Machu Picchu: A 15th century Incan Estate

I finally decided to finish sharing pictures from our Peru trip with some pictures of our day in Machu Picchu, the old 15th-century Incan ruins, almost 8000 feet above sea level. They were only discovered about 100 years ago, being so remote and so high up in the mountains. 

The night before we stayed in a small Andean town in an old hotel inside the train station. 

This may be my current favorite picture of my sweet girls.
Ready to board the train.

We took a train ride through the beautiful countryside and arrived to the main town below the ruins. The girls were probably most excited about the train.

We took a 30 minute bus ride up the side of the mountain to arrive at the gates of Machu Picchu. 

Beautiful countryside.

What fascinated me the most was how high up we were. How did they get these rocks up this high?

Incredible!

Michael explaining to Ellie about this really old village.

A really, really, old, big rock called "Sacred Rock."

We were literally above the clouds.

The girls were troopers walking around.

This was definitely an experience we won't forget, though the girls won't remember it beyond some pictures. We're not sure when and if we'll have an opportunity to travel again to Peru, so this was a special trip for us.

We Survived Year 1

We landed in Guatemala in April of last year. 

On the plane to Guatemala

We’ve lapped the one year mark.

These girls have changed so much in a year.

Our first week in Guatemala

How have we changed? Who are we, one year later?

It’s been a dense year, full of changes in culture, lifestyle, language, 3 home moves, a steep learning curve to a very demanding job, watching our 9 month-old and 2 year old grow in confidence and language skills, and, not to be overlooked, learning to work together as a couple.

Often change happens so slowly that we can’t name it until there’s a stark contrast from “before.” 

So, how have we changed?

-We eat meat again. I still don’t cook with it at home but we eat out regularly with our travel schedule and the girls really love chicken.

-We continue to think about what it means to live with less. We downsized to 8 duffel bags to move to Guatemala, and then inherited a house full of items from past MCC workers. I am more aware of how much we have in excess than what we lack, especially compared to people we come into contact with every day.

-Simple things like brown sugar from the States bring a lot of joy. After months of putting up with weird brown sugar here, my life is changed for the better because I can enjoy the flavor of my oatmeal again, thanks to my in-laws bringing me packages of brown sugar from the States. 

Goodies from the States I don't get here.

-I’ve heard that personalities change in different languages, and that seems to be true for us. Normally a verbal processor, I don’t have many English speakers with whom I can talk with freely, besides my husband. This has been extremely difficult since I don’t speak Spanish super well, and especially not to the level where I can express myself like I often would like. I’ve become more introverted, quiet, less chatty in group situations. In contrast, because of his high level of Spanish, Michael has stepped up and become more outgoing, intentional in conversation, and to most people here is much less the introvert. I wonder if 4 more years of this pattern will form and shape us more permanently? 

-We don’t get many date opportunities. In the States, we had our occasional dinner out away from the girls and even a couple nights, thanks to trusted friends in Fresno. Here, we have left the girls exactly 3 times, twice after they were in bed for a couple hours where someone stayed in the living room, and once over night when their aunt and uncle were here. We have less freedom to make time for ourselves as a couple. That has a multitude of implications. 

-My girls are amazingly adaptable. They've adopted to life and language and frequent traveling with so much ease.

 -I care less about certain material things. We are still American consumers, and with a bounty of opportunities to partake in American stores, (Costco, Sears, fancy malls), we can still easily get caught up in “stuff” here. But, there’s been a shift. I’m rarely on Pinterest, except when I need to find a specific recipe. I don’t look for how to make my house “nice.” I already live in abundance, even if all my things are mismatched or partially glued together. My girls don’t have a well painted, smartly-decorated room with matching bedspreads and wall hangings and floor rugs. Yet they’re still happy.

-It’s hard for me to take “first world problems” seriously when Guatemala has one of the highest country chronic malnutrition rates in the world (usually swings between #3 and #4). Many people in this country don’t have access to clean water or basic food. I just can’t care that you found a good deal on those expensive shoes that could have fed families here for weeks. I'm not judging, I just don't know how to share that joy.

-We greet everyone with a kiss on the cheek. It’s a habit now. 

-We lock our doors in the car every where we drive.

-We don’t always wear our seat belts.

-Though both my girls are almost always in their carseats (and my 22 month-old is still rear-facing), there are times when at least one of them is unbuckled, sitting on my lap. This is a common reality here and doesn’t induce panic in this safety-mongering mom like it did when we first arrived. Sometimes it’s simply more practical. Either Ellie sits on my lap, or I force someone to sit in the truck bed. Fortunately, for my own sanity, Hazel has very rarely not been in a car seat. She’s just too squirmy. 

-I’ve learned how to make popcorn in a pot on the stove, without my beloved Whirley Pop, how to use a pressure cooker to cook beans in an hour (this was a major paradigm shift), and how to to knead dough by hand without my KitchenAid. 

Our MCC Office

-It’s hard to be a part-time worker and a full-time mom. Really hard. I haven’t figured out yet how to do it well. I'm not sure I will ever figure it out.

