Big Boy Bed!

It's about time! Noah has been capable of climbing out of his crib for quite a while, but had simply decided not to. Maybe he liked the security of the crib. So we didn't push the issue of getting him to sleep in a regular bed - it's not like we're hurrying to have his crib for a little sibling, at least not yet. (c: But I had always said that after Matthew and Kerry's visit we would make the switch, since we needed the twin bed for Uncle Matthew to sleep on anyways.

On Friday, Noah was playing around his pack'n' play when he accidently flipped himself over the side, landed on his head and got himself a nice abrasion on his forehead from some ribbed fabric inside the crib - I was right there when it happened and of course not quick enough to do anything about it. All this to say, that was the final straw and the crib had to go.

He went off to school, and of course we got lots of people asking what happened to his head - it's hard enough to explain in English, let alone Spanish. While he was at school, I made his big-boy-bed up with sheets and put all of his bed buddies and softy blankets just how he likes them. His mattress rests on the floor, so I'm not worried about him falling out. I left the crib in the room, but changed its position and put his bean bag chair in it to make it look off limits. I made a big deal of the whole thing when he got home from school and explained how he would get to sleep in the big-boy-bed today for his nap. We read our books, sang, and prayed together just like normal, and when I put him down I told him I would leave the door open, so he would know I was still there. And after maybe one whimper, he was out! I couldn't believe it! I made him a little chart just to encourage him.

Now we're two days into it. He's slept through the night both times and my only complaint is that he's waking up around 6am - but we'll work through that. The crib is now stowed away, hopefully not to be seen until the next one comes along.

His favorite spot in the kitchen, this time helping me make omelets

Our Big Boy, sitting in a Big Chair, with cup and straw instead of a Sippy Cup - well, maybe he spilled a little...

Despedidas

If we haven't mentioned it here before, despedidas (farewells) are very important here. Even upon leaving any event, it is polite to say goodbye to each person in attendance with a kiss (or handshake guy-to-guy). But when someone is moving away, it is an especially important occasion. Sadly later this week we say goodbye to Laura Hoyt, who has finished her two years with the team. So in her honor, there are despedidas almost every day. Actually there have already been two, one for their bible study and another for the music team. Today Paulo and Kike have rented out a grass (yes, grass!) soccer field, and we are having a big game - Laura plays futbol every week - to be followed by a cookout at her house. Tomorrow there will be a little party after church, and Tuesday, Robin and Elita have their own despedida for her. Wednesday there may be two - a team lunch and then Karaoke at night with some friends from the neighborhood. Finally, on Thursday, there is one last big party at her house, and Friday she flies home. We will miss Laura, but hopefully this week full of fiestas will bring a sense of appreciation and closure as she says farewell.

To finish the epic...

