn't have fuel for the generator they haven't been
able to pump water to the tank. (every community has a water tank) My
dad asked how much fuel it takes to fill the water tank. It wasn't too
much so we decided to take it with us. Cheaper than having to haul in water!

(So, I was interrupted at this point and will continue on. It is now
Sunday the 22 of February)

I had a great day yesterday. (Sabbath) It was the end of a VBS week. The
Sabbath Schools put on a skit and told about what they had learned.
Since it was an abnormal day I was able to talk to different kids. It
was quite a bit of fun and helped my Spanish.

Just in from the press, most unfortunately it looks like our computers
aren't doing well. This morning my sisters wouldn't boot. We have
already lost my dad's computer. As you might have already known with my
dad's we were able to find a backup here at the base. With Christina's
it looks like we are going to have to find a different way. Since the
main thing it was used for was watching DVDs for school we should be
able to find a DVD player here and borrow a TV.

(for the techy ones)

I am not able to boot to the Bios. When I boot I get HD spinning and the
fan also. The power light comes on and nothing else happens. With my
sisters it gives me 1 long beep 4 short and 2 long. It is a Dell
Inspiron 700m. For my dad's it does the same thing. Just instead of the
beep it flashes the Number Lock 6 times. His is a Dell Inspiron 600m.
They have a lot of the same parts. So I am wondering if some of the
parts just don't work well in the conditions down here. Email me if you
have any ideas!!!

(and we are back to the normal US Dictionary)

About my facebook status that many wanted to know about; it looks like
it might be a few months before I mention it again. (fyi)

I am sure many of you have heard about Bob Norton. If you haven't I'll
say a bit. Bob flys a mission plane in Venezuela in the Indian country.
On Monday he went missing. They have been searching and have not found
anything. In the airplane there were seven people. Please Pray for their
families and them. I wish we could do more but we cannot.

Andrew

Next on the Update

noreply@blogger.com (AJ) — Sat, 31 Jan 2009 21:04:00 +0000

31-1-09

Happy end of January, Happy beginning of February, Happy Birthday (If I
missed it), and Happy Sabbath!!

So leme see what I have done… Well how about I start with the 23^rd .

Ok picture this, It is a nice after noon, there is a breeze, it isn't
too hot. The plane has just been parked from its last flight, and the
staff are in a meeting. They get out and my dad comes down to the house
and grabs his GPS and starts working on the computer. I ask "Where are
you heading this time?" "Iquitos, Tomorrow morning, We will be gone for
a week." From that moment until the next afternoon we barely stopped. A
bit after that we had supper, then came work. The airplane was leaving
at 5:30 to 6:00 Am the next morning. We needed to change the oil and
fuel it up before then. Changing the oil is a job for the mechanic, but
fuel is something I can help with. The fuel is stored in a separate
building. To fuel the airplane you bring it in jugs in a wheel barrow.
About 60 gallons later we finished up. If you count that we don't have a
pump and that we only have can haul 30 gallons from the fuel shed to the
hanger and from the wheel barrow we have to use a five gallon bucket. It
took awhile. Needless to say we went to bed at about 9:30 PM.

(insert: Alarm sound from iPod touch) It is 4:45. To get ready to go by
5:30 you have to get the airplane pre-flight done. So we head off to the
hanger to get all that done, load the airplane, and move it to the
water. By the time that was done the airplane was able to leave at 5:45ish.

This trip they went and supported the Bible workers on the Amazon, also
they explored a new area of river that we will be sending the launch to.
From what I have heard this area has not had an Adventist Presence before.

So what news do I have? Well the launch is supposed to be leaving the
next week. My dad is going on another trip to Iquitos for about ten
days. And I need to learn Spanish.

Also my blog has been updated. If you know of someone that would like to
receive this send them to adonesky.blogspot.com and there is an email
subscribe option there.

Well I will not make this email any longer.

Instead I will redirect you to a new photo album.

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=17499&l=81f16&id=1171340696
<http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=17499&l=81f16&id=1171340696>

Enjoy!!

