We have a Winner!!

There are more dogs here than you can shake a stick at, and believe me we have done so.  The streets are full of them, almost all without owners, surviving on scrounging through the trash.

One of the Sister missionaries, speaking with a Peruvian member of the Church, told her that in the U.S., there aren't dogs roaming around like this, to which the nice lady said sincerely "No dogs?! How sad!"

This would all be fun and games, but many/most of the dogs are not friendly.  With some regularity, we have to take care of missionaries bitten by them.

When Sister Henderson goes out with the Sisters, she has learned to carry rocks in her pockets, and she is getting pretty good at throwing them.

(Note:  This is not actually a picture of Sister Henderson.  Her hair is longer.)

There is a particularly unusual breed of dog here, apparently bred and prized by the ancient Incas, though for what purpose other than hilarity I am not sure.  It is called the Peruvian Inca Orchid, and no, I am not making this up.  

These lovely creatures are distinguished by their lack of hair except for a mohawk and a scroungy tuft at the end of the tail.

It used to be said of our Langley High School football team, "They may be small, but they're slow." In similar fashion, it can be said of the Peruvian Inca Orchid (again, actual name), "They may be ugly, but they're mean." This particular specimen tried to bite my ankle, apparently ticked off because I wouldn't give him the 2 soles that are commonly requested for the privilege of taking a picture of something interesting down here.

We hope that your dog takes the prize for something other than Pure Ugliness.  Or Meanness.

Dave & Paula

Living in Peru, #26 - Water #2

Admittedly, we live in one of the nicest, if not the nicest, houses in Huancayo.  It was bought as a shell to be the future mission home, and about eight months after arriving, we moved in.
Most dwellings here have a water storage tank on the roof, to give water pressure during the very frequent outages of the city supply.

For aesthetics, our big (5,000 liter) supply tank was placed under the driveway, with pumps to maintain pressure to house.  Nice idea, but simplicity seems to be key in this part of the world.

When the water shut off, I went to the pump house to reset the switches one more time, but found the pumps to be operating.  However, there was no pressure on the gauges.

So, I opened the cover on the tank.  The enormous thing had disappeared, replaced by mud and water. When the local Operations and Maintenance men came to inspect, they realized it had sunk about 18 inches, rupturing all connections with the pumps.

So... with no one in this region qualified to work on such stuff (!), they called the guy up from Lima (!).  As per normal, he took the bus, but was delayed for 12 hours by a multiple-truck crash in the snow on the 15,745-foot Ticlio Pass.
When he finally arrived, he did what he could, but has to return tomorrow to continue the effort.

Meanwhile, we are hooked directly to the intermittent city supply, and we keep our fingers crossed when showers or toilet flushings are needed.
All of this just in time for my sister Mary Anne and her husband Charles to arrive in a couple of days. We wonder if guests are just bad luck for the water, or what.
May the wind be at your back and your water supply function, too.
Dave & Paula

No, I can't sell you that.

When you go on a trip, there must always be an offering to the Gods of Forgetfulness.  One only hopes that the required offering is small.  Like a sock, not your suitcase.

Sister Henderson bakes her now-famous brownies for various meetings with the missionaries, to their delight.  

She baked over two hundred big ones for the present series of Zone Conferences, but we forgot and left the brownies for the next conference in the second hotel of the week-long trip.  The Gods of Forgetfulness are vengeful.

One of the Secretaries called the missionaries there to pick up the big container (known as a "Tupper" in Peruvian Spanish) from the hotel.  He called later to make sure it had happened.  The Elder confirmed that they had retrieved it, and that, "there were LOTS of brownies!" with the emphasis on "were."

OK, one problem solved - we'll get the (now empty) "Tupper" back.

However, we were left with finding something to replace the brownies for the Zone Conference.  I did what any good mission president would do.  I turned it over to the Assistants.

There are a fair number of baked good stores in Peru, with yummy-looking offerings.

In the first one they came to, the Assistants made a quick count and told the proprietor that they would like to buy all of her cakes.

"No.  I can't sell you all of the cakes," she said.

"Why not?" replied the Assistant.

"Because then I wouldn't have any cakes to sell," stated the proprietor.

"But, but, that's OK, because you are trying to sell your cakes, and we would like to buy them, and we will pay you for them."

"No.  I won't sell you my cakes."

Thinking this must just be a cake-merchandising anomaly, they proceeded to another cake store.

"We would like to buy all of your cakes.  Full price."

"No, I can't sell you all of my cakes.  Then I wouldn't have any cakes to sell."

"But, don't you see?  If we buy your cakes and give you the money, then that's great for you!"

"No, then I wouldn't have any cakes for other people to buy."

"AAAAAGGGGHHHHH!!"

It was no anomaly.  Believe it or not, a third cake story gave the same story.

So they tried an ice cream store, offering to buy 60+ units of frozen confection.

"No, I can't sell you that much ice cream."

"Do you mean that you don't have that much ice cream?"

"No, I just can't sell you that much."

"Why not?!"

"Because I am busy."

"But, but, there's no one else in the store!"

"You can call the manager."

"Why don't YOU call the manager?"

"Because I'm busy."

"AAAAAGGGGHHHHH!!"