Inca Trail Part III

Day 5: Machu Picchu. We woke at 4am that morning - it was still dark. One of the porters was very eager for us to clear out of the tent as fast as possible, because all our porters had a train to catch at 5:30 at the bottom of the mountain. He kept knocking on our tent and we think he only spoke Quechua because he didn't seem to understand that we were hurrying as best we could. We had a quick breakfast and hit the trail, by the light of our headlamps only. We walked only a short distance to get to the line to enter the Machu Picchu sanctuary where we waited until 5:30. Dawn was upon us as we entered the park and began the remaining hour hike to the Sun Gate. Our group stayed together, as we all wanted to get there together for the first view of Machu Picchu.
Again, remarkably, the view was perfectly clear from the Sun Gate as we looked down on the Sacred sanctuary of the Incas! The sun had not yet crested over the mountains, and there we were! It was incredible and especially so for the rest of my group, because none of them had seen it yet. It didn't change the beauty for me, after seeing it with our family last July, because my appreciation for it had changed. I had completed, probably, the most physically challenging test of my life, outside of childbirth. (c: I was reminded again, of how blessed I was to have had this opportunity.
We descended another half hour to the actual ruins, checked out backpacks at the gate, and began our full tour - something I didn't get to do the last time. We were pretty exhausted by the end of the tour, so Mesha and I found a lovely spot on a back-side terrace to rest, have a snack, and just absorb where we were. With recharged batteries, we went to explore a little on our own, taking fun pictures and marveling at the thunder we could hear as we watched a storm move through the majestic valley before us. To one side of the mountain there were dark rolling clouds and to the other, fluffy white ones with a bright blue sky behind them. It had been a really long time since I had heard thunder, and it just reminded me of the all-powerful Creator that we serve! It only misted a little, so we stuck around and waited for a rainbow, but to no avail. Soon after that we took the bus down the mountain, to meet our group for lunch. We had the afternoon to spend together in Aguas Calientes, as we waited for the train. Our guides left us here to return to Cusco on an earlier train.
It was here, that our trip took a little twist! We had a great train ride, chatting with two other Americans who had just completed a longer, more obscure trail. The hour and a half passed quickly, and we arrived at Ollantaytambo and boarded a bus that was waiting for us. Our whole group was present and ready to go, when the driver said he was waiting for 2 more passengers that were to arrive on the next train...we waited a half hour, and soon realized what was happening when our bus was flooded with people that had arrived on the local train. There were even people in the aisles - it felt like a "combi" in Lima! Except, this was a tourist charter bus, with people from other countries who had paid a lot of money to be on that bus after hiking the Inca Trail. The local folks, too, were really upset and after seeing how he drove, and how he stopped in the middle of nowhere to wash his face, they called him "borracho!" (drunkard). This didn't make us feel any better. As we neared Cusco, people started calling "Baja!" to get off the bus, and the driver collected 5 soles from each of them - Mesha and I started counting how many people were getting off the bus, and there were 31 besides our group! This driver made about a weeks' wage in one night! We were dropped off in a small plaza in Cusco and made plans as a group to go to the agency the following morning. Then we decided to get some dinner (at 10:30!). While we were tired we enjoyed some final time with the Argentinians (3 had to leave in the morning). Mesha and I were so happy to arrive safely back to our hostel at midnight after enduring a sketchy bus ride and the lewd comments just made by our taxi driver. What a day!

Day 6: Coming Home. We couldn't sleep in - after waking up before 5:30 the whole week. It was nice to take our time and enjoy breakfast together before meeting up with our group to walk to the agency. At the agency, they weren't quick to take any responsibility and rather just blamed the transportation company that they had contracted to bring us back to Cusco - passing the buck is pretty normal here. After my (very tall) Dutch friend, Nico, explained what his expectations were, we each got an apology and 10 soles for our trouble. Mesha and I were shocked to have received any money back.
We rushed back to the hostel to collect our things and meet our transportation to the airport. It was an uneventful flight and I even made it back with my walking stick - to which I was very attached after our journey together. I took a taxi home and Michael was there waiting for me half way up the stairs. We had a little time together to catch-up before Noah woke from his nap. Daddy went off to youth group and Noah and I just snuggled on the couch and reacquainted ourselves. It was so sweet to be home with my guys again.

