MORE ON PERU

PERU

You should forgive Mrs.T if this is her second story about Peru although it sounds as if maybe is should have been first.  I think that she was so enthralled about the trip to Machu Picchu that she had to get that out right away.  She had a very nice vacation with her sisters and other family.

This story has been somewhat delayed due to some significant health issues suffered by the editor.  He is on the mend now.  I heartedly thank family and members of the Jacarandas community for all their support and well wishes during that time.  Perhaps the next issue of the newsletter will have a description.

Well, onto Rebecca's account of other aspects of her trip:

Rita and I flew to Peru to visit our niece Alana and her family.  Her husband Charlie works for the state department at the American Embassy in Lima. They have two little girls, the eldest is Mia and the youngest one is Madeline.  I couldn't resist!  (You try to decode that statement.  -dt)

Alana was the perfect hostess she had lined up all different kinds of things for us to see and do.  Charlie was funny and charming.  Having three sexagenarians as guests - Ruth was already staying with the family - might have challenged many but we all got along well.  We always felt welcome.

Alana's helper Miss Flor had just taken a month off.  This left the girls in the situation of having to get their own breakfasts.  They did not miss being waited on so much as just the attention.  As I was the earliest riser among the old ladies I ate with them.  I entertained them and they me.

"Why do old people take so many pills?" one of the girls asked as she watched me sort my pill bottles.

"Maybe because they hurt so much," I replied

"They hurt soo much!," Madeline, who is going through a parrot phase replied sympathetically.

Of course with parrot children you have to be very cautious what you say because it will be spouted back at you often at unfortunate times.  

"What are the pills for?" they asked.

"Well, these are for my tummy, these are for arthritis, these are for anxiety, these are for being sad, these ---"  I was interrupted.

"Why are you sad, Aunt Rebecca?" Mia asked'

"Because she hurts soo much," Madeline replied.

The causes of depression are many and complicated so I just nodded in agreement and continued with the list.

"These are for when old ladies feel too hot, these are for my heart, and these are vitamins," I concluded.

The girls helped me pick out a purple vitamin out of my jar of over the counter medicines.  It is sometimes hard for me to pick one out because of my shaky hands.

"Why are your hands so shaky, Aunt Rebecca?" Mia asked.

"Well I don't know," I replied.  "Why do you suppose that is?"   I almost never refuse to answer questions from children; if I don't know I admit it.  Sometimes their insights are quite amazing.  However in this case not so.

"Because you hurt soo much," Madeline replied.

The girls helped me get my breakfast.  They brought me a banana.  Mia very carefully poured me some lemonade.  They helped me pick out my cereal.

"This kind is really good," Mia explained, "this kind is OK, and this kind tastes bad, only Madeline will eat it!"

"I really don't like it either," Madeline confessed. (!)

I chose the really good kind. And it was really good.  We were ready to start our day.  Most of my days started this way except by the third day the girls were telling me "that pill is for your tummy; that one is for anxiety, etc."

Rita, Ruth, and I ate our way around Peru.  The food was excellent and exotic.  We ate local fruits  that we had never seen.  Some we liked a lot; some was barely palatable.  I had somehow expected that being another Spanish speaking country the food would be similar to Mexican but it was not.  I did however refuse to eat guinea pig.  They are just too cute and fuzzy.

I did try the pink beer.  It was okay if you like beer.  They make it from purple corn. The corn in Peru is in short fat ears with very large kernels. It comes in a lot of different colors.  The amazing thing is the size of it when they pop it like popcorn.

We went to a horse show of a special breed of Peruvian horses.  These horses have only one gait. They lift each leg one at a time. To go faster they do it faster.  It is beautiful to see them.  This gait is very smooth.  These horses are born knowing to walk and run this way.  They do not trot or gallop.  They brought out a colt and sure enough he pranced around the same way.  While we were watching they brought us French fried yucca leaves with a yellow fruit sauce.  We loved it!  We had a feast at the hacienda after the show.  

The feast had all different kinds of food.  We sampled as many as we could.  There were many potato appetizers.  They featured little squares of mashed potatoes of different colors with little shrimp, veggies, meats on top.  We thought it was a little odd that they would color their potatoes bright purple, bright pink, bright green, and bright yellow.  But we were wrong.  They have over three hundred kinds of potatoes of all different colors.  I think this was where I had a pink lemonade smoothie which was made with cooked purple corn.  It was delicious.

Every day was a different adventure.  We visited a really neat museum,  Larco or something like that.  It had signs in lots of different languages; to find one in English we looked for one beside the Union Jack.  As a visually challenged old person I wished the printing was a little larger.  We visited different sites of native peoples.  We rode on the top of open air tour bus.  Charlie took us on a tour of the embassy which was interesting as well as inspiring.  Rita and I took a pottery class.  And everywhere we went we shopped.  We felt it was our duty to support the local economy.  And we were enthusiastically dutiful.  (She certainly was, including duties on the item she had shipped to the condo.  -dt)

In the evenings we entertained the younger generations with stories of our youth.  I soon noticed a disturbing pattern in these reminiscences.  They all seemed to feature "Aunt Rebecca" doing strange or embarrassing things when she was very young.  (She is still at it.  -dt) Well!  I had some memories of my own.  I then related the sad tale of my childhood.  I was the youngest of three girls.  Before the advent of video games we had to amuse ourselves.  I always got the short end of the stick.  When we played house Ruth was the mother, Rita was the father, and I was the child.  When we played school Ruth was the teacher, Rita was the principal, and I was the bad child.  When we played church Ruth was the song leader, Rita was the preacher, and I was the congregation.  When we played doctor Ruth was the nurse, Rita was the doctor, and I was the sick child.  When we played Christmas Ruth was Mary, Rita was Joseph, and I was Baby Jesus.  Unfortunately this did not work out too well because Ruth and Rita somehow managed to stuff me into the manger where we fed our cows but they could not get me out.  They went away and left me!!  Although I can't recall, I imagine our Mother was not pleased.  Charlie said I should be thankful we did not play funeral because I would certainly have been the corpse.  At any rate these stories had a rapt audience with the girls.  Whether we will regret it remains to be seen.

