Don't take things for granted

Here is kendrea coming back from Church....you forget how easy things can be at home.

Guinea Pig!!!

Well it finally happened....for years trying to avoid it and trying to find the courage to try it.  Guinea Pig is a delicacy here in Cusco and the locals are very serious and proud about it.  A few weeks ago a local preschool near the site came to ask if we could donate some Christmas toys for the kids, since we agreed and in order to show their appreciation they returned with several roasted Guinea PIGS with local steamed potatoes.  When I first saw them come I ran....making sure my family stayed behind to not be disrespectful, I hid in one of the rooms for about 30 min.  Then Jared(my brother in law) came up to find me and brought with him a leg to show me, the feet had claws still.  After playing with it for a few minutes, he got me to try a bit of it....I am not going to lie, it was very difficult to keep in.  But after a few minutes (and after the ladies had left) and went back down stairs and took my time taking a few bites of my plate.  It really wasn’t that bad, it tastes like chicken..ha ha , not really but the presentation is the hardest thing to get over.  If you can get passed that…the flavor is really not that bad.  I brought the little leg home to show Kendrea.  She really didn't appreciate me pinning her down and putting it really close to her.....she actually got mad, but it was fun. Maybe she'll try it next time.

 

Spanish Class

Today , Oct 11th was my 2nd day of spanish school.  I am enrolled in a program at maximo nivel on Avenida del sol.  This is a well known program to the natives here for learning english but they also teach spanish as well for tourists.  It is at the main plaza in cuzco where you see all the tourists.  I go everyday for an hour with my private tutor, Ana maria.  I am really learning a lot being immersed in the culture and taking lessons are really going to help me even more.  They have other programs that are more intensive and expensive, but with the little ones this is the best I can do for now.  I will say that i can get around  by myself pretty well. I know enough to go to the lavanderia, supermercado y otro lugares:)  how great it will be to come back and have a conversation with  my grandparents:) 

Chow!!!!

kendrea

Giselle First day at School

We enrolled Giselle on Monday, Oct 3rd into a bilingual school called "time for kids".  It is about 5 or 6 blocks away from the house, so it is walking distance from our apartment. Tony drops her off every day before he goes to work at the hotel and I usually pick her up. We went and looked at 4 different schools before we decided on that one.  We wanted her to attend a preschool where she can learn spanish and some english.  She is in a great school that goes from 8 am to 1230 pm monday to friday.  She is taught 1 hour of english a day and then the rest spanish.  They have a great program and they even send her home with homework and a book that explains how her day was and whether she ate lunch or not.  We pay a little extra and they have a chef  that comes in and cooks lunch for those that pay.  We pay about $175 a month ( 390 soles) for the school which is less than what I would have paid in the states and also she is there longer than she would have been in the states.  It was so hard to send our baby away to school especially in another country, but this has been really good for her so far. I am so happy that she will leave back to the states pretty fluent in spanish.  I will upload pictures soon of her school.

Arriving in Cuzco, Monday Sept 19th

On Monday Sept, 19th 2011 we arrived at our final destination, Cuzco Peru.  We moved into a nice area of Cuzco, in a brand new buliding.  We are in a gated apartment with a private guard.  Everything is within walking distance.  Our first day here we tried to unpack as much as we could to get settled in.  Some stuff was already set up for us as far as the basics since his family lived here for a month prior to our arrival. One thing that broke my heart was when I pulled our our wedding picture and giselle noticed it it she said, "I want to go to my home".  I said, We cannot right now and she said, "sure we can get on an airplane and go".  I had to explain this is our new home for a bit and then we will go back to our home again soon.  There are some downfalls to not being in the states and there are also some perks too.   I will say the #1 downfall is the shower.  The water pressure is weak and we have to wait a while to even get hot water out. I really miss my shower especailly since it is cold here...and quess what?  I was told we are in Spring not winter..OUCH!!!  Did i mention, no heater!!!  So we bundle up well and we are getting use to things. # 2 downfall...I miss target . I cannot believe how hard it is to find things I need to settle in.  We went high and low to try to find organization bins and still have not found it.  But, we did spend our first week shopping for furniture and were able to get a couch and dining room table, a bed for gia and a little kids eating table for giselle and a high chair.  We paid $ 414.00 for all including tax.....actually there was no tax for those things. One of the many perks is that everything is for less here. I get hair cut, wash and blow dry, flat iron all for 11.00 with tip and looks like I did for 100.00 in the states.  Everything Labor here is inexpensive, everything american here is expensive. We also eat out at some amazing places for about 3 to 5 a plate.  We usually would pay like 40 to eat at a sit down restaurant and here it is like 10 or 15 dollars.  So, the first week has taken some adjustment, like anything new but I am sure things will get better as we learn the environment around us.

Urubamba, Sept 13th 2011

After another adventurous flight from lima to Cuzco, we headed down to Urubamba.  Since Cuzco is 11,000 plus in elevation, we headed to the sacred valley to a small town called Urubamba. The elevation there is 9000.  We were lucky to have a friend there that owns a beautiful 5,000 square foot house that he uses only on weekends, so he let us stay there for the week to get acclimated to the altitude.  The first night  I got altitude sickness. It started with a head ache and then escalated to difficulty breathing to a panic attack and  then vomiting .  I got scared because this was a small town and it is pitch black at night and we had no phone or internet.  Tony was great, he left at dark and hunted for oxygen and other things for me so that I would get better.  The next day I felt better.  Luckily, I have been the only one to get sick this entire trip( Travelers Diarrhea in Lima by the way).

We just relaxed, went sightseeing and Giselle played with the local girls. Did I mention that I was almost chased down by two bulls that were about 10 yards from me. Luckily, I was not wearing red...haaaa haaa

Gia's Birthday

We got to spend Gia's first birthday in Peru.  We had a little something at Carlos' house and invited some family.  It was a great time and are glad we had a good turn out.  We have been able to relax and rest here.  Tony's dad is so nice he gets up early every morning makes us breakfast and cooks us lunch before going to work.