(And some emails would be nice {Hint Hint :-D})

Andrew

New President = New Email from me!!

noreply@blogger.com (AJ) — Tue, 20 Jan 2009 18:56:00 +0000

1-20-09

Well today most of you have a new president and a new email!!! I haven't
had time to sit down and write for ten days. We have been keeping busy
during that time. I'll start out with ECLAA. For ECLAA all the Bible
workers came for training. Our week started on Saturday night. We were
talking with the director and She was looking for what to use for the
opening worship. My dad suggested Elder Folkenberg Sr.'s "Gospel Focus"
(A devotional we had seen on ShareHim trips. www.sharehim.org
<http://www.sharehim.org>) The problem is that we wanted it in Spanish
only. It ended up that my mom stayed up till 4:00AM translating it. We
think that a DVD is in the mail with Spanish Video. (We hope it gets
here) So that is how we started ECLAA. Most of ECLAA was just lots of
meetings. My parents had several presentations to do. By the end of the
week everyone was tired. We are just getting back to normal now.

Also on Friday (the 16^th ) the SMs came back. It sounds like they had a
good trip. We still haven't seen pictures and heard all the stories.
They launch was supposed to leave Sunday, but as everything here is… It
will hopefully be leaving this next week.

The Mosquitoes population has gone down. Roycer (The shop assistant)
sprayed chemical that seems to be helping. It also hasn't rained as
much. (Or snowed)

One of the new things we did was work in the Banana patch. We have about
two acres of banana trees. I'll tell you, this jungle makes the
Tennessee woods look easy!!! We were clearing back the brush so we could
walk in and get to the trees. This did not involve a tractor, this did
not involve a chainsaw, no, this was without motor power, by hand with a
machete! It wasn't that bad of work, the problem was the blisters. I
have yet to see gloves here. I have only one blister, thankfully. As
soon as we all heal up we will be back out there again. Since the
blisters will turn into calluses we shouldn't need gloves after awhile.

Another job we did was get fuel. This process is a bit challenging. The
fuel comes out of Texas. From there it is shipped to Lima. Once in Lima
it is up to the owner of the airplane to find out how to get it to his
airplane. Also you must have a fuel hauling license to carrying long
distances. We don't have a truck and since we don't have a truck we
don't have a license. This time another operator has some extra fuel
that was already in Pucallpa. So we went to pick it up. The person we
bought the fuel from provided a truck. With the truck came the "Animal."
The "Animal" as my dad nicked named him was a little guy. His head was
probably at my shoulders, but he was as strong as an ox!!! He also had
plenty of hair and wore no shirt. (Might I add that he didn't ware
deodorant!) We have fuel now. So the airplane will be able to go again.

Also with the launch there is a problem. We are would like to have a
mechanic on board. Unfortunately there isn't many to be found. (Remember
the old sailors. Drinking…) So if we could get your prayers on getting
this problem fixed so the launch can go back to doing God's work.

The most interesting thing I have done will bore most of you to death!!
I worked on the network. In short I built a router. (If you are using
wireless there is a 99% chance your using one) It was a lot of fun
working though all the different problems. Now I am able to have a
secure and highly customizable network. (This is now the time to skip
ahead) So I took my Linux OS on my laptop and used it for testing. One
of the important things to me was file and printer sharing. Since these
would be files for the office it needed to be secure. I was able to use
a program called Samba to share files with a username and password. The
other important thing is since this is a business network it must be
kept fast enough for the office to use. Thanks to a friends suggestion I
can now use a program to monitor how much bandwidth people are using.
Another important thing is the DHCP server. I am also able to make a
DHCP reservation. The last program I used was dnsmasq. This program
allows me to have a local DNS server. (a DNS server takes the website
name {ie google.com} and turns it into an address {ie 74.125.45.100}
This makes it so instead of having to remember and IP address (IE
192.168.1.1) I can remember a name (IE the-router.local). The other nice
thing that that program dose is it keeps a local cash of IPs for
different websites. (this makes web browsing faster) I can't wait to get
an old computer and set this up!!!

Also I think there will be some updates coming to our website this next
week or so.

I'll keep you updated.

www.peruprojects.com <http://www.peruprojects.com>

Andrew

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Call in the Swat Team

noreply@blogger.com (AJ) — Sun, 11 Jan 2009 02:39:00 +0000

1-10-09

Well my hand eye coordination is improving rapidly! Unless you don't
want to get eaten alive you had better have good coordination! Since it
has been the rainy season the lowlands have flooded a bit and made
standing water. Hence the mosquitoes a place to lay eggs, meaning we are
swatting like mad!! As I tried to play piano today it was impossible. At
least with the computer you can remove your fingers from the keyboard
and not have many problems. Since our house hasn't been occupied for
awhile it hasn't been "Mosquito Proofed." So we will be battling them
until we find out what to do about it.

