They're Here

Sonia, Aliah and Ameer arrived late Tuesday night. Sra. Sonia, Sr. Juan, Tia Chela, Johanna and I headed for the airport to give them a big welcome. A few of the other family members joined the welcome party at the airport and we all waited patiently with our big welcome banner. When the plane landed we all got very excited and eagerly started to look. They eventually walked through the gate and we all started whistling and waving to get their attention. They finally saw us and we all ran down to say hello and the tears started to flow. The kids were excited but Sonia was the most ecstatic because this is the first time she has been home since 2001. We all went back to the house and stayed up talking until 2am.

Here they come with all of their baggage.

Ameer, being a very energetic boy, made a beeline straight for the toys.

Sonia was a little different but just as energetic and went straight for the fruit.

Aliah is so easy going, she was just happy to be here.

Sr. Juan and Sra. Sonia's Anniversary

Sr. Juan and Sra. Sonia celebrated their 38th wedding anniversary last Friday. They were not planning anything special so Johanna stepped in. At the last minute Johanna decided that she wanted to do something for her parents so we headed for the restaurant on the corner. We picked up some rotisserie chicken and then stopped at the market for some flowers and headed to her parents home. When we arrived Sra. Sonia was surprised and decided she wanted to dress up a little for the occasions and Sr. Juan was on his way home from work so we had to hurry. We set the table and Johanna made some chef hats so we could welcome Sr. Juan when he arrived. When he came in he was surprised and we rushed him right over to his bride. Johanna and I served their dinner and quickly left so the love birds could spend a nice quiet evening together.

Happy Birthday to Me

Ursula, Ivan, Carla, Michelle, Johanna, Me, Alejandra

Javier, Giovanna, Me, Ivan

The great food Causa, Carapulcra, & Aji de Gallina

My mother-in-law, Sonia, teaching me some dance moves.

Deysi, Me, Arturo

Me with all of the woman. Where is Johanna?

Johanna threw me a birthday party on Saturday and we had a blast. Our friend’s mother cooked a fantastic meal for us all and fortunately there was a lot left over so we have been eating like royalty all week. We tried get started at 7pm because I do not like to begin my night when I normally go to bed. It is not out of the ordinary to go to a party at 11pm and stay out all night. So our invitations said 7pm but people still did not show up until much later. But that was okay because we passed the time with our friends Carla and Ivan. Even though we tried to have the party start and end at a “reasonable” hour we did not go to bed until 5am. Not a problem though because neither of us had to work the next day so we laid in bed all day and recovered from the exciting night. At least I laid in bed, my wonderful wife cleaned the entire house and by the afternoon everything was back to normal. Johanna is the best.

Party Video

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HYldgc611KA

We are Comming Home

When we decided to go on this adventure we said we would stay for at least one year. We originally wanted to wait until January to make the decision to stay or not but due to some issues with our apartment we had to decide a little earlier than expected and we decided to come home. It was a tough decision but we both think it is the best thing for us to do. We are not exactly sure when we will be flying home but I will probably return in late January or early February and Johanna will probably not go back until March. We are very anxious to see everyone when we get back.

A Day of Celebration

On Sunday I was excited about sleeping in when I was suddenly awaken at 7:00am by cannon fire at least that is what it sounded like. I got up to investigate and I found people in the streets decorating everything in purple and white balloons and streamers. They were getting ready to celebrate the day of an important Saint here in Peru, I am not sure who but everyone else seemed to know, and they were launching fireworks to commemorate the day.

A guy drew the design on the street with chalk and then a bunch if people filled in the entire thing with flower pedals and colored saw dust. All done the morning of the big day.

Johanna and I went out later to grab some lunch and all of the decorations were ready and the people were sitting in chairs in front of their houses talking and waiting. When we returned was saw that this is what they were waiting for.

This group of people walked all around the area carrying this “float” and playing music. They stopped every once in a while in front of groups of people and they would all pray together. It was quite a site.

