(A/N:) While you patiently wait for more updates from me, I thought I'd add some "bonus footage" - three guest blog entries directly from my parents on their visit to Peru. Enjoy!
Coli’s Parents Visit Peru – Part 1
It was 10:40 a.m. on April 9th. I got the word. Nicole (aka Coli) found that the week of May 3rd would be a good time for us to visit her in Lima – yeah! There were no excursions, and the university workload seemed decent for that week. Coli told us that she was leaving “this afternoon” on an excursion and would be back to internet access on Monday. At once Cyndee and I reviewed our commitments, assessed what our busy son Brandon had planned, and found someone for him to stay with for the 12 days. Whew!
Fortunately, we had heard about a very reasonable airline that flies to Latin America, the Caribbean, as well as the U.S. – Spirit Airlines. The cost of flying to South America is usually worse than going to Europe because there is very limited competition or choices. We got roundtrip tickets for $310 each!!! With pride, the next day I sent her a note with the good news that we were booked for May 1st to the 11th.
Monday, we get a note back. “Great news that you’re coming, and by the way there was another note awaiting me – I was chosen as a Thomas R. Pickering finalist and guess what? They are flying me to Washington, D.C. for an interview on behalf of the State Department……the same week you are coming to visit me in Peru.” Well, we were so proud and knew that we would just work around it and at least we would have the end of that week together, which was also Mother’s Day. How perfect was that?
Well, stay tuned J
The first weekend we were to arrive, we knew that Nicole would be in Iquito (the Amazon region of Northern Peru), so she planned a weekend of activities for us that she had enjoyed south of Lima. In the middle of her busy week she worked many hours with the ISA staff to lay-out an itinerary for our whole week and a half. Thank you Coli!
It was early the morning of May 1st. Everything was arranged, we were packed, and we got to the airport to find that the flight was cancelled until the next day…due to “the fog” in Lima. At first, I thought this was a cover story, but as you’ve read in Coli’s blog, we also came to ‘not like’ the fog in Lima. It was true. In fact, her trip to Iquitos was also cancelled due to “the fog”. Now her trip was rescheduled to the following weekend - yes Mother’s Day weekend. Nicole had found out that her flight back from D.C. was arriving at 4:40 a.m. Friday and her flight to connect up with the rest of her group (Multisas) in Iquitos was to leave from the airport at 7:30 a.m. so we were not going to see her at all that weekend…maybe a lucky 15 minutes in the airport on Sunday as she flew in to Lima as we were preparing to fly back to “the States”.
We were desperate to let Coli and the ISA staff know that we were cancelled and that all the detailed reservations that were made on our behalf for that weekend would have to be reworked for another time. Luckily the ISA staff in the U.S. had cell phone contact with the ISA staff in Lima, because that Friday was a holiday for them – like our Labor Day.
The good news was that Nicole would be in town Sunday with us and Monday, working around her classes. She surprised us by meeting us at the airport Saturday night (Spirit Airlines was terrific). That was good, because she hadn’t had a chance to teach me how to negotiate with the taxi drivers yet. When her house mom, Austry, heard that we were coming to Lima, she offered to let us stay with them. This was such a loving gesture from a lovely lady. Nicole kindly let us use her queen-sized bed, while she used a small bed in another bedroom that was currently used for storage. She had unique gifts for each of us, including Brandon, which included shirts, Peruvian treats, Inka Kola, carved gourds, jewelry, etc.
Now on to our daily itinerary in Peru. Since no one can compare with Nicole’s descriptive writing style that we have all enjoyed while reading her daily blogs, Cyndee and I will tell you where we visited and the unique experiences we had, which were quite numerous.
