Bethlehem and Christian Lessons

Well, its Christmas time in the Jerusalem Center.  I know it is before thanksgiving, but out of the spirit of our locations most of the students are already watching Christmas movies and making paper snowflakes.  The best part so far about this holiday season is that I still can wear a t shirt outside.  The weather is perfect.  There is also nice tropical fruits and palm trees.  I can understand why God made this place the chosen land.  

Last week we visited Bethlehem.  It is the only time we get to go because it is in the West Bank, and we aren't allowed to visit there, only on special occasions.  We went to a church which is above the Cave where traditionally Jesus was born.  The line was forever long to get into the cave!  We waited well over an hour, but we got to walk through and touch a gold star that the Christian pilgrims put in the cave.  After that, and a great bedouin meal, we went to a field that is across a valley from Bethlehem.  The valley had a bunch of caves, olive trees, and sheep with their shepherds.  It would have been something similar to the field with the shepherds that the angels visited the night that Christ was born.  We had a Christmas program type thingy planned, where someone reads a scripture, then everyone sings a song, and so on.  Everyone was being pretty serious and contemplative when all the sudden I see a fire erupt on the other side of the valley.  It wasn't a fire that started from a spark then slowly grew, it literally just erupted out of no where.  Oh man I lost it.  Everyone was getting distracted and watching the fire when all the sudden another fire starts right next to it.  I notice that there is a small group of Palestinian boys on the hill above it, across a road.  They are throwing what turns out to be Molotov Cocktails down the hill into the field.  A smile comes to my face just thinking about it.  Our Christmas program continues on, but by this time we all are just watching the boys and the fire.  Next we see a cop car that looks almost like an armored vehicle drive up and some men get out.  One of the kids runs towards them and the cop opens fire with rubber bullets, and it looks like they threw some type of gas as well.  The kids take off the other direction and I'm still laughing because our big spiritual program was interrupted by Molotov cocktails and rubber bullets.  It was perfect, it definitely put me in a good humor.  I asked one of our security guards about it the kids and their motivations afterwards.  He assured me that they are just kids trying to have a little fun.  I told him that if I were to have that kind of fun in the states I would be thrown in jail.  He just laughed and admitted that they can have more fun here.  

'Tis the Season for sure.  

On a more serious note I had a really cool experience with my brother's Palestinian friend from when he was here in the summer.  I went out with a small group of students and my brother's friend into the old city to just look around and have some fun.  We walked to Damascus Gate to walk into the Old City, and I was admiring how beautiful it is here with all the palm trees and buildings with domes.  Damascus Gates is notorious for pick pockets, and even though I've never seen one or had a problem with them, I'm always careful going through the gate.  While we're walking through my brother's friend sees a mother with a child begging for money.  The mother doesn't say anything, she is just sitting agains the wall and asking with her eyes for help.  My brother's friend, without saying a word, turns back to the lady and hands her some money.  I know this sounds like a small thing, but I realized that I hadn't seen any of the Jerusalem students, or Christian tour groups give beggars money in the Old City, or anywhere for that matter.  That doesn't mean that it doesn't happen, I just haven't seen it.  But walking through the city with my Brother's Palestinian friend, who is a Muslim, I remembered what it meant to be Christlike.  I thought that was a cool lesson from this week. 

Well, I'm excited for this next little while.  At the rate that I'm writing these blogs I might only finish one more by the time I'm done.  It has been a great experience so far and I really appreciate the people and the cultures here.  They are so different than what the news or media portrays.  

Bye!

Spiritual fires are burning baby!

Me at the Jordan River.  Its kinda muddy!