On Wednesday we had an interesting day. We had our first flight with the
fast internet. Now why do you need internet to fly?? It comes into place
with flight tracking. (Warning!! This includes a bit of technical
information. Not as bad as last time.) We have a little orange box that
transmits my dad's location every ten minutes to a satellite.
(www.findmespot.com <http://www.findmespot.com>) I then can take these
data points and put them on Google Earth. (earth.google.com
<http://earth.google.com/>) Also I overlay all the villages in my dad's
GPS as well as his flight plan. Comparing these one on top of the other
I can know where he is at. A third thing I do is weather. Also using
Google Earth I can overlay the weather from NASA's GOES EAST satellite.
This allows me to know where he is, what village he is headed to, how
long till he lands, and what weather he is facing. (I tried to make it
simple!) A very good tool!

Wednesday we also had some other fun. When the airplane was on the way
back we got some rain. The problem with rain is that the runway gets
slippery. When that happens they usually land in the lake. When we got a
ten minuet out call to ask conditions we told them that the runway was
wet, to do a water landing. When we looked at the boat ramp a clump of
grass had drifted in. So Tina and I run down there and jump in clothes
and all (Thankfully I remembered to remove my iPod and things) It takes
quite a bit work to move that junk. But we got it out of the way and the
airplane was able to come back to the hanger.

Tomorrow should prove interesting. We start ECLAA tomorrow. This is
where we bring the Bible Workers in and train them for the next year. It
will be a hectic week and we will all be busy. My parents will most
probably be in meetings for most of the day. They will also be
presenting some of the meetings. I don't think it will be the best week
personally.

This morning we had a great skype call to my old Sabbath School. It was
good to see some of the old faces and the room. We also gave a tour of
where we live and how we live. If anyone else might want this for their
church let me know.

I hope to see you around the web

Andrew

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Warning!! This email might make you think :-)

noreply@blogger.com (AJ) — Tue, 06 Jan 2009 14:00:00 +0000

1-06-09

So let's see what has happened that I can remember. We where finally
able to go swimming a few days ago. Since the lake has risen there was a
lot of junk in the water. We ended up swimming it out. That was a tiring
process. This morning when we check all of it had drifted back in. I
guess I'll have to swim it further next time. Also there has been enough
water that some of the lowlands on the airbase have flooded. This isn't
a problem since they are used to it. The problem is the mosquitoes that
lay eggs in the water.

The student missionaries left yesterday for a short break. It was
interesting watching them try to plan for this. In Peru I don't think
you can plan. They also wanted the cheapest way. The other problem is
they have to be back by a certain date. To make it back by that date, no
matter what way they chose, it was all about the same price. There were
a few more twist and turns but in the end they found something they liked.

Some interesting things that happened before they left were: Beto called
the airport to see if the flight was on time. They told him, "Yes it
just landed and it's leaving in a few minutes." "But wait!! I have
people here that are supposed to get on that flight!!" "Where are they
going to?" "Lima" "Don't worry then. The airplane goes to Iquitos first
then comes back and goes to Lima." Whew!!

The other funny conversation worth noting was the call to the bus
station. (My mom and Kevin) "You know Kevin, there are two bus stations
in town. You have to know what one you're going to." "Oh, Would you call
for us?" (Calls) "We need the address for the bus station that goes to
Cusco." (Reply) "Also how far is your bus station from the airport?" "Um
maybe an hour and a half or two hours." They had already been cutting it
close on time. We haven't heard from them yet. As it goes, "No news is
good news."

I also dug out my Legos that I brought. This next section might be
boring for some. :-) So I was looking for a project. I decided that I
wanted to build something that can do mapping. I have got the first test
done and it is working well. I still need to do some improving. I am
using the Ultrasonic Sensor to measure the distance. Then I also take
the angle of the rotation sensor that the Ultrasonic Sensor is mounted
on. Running a Sine/Cosine block (you never know what the NXT can do) I
can calculate the distance in a X/Y from my location. Then converting
those to Pixels that way I can put them on the NXT's Screen. It is
working well. As always there is some trouble shooting to do. I am
hoping to be able to run a mapping robot that can map out a room. We'll
see how far I get and how much time I have.