-I’ve learned living in another country can be exciting, scary, comfortable, uncomfortable, challenging, and life-changing.

Adventuring together in Peru last month.

So far, it's been worth it.

Cusco, Peru

More from our South America trip:

We spent a night in Cusco, Peru, an old Incan town that has become one of the top tourist destinations in Peru.

There are lots of old churches built in the 1500s 

These rocks were put here hundreds of years ago by the Incans. They had an uncanny ability to fit together these perfectly placed stones, but no one really knows how they did it (there are many theories.)

Touching a humungous Incan stone.

This woman was charging money to take her picture with her sheep. 

Being tourists.

Old church, with a Starbucks right next door, (which we visited a few times during our stay in Cusco).

Chasing birds in the plaza.

Family time.

And then there was this chocolate bar, called Sublime (made by Nestle).
Apparently it's only in Central/South America, but Michael grew up eating it as a very special treat when he lived in Peru/Bolivia. He was so excited to find these that we bought 2 whole boxes of them.

Strolling through the market.
Mostly, Hazel playing with rocks.

Lima, Peru

Part 3: Lima, Peru

We stopped in Lima to visit with some friends from college.

View of Lima

We went to an amazing buffet of Peruvian food. I had no idea there were so many good flavors in Peru. 

Hazel enjoyed the buffet, too.

Throwing rocks with our friends. 

Chucking rocks.

Family photo opportunity.

The Chapmans and the Cantralls.
Michael and Kelsey spent part of their childhood together in Peru when their families were missionaries, so it was fun to be there together with our kids more than 25 years later.

5:30 AM at the airport, heading to Cusco.
A friendly neighbor made them balloon animals while we waited. 

Hazel is pretty comfortable on the plane.
Headed to Cusco, Peru and Machu Picchu.

Bolivia: Food and Mud

Our trip to Bolivia, Part 2

French fries (and other forms of potatoes) are a staple food in parts of Bolivia. 

Also, a root called Yucca. We had some delicious "sopa de mani" (peanut soup) with french fries sprinkled on top.

Then there are chuños (Choon-yoze). I had heard about these from Michael as he remembers eating them growing up in Peru as a little boy. They are freeze-dried balls of potatoes.

Ellie's apprehensive face summarizes how I felt about them too. Not my favorite.

On one of our last days of our meetings we went to visit a low-German Mennonite colony, which MCC Bolivia partners with. There are groups of conservative Mennonites who live in Bolivia, Belize, and Mexico. They live simply, much like the Amish communities in the US.

We ate purple fruit soup, a Mennonite dish.

 On our way back from a visit to a Mennonite cheese factory, it started to rain.

And then this happened:

 We were stuck in the mud in a very large van, or more like a mini-bus. Our group was divided into two buses, and both got stuck.

The men tried to help push the first bus out of its rut. 

Mostly, their shoes got really dirty.

We quickly realized that these vehicles weren't going anywhere.

 Luckily, some friendly low-German Mennonites passed on by and decided to try to help us.

They went to the mayor's house down the road, who recently acquired a very large tractor. In these communities, as part of a commitment to live simply, the tractors and anything with wheels usually only have the metal rims (they take off the rubber tires). Fortunately for us, this tractor was so new it hadn't lost its rubber tires yet. (I didn't get a picture of the tractor).

After being drug out of the first spot, the tractor attached both of our buses together. We began to dovetail and ended up in some bushes:

I was nervous but everyone assured me we couldn't tip over. I had a hard time believing them.

 While we waited to be rescued, the girls watched a movie. They were fairly oblivious to our position.

Eventually, the mayor drug the first bus down the dirt road, out of the mud, and to the paved highway. He returned to bail out the large milk truck that was also stuck before dragging us out to the highway. In total, we were delayed almost two hours. It could have been worse. We could have been stuck in there all night. It definitely made our Bolivia trip more memorable.

Next, we headed to Lima and Cusco in Peru.

Santa Cruz, Bolivia

A few weeks ago we traveled to Bolivia and Peru. Here's the first post in a series I'm hoping to do from our trip.

Bolivia, Part 1

The first week we were mostly in Santa Cruz at a retreat center for meetings. While we were in meetings all day the girls had fun with the other kids. Unfortunately, I didn't get a group shot of the kids this year. Here's Ellie with the daughters of the reps from Nicaragua. They were buddies all week, just like last year.

Watching Frozen

 Just under a year ago we arrived in Guatemala in time for these same meetings, held here in Guatemala. It's fun to see how much some of these kids have changed in one year.

Guatemala, April 2013

We stayed at a place with a pool and a slide. 

It took some convincing, but eventually Ellie went down the slide with Daddy. Victory!

 And, a few more pictures of the kiddos in Santa Cruz:

The son of other reps, and Hazel's little buddy. We became reps around the same time as them and the family of the girls in the picture up above, so we will be seeing each other at least once a year (or more) over the next 4 years. It's going to be fun to see how much they grow and change.

Buddies. 

 Bolivia, Part 2: Mud and Food, coming soon.