Here in Peru the weather is much different than that of my good old homeland in the marvelous Pacific Northwest. I still am not accustomed to the fact that I break a sweat just sitting on a log in the shade.

                For the past 6 months I have been living here in the jungles of Peru. I have come to accept the fact that each and every day I will walk around followed by a trail of my own sweat. But now all of that has changed. The rainy season, which was supposed to start back in October or November, has finally arrived. We still have many hot days, but they are dispersed in the midst of hours and days of rain – tropical rain. Some people are depressed and walk around in soggy clouds of gloom, but the neat thing is that with all the rain, nobody wants to be outside.  This means that people just like to chill inside and visit.

                On one of my last house visits, after finishing my health class, I got up to leave. The lady looked at me in horror. “You want to go out in that rain?”

                I told her I didn’t really mind the rain at all and once again moved towards the door. But my reply didn’t satisfy her.

                “No,no,no. You must stay inside my house where you will be warm and dry. The rain will pass.” Not wanting to be rude, I consented and we had a lovely chat.

                The rain never did stop, so I eventually just braved the storm and dried out when I got back to my house. In my house I found the same cheery attitude. Everyone was chatting and laughing despite the gloominess attempting to penetrate our walls. That’s kind of how life is. We are constantly surrounded by problems threatening to penetrate a good day. But the good thing is we can choose whether to have a good attitude or a bad; whether to sit and enjoy each other’s company or complain about the rain.

Mindy Schreven

Project Nurse