Kite flying.

After a very odd day (I started the day off being sick, and then later I went to a friend's house to chase a bat - it had flown away on its own), we bought Mateo a kite (Buzz Lightyear!) on a whim and then stopped by to fly it. It started off rocky, as we had installed the cross bars the wrong way, but soon enough it was up and flying high.

Mateo held it on his own for a long time. He did a really good job and says he's excited to do it again.

Peru Posts FYI.

For those of you wanting to read the full posts from Peru it might do you good to click here. Otherwise, you can always read previous posts by clicking on a month in the archives listed at the bottom right.

A Family Day.

The day started slowly. For me, anyway. Everyone else seemed able to get out of bed, but I had a really difficult time. A Saturday morning shower helped, as did a quick batch of pancakes. At Rafi's urging we headed off to the bike sale at Mellow Johnny's (Lance Armstrong's bike shop here in Austin). I really liked the first bike I tested and had it set aside with my name on it. It was a hybrid with straight handlebars. But then while I tended to Mateo, Rafi kept looking and discovered this beauty:

Say hello to my new bike! I need to think of a name for her. I still can't believe I own a $1700 bike. Now, I want to make it perfectly clear that we did NOT pay that much for this bike. The sale was really REALLY good, so I got it for 60% off. I just love it when the discount is higher than the actual price!

And for our money I not only got this beautiful bike, but I will also be receiving a custom bike fitting (which I'll do next week), a woman specific seat, a year of brake and derailleur service, two tuneups, and an espresso (they have a coffee shop inside) included for free.

Thank you, Rafi, for my new bike! It's much nicer than what I would've ever picked out for myself, and it inspires me to ride again. And thanks to Victor who dropped everything to come help us with our bike decisions, and thanks to his wife Ingrid for coming with him! Oh, and a big thanks to Mellow Johnny's for not only giving me a kick a$$ deal on my bike but also for providing a fun atmosphere, music, and free food and beer!

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All that biking got our tummies to growling, so we grabbed some healthy lunches and drinks and headed to Zilker Park for a nice picnic. There was evidence in every tree of kite catastrophes from the kite festival a couple of weeks ago. We sat under a nice shady tree, and our friend Andres joined us. Mateo and Rafi had lots of fun running around.

Eventually we lured Mateo into the car with the promise of a cookie. He ate half of it, handed it back, and conked out for the rest of the ride home. It had been a long day for all of us. He watched a Veggie Tales movie and then went to bed early. Rafi and I stayed up working - he on actual work stuff and me on the Peru blog posts. Going through 510 photos is a lot of work! (Hence why I didn't edit any of them.) And now that I'm all caught up, I hope to get back to my frequent, but short, blog posts.

Peru - Day 5 - Victor and Ingrid's Wedding.

At last! We've finally come to the real reason we traveled to Peru in the first place - the wedding of our friends Victor and Ingrid. First, I want to say how very ultimately happy we are for the two of them. They are both wonderful people who I know will have a joyful life together.

Their wedding took place in Lima at the Iglesia de San Pedro. It is a beautiful church. Victor looked giddy as he waited for his bride, and when Ingrid walked down the aisle to the sound of an operatic choir, it just took my breath away.

The reception was also spectacular. We arrived at the Garden of the Museum of Art and were welcomed by a wonderful spread of appetizers and cocktails, huge bouquets of white flowers, and happy friends. Rafi was especially happy with the sushi bar. I liked the champagne myself.

And as you can see by the rest of photos, the party afterward was awesome! I danced until my feet (or side ache) could dance no more. We even tried to leave once, but we missed the bus, so back we went for two more hours of dancing!

Thank you, Linette and Arturo, for bringing your camera to the wedding!
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Around 3:00am we finally gathered ourselves and reluctantly headed back to the hotel. We showered quickly, grabbed our luggage, and headed off to the airport. Long story short, every flight (three) we had was delayed, but thanks to Rafi's great planning (he left ample time between flights in case of such an occurrence) we made it home around 1am the next morning. The flights were long, we were exhausted, but we were so happy to be home. I missed Mateo so much at nights that I actually would turn to the side table to check the non existent monitor next to me.

Thank you, Mima, for giving up your Spring Break to stay at our house with Mateo and the dogs and cat. Mateo obviously had a super time because the next morning he said "I don't want Mommy and Daddy. I want Mima." Ha!!