Inca Trail Part II

Day 3: The Hardest Day. At 5:30, we were awakened by Ramón, our waiter, who served us our hot coca tea, soothing my sore throat after breathing in the cold air all night. When we opened our tent to receive our tea, stretched out before us was a beautiful, foggy and mysterious valley, not yet touched by the sun - we sat and marveled for a brief few moments before hurrying to pack up our things and get to breakfast. They served us fruit, granola, yogurt, pancakes, hot quinoa to drink, and more tea. I'm certain that quinoa gave me the energy I needed for the touch climb ahead. This day, we hired porters to carry our backpacks - and I'm so glad I did! It remained misty that day, which was perfect for hiking to the first pass at 13,776 ft. My backpack was securely strapped to one of our Inca-blooded porters and then covered with a tarp - so it remained perfectly dry and was waiting for me at our campsite. Let me just say those porters are incredible! Young guys and old, carrying up to 60 pounds on their backs, and just hauling it up the mountain and then running down the other side. We got very used to saying, "A la montaña!" when we heard them coming - which meant to cling to the mountain-side of the trail to let them pass, so they don't knock you off by accident. We started off as a group, but soon the three guides stayed at the back to help anyone that needed it and they sent us ahead at our own pace. Mesha and I stuck together the whole time and found ourselves with three other guys at the front of our group. The climb was pretty steep and the air much thinner up there, but our little group (Guy, Julian, Sam, and us) just stopped as we needed and did a lot of laughing along the way. Before we knew it, we had reached the misty "Dead Woman's Pass," kinda by surprise because we couldn't see it through the clouds until we arrived. The pass got it's name because the profile of the mountain resembles a woman lying down. As we headed down the mountain, the wind picked up and it was colder. It also continued to be misty, so the rocky path was a little slick - we were really glad we had our walking sticks to give us extra support as we descended for the next hour and a half into a lush valley, with a couple waterfalls and an incredible view, all the way down to our campsite. We arrived just before 1pm and had the rest of the day to rest, eat, hang out with our new friends some more, and then listen to ghost stories from our guide about the campsite that was apparently built on top of a cemetery. The night was so clear, we could see the Milky Way - I have never seen so many stars in my life! It was magical! There was hardly a spot in the sky where there weren't stars. We were both so tired that night, but hardly slept because it was quite cold and the ground was very uncomfortable .



Day 4: The Longest Day. We were awakened with our coca tea at 5am and were awed to watch some clouds move into the valley before us. Again we packed up and headed to breakfast where they served us omelets! Soon we were off to discover the ruins of Runkuracay on our way to climb the second pass at 12,916 ft. We had the blessing of being able to see clear across the valley to the snow-capped mountains beyond - absolutely incredible! Here, everyone was encouraged to have a special ceremony to commemorate completing the most challenging day - Mesha and I just found a little spot to sing praises to the Lord and pray together. It was one of my favorite memories of our trip, singing "Thy Mercy, My God" together there. From this point we descended to the ruins of Sayaqmarka to explore a bit before decsending more to a plain where we had lunch. The rest of our day consisted of one more ascent to 12,000 ft, going through the two Inca tunnels, visiting more ruins (Phuyupatamarka), and descending precisely 2,721 stairs (our guide counted once) before arriving to our campsite in the late afternoon. When we arrived, we were exhausted but really wanted to visit the ruins that are right next to the campsite, Wiñayhuayna (which means "forever young"). This site was more recently discovered, and just beautiful! I felt privileged to be able to visit it and it was worth the extra effort at the end of the day. We returned to the campsite, that was luckily right next to the trekker "restaurant" and hot showers - ahhhh....that was really beautiful. Mesha and I stayed up late just talking that night, so excited that we had completed the majority of the hike - again the ground was pretty hard to sleep on.

The Inca Trail, Part I

I can't believe I actually did it...I left my husband and son (for the first time) for nearly a week, flew to Cusco with my new dear friend, Mesha Smith, and the two of us spent four days hiking in the Andes Mountains! What an adventure we had. Let me see if I can unpack it a little to share...


Day 1: Cusco. We met at the airport at 4am to catch our 5:40 flight. Full of adrenaline, I couldn't sleep on the plane and instead watched the sunrise over cloudy skies with snow-capped mountains peaking above. We arrived to find the early morning temperature a chilly 40 degrees. A woman met us at the airport, took us to our hostal (Amaru II) in San Blas, and briefed us for the day's events. After sleeping for the morning, we walked around the city a bit before meeting our trail guide at the hostal, who gave us the low-down on the hike. Then we joined a big group to tour the city. After seeing the Cathedral, we visited the Dominican monestary that was built on top of the Incan Temple of the Sun - this is where Mesha started not feeling well, and the rest of the day was pretty miserable for her. We visited the ruins above the city, Sacsayhuaman, and when we returned in the evening, Mesha went to rest in the hostal, while I ran some errands - buying water purifying tablets, ponchos, snacks, and communicating with my family. When I returned to the hostal, Mesha still wasn't feeling well, so we went to bed early.


