More Ups Than Downs

     It´s hard to believe so much has happened in the past few months. We´ve let our blog updates get further and further apart and now here we are in December preparing for our second Christmas and New Year here. There has been so much happening we ´de like to share but to keep this entry at a reasonable length, we´ll stick with the highlights over the past several months.

Celebrating with Pisco Sours

     In July, we had a wonderful visit from Mom and Dad Liberatore. We were so thankful and happy to have them here and introduce them to Perú. They visited La Jalca and got to know our host family, hiked to Gocta waterfall and Kuelap and trekked in the jungle. It was a wonderful trip.

   In August, Brian and I traveled deep into the jungle to take part in the longest raft race in the world.  Over three days we paddled over 200 miles on the mighty Amazon River in a homemade balsa log raft held together with rope and wire. It was an epic adventure full of laughter, prolonged silences, sore muscles and wonder. Although we didn´t win the race, we more than finished,  paddling an extra  seven miles past the finish line in a blinding rainstorm. Overall, quite a jungle adventure to remember.

Our raft

Team: Piranha Bait

Day 2 on the Amazon

     

     When we returned to Chacha we had great news waiting for us. Both my grant for the forming of a conservation area and Brian´s grant for a cocinas mejoradas project came through and we´ve been working hard to get both projects rolling ever since.  

Our planned conservation area

Our families new cocina mejorada 

                         

Mausoleum sculpture in Recoleta Cemetary

     In November we headed to Lima for our mid-service conference and celebrated one year in Amazonas with a trip to Buenos Aires, Argentina. We spent two wonderful weeks exploring this vibrant, latin city, having coffee at many of the historical cafes, watching tango in the park, drinking our share of mate tea and Malbec and eating enough steak to get us through another year in Perú.
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Coffee break in San Telmo

Buenos Aires

   

Homemade dinner at  Lucianas 

     We don´t have as many pictures as we´d like to from our trip due to one unfortunate incident. Upon returning to Lima we experienced our first and hopefully last robbery.  We were both fine but a little shaken up. Someone smashed the window of the taxi we were in while we were on our way back from the airport and was able to snatch my backpack from the floor before we knew what was happening. It was a brief but scary encounter. We had our packs safely in the trunk but the thief made away with my camera and consequently most of our Argentina  photos. We spent the next several hours being shuffled from police station to police station and from one incompetent police officer to the next until someone finally helped us file a report. Thank goodness for insurance. The whole experience served as a reminder of the desperation and poverty that exists here.  Unfortunately, in Lima this kind of smash and grab happens quite often especially before the holidays.

The lovely ladies of Amazonas

     On a happier note, we arrived back to Amazonas in time to welcome the second group of volunteers to our region and enjoy some of the last beautiful days of sunshine here before we head in to the rainy season.

    

      To all of our family and friends we wish you peace, love and a very Merry Christmas. In the coming year we wish you all the best in making your dreams, pursuing them and hopefully living them.