Peru - Day 4 and 5 - Lima.

Our check out was at 9am, so we scarfed down a quick breakfast, left for the airport, and flew back to Lima. After a quick hotel check in (Casa Andina Private Collection of Lima) the four of us, Linette, Arturo, Rafi, and I, had an interesting lunch at Fiesta. As my regular readers know, this year I am trying new foods. But I have to be honest. The only things on the appetizer plates I could handle were the corn and the dehydrated crab. I still don't have the gumption to try anything with tentacles.

The previous few days were so full that Rafi and I opted to just nap and lounge in our hotel room . When we woke up we were running late, but we got ready just in time to leave for Victor and Ingrid's welcome dinner. Alas, I have no photos of this, but it was held at Restaurant Huaca Pucllana. The food was delicious, and the room was really nice because it was essentially outdoors. There were some pre-Incan ruins there, too, which when lit up at night looked really amazing.

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After a good night's rest Rafi and I decided to do a little exploring in Lima. The one place I had been dying to visit in Lima was the Convent of San Francisco. And it didn't disappoint. Rafi was excited to learn a lot of the cedar wood that was used in carvings originated in Panama. I was most impressed with the piles and piles of human bones. They were separated by type in various "cells." Each cell was four meters deep in bones, which I found astounding.

The Museum of the Inquisition highlighted the story and instruments of torture from the Spanish Inquisition. Men were hung by their wrists, held in stocks until their muscles cramped, strangled, stretched, and whipped. Women were water boarded. It was a very quick tour, but it ended in an interesting underground walk that showed some of the cells that people were kept in for six to eight days at a time.

Our walk back to the Plaza de Armas was hot and sweaty, but we were greeted by a real treat. Completely on accident we showed up right during the changing of the guards in front of the governor's palace. The Dragoon Guards march every day at 1pm around the entire square, accompanied by a marching band. The horses would "dance" sideways. We really enjoyed watching and listening and felt very lucky to be at the right place at the right time. Here are two small videos I took with my iPhone: Number one and Number two.

It took us a while, but we did finally find our tucked away lunch spot, Tanta. The service was slow, but wow, I had my favorite meal here. It was lomo saltado, and it was lomo delicious! And here I enjoyed my last Inca Kola.

Peru - Day 3 - Cusco Tour.

Though Cusco had been our home base for our other excursions, we didn't actually tour Cusco until the third day. That morning we were able to take it easy, as there had been rumor of a transportation strike. Whether or not that happened we couldn't tell. Either way, we walked to Jack's Cafe, which was definitely more of a gringo hangout. The food was marginal. I tell you, I had pancakes FOUR times while in Peru, and not one time were they really very edible. Thankfully the other food made up for it.

A while after our brunch we met our guide for our afternoon city tour. We started at the Temple of Qorikancha. The ruins of Qorikancha were really well preserved, its walls once covered in gold.

In Qorikancha the windows are all lined up. If you stand on this rock, you can see how precise the workmanship is.

When the Spanish took over the temple, they removed the gold and covered the walls with plaster and frescoes.
Here is the only remaining fresco.

This painting is the size of a wall in our house, if not larger. Painted by Miguel Cartagena, it depicts important stars and objects in the sky and how the Inca interpreted them. Unfortunately my angle was a little off, so I'll refer you to this photo to be able to see the llama, fox, and other figures as well as a more in depth explanation of the painting. If you click on the second picture you can see a close up of how the painting was made - with dots.

And here is Linette with a dog in a hat. Oh wait, that's a lamb, hehe.

The Cathedral of Santo Domingo was quite incredible, as it seemed to never end. Altars were all around us. It is known for having the "Black Christ"; however, the wooden figure is black from the smoke of candles in the past and is not related to the race of Jesus. I enjoyed most a huge painting of the last supper. On the plate before the apostles was a cuy (guinea pig), which was indicative that a local person had painted it.

The Plaza de Armas was very busy this afternoon, for the Cathedral of Santo Domingo was anticipating the arrival of a new statue of Don Bosco (St. John Bosco). Groups of students in traditional garb were there to perform dances and ceremonies welcoming the new addition. We didn't stay and watch, though, as we had one more excursion to do.

We drove out to Sacsayhuaman (pronounced similarly to "sexy woman") next. The ruins were great, but Rafi and I couldn't get over how lush the short green grass was!

