Machu Picchu

On Sunday the 16th we took a taxi ride to Ollantaytambo, which is in the sacred valley between Cusco and Manchu Picchu. In 1537 Manco Inca, who after being a puppet emperor under the Spanish, finally rebelled and held off the Spanish temporarily in Ollantaytambo using the mountain terraced fortress, and the food storage up on the hill. He flooded the valley with water so the Spanish horses were ineffective.  Later when the Spanish forces were reinforced, he pulled back to the thicker jungle area of Vilcabamba. 

From Ollantaytambo we caught the train up to Aguas Calientes which is just 20 minutes from Manchu Picchu (yes, there are hot springs at the foot of Manchu Picchu.) Matt talked history with our driver, and the mountains were beautiful. I slept, so relieved to finally have our bags. 

On the train the kids played cribbage with Matt and I met a young teacher from Brazil. Her accent in Spanish was beautiful and she threw in Portuguese when she didn’t know a word which was quite the new mix for me. It’s been fun connecting with so many people who are traveling. It’s a different breed of adventurers. 

Our hotel in Aguas Calientes was at the top of the town of hotels and restaurants, right next to the hot springs entrance. The town is beautiful, with Incan rock carvings and statues, and beautiful little bridges and patios along the river. One of the bridges even had locks attached to it and it glinted gold in the sun light.

Our first day we had tickets for sunrise (7am) in Macchu Picchu. But first we had to take the 20 minute bus ride up the steep switch backs. Drivers in Peru are an interesting combination. Like much of Latin America, they aren't that interested in traffic rules, and their mountain roads are usually the size of logging roads with only room for one vehicle, so they're using pull outs and squeezing by. Luckily for us, they don't drive as fast as they did in Mexico. I pretended that we weren't on the edge of cliffs, and just tried to enjoy the view. Louis and Josie weren't afraid of anything, Sofia and Matt just didn't look.

Sofia had so much fun watching all the birds and finding all the animals and insects. From the golandrinas that flitted around, to the little lizards, fuzzy bunnies, spiders, and a huge rectangular shaped bug. Sofia found chirping in the rock walls, and we finally decided it must be little bird nests. The wasps at the end of the trail were a bit disconcerting, but luckily they behaved.

 

Our guide wasn’t the most informative. But it all worked out and Matt listened in as the other guides explained things, and Josie and Louis played ice cream and pizza shop in one of the ancient Incan ‘houses.'

My favorite spots were the altar of the condor, and the prayer rock.  The Incan story goes that the Incan priests would take their best coca leaves and blow on them to each of the 3 smaller mountains from this view point.   The offerings of coca leaves were to the Apus, or individual mountain spirits that protected the people who lived below them. 

The 3 mountains they would make these offerings to were; Huayna Picchu (the iconic peak in every photo), Putucusi (on the other side of the Urubamba river, and the next peak over that was connected to Machu Picchu Mountain. Behind these 3 peaks were the entire cordillera, or the Andean mountain range, that went on for ever. You feel so small and in awe of the large greatness and power of these majestic mountains. 

It was quite fascinating the wide range of people that crossed our paths that day. In the early morning at the beginning of our hike, we got to see the sunrise. It was so beautiful. Right beside us was a small group that prayed a call and response prayer to the sun god Inti. 

At the "perfect picture spot" there were all these beautiful women dressed up to the 9's doing pose after pose. On the second day at the picture spot, there were 2 couples that got engaged and everyone started clapping and cheering. It felt like everyone was close friends congratulating the couple, but then I realized that most of them were probably strangers. 

At the end of circuit 1, when we still had the beautiful view of all the mountains, another group read from John 1:1-5 - "In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God..." It seemed perfect and right, and full.

That evening we had crepes for dinner, then changed into our swim suits and trekked up the river to the hot springs. A great ending to a great day. 

Cusco

Cusco - June 13 - 16 and back for one day before heading back to Lima.

Cusco was lovely. We had found a cute little hotel that was an old converted house with a beautiful inner patio with flowers and a view at night time of the Cristo Blanco and the cross up on the hills. It was just 3 blocks from the Plaza de Armas, and close to all the museums, an old Incan aqueduct and impressive Incan walls with figures of the condor, puma, and serpent. 

Matt deemed the best Pisco Sour ever at La Orgánica just down the street, and we found an amazing little local picada, with a feisty little grandma cooking who scared Matt. The restaurant had no name, and they closed for lunch when they ran out of food. they had the best lamb ribs and chicken soup. 

Louis got pretty bad altitude sickness. It took him 2 days to adjust. We were still able to make it up to the planetarium, and learned about the dark constelations of the incans. It is the dark spaces in the Milky Way, and they see llamas, a bird, a frog, and a little shepherd with a sling shot. 

We also made it over to Ollantaytambo and did a very short hike (all the kids could handle at this altitude) with llamas.  The guides showed us how they pack the llamas, and then we herdded them up the hill. They were calm, and much like sheep in their movements. They put bells on 2 of the main males, and they didn’t wander far, never wanting to be left behind. We had a meal of potatoes and fava beans, and Andean corn, baked under rocks in a fire pit. 

