Walking with the Washburns

Hooray!! Our luggage Has Arrived!!

So grateful that our luggage arrived a few days ago. Some friends of ours offered to drive our luggage from Lima to Arequipa and ran into some car trouble along the way. They drove 15 hours while we took a 1 hour plane ride. Crazy huh? The mountains are treacherous, and the roads are windy. We are super glad they made it in safely despite trouble with their cars. These guys are veterans here and made sure to take along all of their tools in the backs of their trucks just in case something went wrong - good planning since the desert is unforgiving to broken down vehicles. They will use these newly purchased (well used) vehicles they bought in Lima to do work among the people of Cotahuasi who are not accessible by road. These four wheel drive vehicles will make their own roads!

Now do not get confused we are going to Curahasi not Cotahuasi - confusing huh?

By the way our doctors appointment went fine. Everything was in Spanish so I was a little out of the loop but John got most of it - I think :) We got to see baby - as the doctor told us this baby was definitely a "varon" (a boy). My water levels look good - which we are grateful for since this has been a problem in the past. The doctors here are a "one man show" - she did my ultrasound, blood pressure, took my money, and everything else. My next appointment is in a couple of weeks. We will keep you posted.

Everyone but John has been fighting a nasty head cold this week. Not fun at all. We are grateful John has not gotten it - as I have been out of commision and needed his help with the kiddos. We are also super grateful for good friends who brought us homemade chicken noodle soup (oh wait everything here is homemade :) ) and some wonderful spaghetti sauce for dinner. What an answer to prayer - literally. God knows what we need just when we need it huh?

 

We broke down and bought some peanut butter this week. It was 23 soles for a 16.3 oz jar of peanut butter. EXPENSIVE. So we use it sparingly :) Also we found an american brownie mix - which was again expensive since it is imported - AND we found chocolate chips. We know where to get them although I have not bought them yet. It looks to me like they are milk chocolate and who knows how they taste, but we will find out. We are trying not to stock a pantry till we find a more permanent place to live, so that we do not have to move more stuff.

Interesting facts about Peru:

 

* We just had rain here - it has been 27 years sinced it has rained here in the month of May. Can we say desert? This was on the frond page of the local paper.

* Diapers are individually wrapped and sold - depending on where you are. In Curahuassi you buy diapers one at a time. Here in Arequipa we can buy a pack but they are all individually wrapped.

* You do not eat icecream when it is cold as Peruvians think this will cause you to catch cold. You do not open windows here either for the same reason.

* Always, always, always check the water you buy - as it might be carbonated (con gas), which we are not used to.

* The garbage guy rings a very LOUD bell at 5:30 am when he comes by to pick up your trash nearly everyday of the week - this makes for some early mornings with the kiddos.

* Milk comes in a box - not a plastic container. We go through like 6-7 boxes a week.

 

 

This picture is off the internet but it looks exactly the same here.

 

OH AND...Hannah took her first unassisted step today. Get walking girl because baby number three is coming soon :) Just kidding, take your time.