Went to work in the morning to tie up loose ends. Took Sidney with me so we could leave straight from there. Made for an early morning though, up at 6am. We left for the airport at about noon and hung out at the lounge snacking. Our flight was on time from San Antonio to Houston so although we had to walk quickly clear across the airport, we didn't have to sprint and we could actually hang out with our group for a while before we boarded. There were four of us who were repeats from last year, me and three from Houston and four newbies, Sidney and three others from Houston. One of the newbies wasn't actually new to me. I knew him when we went to Webster Presbyterian before Sidney was born. There were four men and four ladies which was nice for the normal double room in Peru. We were short one person who planned to attend because there was a family emergency and she was very missed. 
Our Houston departure was delayed an hour (yes sitting on the plane boiling) to wait for 70 bags to be loaded from Amsterdam. Sidney and I had a ridiculous amount of leg room for the two shortest people on the plane. We were where the bulkhead used to be so we could put our legs out straight and not touch the seats in front of us.
It was difficult and sad to leave Kirk behind. It obviously was not my dream last time I went to go alone or as only part of a family again. Peru was our last perfect Christmas. He did not know we were gone and seemed content at Rainbow House. He was playing baseball, apparently quite well, on the Wii when I called right before we left.
The flight was uneventful. Clearing customs and passport control in Lima is always great fun and supper efficient (just kidding). It took two hours to clear passport, get our bags, exchange money and clear customs. For some reason me and someone else in the group got to bypass bag inspection. Of course we had to wait on everyone else. Then we had to find the bus after chatting and catching up. This was all well after midnight. We finally fell into bed at 2 am. The bus ride to the hotel was eventful for Sidney even though she doesn't remember. Sidney fell asleep as soon as she got on the bus. Then the bus slammed on the brakes and there went Sidney onto the floor. It was one of those slow motion moments. She didn't even wake up. I got her back on the seat and then sat with her. It was super funny.
8/8/15We stayed in the same hotel as I stayed in last time. A nice little hotel in Lima. However I only slept about an hour. Couldn't settle down and too much noise. I hadn't slept on the plane and I was super tired. We picked up Rusty and Sara, out in country hosts before we left Lima.
We left the hotel at 8 to go back tot he airport. We caught our flight to Cusco and I was asleep before we taxied. The short nap was enough to keep me going in Cusco. Once we got to Cusco we checked in to the hotel, Santa Rosa de Lima Cusco. It is just down the road from where I stayed last time and was in another Catholic school. It is also close to the Plaza de Armas, the main square in town. We ate at a great little sandwich shop that had how and cold sandwiches, soups, pancakes, omelette's, and yogurts. I had a ham and cheese and Sidney devoured an omelet. Cusco is 11,000 feet and Sidney and I both did OK. Slow and breathless but Sidney did brilliant. Not sick at all. Our lunch stop also had wonderful fruit drinks. They were almost like a smoothy but not frozen. Very refreshing. 
After lunch Sidney and I caught up with our beloved friend, David. David was our guide when we were all there for Christmas 2 years ago. We got to see his lovely wife and his cute and very busy son. We had a nice time talking and playing, catching up on each other's lives. We were sitting in the square and Sidney got a lot of attention for her blond hair. Several Peruvian mothers and their children came up to us and requested a picture with their kids and Sidney. She was a sport about it but it was funny.Unfortunately we had to part ways with David. Sidney didn't let go of David's hand for the entire time we were together. He holds a special place in our heart and I think Sidney holds a special place in his.
We took a nice hot shower before dinner, the last one for several days. We ate dinner at a soup place. It was very nice. Sidney had a chicken and rice soup (which I should have had also) and I had a spicy curry soup (mistake). They were very good but mine was too spicy and I paid all night.
On our way home we walked through the Plaza and got to see the ending of a wedding. It was wonderful. Their was a band and lots of people and an old Ford, from sometime in the 30's. We watched the festivities for a while before heading back to the hotel. On our way past the church we picked up a couple of rose pedals that had been used for the wedding. I pressed them in my journal. 8/9/15
We left Cusco after breakfast. We picked up Urpi, our cook and a teacher, and Manuel, our interpreter on the way out of Cusco. The long bus ride to Ayaviri. We had one car sick person on the way up. Sidney and I played games and chatted. We stopped at the same fish place I stopped at before about half way to Ayaviri. We had stopped last time on our way back to Cusco. The fish was just as good as last time. Sidney and I shared but I am not sharing again. I as still hungry and it was sooooo good.