Turkey and other common misconceptions

Well, as you may guess from the title of today's Blog, I'm addressing some misconceptions.  First off,  Turks don't eat much turkey.  As for other common misconceptions, I'll have to think of them as I write.
One thing of interest, which is actually the reason why I decided to post today, was one of the things I learned on my trip in Turkey, at the Museum at Topkapi Palace in Istanbul.  This museum, well, its one of a kind.  First off, I've never seen so many jewels in my life.  They have one of the biggest diamonds in the world, (86 carats (17 g)), they have tons of swords and most of them have jewels in them, and they have hairs from the prophet Muhammad's beard.  Talk about cool.  In the exhibit where Muhammad's beard hairs are found they have lots of other important religious artifacts, including Moses' staff artifacts from Mecca.  So this is my main point today- Because of the religious importance of that room with all the artifacts, a previous sultan had required the Koran to be read outloud without stopping, every day.  I walked through the rooms and sure enough, in the last room with Muhammad's beard and cloak there was a man reading the Koran.  It was pretty cool, they read in such a distinct manner, changing intonations so it sounds musical.  I love listening to it.  
As far as the rest of the Turkey trip went... It was amazing.  I did eat Turkish delights, my favorite was the pomegranate and pistachio.  Mmm thats good.  I went to a few bazaars and loved seeing all of the spices and food that they had out.  Their ice cream is made out of goat milk and is the best! They give you a small scoop, but it goes a long way because it is so stick.  You can lick the ice cream and make a peak 6 inches high.  Good stuff.  
I saw some pretty impressive ancient sights, including Ephesus.  It was so crowded there, but so big.  The Temple of Artemus is nearby.  It is one of the 7 ancient wonders of the world, but all that is left is half of a pillar.  There were other more impressive sights.  
The library of Ephesus is really cool.  Its huge and has intricate carvings covering the whole face.  The other good part is the tourists that go see it.  Not only did we get pictures of the ruins, we also got some good shots of shirtless sunburned tourists with beer bellies.  I'll have to post that one too.  
Well, now I'm back from Turkey.  I still have some cool things to say about Jerusalem though.  And some more misconceptions to clear up, but some are political so if you aren't into that, then just skip over it.  

But before that, I have good news.  Yesterday I found a great fruit store.  I got a pomelo.  Mmm it was so good, and a bunch cheaper than before.  Exploring the Wadi Joz neighborhood was a much-needed break from being in the center.  And more good news.  Today I found another fruit store that is even closer to the center!  I got two pomegranates.  Mmmm so good.  They were huge and red and delicious.  My friend got a Guanabana (thats the spanish name, I don't know it in english).  It was good too.  I think fruit is my favorite drug.  Which I've been needing because its finals for a few of my classes and stress levels are running high in here.  It doesn’t help that most people haven’t left the center for days.  I can't handle that.  That is why I had to get out today and yesterday to find my goods. 

Speaking of finals, I have another common misconception that needs correction…The Two State Solution.  I’ve been learning in my class about the formation of Israel, and my other class from the Palestinian perspective, about the ins and outs of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict and possible solutions.  Basically, the conflict isn’t over religion as many people think.  That may be a part of where some riots and stuff like that break out, but there are much bigger issues at play.  But since I’m on the subject I might as well add that many Palestinian Arabs are Christians, not Muslim, but they of course support Palestine.  That may help illustrate that this isn’t a religious conflict. 

Basically, the Jewish people were promised this land at the End of WWI by the British.  The British made a bunch of other deals and didn’t follow through with their promise.  Eventually, the Jewish people were given only part of the land they were promised, so they weren’t happy.  And the Palestinians weren’t happy because their land was taken from them. 

Now people talk about a two state solution, which is basically what my mom did to my brother and I when we were kids.  “You go to this room and you to the other and don’t talk till I tell you to come out.”  Unfortunately, you can’t do that with millions of people who all live in the same communities.  So that’s one reason why the two state solution isn’t the best idea.  
Thats all I'm going to say about the subject.  There are other things that are more fun for me to talk about.  For now though I'm going to call that good.  If I make it any longer I may have to print it out and bind it into a book.  Ok, till next time.  Peace!

Jerusatime

Contrary to the title, my blog has now extended itself to the Middle East, quite a big feat for such a fledgeling Peruvian blog.

I've been here for about a month and a little bit, mainly in the BYU Jerusalem center but also with a short stint in Turkey.  This time around I've decided that I'm going to try to put pictures in between writing in the blog, instead of all at the end.  That way more people will read all the words instead of just skipping to the bottom for the pictures. 

Ta Da!

I figured out how to put the picture on.  This is the Dome of the Rock!

My friend Alex found Jesus in Old Jerusalem!

...

Just Kidding, I didn't know how to get the picture in right there.  Maybe I'll figure out later.  

The Jerusalem center is really nice, the best part is that its really close to the city, so almost every day I get some time to walk out into the city.  

I'm going to have to share some stories of the happenings of the city when I get the chance.  Right now I just can't think of much.  

Last night I got back from Turkey.  It was amazing!  Istanbul was a magical land of Mosques and mustaches.  All I could ever hope for.  The first two days I spent in Istanbul.  I visited the Hagia Sophia and the Blue Mosque.  Both are breathtaking and amazing, and completely covered in calligraphy.  I also went to a museum and the palace that had one of the worlds biggest diamonds, 64 Karat or something, and also had a hair from the Prophet Muhammad's beard!  