As for flying they are supposed to go today. In my opinion the weather
isn't the best but it's up to the pilots. They know more about this. I
don't exactly know where they are going this time.

That's all for now.

Come onto the WWW once in awhile and chat.

Andrew

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Happy New Year

noreply@blogger.com (AJ) — Thu, 01 Jan 2009 05:00:00 +0000

So i was wrong. I did stay up. It's what happens when you call friends.

First a skype call to my aunt and uncle, then i made the mistake of
calling my friends at a new years eve party. It was good to talk to all
of you. Heather, Thanks soooo much for letting me use your phone. I hope
Version doesn't charge for calls coming in from over seas.

Well happy New Year
And i'm hitting the hay!!!!
Andrew

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How I ended up with internet in me casa

noreply@blogger.com (AJ) — Wed, 31 Dec 2008 03:20:00 +0000

12-29-2008
Well the internet is working wonderfully. I am enjoying it tremendously.
The ability to stay online 24/7 is amazing.

Today we ran the wire down to my house. I'll tell you that if you ever
lose power. You can fry an egg on the roof here. Since we were running
the wire above ground we had to be on the roofs. We turned into the
eggs. The wire did get run. One of our other problems is keeping it away
from the parrot. I figured out that the parrot cannot climb onto the
roof. He can make it to the gutter but the tin is too slippery to climb
higher. So as long as the wire was two feet above the gutter we were ok.
That took us some more time.

The last step involved climbing into the attic of my house to run some
more wire and drill a hole. Since it was midday it was as hot as ever.
And with the roof above and ceiling below it was like an oven. A bucket
of sweat later we plugged in the last router and it was finish. I had
internet at my house. Now I can surf the internet in the comfort of my
living room.

Afterwards we went into town and did some shopping. This involves a lot
of walking. We visited (from how I feel) every computer store in town.
None of them having a Wireless Range Extender. In the end we got pizza
and ice-cream out of the trip. That is a treat that we get every once in
a while since cheese is not easy to transport home and (From what I've
seen) there is no ice-cream at home for the same reason. (I like my
ice-cream cold, not like a milkshake.

Coming up on Sunday the Student Missionaries will be leaving for a
little while. Since the visas only last six months they must leave the
country and come back in. The will be going south to Cusco and visit
Maccu Piccu. From there they will go south to lake Titicaca and into
Chile. Then they will do the opposite on the way back. We'll see if they
get back! :-P

Tomorrow night there is a New Years Eve program at the church. The young
(er) people on the base are in charge of three songs. The problem is
that two of the student missionaries have sore throats and the rest of
us are getting over colds or going in to them. Or so it seems. We'll
find out how it goes tomorrow.

Well I think a page is enough.

Merry Christmas to all,
And to all a good night. :-)

Andrew

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Pictures!!

noreply@blogger.com (AJ) — Sun, 28 Dec 2008 00:11:00 +0000

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=14377&l=cf5ce&id=1171340696

Enjoy
Andrew

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INTERNET!!!!

noreply@blogger.com (AJ) — Sat, 27 Dec 2008 12:05:00 +0000

12-27-08

Well the 21^st century as finally made its way to the edge of the
jungle. Yesterday at about two o'clock something called internet was
turned on. So I have enjoyed being able to go to the office and surf.
The picture rule is gone for now. We'll see how well the new internet
holds up to rigorous use.

The Bible Worker meeting went well. We played some Futball and
Volleyball. There was good food and a good turnout. I didn't understand
much of what was happening but it may be awhile before that happens.

Well this is just a short update.

Hope to see ya'll on the WWW

Andrew

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Merry Christmas from the Burning Southern Hemisphere

noreply@blogger.com (AJ) — Thu, 25 Dec 2008 18:23:00 +0000

12-25-08

Well let's see. All I want for Christmas is: My two front teeth. Wait I
already got those. Well some of the other things different this year
are: instead of freezing when you go feed the dogs you sweat. (Not quite
that bad) It doesn't seem like Christmas without cold!! We went swimming
on Christmas Eve and plan to go today. Ninety-nine percent of the trees
down here are evergreen; unfortunately none of those are a relative of
the pine tree. Also there are no Christmas lights on the base.
(Christina and I will change that next year) And finally there is a
000000000.000% chance of snow!!!