Subsequent to Mrs.T's departure the remainder of the clan went on to explore the Amazon River jungle area of Peru.  I have included just a few pictures from that part because there are better pictures of the girls, Alana, and Charlie:

https://www.flickr.com/gp/9151458@N07/WJ8SJ2

We will be seeing you folks up north before too long.  It looks like rain is in the forecast.

Dan and Rebecca

www.casa-de-terrible.blogspot.com

Casa de Terrible www.casa-de-terrible.blogspot.com Rebecca thought she would write another story about our recent travels in England. (Please visit our blog space www.casa-de-terrible.blogspot.com if you did not see ...

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Mrs. T's Southern Adventure

As most of you know we are currently in residence at our Mexican home.  We will return north in time for Rebecca to see her flowers begin to bloom and to file our taxes.  But while here Rebecca decided to make a trek to Peru to scratch an item off her bucket list.

The genesis of this trip is a bit convoluted.  Mrs.T's sister Ruth - she has not appeared in our newsletter often - has a son-in-law who works for the U.S. State Department and is currently posted in Peru.  Rita, the third sister, was already visiting here and the three sisters decided they would gather in Peru for a get together.  (Your editor decided the stress would be too much and stayed at home. -dt)  The trip was greatly aided by Charlie and Alana who did a splendid job and much of the heavy lifting to coordinate things.  Many thanks.

Here is the story:

The Three R's (Readin' Ruth, 'Ritin' Rita and little 'Rithmetic Sue - that's me - ride again.  My sisters and I journeyed to and around Peru visiting family, seeing the sights, and enjoying the different culture.  The people were very friendly and seemed to enjoy us also.  

Ruth and I climbed the Inca ruins at Machu Picchu.  (Rita was unable to make that part of the trip.  -dt)  First you ride this small train.  Then you come to a village that exists solely to prey upon the tourists.  Note the picture of Ruth and I wearing Inca crowns.  You may imagine that with age comes a sense of dignity.  Wrong!  Adam who is Ruth's son and a fireman came along.  He was really sweet about carrying our bags, took lots of pictures of us, and helped us up and down steep places.  (He is the tall bald guy in several photos.  -dt)

There were lots of steep places around Machu Picchu which is in the Andes Mountains.  Ruth and I were worried about altitude sickness.  So we took altitude pills, and oxygen pills which our niece gave us.  We also drank vile tasting coca tea which was supposed to give us more energy. And finally whenever we felt a little tired or out of breath we sucked coca candies.  The coca tea and candy are made from the same plant as cocaine.  I know nothing about cocaine, but if it tastes as bad as the tea I don't see how anyone could become addicted.  Something in all of our pharmacopeia must have worked because Ruth and I climbed up and down approximately two million, seven hundred eighty-two thousand, three hundred and nine very tall steps.  Here is a question.  If the Inca were a short people - and we know they were because they made short doors in their buildings - why did they make such tall steps?

Ruth and I, after a light breakfast and several cups of coca tea rode the bus up the mountain.  Adam had risen at some ridiculous hour and skipped up the mountain to view the sunrise from the top!  We, however, wended our stately way, propped up by two canes apiece.  Ruth carried a small backpack with two bottles of water.  I had my pockets stuffed with coca candies and soles, Peruvian money.  (R might be in the hoosegow if she brought those coca leaves and candies back with her.  -dt)

As we approached  the gate we were accosted by several guides.  "I am the perfect guide for you ladies," one claimed.  We viewed him suspiciously.  He looked very young and fit; perhaps we needed someone older and slower.  "I know lots of shortcuts so you can go to the important temples without climbing so many steps," he claimed.  "I know lots of flat stones you can sit on if you get tired."  "I will go very slowly and stop so you can rest and take pictures," he promised.  This was the guide for us!  After some brief dickering as to the price we took off.

The air was thin and cool.  The tall mountains touched the sky.  The great stone wings of the Condor sky god pointed from his temple to his lofty realms.  People of many tribes and races come to Machu Picchu.  What do they seek: a new experience, a different sight?   Ruth and I slowly made our way across the terraces, stopping now and then to rest on flat stones.  We climbed the tall steps to to see the temples.  The stone walls remained with empty windows facing down over the terraces to the valley.  Llamas grazed contentedly as the passing of centuries did not concern them.  We breathed the clear cool air.  Then we went down.

Rebecca did not take any pictures but other members of the party did - 1500+ in all.  I culled through them and picked a representative handful:

https://www.flickr.com/gp/9151458@N07/C687H5

And yes the local folks know tourists when they see them; the three R's dropped a few soles during their visit.

See some of you in the spring.

Dan and Rebecca

www.casa-de-terrible.blogspot.com

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