Sunday, May 3rd
Starting in the morning, Coli took us to see two terrific museums on pre-Columbian civilizations. The first one was the Museo de Antropología, Arqueología e Historia and then on to the Museo Antropolgico de Rafeal Herrera, which was incredible (see Coli’s blog for details). I couldn’t believe my eyes (ojos) as I watched Nicole negotiate with the taxi drivers. She even turned them down if they didn’t accept her offer and walked to another taxi and ended up getting an okay. For example, later we went to downtown Lima (El Centro) which took 20 to 25 minutes for 7 soles (about $2.30 US) for three people! I spent the rest of the trip trying to emulate her success. It was a fun part of the cultural experience throughout Lima. I also couldn’t believe my ears (orejas) when I heard the words come out of our American daughter’s mouth. It was like a Latino ventriloquist was speaking through my daughter’s lips. She has become so fluent with the Spanish (Castellano) language. One of the ISA staff members mentioned that Nicole had become very natural with the language and had done an excellent job of erasing any “U.S. accent”. Bravo Coli!
In mid-afternoon, we went to Ashley and Caroline’s house where they hosted a big barbeque. We were able to meet all the fellow students (Multisas) that were doing the multi-country study-abroad with Nicole. Each student was fascinating to talk to and as a group they had a great spirit about them. We had a buffet of foods to select from – various vegetables (especially potato) and fruit varieties unseen in the U.S.
Later that afternoon, the three of us headed to el Centro (city center) and Plaza de Armas, the main historic plaza. We visited the stunning Iglesia de San Francisco with its intricate altars and then fortuitously saw a line of people outside the Government Palace (Palacio del Gobierno) for a free special exhibit inside the on la tomba del Señor de Sipan. It was the result of a major archeological tomb discovery - sort of Peru’s King Tut tomb equivalent with quite a bit of gold artifacts.
Nicole had a special treat in store for us tonight. It was dark when the taxi dropped us off outside some lavish gates. We were at Las Piletas Mágicas (the Magic Fountains). There were acres and acres of lighted water-fountain technological displays. Some had changing colors, classical music, video clips in water sprays, and a number of playful water-parks. Coli took the dare and headed into a set of concentric circles of water jets. They would take turns spraying and not…jump up 2 feet, then 10 feet, then nothing. Those who dared, but guessed wrong got drenched. Cyndee and Nicole walked through a “tunnel” that was totally created by arching jets of water while I videotaped and photographed them.
The best part of the day though for Mom and Dad was just being with Nicole – lots of hugs (abrazos) and kisses (besos), and just catching up on her experiences and the adventures in store for us during the upcoming week.
Monday, May 4th – Our final day with Nicole
After Coli gave us a tour of her University de Pacifico and the ISA office, we left to tour
the Barranco barrio (neighborhood) to see the over-century-old Bohemian architecture. We came back to the house for lunch to eat a typical homemade Peruvian meal of arroz con pollo (chicken and rice). When Nicole headed to class in the afternoon, we headed back to the city center to take a stroll to many churches and historical buildings. Lots of stunning architecture. Nicole met up with us after class to catch the last tour of the catacombs of the Iglesia de San Francisco, where over 25,000 bodies were buried. At one point, we were in the level below the cathedral floor. I yelled up through the grates for someone to save me, but I guess my Spanish wasn’t good enough because they left me to rot.
For dinner, Nicole had another special treat planned for us at Junius. It was an elegant buffet and dinner show in the hip and classy Miraflores suburb of Lima. Cyndee and I were introduced to dozens of Peruvian dishes of all kinds of meats, fruits, vegetables, and desserts. I was introduced to my favorite new condiment, called ají (pronounced ah-hee). It is more delicious than the variety of salsas, buffalo-wing sauces, or concoctions we have in our barbeque joints. Yum-yum! I made sure to ask for it wherever I went. It comes in various grades of hotness too. The highlight of the evening though was the dancers that were clad in sophisticated traditional clothing, tools, and decorative items while accompanied by a talented musical ensemble.
We headed back to the house for our final chats and preparations for our morning adventure to visit one of the top historical sites in the world – Machu Picchu!
All we can say is that those two days with Nicole were magical and special for us. What she has experienced in the three months since we saw her last!
Mom and Dad (Cyndee and Rand) …to be continued
No comments:
Post a Comment