Life as a Peruvian

We went to Huanchaco again, this time to surf. Derek and Brad surfed and Dani and I boogie boarded. Brad had never done either one before and even though neither one of us caught any waves, it was still way fun and totally worth it. It only cost us 15 soles for the wet suits and the boards for however long we wanted. Plus they had a place to lock up all our stuff so it didn't get stolen. The part that we hated the most was that the water was shallow for a ways out and there were big rocks instead of sand so it hurt our feet since we didn't have water shoes. 

After surfing, we went to the shops, ate muffins (with jelly in them- wasn't expecting that), took a nap on the beach and ate at My Friend. 

Just some more Peruvian food!

The money here in Peru- 1 sole= 40 cents.

This is no Thanksgiving meal.. but I did get my mashed potatoes from KFC so I was happy!

Derek and Brad had to do some visits with the people they have been teaching to make sure it's a good place to put their business. Dani and I tagged along to a few of them. The first was to a guy named Luis. We had to take a motor-taxi to get to his house. It was basically half a motorcycle with a little carriage on the back of it. His roof is made of reeds and branches and he has cement floors. They have 2 rooms in their house, one is the living room and the bedroom separated with a curtain. The other is a kitchen and another bedroom. While we were talking to him, a rooster and some chicken walked out into the room. It was very interesting to see the difference in culture. He wants the loan to put a mini market in their living room. 

The next place was Irma. She had invited us over on Thanksgiving to have a turkey sandwich but then had to cancel so we did it the next day. We had to take a 2.5 hour bus ride to get out to her parents place. They grow and sell pineapples there. We had to hike up this little mountain to get to the fields of pineapples but it was cool to see how they all grow. They pick the pineapples every 2-4 weeks. They also grow a few other things including avocados, and papaya. They also own a small car washing place next door, so that tank of (dirty) water is where they get the water to wash the cars. Irma wants the loan to do some construction so that they can have a mini market in their house. 

We then went with Irma to eat lunch. I had a chicken foot in my soup that grossed me out just a little. 

 The last place we went was to Hipolito's. He lives out in the sand dunes and wants the loan to start up a chicken restaurant- which will be in that room with the tables and chairs. He already owns an arcade business (which the boys had fun playing). They had just bought a new puppy that Dani and I quickly made friends with. He was so darn cute, even with missing eye. 

My Friend

We went to the mall and saw these super cute baby animals!

We went to a bakery and got some yummy bread and then went to Delicia for dinner (the fruit, cereal and yogurt in bottom left). The green noodles and breaded chicken was sooo good! And we saw this random carriage one day while walking around.

Brad took me to the botanical gardens that are about 1 mile from our house. They all went before I got here, so Dani and Derek stayed home. It was pretty, but to be honest- I've seen better. They did have a peacock, some other birds and turtles so that was cool. It was fun walking around it with Brad.

We all went to Chicken King for dinner one night and shared some chicken and fries.

The boys had to type up a business plan for all of the people that they've been teaching. The majority of the students dont have computers, so they wrote them all on paper and Brad and Derek typed them for them. We went with them to their last class and got a picture with them all. Someone brought pizza and we had a little pizza party. Only there was not enough for us all, so Brad, Derek, Dani and I headed to the Real Plaza (the mall I hadn't been to yet) and got some KFC. They had this huge Christmas tree in the middle of the mall. 

Derek went to play soccer one night and Brad and I decided to go watch him for a bit. When we got there, they all convinced Brad to play too. It was fun to watch them play.

We went to Huanchaco again to layout by the beach. They have these cool canoes made out of reeds all lined up on one part of the beach. They are called Caballitos de Torta and they use them to go fishing.

It was low tide, so we walked along the beach and found some sea urchins and dead fish. The water was pretty cold! We saw some rocks pretty far out in the ocean and one guy that had walked really far out and was not even to his knees yet! 

Dani and I have matching shoes!

We went to My Friend to eat again and it did not disappoint. We got waffles/chocolate/fruit, fondue, and a mango and strawberry smoothie. Apparently we were in a fruit mood? We are planning another trip back before we leave just for the waffles because they were that good!

