One Year and Independencia

We celebrated our 1 year anniversary on July 28th, which also turns out to be Peru's Independence Day. This past year has been filled with many great memories, but I think that our time in Peru tops them all! So it was definitely fitting for us to celebrate our anniversary on the day that Peru celebrates its independence.

Because we knew that our anniversary would fall on a major Peruvian holiday, we actually did our main activity last week. And let me tell you that it was fabulous!!! Since Eddie and I are such "love birds" we thought that we would spend the day really acting like birds. So last Friday we headed to the beach for a little para sailing. The view was amazing and the ride was absolutely thrilling. Hopefully this movie doesn't make you too motion sick (:

Then for our actual anniversary (the 28th) we spent the day going to carnivals and outdoor markets with the local Peruvians. It was so fun to experience the Peruvian equivalent to the 4th of July. They do many of the same things like carnivals and face painting--they even have BBQs (only the meat selection is far from hamburgers and hot dogs).


Later that night Eddie took me to a great little restaurant called El Condado. It was very private and had a great little piano player. Not to mention the food was great, and I even ordered red meat without feeling utterly terrified.

We had a great time reminiscing about the past year and looking forward to the next years together. Our first year of marriage was pretty spectacular, so we are really going to have to work hard to make year 2 just as fantastic---But that is a challenge that we are excited to begin!

Eddie's First Blog

Kylee swore she would only blog while in Peru. Since our time in Peru is coming to an end, it is now my time to learn the blogging skills in case she truly goes through with it. However, I doubt she will because I know she is secretly addicted. So here are a few more pics from Peru. No specific order, just a chance for me to learn how to blog...Hope you enjoy!

Our weekly English class

Me and Ky cruisin' in a Moto-Taxi

Eddie and his little girls

Beach on the 4th

Farewell Abraham Lincoln

Well yesterday was my official last day as a teacher at Abraham Lincoln: American Peruvian School. I had such a wonderful experience teaching there so I am sad to leave, but it will be nice to relax and go to the office with Eddie these last few days here is Peru.

Many of you know that I am currently getting my Masters in English Lit, and so naturally everyone assumes that I want to become a teacher. I have always strongly believed that teaching Jr. High or HS English (unless it was AP) would be nothing short of cruel and unusual punishment. However, after teaching at Lincoln I realized that it really wouldn't be that bad. No, I'm not going to rush right out and get my teaching certificate, but I learned that teaching young kids really can be such a rewarding career. So now I am just anxiously awaiting fall semester at USU because I'll again have the opportunity to teach.

Next, I thought I would give you a little information about Lincoln. The school consists of about 1200 students from K-12. Most are Peruvian, but there are a few, maybe 2-3 Americans. Since it is an "American Peruvian" school all the students are required to learn English as a second language. So three days a week I would go and do activities that helped the kids with pronunciation and vocabulary. I also taught about American culture because international relations is one of Lincoln's major goals.

I had three main classes, 2 were with 15-16 year olds, and the other was with 13 year olds. I also was a "full-time sub" because I taught all the classes that didn't have either set teachers or the teachers were absent. And I know that teachers aren't supposed to have favorite students or favorite classes, but I definately did.... I'll have to work on that flaw for fall semester.

I worked with many other amazing teachers who have dedicated their lives to helping Peruvian kids have more oppertunities. I am so lucky that I was able to volunteer at Lincoln because I made many great friends, met great Peruvian students, and I also realized that teaching JH and HS might be something more than just babysitting. If I worked hard enough and cared enough, I too could influence lives just like so many of my teachers have influenced my life for the better.

Thanks Abraham Lincoln, for teaching me more than I could ever teach you.

People in Peru

A lot of our posts have shown all the amazing things we haven been so lucky to see, so I thought for this post I would post some pictures of many of the people who have helped make our experience here so amazing. We have been so lucky to get to know all of these wonderful people. Our experience in Peru would not be even half as rewarding if it weren't for them. I don't yet have pictures of everyone (like our darling maid, Euolgia, The Handas, and my English students) but you can expect to see a post dedicated to them a little later.

Enrique and Andrea Sheen
(Kylee's works with Enrique)

The Missionary Couples
Left to Right:
The Drakes, The Earls, The Davies, The Hawkins,
The Elders, The Bowmans, The Richards, The Goedes

Eddie's old companions and Pre. and Sister Dalene
(This was at a mission reunion)

The Rebaza Family (our bishop)

The Nunez Family
(David Norton's mission president)

And last but not least....
The Earls

USU and Machu Picchu

2 weeks ago USU College of Business was down in S. America for a study abroad (the same one that Ed did last year). While they were in Peru they traveled to Cusco and Machu Picchu and Eddie and I were invited to tag along. We had such a blast and it was great to be with some of our classmates. Everything we saw and all the people we met were so amazing. Lima is great, but outside of the city is really where you can experience South America.

We saw so many breathtaking Incan and pre-Inca ruins. It is really such a mystery to how these ancient people were able to construct such amazing architecture. We had a great guide who taught us so much about the Incan history and customs. I was so intrigued by the traditions and beliefs of these people. However, one of the most interesting things was that we really could see the correlation to the Book of Mormon times. The Incans were much later than the Lamanites and Nephites, but it was very apparent that many of the Incan traditions stemmed directly from the ancient Lamanite people. Just realizing that was enough to make my head spin.

We hope you enjoy these pictures. Sorry there is a lot. But you have full control of your computer so if you don't want to see them either exit or scroll fast.

Incan Ruin and Spanish CathedralBaby AlpacasNeighborhood in Cusco

Eddie and a strange Alpaca

Kylee feeding cute baby llamas

Where is the white girl???

Local Peruvians

The top of Wyna Picchu

USU Group after Wyna Picchu Hike

View of Machu Piccu