Paracas Party

Hello again. I am trying to stick it out and blog regularly-ish until we leave...it’s not working out too well, as you can see.

This past Wednesday, March 17, we went on a family day trip to Paracas, Peru. We had wanted to visit here and had been looking forward to it since February. Paracas is about three hours south of Lima (driving) and is home to a national marine reserve and also really nice beaches.

We woke up at 3:30 to get ready. Our driver, Javier, picked us up at our apartment in a 16-passenger van. Just for us! Never had I been so glad of a big family in my life! ha. Javier waited for a while and then drove to another part of Lima for another lady who was coming. I thought she was just a passenger, but it turns out, Ursula was a tour guide! Big family strikes again!

We started on our three-hour ride. It was weird to see the roads so empty. Once we got outside of Lima, everything was just dirt. Hills and hills of dirt-sand stuff. We also saw a lot of “los pueblos jovenes,” or shantytowns. About thirty years ago in Peru, the Shining Path terrorists were killing many people in the mountains. As a result, those Andean mountain families moved to Lima in masses. There were no places for them to stay, so they just camped out pretty much where there were open spaces. The houses were just tin walls and roofs, not very good living spaces at all. Some of those communities are in Lima, like Pamplona Alta. But these homes were in the middle of nowhere! It was weird. Then there were new houses (still small and brick) in clumps. Ursula told us that some politicians give money to help build the houses (to earn support). Then the people paint the politicians’ names on the sides of their houses. I guess it’s a win-win situation.

We arrived in Paracas after at about 7:30. Ursula led us to the port to get in line for our boat ride. Dad wrote all our names down on a list, on which you had to say your nationality. It was pretty cool to see that there were people there from Germany, Russia, and the Netherlands! Then we got on the boat. It seated about 30 people I think, give or take a few. The boat guide spoke in Spanish and then in English, so I was very thankful for that. We went about fifteen minutes (motor boat) to an island with some Nasca lines! No one knows who made them or why, but they think that an ancient civilization used it for orientation (a sort of landmark that helped them know where they were). It was pretty cool. Nasca (with the famous Nasca lines in the ground) is within 3 hours of Paracas. Next we went to a bigger island, called Guano Island. It was rightfully named. I felt sick at the overwhelming stench of bird doo. It was rather large island with thousands of birds. I am not exaggerating for once. There were literally thousands of pelicans and seagulls. I am surprised no one on the boat got pooped on; there were many seagulls flying over us all the time. Way cooler than the birds were the sea lions! Yes, sea lions in their natural habitat! It was extremely awesome. They were lying on the rocks, and we even saw some in the water around the boat. We literally got 5 or 6 feet away from them! Later we stopped by a swimming lesson. A mother sea lion was teaching her baby how to swim! The pup was only about a foot long and could only doggie-paddle with its head above the water. Once, the mother disappeared, and the baby was swimming around, calling for it. Then suddenly, the mom popped up right next to the pup and barked. It was just really cool! We also saw the nursery, where all the pups were. There were females watching them, and also males. The males were just fighting, not watching the babies. Typical. That whole beach was really loud; all the barking and the wailing made it sound like something out of a horror film.

After the amazing boat ride, we decided to go onto the marine reserve. I was thinking that there was nothing to reserve because all of it was just hills and hills and stretches of this weird sand-dirt stuff. I cannot believe that people lived there. “Barren” is a good name for it. But the Paracas civilization did exist; they found a cemetery in a couple of the sand hills. The mummies are now in a national museum. The sand is good for something: sand boarding. It’s like boogie boarding, except on sand. A lot of people go to Ica (an hour away) to do that because the sand is softer there.

After taking pictures at some viewpoints, we all spent some time on the beach. It was refreshing to play in the waves for a while, but hiking up the enormous sand hill was not so fun. Following the beach, Ursula and Javier led us to a little cove on one end of the reserve. It was so cute!! There were three little seafood restaurants and a small bay with more of the sparkling sapphire waters. The seafood (“chita,” or rock fish) was really good. Probably because it was fresh—they still had a tray of freshly-caught fish on the counter. Then we sat by the water and watched Rebekah and Elijah swim. (The water was way too cold for my liking.)
On our way home, we got caught in some rush hour traffic (so frustrating!) but that was it. A long day, but extremely beautiful and restful. I really loved Paracas!

Yes, I am alive.

Sorry about not posting for a while! We actually have not been doing that much. This past Saturday we didn't really do that much because my dad was just getting back from Puno, Peru. Puno is high up in the southern mountains of Peru. It is also home to Lake Titicaca, the highest freshwater lake in the world (15,000 feet!). The lake is so south that it shares a border with Bolivia (but the lake is really big, so it isn't like Dad was right next to Bolivia...). He is now in Tarapoto, Peru. It's another jungle area. He showed us a video of a tapir from a reserve...SCARY ANIMAL. Seriously, it's really gross and weird.