So a little bit about the bus we ride to get to the beach: It only cost 1.50 soles per person, each way- so a total of 6 soles, or about 2 dollars for Brad and I as opposed to 15 soles for a taxi, each way for the 4 of us- so 6 dollars for Brad and I. So the bus ride is totally worth it, but it is pretty interesting. They don't have bus stops- you just wave at them when you want to get on. You have to hurry because as soon as you are on that first step on the bus, they start going. They have a guy that stands on the stairs to tell the bus driver when people are getting on/off and to collect money. The bus is usually crowded with people and you just have to stand in the isle until there is a seat available. And the bus drivers drive just like everyone else here - like a crazy maniac. They speed like crazy until they have to slam on their breaks for the speed bumps, they don't stay in their lanes, they squeeze in the tightest places possible, they honk their horns like crazy, and they cut people off. All in all it is a great experience.

Trujillo, Peru

I left early Tuesday morning to fly to Peru! I had an hour layover in Atlanta, and then my 6 hour flight to Peru got in at midnight. I was on the plane with about 15 missionaries that were going to the MTC in Lima so that was pretty cool. It was the biggest plane i'd ever been on and the first time I was served dinner. I watched What to Expect When Expecting and the Hunger Games. I stayed awake the whole night (writing in my journal and crocheting), until I could check my bags and go to my gate at about 6am. It was a long night, but I was surprisingly not that tired. I slept on and off for about 3-4 hours and then took my flight to Trujillo at noon. It was only an hour flight and it went by very quick.

It was so great seeing Brad again. In fact, I was so excited that I forgot to get my bags! Luckily Brad noticed and told me to go back in and get them. Brad showed me all around and then he had to go teach a class so I decided to go with him to see what it was like.

On their roof.. Check out all those power lines, its amazing it all works.

This is where we live, and doing our own laundry in the bathtub. I'm glad that we live in a gated place like we do, it makes me feel more safe even though the people that live above us got broken into last week. Scary!!

Brad buys some platanos (bananas) from this guy almost everyday for his breakfast. 

We went to the mall for dinner and to see the new 007 movie. The only bummer part for me and Dani (the other wife here) however, was that it was in Spanish so we had no idea what was going on. I fell asleep, not surprising at all. 

Brad and I walked to the Plaza de Armas- the city center of Trujillo. It has some bright colored, pretty churches and a statue and then a blocked off road of stores and other things that you can walk down. 

 We had a busy day on Saturday. After lunch, we took a bus to Chan Chan. We checked out the museum first, then headed to the real thing. Over 600 years ago, Chan Chan was the biggest city, with over 60,000 people living there. The details in this place were amazing and I can't even imagine how long it took them to build it. It was like a maze, and it was cool to walk around and see what it would have been like to live in that time. Each family would have lived in a small little cubical- pictured in the 3rd collage on the bottom right. In the middle of the whole thing was a pretty little pond.

 After Chan Chan, we took a bus to Huanchaco Beach. It took us about 20 minutes to get there. We laid out for a bit while the sun was out, and then went to the little shops nearby. We bought these scone type things that were to die for, except for the dead bee we found on one of them. Then we headed over to a place called, My Friend's for dinner. I got some pasta, with garlic bread and a drink for only 10 soles, which is about 4 US dollars. Pretty good deal! We also got the fondue which was amazing! Oh, and Brad and I played on the teeter totter. ;)

 Sunday, we walked to our church, about 2 blocks away. It was all in Spanish, but it was the primary program so that was cute- even though I didn't understand anything. I did recognize them singing 'The Wise Men Built their House on a Rock' and 'I Will Go, I Will Do'. The people there were nice. When women here meet other women, they kiss them on the cheek. It's not really a kiss, more like you touch cheeks but it's kinda awkward. That white building with the orange rectangle in the top right picture is our church. It's cool to see that even in a different country, and in a different language, our church remains the same.

This is where we eat lunch everyday- El Rincon. Its pretty good, and cheap (about $2 a meal) but I usually get chicken and rice and its already starting to get old. They have 3 choices for lunch and it changes everyday, but the choices are usually chicken (a different kind everyday), some sort of beef/pork (which I'm not a fan of, but I get it every once in a while), and something nasty- like intestines or lamb. They usually come with rice- that they make into fun shapes, or sometimes noodles. Since they come here everyday, they know all the workers pretty well (one of which is the bishop's wife). I like going to El Rincon though because it's nice to have it so simple with only 3 choices. Whenever we go to another restaurant, I get overwhelmed because I can't read anything and Brad has to read the whole menu. I usually just tell him to pick something for me though. Food here is cheap and we love it! An expensive meal here would be 20 soles, which is about $8.

