We are official!
On Friday we picked up our “carnet de extranjeria” (Peruvian foreigner ID cards)
which displayed the words “Migratory Quality: Religioso.” So we can now wear
our missionary name tags!
Picking up the
cards was an adventure! The Area Office arranged our travel to the government building
near old downtown Lima where we would receive our cards (which was a different
building than the one we went to a few weeks ago) and they had arranged to have
one of their travel reps meet us there, just in case we ran into problems. I
was feeling a little grumbly as they had arranged a car to be at our apartment
at 8:00am when our appointment wasn’t until 10:00am. Seriously…2 hours to drive
5 ½ miles? The traffic is bad, but I felt that was a little extreme. But,
better to be early and safe than late and sorry and we didn’t want to miss our
appointment. So, the travel rep picked us up and we left our apartment at
8:00am on the dot and started on our way.
We had just
passed the mission office (about ½ mile from our apartment) and were stopped at
a stoplight when a police officer came up to our driver and asked to see his
papers. We’ve seen this happen before and it’s super annoying because it clogs
up the traffic even more. There were probably a dozen police officers in the
area. Even though I couldn’t understand what was being said, I could tell it
wasn’t good. Our driver was arguing with the officer and then he pulled out his
phone. Lane told me that apparently he had some sort of traffic fine that was
in an appeals court.
The driver was
trying to call his boss, and the police were insisting that he pay a “deposit”
on the fine right now. We didn’t know what to do. The police kept arguing with
him and then all of a sudden, one of the police officers opened the front passenger
door, CLIMBED INTO the car, and sat down. The driver and the officer were in a
heated debate and Lane tried three times to interject and say, “Should we get
an Uber?” but we were completely ignored. It was like we were invisible.
Finally, Lane grabbed the driver’s arm and said, “We can get an Uber or taxi,”
to which he replied, “I’m calling another car from the travel company to come
and get you.” Well, we didn’t want to wait and we weren’t sure what was going
to happen, so we ended up climbing out of the car and hunting down a taxi. And
we were now very happy that we had been picked up at 8:00am.
We ended up
climbing into a taxi with a driver from “The Fast and Furious” (and no, we
haven’t seen those movies, but I am 99% sure he would qualify as one of those
drivers). When he saw the police trap, he immediately flipped a U-turn and
started driving back up towards mountains…the exact opposite direction of where
we needed to be going. I began envisioning the paper’s headlines: “Peruvian
Mafia Holds Missionary Couple for Ransom” or something crazy. Lane leaned up to
explain that we needed to get to the Migrations Office, and the driver said
something about taking the back roads to avoid the traffic. Well, he didn’t
really avoid the traffic. He just plowed through it. When we’d get to a big
line of cars, he would simply pull into the oncoming traffic lane (if there
were no cars coming) and drive right past all the cars. If a car happened to
come towards us, he would just pull onto the sidewalk while it passed and then
continue driving in the wrong lane. Then, when he couldn’t go forward anymore,
he’d squeeze his way back into our proper lane, probably really ticking off the
30 drivers he’d just illegally passed. It felt like we were riding on the “Wild
Mouse” ride at Lagoon…that roller coaster that always gave me a headache because
it jerks you around so much…our driver kept darting out around cars then
accelerating at a crazy speed to pass as many as he could, slamming on the
brakes, and then darting back into our proper lane. It was wild, and I was
praying for dear life the entire time. But…I have to admit that it was thrilling
and when we arrived alive at the migrations office at 9:40am I felt like
shouting, “That was freaking awesome!”
The funniest
thing about the driver was that every time we came to a stop light, he would
pull out his newspaper and READ! When the light would turn green, he’d toss the
paper onto the passenger seat and hit the gas! It was hilarious!
Originally, the
driver told us that our ride would cost 20 soles (about $5 U.S.), and while we
were on the road I whispered to Lane that I felt he should get a good tip. Lane
was going give him 5 soles for a tip (about $1.50 U.S.). In the end I overpowered Lane and gave the
driver 50 soles (which is about $12.50).
OK…that was a
lot of writing about our trip to the migrations office. The office visit itself
ended up being very anti-climactic. We met our contact from the Area Office,
waited in a short line, and picked up our cards. We were in and out in about 9
minutes! Oh…but the funny thing about the migrations office (and this happened
at the other migrations office, too) is that not only do they take your
temperature (with a scanner) and pump sanitizer into your hand, but they also
spray you with some sort of liquid (disinfectant?). And it’s not an aerosol
spray, but a little hand pump spray like a bottle of Windex….ridiculous! Additionally, to use the bathroom, you have
to remember to take toilet paper into the stall that, if you’re lucky, you
might find out in the main bathroom wash-basin (sinks) area . They don’t provide toilet paper in the
stalls! We always carry toilet paper!
This week is the
week before transfers and the office elders have let us take charge of lots of
aspects of the process – setting up Covid tests for the Americans who are
leaving, coordinating some of the travel, and communicating the plan to the
missionaries. It’s been nerve-wracking, but hopefully our 10 departing
missionaries make it home all right on Tuesday!
As a final note,
on Friday afternoon, as we were riding in yet another Uber to the Packards for
the weekend (we do our laundry and baking for the week at their house since we
don’t have a washer or an oven in our apartment), our driver was very talkative
and asked us about ourselves and what we were doing in Peru. This led to a good
discussion about religion (at least he and Lane had a good discussion…I could only
understand snippets here and there) and what makes religions different from one
another. He asked a lot of questions, and Lane told him about the Book of
Mormon. When we arrived at the Packards,
I pulled out my Spanish Book of Mormon and gave it to him. He was genuinely
grateful and gave me a big smile. So, now we both feel like real, official
missionaries!
“Giving thanks always for all things unto God and the Father in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ;“ (Ephesians 5:20) We feel that this is a particularly appropriate scripture for this week as we are thankful:
·
that Lane hasn’t thrown up in any of the Ubers/taxis that we’ve ridden
in despite his tendency to car sickness
·
that we are ALIVE
·
that we know we will again see our loved ones who have passed into
Heaven (Phoenix would turn 5 this past week)
·
and to finally have our
proper VISAs.
¡Ten algunas experiencias buenas esta semana! (Have some good experiences this week!)
Love,
Lane & LeAnn
