Wow! No kidding?!

As I am sure you are all aware, Peruvian presidential elections are held every five years, including this coming April.  Occasionally promises are made during such contests that might seem a little farfetched, or that may be thought to perhaps even represent pandering to local populations.
For instance, let's consider the following, seen freshly painted on a wall next to the airport for the Mantaro Valley in which we live.  This airport is located in the metropolis of Jauja, home to about 16,000 souls.

Wow!  So, Alan Garcia, who some say may have been the most corrupt of former presidents of Peru is not only promising a new hospital, but even the internationalization of the Jauja airport!

To do so, I'm sure he'll begin with the terminal, enlarging it a bit and maybe putting in a restaurant for all those folks coming in from all those countries.

It will also be cool to finally have runway lights.  And maybe even navigational aids. Electrical stuff!

However, to accommodate international planes, which will be a bit bigger than what flies in now,

they're going to have to extend the runway just a teensy bit.  Oh, snap!  They can't. There's those darn mountains,

which may be an impediment themselves to safe navigation for all those large airliners that will coming from far distant places.

However, if he's elected, he will have to keep all those promises.  Right?  Right?!!  I mean if you say you're going to do it, that means you'll do it, no?

Good.  Now we've got that settled.

We hope that your airports have great plans also.

Dave & Paula

Gardening Therapy

This assignment can at times become stressful, and is often time-consuming.  So, what do you do to keep sane, or rather slow the slide from sanity?  You torture plants!  They don't fight back!

For those of you who don't know Sister Henderson well, she is an addicted gardener.  If given a free hour at home in North Carolina, she'd put on her tool belt and gloves and dig in the dirt.  The opportunity to do so is more limited here, but still occasionally available. 

Other folks may rearrange furniture - she rearranges her garden. 

The results are sometimes breathtaking.

On one occasion, a supervisor of church properties came by, noticed the grass, and complimented her on the great idea of putting in artificial turf.  She bristled visibly, and informed him that it was real grass!  On several occasions, the office Elders have taken the opportunity to just lie in it, probably the best patch in Huancayo.  And the Mission.  And probably Peru.  (Maybe South America?)

Under her care, the small gardens around the mission home have blossomed.

If only given more space...

We hope that your gardens are doing well, and if not, she'll come by and restore order sometime in late 2016.

Dave & Paula