The drive is always interesting. Peru has only one lane in each direction on roads outside of the city. Cars, bike, motorcycles, big trucks, buses and vans all share the road. The quality of the center stripe (dashed or solid) is merely a suggestion to be ignored when passing. It's very scary. The van dropped us off at the Hostel. It was very interesting. The first thing I noticed when we walked in was the bathroom. There was no door and only a half wall. There was a stall with no door, a stall with a door and two urinals with no door. Quite public.
Only 4 rooms in the hotel had bathrooms attached and they were matrimonial (meaning one bed). Sidney and I don't share a bed so we didn't get one of those. I was also freaked out about the bottom floor so I request to be upstairs. So three people were on the bottom floor (one with a bathroom but the shower didn't work), four were on the second floor, and five on the third floor. 
Sidney and I had a weird set of stairs just outside of our doors. So stepping out could bee on one of three levels. I tripped regularly. The place used car wax on the floors. It took several days for the smell to dissipate and a couple of slips to get used to it. We had a ladies bathroom which was just a sink and toilet a few rooms down. It had a toilet seat (yeah). The men's bathroom didn't nor the the ladies room on the other end. There was one shower per floor. After we got settled we headed up to the church to work on some things we would need for Monday and to eat dinner. On our walk we saw a dog on a roof and a chicken on a roof. We decided then that walking was the best because you could see so many interesting things. We had polenta soup and chicken and rice, followed by some tea. We worked on sharpening pencils (100 of them with the most simple and slow sharpeners ever) and cut out pieces for learning games for the English class. We were all very tired and still adjusting to the altitude but we were having fun.
8/10/15
We started our morning with breakfast an a nearby restaurant because the hostel didn't serve breakfast. Sid ate two eggs and two rolls. I ate some cheese and rolls and had some all important coffee. We had four main missions for our trip this time. Teaching English and art to the kids, plumbing and putting the floor in the kitchen, teaching Godly Play and teaching women how to cook both healthily and safely. Three of the men were primarily helping with the kitchen. One had a foot problem and one had more effect from the altitude. And it is hard work to trench the church yard with a pick and shovel. But that got done on the first day. Urpi was teaching a two day class to women from up to a 4 hour radius. The classes were how to use the food available locally to cook healthy and tasty meals. How to use more than rice and potatoes, like carrots, onions, and yucca. She also taught how to cook safely. How to clean after you have used meat and how to use meat effectively in meals. She taught about boiling water and basic first aid.
Two of us and Sidney taught English and art. On Monday we had all the little kids and all the big kids in the morning together. It was 40 kids and the age and capability range was too broad. We sorted that out so that we had the small kids in the morning and the big kids in the afternoon. That also allowed the girls to help in the kitchen, go to Urpi's class or help with and attend Godly Play and the boys to provide much needed help with the physical work on the kitchen. For English we started with colors, numbers, and how to introduce yourself. The older kids had a decent grasp of English but they don't know how to say words correctly. The teachers in Peru who teach English also don't know how to pronounce words.
Lunch was a salad with beans, onions and tomatoes followed by soup and then chicken and rice. Peruvians have a saying, breakfast like a king, lunch like a prince and dinner like a beggar. The biggest meal of the day is breakfast. We did more teaching in the afternoon before hauling out the sidewalk chalk and bubbles. The kids use the sidewalk chalk on the outside of the church buildings because there aren't sidewalks. 
Sidney was very helpful most of the time. She also spent a lot of time playing with the boys mostly. Dinner was chicken and rice with peas and carrots. There is one thing about the evening meal in particular as well as all the soups. There are almost no calories in the food. There is the broth along with the tiniest pieces of carrot and onion and the equivalent of two french fries worth of potato. After dinner we walked home. The hostel had no heat of course but it was much warmer than the one we stayed in last year. There were no outside walls or windows so our hot air from breathing all night warmed the room up nicely. The room was also small. There were 2 twin beds in it and there was only the width of one twin bed between with just enough room at the end of the beds to open the door. The beds were hard as a rock and the pillows about a hundred years old. I used my immersion water heater to heat water in a water bottle that I had cut the top off of and then poured into two drinking water bottles, one for each of us to take to bed. It was time intensive but worth it to have the hot water bottles.
Our sleeping conditions were pretty fine compared to the visiting ladies. They all slept on the floor of the church. They had a few really old and interesting looking mattresses and the outdoor toilets at the church. we were in virtual paradise.