We only have two more weeks here! I really can't believe it. Actually I can because it feels like we have been here a really long time. Some guy thought we were Peruvian! I was like YES! But then I guess it was just him because we must look pretty non-Peruvian. We were in a taxi on the way to Reina de la Paz, and there was a lot of traffic, so we were really close to other cars. Another taxi pulled up beside us, and the driver kind of looked at us for a minute. Then he smiled and was like, "Hi!" (People are always wanting to try out their English.) Mom waved and said "hi" back. It was funny; that happened to us before.
Reina de la Paz (the teen mom home we go to on Tuesdays) has been going pretty well. The girls are starting school again, so the kids are in the daycare now. We didn't really get to interact with them that much. The head worker put me and Dad and Raul (our taxi driver) to work! Dad laid down foam squares on the floor. Then I glued foam to the wall. Add some plastic balls, and the daycare has a ball pit! It's a really good idea! I almost died from inhaling too much glue fumes, though. The stuff was like rubber cement times ten! Plus the area was kind of enclosed. It was worth it to see the babies' faces, though. The daycare has all of the girls' babies, but then they also take in ten kids from the community too! That is a lot of work, but the nannies are awesome.

There was a little girl there who only had one eye. Her dad was fighting with her mom, and he started to beat the mom up. Then he kicked the little girl in the face. Doctors had to remove her eye, I guess. It was really sad and hard. Who is so low that they would kick an adorable, precious two-year-old? I mean, really. The mom is in another teen home like Reina called Domi. The homes are working to try to get an eye for the girl, whose name is Fiorela. Cute name, just like the kid. Seriously, she is so precioius. Please pray for her and her mom. And the dad, although it's hard for me to say that. But I guess he needs a lot of help too.

It's tough seeing all those little kids who need help here. We saw another little boy selling candy yesterday. He just had a big bag of individually wrapped candy. Mom gave him our lunch leftovers and some money. I wanted to take him home with us. All the kids who sell stuff on the street have vacant looks in their eyes. If I had my way, I would have about 100 Peruvian children by now. Probably more.
So it's tough, but we are making it. Two weeks, wow. I remember when we had 70 days left. But now we are practically Peruvian, so it's cool :)
I will post more...probably about food...Thanks for your prayers!
Mags:)

Saturday Fun

This past Saturday we went back to the Indian Market to get souvenirs. Very touristy, gotta love it.
The Indian Market is within walking distance, so of course we walked. It was a nice day but very, very warm. When the sun comes out, Lima becomes very warm. We walked through some neighboring apartment regions to a main street that leads to Parque Kennedy. I think I have blogged about it before, that it's the center of Miraflores and everything. Lots of shops surrounding the main green area. Yeah, I think I did. So we walked there, and then you have to go down a couple of side streets and stuff, and then you turn onto the long street lined with markets. There are little shops selling paintings and Incan things too. A lot of the shops and stores before the Indian Market are filled with decoration things--rugs, paintings, wall hangings, jars, sculptures, etc. And a lot of it is in the Incan style stuff (like the stereotypical native Peruvian patterns).
There are two main markets, the Indian Market and the Inka Plaza. They are across the street from one another. The Inka Plaza is a little smaller and spread-out than the Indian Market. I personally like the Indian Market better. The deal about the prices is that 1) you can bargain to get the price you want, and 2) the prices are pretty darn good. When you figure it out, you can get a t-shirt for like mmmm well they ask for 25 soles, but that's a little high. Twenty-five soles comes out to around maybe 9 bucks?? So 9 dollars for a t-shirt is pretty good. Purses go for around 20 soles (around 7 dollars). Soccer jerseys are pretty well-priced also. Love it! I could look around there for a long time if I was a shopper. But alas, I am not. So I was pretty tired after spending 3 hours at the Inka Plaza with my family. But we got a lot of stuff done, so that was good.
Next we took a taxi over to Larcomar (the mall by the sea and within walking distance of our house). The kids grabbed a couple of tables in the shade while Mom and Dad ordered food. Not just any food--Pardo's Chicken. I had never tried it before, but I had heard about it. Now I can understand why. It was amazing. Rotisserie chicken, french fries, salad, and Inca Kola made my day. Inca Kola is an amazing soda found in Peru. It's bright yellow and tastes kind of like a bubblegum cream soda...?? Mmm I don't know how to describe it, but it's really good. We ordered a lot of food but ate a lot of it. I was glad we had leftovers; a lady with her family asked for the leftover package as we were walking out. Dad was glad to give it to her, and the woman was very grateful. I felt bad that we didn't have more to give her. But you can never be totally prepared, you know?
I had a pretty good day with my family. Good company and good food make for a great time. Despite almost dying of heat stroke and starvation in the market (kidding!), it was good :) I will post pictures soon. I think I might do an entire post about the food...
Mags :)