Catacombs

Today we took Ian to the centre of town to show him the tourist highlights (there are not many!!) We had some traditional Peruvian food by the main square (which bizarrely had squad police guarding every entrance and a armed tank nearby because of an impending demonstration) and then went off to see the catacombs.

The catacombs are based in a Franciscan monastry and are weird to say the least - lots of piles of bones all organised in pretty patterns by the excavators a few decades ago when the decided to count how many people were buried in the city's main cemetry. (apparently over 25,000). I found them a bit weird and eerie to be honest and the boiled cabbage smell wasn't particularly welcoming either.

Anyway, which I did find fascinating about the trip was an original rendition of The Last Supper done in the Peruvian Inca Capital of Cuzco by a Belgian painter. Not only is it represented on a round table (which I thought was a very interesting idea) but it also contains the traditional incan foods of guinea-pig, chilli, papaya and yucca, washed down with Chicha morada, an Incan drink! Apparently it was an attempt by the early catholics to get the Incan people to identify with the Catholic religion!

Exciting things coming up

Just a quick note to say that we have 3 major things coming up soon. Firstly, we have our 1st visitor to Peru arriving today, my (Mark) friend Ian, from Bible college, who is staying with us for a month, and is on a round the world trip.

He will be helping us with our work (as much as he can considering he doesn't speak Spanish), which will include a retreat for the young adults we are leading from the 28th February to the 1st March.

Following the camp, I (Mark) will also be going with Ian to Pucallpa, a town in the jungle for 4 days. We are going to visit the work of one of the brother of Richar, who we are good friends with. (See earlier postings of him with his wife Marinela and daughters, Angie and Ana). We hope to visit some of the work he is involved. The church he is part of has 22 church plants and other projects, in various different areas, including contacts with some indigenous tribes, so we may well get the opportunity to go and meet with some of them too.

15th Birthdays

I (Mark) went to my first 15th birthday on Tuesday. The 15th birthday for girls is the biggest birthday of their life, so I went as Fiorella, whose birthday it was. Fiorella is one of the young people we are working with at the moment.

A 15th birthday is a very strange event to English eyes.


It was strange to me for several reasons. Firstly, the party started (on a Tuesday when most of the guests were working or studying early the next day) at 9pm. (Traditionally it is supposed to start at 12 midnight). We are of course however in Latin America, which like Africa is more relaxed in terms with time than Europe and America. Therefore I arrived fashionably late at 9.15 in a strange part of San Gabriel. (the main shanty town we are working in) However 9.15 may be fashionably late in England, but it's very early in Peru. I am aware of this however and took my book. At 10.00 other people arrived, and the party started at 10.30ish, when Fiorella arrived in her elegant, but in my thinking, over the top, ballgown.

The second cultural shock was the first official part of the party. The girl celebrating their birthday starts by dancing with her dad. Then all male members of her family, then her male friends, which I was told included me. At this point i'm thinking, I have danced publicly less than 5 times in my life, (even on my wedding day I danced about 5 steps before shrinking away off the dance floor) all of these men have probably done this at least 10 times, are more than likely trained for these 15th birthdays, and are Latin, hence have natural rhythm. I on the other hand have no rhythm, have always hated dancing, and have no ideas where to put my feet, so was dreading my inevitable turn at dancing.

Anyway, the dreaded moment arrived and I was summoned up, and starting dancing in the wrong direction, nearly tripping over Fiorella's dress, and caused much laughter. (I did get the second biggest clap of the night after Fiorella's arrival, for going ahead with it). Following my diastrous start, Fiorella leaned over and whispered in my ear 'just follow me'.

Following the endless dancing, which involves the expectation that those attending have to clap in time the whole time the music is going (up to 30 mins to an hour). Well i cannot clap in time, but I'm pretty sure I was more in time than most of the other people there.

After the dancing, I thought we can move onto the speeches, then bring out the food, and I can disappear, but no. First every single person has to be photographed several times with the birthday girl. Therefore at 11.30 or later, the food comes out and the party starts, after the speeches, that is. Which normally take a long time: an hour sometimes, because Peruvians are very emotional, and worse at birthdays. However Fiorella's family are not big on words, so it seems, and the speeches, were 3 lines long, at best. It was quite an experience, but due to tradition it started very late, and I was ready to go home to bed before it started, but I'll be ready for my next experience.


Unfortunatley I have no photos of the event as it was unwise for a Gringo (white European or American) to take a camera to that part of town. So instead I have a picture of our first young adult meeting. Fiorella is the girl in the far corner wearing blue and white.

Daniel update

Daniel started walking a few days after his first birthday, and is now in full swing, so thought it was time to have a video for you all to see...





He is also loves going to the swimming pool and Mark loves to make the Peruvians squeal as Daniel climbs up the stairs to the slide on his own and then heads down head first! (with Daddy catching him at the bottom of course! )

With Daddy in the local pool

Showing the pool and the slide