Breakfasting on sublime roasted lamb in the Ayaviri bus station

A huge trench across one lane of traffic and two little signs to keep you from it...

Panty tea???

The frog lady

Just six of the 400+ varieties

Market dog

Charo's nativity (Rich's Quechua teacher)

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A painting Rich did

Cusco bus station

Shoe shines in Sicuani

Bus station lamb, yum!

Monday came quickly and we are back to work. We figure we have just enough time to finish our work here before the end of our mission. We’re going to do our best!

We enjoyed our district meeting and have really enjoyed the warm weather when we have it. Monday night was sweater weather and the walk home was so pleasant. 

We met with Elder Lyle and Sister Nancy Poulsen on Tuesday night. They are the couple who are replacing the Johnson’s and Elder Poulsen served with Rich in Italy when they were young missionaries. We all went to dinner together along with the Harbertson’s. We had a lovely evening.

On Wednesday we helped the Poulsens get some groceries and pay for some of the electronic things that needed to be recharged. We took photos in the afternoon and Julie taught English to Marvin and Yahir. 

Thursday morning we took the Poulsens to the center and to our tailor. Elder Poulsen picked out some material for new suits and we chose material for our son who would like a new one.  We also walked them through the San Pedro market which is always an adventure. We both bought some nuts and dried fruit. We didn’t know what fresh Brazil nuts taste like until we lived here. They are so different from the nearly impossible to crack dry nuts we get at home around Christmas. The fresh nuts are delicious! 

We enjoyed showing them the sights of the San Pedro market. It is pretty much always fascinating, from pig heads and cow snouts to the shaman supply shops where one can buy desiccated llama fetuses and everything else an average shaman might need. It was not lost on the Poulsens who have seen a great deal of this world. They seemed to enjoy it.

We took them to eat lunch at Papacho’s and the Poulsens decided that they could indeed survive here. It was a great day.

Rich needed to visit the branch in Ayaviri and we invited the Poulsens to come along so they could learn where the busses are and how it all works. We left Saturday morning and arrived in Sicuani in time to have some pollo a la brasa for lunch. The Poulsens had set up a couple of appointments with the sister missionaries to do some family history work. Sadly, the first appointment fell through so we walked to the other church for the second appointment. We had some time to wait and it was fun just visiting and watching life go on in Sicuani. 

The second appointment wasn’t at home either but her mother was. The four of us and the two sister missionaries climbed some really narrow cement steps that our “gringo” feet are just to big for. Once at the top of the stairs we walked over some very old wooden planks to her room. We were all a bit nervous, the floor didn’t feel very stable. The sisters sat on some blankets on the floor and we sat on a mish-mash of stools, some of which were really short and barely off the floor. It was a great experience and Elders Hasler and Poulsen gave this sweet sister a blessing before we left.

We took some moto-taxis back to the hotel for about 45 min. then back to the church that is close to the hotel. We met with Omar Zevallos, the Stake President. When we lived in Tintaya he was our home teacher and Elders Quorum President in the branch. It was so fun to see him and introduce the Poulsens to him. He was discouraged about doing his family history and we had a wonderful experience as we all talked to him and shared our testimonies. He had big tears running down his cheeks. What a sweet, humble man. Goodness, we love our friends here. 

Back at the hotel we had a light dinner and then to bed. We were all wiped out!

Sunday morning we left at 7:00am to catch the combi to Ayaviri. Fortunately, we didn’t need to wait long for the combi to fill up. However, at one point the driver left the engine running with the side door open so we nearly choked to death, our eyes were burning like crazy and someone finally told the driver to turn the engine off. Gas fumes are horrible!

The countryside is so beautiful on this drive. There were lot’s of llamas and alpacas and we even saw some Andean flamingos. That was a treat! When we lived in Tintaya we would see flamingos all the time on the tailings pond at the mine. We were so surprised when we learned that they really do live at 14,000ft.!

We made good time and arrived about an hour early for church so we walked to the other bus station and introduced the Poulsens to “Kankacho,” the slow roasted lamb that is to die for. This was our breakfast along with roasted potatoes. It was delicious. The Poulsens remarked that the place seemed pretty sketchy. Indeed, it is a bus station where a woman sits in a chair with a bunch of roasted lamb and potatoes wrapped in brown paper inside of a blanket. She opens her blanket and, with a butcher knife and a cleaver, whacks off impressive portions of the meat that she puts in a little paper-lined basket and serves it to you. She also produces little bowls of fiery and oniony hot sauce with mysterious ingredients that is simply divine, but, it is a bus station…

We had a good meeting with the members, a little sparse in attendance but we enjoyed our time there. The Poulsens bore their testimonies and Rich and Julie spoke. The Poulsens were asked to teach Sunday School and talk about family history. Nothing like getting right to work! 

Our bus rides home were uneventful and we arrived back in Cusco about 6:00pm. We were all exhausted and but what a grand adventure! We love serving a mission!!

We are down to the home stretch here and really do hope that we don’t take for granted what a truly marvelous experience it has been to live here over all of the years we have spent in Peru. This month marks twenty years since Rich first came to Peru! We have seen so much and tried not to take it for granted but sometimes when you are approaching 14 hours on a bus in two days, you can lose perspective. Still we have seen and done amazing things from the deepest Amazon Rain Forest to trekking along over mountains above 16,000 feet. Most importantly, we have come to love so many people. This week we were thrilled to receive the news that Maria Quispe, our maid in Tintaya will be sealed with her family in the Lima Temple. We have always said that it is a special privilege accorded to us to have loved and served here in Peru and that, is not lost on us.