Monday, December 27, 2010

Christmas morning

It was fun to see our lily bloom Christmas morning.  Thanks for the tulip bulbs in our Christmas package, Erin and Grandma Jones.  Hopefully, we'll be able to get a picture of those in a few months...there was only a little mildew!

Saturday, December 25, 2010

Un regalo

Los misioneros surprised us with a gift to remember our time here in Peru.  Un regalo perfecto!

Friday, December 24, 2010

Santa's workshop

 
Little did Great Grandmother Thurston know her tradition of grab bag gifts on Christmas Eve would make it's way to the south of Peru.  We've also been busy with candy and cookie bags for our member and nonmember friends here, another tradition from back home!

Papa Noel is assisting at a chocolatada.  Store owners, neighbors, all of Peru, I think, drink hot chocolate and eat panetone for Christmas.  Elder Jones was Papa Noel for a branch activity and one of the merchants ask him to come visit the children at the chocolatada he was hosting for some of the less fortunate.

Porque Dios nos ama y quiere que nosotros seamos felices, El nos ha dado el evangelio y las familias, por las cuales estamos eternalmente agradecidos.  We are also grateful to be able to serve in the land of the Book of Mormon and teach the descendants of the people of the Book of Mormon. We wish everyone a Merry Christmas (Feliz Navidad).

Monday, December 6, 2010

The entertainment

Everybody got a turn on the pony, who was quite patient with us all.

The carne

A fire pit was built to cook the beef hearts and valves.  They are sliced and put on skewers.

No cook out is complete without hotdogs!  They cook or heat them on the grill, but I like mine a little more well done.....stick was a little short, though. 
Here they eat the hot dogs on the skewers without buns.

With the meat, corn, rice, of course... oh, and potatoes, of course,(you have rice and potatoes for every meal ), our plates were full and our stomachs, too.

Corn Feast

The bottom barrel was filled with sawdust and lit on fire.  There is a hole for a vent on the bottom side.  Then the corn pot is filled with water and put on to boil.

Everyone joined in to husk the corn.

The finished product!

The Campo

The Nazca Branch had an activity at the Bustinsa Farm.  Actually we were invited to eat corn and went to the corn field to eat.  Luckily, their well was handy to get water.

The well is about 60 feet deep with the motor down at the bottom.  You have to go down to turn it on.

Un choque

Well, the inevitable crash ocurred Saturday.  We survived and hope it is the only one!   A motorcycle came from a sidestreet right in front of our taxi. The motor cyclists(2) bounced off our windshield and Elder Jones was splattered with glass.  Luckliy no one was badly injured.  All those prayers don't go unanswered!

Friday, December 3, 2010

Every few months we have a knock at our door and the "ghost busters" come to spray our fruit trees.


We finally found the gardener who sold us the rose sticks.(They all died)He replaced them and we got 36 geranium sticks, which seem to grow without roots, and 2 more flower trees.  He's now our advisor of gardens.
The sun is so hot it's not good to use the curling iron too often, so we cut off the ends of our medicine bottles to make curlers.  We might go into a recylcling business!

Tuesday, November 30, 2010

Summer time is here!  We are only in the 90's at the moment. 
Our neightbor is adding a second floor to his house.  The guy with the bricks pulled in under the hole they made in the roof and they hand all the bricks up to the workers.  They have to get the sand across the street in a bucket and hand it up to make the cement.  Usually people just have the sand piled in the road in front of their house, but he has to have access to his work space. 

Monday, November 22, 2010

Dia de Gracias

Our bird came with feet, but minus feathers, fortunately.  The feet are a delicacy, but again, fortunately, we don't know how to cook them, so couldn't eat them.

We celebrated early, since here it really isn't a holiday.
Every time we go out the door on Market Day Elder Jones has garbage to pick up.  At night it just keeps coming, probably because we live so close and the wind funnels it to our doorway.

Pan American bridge

We always take the shortcut along the river bank to get to the Pan American bridge.  Right now the river is being channeled and reinforced for the rains they say will come.   

We promised the workers we would return with water, but we will have to get a taxi to carry enough bottles for all of them.

Crossing the bridge is always a fun experience.  If you keep your eyes focused forward you don't get as dizzy.  It's better to cross in the daylight when no big trucks are crossing.

Monday, November 15, 2010

This hummingbird is easier to find.  They really like our trees right now, especially the picay.  

Wash Day

The socks are easy to find in the hidden picture, mangos pretty easy, too, but can you see the hummingbird?
The elephant, the turtle and we can't remember the other formation.... whale?
We're told sea urchins aren't bad tasting but we haven't taken advantage of that menu item yet.

Guanara Point

Hundred of thousands of birds are here at the bird refuge.  Bet you can guess what guanara is!

District conference at Marcona

Two weeks ago Nazca had district conference with 250 in attendance for the Sunday morning session.  This Sunday at Marcona's conference there was an attendance of 150.  We always love to go to Marcona.

Thursday, November 4, 2010

Trip to the moon?

The neighbors asked if we were ready to leave for the moon.  Although this looks like it could be a space ship, it is really a dome for one of the big churches.  Did I mention how innovative the people  are?  They drew chalk lines on the road in front of their shop/house to measure the pipes as they shape the arcs.

Saturday, October 30, 2010

Platos Typicas

Food of the jungle(or pig) and fried banana are typical plates at this restaurant.  They also serve shrimp.  We think they are somewhat like the crawdads at home.  The orange juice is the best in the world, freshly squeezed from oranges in the field across the street.

Sightseeing

The owl wasn't bothered by our sight seeing and the long toothpick thorns are visible on this tree.

If you look close you can see the chicken wire used to hold the rocks in place for the banks of the river.  If you look really close, you still can't see water in the river.  We saw water in one river once, during the time it rains up in the sierras.

The cactus plants are scraped and the residue used in cosmetics.  The fences around fields are made of limbs from thorn trees.  The thorns are several inches long and we have seen them used for toothpicks.

Thursday, October 28, 2010

The rich get richer

The landowners have the big houses.  This hacienda was owned by the church until they were expelled in the 1600's.
The workers live in small rooms on the hacienda.

This herd of goats, sheep and donkeys crossed in front of us.  We aren't sure what they find to graze on.

The cows also live on this hacienda.

They have a bit of everything.  Usually, haciendas are self sufficient and grow what they need.  This cotton field is harvested by hand.  In Ica where the fields are larger, they do use machines to harvest.  A pretty yellow blossom  before  the soft puff ball you see in the front.

Jesuit Church - 1500's

These tombs held the bodies until they decayed.

The bones were then deposited in the cellar or vault underneath, after the bodies decayed.

The stairs lead to the tombs.  We made lots of noise to scare any creatures away before we entered.

Funds are needed to restore some of these ancient buildings that are on an endangered list.


The artifacts and mummy were found in desert ruins.  The mummy had been left by grave robbers

Tree of life?


The Nazca Lines are a series of ancient geoglyphs dating 400-650 AD.  They are very fragile, made from brushing off the top layer of pebbles to expose the whitish ground underneath.  The dry, hot climate preserves these lines.
A family appears as the subject of this set of lines.