Over the spine and back again... twice

Quillabamba leaders with us

Happy porker

Child laborer

Can only speculate what genes got crossed up here

banana roaster

The breakfast club

Compressed air hose supported by the power lines...

Puppies for sale

Egg warehouse

Baratillo on the cement block heaps holding back the broken sewer lines

Estranged

We have had a busy, busy two weeks. Our work kept us busy and Rich set apart and released several missionaries. On Monday we had to ship our disk to Lima and did all kinds of errands. We were able to get a lot of books done in the archives and on Friday afternoon we traveled to Quillabamba, about a five hour trip over the spine of the Andes. To say the ride is spectacular just does not actually cover it. We had a good driver. We paid for the whole car so we were comfortable and we could stretch our legs out. The rode goes over the top of the Andes at Abra Malaga, 14,500 feet and drops down to Quillabamba at 3100 feet. It is quite the ride, hundreds of switchbacks and hairpin turns and we actually caught a glimpse of Veronica peak at 19,100 feet and her spectacular glacier.

We arrived in Quillabamba about 8pm and met with the Harbertson’s and the mission assistants just in time to have dinner together. Quillabamba is at the edge of the rainforest and is warm, humid and teaming with plant life. The bougainvillea, hibiscus and massive poinsettias are dazzling, it is a feast for the senses. Insects abound too and Rich’s elbows both bear witness.

Rich spent Saturday in meetings and Julie and Sister Harbertson used the morning for going to the markets and exploring. We all met at the church for a catered lunch of roasted chicken, noodles, boiled potatoes and a rocoto relleno (stuffed spicy pepper.) Sister Harbertson and Julie had a training meeting with the women leaders in the district and we had a good Saturday evening adult session of conference. 

The conference Sunday morning was great and the chapel was packed. We brought one of the sister missionaries back with us to Cusco. She had to travel with other missionaries to Lima to get their official visas. She is from Bolivia and such a sweet young woman. She kept falling asleep on Julie’s shoulder. President Harbertson said she is a hard worker and she did seem to be pretty exhausted. We arrived home about 5:30pm and were pretty wiped-out ourselves.

We took Monday off for our preparation day, did laundry, grocery shopping and other running around. We also had a few naps during the day. Traveling here pretty much wipes us out. We attended family home evening with the office elders at the mission home. Rich gave the lesson on setting goals using a formula he used to teach when he did corporate leadership training for BHP.

Rich traveled to Andahuaylas Tuesday morning. It’s a 7-8 hour trip and right now it has to be timed right because a section of the highway is being worked on. The road opens at certain times for 30 minutes and allows both directions of traffic to pass through, one side at a time. If you don’t get the times right, you can sit there for 1 1/2 hours or more. Rich was fortunate traveling both ways and only had to wait 10 minutes before getting through. He travels every second Tuesday of the month to meet with the district presidency in Andahuaylas. 

While Rich was having two relaxing days out of Cusco (haha!) Julie slaved away in the archives, taught her English classes and maybe slipped in a couple of episodes of ‘Call the Midwife.’ Huzzah for Netflix!

Rich returned to his Quechua class after a six weeks hiatus. There are lots of schools celebrating their founding anniversaries this month, so we see and hear a considerable number of parades, some even with floats. We hear a lot of band music and beating drums and see dancers by the dozens. We hear and see so many parades that we are getting pretty unenthused about them and many times we just look at each other and say, “another parade, wonder what this one’s for?.” We feel the same about firecrackers here, it’s just an everyday occurrence. We are becoming desensitized to the noise and chaos. 

We walked to the baratillo Saturday morning, always an adventure. Then into the center and home. We were asked to talk about our mission and what we do for Family Search at a stake primary activity Saturday evening. The Johnson’s were there to take photos of the children for the “My Family” booklets and Julie had a lot of fun with a fill-in-the-blanks worksheet with the kids. It was a fun evening.

Sunday morning we attended church at the Inti Raymi Stake Center since Rich had a meeting there with the mission presidency. We also had the five office missionaries and the two assistants for lunch. Rich used10 lbs of beef to make his legendary red chile; we also had beans, Spanish rice, tortillas, guacamole and a pseudo sour cream that we make out of Crema de Leche. We marvel at how much the young elders can eat! They were in heaven, even the two latino elders. They moaned and groaned and ate and ate, we had a great afternoon with them and forgot to take a picture.

We love the time we get to spend with the young missionaries. They are so focused and dedicated and work incredibly hard in very difficult circumstances. It really is an honor to work with such fine young people who know who they are and what they represent. When so many are lost and wandering these young people truly do inspire us.