Funny story, we tend to not pay too much attention to festivals and timing our trips that way. We are more practical travelers. In Mexico when Matt studied Spanish in Oaxaca for a month we went in November. Our flight back out of Mexico City was the day before the big celebration of la Virgen de Guadalupe.

Turns out in Cusco, one of their biggest celebrations is the Inti Raymi festival, or festival of the sun. The winter solstice is on June 21st here, but the Incas believed the sun stayed in the same spot for 3 days, hence the culmination of the celebration on the 24th. 

For the 3 weeks before the big celebration there is dancing competitions for all ages and parades every day in the main plaza. The costumes were so colorful, and the 8 yo dancers especially energetic. On our last day in Cusco we saw huge papier-mache pieces of art set up to go on parade. 

The interesting thing is that here in Peru you really have 3 very different cultures and regions. The coastal, the Andean mountain or Cordillera, and the Amazonian. 

The 24th was a Monday and the kids were scheduled to start school that day on the coast in Lima. While the Limeños connect to the Andean culture and the Incan roots, and while many people here have imigrated from the mountain regions in search of jobs, it was not the same. At their school on Monday they celebrated el día del campesino, and some kids dressed up with clothes from the Andes. But it was not a big celebration  

Here in Lima they are now revving up for their big celebration of Independence Day on July 28th. Starting July 1st, Peruvian flags start to go up, teachers and kids wear escarapelas (a ribbon in red and white) and there are more circuses and events in Lima this month. The kids get 2-3 weeks off from school and it is like their holiday break in the middle of the school year for them similar to our Christmas break. 

The getting there

So this was Josie’s first time on a plane and Sofia keeps reminding me this was Louis’ 2nd, but the first time I was 6 months pregnant with him, which makes for a really good story, but Louis is definitely not counting it. 

It was a crazy ride for everyone. Not an ideal experience for the first time, but I guess that’s life. Our plane got cancelled in Austin. We made the best of it, and our good family friends John and Cynthia Riddle are in Austin so we stayed the night with them. 

We made it to Miami the next day, waited for a plane that kept getting delayed due to the storm and water on the runway. We finally got on at 9pm, but then the pilots timed out and we all got off and slept in the airport that night. The kids were so exhausted and all I wanted to do was find a spot and make sure they all could sleep. Early the next morning we were on the plane, and luckily were able to smoothly change our flight from Lima to Cusco. Our baggage was not so lucky. It did eventually make it to Cusco, and just in time, the night before we headed out to Machu Picchu. 

Las Islas Ballestas

It is Sunday July 7th. In just 1 more week we will be flying back to Tacoma. We are in Paracas, Peru, a cute little beach town 3 hours south of Lima. it has been so nice to slow down this weekend and build sand castles. yesterday morning we went to the Ballesta islands and saw Humbolt pinguins, arcillos birds and piqueros del mar or Peruvian Boobie birds. It was a fun boat trip. The sea lions of South America come up to these islands in the summer to have their pups. So we spent some time watching a few sea lions. I forget that not everyone has sea lions out their back doors.

Further south there are the Nasca Lines. Huge figures of animals, a hand, etc, in the sand. to really see them you have to go up in a small airplane. They aren’t sure when the lines were made or who made them. There is one we got to see on the way out the islands, they call it the candlabra.

This Afternoon we are going for an adventure ride out into the dunes. The kids are stoked.

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 Hola y Bienvenidos!! 

Life is at a very new chapter since we last posted here. I can hardly believe that Sofia is now 11, Josie is 9 and Louis is 7. 

The other thing I can hardly believe is that this amazing adventure came to fruition. We have been wanting so badly to take the kids to South America while they were still in grade school, but could not see a path forward that would work logistically with all their different ages and other considerations here at school. Then this opportunity in Peru came up, and here we are, just a short time away from getting on that plane. 

The plan is to take lots of pictures, and for the kids to write their memories here as our family online journal. Hope you enjoy! 

Janelle and Matt - Sofia, Josie and Louis

Where are they now?

Wow!  It has been 3 years now since we came back to the States from Chile and said good-bye to the girls at Hogar Ines Riesco Llona.  Many of the girls have had big changes in their lives, with blessings and continued challenges of returning to live with their families.  Others have been adopted into a new family.  We wanted to share with you some of their stories.  

Not every story has a perfect ending, several situations continue to be far from ideal.  These girls have led very difficult and emotionally chaotic lives.  While working on this post, I realized that if I only told the exciting 'successful' stories, it would not be true to myself or to the girls.  Each story is meaningful because each child is relevant and important.  This is the real fabric of their lives.  (To protect the girls' privacy, I have not used all their names.)

God encounters us in the messiness of our humanness, and it is here that we find testaments to the power of love.  If we are not willing to 'be' in the messiness, we miss the full beauty of the miracles that happen within. 

Millaray Returned home to live with her Grandmother.  While living at the Hogar she was failing all of her classes.  Now that she is back with her grandmother, she has blossomed, she isn't as angry and she is now getting a B average in all her classes.

