So you think YOU have political problems...

Quick update on the previous political post:  Señor Acuña and another semi-serious contender, Julio Guzman have been disqualified as candidates for president.  Both have been accused of *gasp* irregularities in their campaigns!! In addition, the front-runner, Keiko Fujimori, the daughter of disgraced and imprisoned former president Alberto Fujimori, has now been accused of the same.

This all smells like the work of Alán García, the two-time previous president and present candidate. He is (in)famous for torpedoing other candidates, despite his own fame as the most corrupt president in modern times, and for helping Peru reach inflation levels of 2,200,200% over his first five years in power, ending in 1991.  Poverty increased by 13% in the country during that run.  García was indicted for corruption, and fled to Colombia, then France, only to return when the statue of limitations expired, just in time to win another presidential election.  Huh?!  These accusations and disqualifications of other candidates sound suspiciously like his work, in cahoots with buddies in the judicial branch.

Meanwhile, 22 of the 25 regional presidents of the country are under investigation for corruption, four are already sitting in jail, one has fled, and another is accused of extortion and, oh, by the way, murder.

We will arrive in the United States just in time for the wind-up of the presidential campaigns there.  We've been warned by Google News and other sources of what's been happening up north, and we are steeling ourselves for the, uh, excitement of that contest.  

We hope that you are less saddened by all of this than we are.  

Dave & Paula

I think we need a helicopter or something

The El Niño phenomenon gets blamed for all sorts of mischief, but now it's personal.

As you may know, our mission is connected to the outside world, aka "Lima," by a single two-lane highway winding through the Andes, with a six- to eight-hour journey that tops out at 15,840 feet at the Ticlio Pass.

Even during "normal" times (boy is that a broad category), the road is narrow, twisty and congested by all the trucks, buses, taxis, donkeys and anything else that moves and carries something to and from this large region of Peru.

Accidents are unfortunately common, with the curves, traffic and cliffs.

During the present rainy season, now amplified by El Niño, things got worse.  Two+ weeks ago, in particularly heavy rain, the typical landslides that hold things up went from nuisance to serious.

The hydroelectric dam taking advantage of the river that runs alongside had to be relieved of high water, and the resulting flooding wiped out more of the roadway.

Traffic came to a complete standstill.

Landslides continued to come down, trapping folks between them, forcing them to take to the hills to get around to where they could continue their journeys.

So, how do you get there from here?  There are alternate routes, but several of them were blocked by landslides also, and the few that were open required passages of 18+ hours, often over dirt roads. 

The situation has lightened somewhat, with cargo trucks being allowed to pass for several hours a day on a single tenuous lane.  The full opening of the highway has been changed to "indefinite."

Meanwhile, we have resorted to the limited flights in and out of the Jauja airport an hour from Huancayo, one of two airfields in the Mission.  The flights are also limited by the rain because of lack of navigational aids on the airports, as previously described.

Meanwhile #2, our work continues, little changed except for more umbrellas and destroyed shoes for the missionaries.  We are thankful that all of them are safe and happy, as we are also.

We hope that the landslides in your part of the world are a bit wimpier.

Dave & Paula

It's all a matter of semantics!

The every-five-year presidential campaign season is upon us in Perú, with elections on April 10th. Among the leading candidates are Keiko Fujimori, daughter of previous president Alberto Fujimori who fled the country during his third term in office and is now serving jail time for corruption, Alan García, who has previously served twice, and who fled the country after his second term and returned when the statute of limitations expired, and a fellow named Cesar Acuña Peralta, who has had a career in education.  

Señor Acuña has based his campaign on the promise of better education for the citizens of Perú, a noble and much-needed goal.  

Acuña  has received two masters degrees, and was awarded a doctoral degree from the University of Madrid, Spain.  However, it has come to light that much of his 2009 thesis supporting that degree was plagiarized. When asked for comment, he said:
     "Plagiarism, for example, is to take something that is not yours.  I say that it is not plagiarism because the title of the thesis is original.  The conclusions of the investigation are original. Therefore, if the title of the thesis and the conclusions are original, it's not plagiarism!"  Well, Duh!  He was also quoted as saying, "It wasn't plagiarism.  I just copied it."

In addition, a book on education is published by the university that Señor Acuña founded and owns, at times with a famous journalist as the author, and at other times with Acuña listed as the co-author, and at other times as the sole author.  The original author, an Otoniel Alvarado, said, "The book is MINE, I don't know what happened to it later."

At an anti-corruption conference (!), Mr. Acuña remarked, while explaining what happened with his thesis, "In the first place, I refuse the word 'plagiarism.'  As I have always said, it was an omission, and this was 25 years ago when I still didn't know that I would be a presidential candidate.  C'mon people!  Applaud for me!"  (Cuz, like, if I'd known I was going to be a candidate, then I would have plagiarized more carefully or something.) 

While we hope that your presidential campaign season is doing better, we have access to Google News, and we know better.

David and Paula

The Bells of Huánuco, or why I gave up and bought earplugs

One of the principal cities in the Mission is Huánuco, found 6-7 hours driving time north of Huancayo.  There are about 180,000 citizens, and roughly 60 of our young missionaries work there.  We visit the city about once a month for one reason or another, and we usually stay at the Gran Hotel Huánuco, which was built eleven years before I was.

