We did it!

Despite a long delay in Cusco (we arrived in Lima 4 hours late - the flight was only an hour), we managed to get the kids' ID cards with no problems, although I am glad that I don't have to do a 2 year old's finger prints again! We also had a great couple of days in Lima - more stories to follow.

BMS World Mission Day of Prayer

BMS World Mission is setting aside Monday, 28 February as a Day of Prayer. If you want to be involved, the BMS site has loads of great resources. We want to be involved too, so we asked our church in Cusco if they had any prayer requests. Here is what they said:
• For the health of Sylvia, Carlota and Manuel
• Stefan Illary and Jordan have had problems with their throat and health concerns for some time.
• For God to provide job opportunities for the church family.
• Some church members are not currently attending; please pray that they return.
• For Scott, Anjanette, Jessica and Samuel as they return to Cusco following their home assignment.
• For Yhome, the 15-year-old daughter of a church member who is having a time of rebellion.
• Yaneli is a young girl who attends the church and her 3-month-old baby sister died a month ago of pneumonia. Please pray for the whole family.
• That more people in the community will come to faith through the witness of the church.
• That the current church members will grow in their understanding and knowledge of God.
• That God will give the church wisdom in the development of the youth and children’s work.

It would be great if you could join us in prayer for as much of the day as you can; it is a great opportunity for us all to be joined together across the continents.

Language School

I have realised that most of our posts are about life outside of study, whereas in reality a lot of our time at the moment is spent studying Spanish. Each morning, I go to language school and Neil goes in the afternoon. We are both taught for 3 hours 1-1, which is intense and tiring, but also enjoyable. We have just finished our fourth week of study, although I have been ill during that time. It feels like we still have a very long way to go as I am forever conjugating verbs in my head ot try to say the right thing, but I am encouraged when I think about how much we have learnt! We are normally able to make ourselves understood when we are out and about. I had a particularly funny experience when I was looking for popcorn in the supermarket. I wanted to ask where it was, but didn't know the Spanish, so had a long speech prepared where I asked where it was, and explained that it was food for when you watch films. It was a beautiful monologue, with actions and they understood me enough to take me to the right place. I then asked what was it called in Spanish, and they said 'popcorn.' I felt slightly foolish, but at least I got the popcorn!

Anyway, our language school is in the centre of Cusco and we take the bus there - as Neil has explained previously, that can be an adventure in itself,although people often take pity on me and squeeze up so I can sit down. The school is in San Blas, which is quite a cool part of the city, with a slight hippy feel. Here is Plaza San Blas, which is just around the corner. When the irregular verbs are getting too much, I love to walk around here and clear my head.





Our teachers are very patient with us, and I am geek as always, doing lots of homework. Sometimes, we go for walks to look around and practise Spanish. On Friday, my teacher Jimmy took me to a local market. I have included a couple of pictures, but didn't include all of the pictures of the meat stalls, in case people are a bit squeamish... cows tongues and hearts etc. Jimmy tells me that it is quite a delicacy here, but it is not something that I am used to.



One of my favourite things about Language School is the opportunity to chat with a Peruvian about life and culture here in Peru and in the UK. And now I can do that in Spanish - well Spanglish at least! We are going to be studying language for 8 and a half weeks - a third of the way through already!

A Lovely Weekend

We have begun to discover that there aren't many activities for small children in Cusco, especially compared to the plethora of groups and leisure options for under 5s in the UK. There are some lovely parks, but February is turning out to be very wet with very heavy showers and impressive storms - Daniel thinks the thunder is much better here than in England! However, there was glorious sunshine over the weekend. On Saturday, after a lazy start, we visited some friends in their new apartment. We then did battle at El Molina, a huge market that we constantly get lost in, and bought a few bits, successfully(ish) bartering. Swimming is really hard in Cusco, as there aren't many pools. We stumbled upon a hotel close to us that has an outdoor unheated pool and they said we could pay to use this. It is great - clean and in a lovely setting - you can see some photos here. The main drawback is that it is not heated and was freezing! Sophia happily slept in her buggy, but the rest of us braved it. It was good fun, if a little chilly.

On Sunday, we went to the much anticipated Senor Carbon for lunch. We have had great things about it and it is about 2 minutes walk from the house. Daniel has been desperate to go as it has a soft play area. The place is pretty amazing. For the equivalent of £10, you can eat as much as you like and the food is great. It is not for vegetarians, however, as they bring out loads and loads of meat to the table on huge spits, and you can just keep eating, as beautifully demonstrated by Neil - and Daniel. I looked on enviously as I ate my chicken and chips; as my appetite was still returning at that point, I decided to opt out of the all you can eat option - silly me. Although cheap by UK standards, it is pricey for Peru, so will be a rare - but much anticipated treat. Here are a few photos of the lunch - please note that the meat on display was one of the smaller offerings!






We finished the weekend by going to our church. Each week we can chat to people a little more, and this week, i followed the sermon for the first time, helped by the PowerPoint! Daniel looks forward to going each week and takes his ukulele. It is lovely there.

