Poof! And they are gone... Way too fast a visit!

Sister missionaries visiting

Sister missionaries full and happy

Sacsayhuaman

Sacsayhuaman

Sacsayhuaman

Sacsayhuaman

Hermana Hasler pondering the imponderable

Charles' explanation why alien theory is invalid

Megan demonstrating why aliens had to help out - 300 ton stone for scale

So exact not even a knife blade can slip between the stones

Q'enko Sacrificial Table

Puka Pukara

Tambo Machay

Qoricancha

Qoricanchana

Trinket Vendor

Charles at Puka Pukara

Incredible stonework at Ollantaytambo

Cuy lunch

I'm supposed to eat this guinea pig??

Pretty tasty

Poor little critters

King of the Guinea Pigs

Roasting to perfection

Pisac

Pisac

Pisac

Pisac

Beautiful Clouds

Incan terracing at Pisac

Tipon

Tipon

Tipon

Tipon

Tipon

Megan & Charles

The missionaries

Pikillacta

Good-byes are the worst!

Shoe shine man

Shoe shine man

We had a wonderful week with Megan and Charles. We ran them ragged, but had a lot of fun visiting all the sites around Cusco. We shipped them off to Machu Picchu on Sunday, and then we walked all over Cusco and the Artisans Market on Monday. We have been assigned to the Urubamba missionary district so we had to travel to the Sacred Valley for a District Meeting with the missionaries. Megan and Charles were good sports and braved the combi busses for the hour trip over and back again. We were all pretty wiped out by bedtime.

Tuesday we had an easier day and visited Sacsayhuaman and the other ruins just outside of Cusco.  Rich had an interview for a missionary leaving so he had to leave Sacsayhuaman and head to the airport for the interview. He had to travel to Lima before the temple closes for maintenance and then goes in for his mission, this coming week. What a crazy day!

We drove back over to the Sacred Valley on Wednesday and visited the magnificent ruins of Ollantaytambo, where the Incas defeated the Spaniards. Wikipedia says: “During the Spanish conquest of Peru Ollantaytambo served as a temporary capital for Manco Inca, leader of the native resistance against the conquistadors. He fortified the town and its approaches in the direction of the former Inca capital of Cusco, which had fallen under Spanish domination. In 1536, on the plain of Mascabamba, near Ollantaytambo, Manco Inca defeated a Spanish expedition, blocking their advance from a set of high terraces and flooding the plain.” It is a truly gorgeous place and the stonework is incredible.

We took a lunch break and ate “cuy al palo” guinea pig on a stick. They are really very tasty; it just takes a lot of work to get the meat off the critters. We had a lot of fun and laughed a lot at the bodies on our plates.

We visited Pisac in the afternoon and the light was nothing short of spectacular on the ruins. Only a handful of people had ventured there so we had a peaceful and quiet visit. We really enjoyed our time there.

Tipon is one of our favorite ruins and this time of year everything is green and the water is running in all the carved channels. We stopped there on Thursday and marveled at the beauty of it and then went on to Pikillaqta, a pre-Incan ruin from the Wari culture about 700-1100 A.D. It is massive and only a small amount has been uncovered and restored. Some of the rooms still have the original plaster on the floors and walls. Its name in Quechua means flea city or town. There are different explanations for this name: 1) That it was so populace that it looked like it teemed with fleas. 2) Alternatively, was said to have been cursed by a wizard/shaman in its time and became infested with fleas driving everyone out. For its size, it’s amazing regardless of the explanatory tale.

All too soon our week was up, and we had to make preparations to travel to Abancay, then on to Andahuaylas for a district conference. We were lamenting the fact that we had to leave early Friday morning and wouldn’t be able to see Megan and Charles off at the airport later on Friday.  While we were feeling sad, Rich received a call from the district president in Andahuaylas saying there was a huge transportation strike in the area and no one would be able to travel. President Huayapa said that it would be a hard/dangerous strike. He was not just worried for us but the members and church property damage. Rich and President Harbertson discussed it and decided it would be best to postpone the conference to the following week. Needless to say we were HAPPY and we were able to spend a few more hours with the kids Friday morning! 

When they left, Rich went into work for the rest of the day and Julie did our shopping. We’re back to work on Monday and we’re looking forward to the adventures and experiences that we have every day. The apartment is empty and too quiet again but we are so grateful for the visit. Our family means everything to us and we have been incredibly blessed. 

Speaking of our blessings. We had one of those experiences at work, where a piece of an envelope flopped out of a book and fell on the floor. Julie picked it up, and it didn't look important. Usually we toss these loose papers with no important information in the trash. She turned it over and it wound up being the death record of a baby that died at three years of age. We had to go and find the approximate book and photograph it in one of the empty pages but we got the information in there. We forget sometimes how much of this work has a greater meaning, so it is comforting once in a while to get a glimpse of something much grander than our puny lives...

On Saturday, we got to talk with William and Lacey’s family. Their oldest, Ben had his 9th birthday! We can hardly believe it. We catch ourselves saying lots of old people things about how fast they grow up etc…

We had six of the sisters over for lunch on Sunday and had a great time.  There are three from the United States, two from Colombia and one from Argentina. They seemed to enjoy being in our house and eating attempted/quasi North American cuisine…