Lima families

"HOLA"
It is quite common in Peru for entire families to be living together.  At the Cordova home there is Michelle who is 24 and a dentist, she has an older brother whom we never met and a younger brother Kevin, who just graduated with a degree in electronic engineering.  The younger sister is Kate(Candy).  She is 20 and going to university for a degree in Business Admin.  Lucky for us she was on a break from school while we stayed with them and played the role as a perfect hostess.  

She escorted us to the mall (by bus) so we could exchange money, got a sim card for our phone, waited while our video camera battery was being charged (long story!).  She played monopoly with the kids (a few times), helped Tianna with school work, even seemed to enjoy playing race car video games with Landon and we got her hooked on watching LOST.  A wonderful girl, after 4 days together it was hard to say good-bye.  

Melissa & Rocio

Also living in the home is Melissa who works for the family as does her Aunt Rocio, they don’t speak any English but we were blessed with their delicious meals!!  We were fed so well and enjoyed trying many different foods.  2 uncles also live at the home but they have their own living quarters on the 3^rd floor.  

Michelle works very long hours as a dentist so we did not have a lot of time with her but our wish to connect with a Rotary Club came true.  Not only is Michelle a Rotary member but her entire family is, including her parents who were both out of town working while we were there.  Michelle took JC and I to her Rotary Club meeting late one evening.  A wonderful club although only 13 members in total. JC presented the group with the Silver Star Rotary club banner and also gave a speech on Vernon and area, with Michelle translating of course! 

  

Their club is currently working on a project to supply water filters to 6,000 families.  These families are extremely poor and have emigrated from the mountains to an area 50 minutes from the city of Lima.  They are living on a government owned vacant construction site that failed with nothing but dirt and some construction materials such as cement blocks and steel pipes, which they are now using to build their homes.  Once a week a private business sends a big truck to deliver water to them, which they must pay 5-7 soles per bucket (approx. $2.50).  this is very expensive.  The water filters cost $25 each with a 5 year guarantee or up to 10 years if cared for properly.  They have hard plastic shell and a ceramic insert, it makes 6 litres/day and are being used in other parts of Latin America.  

Another game of Monopoly, this time with Kevin too!!

Another delicious meal prepared by Rocio and Melissa.  We were told that heart of cow is delicious but we politely declined!!

JC presented a Kal Rotary Banner to Kevin, President of his Rotary Club (Rotarex for young adults) and Michelle is a member of this club as well.

Although Lima is so large and supposedly dangerous Michelle and her sister ride the bus to and from work and school every day for hours arriving home late in the evening. Their home is located in a district with 24hr. security.  It is in a nice neighborhood with parks in almost all the surrounding subdivisions.  The park right across the street from their house stays lighted all night, and all the houses surround it (similar to Circle Park in Vernon).

We are now staying with Elias and his family, wife Mary-Bell, daughter Katherine(Katty, 16), son Stephano(4), mom and step-dad and sister.  Also living in the 3 story home is 2 university students that pay room and board.  Elias is an amazing man and a crusader for God.  

This is Elias, our wonderful tour guide and friend!

His family is taking very good care of us....maybe too good!!!  They are always wanting to feed us and we are not used to eating big meals late at night but they do.  Our north american diet is quite different from theirs.  Large portions of rice and potatoes are the staple and eggs for every breakfast.  When we came home from church last night they cooked a big meal at 10:00 pm but our family wasn't hungry.  This confused them as much as us eating that late at night?!:-)  Adjusting to the diet and amount of food is something we are working on.

Elias has been driving and showing us all the sights in the City of Lima!  Fascinating city, rich in culture and history.

Mototaxi
(they are everywhere!)

 Tianna and I visited the market with Mary-Bell

Tianna bought some bubbles for her and Stephano 

He LOVED them!!

 This is the home of Elias and his family and the pictures below show the view from the top of his house 4 stories up!!

Elias arranged for us to meet a family who are believers and instrumental in getting local children to Elias's church, we prayed together in a room next to a small grocery store they own.

This young boy was very brave riding his skate board down a very steep hill, using his feet to brake at the bottom!!

I have MANY pictures of this young girl who loved getting her picture taken and then looking at it on the camera.

