Trip to Lima - Part 2

This is the Area Office. It is a beautiful building in a park like setting.

We joined the Armstrong family and the intern who has been working with him for a couple of months and his wife. A church member who is a single mother has a tourist business. She has a very nice van and takes people on tours of their own choosing. She took us to an archeological site not far out of town, downtown to the main plaza and also to an upper-class area of the city near the ocean. It was a very full and fun day.

we went first to Monumento Arqueologico y Museo de Sitio Pachacamac. It is a very large site that we drove through stopping where they have uncovered parts of buildings that date back to 200 BC, 650 AD and 1200 AD. Several civilizations used this site the Lima, the Wari, the Ychma and lastly the Incas in 1450 AD. There is a temple at the top of the hill that overlooks the ocean. We got sunburned but it was very interesting to see. Amazing how well adobe has held up over the years. Everything is built from adobe blocks. They added egg white from a particular shore bird to strengthen the cement.

Below is the view of the ocean from the Temple of the Sun. You can see how hazy it is. Apparently they never have clear skies in Lima. And it is in the driest desert in the world. It does not rain.

We spent quite some time driving through Pachacamae and reading all of the signs. But then we headed to downtown Lima. We went to the church San Francisco. It is one of the earliest built in Lima and below the church was the public cemetery. The wealthy donors have their private sections but for several hundred years everyone could be buried under the church. They were put in common graves and when the bodies decomposed the bones were moved to other common graves further away and the closer graves were reused. We walked through and could see up into the chapel through grates and saw plenty of bones. They estimate that there are hundred of thousands of people that were buried beneath this church. Originally there were monks living here who handled all of the funerals and burials. Lewis and Garreth had a hard time walking in a space built for people no taller than I am. It was much cooler down there and the tour was an unusual experience.

This is the main plaza in Lima. Below is the cathedral on one side of the plaza.

This is the presidental palace on another side.

The yellow building behind the tour bus is the governmental building for the city of Lima.

On the plaza they had a huge tree shaped display of local artisan handicrafts. I loved it.

Lots of fun things made by people in Peru that represent their culture and traditions.

This is the top of the presidential palace with the flag.

I loved the tassels around the building. I assume it was decorated for Christmas. Big, fat cheerful tassels.

Then we went to LarcoMar. It is a large outdoor mall on a bluff right above the beach. It is obviously for rich people and very lovely. We ate at Tony Romas with a view right down to the beach and hang gliders sailing in front of us. The Marriot hotel was right across the street and there were roller bladers and teenagers on skateboards having fun jumping the stairs and hanging out together. Lots of people walking their dogs and families enjoying a small playground and getting some exercise. It is a very nice place to eat, to shop, to spend time with friends. We looked in the shops that had artisan things for sale but everything was much more expensive than in Ecuador so I didn't buy anything. Most of the merchandise is very similar to what we have in Ecuador.

 This is the name of one of the shops. It means Kuna House - the warmth of home

They told us that we had "seen it all" in Lima and we were so grateful to have a chance to see more of Lima than just the Area Office. The people were delightful and we enjoyed our day very much.

Trip to Lima - Part 1

There was a mixup in the mission office and we did not get our visas renewed before the expiration date. There was a brand new governmental person in charge of all visas and instead of paying the usual small fine we had to leave the country and enter again in order to have our visas renewed. So we went to Lima. It was rather expensive for the church but there was no alternative. We went to the Area Office and got some great training from Samuel and then, since the next day was a vacation day in Lima, we were invited by the Area attorney and his family to join them and be tourists for that day. We had a wonderful time in Lima but gratefully returned home to cool and clear and green Quito.

 Samuel is across from Grandpa. He is the Area Coordinator and our boss. His friend is in charge of finances in the Area Office and brother to Elder Vallejo who is our PEF Country Committee Chairman.

We loved this lunch. It is Lima's version of a fajita and it was yummy. Sliced meat with peppers and onions served over french fries and with a side of rice and several spicy sauces to add. The soda is Inca Kola. Rosario shared some with us years ago. Tastes like cream soda and is very good. 

 Samuel invited us to join him and his son and parents and sister at the "Water Park". They are in the photo above. His wife had just given birth and she stayed home with the baby. His parents were visiting for a month from Columbia where he is from. His youngest sister is 12 years old. He is the oldest child.

