Life: an adventure, a journey with Jesus!
Safety First
The call came in – it was an invitation to a party! How exciting! What a privilege to be included in the plans. Lookiing at the date, we see we are available. Location is not a problem by any means. We’ve been there before. Although it is over an hour from home. We are both thinking this ought to be fun. But, there remains one problem. It surfaces over and over again. Peruvians start their parties about 8:00 p.m. and don’t stop until close to midnight. Well, that in itself is not the problem. We certainly can party til midnight J
The email included us. Another invitation. This was a great opportunity to fellowship with other English speaking Christians. They meet once a month for a pot luck dinner and just enjoy each other’s company, share their needs, and their experiences, and learn from one another. Again, it is over an hour from San Juan de Lurigancho and after dinner and socializing, it will be close to 11:00 pm by the time we would be able to graciously bow out.
The problem is getting home. You see safety and availability come into play and we must consider both. The public bus transportation slows down tremendously after 11:00 pm and we have been warned (and have observed) the buses are overcrowded, pick pocketing is common, and we, being Americans, are great targets. So you see why safety is a concern. The only other option is to travel by taxi. The taxis like to cover local areas because they can serve more customers, thus increase their income, in a shorter period of time. Travelling to our neighborhood is not considered local to the places we have been invited. Therefore, availability is the concern.
It would be such a convenience to have a car. We could come and go as we please. But it is still a problem. The traffic is horrible, driving habits are unheard of, if there were a problem, we are not sure we could solve it in a foreign language, and we would have to find a garage to rent to park it in! Walking to and from the garage would take about the same time as walking to the bus stop. The additional expense may not be worth the additional stress.
Back to the invitations. Once again, we thank those who have invited us to join their get together. Once again we decline their invitation. Once again, we are a little saddened, but then realize that we are being wise in not taking foolish chances.
The question comes up….what about the others who are invited to the party? Why don’t they face the same situation? To begin with, if they are Peruvians, it’s not a problem! And, most likely they are not living such a long distance from the party location. You see, we have built relationships with many who are not from San Juan deLurigancho.
So, when you head out the door, jump into your car, travel to someone’s home, concert, play, mall, dinner, or the lake, remember how privileged you are to have the opportunity to do that without thinking of how you are going to get home safely!