These are some homes of the children who came to meet us outside the store

Later we attended Saturday night service at Elias's church where Landon was so thrilled to be part of the worship band playing the drums!!  Their Saturday service is similar to ours at Vernon Alliance Church as it was mostly teenagers and young adults present.  After the singing we were divided into two teams and they used scripture as the base of many games like musical charades, drama, even balloon popping with a verse written on a piece of paper inside which you had to find in the bible.  It was a lot of fun and a great way to teach bible verses. JC then shared his testimony with Elias translating.

Laundry day!

Whether in Peru or Canada, some things are exactly the same

Stephano with his teacher in front of his Kindergarten

 More site seeing with Elias as our guide!

Elias sister, mom, & step-dad who graciously opened their home to our family!

 

Farewell Elias, we will miss you and your lovely family!

The 3rd family we were fortunate to stay with in Lima was Violeta, whom we met at the Rotary meeting.  She is a cousin to Michelle's Mom and like the Cordova's has an amazing family!  Her daughters Sandra(22) and Melissa(24) both speak english very well, having spent time in the USA on Rotary Exchanges.  Her husband is Carlos and son Carlos Jr. is 13.  Violeta was an angel taking care of me while I spent an entire day in bed with body aches?!?!  She fed me jello and checked on me regularly while JC & the kids did a final tour of Lima with Elias.

Violeta, Carlos, Carlos Jr., & Melissa

Laundry day on the roof top in Lima!

Different Worlds

When we left Santa Teresa it was sunny and hot even though it was only 9:00 in the morning and driving across the Peninsula de Nicoya for about 5 hours we hit temperatures of up to 38°.  When we arrived at the Eco Lodge high in a mountain range just outside of La Fortuna, Arenal National Park we were suddenly out of the heat and all around us was a fine mist from being in the clouds.  While we slept we could hear the rain pound on the roof off & on all night.  Rain never sounded so sweet!

   

 
The next day we were treated to an educational tour through the rain forest next to the lodge. 

Our Guide, Ulesis is showing us an enormous ANT hill, okay so maybe Ant's have a purpose afterall....

Old growth forest, you can feel the energy from thousand year old trees!

Two more days of cooler weather followed but because of these cooler temperatures we really enjoyed our time at the Termales Los Laureles Hot Springs (where the locals go).  There was another hot spring in the area called Baldi however it looked very ritzy, it cost a lot more and was likely full of tourists not locals like the one we chose.  We definitely fit in better with the locals than rich tourists!!  Of course the kids made friends there and had fun alternating between the hot and cold pools.

 Our last day in Costa Rica was spent flying through the air at Eco-Glide with the cool breeze from the forest, which was such a contrast to the extreme heat and dust of Santa Teresa.  Unfortunately we never did see the top of Arenal Volcano due to the low cloud coverage.

                                     a post-ecoglide drink of fresh coconut milk!

 After more than 5 weeks together it was time to say good-bye to our Salvadorian Son and Brother Luis :-(  

Back to university, his parents and of course his girlfriend!  We'll miss you Luis but know that you will be in our lives forever!!!

On March 12 we arrived in Peru and once again suddenly found ourselves in a place where the sounds of the ocean crashing on shore, howler monkeys, gecko’s chirping and birds singing were replaced with cars, trucks, buses, sirens, horns, car alarms, jet airplanes and dogs barking at all hours.

This is Lima City Squair

Our new friend Kate(Candy) we met through Couch Surfing!

Driving through the city of Lima with it’s 8 million people is an adventure to say the least, at almost every intersection sales people come out from all directions selling their goods to the vehicles waiting at red lights.  The products available to purchase are water, pop, toys, Q-tips, toothbrush holders, ice cream, sun shades, steering wheel covers, sunglasses, wallets and a variety of other items.  Sometimes women have babies in their arms while selling, or a child close by (young kids next to an extremely busy road, how safe is that?) and we were told that occasionally the children are used just so they sell more stuff.  The thousands of vehicles never leave much room with only inches (or less) to get through and everyone prefers their horn over patience.  The moment the light turns green the horns begin.

We learned from the family we are staying with that Peru’s winter during July and August get’s up to 100% humidity.  They describe it as walking through a mist.  Many people get sick during this time which is especially hard on those with asthma or small children.  There are special soups they make and they drink Asmachilca Tea made with Eucalyptus.  Lima only gets 1.88mm of rain per year!!