8/11/15
Breakfast was bread and cheese for me again and an egg sandwich for Sidney. Oh and i forgot to mention the cheese was the local cheese referred to ass squeaky cheese. It kind of squeaks when you chew it. I love it but I might be an odd ball. The guys successfully got the new kitchen plumbed yesterday and the trench back filled only to see several leaks this morning. Until the leaks were solved and some other plumbing issues, the floor couldn't proceed past compacting the rock to prepare for the concrete. Numerous small errors from work done before we arrived needed to be fixed.
We had the smaller kids in the morning, 12 and unders. The older girls attended the cooking class or helped in the kitchen. The older boys helped with the outside work. We worked on shapes, colors, days and months with the small ones and then played bingo. We brought several English learning bingo games. There were foods, transportation, school supplies, things in the home and about eight other games. The kids had never played bingo before and to be honest were quite baffled. It was a little slow starting as they tried to hear the English word and find it on their card. And some items aren't familiar, like steak.
Lunch was a potato thing with carrots and shredded chicken in the middle. The potatoes were mashed and then a bottom layer placed in a pan followed by the goodies in the middle and another layer of mashed potatoes. This was followed by sheep soup which was as interesting as last time. It isn't lamb and it isn't cooked well. It is overcooked and dry and a mystery as to what sheep part it is. We had the big kids after lunch and we taught them days and months and then we turned up the heat. We taught them the various sounds that are different in English than Spanish, like h, j, l, ch, sh, th, ch, and wh. We also taught long and short vowels and the basic rules for knowing how to pronounce a word. They are sharp learners and put a lot of effort into learning. At meals they would sit with us and quiz us on English. It was really awesome. After such a tough lesson we started working with the older kids and painting. As everything in class was well under control I had to exercise my hard work skills a bit.
Sidney and I desired a shower and our interpreter said the shower on our floor was fine. You have to pay for hot water so the person running the hostel comes and turns on what is supposed to be an on demand water heater. I suppose the water was not freezing cold like at the hotel we stayed in last year but it was far from warm. Luke warm at best. Sidney didn't much care but even she finally turned into a wet Popsicle. It was nice to be clean but burr.
After our shower we actually got to snuggle in bed for a while and relax. Every other night has been a race to bed. One other interesting note about the Hostel. They actually have a fair number of Peruvians and Europeans who stay. There is no street parking but that doesn't seem to be a problem if you are one of the first 5 vehicles. They just park inside the hostel. And then everyone leaves in the morning.
8/12/15
Because all the older boys were in class, the builders were short handed so I went out and worked with them for a couple of hours shoveling gravel. With one more person we had two shovelers and two wheel barrow runners so every one was moving with efficiency.
However, I ended up with a shovel full of gravel in my face (bad timing) and had to get some big pieces washed out of my eye. Urpi took care of that in front of everyone she was teaching. But I wasn't her first example case. One of our guys had an ingrown toe nail while he was there and it was getting pretty uncomfortable. Urpi had him in front of the class and used one of the super size safety pins the ladies wear which she had sterilized to open the toe and drain the infection. She then got the needle searing hot and cauterized the area. This of course is happening with no anesthetic and our team mate was a trooper. It did help though and he did start to get better. The ladies were taking all sorts of pictures of the person and his foot. It was an excellent opportunity for Urpi to teach some basic first aid skills using what is available locally. We worked hard with the older kids in the afternoon and then we let them paint again. The older kids do amazing work. They pay attention to details and work really hard. In addition to the painting they were doing, the working helping with Godly Play. Godly Play is a way to teach kids bible stories using simple words and paper cut outs and characters. We took 4 set each of Zacheus and Noah. The kits come with several pairs of animals, people, and an Ark to cut out and color. Not only were they cut out and put together perfectly, the quality of the coloring was stunning and the excess creativity displayed. The arks were modified slightly be each group and they all added to the set up with local objects like cloth and wood and stones.
Sidney started to really play with the kids after about two days. They all discovered they didn't need language or toys. Sticks and the buildings and stairs became the toys and play area. They were running, chasing and playing well. One time I also saw her with several of the boys in the church teaching them rainbow loom. She did have occasional trouble but not much.