We then went on a river boat ride on the Bosphorus Strait.  Man some of them Turkish guys (and gals) have some big houses.  I was surprised by how rich some some of the people are there.  I guess Turkey produces a lot of cars and stuff like that, so they probably make their money doing that or selling Baklava.  Mmmm, speaking of Baklava, I had the best Baklava there, just about every day.  But a girl in my study group says that she can make better, so its my goal to see if thats true.  Their Baklava is just drenched in honey... So gooood.  

We then took a trip down the coast to visit a bunch of New Testament sights.  

Lots of cool ruins but the best part were the views around the sights, and the lizards and turtles that are everywhere.  

Also, the ruins were cool.  We saw Ephesus, which was an awesome sight.  There were cats everywhere.  And Asians.  

I also went swimming in the ocean a couple times.  It was so cold, but worth it.  We got back to the hotel with about a half hour of sunlight left and about half of the 80 people in the group changed into their swimsuits and jumped in the water, even though our professors strongly discouraged it because of the temperature.  It proves to me that we are still stupid fun loving college kids.  I'm glad to be me.  

We saw a few more cool ruins.  My favorite was Miletus (or something like that) because it wasn't as restored as the rest of them and we were able to just explore for a while.  I found a building that had clay piping used for water (I think).  And I found 4 tortoises.  They were cool.  One of the highlights of the sight.  

One the way back I made my friends take a shortcut with me that ended up being about 5 minutes longer.  We cut through a grove of olive trees to make it back to the bus in time.  See, things always just work out.  

Well, 

Thats enough for this time.  I promise I will put pictures up soon.  In the mean time I will enjoy my perfect view of the Dome of the Rock, and my Baklava in the city.

Shalom!

Last Peru Blog

Blog-

The last few days have been pretty crazy.  I know I just barely wrote a post, but I feel like writing another.  Besides, by the time I finish this one it will probably be another two weeks, and I will be past due on my blog things. 

After Santo Domingo I made it to Quito.  I made it there alright, but quite tired. My feet and lower legs are covered in purple spots from some type of fly that had a feast of me when I was in the village near esmeraldas. 

Quito was a very pretty city.  I stayed with a friend of Brad Walker, and they took care of me really well.  From the terrace of their apartment you can see two snow covered volcanoes.  I woke up early enough to see the sunrise (5:30 AM to be exact).

I didn’t mean to wake up then, but the daughter had an archery tournament and had to get ready.  Since I was already up, I went to the terrace to watch it rise.  It was magnificent.  Its cool to see pink clouds surround the volcano, with the city in the foreground. 

From Quito I took the bus ride to Otavalo, or so I thought.  As I was pulling into the city I began to notice a lot of signs about Ibarra, which is a city just north of Otavalo (about an hour on Bus).  I thought, “Well, I hope they are just trying to promote Ibarra by putting billboards in Otavalo.”  When I got off the bus my suspicion was confirmed and I had arrived at Ibarra.  I had to laugh about it.  I made some calls and tried to rearrange my schedule, then went to find some food to eat.  I asked a lady how to get to the center of the town, and started walking the way she pointed.  As I walked I saw a church up on the hill, and since there are usually restaurants near churches, I decided it would be a good place to go.  I found a place, met some Colombians there and ate with them for a bit, then went to wait a bit longer till I could call the coordinator of Ibarra.  After 7:30 or so I went to a phone booth to make the call.  For the life of me I can’t figure out how to make phone calls in this country.  There was a guy there with his wife who helped me out, and we started talking.  He was a really funny guy, really nice too.  After the call I had to wait till 8 to call again, so I said I would just go wait in the park by the church till then.  He got serious and told me not to go there, because it was dangerous.  (I had just came from there).  He also warned me about the Colombians from this area (I had just eaten dinner with them).  Since I was already two for two I decided to try one more.  I asked him about the area by the church that I went to for the restaurant, and the market that I had passed through.  Both of them were bad places two, according to him. 

Seeing that I could use some protection, he had me stay in the store till I had to leave, then he called a taxi for me to go to the bus station.  Well, by that time the busses had all left, so I took a taxi to Otavalo. 

I think I’m lucky that I was in Otavalo instead of any other city in Ecuador at 9:30 pm in the street waiting for my ride.  The people here have to be the nicest people ever.  Most of them speak Quichua, in addition to Spanish, because they are the native people of this area.  The men all wear long braids, and they all have the coolest clothes.  A group of young guys stopped and talked with me on the street and taught me a few words in their language, then went on their way.  I felt a lot safer after that.

The rest of my time in Otavalo was great.  I stayed with the stake president and his wife, who is also the area coordinator for the program, and they took such great care of me.  I bought a bunch of cool souvenirs and wore their typical clothes to church.  

