Paia Thursday March 14

Slipping into vacation mode a bit more with each day. Today was a chill at the beach day. I didn't take my big camera because I don't like to leave it on the beach while we swim, so I don't have many pictures. (A common conundrum!).

We had a quick breakfast and then got out of our little funky apartment. Ack! I just looked up the price of purchasing an apartment here. Remember this is simple living for these three days, just a rented one bedroom apartment found on the internet. These babies cost $300,000 to purchase! There is a $6,000,000 home just down the street, so I guess if makes sense. These are located next to the wind surfing capital of the world. Location. Location. Location! The apartment below us is getting renovated and they were drilling into the cement ceiling. Just a bit noisy, so we were happy to go to the beach.

Baldwin Beach is beautiful! I walked the length of it and found a pool in the ocean. Really! There was a band of flat rock aobut 20 feet out that protected the beach. There were actually a couple of people there swimming laps. You could just tell that they did it often. So you are swimming along with the surf coming up and slightly over the rocks and this perfectly clear/calm water to swim in. I asked a local and they said the nickname for the area is Mama's Beach. Go figure...any Mama would want to bring her babies here. There were a few young families there enjoying the calm shallow waters.

Mana Grocery store called out to me a lunch, so Mike took me there and we got some great food at their deli. I tried a raw pizza. No we didn't bake it in the sun. It was all raw. Oh my! I will try to recreate this at home. So good. It didn't hurt that we ate it on a picnic bench overlooking our next beach! Ho'okipa Beach.
Can you find the turtles in this picture?

There weren't any kite surfers this day because the wind was fairly calm.

This was where I spent some quality time reading. 

About 4 we went back to our place so Mike could get a bit of work done. I went into town to shop for the perfect beach hat. Mine is too floppy and blows around too much. When I came home Mike was not working! He was watching the first F1 (Formula 1) car practice of the year. The race is in Australia and will run tomorrow. Way to vacation Mike! 

Maui 2013

Vacation time! Mike and I have come to Maui, Hawaii. It has been about 10 years since we have visited this island and look forward to enjoying some down time just relaxing and enjoying the beautiful  creation that God has so generously bestowed upon these two volcanoes.

Day 1 - A long-ish flight to Maui from Seattle. We were struggling against the Pineapple Express so it took about 7 1/2 hours to come west. On the way home we are scheduled to fly the same distance in 6 hours!

We did out land/groceries/settle in/explore the neighborhood routine. We are staying at Kaua point just east of Paia. We toodled into town (5 minute drive) to go to our favorite little hole in the wall known as the place that "has the same good food as Mama's Fish House, but without the view or the prices". I don't know if that is true, but we always enjoy the fish tacos there. We wandered around town for a bit. It is hippy dippy/tourist-ville. More rasta braids than I have seen for a long time. Then lots of tourist types like ourselves. Cute shops. We returned home, than walked to the beach (5 minutes, or less).

Day 2 - Mike had a bunch of work to finish up, so he settled in at his computer for the morning and I read and relaxed. Just nice to hang out and listen to the distant waves. We have a very, very tiny view of the ocean through palm trees in the distance.

We tried out the Flatbread pizza place in town (rave reviews....ours? pretty tasty -  not bad). They have a very cool wood oven so the crust was perfect! 

Mike loves to get apple-bananas, the little ones that are sort of creamy and tangy. We found the local grocery store - a gem of a store. Kind of like the MV Co-op but in tiny space with every square inch used! It was remarkable. Their produce display was fantastic. I will take the camera in there next time. 

Off we went to Ali'i Lavender Farm way - way up the hillside. It was lovely and we enjoyed a very leisurely wander through the farm and gift store. Most of the lavender was not blooming but it was beautiful.

Down the hills we came, dropped by Walmart to buy myself a card reader and then we went to Baldwin Beach. A beautiful beach with blue water and rolling waves. Mike went and played in the surf for a bit and got that nice salty feeling. 

Heading home and Mike made us a nice stir fry with coconut sauce and Ahi. Yum.

This is the view from our balcony. If you squinch up your eyes you can see the ocean.

This is a hand painted - artsy - painting on the wall in our living space.

 This is a great guy who flies around the neighborhood and squawks at people. We think he is a pet who gets to go out to play in the late afternoon! Very fun to have him eyeing us while we eat our dinner on the balcony.

Ok, because I have been asked.......

...this is what I brought home for Mike. I saw it, loved it, knew it would look great in his office entrance. So glad I got it for him, but am starting to like it in our house!

Last day in Peru

Well, I am home now. Here are a couple of last pictures just before I left. Finley was busy killing flies in the kitchen.

 There is a “fly season” and we got to experience the beginning of it! Fly season? I thought it was from the cows on the other side of the fence, but Colette assured me in her very mature 9 year old voice “Oh it gets worse, February is the worst month of all.” She is a doll, as is her sister, Salona. 

I took a quick family pic of the Treadways, as I was leaving. They are the team leaders for Pioneer Missions in Arequipa. They have lived in Peru for 12 years. It was a delight to get to know them. 

My flight home was 19 hours long, with three flights. All went well and customs was a breeze. I missed the worse of the snow in Seattle by one day. I was so grateful, as I heard some crazy stories in Miami airport. It took some people 24 hours to take a non stop flight from Seattle to Miami. One of the problems is that the de-icing truck slid into the side of their airplane! 

I texted Mike when I landed and he texted back that he was at carousal 14 picking up his baggage. (He thinks he is soooo funny!) But I tell you, the best part of coming home was getting enveloped in his arms. I didn’t let him go for quite some time. 

