High in the Peruvian Andes, hablamos Español

A week ago, we arrived in Huancayo, a lovely Andean city, after a long and winding bus journey that took us from sea level in Lima through a 4850m pass (gasp ) in the Andes, and to our current altitude of 3240m. We were happy to be greeted at the bus terminal by Rosario, a representative of Incas del Peru, the agency we had contacted regarding a week of Spanish lessons. For the past week, we have stayed at La Casa de la Abuela (Grandma´s House), sharing meals with the family, including Grandmother, the 2 women who take care of the Casa, their two children, a parrot who knows only one word ¨hola¨, a crazy kitten, and the family dog. It has really felt like we´ve been part of a family here, with Mel and Jay (Australia) who were doing some volunteer work, Jenny and Steven (New Zealand) who were also studying Spanish, and Raquel (UK) who was learning to make jewelry in the local style. Each afternoon, for 3 hours, Edwin and I each had private Spanish lessons, which were very good and should help us tremendously as we continue the next three months in South America.

While here, we were fortunate to take in a festival honoring Santa Rosa, the patron saint of the police force. For several hours in the morning, the locals created large works of art on the streets around the main plaza, all made of very fine colored sawdust. Amid firecrackers, kids blowing bubbles, and backed by a marching brass band, a large statue of Santa Rosa was carried in a procession with priests, nurses, and incense carriers. They walked through the beautiful ¨rugs¨on the street, destroying the art, but making an incredible spectacle!

We also enjoyed wandering through El Parque de la Identidad, which was built in the 1990s, after many of the region´s monuments and artworks were destroyed by The Shining Path which was very active in this region. The park was built to commemerate the different styles of art and culture from the valley. We also climbed to Torre Torre, a site of sandstone towers (also known as hoodoos).

The high altitude and cold nights have meant our boots, fleeces, socks and long underwear had to be dug from the depths of our backpacks. Especially the first couple of days, we were panting every time we climbed the stairs to our bedroom, and were shivering after almost a month of days averaging 30 degrees with 80% humidity. Here the average daytime temperature was approximately 16 degrees, with 30 - 40% humidity.

Also while in Huancayo, we received two wonderful pieces of news! The first is that Chris and Colin had their baby on August 31st, a little girl, named Emily. The second piece of news is that Edwin´s Permanent Residency is now in the very final stage, and Immigration would like to see both of us for a final interview. So, after only one month of travel, we will be returning to Vancouver tomorrow for one week . We are both so excited though, and the timing couldn´t be better, as we will have the opportunity to meet our little niece!

Location: Huancayo, Peru