On Sunday night I took the long bus back to Guayaquil, then to Machala.  I stopped there again to say hi to the coordinator and see how things were going.  She is doing such a great job.  She made a deal with the local health centers and got free supplements for a bunch of the kids, and is ready to go.  She also made me rice with fresh crab and clams, so I can't complain.  

At 11:30 I took the overnight bus back to Piura.  I was happy to be back, its nice to stop traveling for a bit.  I realized that I had been gone almost three weeks!  I thought I was only gone two.  When I got back I found out that the Abuelo I live with was in the hospital.  He had gotten a hernia from lifting too much stuff up at his farm.  They found him in pretty bad condition, his daughter was pretty worried.  I went to see him and he seemed just like normal, except that he was lying in a hospital bed.  It turns out that the week before that he had been at the farm, and had fallen off of the trail and broke his hip.  A few days later he said he was healed from that, and went back to work and that was when he got the hernia.  He is a lot tougher than I am.  After he got back from the hospital he was put out because his daughter wouldn't let him go back to the farm.  He asked, "what am I going to do around here?"  Well, at 6 a.m. a few days later I hear a noise outside and see him shoveling sand in order to clear a space to dry out his coffee beans.  He always finds something to do.

Things are wrapping up with the Liahona project.  The coordinator here is a girl my age, but is doing such a good job with the program.  We bought the "Sprinkles" supplement (chispitas) and soy powder. This next month we will get soy powder from a company an hour north of here, so it will be even cheaper.  We are just under our budget, which means that the project can continue to run as long as prices don't raise too much.  Once I get home I want to work on fundraising, so watch out, you may be hearing from me.  

I visited a few houses to hand out the supplement. It surprised me the poverty that I saw, even after being here three months.  A few of the families had practically nothing.  Dirt floors, they barely had roofs and walls (its a kind of mud and stick mixture for the walls), and sand gets in everywhere.  We committed all the moms to only give the supplement to the kid in the program, but I can see why they would be tempted to share it, because it looks like all the kids don't get enough to eat.  But we can only help a few, so we focus on the youngest because it has the greatest impact in their development.  More than anything the program seems to give moms hope that their kids will get better, because they worry so much about them but aren't able to do much.  Tomorrow I am going to visit some more kids in the program to get a better idea about the situation here.

Well, it looks like things are coming to an end.  This Saturday I'm coming home.  I'm excited for cereal in the morning, raspberries, and good ol' Utah mountains.  I've had a great time here in Peru and have been blessed more than I could have imagined.  The people here have done so much for me, and have shared so much.  I feel blessed to have been able to meet them and experience there culture.  They are truly some of the kindest and loving people I have ever met.  

See ya soon,

Me with the Presidente Gomez and Gisella, and the Abuelo.  

traditional fishing boat from Chiclayo

Sean

I'm writing this from Cuenca, Ecuador.  Its cold, rainy, and beautiful.  And the best part of all, you can drink the water from the tap!  This city is a big hit for couples that are ready to retire.  They bring their savings here, and can live the same type of lifestyle for a fraction of the price.
This last week has been a wild one.  In Piura we finally bought the Chispitas and they are on their way now.  I had to leave to come up to Ecuador before they came because we had some screenings planned in Machala and Cuenca.  The first screening in Machala was packed with people.  There were over 100 mothers waiting with their children when we showed up.  No one seemed to get the whole take a number concept so it got a little wild.  Luckily my friends from help international came with me and they helped get everything under control.  The stake also had a bunch of volunteers.  We probably had over 20 people working and we used every one of them.  It was actually really fun, I think it is the most I have enjoyed doing the screenings.
Its funny how different the people from Machala are from Piura.  Its the first major city across the border, but even the people have a different look about them.  And their food is different too.  Every morning we ate encebollado, which is a fish soup that you put banana chips on.  I loved waking up for breakfast.  I never thought I would enjoy fish for breakfast so much.
.... A week later....
Now I'm in Santo Domingo Ecuador.  This last week has been so crazy.  I just got back from the program in Guyacana (I think thats how its spelled.)  Its a small village in the middle of the forest by Esmeraldas.  Coolest place ever.  All the houses are built on stilts, and they just take a bath in the river there.  There are pigs, chickens, and animals walking around everywhere and fruit trees that I've never seen before.  They live right on this river and I got to swim in it.  It even looked like clean water.  I was in heaven.  And the bugs ate me alive.  They speak a cool dialect there and it was kind of funny to speak to Ecuadoreans who spoke less spanish as a second language, if they even spoke it at all.  The coordinator and her husband let me stay in their house for the night.  They made the best smoked chicken ever, with a whole bunch of green bananas.  But the coolest part of it all was that to get back to the city I had to get up at 4 am and take a 3 hour canoe ride down the river.  I was so wet and dirty by the end of it but it was so fun.
Before that I was in Manta and Guayaquil.  I've been visiting the programs in each area of Ecuador and checking up on whats been happening.  All of them seem to be running well, but there are always more kids whose parents want them to enter the program.  The good news is that the government here is doing a lot right now to help kids.  They give everyone the chispitas if they go to the health centers.  The mom just has to take the kid each month in order to receive the supplement.  It seems like most people here like their president.  Its kind of nice to hear someone say something positive about a political figure.  
I probably have more things to write about, but I'm going to leave it at this for right now.  I've really enjoyed getting to know the people here, and the food.  The next few days I will see the rest of the programs here then I'm going back to Peru!
Oh, speaking of Peru, they just delivered their first batch of Chispitas to the kids in Piura.  Yippee, it looks like things will work out.
Adios,
Sean