Notice the "holes" in the rocks. These were where they put the ends of their support poles to assist in holding everything up.

Do you see the puma paw? The puma was a sacred animal in the Inca tradition, as was the snake and condor.

As our guide said more than once (more than ten times really), "notice the inclination of the walls. Why is this? This is because the Inca made it anti-seismic."

Tambomachay was really interesting, too. The waterways created by the Incas are still working today. Supposedly its source is an underground spring. It was once used as a place of bathing for people in high places.

This woman was nice, but that llama had an odor.

We did drive by two other places (Puca Pucara and Qenko), but at our request we did just that - drove by. By this point even I (the lover of all things tour and education related) was feeling quite exhausted.

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Four very tired people had dinner at Tunupa in Cusco. We enjoyed our food, but the show was the best. I nearly got the you-know-what scared out of me when a masked devil popped up right behind me. It only got worse when he drug me to the front "stage" and made me dance with him. Lots and lots of spinning on a full stomach. He was quite the comedian, though, as he kept making me "dip" him lower and lower - and I could barely hold him up! My cheeks were hurting afterward from laughing so hard.

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It was this night, in the wee hours of the day, that Rafi had his bout with altitude sickness. He looked yellow and felt cold to the touch. And then he started shaking. We turned on the oxygen machine and I consulted Dr. Google just in case, but after a while the shaking stopped, he felt better, and we both got some rest.

Peru - Day 2 - Pisaq.

Finally we arrived at Pisaq. The views were quite incredible. The hike itself was tiring itself, as the altitude is still quite high; but the effort was worth it.

Can you see the holes? The whole mountainside was full of them. They are graves. The Incas used to bury their dead in holes in the side of the mountain. The bodies would be in the fetal position, and they were entombed with the locally grown crops, flowers, silver, and fabrics and weavings. They are now empty, however, due to looters many many years ago. The Incas believed in Pachamama, or Mother Earth. I have tendencies to believe in this same way, so the idea of returning to the earth, in a mountainside, no less, is very romantic to me.

And here we are all with are hearts racing but smiles on our faces!

I ran up ahead so I could get a shot to show a bit of how our trail really was on the side of the mountain. It's too bad that cameras don't really capture true depths, or you'd be able to see how far down it really was to the bottom. I'm not sure how anyone could survive a fall from up there.

In the middle of this community area there is a large roundish rock with a small protrusion. It has a wall around it, signifying that it was special. Our guide Jose said that they probably believed it was a center point that the sun would revolve around, and that they used it as a sundial for the seasons.

I liked this cave. We had to duck and walk through in a single file.

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After this long day we were really ready to get back to our comfy beds at the hotel, Casa Andina Private Collection. This hotel was wonderful. The staff were always very helpful - and generous! All four of us were upgraded to suites at no charge. This really was one of the best beds I've ever slept in.

I really loved the ceilings, too.

This was our balcony and view. Fantastic.

After we got back to our rooms and refreshed ourselves, we had a nice dinner at Cicciolina. Rafi and I both had the gnocchi, and it was splendid. I also enjoyed a maracuya sour (like a pisco sour but made with passion fruit juice).

I believe it was this night that I had my only issue with altitude sickness. I had neglected to take my evening Sorojchi pill, and while I wasn't nauseous and had no headache, my heart was pounding so fast and so hard that it hurt. Once oxygen was brought to our room I felt better within a few minutes and quickly fell asleep.

Peru - Day 2 - Traveling.

After Ollantaytambo we went to Tunupa, a restaurant, and then traveled to Pisaq.

Tunupa was nice. There was a buffet with lots of things to try. I really like to try new foods, but I'll admit I stayed away from the olive mousse. Blech. Our meal started traditionally with a pisco sour. Pisco is the local liquor, and a pisco sour is made with pisco, lime juice, sugar, egg white, and a bitter on top. It tastes like a Mexican martini, or fairly close. We didn't get a good photo of pisco sour, so here's a link to view one.

The restaurant was located by the river there in the Sacred Valley, and we ate our dinner while listening to these men play their pan pipes. There was also a traditional lady there selling goods.

We liked these parrots, too.

After a filling meal we were back on the road traveling to Pisaq. I took many, many photos out of the window.

See the red "balloon?" This is a sign that the local beer is for sale there. It'll cost you 1 soles, or about thirty cents.

This was my favorite photo. I just love her red sweater against the monochromatic nature of the background.