That is sheet music on their backs for the guys walking behind them.

The group walked over the art masterpiece as they went down the street. I would have been a little upset if this was my work but apparently this is how it is done.

Hand Gestures

This is a little lesson on hand gestures in Peru.




If you use this gesture in the US it means come here. Generally done with one hand.

However, in Peru you turn your palm down to beckon someone. Much like you would shew away something in the US. But becareful to keep your hand moving becasue if you just let it hang there people might think you are a little sweet. Disclaimer: Not that there is anything wrong with that.

This mean okay in the states or nice. In Peru you need to turn this gesture upside down. This means very nice and you would do this while you are commenting on something. "The hotel was excellent." However, you must be careful with this one becasue it also means that you are claiming to be gay or you are calling the person you are talking to gay. Diclaimer: Again not that there is anything wrong with that, but you do not want to offend.

Pictures from October

I am not really in the mood for writing so I am just posting a few pictures.

Tió Pedro's Birthday

Sr. Juan (Johanna's father), Johanna, Tió Perdo aka The Birthday Boy


There is always good food to eat.

Tiá Chela & Sra. Sonia (Johanna's Mom)

Primos (cousins) Alex and Mike

A Wine Tasting Johanna and her best friend Giovanna

Giovanna and her husband Javier

I was the one taking the pictures.


Johanna's Birthday

She is thinking of a good wish.

Prima (cousin) Gabby, Johanna, and Sra. Sonia

These were our big events for October.

Paintball Mania

Johanna and I met a bunch of friends just outside of Lima for a few games of paintball on Saturday. The place had barricades, houses and blinds to use for cover and they provided us all with camouflage jump suits. They also gave us chest pads, gloves and of course masks and we all looked like Rambo clones. The horn blew and the fun began. We were all running and diving and crawling trying to avoid the sting of a paintball but in the end I think everyone got hit at least once. Once all three games were over we sat around and told our war stories and showed our battle scares with pride. Once we got home Johanna and I examined our wounds a little closer. I got one on top of my head and of course it did not hurt too badly because you know my head is pretty hard. But I did feel the one in my thigh. Johanna took one on the forearm and it looked pretty painful but the one on her tush took the prize. It was bright red and swollen and she felt it every time she tried to sit down. We went off to bed and were sure the next day would be a little better but we were wrong, we found new injuries. Our bodies were so sore from diving and crawling on the ground that we did not feel those paintball bruises anymore and needless to say Sunday was a very unproductive day. But now it is Tuesday and we are getting back to normal and I cannot wait to do it again.

FSU Football

Not much new happening in Peru right now so let’s talk football. My very computer savvy brother-in-law, Greg, helped me find some websites to watch any football game live on the internet. Unfortunately, my connection is not the best so I am stuck watching the play-by-play as it is typed on FoxSports.com. That is okay though because at least it is something. As many of you know I am a Florida State fan and I must say I am a little disappointed so far. I knew there was not a great deal of hope for this season but after the big win over BYU I think we all were getting a little excited. And then the USF game happened. Even though I am a USF alumni and I should be very happy right now I was pulling for FSU because that is where football started for me. As far back as I can remember my Aunt Andy, Uncle Dean and Cousin Adam would drive up to Tallahassee late Friday night in order to go to the football game on Saturday. We usually greeted them, unless Karen and I were sleeping, and then off to bed to get rested for the big game on Saturday. Adam, Karen and I would then wake up early Saturday and get to work right away. Instead of watching Saturday morning cartoons we had our work cut out for us. We would rake all of the pine needles in the front yard and use them to spell out encouraging phrases for our favorite team. I do not remember exactly how they went but things like “Go Noles” or “Beat the Canes”. After the work was done we would clean up and off to the game. We always left early so we would have time to play a few downs on the practice field outside the stadium, we had to warm up just like the players. Then our parents would walk us to our seats. That is right, we had our own seats and we did not have to sit with the grownups, we felt so mature. After a long game of screaming for our Noles the game would usually end in a victory and then we would wait. This was one of the most important times of the game because something exciting was about to happen. All of the fans were clearing out and the people who collect the cups were starting to collect but we were all just waiting. Finally the time was right, the Police Officers were finally off the field and we were off to the races. It is our time now to show our stuff. We had our warm up on the practice field before the game and now it is time for the real thing. Uncle Dean would take the ball to play quarterback and we each took turns catching touchdown passes, spiking the ball and doing our victory dances in the in zone. We were playing on the same field where Deion Sanders just made an amazing tackle and Sammie Smith just ran for a 50 yard touchdown. This is where football began for me and I will never forget all of these great childhood memories of FSU football. Go Noles!