We had a lot of fun yesterday and are planning a fun day today. One of
the student missionary's brothers sent her a Futball Americano (For you
that don't live outside the Estados Undos it is known as a Football.
Your completely wrong, in my opinion you use your hands more than your
feet) so we played Futball Americano yesterday and plan to do some more
today.

Yesterday the tower also went up. Finally!!!! The news on the street is
that the internet provider is supposed to come out Friday. (We'll see if
he makes it. I predict more Monday or Tuesday) That would boost our
connection from 20-40Kbps to more like 200-600Kbps. The way they do
internet down here drives my computer mind nuts some times. First they
don't talk in Kbps (Kilo Bits per Second) they talk by computers. "Well
this connection should work with two computers, and this one is faster
and should work with ten computer….." DON'T GIVE ME THAT!!! I can make a
dial-up connection work with 100 computers. It just would be sooooo
sloooow that you couldn't do anything. We finally found a company that
will give us 1,000Kbps. As we talked to some of the other missionaries
at SAM they said we needed to ask some more questions. With more
questions we discovered that they ONLY GUARANTY 200Kbps. How's that for
false advertising? But it is still the fastest and best option out there.

The Airplanes haven't flow, The Launch hasn't moved, and nothing more is
happen: Wait I haven't said enough about Friday. On Friday we will be
having all the Bible Workers and their families to the airbase for a
dinner and thank you. It will be a huge party!! There will be futball
and volleyball and different activities. It promises to be a fun day.

Well it's time I get out of bed and walk up to the office and send this.

Have a Merry Chritsmas!!!

Let it snow, Let it snow, Let it snow!!!

Andrew

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Whats been happening latly

noreply@blogger.com (AJ) — Tue, 23 Dec 2008 20:27:00 +0000

12-23-08

Well things have been happening. A lot more than usual: the airplanes
have been flying most every day, the launch came home, and we have been
making progress on the internet.

I will start with the airplanes. When my dad got his Peruvian pilots
license the grind started. On the Sunday after they got back from Lima
they did some landing and takeoffs in the Lake Renegade. On Tuesday they
went out and did some baptisms. On one of the flights my sister and I
were able to go. I have some really cool pictures to show. At that
village a ninety-four year old lady was baptized!! That is really old
for around here. On the way back out logs had floated around the
airplane. We had to push ourselves out. I'll try to get some pictures up
when the internet speed increases.

I don't remember what day exactly the launch came in. It is a good sized
boat. (I still think it needs a water slide like some of the house
boats) Also with all the rain we have been having the lake has gone up
about three feet.

Finally the tower for the internet is going up. If all goes without
delay we should have internet the day after Christmas. (There is about a
0% chance of that :-)

I caught a cold here in the last day or two. Not fun, but it is better
than some of the other diseases down here.

I think there will be some updates to the website coming soon.

Check it out at www.peruprojects.com <http://www.peruprojects.com>

Andrew

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Update

noreply@blogger.com (AJ) — Mon, 15 Dec 2008 17:44:00 +0000

12-15-08

Well it has been a little while since I did email. My parents and
Christina made it back from Lima. Christina never wants to go again, but
the next trip to Lima is coming in a few months (We Hope) for
Christina's, My mom's, and My residency cards. Apparently the mountains
are beautiful, but my sister got altitude sickness and filled eight
bags. Hopefully my trip won't be that bad.

As for the wonderful thing of 21^st century called internet. They were
supposed to be here an two hour ago to put up a tower. We'll see if it
gets up this week. After the tower we have to get more things done
before we can get internet.

We got to go flying yesterday. Since my dad got his pilot's license he
wanted to see how the airplanes flew. I got to go up for the last few
times. I got some pictures from the air that I will try to upload some
eventually. They may appear on the website some time in the future.

As for the website Kevin is at the internet café uploading it. Some of
the fixes are: It has been edited to look better in Internet Explorer,
(I still think the world should use Firefox) The Media Page now has
pictures, and (I think) the newsletter has been uploaded. Check it out
at www.peruprojects.com <http://www.peruprojects.com>

Another piece of news is that the Launch is supposed to be home this
week. The problem is that the lake is a bit lower than usual. Hopefully
they will still be able to come into our lake from the river.

