Annmarie is here!

Hooray! Our dear friend Annmarie arrived last night, here to visit for a week and a half.

She's already had some good Peruvian experiences - trying Inca Cola, our taxi running out of gas, riding the bus and a crazy birthday party. The ladies are having a fabulous time catching up, and Noah is glad to have his "Aunt Am" here too. She'll get to see our church's one-year anniversary celebration this weekend, and then off to the jungle on Monday....

Piano!

Praise the Lord! Thanks to the generosity of one of our supporting churches, we have a new digital piano at our house! It belongs to our team, and will stay here when we eventually come home, but we are extremely excited to have it here for now. I will be using it to teach as many youth as possible, as there are many eager to learn. Noah is very happy with the new arrival (as the pictures show), and I'm in heaven, having been piano-less for over a year. What a blessing - thank you, Christ Presbyterian!

Choral Music!

I recently happened upon a news report about the Idaho State University Chamber Choir touring Peru, and tonight they performed in Lima centro with the Women's Choir from the Universidad Católica. It was a great concert, both groups singing a range of works from Bach to Duruflé. Favorites.......the women performed some really lovely works by Peruvian composers (I would give the names, but their part didn't have a program), and the Americans did a John Tavener piece, "Exhortation and Kohima," which I was not familiar with, but that was just beautiful. But their "Lux Arumque" by Whitacre was my favorite of the night - a stunning performance. They all joined together at the end for Moses Hogan's "Ride on, King Jesus". The fabulous acoustics (and architecture) of the Basilica San Francisco made the whole thing that much more impressive. It's not often that one gets to enjoy a concert like this in Lima, and it definitely makes me miss the choral world I left back in the States.

Eating Cheap

I'm not sure how prices are back home, but here they are on the rise. Of course, we're not feeling it quite as strongly as the Peruvians, but our salary has certainly taken a big hit from the devaluing dollar. So, we're learning how to eat cheap. Just in case you're interested in a couple new recipes that are easy, tasty, and economico here they are:

Elita's Lentils

1 onion, chopped
1 tomato, chopped
3 garlic cloves, crushed/finely chopped
2 T. oil
3 cups boiling water
1 beef boullion cube (or 300g bacon, chopped/ground beef)
250g (half a bag?) of lentils that have been soaked for at least a couple hours, drained
1-2 t. salt
1-2 carrots, chopped

Using a large pot, fry onion, tomato in oil. Add garlic after a couple minutes and fry until golden. Add the boiling water and boullion cube/meat. Once everything is boiling, add lentils (drained) and salt. Cook over med-high heat, covered, for about 45 minutes - 1 hour. About 5 minutes before finished, add carrots. Serve when cooked through, over rice. Great source of protein!

And now for dessert...

Postre Limón
This one reminds me of Key Lime Pie...

1 can (large) evaporated milk
1 can (large) sweetened condensed milk
juice from 8 limes
Package of square Vanilla crackers

Blend the two milks and lime juice in blender. Line the bottom of a 9x13 pan with vanilla crackers. Pour half milk mixture over crackers. Place another layer of crackers and cover with remaining milk mixture. Top with lime zest for decoration if desired. Place in the fridge for a couple hours, until it's a little more congealed. Cut into squares and serve.

Serving

Here's a small example of a cultural difference we're learning. At your typical American party, the appetizers or snacks sit on a table with little plates or napkins, and each person serves themself when they wish, to the extent that they wish. Not so here. Here at these parties (or even at any celebration following church), all foods and drinks are passed. Usually it is the responsibility of the host to bring the sandwiches or empanadas or popcorn or soda to each person where they sit, and to make these rounds several times with each item. People will even take just one potato chip at a pass, expecting to grab more a few minutes later. If you leave food on a table with plates (as we have learned), it will not be quickly eaten. That is literally considered "gringo-style". I'd be curious to hear from others who have lived in a different country - how does party food work there? Passed? Self-serve? Other?

Big News in the City

Lima has been a bit more crazy than usual this week, with the arrival of the European Union - Latin America and the Caribbean (EU-LAC) summit. Some 60 heads of state from these two regions are here, and security is tight. Protests are expected, so they have closed off large sections of many major roads. The city has even built a brand new press center to accomodate the over 1,500 journalists planned to cover the event. The conference will mostly focus on poverty, sustainable development, and the environment.

El día de la madre

Happy belated Mother's Day! I am learning more all the time just how much there should be a day like this at least once a month, if we wanted to give the proper appreciation for all that Moms do. Mothers are really the backbone of Pervian culture, receiving much more respect than Fathers. For this reason, Noah's preschool worked for weeks to do a special show in honor of all the kids' Moms. They rented a special municipal building for last Friday evening and had everyone get animal costumes (see our puppy below).



Each age group had a couple songs, for which they either acted (the older ones), danced, or in Noah's case, stood there watching the crowd of smiling people. It was absolutely adorable.

In church on Sunday, there were decorations, food, and a cute song about Moms from the kids.

Performing is definitely something new for Noah, but I know he'll get used to it.

In the evening celebrated by going out to get good old American pizza, one of Laura's favorites. I hope all you Moms out there had a great day and felt appreciated!

Short

I think the reason I don't post blogs as often as I'd like is the same reason for which I don't call family and friends at home as much as I'd like. That is, I feel like it has to be more elaborate and complicated than is really needed, a major event for which I must clear hours. And the more time passes between blogs (or chats), the worse it gets. As nice as it is to write a long, well-thought-out blog (or have a long, deep conversation), it often is just not realistic in the busy lives we all lead. Even a short update, or a quick hello can mean a lot, and is certainly better than nothing at all. So hopefully, I'll follow this advice and post short reflections, more frequently. That said, I'm off to call Mom and Dad.

Garúa

The fog has officially arrived.
Wikipedia says:

"Garúa is the dry winds that hit the lower western slopes of the Andes creating a low-level of cloud. Within the Andes Mountains the garúa blocks out the sun for the cooler six months of the year, and there is almost no rainfall during this period."

(actually the word means mist or light drizzle)
We had always heard about the dreary cloud cover that engulfs Lima for half the year, but now we get the full experience. Winter is here. On Sunday the temperature dropped some 15 degrees and the sun was gone, supposedly not to be seen again until October. It did make a farewell appearance in the late afternoon, but today not a trace. With depression already setting in for some, and Limeños bundling up as if they were in Toronto, I actually see it as a bit of a relief. It probably seems odd to complain about too many sunny, warm days, but that's all we've had for over a year, and I like seasonal changes. It's nice to have to put on a sweater.