Pachamac ruins....or NOT!

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Sunday, July 10, 2005

This is our combi for the day: and here are the kids in the back of the combi: This morning we woke up and got ready really fast since Merardo had sent a combi to pick us up at 9:30am. Merardo and William have been friends and were classmates from Preschool all the way until graduating from high school. He is now a chemical engineer who works for Blue Water- they package and distribute bottled water. Merardo also came to our house last March and the kids really love him. He lives with his wife, Rosa, and their daughter, Leslie (10 yrs. old) live in Pachamac near some ancient Inca ruins. Our plans for the day were to visit them at their home and then go to the ruins, but.....







On our way to Pachacamac, we stopped allong the beach were there were MANY surfers from all over the world surfing. I took pics with my SLR, so I can´t share them yet, but it was cool! We did take pics of ourselves and the kids threw these gigantic rocks as far as they could into the ocean.

Along the route to Pachacamac, we went through a town called Chorrillos. This town as many homes built into the sides of mountains. I can´t imagine having to climb up and down these mountains to get to-from home. Some of these homes have power, but most do not even have water. There is one section that actually has stairs up and down the mountain, but this is not the case in most areas. The most ironic thing, perhaps, is that along this same road, just a couple of miles up the road is an oil refinery, a Kimberly Clark warehouse, and other BIG businesses. Poverty and wealthy are neighbors- but I guess we can see that in our own country, can´t we...it just seems more extreme here.


We finally arrived to Merardo´s home and hung out for a while. The kids played Twister, played with the dog, Benny surfed the net, and took pictures of each other with digital cameras while the grown ups had wine and I got the scoop on William´s escapades in high school and we gossiped (don´t all high school friends do that?). Finally, we headed over to a park called La Granja Villa before we went to the ruins. On the way, we drank beer in the combi (NOT the driver, of course)- can you imagine open containers in the USA!? It was quite relaxing, except I had to stop at the Texaco for a bathroom....nicer bathroom that in most of our Texacos in America, except you had to bring your own paper.


La Granja Villa was more than I expected. They had rides for the kids, animals to pet and feed, pony rides, and food! My camera ran out of batteries, so I don´t have many pictures of this..sorry! Anthony represented us well on a mechanical bull- he lasted a long time, even though the guy running it made the bull go faster than he did for anyone else. We made a scene, of course, and everyone must have known there were Americans in the house! LOL!! They kicked us out practically when they closed at 6pm. We never made it to the ruins, however!





Next, we went to Memo´s house. They have a cute little apartment and I really anjoy their company. He and his wife are both teachers and I love to talk about school with them. They both have tourist visas to come to the US so maybe one day they can come to my school to visit. The kids played and we had some cake to celebrate Anthony´s birthday- even though it´s not until next week. I have to admit that Anthony has a special in many hearts here in Peru, and Memo and Ysabel really love him! I am so sorry I don´t have photos of this, but Memo took some with a regular camera and will send them to me...one day!

We arrived back home and started getting ready for our 6:30am flight tomorrow morning to Piura and then to Mancora Beach..........I am not sure when I can write again, but I will asap. I am not sure how we´re going to get up at 4am, get a taxi, and get to the airport by 5am either, but I am sure we´ll figure something out!

Lastly, IT has happened: the moment that I come to realize how self-absorbed I have become back home, and I realize I take too much way too seriously. I really need to stop and make sure everyone around me knows how much they mean to me and how much I appreciate them! I come here and see such simple life where people don´t necessarily have to buy the latest anything or have the newest car, or have the biggest, nicest house. Those things don´t make you happy, even if they are nice to have. I guess I am humbled, and I am so blessed to be able to come here and let my children see another part of the world and to appreciate what we have but also realize we may have too much. These realizations will hit me throughout the rest of our time here and will be with me even after I go home....these feelings are hard to put into words but it always happen to me here in Peru.

I will be back soon to write more, Lord willing!
Love n hugs to my friends,
Elena

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