Huaytapallna

The word “Huaytapallana” is an ancient Quecha word meaning “Snow Mountain”. We were lucky in February to visit this wonderful place. The top is half is the same elevation as the half way point of Mount Everest. We climbed the trail to the top of the mountain where we found a glacier hundreds of feet high at the top. Along the way we chewed on coca leaves to help with the altitude, made coca leaves offerings to the mountain Gods, had lunch in a hut with cows, and did it all in the rain.

Wallet Inspector

Sitting down for a normal day at lunch, our good friend Will started to tell a joke about a so called “Wallet Inspector” out on the street. He said that the inspector came to check out his wallet and his reply to this man was to take a hike. Our other good friend Jill started to tell us that we should be careful with these “wallet inspectors” because they could get mean if do not cooperate. After a fifteen second pause, we all exploded with laughter and explained that the wallet inspector is actually another name for a “pick pocket” and it was a joke.

 

Water Balloons

The month of February is considered Carnaval in Peru and it is celebrated with a full month long water balloon fight in the streets. The only rules are that boys are only supposed to hit girls and girls can only hit boys. We were attacked several times during the month with not only waters balloons but buckets of water as well. The entire month was filled with Terry chasing 10 year old girls for blocks and Alison yelling “you mother fu**ers, I’m going to get you” We are now equipped with water every time we leave the house.

 

Angelita’s Cake

Our good friend decided to get his cake to say good bye to his class but he bought more than he needed and his students only had one piece. He brought it home for all of us to eat and left it up in the kitchen where the family hangs out for most of the day. The next time we went to cut a piece, there was no frosting left in it, just about 500 little finger prints that matched Tino’s daughter Angelita, 3 years old.

 

Look Joven it’s Raining…

One day at the Aldea Rosario Orphanage, was standing next to his favorite little guy named Alex. Terry was talking to the director about a bunch of things and was not paying attention to Alex. When he finally looked down at Alex, he had pulled his pants down to his ankles, was peeing, and said to Terry, “look Joven, it’s raining……