The frustrated Assistants finally found a cake store that understood the basics of capitalism and bought enough cakes for the Zone Conference.  (This is just a third of those in attendance, but they look happy, no?)

We hope that you have better luck either a) finding a cake store that will work with you, or b) explaining economic principles in Spanish.

Dave & Paula

The shoes say a lot

On my last day at work, we burned my hospital shoes. They had seen a lot of wear over twenty-seven years with deliveries, operations, and hikes to the emergency room.  They went up nicely, having been soaked in lighter fluid for a couple of days.  

I haven't been back since.

A Sister missionary here finished up a couple of weeks ago, after serving faithfully for her 18 months.  I noticed the shoes, she smiled and said quietly, "Yes, they have seen some miles, and a ton of dust, rain, mud, and hills.  And a lot of experiences that I will not soon forget."

She hesitated, and placed them gently in the wastebasket.
Dave & Paula

The Forbidden Fruit!!

All missionaries in the Church are guided by a set of rules for their protection and effectiveness. Each mission may also have a few rules which are specific to it's particular features.
For instance, our missionaries are prohibited from riding in 'Ticos,' a product that I'm sure the Daewoo company of Korea would like to forget.

This is a Tico after colliding with a loose soccer ball.  Durability is not a strong point.

Likewise they are prohibited from climbing up Huaytapallana without a person approved by me, the weather has to be good, they have to stick together, and no one climbs on the glacier.

Food can likewise be problematic here.  For that reason, the missionaries are fed by pensionistas, who receive payment for providing (hopefully) sanitary meals. Missionaries are prohibited from drinking anything other than bottled water and drinks.  

And then there are specific foods that are verboten (that's Spanish, right?).

For instance, no one is to eat pork.  When one sees what the pigs feast on, the rule makes sense. There are not-infrequent deaths from trichinosis here, which is a parasite found in un-inspected pork.

Lettuce is also out.  After a bad night in an unheated bathroom at 14,400 feet, I personally will endorse that one.  Don't accept the salad at Kimbo's in Cerro de Pasco. Believe me.

Unfortunately, as ceviche is a trademark dish in Peru, and usually scrumptious, it contains raw fish, and so is on the list.  Darn.

OK, a really easy one to obey is the prohibition on eating tocosh, made by immersing potatoes in water for six to twelve months, then drying the rotten mess and putting it in soups, etc.  Ewwww!

The stench in the markets selling this stuff is enough to ensure compliance with THAT rule.

OK, finally the strawberry.  What?!  That luscious, red peak of fruit goodness?!

Yes, unfortunately, it's also a common place to pick up all sorts of microbes that ensure one's stay in the bathroom.  

However, when properly dealt with, by trained personnel,

and with adequate exposure to cleansing agents in the proper concentration and duration,

this otherwise deadly fruit can be made safe for human consumption.  That's lucky, as there is a specific strawberry season here, and they are cheap.  Paula has a family-famous recipe that is one of the tastiest desserts ever, and even looks good in the pictures.  The missionaries lucky enough to be invited that day thought they'd died and gone to dessert heaven.

We hope that your list of no-go's is not too long.

And don't eat the salad at Kimbo's.  I'm telling you.

Dave & Paula

Our first Mission Tour

Each year, each Mission is to be visited by a General Authority of the Church.  For whatever reason, our first visit was not scheduled until the last two weeks, well in to our second year.  If the truth were known, that was OK by me.  However, the tour of our Mission turned out to be uplifting, inspiring and instructive.
Elder Juan Uceda, the President of the South America Northwest Area in which our Mission is found, is from Lima, Peru, and served as a mission president during very troubled times in the country, and at a young age.  His wife also served a mission when she was younger, and they married soon thereafter.
By the way, I'm the bald guy who doesn't look as Latin.

The tour of the Mission included three conferences during which all of the missionaries had a chance to learn from Elder Uceda, as well as meetings with all of the local leaders of the Church in the Mission.

We traveled to Huancavelica, one of the more isolated cities of the Mission, and one of the very, very few that the Ucedas had not visited in the past in their various Church duties.

We also traveled to the jungle, and introduced them to our new favorite hotel, quiet, with it's own private jungle.  It was a nice brief respite on the busy tour.

During the conferences, several missionaries commented that I looked stressed.  I pointed out that it was because I was stressed.  

Again, this was a wonderful (though stressful - did I mention that?) experience, and all of us learned from President Uceda's good counsel.  As we approached the airport in Jauja to see them off to Lima, Sister Uceda laughed and said, "It's like grandkids - it's great to seem them arrive, and..."

We hope that you have such opportunities to learn from good men and women.

David & Paula

An allergy to chocolate would be sad in this Mission

Paula (aka Sister Henderson) has always been a good cook, and after adjusting to our altitude, continues to be.  Her brownies have become legendary in the Mission, and are served during breaks at meetings, to the great delight of the missionaries.

These two weeks, Elder Uceda, the President of the five-country Area of the Church in which we are serving, is making the first official tour of the Mission.  As he is a General Authority of the Church, conferences are being held with all of the local Church leaders and the missionaries.
OK, so how much stuff does it take to make jumbo-sized brownies for about 230 people?  This much.

 Add a lot of time and getting the silly oven to stay lit, and that´s a lot of brownies!

We hope that your dessert plans are less ambitious.
Dave & Paula