And as the days pass, we are getting into more of a routine and getting more used to the altitude, meaning that we (me in particular) have more energy to do activities with the kids, despite the rain. Today, me and the kids made a camp in the lounge and made pizza bread for tea - nothing special, but it felt like home.

Travelling

Travelling in Cusco is an interesting experience. The three options for us are walking, getting a taxi and the bus. Walking and taxis are similar to back home, but the buses are something to behold. I have included a couple of pictures below. The buses vary enormously, and often look like minibuses or vans, and cost 70 centimos (about 15p). They are often extremely full, and on the smaller buses I often have to crouch.

Earlier this week I had a particularly interesting experience on the bus. I was on my way home from language school, when we came upon a political procession which was blocking the way home. The bus appeared to be going round the roundabout to head the other way, when the driver suddenly turned into the oncoming traffic. He drove about a quarter of a mile into the oncoming traffic before moving over to the right side of the road at the next set in lights (in front of the political procession). It was surprising and exciting at the same time, and something that would never happen at home.

Food Glorious Food!

I thought that it was time to address the important stuff now - what have we been eating? Well, in my case, not a lot over the last week, but it looks like the appetite is returning, following the virus. Food here is really good. Potatoes are a big deal - they originated from Peru and the Peruvians have found many, many ways to cook them. There is also a lot of meat to be eaten; I think the chicken is amazing. Neil had alpaca the other week in a restaurant, which was tasty and I had trout. We haven't tried ceviche yet (raw fish) which is a specialty in Peru, nor have we tried el cuy (guinea pig.) The bread is good as well. Just around the corner from us, there is a tiny bakery where you can go and buy 6 traditional Andean flatbreads for 1 soles (around 25p)- hot out of the oven. We go sometimes, but the local supermarket does a great selection too. The fruit and veg is amazing, and there is lots of it. Daniel loves the mango and Sophia loves the water melon - here she is trying to get the last bit of melon juice out of a very big bowl.




Dairy products are huge here, despite the lack of fresh pasteurised milk. In the supermarket, there is an aisle dedicated to milk of all kinds, evaporated, condensed, soya, lactose free... yogurt is also popular although most people drink it. There was also a moment of confusion in my language school the other day, when I said that I ate porridge oats for breakfast, and he corrected me, saying that I drank it! We are pleased to have discovered porridge as it is cheap and healthy; we can buy most cereals but at a premium - and I haven't seen Crunchy Nut Cornflakes yet! We also visit a great dairy shop that sells cheese to rival cheddar(?) and fresh pasteurised milk, as well as lovely Andean honey and yummy yogurt.

Eating out is cheap and yummy, although you pay a bit more in the centre of Cusco. There are a few places that are good for gringos to eat as well! There is also a McDonalds, although I hope never to darken its door. Cusco has a huge tourist trade, so its eateries reflect this, although not so much in the suburbs.

Considering that Peru exports a lot of cocoa beans, and coffee, so far it is hard to get hold of decent stuff. Tea is much more popular, including mate de coca (made from cocaine leaf and good for adjusting to the altitude!) It is only a month in and I am already pining for Cadburys - and Divine choc. There is 1 shop that sells Cadburys but a large bar costs 30 soles (around £7). To put it in perspective, we can get a 3 course meal for 16 soles in a very nice cafe. Cadburys will have to be a rare treat!

There seems to be a lot of sugar around and things seem very sweet! Here's a pic of Sophia and Daniel drinking Peruvian hot chocolate, made by melting a block of choc in hot water, and adding evaporated milk and sugar.




There are lots of cakes as well. This afternoon, we baked alfajores, which are cookies with a layer of manjar blanco, a thick caramel, which is popular throughout South America. We took them to church, where one lady said that they were delicious! I was also able to say that 'we cooked them and Daniel helped' - progress!



Like most of us, Sophia likes nothing more than a nap after a good meal. This meal, however, was also proof that we still have a way to go. We cooked a simple pasta for the kids. I had picked up a block of cheese in a hurry and Neil grated it on top, only for Daniel to declare that it was very buttery. Yes, it was in fact butter. And Dan kept complaining that it was spicy and Neil thought he was being fussy until he tried it. He must have used a spicy sauce! No complaints from Sophia though, who ate the lot. And like most of us after a good meal, she likes to sleep it off!



We are also looking forward to trying the 2 tins of beans that we bought. You can't buy baked beans, but we thought these looked similar. They are called 'frijol con tocino.' In the dictionary, tocino means either pork fat or bacon. Let's hope it is the latter... our food fun continues and we don't miss English food TOO much, as long as I don't think about giant buttons or Pizza Express too much!

We're back (and it's raining!)

Sorry we haven't posted anything new for a while, Amanda was suffering with a virus, and I was looking after the kids. Amanda is feeling much better now, and we are enjoying a lazy Saturday at home. We were going to go out, but the rainy season arrived with a bang this lunch time. Here's a couple of pictures of the rain just outside our front door.