¡Hola!

Cute baby at the Machala Screening

Me in the Cajas, some lakes above 11,000 ft.  Brrrr. Cold.  But good trout.  

Iguana at parque de las iguanas.  This guy is a monster.  Raawwrr.  

Little kids in a house in the village of Guyacana.  Cool houses.  

The children of the branch president.  They got a kick out of my inflatable sleeping pad.  WWF style wrestling is common down here.  

On the river for the canoe ride.  This is probably around 6 AM.  Prettiest river I've ever seen. 

My aunt Kim asked me to put up another blog post.  I have just been putting it off.  A few minutes ago I was sitting in my room, not in the best mood, and just kind of frustrated of being stuck in the city for a little bit.  I miss the mountains.  After whining a bit, I just felt like I should go up on the roof, and maybe that would help.  When I got up there I walked over to the edge where I was met with the strong odor coming from the sewage plant in front of my house.  I just laughed at the irony of being sick of the city, and my one escape is now contaminated with the smell of the sewage plant.  Oh well, at least it gave me something to laugh about.
Things are moving along here.  Today I am meeting with someone to talk about prices to buy a soy powder that the kids mom's can make into a milk.  Soy is supposed to be good because it is high in fat and nutrients, and will help the kids have the nutrients they need.  If I can get the soy for cheap enough then I can buy another supplement called Chispitas, which has the micronutrients that the kids need.  So I'm hoping that things work out with that.
One other option that we have is having a factory here in Piura produce what we need.  It was cool how I found out about the factory.  The lady I live with has a niece that studied food engineering, and used to monitor a lot of the factories in Piura.  We became friends and she invited me to visit the factory because she knew that they had produced supplements in the past for malnourished kids.  We visited them and talked with the head engineer and he was more than willing to produce something for us.  They are looking to create a product to sell to the public, instead of just working off of government contracts.  So if the soy and chispitas doesn't work out, hopefully we can get them to make us something.
I had a good 4th of July down here.  I went with the kids in help international and they had a big BBQ with american food and everything.  They even got some fireworks from the market!  One lady made a cake with the american flag on it.  We all sang the national anthem and one kid held the cake in the front as we took a picture.  After it was done, as is tradition in Peru, someone smashed his face in the cake.  It turned out perfectly, he got a corner of the blue, and the rest was striped.  It was the american flag upside down on his face.
I also went to Canchaque a bit over a week ago. I cant remember if I wrote this in the other blog post or not..  Well, Canchaque is cool, its in the mountains where the people I live with have their land.  I went and helped pick fruit and coffee.  I ended up staining all of my clothes from carrying bananas.  The lady I live with told me to be careful, and not to carry all of them at a time.  But me being the big man that I am, didn't listen, and I stained all my clothes.
I'm working on the whole, "listening to other people" thing,  but its been kinda hard because I definitely like to do things my own way.  I also have a hard time when people tell me to put my coat on because it drops to 70 degrees.  I usually just haven't paid them any attention, but now I just put it on so they will stop bugging me about it.  It isn't really that cold, I'm just trying to just do what they say so they will be happy.
I went to a birthday party for the lady I live with, with her work.  A mariachi band showed up and the table and played for like a half hour, trumpets blazing.  They brought out what I thought was chicha morada, which is a really good drink made from purple corn and pineapple.  I was going to get some but then they said it was sangria.  I guess sangria is some type of alcohol.  Well, they sure like their sangria.  About halfway through the dinner they brought another pitcher and told me it was chicha morada.  So I was going to drink it.   Then they told me they were just kidding and they got a kick out of that.  I was sad because I just wanted some chicha morada.
Well, This next weekend I'm heading up to Ecuador to do some screenings there.  Tomorrow we are doing a meeting for all of the volunteers that are going to help out here, so it should be up and running. Hopefully we can get the supplements bought tomorrow.
I'll keep you guys posted on what happens.  I'm excited to get up in the mountains of Ecuador, I have been missing nature.
Adios,
Sean

Machu Picchu!