Peru - Day 2 - Ollantaytambo.

The drive to Ollantaytambo (say that three times quickly) was very interesting. I enjoyed seeing this local bus. Our guide was even excited to see it, as he said the people in it were from the highlands, and they don't come down too often. Notice their traditional garb and the manner in which livestock are transported.

The walkways are very straight and are from the Incan era.

This we found hilarious.

The steps at the ruin site in Ollantaytambo lead up to an area used for religious purposes. The stones at the bottom are more crudely stacked, but the stones that make up the religious areas are worked completely smooth. They also have tighter seams (again, no mortar) and are larger in size. It's amazing to imagine the thousands of people and number of lifetimes it took to create something like this.

This area is actually Pre-Incan.

This was my favorite part. Can you find the face?

Maybe this will help. Look for a long face with two eyes way up top, a nose and mouth down low, and a beard underneath.

This is a rock that was started and never finished. It's colossal in size.

This wall is special. It was the center of this special area and at the top. It also faced the rising sun on the summer solstice, the Incan new year. It's very faint, but you can still see the symbols that had been carved into it. If you're not sure of what you're looking at, look at this and then see if you can see it.

Peru - Day 2 - Chinchero.

Our second day in Peru was pretty lengthy and packed, so I'm going to take this one location at a time. We woke up early and had the hotel breakfast, which wasn't good but it filled our bellies well enough. Jose and Jorge picked us up at the hotel and off we went!

On our way out of town we noticed a few interesting things. First, there are many houses built into and on the sides of the mountains. Jose, our guide, told us that the poorer people build the houses themselves, so it does happen on occasion that they collapse, resulting in injuries and even deaths of the families that live there. In the car we discussed how these same mountain views in the states would house only the rich for hundreds of thousands if not millions of dollars. I found it interesting. Farming of potatoes, beans, and corn can be seen everywhere, as well.

In Chinchero we saw some Incan ruins and a beautiful cathedral. The stones of the walls were all hand carved by the Incas. No mortar was used. It's amazing how perfectly the stones fit together. Farmers were still tending crops there, much like it must've been done hundreds of years ago. Like all the other cathedrals in Peru, no photos were allowed inside, so we had to settle for the exterior.

The people were very friendly, but quite honestly they were also trying to sell things. We ended up purchasing two alpaca scarves and some fried noodles. I wish I remembered the Quechua name for them. They tasted like slightly stale sweet cereal. The scarf is cool because you can invert one end, creating a hat, and then wrap the rest of it around your neck as a scarf. I think it will be very useful during the one month of winter we get here in Austin, hehe. The children were fun to watch and reminded me constantly of Mateo.

Peru - Day 1.

During Spring Break this year Rafi and I were fortunate enough to vacation in Peru. Mima (my mom) graciously gave up her own Spring Break to stay at our house with Mateo. I was pretty nervous about us both leaving him (really nervous, actually), but I knew he was in the best hands.

After a full day of travel (three flights), we arrived in Lima. That night we walked across the street to the hotel, spent the night, then walked back to the airport to catch our plane to Cusco. This is where I will begin our story.

We met our friends Arturo and Linette at the airport. Our flight to Cusco from Lima was roughly an hour. Right before we all boarded we took our Sorojchi Pills. They contain aspirin, a diuretic, and caffeine, which together all help ward off altitude sickness. These later proved themselves to be miracle pills. After landing we didn't notice too much difference in our breathing until we walked up a ramp, which resulted in some wheezing and racing hearts.

We were met by our guide Jose and driver Jorge. This was the first time Rafi had someone waiting for him holding his name - exciting!

The hotel was a short drive from the airport, so I shot what I could.

The four of us decided to heed some well given advice and took it easy the first day. Our hotel was fantastic, and provided us coca leaf tea upon arrival. Coca leaves are illegal in the states, as you'll be charged with possession of cocaine if you have one, but they are perfectly legal in Cusco. The tea tastes like most any other tea, but you do not get high or feel weird after drinking it. It's a local custom that helps you adjust to the altitude. Though we made jokes about Rafi being addicted, the truth is that it's like poppy seeds are to opiates. Harmless. The hotel itself is very quaint, with the rooms looking down over the courtyard.

