More news from Peru

January 10

Yesterday afternoon, we went to Parque Kennedy named for JFK. The sign said that it was dedicated to the memory of Ex-President Kennedy. It probably should have read former president but oh well. The park is large and quite nice with art displayed and many shops and restaurants on the streets surrounding it. We have passed by it many times on our mission trips in the bus but the girls said we were probably too tired to notice it then. We bought a USA today newspaper and we all (those who can read) read it from cover to cover. I noticed that it was wild-card weekend in the NFL and was kind of bummed since I love football. We turned on the TV just to check and found the game on ESPN in Spanish! What a gift! We should also be able to watch the Olympics since I love the Olympics more than football! Of course, today there was a soccer game on and no playoffs. It is just as disappointing watching the Eagles lose (and the Cowboys win) in South America.
Today we were kind of at a low point in the trip just missing our church and church family and being nervous about a new church. We all piled into a taxi and for about $1.75 got a ride to church! The church we visited is called Flamingo Road Church and this is a satellite campus in Peru with the messages coming over the internet from S Florida. They do the service in English and the band, who was very good, was live. They meet in the Cineplanet, which is the movie theater so our seats were extremely comfy. We saw Erick from Buckner there and was he ever surprised to see us! It was a lot of fun to surprise him like that. We met a very nice family from CA who now live in Peru and have for some time. He works for a mining company and they have 7 children. Three are adults who live in the USA and then 4 adopted children. Isn't it like our Lord to put people in your life who share the same passions?
We went to McDonald's with them after the service (I know, Pizza Hut and McD's-we have no imagination). Outside of the McDonald's we saw 2 children peddling chicklets and snacks. They followed us into the restaurant and we talked to them a little bit. The boy was Luis, 11 and the girl was Lisbeth and she is 10. Eric introduced Luis to Carolyn, who is about a foot taller that he, and told him that she is 11 too. He looked at her in awe! The other mom gave them happy meal toys and Eric ordered them cheeseburgers. Jim Jackson, new family dad, told us that some parents rent their children to these businessmen who take the kids around the city and drop them off so they can peddle their stuff. The kids don't get to go to school. The parents get 10 soles or about $3. Debbie Jackson invited Luis into the play area. She said a few weeks ago when she did that he just sat there. Today he did not, playing with the kids. Maggie taught Luis a little hand game and he looked like he was having a ball getting a chance to be a kid.
Many of you know that our kids get on us about always being the last ones at church talking, even in PA. Well it continues in Peru so I guess it's us!
This afternoon we took Rebekah and Elijah to try to find the beach. Actually, we could see the beach just fine from about 350 feet straight down but we didn't know how to get there without going in the taxi so we explored and found an access point. We walked down and down and took more and more steps until finally, we got there. It is beautiful but crowded and it was covered in rocks which the kids liked throwing. Elijah found a sea urchin and was pleased. It was then time to go back and we counted 258 steps! We also found a shorter way to our apartment so a successful trip! Tomorrow, Eric begins language school and the rest of us begin our schooling. The party's over! Haha!