We have news from Peru. All of Daniel's family in Lima are just fine. Daniel's grandfather in Ica is fine. Some cousins we had visited in Ica lost their house, but are not hurt. Many of their neighbors were killed. Thanks to everyone who has called us in concern. We are waiting to find out if there is anything we can do through LDS humanitarian services. What a scary thing!
Link to News Article
Last night there was a magnitude 8.0 earthquake in Peru. Its epicenter was in Ica. Here is a link to an article about it. They estimate that over 300 people were killed. Buildings were destroyed in many cities including Lima and Ica. A church I remembered seeing in Ica was damaged and is in one of the photos from the article. The Panamerican Highway we took from Lima to Ica was heavily damaged. Phone lines are down so we haven't heard anything yet from Daniel's relatives. I'm hoping everyone is doing okay. Please keep them in your prayers. I'll post an update when I find anything out.
We met Daniel's grandfather on our last day in Ica, the town where Daniel's mom grew up. We have always talked about how suprised we were that Sam has such light colored eyes. Even though there are a lot of light eyes in both Daniel's and my families, we just assumed any of our kids would have dark eyes. Abuelito Julio looked at Sam and immediately said "He has my father's eyes". So there you have it, Sam's eyes and his middle name come from his great-great grandfather Nieri.
Meeting Abuelito Julio was a very happy and emotional moment. Even when they lived in Peru Daniel didn't get to see him very often. Sam loved him and warmed up to him right away.
We met at an oasis call Huacachina. It was a really pretty lagoon in the middle of sand dunes. There is a legend about a mermaid who lives in the water. We didn't see her, but we did see a statue and read a poem about it all, so that is pretty much proof that she exists.
We traveled to Ica very comfortably. I wish the plane ride from Atlanta to Lima was as deluxe as this bus. It was about 4 hours to Ica and two more to Nazca.
I only post this picture in the spirit of honest journalism. We were so tired! We had gone to bed late as usual and had to be on the bus at 7:00 AM. Sam stayed in his sleepers and the rest of us looked like we should have. But check out how comfortable this bus was. Tons of leg room, huge cushioned seats. I even got to nap. It was wonderful.
This is Hotel Austria. We stayed here in Ica. We dropped off our bags and went to Nazca for the rest of the day. It was $30 a night and actually quite comfortable. I love the prices in Peru. The owners remembered Daniel's family from when they used to visit when they were younger. Ica was so warm and sunny. We were able to thaw out from the coldest winter Lima has seen in 30 years. (Of course the lows were only about 40 degrees, but with the humidity it was cold to your bones.)
Sam is wearing his Nazca shirt that his Abuelita Lucy bought him. He stayed safely on the ground with his Abuelitos while the rest of us adventurers took a little plane ride over the lines.
Here we are, pre-flight at the Nazca Airport. The Nazca lines are thousands of years old. They were rediscovered in the 1930's when airplanes first started to cross the desert here. They were created by pushing the top black layer of sand to the sides revealing the lighter colored sand underneath. It never rains and so the lines are never disturbed. When the wind blows at night the lines seem to clean themselves. It is really fascinating. I had seen several documentaries on the History Channel about them, so I was super excited to see them in person.
Double click on the pictures to enlarge them. This is "The Hummingbird".
These figures are called "The Tree" and "The Hands"
This is "The Trapezoid". This is the line that prompts some people to suggest that these lines were created by aliens and that this is a runway. There are lots of figures in the shape of animals, plants, and humans, but there are also hundreds of incredibly straight lines that seem to go from horizon to horizon.
This is called "The Astronaut" Daniel and I think that it was created later by copycats. It is really different from the other lines and it is on the side of the mountain and visible from the ground unlike the other lines. That is our amateur opinion.
Here we are after the flight, a little airsick, but also STARVING! We hadn't eaten all day because we had to rush to make it to Nazca and take one of the last flights of the day. We had a great pilot and a fabulous time.
Lucy had this burger. It had plantains and I think pineapple.
This is the Aleman family. We visited them Monday night.
Sam loved it when we visited families with little kids.
Chorrillos is the district in Lima where Daniel grew up. One of the houses they lived in was just down the street from this chapel.
This is the Stake President's family. They invited us over for dinner after church. The food as usual was fabulous. Sam even took a nap here and Sister Aguilar made a bowl of homemade chicken soup just for him.
That night we visited some of Daniel's Dad's cousins. They were so nice. Sam is eating a miniature banana called a manzanita. It tastes just like an apple which is what manzanita means. Sam loved them.
More eating by Sam. People told us all the time that they have never seen a baby eat as much as he does. It's an inherited talent.
Sam found this truck in a bedroom and they gave it to him. I just can't believe how generous everyone was to us. We met a lot of very good people.
We've been so busy trying to get our house ready to sell that I haven't posted anymore pictures of our trip to Peru. On Saturday we had a big dinner with all of Daniel's mom's family. It was so yummy.
Earlier that morning we visited some of Daniel's dad's family and the house Daniel's parents lived in when they were first married. There were some neighbors who fed Sam saltine crackers. I think he ate about 15 all by himself. What a little piggy!
Speaking of food, this is Manolo's. They have the best churros and some really huge sandwiches.
The girls from Daniel's Mom's family posing with all the wonderful food they prepared for the family dinner. It was delicious.
Picarones (basically scones with molasses) from a street vendor in Parque Kennedy. We visited this park several times for food, shopping and entertainment and did I mention the food?