And just for my own record:

Brad and I have been watching vampire diaries. Since I already watched them all, Brad is just getting caught up so while he watches, I usually work on my blog book- which I finished 2011 and now I'm on April of this year. That's mostly what we do in our spare time, or I crochet, organize my pictures or write in my journal.

People here don't flush anything down the toilet. It is so gross. It makes the bathrooms smell so nasty!! We have 2 girls that work here where we live from about 8-8. We flush our toilet paper down but they don't and they go to the bathroom about every 30 minutes. Dani was telling me that some people go to the bathroom outside- and don't wipe so that's why everyone smells like poop here- gross!!!

One thing I hate about being here is the shower! You have to be so careful to not get the floor soaking wet since it doesn't have a sower curtain, and to not shock yourself because there are so many wires by the shower head. It's so annoying. Oh, and I cannot use my flat iron here because its not the right input (or something) and it will ruin it if I use it.

It is very noisy outside our window. Car alarms, honking, people talking (our window is like paper), door slamming, dogs, sirens, construction, parades, you name it. In the morning, I usually wake up sometime between 8:30-9, take a shower and hang out and work on my blog book in my bedroom till Brad gets up- between 10:30-11. 

There are tons of dogs here and you never know where the owner is. Some of the dogs don't have hair and they look nasty and look and feel like a pig. The weather here is perfect- usually 68 and then it cools down at night so we have to wear jackets. The women here pull out their boobs to nurse all the time and don't even try to cover up. I haven't seen it, but Brad says there is this girl they teach and she does it all the time and they don't know where to look and it's very awkward for them.

I'm loving my time down here! It's been such a great experience already. I've already learned some Spanish, but it takes me a min to figure out what to say to people- besides hola and gracias- I've gotten real good those ones! People will start talking to me in Spanish and then Brad will tell them I don't speak Spanish and most of them say that I look like I should.

2 showers in 3 days

'READY TO POP' BABY SHOWER

I threw a shower for my good friend, Mikell and boy was it fun! Mikell and I grew up living next door to each other, and now we are experiencing it again- as they are living with her parents for a bit as well. I'm so happy that Nick and Brad get along so great and that we have become such great friends with them, as a couple. 

Food:

Soda POP, caramel POPcorn, oreo POPs, lolliPOPs, and snap, crackle, POP (rice krispie treats)

Games/Prizes

-The first game we played was a fun POP quiz crossword puzzle and all of the questions had to do with POP. 

-We 'POPped' back in time & looked at all of our baby pictures & had to guess who was who. 

-I gave everyone an ice cube and told them whoever could get their baby to POP out first was the winner.

-Then we did the POPpers and the last one that went up last was the winner. 

The prizes were POP rocks, blow POPs, ring POPs and tootsie POP rops

Presents!!

I can't wait to meet Mikell's baby girl who is due to arrive on January 2nd! Congrats Brown's!

'ABC' BABY SHOWER (Yes Kylee- i did copy a lot of it from you... thanks!! ;))

I threw another baby shower for another good friend, Kelsey just two days later with my friend Lindsey. So, I left most of the decorations up- just took down the pink and put up blue for her baby boy! Kelsey's husband, Derrick and Brad were best friends growing up and we have become great friends with them as well. 

Food:

Sandwiches, veggies, fruit, oreo pops, cookies, brownies, and pop. 

Games:

-Baby shower bags: Everyone had to guess the baby item that was in the bag that started with each letter. We let them feel the bags to make it a bit easier. For those that guessed it right, the first one to shout out the candy bar (that was also in the bag and started with the letter) got to have it. We gave Kelsey the baby items as our gift from us- Book, Aspirator, Bib, Yellow rubber duck, Spoons, Hat, Onesie, Wipes, Elephant rattle, and Receiving blanket. 

-ABC book: everyone colored a couple pages for the book that we will get bound for Kelsey to keep. 

-ABC nursery rhymes: we had to come up with a nursery rhyme or childrens' song that started with each letter of the alphabet. The winner got a bottle filled with candy

-Baby Galvin: (this one had nothing to do with ABC, but it was still fun) Lindsey asked Kelsey if she wanted her baby to have her eyes, nose, cheeks, hair color, amount of hair, eyebrows, chin, and ears, or Derricks. We all had to circle what we thought she said. And again- the winner got a bottle filled with candy.

Presents!!

I (also) can't wait to meet Kelsey's baby boy- due to arrive on January 6th! Congrats Galvin's!