C J Mayberry in Peru: A Moving Experience

Curt had a training meeting tonight. He almost always comes home with funny little stories that happen at these gathering but we never have pictures to accompany them so we don't think about putting them here on the blog. These stories often have to do with the refreshments the men put together. Tonight's meeting was no exception. One of the men from Marcona brought crackers and a couple of bottles of juices. Well, no one brought cups and there were none there at the chapel so they found an empty water bottle and cut it in half. With the lid on - it made two cups that they would fill them and pass them around - problem solved!

Tuesday evening we helped Roseli with some English for her class. She wanted a story about an Incan king who fell in love with a coastal princess translated. That was WAY beyond my Spanish ability so Curt helped her and I helped another lady that came in with her family history.

We celebrated Erick's birthday this week by going out to lunch with he and Lacy. I know - twist our arms to get us to go out to eat huh?!?

With our Elders leaving the area, we've faced some changes. We were added to the Ica Zone and so we traveled to Ica for our Zone Conference. It's about a 3 hour bus ride. Our Elders from Marcona left there before 4:30 a.m. so they could make it to the meeting on time.

Checking I had the missionaries names right and where they were from. If I'm wrong - blame them! We won't get to see this new group as often because of the distance but we did enjoy seeing some of our Elders who used to serve here and meet some more great missionaries. Elder Olheiser (who got us settled in when we got here) and Elder McDonald (North Carolina) are the Zone Leaders. E. Gastelo who was just serving in Vista Alegre is now with E. Gonzales (Peru), E. Maldonado (who was in Vista Alegre when we got here) and E. Saldarriaga (Peru), E. Chira (Peru) and E. Vergara (Chile), E. Cortes (Chile) & E. Jimenez (Dominican Republic, E. Verastegui (Peru) and E. Espenesa (California), and Hermanas Mostert (California) and Lawrence (Wyoming).

There is a dear couple living in Lima who stopped by our house last time they were in our area. I complained that when we were in Lima we had purchased a package of USA tasting ketchup and then I wasn't thinking and served it to our hungry missionaries with their burgers. I told them I pouted because we had used all our "good ketchup" on hungry young men that probably wouldn't have tasted the difference. Well, this week we received a box with two packages of yummy ketchup and a note that said, "Dear Mayberrys, Enjoy! With Love, The Ketchup Fairy". So thanks to the couple in Lima who listened to me complain and thanks to the Ketchup Fairy for the stash. We love you all!

Ica is big enough to have a mall! After our meeting we stopped by and ate at some fast food restaurants (Burger King, Pizza Hut and KFC) before jumping back on the bus again.

A Clever Mall - they made sure you saw every store they had! They designed it so when you were riding the escalator you went up one floor and then had to walk the length of the mall to go up another floor. The same way going down. Of course, the food court was on the top floor. We clicked this picture as the missionaries were coming back after accidentally walking to the wrong end of the mall.

On a bus again!

Curt is not a tall man and he still has absolutely no leg room on these buses. There are dents in the back of all the seats where everyones knees go - sometimes it feels like the people behind you might actually have their knees in your kidneys!

Time to close out the apartments for the missionaries that have left. After we wandered just a bit trying to find the place in Vista Alegre, Curt snapped a picture so he could remember the address for our next trip.

He was taking pictures so he could send an inventory to the office of what was there.

The list went something like this: 7 mattresses, 8 bookshelves/desks, 4 tables, 2 refrigerators and a partridge in a pear tree - opps scratch that last one!

A couple of pictures taken from the back window in the Vista Alegre apartment. Looking out at some pretty humble abodes.

Not usually the kind of picture we've normally shared but these conditions make us even more grateful for what we have.

Rented a truck and a couple of guys to start helping us with the move. Just passing stuff over the edge of the rail rather than having to walk the flight of stairs.

Needed the stairs this time.

Yes, I helped too! (A little)

Heading back to Nasca. This driver reminded me: Drivers here LOVE to honk their horns! They honk if they are going through an intersection of any size, they honk at any other nearby vehicle, they honk if there is any pedestrian than might even think about walking near them, they honk if they are a taxi and they think you might want a ride, they honk if you are their friend and they want to say hi, sometimes I think they even honk just because they can!

In front of our house, ready to unload.It took us two trips but we got it all.

Now it's time to clean the apartment and then start on the one in Nasca. We thought the water had been turned off to the apartment but we found out that entire area of Vista Alegre hasn't had water because of a broken pump. Cleaning might be interesting.

Curt trying to get it all stacked in one of the extra bedrooms we have. He said it was like playing tetris!

We stopped by a little gold "Artisan Gallery" as Curt called it. It was a family owned museum, working gold extraction area and gift shop. If their gold they produce is less than 20 karat they don't have to pay taxes on it. They still extract it with mercury and the guys you see behind Curt are rocking back and forth mixing the crushed rock, mercury and water.

We were checking out the gift shop. Behind me is a map of the Nasca Lines and shows where the different geoglyphs are found.

Most of their jewelry shows the different geoglyphs found in the Nasca Lines. This is their hummingbird necklace. They will create custom made jewelry also.