Peruvian Food

As most of you know, I visited Peru a couple of times before we decided to move down here. In that time I tried a ton of different Peruvian dishes and most were good but none were excellent. This was disappointing because I had always heard that Peruvian cuisine was some of the best in the world. It was not until we moved here that I realized this fact. I do not know if my taste bud had to adjust to the spices or what but I am really enjoying the food now. I know I have also told some stories about some of the “strange” dishes here and I am afraid I might have scared some people away from trying this wonderful food. For starters Chorizo is a type of sausage that is best grilled and eaten on a bread roll with aji de casa (a type of yellow jalapeno sauce). Another great dish is lomo saltado which is sliced beef cooked with onions and served over french fries.
The most famous dish is ceviche which is pieces of fish cooked by marinating it in lemon juice and served cold with sliced onions. I know this sounds a little out there but it is an excellent dish on a summer afternoon.

And finally one of my many favorites is papa a la huancaina. This is boiled potatoes covered in a yellow sauce that has just a hint of spice, but not too much.

These are just a couple of the over 400 dishes that Peru has to offer, some are a little strange but most all of the ones I have tried are fantastic. Now I know why Johanna missed the food some much. For those of you living in Tampa, and your mouths are watering, there is a great Peruvian restaurant called Terra Sur Café.

Our Family Visit

Mom and Karen on the flight down.

Me with my mom's in downtown Lima.

Me with my mom and Karen at Larcomar overlooking Costa Verde.

Johanna, Karen and I overlooking Costa Verde.

Us on a night time bus tour, it was quite cold.

Well my mom and sister Karen came down to visit for a week and left on Monday. They brought down a care package of things we asked for and also some surprises like candy bars and gum. Johanna's mom and dad were very helpful with carting us all around and making sure we did not get lost, we could not have done it with out them. We toured around Lima and I think we saw everything and a little more. It was great to have them visit but it was hard to let them go. When we said good bye in Tampa back in February, it was hard but I was very excited about moving so I dealt with saying good bye pretty well. This time that excitement was gone so it was a lot harder. We watched as they walked down the hall and out of sight. It was very sad but it was sure nice to see them.

Washer and Dryer

Our washer and dryer in the new place are better in some ways but lacking in others. As you can see in this picture our dryer is enormous so it can handle a lot of cloths. Look at the size of that thing; you are looking at 7 lines. The position of the dryer (on the roof top) also helps because the cloths dry a lot faster.



The down side to the new place it the washing machine. Our old place had a very large and deep washer but you can see the new one is the exact same size and looks exactly like our small kitchen sink. This makes it a little time consuming but I am perfecting my system and getting a lot more efficient.

The agitator (my hand) is the same and the spin cycle on this washer uses two agitators (both of my hands) in almost a twisting motion. It is a little inefficient and tiresome but it works. As for the detergent you can see that bar of soap in the agitator, which is called “Popeye” soap. I think the reason is because my forearms are starting to look like Popeye’s from scrubbing, sloshing, and ringing all of these damn cloths. I do not know if you picked up on this but I, that’s right I am the washer and dryer.