The Cessna is going down for the same thing we had to do with the Lake.
Hopefully it will go smoother. We cannot do it until January since the
DGAC (equivalent to the FAA "Federal Aviation Administration") is going
on Christmas vacation. (Yes Christmas is celebrated down here)

That's all for now,

Hope to hear from you. (Hint, Hint :-P )

Andrew

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Home Alone (not quite)

noreply@blogger.com (AJ) — Tue, 09 Dec 2008 15:11:00 +0000

12-08-08

Home Alone 4 is in production. Well not really, since the base always
has people a shout away. So why am I home alone?? No my parents didn't
forget me. Instead I'm glad I'm not with them. They went to Lima with
Christina and Beto to (Hopefully) get permission to fly the airplanes
and a pilot license for my dad. The worst part about it is that they
took the bus. A 18 hour trip. I looked at the option of sitting for that
long and going to smoggy Lima or staying in a almost paradise airbase.
Hard choice! So I get the house to myself and Kevin for meals.

My mom left me a list of things to do and a list of things I can do. The
to do list was; Landry, Feed Dogs, Feed Chicks, Feed Lodo, Feed Kevin.
The can do list went like this; Make corn bread, Make Pancakes (Not as
common as in the US), Make Apple Crisp, and if you really need fruit you
can dehydrate some apple sauce. So Kevin and I tried some cooking. The
cornbread turned out almost perfect, and tonight I made Apple Crisp. It
came out ok. In the confusion of leaving when she wrote out the recipe
she forgot butter, or maybe I did. So in the end the Crisp turned out
very crispy and dry. We ate it with milk and it tasted wonderful!!

There is also good news in site for the internet. (I Hope!!) We are
right now "building" the foundation for a tower, when a tower is erected
the internet people with "come" and "put up" there "antenna." Notice the
words in quotes. You can never assume that something will get done in a
timely manner. We have been waiting for two days for a part to be
delivered. So I am hoping somewhere around a month or two I might be
able to "resurrect" my digital life.

I'm hoping to go to the internet café on Wednesday night at about seven.
We usually go for a hour or two. That might be a good time to check
skype and Gtalk to see if I'm there. I hope we get to go.

Also today is the day we find out about the airplane. Please Pray.

Well it would be nice to hear more from ya'll

I check emails most every morning.

Andrew

~Remember if you want to see past posts they are on my blog at
adonesky.blogspot.com

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AirPlanes

noreply@blogger.com (AJ) — Sat, 06 Dec 2008 19:56:00 +0000

We're having to get the inspection done on the airplanes. as always it
take three times as long as in the states.
If you could pray that it get done. We only have Tuesday left to get it.
After that people in the inspection process are going on vacation till
January.
Since one airplane needs a inspection now and the other needs it soon,
it means we could be grounded till January.

Thanks
Andrew

New Update

noreply@blogger.com (AJ) — Tue, 02 Dec 2008 18:09:00 +0000

12-02-08

Well let's see where I left off. Last time I wrote we were going to SAM
Air for thanksgiving. At SAM there were about sixty people there; all of
them missionaries from around Pucallpa. There are enough missionary
families here that there is a school for all the kids. We had an
American Football game and there was some people swimming and (like all
thanksgiving) LOTs of good food (I didn't try the chicken). They have
three Cessna 206s One on floats and the others tricycle gear (means
regular).

We have kind of settled into a schedule. There will never be a normal
life in the mission field. There is always something to interrupt you.
Usually I wake up and have some time to myself, Then I run up to the
office and send email, After that comes breakfast, Then comes Family
Worship, At 8:30 my parents have a meeting/worship, Then comes School. I
do school in my room on my bed. Since we don't have much room I don't
have a desk yet so I do most everything in my room. Lunch comes at about
1:00, Then I usually have more school after lunch. When I am done with
school I get the rest of the day mostly to myself. Supper is somewhere
around 5 or 6. By then it is getting dark sometimes we go up to the
office and call the states or if we need something we run down to the
little store in town. And lastly comes bed.

I have got some news on my favorite subject. We have a contract signed
to get internet. First we have to build a tower. That supposedly takes
about three days (ya shure!! K) and it takes them about a week to get us
the antenna. Remember a week can take anywhere from 3 days to 3 months.
It has been known in our case to last more like 5 months. But it should
be fast enough for skype chatting and Google Talk. I can't wait until we
get it.