Well,
These last weeks have been nothing short of amazing.  I´m in the city of Cusco right now, and when the sun hits these hills just right, they sing.  The mountains around Machu Picchu are so steep.  Its incredible that they have a bus that goes up there.  And the sights were beyond description.  Everything looked like it was out of a dream.  The only thing that I was bummed about was that I didn´t see any chinchillas, even though I looked all day. (I did see a black bear though so that was cool.  And bunches of Llamas, Alpacas, and Vicuñas which are like extra soft mini llamas with less hair).
The hostels here have been so nice.  And dirt cheap.  I got to practice my french with some girls from Quebec.  Im pretty happy that I remembered more than I thought I would.  Cusco is

super international.  It feels like a European town, maybe a mix between switzerland and spain.  I think that this would be a great place to have a summer home.  Or winter home.  Or a normal home.
Piura has been going well.  We are still just trying to get a supplement to use for the kids.  It looks like we will try to use one called Chispitas and a soy powder type thing.  Hopefully they will work well. I´m excited about the stake project because I met with Fanny, a lady from the government health office, and she offered to help us with the education component of the nutrition project.  They have a curriculum and materials, but they just lack personnel to teach the moms.  I told them that we have people to help, and it looks like we will work together on this one.
The university project also went through.  I don´t know too much about what that will entail because after it went through I left to Lima, then to Cusco.
Before I left for Lima I went to Chiclayo to meet with the coordinator there.  She know´s so much more than me about what I´m doing.  She is a nurse and is working on a research project about breastfeeding.  After a year of doing that, needless to say, she knows about 10 times more than me about helping malnourished children.  It was nice meeting with her.  We went out to dinner with the guy who always gives me rides when I´m in Chiclayo because I wanted to thank them for all of there help.  The coordinators do so much and without them I would have given up by now and would be either somewhere in Colombia or in the Rainforests of Brasil living the vagabond lifestyle.  For now I´m glad to be stationed in one place and working with them.  It has been a good experience and Piura feels more like home.
Well, There is more stuff to write, but I´m sure not everyone will read it so I will stop here.  I need to put the pictures up still.  They will be the most interesting part.  Hopefully asap I will get those up so you can see the rad stuff that I saw and was able to do.
Cool,
well peace,
Sean
P.
S.  Here are some pictures from the last week or two.  One is a video of a dance they had in Cusco.  I was there for their big festival of the year called Inti Raymi.  Then there is a picture of Machu Picchu.  After that I took an artsy shot of the sun off the coast in Lima. Then a cool view from on top of some ruins, and a Llama.  Also, I think I'm putting in a panoramic shot from the place we went rock climbing at.  It was cool because we had to walk through all these pastures and stuff to get to the cliff, but people lived right next to it.  They don't have any roads to where they live, so they just walk.  Different life style right?

3 Little girls in Cusco.  The two smaller ones are participating in the Program.  The little one is 2 years

Chancho

Well, my Mom was skeptical and thought that I wouldn't write another blog post thingy, and I almost proved her right.  I have a lot of good stuff to write about though, and picture as well, and a few things that I probably won't write :).  This last week or so we have finished entering the weights and heights into the online growth chart program thing, and we have identified the kids that will start to receive supplements.  There are seventy or so just here in Piura, probably around 25 % of the kids that were measured.  And I know there are a lot more malnourished children, especially in the newer areas of Piura, and in the outskirts and surrounding towns.  Wow, I'm sure starting this blog off on a happy note.  Maybe I'll throw in some pictures of Cura Mori to lighten the mood even more.  Its an area that the University of Piura wants to work in for their malnutrition project.  I went with a nurse out there to see where we will be working.  They are 95% farmers out there, and most of what they farm is rice.  That creates obvious problems because the Piura region is a desert, and rice needs lots of water.  Why they chose rice I don't know.  But all the water that is used for the rice makes a nice breeding ground for mosquitos with Dengue and Malaria.  I'm going to attach a picture of me with the nurses, and two girls that are standing up.  One of them is 18 months old, the other is 3 years old.  You guys need to guess which is which.  I couldn't believe the lady when she told me that in her day care she had up to three year olds.  They all looked so small.  That is one of the problems of malnutrition, it stunts growth.