About 10-15 of the girls have also all returned home with family.  As in Millaray’s case, many of the girls found more security and stability in returning home.  In several of the families, however, alcohol continues to have a significant negative impact on the parent’s ability to provide for their family and to be present and parent the children. 

One of our sister pairs who were able to return home with their parents lost their mother the next year. Their father struggles with addiction and was unable to take care of the girls.  The older sister is now living with her boyfriend.  The younger sister is living with a school teacher who opened up her heart and her home to her. 

Two of the youngest girls were adopted in 2011 by Chilean families.  Yocemberg returned to visit the Hogar after a few months. Her 4 hour temper trantrums were gone, she was calmer and more confident. By the simple act of someone saying ‘I will love you always,’ she was a transformed child. 

Ruth was adopted by a couple from Spain.  It is amazing that someone so far away could love Ruth so much that, before ever meeting her, they loved her completely and took her as their own.  What a beautiful reflection of God’s love for us, complete and unearned. 

Javiera and Tania were both adopted by their 'apoderados,' a family that provided weekend respite and mentorship for the girls. This is especially unique in Javiera’s case as she was older at 11, and adoption is rare at this age.  Her adoptive family applied to adopt her 3 times before the judge granted the adoption.  They never gave up on her.

A handful of the girls continue on at the Hogar, along with the new children who have come to the Hogar.  There are 17 girls in all and most of them are much younger.  There is only one teenager still living at the Hogar, which has been a lonely and challenging road forward.

Cynthia left the Hogar to live with her boyfriend and his grandmother.  She had a beautiful little girl in December of 2012.  With the continued support and encouragement of the Sisters, she started school again last March.  

The true miracles, interwoven into these girls lives, are miracles of love and love’s transformative power.  When we witness love’s power, it can inspire us to love more intentionally and more deeply.  

Thank you to everyone who has accompanied us on this journey, and especially to the girls of Hogar Ines Riesco Llona.  You have all taught us to love more deeply.

Christmas Tidings

Merry Christmas everyone!

Wishing you all a Christmas full of love, joyful expectation, and Christ's peace that passes understanding.  What a beautiful season this has turned out to be, and how blessed we have been, with so much love, family, and new beginnings.

Both Matt and I have been blessed with the gift of work, and believe me we both understand just how blessed we are in this economy.  I started on as a social worker at a nursing home in Federal Way (just North of Tacoma.)  I'm doing mental health and crisis management, and helping people on rehab return home safely.  I had no idea how much this job would keep me on my toes. There is definitely never a dull moment!  Matt is a supervisor at a small factory in Lakewood (just South of Tacoma) with a company called Greatwide where they repair pallets.  He's enjoying the smaller atmosphere, more leeway for making his own decisions and the bliss of having 1 boss instead of 6.  He's getting to use a lot of his Spanish, and learning the invaluable Mexican idioms and dialect differences.

It has been so nice to be home and share Christmas with our families again, and all the little things about Christmas in the US that are so North American, like snowdrifts, candy canes, Christmas carolers, and old Dean Martin favorites.  It has been so wonderful to share in the excitement of the season with our nephews for the first time, and to just cherish each special moment.  Being able to go to Aiden's Christmas program was precious.  He was so animated and had so much fun.  No one can replace our girls in Chile, but it's amazing what a dose of the kidos with all their wonder and excitement can do for a home sick girl.

Still, I can't help but wonder what the girls are up to, how they're doing, or think about their beautiful smiles... especially now - not only is it Christmas, but Summer vacation just started!  Many of you have been asking if we have heard how the girls are doing.  We have sent down cards, and a big Christmas package too, but haven't been able to call much, so we don't have many details.  The girls have been doing well though.  They have all been going to full day school with more time to complete their class work at school.  Last year the girls would only have about 4 hours at school, and would have to catch up the additional class work at home - in other words an OVERDOSE of homework.  More of the girls have been involved in after school activities too and really enjoying that time.  Paloma was able to return home with her mother a few months ago, and we are so happy for her.  It was a big step, and I know that it was a good one.  We'll keep you posted as we hear more!

Sister Rosita finally got the money for the playground toy through to the Chilean account on December 15th.  She is hoping to get everything built and in place as soon as possible.  The first step will be preparing the ground site, flattening the little hill out, getting the retaining wall in, and putting down the pea gravel.  We will keep you all posted on the progress. Every time I talk with her, or write her, she always asks me to thank EVERYONE who helped make this possible, and all the generous donors.  The girls are so excited and so thankful!!! It's hard to believe that just last Christmas the dream was just beginning to form.  Very soon it will be a reality!  It really means a lot.  So thank you all again soooo much!

We hope that this has been a beautiful Christmas for all of you as well, and that you have found the time to slow down, cherish the moments, and reflect on the beautiful miracle of His birth. May the joy and love that welcomed Him into the world all those years ago, embrace you today and always.

Blessings and much love, to you and all your loved ones.
Love,
Janelle and Matt