Well no more to say yet

Andrew

Thanksgiving

noreply@blogger.com (AJ) — Wed, 26 Nov 2008 20:22:00 +0000

11-26-08

Well its been a bit since I wrote last. We got to have Thanksgiving with
the people from TEC. TEC started as an industrial school. Now with the
new school in Yaina they have had the shut down the industrial part and
are moving into different things. There also some people from other
missions.

Tomorrow we are going over to SAM Air to have Thanksgiving there. I will
get three Thanksgiving meals this month. One at home, one at TEC, and
one at SAM. SAM Air is another air program a lake over from us.

My lodo (Parrot) has also learned a few tricks. I have always known that
he likes me to run with him on my hand and feel the wind under his
wings. Well he jumped off and almost gained altitude. (He has clipped
wings that we are waiting to grow back) So I did it again and this time
he went about 200 feet!! It is more fun than flying model airplanes!!
The only problem is landing. At first it was the ground coming up to
meet him. Then he was a bit more controlled but still it was feet first
then, Smack!! his beak hit. Just this morning he caught on that he could
do it without smacking on his face.

On Monday we couldn't find him. (I'm going back a few days, You still
with me??) We heard him calling from down by the lake. We went and
looked and looked. When we gave up we heard him call again. With more
inspection we saw him forty feet up in a palm tree. As of then he could
not gain altitude so he didn't fly up there. He must have climbed up
there a few inches at a time. He was back on the ground by that night.
He must have gotten hungry.

We went swimming last night. The lake is not cold it is vary pleasant.
We have not had a problem with piranhas. The type that we have in our
lake doesn't like to attack big things. We cleared out some of the brush
so that we can have a swimming hole. Also we have dolphins in the river.
There cool to look at. I've got to work on swimming across it. I've
heard it has been done so I want to see if its possible.

I'll write more later.

Thanks for those who wrote me emails.

Andrew

Multiple Emails Grouped together

noreply@blogger.com (AJ) — Sat, 22 Nov 2008 20:55:00 +0000

11-19-08

Well we hit the one week mark today. It seems like we have been here
forever. It wasn't a hard transition for me to moving here.

Today we got to eat all our meals in our house. While eating breakfast
my dad saw something in a tree. We all took a look but didn't see it
again. After a bit we looked in another tree and there in our backyard
was a monkey!! It was pretty cool to be this far out. Not too far out
with no electricity or internet but not soo close in that we are in the
city.

We also get to have our meals with Kevin the student missionary. He's a
great guy!! He has been working on our website (www.peruprojects.com
<http://www.peruprojects.com/>) and it is looking good.

Today the engine went on the Cessna. They still have work to do on it.
Hopefully it will be flying soon.

11-21-08

Well yesterday we went to town to buy boots and other things. It is
really fun to ride in a motorcar. A motorcar is a three wheeled
motorbike that is used to haul people. The people sit in a bench seat
behind the motor and driver.

We got more monkeys in the backyard again. Tomorrow we are hoping to get
good pictures. We got some today but we where just using a hand camera.
Kevin has the best camera around here.

I finally was brave enough to let the parrot on my shoulder. So far I
don't have a pierced ear!! :-P He's a lot of fun!! We are waiting for
his wings to grow back some so he can glide/fly out of trees. Right now
you have to wait for him to climb down, witch can be funny but takes awhile.

I'm Hoping to send this at the internet café today

Andrew

(I'll also try to upload some photos to my blog/facebook if I have time)

11-22-08

Well I didn't make it to the internet café yesterday. I do have the
internet for the rest of the day today so I'll be sending this after I
get done telling you about our church.

In Peru we have three temperatures: hot, very hot, and burning. Some
times it dose make it to warm when its raining, but I have not needed
long sleeves yet.

Well this morning was hot. Not that bad but when you have long pants on
and a dress shirt it made it more than hot, the very hot stage. There
are no luke warm churches down here, Just burning ones. Well, on the
outside. I haven't been here long enough to look on the inside. In
church it was hot, Hot, HOT!! It was a good service except I didn't
understand much. My Sabbath School is great but again I can't understand
much. I can't wait to learn more Spanish and be able to talk to people.

This afternoon we had a surprise rain storm witch brought the
temperature down. Tomorrow there is a work bee at the church. Also the
pilot is planning to get the Cessna engine to start. I might get a jump
on school for the week.

Well I'll write more later.

I was able to get on facebook some this weekend.