Ok, now for the real lighter note.  

I went to Tumbes over the weekend, and Machala Ecuador with volunteers from Help International! In tumbes we went to an animal reserve and saw more birds and crocodiles than I have ever seen.  They had pits for the crocodiles, and in each pit there were at least 20 to 30 crocodiles.  The pits had different ages, and there were probably 10 different pits.  Our "Guide" kept jumping into the pits and throwing rocks into the water, to try to get them to eat it.  He loved to pelt them with rocks too.  He was kind of a weird guy.  When he got into the pit with the crocodiles that were 3 to 4 years old, a girl in our group asked if we could touch them.  He said, "Come on down, but just touch their tails." So I did.  It was still pretty big, maybe 4 ft. long, but I made sure just to touch his tail.  That would never happen in the USA. 

In Ecuador we got dropped off at the border and had to walk across.  It was a spur of the moment thing, and I found out that they only gave me 40 days in Peru, so we went there to get our passports stamped again.  After we walked across we found a bus that took us to Machala and spent the night there.  It was a really nice city, hopefully we will do some work there later. The bread there is good.  Good panaderias.  We went to a market early Sunday morning, which was right next to our hotel.  I separated from the group to look at fruit for a minute.  After a couple of minutes I heard a bunch of people yelling "Chancho" which means pig.  I looked over and they all were pointing at me, and kept yelling Chancho.  Then I saw the group from Help Int. pointing at me too, and I realized that they were trying to get my attention to go to a different part of the market.  They had started yelling my name and the locals tried to help, but Sean changed to chancho and thats what everyone yelled.   

The bus ride back from Machala was long though.  I had to be back for a video call at 8, so I thought I would have plenty of time if we left at 12.  I just barely made it.  It was fun though. I met a girl from Israel who speaks spanish better than me.  She learned from watching Argentine soap operas.  I guess tv is good for something.  She also spoke English fluently, as well as French, and I'm pretty sure some other languages.  

I've had some other pretty good experiences too.  Almost too many to count.  And a few South American experiences that I could do without repeating.  I'm still not used to water being cut off at random times, but maybe soon I will be.  

Last week after working on the program for a while with some of the volunteers I got an impromptu salsa class.  La hermana Gisella, the coordinator for this area, was trying to teach me the steps.  After a good half hour I think I got them down.  Then 12 year old daughter put on american music (I got the moves like jagger) for me to show her how americans dance.  I tried my best but everyone knows I don't dance well.  After I was done I told her that I'm not a good dancer, so not to judge from what she just saw, then the Hermana Gisella said, "No, you dance much better to american music than you do salsa!" I laughed and realized what that said about my salsa dancing. 

I've eaten a lot of good seafood, and other food too.  When Alberto Puertas was here, a board member of the Liahona Children's Foundation, we went out to eat at a fish place, and a Uruguayan restaurant.  I just tagged along really.  I have never eaten so much fresh seafood in my life.  

Thats about all I have to share for now.  This next week I will be trying to find a supplement for the kids, and starting them on it ASAP. 

Listo,

(they always say listo before they say bye)

Bye

Sean. 