Day 2: The Hike Begins. We woke at 5am - to get our last hot shower for a few days, pack up our things, and enjoy a lovely breakfast before being collected by another guide around 6:30. (I gave Mesha a "magic pill" to help her feel better and sure enough, it did the trick - she did great throughout the trip. ) We boarded a charter bus, went around the city collecting more hikers from their hostals, and we were on our way for an hour and a half ride through the Sacred Valley. Again, I was so full of adrenaline, I couldn't rest - I was too captured by the lush green hills, mountains, and tiny adobe towns we were driving through. We stopped briefly in Ollantaytambo to buy our walking sticks and a snack before continuing on in the bus to kilometer 82. There, we passed through the checkpoint around 10:30 am, crossed the Urubamba River, and began our 9km trek for the day. It was perfectly clear and sunny as we followed the river, in the spring desert valley with tall rocky mountains on either side. Mesha is from New Mexico and said it reminded her of home. Throughout our trip, our guide, Elisabeth, was wonderful at explaining the Quechua culture, the history of the Incas, and the wildlife we were amongst. We enjoyed a "tuna" snack, which is the round fruit of the cactus - very sweet and juicy. Our porters had raced ahead of us as we were taking in the landscape and tour explanations, and had lunch waiting for us - asparagus soup and a tasty red meat with rice and french fries, all enjoyed in the comfort of our own dinner tent with covered table, stools, and place settings! We were all surprised by such treatment! This is where we started to get to know our group a little better. There were 13 of us; five from Argentina, four from the Netherlands, one from Switzerland, one from England, and us, the two American-Peruvian girls. Now, I can't imagine doing the trip without them. We just had so much fun together, learning each others' cultures, languages, and accents. After lunch, we continued our hike and saw a few Inca ruins before arriving to camp, again all set-up for us before we got there. We enjoyed "coffee hour," with tea, hot chocolate, popcorn, and cookies and just hung out together as we waited for dinner which was vegetable soup and aji de gallina - my favorite Peruvian dish! Dinner was followed by our briefing for the next day - the hardest day. We went to bed early under the star-studded sky, all snuggled up in our tents.

Back Home

Just a quick update to let you know that Laura did arrive safely on Saturday. She had an incredible trip, and I'm sure will be blogging with pictures and stories. Noah and I made it through the week, with a heightened respect for single parents. It is good to be back together as a family again.

Where's Mommy?

Well, I've been meaning to write about this all week, but as you'll see, it's been a little busy. Laura is right now somewhere in the Andes on her way to Machupicchu. She and a new friend Mesha are hiking the 4-day trek of the Inca Trail, in the Sacred Valley outside of Cusco. She left Noah and me on Monday, and returns Saturday afternoon, so it's been Father-Son bonding time at our house. Elita has of course been a huge help, since I still have to work all week. Noah has actually taken it much better than I thought, and only gets upset occasionally throughout the day when he remembers who is missing, especially at key moments like bedtime. Laura made him a little video on the computer explaining where she was, and I'm sure we've watched it at least a dozen times. We have had a lot of fun together, going to parks and visiting friends, though I have to say I am very tired. He has been waking up extremely early, and one morning I dozed off on the couch while we were playing. I woke up a few minutes later to find Noah helping himself to a small box of chocolates left on the table, and it was everywhere. That'll teach me.

His latest language discovery is quite something. I'll say something in Spanish, and he'll say "In English?" After I repeat it in English, he says, "In Spanish?" And on and on we go. Most things he says, he can say in both, and switch between the two depending on who is talking. It is so amazing to watch him learn.

So your prayers for Laura's safe return would be appreciated, and for Noah (and Daddy) to make it just two more days without Mama.

And now sadness...

...for they have gone. Actually they left almost a week ago, but we sure miss Matthew and Kerry. We had a beautiful time all together. I got over my sickness by midweek, and I think they got a good taste of our life here, both in our neighborhood and in greater Lima. Many great memories and stories to tell; hopefully the video will give you a good idea. Noah loved having them around, and still speaks of "Tio Mateo" often. Most of all, we just appreciated the time spent together talking and looking forward to their upcoming wedding. Thanks so much, Matthew and Kerry!