Don't try to use it as the primary method of communication since I
cannot access it unless I have a good internet connection. (a very rare
thing)

Andrew

Update 2

noreply@blogger.com (AJ) — Tue, 18 Nov 2008 18:49:00 +0000

Well some have asked how my first Sabbath was. It was not the best.
I sat on the toilet on Friday night and on Sabbath I didn't dare venture
far from one. So I wasn't able to go to church Sabbath, but we (my dad
stayed home with me) had a good time listening to English sermons.
Thankfully, I am feeling better from that end now, but I have picked up
a cold like I do when I get on a different schedule.

We have found out that it is possible to get a high speed internet
connection where we live. There is a internet café within a ten minute
walk from the airbase. If they can get it why can't I?? I am hoping to
get one after awhile if the price isn't too expensive.

At the time of writing we are almost done setting up our kitchen. We
have been eating with the administrator since we got here. Tomorrow my
mom and dad are going to go get food to fill the cabinets :-) pending it
isn't raining.

That brings me to the next subject. Rainy Season, we are just about to
start the rainy season. We got a preview of what it can be like. From
what I've heard it isn't that bad, just a little rain every day. It has
cooled off (It actually feels I bit cool for me, I duno what I am going
to do if we come visit in the middle of winter :-) but today we had a
major rain storm. It was pouring down. To add the power was off. So we
ate a candle light dinner with sooo much noise (from the tin roof) that
there was no talking, just yelling.

The parrot is called lodo (sp?). I believe that is just what people here
call all parrots. I have learned to discern its voice from a humans so I
now can not keep on saying "What?" when it talks. He has also learned
not to bite me so I can now pick him up and pet him.

Well I'll write more when there is more to tell

Email Me.
Andrew

First Two Days

noreply@blogger.com (AJ) — Thu, 13 Nov 2008 23:33:00 +0000

Well this is my second day in my new home. The temperature is nice
until about one o'clock, and then if you work to hard you get really
hot.
The rainy season is supposed to start this month some time. It will
get cooler but we also will have lots of storms and not be able to go
out as much.

The Trip wasn't that bad. No lost luggage, No stolen items, and only
Christina got airsick. We had no legroom on the way to Atlanta since
we had soo much stuff.
When we got to Atlanta we where blessed not to have to pay anything
for over weight or oversized. In Miami we had a layover, and then we
went off to Peru. We left at 11:30 and arrived at 5:00 A.M: Ouch!!

In Lima we had all day to do things. We first had to go through
customs. That was a breeze, no questions asked. Then we checked into
our flight to Pucallpa. We ended up getting charged for the over
weight there, but it was nothing like we thought it was going to be.
We went spent the morning driving around doing this that needed to be
done. Thankfully, in the afternoon Christina and I where able to go to
an apartment in the mission and sleep. I don't remember when my
parents came in and laid down with us.
We Left that night for Pucallpa, when we arrived we where pick up and
taken home.

Here the food is excellent!!! Right now mangos are in season. We also
have a mango tree in our back yard. (yay) They also make great juices
out off the different fruits here.

We have the two airplanes, the Cessna 182 and the Lake Renegade.
Currently the Cessna is without an engine, and the Lake is waiting for
an inspection.

We have two German Shepherds that are really nice. There is also a
Parrot; that may drive me insane!! I am going to have to learn to tell
the difference between people and bird. It Laughs, Cries, Speaks, and
Screams. (what parrot doesn't scream??) The mechanic was trying to
teach it a phrase like "I am annoying" or something like that.

Or house is a small three bedroom house with one bath, no hot water
(you don't stay in the shower long here), thankfully we will be
getting a washer, and we already have the drier (a big ball of fire in
the sky). When the old pilot leaves we will be moving into his house
witch is bigger.

One thing that is annoying is bugs. I already have picked up
chiggers, (little bugs that live in the grass and burrow into your
skin) not fun.
We also try to be careful about the mosquitoes. We have already found
two tarantulas, one was in our house. There is also a spider that
lives in the banana trees that if it bites you on the neck you will
die from it.

As for internet, (how many of you know I would bring this up), It is
slow slooow slooooooow. (get the point??) It is about three quarters
the speed of dial-up. But we're working on that and I am hoping to get
a bit faster.

Not much else to say that I remember.
Don't have too much fun without me
Andrew