I've made it to Peru!  In fact I've been here for just about a week now.  The plane flight was long, but it had its good parts.  I got to see Mel Mendoza during my stop in Houston, as well as Elder Richens.  He is just about to finish, and still looks the exact same.  I also saw my mission president who seems to be just about the same as well.  I think he is working pretty hard with all the new missionaries.  On the flight to Lima I experienced the typical Peruvian generosity from the man I sat next to on the flight.  He lives in Japan, is married to a Japanese Lady, but is full 100% peruvian, and is flying back to participate in a Catholic festival in his city, Cuzco.  He invited me to come see Machu Picchu with him and his family in June, and he said he would pay for all the transportation.  I was pretty overwhelmed with the offer and we will see if I will make it down then.  I might go with some kids from HELP international, who live about a block away from me (or I from them because they were here first).
Contrary to my parent's wishes I slept in the airport while I waited for my 6:30 A.M. flight.  Thankfully starbucks has free internet even in Peru.
In the morning I got to Chiclayo and it was like I stepped into a James Bond movie.  You know those parts where he is chasing someone in a foreign country through the crowded streets on a motorcycle? The streets are unlike anything I have ever seen.  There are more mototaxis than cars, and less paved roads than unpaved, with people walking in and out of the streets whenever they want.  It was my third day in Piura when I noticed the first traffic light.  Before that I thought that everyone did whatever they wanted!
The taxi driver that was sent to pick me up took me to the stake president's house and from there to the chapel to do our first screening.  The chapel was full of mom's with their children, waiting.  I met Diana, the coordinator, and she told me what was going on, and then we just started.  The hermanas helping out, and Diana, are amazing.  I think most of them are nurses, so they have actually have a clue what to do, which definitely helps.  They took care of everything.  I just helped measure and gave out stickers.  I was so impressed with how under control they had everyone, and the way they answered peoples questions.  They are truly invested in the project.
After a quick lunch I took the three hour bus ride to Piura and met the Stake President Gomez, and he took me to a screening that was already underway.  The volunteers from HELP International were helping (no pun intended) as well as a few other volunteers.  They had screened over 200 kids that morning, and we still had two wards to do the following day.
That night I stayed in the President's house.  It felt good to sleep.  I took a shower and then came the moment that I had waited years for.  I flushed the toilet.
Let me explain. Ever since I was a kid I had heard that when a toilet flushed in South America, the water spins the opposite way, because its the southern hemisphere.  Well, I made sure to video which way the toilet flushes in Utah, so I could compare it to here.  What are the results?  Well, I was disappointed.  The toilet water spun the exact same way.  Myth busted.
The next day we did two more screenings and looked for a place to stay for me.  I found out that the Stake President knew someone that lives close by the HELP International volunteers, so we went to check it out.  The house is pink and it has wireless internet, so I was sold.  The following night I moved in and I even had a bed and a TV.  I have yet to use the TV, but I have definitely used the bed.  I've adopted the custom of taking siestas whenever I can, even though it isn't an actual Peruvian custom.  Maybe they will adopt it as well.
One morning I came downstairs and Jose, the 84 year old grandpa that lives here with her daughter and her husband, says "hola gringito, como estas?"  I cracked up and we have gotten along pretty well.  He tells me stories whenever I see him, but I only understand about 20 % of it, but from the parts I can get they are usually pretty graphic or politically incorrect.  Or someone always gets hurt or dies.  He makes me laugh.
Today I saw they had a bunch of old bananas so I told the Sra. that I would teach her to make banana bread.  Jose looked like he was in awe as he ate it.  He asked his daughter, "can you teach Cindy to make this?" Cindy is the lady that comes during the day to clean and cook.  She is a good cook.
I helped with one more screening in Chiclayo before working on the university projects.  This one kid came in carried by his mom.  He did not look good.  He was probably close to average hight for his age, but was way underweight.  He was pale too.  His mom looked desperate, she told us that he just doesn't eat.  He probably has a bunch of parasites as well.  I think most kids, or at least a good amount, suffer from parasites.  He was kind of a shock for me because he was the first kid that I saw that you looked at and didn't need a scale to tell you he was malnourished.
The work with the University of Piura has been going alright.  On Friday I had my first meeting with them, and I had a series of meetings with about every bathroom that was close by.  They took me out to eat after the meeting but I just wasn't feeling it.  I might have offended them by not eating very much, but I was more worried about offending my stomach.
On Saturday I took a well needed rest, then tried to work a little bit during the day.  The young single adults in the area are helping as volunteers with the project, and are doing a lot of the paperwork that needs to be done for the children.  We took a break from the paperwork and went to a stake YSA activity in the church.  They had a bunch of games, which was of course, followed by a dance.  One of the games was one where you answer questions underneath a balloon filled with chalk.  Their is a person that blows up the balloon until it pops.  The faster you get it right the sooner you are away from the balloon.  When it was my turn the balloon was huge.  The lady looked at me, then asked me what the independence day of Peru was.  I laughed.  The questions up until that point had been, "Who discovered america?" or, "Which book comes after 2nd Nephi?"  Then the balloon popped.  It wasn't too bad, I thought it was really funny.  She said that she just had to ask me that question, she couldn't resist.  For those who are interested, July 28th is the answer.
On Sunday I went to La Union.  Its about a half hour away from Piura, and they were changing it from a branch to become a ward.  The meeting was really wonderful and everyone was so excited.  The bishop is a 29 year old guy, who seems to be really awesome.  The stake president can't be more late 30s.  The members here are really cool.
A lot of people came to me as well to talk about the project.  They all seem really interested, and the youth really want to be involved.
Right now i am working on entering the information in the computer so we can get started on the actual distribution of supplements.  I will keep y'all updated from here on out on what goes on.  Stay posted and remember to visit liahonachildren.org if you want to know more about the foundation.
Ciao,

Sean