The men got the floor poured in the kitchen really pretty quickly once the cement mixer was up and running. It was poured and level in a few hours. But its all manual. Everything there is. They pour whole roads with small cement mixers which are gas powered but are movable by muscle power. And all mixing is by eye. No measuring
Us young ones made a break for the market at about 4 in the afternoon. Wednesday is market day and the others had not been to the market in Ayaviri. It was of course fabulous. We tried several fruits (all that you can peel) including one with a hard shell and sweet and sour seedy fruit in the middle. We got called gringos several times and Sidney got attention that she so loves for her hair. We also had some yummy little doughnuts and some other small goodies before the rain, wind and hail came. We got a long enough weather break to walk back tot he church for dinner only to find out there wasn't any dinner. Urpi came through in fine form though to make squash soup for us and rice and syrup for the Peruvians. The soup was fabulous and the Peruvians weren't happy with their meal, not because they didn't get soup but Urpi told the cooks to put very little sugar in the rice and the Peruvians like is sweet. It was pretty funny.
We went to bed very early. With the wind and rain we were chilled to the bone. I made the last set of water bottles and also some tea which we drank out of the half water bottle because i didn't have a cup. We took our last sponge bath and packed to get ready for Puno the next day. Packing was easy. It was either still clean (into the small suitcase) or amazingly filthy (into the large backpack).
8/13
When we got up we realized we had a very sick person on our team with potentially serious lung issues. A plan for his care would develop through the day. Our last day in Ayaviri. We started with breakfast at the usual place but we had fried cheese sandwiches. I must have a high salt tolerance because I thought they were great. Everyone else thought they were too salty. We also had our last mixed juice, papaya and pineapple.
After breakfast we went up to the church up above Ayaviri and the look out. It was surprising how big Ayaviri is. We see only a few blocks when we are working there.
We had a lot of help with our English class in the morning. The kitchen work was as done as our team could do and there was only Godly Play going on. It was really nice to have some extra help with the small ones. And I think the men who hadn't been in the class enjoyed the fun and youthfulness.
We shared our last lunch of soup, meat, veggie salad and potatoes with our Ayaviri team. Then we had our closing ceremony. We left Ayaviri a lovely quilt a church member had made and we had all signed as well as all of our left over supplies and a gift from a team member last year who couldn't come this year. They gave each of us a scarf or shawl. Sidney got a white and purple scarf and I got a green shawl. They will bee worn with joy and love. Three of the older girls also gave some of us their paintings.. Candy gave me hers. Susan gave one to Anya, a team member from last year's and Sandra gave Alyssa hers. They were each lovely and a huge and touching surprise. We said our goodbyes and got on the very slow bus to Puno.
We drove through Julicaca on our way to Puno and I had forgot what a crazy city it was. It started as a small town and never had the infrastructure of Lima. Traffic was insane. Three lanes where two would actually fit. It is not uncommon, actually expected for cars to turn right as a bus or truck is turning right. Sheer craziness.
We went into shock at the Puno hotel. It was the Conde de Lemos Hotel and was maybe $80 per night but amazing compared to where we had been. There were doormen who unloaded our luggage and took it to our rooms. There were glass doors and wood floors. Elevators and heat. Toilet paper and hot water with a shower actually in the bathroom attached tot he room. There was WiFi and breakfast. Utterly overwhelming.
WWe settled in and went to dinner. Sidney and I each had pizza. The others had Kingfish or chicken. It was all yummy and maybe $8 a plate. After dinner we fell into bed.
8/14
Unfortunately my time in bed didn't last. I had an awful night with diarrhea starting at about midnight and not stopping until 7 am. I took the max dose of Imodium to limited avail. This was as sick as I have ever been with travelers diarrhea. I woke out roommate up at 6 to ask if she would go get antibiotic. She actually had some with her so I took a double dose. I would alternate hot and cold and had hardly enough energy to shower. I could do a simple task and then rest. Our very ill person, with breathing problems, headed off to Lima. It was the only thing that would make him better. We were sad to see him go but knew we would see him the next day and also knew it is what he needed to do to get better.
I did get on the boat to go to the islands. I took a single piece of bread and laid down as soon as I got on the boat. I didn't sleep but had a good rest and the antibiotic started to work. I could at least get off the boat and walk around on the floating islands. For one who haven't read our Peru blog post from 2013, we went to Lake Titicaca. It is the highest navigable lake in the world. It is maybe 12,000 feet and is a very big lake, bigger than the Dead Sea. There are islands that have been built of reeds. They float. The island is anchored by a pole so it doesn't float away with the bottom being reed roots with layers of reeds on top. People built these long ago to a escape war and suppression. And people still live on these islands, the islands of Uros. The islands will lady about 25 years. They require new reeds every week. There is solar and wind power. People live in primitive huts of wood or reeds. Sometimes more than 5 people live in a 15 by 15 foot hut. There's is elementary school on the islands and the bathrooms are in central locations where a septic system has been installed. Water is brought back by fishermen from the middle of the lake where the water is clear. Women and men make handy crafts to sell to tourists.
