Back from the Beach

We kidnapped Isaiah and Landon for an overnight trip to the beach. Lots of sun and sand with a successful return to Mom and Dad (Sarah and Ryan Foster). We made sand castles, sand angels, flew a kite, dipped in the ocean, and managed to get sunburns (during the Peru winter!). The boys had a fun time and even said that "next time".... Mom and Dad were able to enjoy a day of quiet (hard to believe). We took two new members of the Extreme staff with us, Ryan and Chadwick. They went out into cold water to body surf-for about 5 minutes.

Dawn Arrives!

Mothers Day!  And my Dawn arrived at 10:30 in the morning.   A beautiful start to a beautiful day.  We took a taxi to the airport, picked Dawn up, and took a taxi to church.  We had an action packed service, several songs and dramas by the young children of Alto Libertad.  Then we took another taxi home.  The Alverado family was waiting for us.  A huge meal of salad, potatoes, grilled sausage, grilled steak, and (always) bread.  After dinner, Senor Andres treated us all to his special coffee espresso.  We walked to the Hunt's to give them some items Dawn brought from Idaho.  And finally it was time for a siesta!

Birthday, May 2nd

A wonderful birthday lunch! With our host family and friends from the office, Michelle and Brad Hunt, we celebrated my "29th".... Here they call the ladies birthday age "sin cuenta" (without counting). I had a lovely day sleeping late and watching Dennis cook our meal- chicken cordon blue. We went shopping for all of the ingredients the day before. It is such an adventure to shop when you don't know the spanish words-and then to find out that broccoli is broccoli and paprika is ???? (we still don't know).

Staff Retreat

The Extreme staff met for three days of discussion, planning and group interaction (games). We learned about some of the history of Peru, discussed the plans for Extreme's projects, and went on go-cart rides. My favorite moment was encouraging one of the peruvian ladies to drive a go-cart (I'm almost certain she had never driven anything before....) She was a pro by the third time, and smiling very big!

We visited the site of a new church plant from the Umacollo church in Arequipa. In this small brick building, they have 50 neighborhood children come to play, sing, and learn bible stories.

Semana Santa (Holy Week)

Semana Santa, or holy Week is a big celebration here in Peru, as it is in most Latin countries. The whole week, there are processionals each evening around the Plaza de Armas, or city center. Military bands played as regional leaders and dignitaries attended church services and asked for blessings for the country. Thursday and Friday are National holidays, and the city pretty much shuts down. Very few stores are open. On Saturday morning, 5am, there is a special processional for the hanging of Judas. They light fires in the street and wait for an efegy of Judas to be hung.

On Easter morning, most everyone goest to church. They sell crosses made out of palm leaves and have them blessed by the catholic priests. Then they hang them in their houses until the next year, when they get a new one.

Canon de Colca

For Easter weekend, we traveled to Colca Canyon. This is the second deepest canyon in the world. We traveled in a tour bus with a group of 30 people. We started on Saturday morning under cloudy skies. You leave Arequipa and drive around to the back side of Misty Volcano, and then across the highlands of the Andes mountains. Part of it is through a national park and you get to see wild alpaca. The highest point along the jouney was 4,910 meters (16,100 ft), and we finally broke through the clouds into bright sunshine and snow!!

After a refreshing walk in the snow, we boarded back on the bus for a steep, winding, decent to the town of Chivay, where we spent the night. In Chivay, there is a great hot spring with 5 pools that are feed from the local volcano. We spent about an hour and a half just relaxing after the bus ride. Then we went out to dinner and a show with native dancers.

We boarded the bus at 5:30 in the morning to go see the canyon. Another big draw to Colca are the condors that catch the morning and afternoon thermals rising out of the canyon. We did get to see a few condors soaring in the distance, but nothing up close. We took a little hike along the rim of the canyon and got to see lots of flowers, fauna, and even a wild chinchila. We could see a few small villages across the canyon from us. The only way to these villages is to trek (hike). We may go for a 2-3 day trek to one of these villages when the kids get here in December.

Birthday Party at Dinosaur Park

We celebrated one of our co-worker child's birthday party at a cool dinosaur park. The kids had a great time splashing in the gold fish ponds, playing on the playground equipment, and getting their faces painted. We enjoyed being aunts and uncles.