We took our trip South as planned and were blessed that it all went quite smoothly. It was a bit difficult with Josiah during the long bus rides but overall for having been on a bus more than 40 total in less than five days it went well.
We arrived in Arequipa on Friday morning and were met by Chipey's cousin who graciously showed us around the city for the next two days. She had our hotel reserved for us as well which made things a bit easier for us. The food in Arequipa was delicious and we had a great time with Chipey's family, they were very hospitable toward us.
The Plaza de Armas is very beautiful in Arequipa, most of the buildings in this city are made with a white stone which comes from the volcanic rock surrounding the city.
The volcano Misti.
Chipey's family
Family picture
We were shopping for some baby alpaca, a bit to expensive though.
We were shopping for some baby alpaca, a bit to expensive though. We were able to take some great pictures at least.
We arrived to Tacna Sunday afternoon, grabbed a bite to eat and headed for Chile. Praise the Lord the entire process was very smooth. Pepe had arranged for his nephew to drive up from Arica, Chile to pick us up and help with the border-hop. What a blessing, this guy had all the paper work ready for us and even helped to find a decent hotel. We did everything in one day as opposed to two which worked out better as he was able to drive us into Chile and back. We had no hold-ups at the border and were even granted another 6 months to remain here in Peru... too bad our plane tickets won't last quite that long.
We spent all of about 45 minutes parked at the beach in Arica, just long enough to turn back and re-enter Peru. I have heard stories of people being hassled at the border for not having been out of the country for more than 24 or 48 hours, but nobody mentioned anything to us.
The sun setting over the Pacific.
The trip home was scheduled to take 19 hours which turned into 21 after we stopped an innumerable amount of times for different customs inspections. The bus never completely stopped, meaning that we were not allowed off nor anyone else on for security reasons (often times buses that stop are robbed.) Other than Josiah being a bit rambunctious, the trip went as well as one could expect for having brought two toddlers along. Overall, we were blessed to see how the Lord guided us and provided for us each step of the way.
JACKIE'S TRIP TO LIMA
We do part of our shopping at the supermarket and the other part in what is known as a mercado. In the mercado you can buy fresh vegtables, fruits, meats and fish cheaper than in Plaza Vea . It takes a little while to get used to the atmosphere. For some reason it always smells like dog food (I guess because they have open bags of it that they sell from in bulk). The other day I saw the meat arrive, no not in a refridgerated truck but wrapped in nothing more than a blanket in the back of a taxi. Like I said, it is different than we are used to.
Marisol preparing our refresco for Lunch (Chicha Morada.)
A close up view.
Hadassah and I headed for school, she is growing up so fast.
We arrived to Tacna Sunday afternoon, grabbed a bite to eat and headed for Chile. Praise the Lord the entire process was very smooth. Pepe had arranged for his nephew to drive up from Arica, Chile to pick us up and help with the border-hop. What a blessing, this guy had all the paper work ready for us and even helped to find a decent hotel. We did everything in one day as opposed to two which worked out better as he was able to drive us into Chile and back. We had no hold-ups at the border and were even granted another 6 months to remain here in Peru... too bad our plane tickets won't last quite that long.We spent all of about 45 minutes parked at the beach in Arica, just long enough to turn back and re-enter Peru. I have heard stories of people being hassled at the border for not having been out of the country for more than 24 or 48 hours, but nobody mentioned anything to us.
The sun setting over the Pacific.We spent the night in Tacna and the next day we were invited for lunch at Eddy's sister-in-law's sister's house. The Lord provided for us every step of the way. Right down to the littlest of details like having one extra seat on the bus during the long journey's to and from Lima. We had decided to let Hadassah ride on our lap and buy Marisol a ticket instead, we were very glad we made this decision. It helped us a lot with Josiah as he absolutely refused to sit still and needed to be passed from person to person.
Hadassah sleeping with Lambie and Marisol.
We made Josiah a bed out of my foot rest which worked fairly well until we realized that the lady ahead of me might want to recline her seat, which would have squished Josiah, opps!
The trip home was scheduled to take 19 hours which turned into 21 after we stopped an innumerable amount of times for different customs inspections. The bus never completely stopped, meaning that we were not allowed off nor anyone else on for security reasons (often times buses that stop are robbed.) Other than Josiah being a bit rambunctious, the trip went as well as one could expect for having brought two toddlers along. Overall, we were blessed to see how the Lord guided us and provided for us each step of the way.
JACKIE'S TRIP TO LIMA
This should have been a seperate post but the photos have already been uploaded so here it goes.
Jackie arrived just a few days after we returned home from our trip. She is a sister from our home church who has taken on the responsibility to head up a prayer team for us. We were so very blessed by her visit here. She was able to absorb a bit of the culture we have come to love and meet the people we minister to and among.
She took some great everyday life photos.
Shopping day at Plaza Vea, the local supermarket.
We do part of our shopping at the supermarket and the other part in what is known as a mercado. In the mercado you can buy fresh vegtables, fruits, meats and fish cheaper than in Plaza Vea . It takes a little while to get used to the atmosphere. For some reason it always smells like dog food (I guess because they have open bags of it that they sell from in bulk). The other day I saw the meat arrive, no not in a refridgerated truck but wrapped in nothing more than a blanket in the back of a taxi. Like I said, it is different than we are used to.
Marisol preparing our refresco for Lunch (Chicha Morada.)
A close up view. Pineapple husks, purple corn, cinnamon sticks and cloves.
Aji de Gallina, one of my favorites.
Aji de Gallina, one of my favorites.This guy comes to sharpen our knives every so often.
The ice cream man.
A touristic train ride around central Lima.
We had a little get-together in Lucho's Pizzeria before Jackie left. We had something terrific to celebrate, our new sister in Christ, Marisol.
Hadassah and I headed for school, she is growing up so fast.
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