After our. Is it to the floating islands, we went to one of the actual islands in lake. This was a three hour boat ride. I rested again and ate my bread. We had a long steep hike ahead of us. And it was a long hike. I almost didn't make it with no food, dehydrated, and still recovering. But I am glad I went even though I had been before. The group all had traditional fish for lunch. I had rice.
We learned some about the special hats and other clothing worn on the island. The men knot their hats and if it is red and white they are single. When a lady has interest, she will pour water into the man's hat along with inspecting the knitting. If the hat holds water, he is a start of being acceptable. Married men wear a hat, these are like stocking caps in shape, that is always red. The ladies will knit a coca leaf bag for the men. In addition the lady will cut her hair, which likely has never been cut before, to make to weave into a belt she will make for her husband. The belt is like a wedding ring. She will cut her hair again later one more time to make hair extensions for her husband. All ladies wear a black cape or shawl. The single ladies are supposed to wear it with their faces covered except for the eyes. Now the capes are usually only worn at the weddings but single ladies also used to have large poms on the cape where they could put coins to use a weight if needed to defend herself. Married ladies have smaller poms because they don't need to protect themselves.
We also watched how wool is cleaned using the soap made from a cactus. The cactus, more like a succulent is ground to a paste and then put into a small piece of cloth. The wool came out quite clean. 
I didn't notice when we got back on the boat because I needs to rest again but we had another team member who actually needed some oxygen. He was on the oxygen for a few hours but was OK afterwards. So many people needs to get to lower altitude the next day.After we got back to the hotel we needed to find something to get out paintings home in one piece. It was an adventure of going to dozens of stores and asking on bad Spanish for a tube. We finally found one at a poster store. I had found saltines earlier which was allowing me to live.
Sidney and I shared plain spaghetti for dinner, just butter and salt. I needed some simple calories. We went back to our very nice hotel and crashed. We had a late morning the next day so we could sleep and then pack in the morning.
8/15
I slept much better. Sidney of course slept great. I ate two olives and a piece of cheese with my bread and crackers for breakfast. After that we were off to Lima. We talked a both the reeds again on our way out. The reeds are part of a national park. the Uros people maintain the reeds and burn them as needed, much as a farmer would do a field. Some Uros live on land and farm. We stopped at an overlook on the way for Puno to the airport to see the reeds and Puno.
We had a nice bus to Julicaca to the airport. Sidney also got a new lama to replace the one Stormy ate. She named this one silky because he had long hair.
I slept on the plane to Lima. We left the hotel at 10 am for our 28 hours of travel. We wondered about Lima for several hours. We ended our visit at a nice dinner at a great hamburger place. Sidney and I had the best Mac and cheese ever there. That is the other thing the restaurant is known for. Our day would stretch long into the next. Our flight was to leave at 12:35 am. It left at 2:35 am instead. Ugh. Sidney didn't much care. She slept on the U.S. And then slept on the floor (yes hard tile) in the airport. And finally on the plane. I slept for maybe an hour or two on the plane.
8/16
We arrived in Houston fine. I was a little sick again on the plane and wasn't sure Id live to the next flight. Sidney was very helpful and sweet. We were well into our 28 hours of travel and 2 baggage claims down. We made it home, and our final baggage claim at 1:30 pm. We had to pick up Stormy and get groceries. I didn't even unpack. Sidney got to do that the next day while I was at work. We had soup for dinner and went to bed. It would be several more days before I gained my strength back and could eat normal food. I lost 5 pounds overall. Sidney who was fine lost 1.
Yes, we are crazy but we can't wait to go back. We love the people of Ayaviri and the work we do.
I have included a couple of pictures from Sidney's bug camp.
I also need to update on Kirk. I realized that my last post was heart broken, which is how I felt at the time. Mar bridge is a good place and I will try to get Kirk there. There are many hurdles still before that can happen. Last Tuesday I could not separate the anniversary from the pain of finding another place that isn't home and the continued missing of Kirk. It's just not terribly easy still and no mater how good the place is it is still different from our past lives. I am hoping to get Kirk up there for a visit late this week or early next week. It is the next step. I will also be looking at VA homes, I hope.
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