This is a very famous park and has 13 amazing fountains. Several of them are run by computers and you can get involved with many by doing more than just looking a the water.

This one you can walk through. It is very interesting to be inside a tunnel of water.

 This was our favorite. There is a wall of water droplets sustained and then images are projected on the water and lasers are used to enhance the effects in addition to the movie and the beautiful music. This is a ballet dancer above. There were images of classical ballet as well as historical Peruvian dance and music. It was lovely.

 This fountain is the tallest one in the world. There are pieces of a beautiful "Greek temple", or something of the sort, curving around two sides of this huge fountain. It is lovely.

 This is the really interactive one. The young people were drenched and having a wonderful time. Lots of lights and water action in patterns that would give you confidence in what was coming next and then a wet surprise.

This fountain has all the colors of the rainbow. It was beautiful. We spent several hours walking throughout the park and seeing everything. In one area there is a passageway under the street to reach another section of the park. They used that tunnel to teach about the river that flows through Lima and the importance of water and keeping the river clean and free from garbage. It was a very fun and informative display just along the sides of the tunnel. There were pictures and words and also little activities and displays along the way. It has not rained in 30 years in Lima we were told by the missionaries. Water is important to Lima. It was also fun to chat with his parents who have been members for many years. We had a wonderful evening.

Jardine Botanico de Quito

We enjoyed a visit to the Botanical Gardens in Quito. Heavenly Father has created such a beautiful world for us to live in. Be sure you look around and see the beauty of nature whenever and wherever you have the opportunity.

Look at these homemade wheel chairs...

The men tried to be patient while Sister Yost and I took photos.

Every location has its own beauty. There are flowers here year round but I learned when I moved to Idaho that it takes a winter to really appreciate spring. What do you like best about where you live?

December birthdays

I neglected to post our December birthdays. These special people in our family are born the same month as Joseph Smith and in the month we celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ.

First birthday in the month of December is Cohen...

Next is Edgar on December 10th:

Ryan is on the 12th:

Sarah celebrates on the 20th:

Morgan shares a birthday with Joseph Smith

Tea is on the 29th of December and got a whole lot of pictures of Ecuador for her birthday this year. If anyone wants to see the birthday pictures I make they are on www.PettingillPages.shutterfly.com

January

January begins with New Year's Eve and New Year's Day. The following three photos are from last year. I didn't see any effigy burnings this year except from my apartment window. Ecuador and many Spanish speaking countries have a tradition of burning an effigy of a person to represent destroying old bad habits and making way for new beginnings in the new year. In Ecuador they sell masks and people make "straw men" or they have small figures on their car to catch all of the bad luck and former problems which they destroy with fire on New Year's Eve. In these photos the people in the office made an effigy and they are burning it in the parking lot at the end of the day. The office missionaries were eager to get in on the action.

This year I went with the senior missionaries to Amazonas Street near where we work. On New Year's Eve the street is closed off to traffic and the whole city comes to celebrate the ending of the old year and the beginning of a new one. Many people dress in costumes, children especially enjoy this. It looks a bit like Halloween. I did see one adult in a very impressive transformer costume. We went early, the street was packed with people listening to the political speeches and environmental messages at the booths, buying treats, enjoying music and spending time talking to friends. It was a fun family time. We were not out after dark. We celebrated together in our apartments, enjoying food and games and watching the fireworks all over the city. We have a great view from our tall apartment building. We could also see little bonfires here and there. The next day (and for weeks to come) black spots were visible here and there on the streets and sidewalks where the effigies were burned.

This man is handicapped without legs and he is a wonderful musician. We have several of his CD's.

January was also the month that I changed operating systems on my computer. The tech guy at the office did it for me and everything is great except that I cannot close the lid on my computer without shutting it down first. If I don't turn off the computer it crashes. Not convenient but the only real problem that remains. I am up and running again and I have upgraded my Photoshop Elements and now have Lightroom to organize my photos. It is taking lots and lots of time to import all of my photos but I am confident that I will be happy that I made the change. I want my photos to be searchable with keywords and enough information written to the files so that they will be useful not only for me but perhaps of interest to the future grandchildren of all of the members of our family. They can see how life was in "the olden days" in the early years of the twenty first century.