That afternoon we had a light, yet interesting lunch at the Inka Grill. As I have mentioned a few months ago, I had resolved this year to be adventurous culinarily. Our starters included trout and beef carpaccio with ceviche. For dinner I had the cuy (guinea pig) and Rafi had the alpaca (like a small llama). The cuy was very fatty with little meat and tasted like 75% chicken and 25% duck. The alpaca had the texture and taste of a pork chop with a hint of lamb. We enjoyed them both. We also had "huacatay," which is a sauce made from a local mint. Most of us didn't like it, but I did. We dipped homemade potato chips (potatoes are a staple crop in Cusco) in it. Dessert was a beautiful presentation of a curly crisp topped with ice cream. You'll notice in the future that we took lots of photos of our food!

After eating we started to notice the altitude affecting us more as the blood went south to digest our food. Our friends went back to rest at the hotel, but Rafi and I decided to walk around the Plaza de Armas. The views from this center of Cusco are amazing. It really makes you realize you are in the Andes Mountains. The architecture is very old, as the buildings are literally built on top of Inca walls. We visited Iglesia La Compañía de Jesús, a cathedral with shrines covered by gold leaf. Underneath the building is a crypt and tunnels that connect all four cathedrals in town. Unfortunately, all of the cathedrals and museums we visited in Peru don't allow photography (video, flash or otherwise) inside, so our photography was somewhat limited by this. Our tour guide did take a photo of us from inside the building, though. She had taken us into a hidden passageway behind one of the shrines.

The rest of the day I think we just took it easy. The bed and pillows in our room never felt so good.

My heart.

Obviously I've been a bit slow with my blogging lately, but I've been crazy busy. Pathetically, I haven't been busy with anything other than cleaning. I recently got back into my cleaning routine, but somewhere along the way I got a little carried away. Before I knew it, I was doing heavy cleaning for many hours a day. On the plus side, everything is feeling fresh and organized in the house, so I am feeling accomplished as of late.

Mateo has been so cute lately. I often tell him "you're my heart." Tonight after reading his books to him he said to me, "Mommy, your reading is good." That was sweet enough, but then he added "You're the bestest my heart." And he kissed me. Made me melt all over.

Mateo's Three Year Well Check.

Mateo had his three year well check this morning. Since he was in the doctor's office a few weeks ago for a flu test (swab up the nose), he wasn't too thrilled about being there. But he had his starfish keychain in his hand to squeeze to give him bravery. (The results of which are debatable.) Anyhow, he's in the 15th percentile weighing in at 28 pounds, and he's in the 25th percentile measuring in at 36.5" tall. His iron levels were healthy, and his ears have healed from his double ear infections a couple weeks ago.

What he didn't like was the thumb prick for the iron test and the Hep B vaccination. (They had a shortage previously, so he got his today.) What I'm not liking is that we will need to do physical therapy for his toe walking. Sigh... This will be our second time doing physical therapy with him, as he did it for a good 8 months during his first year for his neck issues. We do what we have to do.

Other notable milestones:

Mateo loves to talk. He is starting to make up his own stories or act things out from books or shows (Thomas the Tank Engine and Veggie Tales). He loves to help around the house. Lately I've been having him sort and put up silverware when I empty the dishwasher. His little broom provides lots of fun for him, too. Let's hope it lasts!

Thomas the Tank Engine and all Thomas' train friends still occupy most of his playing time around the house. He gets down on an eye level with them to talk to them, play with them, and act out various "rescue" scenarios. It's pretty cute.

Mateo has also taken on a parenting role in that he corrects his mother (ahem) when she says "yeah." He says, "Not 'yeah', Mommy. 'Yes.'" Sheesh.

He also really likes singing songs - the sillier the better. He's known his alphabet and the sounds since he was age 2 to 2.5, but now he's showing interest in reading. He can sight read simple words like "cat, dog, frog, bug" and a few others. We're still working on sounding words out. He has "spelled" two words so far - OGW (agua) and LGO (log). One of my biggest hopes for him is that he loves to read like I do.

He still has issues with textures - doesn't like certain foods (any kind of pasta, plain meats, veggies) and doesn't like to touch certain things (fingerpaints, gooey foods, etc.), but we're working on it still. He's been showing a desire to control more things in his life - clothing choices, food choices, etc. So we let him - even if it means a Thomas the Tank Engine shirt over a dinosaur pj top.

Obviously Mateo is doing great and has fun every day. He makes us laugh and brings us more joy than we ever imagined. :)