It is an example of faded Latin elegance and charm.  One of its only disadvantages is its location. While it is on the main plaza of Huánuco, it is also near the Cathedral of Huánuco.

Unfortunately, for all the good intentions that went in to its design, this religious building is a prime example of not-so-good late 1960's architecture, showing little Latin elegance or charm, and from the outside more closely resembles a movie theatre or an ice skating rink.  

Different tastes in architecture can certainly exist, but whoever designed the tones for the carillon should be tied to a bench in the main plaza for punishment and made to listen at 6:00 AM and 6:00 PM.  

The aural display begins appropriately enough with the booming tones of a large cast bell, but after three gongs, a sound which most closely resembles trash can lids being used for cymbals begins and lasts for at least half a minute.  If you don't believe me, please click on the link below:

Like I said....

We hope that your cathedral bells sound better, and that you are never in Huánuco, Peru at 6:00 AM or PM.

Dave & Paula

PS  It really, really really goes on that long.  And sounds that bad.

Dang! I'm still older than she is!

Is it just that each year is a smaller percentage of the total, or does time really go faster the longer you've been in this phase of existence?  Oh, well, it was Paula's birthday on the 5th of February.
So what did she get for her birthday?  I offered my undying love and respect, she rolled her eyes, called me tacaño (cheapskate), and said, "Nah, I don't need anything, and besides, we'd have to pack it home."
However, one of our office staff, Elder Islas, is from Veracruz, Mexico, and happens to be somewhat of a chef.  When Paula heard that he knew how to make mole poblano, she yelled, "I want summa that!"
So, Elder Islas and Elder Holmes spent a couple of hours in the crazy market and showed up with bags full of all sorts of stuff and got started.

I don't know how many of you have had the good fortune of eating real-live mole poblano.  I was introduced to it 40+ years ago in California when I was a young missionary.  Since then, I've occasionally purchased a jar of Doña María, but it just isn't the same.

I remember a Mexican mom in California commenting that mole is kind of like "walking around the kitchen and throwing in a little of everything you can find."  If you think she was kidding, here are the ingredients for Elder Islas' version:

In case you're not up on your Spanish food names, there's everything from three types of chiles, chocolate, peanuts, raisins, bananas, almonds, prunes, pork butter, garlic, tomatoes, sesame seeds, cinnamon, onions, and a bunch of other goodies.

Pretty soon, the kitchen smelled exotically heavenly.

After several hours of effort, (the Elders sacrificed a lot of their Preparation Day for Paula), the concoction was ready.

I didn't get any pictures of everyone chowing down, as I was busy making sure I didn't get the short stick on the mole portions.  It really was the best I'd ever had.

The Elders outdid themselves, buying a cake,

and adding the proper number of candles.

It really was a happy birthday!

Paula got birthday wishes from kids and friends, from every continent except Africa and Antarctica.

We hope that your mole poblano turns out half as good as Elder Islas', and that you get to spend as many birthdays with someone half as good as Paula.  You'd be lucky on both counts.

Dave & Paula

On the road again

Every three months, it's my opportunity/duty to have a personal interview with each missionary.  To accomplish this, we travel around the mission so that they can stay closer to their areas.  As you are aware, the mission is geographically big, and travel is a bit complicated.  Like Mickey is a bit Mouse.
This present trip began a week ago, with three days to go.  We visited the very northern city today, in Tingo María, a city of 55,000, and the drive takes two and a half to three hours.

There are four Elders in town, and the congregation is one of the strongest in the Mission.
OK, "we visited" sounds so pleasant, almost casual.  Hah!  Until 1936, Tingo was considered unreachable, until some brave engineers built "La Carretera Montaña," or "the mountain road."

To me, it is now officially the most challenging route in the Mission, others having been tamed since we arrived.  It is narrow, with tight curves and heavy trucks.  At the very top of the climb up the mountains is a skinny tunnel.  On one side is the arid landscape of the Huánuco region, and on the other side are the steep jungles leading to Tingo.  

The views are nothing short of spectacular, or so they tell me, as my eyes are glued to the road and my hands grip the wheel.  The mountainside from which the road is carved is almost vertical, and gravity being what it is, the road is often blocked by landslides, such as this,

or this,

or this,

or even this.

We minimize the travel between Huánuco and Tingo, and prohibit travel at night or in bad weather, as sometime the road just kind of disappears.

The missionaries love working in Tingo María, and frequently suggest in their weekly letters that I should transfer them there.  For the rest of their mission.  And that's how long they could be there considering "La Carretera Montaña."

We hope that the roads between your cities are more boring.

Dave & Paula

The flowers of Grace appear...or at least those of her daughter

There is a song in the LDS Hymns book, called "There Is Sunshine In My Soul Today." The third verse goes:
     There is springtime in my soul today,
     For when the Lord is near,
     The dove of peace sings in my heart,
     The flow'rs of grace appear.
It turns out that Paula's mother's name was Grace, and she loved flowers, and whenever we sing that hymn, Paula thinks of her mom. 
Grace's daughter has carried on the tradition.  In her spare time, Paula has beautified her little garden spaces with lovely flowers.

I think Grace would smile.

We hope your flowers are also doing well - with apologies to those of you in the cold Northern Hemisphere.

Dave & Paula