Yesterday was sleep, nap, sleep, but today I am feeling great. Thankful for this trip. It was great to be in and see a tiny speck of South America and to meet some wonderful people. I had a great time with Patti - lots of shared memories and laughter. I wish Eric and Rachael well and pray that God would help them to be a blessing to the people they meet and work with.

Monday

Monday

Patti and I walked (a sample of the sidewalk above) to the grocery store to poke around and figure out what is available for meals. It was fun to see all the new fruits and packaged food that is unique to Peru. We bought one experimental fruit that we will cut into today. It is pretty ugly, but I have high hopes.

In the evening Kerry arrange for a babysitter for all the children and the grownups went out to a nice restaurant called Zig Zags. It is owned by German/Swiss couples that have embraced the local fare and added their own twist. It was very fun. The person who designed the Eiffel Tower designed the stairs in this 300-year-old building. (I don’t have Internet as I write or I would Google his name).  One of their specialties is serving the meat on very, very hot stones. You order it the way you like it, it comes partially cooked and then you cut into it and lay it out on the stone and it continues to cook. Splatter city! - thus, the bibs - very fun and delicious with all of the sauces.

After dinner we went and did a bit of antique shopping for something I had my eye on for Mike, so I can’t tell here what it is.

We then split up and Shane and Eric took me to Café Berea and Pioneer Peru. This is where the ministry takes place. Shane and Kerry started the coffee shop two years ago. This is its third location and it was wonderful. Coffee shops here open at four o’clock and close about eleven. It is now totally run by local people. This coffee shop was the start of a church, which has expanded next door.  The offices of Pioneer Peru are also there. There is plan of having a nice hostel for missionaries and others to stay there. It is a wonderful location, only about 4 blocks from the center of town.  Eric sounds like he can hardly wait to get his hands on some of the remodeling. 

Really, we do more than eat!

Jonathan takes us to a good meal.

Jonathan walked us to a local place to eat “Adobo” at noon today.  One of his favorite restaurants is within walking distance and serves Adobo only on Sundays. It is a wonderful pork stew that has wonderful flavor and tastes like it cooked for hours. We walked there and enjoyed meeting the owner of “Frejoles”. He is Peruvian but spent some time living in Pitsburgh!  It was refreshing to have someone who could sort of understand our English.  

We also samples some very good lamb served on a bed of creamy white beans that were surprisingly good. Then we sampled some ceviche. I had read about staying clear of eating fish in Arequipa as it may not be fresh. When we inquired about it, the owner’s first words were “This is very good because I only serve the freshest piscado (fish)”. So we went for it. It is now ten hours later and I am feeling fine. I think I will leave chance alone and stay away from fish here on out. We are also steer clear of raw veggies in restaurants. We are careful to clean all our produce that we bring home from the store. So far, 11 days, 7 people and we have all remained healthy!

Tour Day

Saturday, January 14, 12

Today we went out and about a couple of times. Levi got a new stroller that is small enough to fit in a taxi so he got to try out his new ride. Although believe it or not Eric and Rachael came home with a washing machine in a taxi! We all walked to Starbucks for some Internet relief and some goodies. E & R will be getting Internet sometime this next week. If it is anything like getting new cell phones there will be lots of hoops to jump through and even more “uno momento’s”. Eric ended up with a free Claron hat and shirt, but would rather have saved a few hours of his life. The walk to the Starbucks and small mall is becoming normal….which are the best streets…..what cross walk is best….what sidewalks have the least pitfalls, etc. The streets are pretty crazy. Pedestrians are at the bottom of the food chain. You just stand and wait and wait, then you all agree and then “Go!”, grab kids hands and scurry. You have to have a bit of an owl neck, as cars come around the corner with no concern for cars or human life. At least the weather has been beautiful lately and the ‘water’ has stopped flowing through the streets. (gross to think of what is in it as the locals all avoid it too!)

After our time at Starbucks we split up and Patti and I took a taxi home. We were advised not to walk home from there after using a computer. Best to step outside and hail a taxi. Even on the tables they warn you “We care for you, please watch your valuables.”

Rachael made us an appointment for a 4-hour tour of the city/country side. We took another taxi - let me stop here and say - you just have to imagine that at least every other car here is a taxi. They are everywhere. Most people don’t have cars and taxis are cheap. You just wave a safe one down – there are two safe ones that we have been using (“Taxitel” and “Touristo Arequipa”)– lean in the window, show them the address where you want to go, ask how much and then get in. They cost less than $2 for about a 10-minute ride. So we got to the tour and hopped on. We were excited that we got the top front of the double decker bus, until we got up there and it was the hottest place you could find.

The tour was good but it took about 5 hours. The director said “We will stop here for 15 minutes” then about 45 minutes to an hour later we would get rolling. It was a good overview of the city of Arequipa. The only complaint was our tour leaders English. We decided that a combination of a Japanese person and the Swedish Chef taught her how to speak. It was hard to understand her but it was entertaining! “If you would like to rrread the hearse please let me know.” (ride the horse) “In the year 18-fearteen such and such was built”

When we got home, Patti plugged in the teakettle to wash dishes and blew the circuit and the house went black. I bent over to pick up little Levi in the pitch dark and my fingernail went into the roof of his mouth – he started screaming - the girls started panicking in the dark and poor Eric couldn’t find the source. About 20 minutes later finally was the hero of the evening by finding a breaker outside the gate ?! All calmed down and we are settled in for the night.