Protest of the week

Sister Rhoades Birthday party

Tempting jungle art...

Perhaps, the ugliest dog in Cusco

Julie's English class

And their little sister

Obedient and careful pooch

The Llorón of the Plaza de Armas

Creative Wheelbarrow use

And they will probably sell them

A stack of bull heads

Really rough heels

Majestic fighting cock

One big turkey

Alert geese

Wrestley puppy

The old baby shirt for a hat ploy

Hat crib

Elders going home - Baratillo stop

Mounds of humanity

The Johnsons in the baratillo with us

Marvid, his dad and sister in the baratillo

Julie and Sister Johnson watching the baratillo version of Bass-o-matic

The lady they were watching

Sisters out on baratillo day

Saturday morning grocery market

Bargain basement yogurt

Pirated CDs

The grain dealer

The snail slobber vendor

Snail slobber extract

Ugly dog from a different angle

What a week! Megan got food poisoning at a Halloween party, passed out at home and gashed her forehead open and then was super ill and had a very rough week, but is recovering. Leah left last Saturday morning to drive with her old roommate Kayla to help her move to Chicago. They made it safely and Leah flew back to Salt Lake City last Sunday night, in time to report to her new job Monday morning, Ahhh, youth!! 

Our Monday night district meeting was canceled, we were very happy to stay home. Maria had her birthday on Tuesday but it was bittersweet. Her beloved dog Greta who has been such a part of her life for nine years and has been suffering from a tumor, had to be put to sleep. We have been having issues with our internet; what a surprise! we think it’s the system, we’re waiting for a technician to check it out.  We’re pretty happy to close the book on the week.

We keep in touch with our family. One of our grand babies was crawling over her dad when her eight-year-old big sister piped up, “She's like Horatius, Herminius, and Spurius Lartius crossing the bridge to fight the Etruscan army.” We realize that we are missing much. 

On the other hand our boys and their wives have asked us to take all eight of our grandchildren while they take a vacation a month after we come home. They are leaving for 9 months, er uh, did I say months? Meant days…. and we have accepted the task. We are pretty sure that some well meaning folk will recommend us for a psych evaluation just for accepting this. Yet we are excited to undertake it… probably even more fodder for the shrinks out there. Still, we have been away from our grandkids for three years, so we have some making up to do.

There were some bright spots in the week, we were able to work everyday and made good progress there. We were a little concerned as we walked to work on Wednesday and saw another protest march, that it should affect our office, but happily it didn’t. It was the public works offices that were marching, who knows why or for what purpose. Just the “march of the week.” They dub these strikes, “Paros,” meaning stoppage for work stoppage. Now, wouldn’t you think that there would have to be work being done for a stoppage??? These public offices are notorious bureaucratic engines that make the US postal system seem skilled and efficient.

Lest we be seen to be unduly harsh on the Peruvian government, Our mission President went to a conference of the mission presidents from our area (South America Northeast), including Venezuela, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru and Bolivia. Prior to this meeting he had been hounded to get his legal Peruvian driver’ license for the last 2 1/2 years. The rules to obtain this document are horrendously difficult. Never mind that the police have never so much as suggested that he is not in compliance with is international license.

Anyway, at the meeting he asked how many of the 32 mission presidents from all of the five countries had obtained the legal license of their respective countries. Take a guess… two of them had been successful. One confessed that he thought his had been obtained by art, in the words of Mark Twain. He said that a member knew a guy who knew a guy and he wound up with a “legal” driver’s license… The way things move down here.

Julie’s English classes went well and Rich made progress in his Quechua classes. He has decided that this makes him an official language junkie. His working vocabulary is far beyond the average Peruvian and so the skill is one that is pretty much the most useless language he has learned. Still, during his last trip to Abancay, he had to do a temple recommend interview in Quechua. It revealed monstrous gaps in vocabulary that he has filled by translating each and every question so what he won’t be caught again.

On Friday, we enjoyed a fun birthday lunch for Sister Rhoades with the other senior missionaries. The Rhoades go home in six weeks and the Johnsons in less than two months. The Poulsens, Rich’s companion from Italy, show up on January 5th so we won’t be lonely too long.

We can’t believe it’s November again and spring is in the air. There hasn’t been much rain yet, everyone is bracing for it as it’s supposed to be extra heavy this year. We were here for the big El Niño year in 1998 - 1999 and it was blistering with flooding, landslides and mayhem all over the country. Nothing is better than a natural disaster to spice things up. Still, we shall see. The days are shirt sleeve warm and beautiful when the sun is shining and Antarctica is gobbling up oceans and making bigger than ever glaciers.

We are enjoying our work here and have been able to stay home two Sundays in a row. It has been great but that won’t last. We have to go to Ayaviri next weekend, Rich is going to Andahuaylas tomorrow and we have one more district conference in a couple of weeks and then no more until January. We will be happy to stay put for a bit.