Travel with Children

by Cole:

We went to the beach in Lima, Peru but it was mostly rocky and the waves were humongous near the shore.  I went to a little park where there was some exercise equipment that I fiddled with.  Then we played frisbee- me, mom, and Anna.  We had a nice walk back to our hotel.  Then we took a really, really long taxi ride to the plaza mayor.  We looked around but the square was closed off so we crossed to the other side.  We did not know what was going on.  There were a lot of soldiers dressed in their uniforms and they played their drums, tubas, or trumpets and welcomed some important people from other countries.  Then we got fruit and yogurt for lunch.  There was a new kind of fruit that looked like a circle with seeds in a round shape and there was a star of seeds in the middle.  It was red.  I did not try it.  The kids had hot chocolate and the adults had coffee.  The hot chocolate was very cinnamony. Then we took a taxi back to our hotel.  We took it pretty easy for the afternoon.  We went to bed early.

Today we flew on an airplane.  I tried Inka Kola it tasted like bubble gum and I really liked it.  Then we landed and my heart was beating very fast because it was high altitude so my heart hurt a lot.  We took a 2 hr ride to Ollantatambo (Ollanta) and we visited our hotel, took a walk, tried to find a park but we couldn't find it.  We came back to the hotel and there was dried out corn.  There was a tiny wraper on it that was pretty clear.  We peeled that off then put it in a jar.  A person made us some hot chocolate.  It was very good.

I am feeling culture shock and very tired.

More photos to come.  The internet is so slow this is really tricky.

by Anna:

My favorite things about Peru so far are:
1. Seeing the girl with the monkey on her shoulder.
2. Playing with cars with some kids.  I pointed to things and they knew what I meant.
3. Going to sleep.
4. Seeing the people playing trumpets and there were some cars with some presidents in them, I think.
5. Today, since I was so cute, I got a banana muffin with chocolate on top.  It was a gift.


by Christy

I love traveling.  Its what I like to spend my money on.  I also love to eat out, which is even more fabulous when eating in another country.  I've been in Peru 2 full days now and have not really eaten out.  I guess I had quinoa soup with vegetables for dinner but that was after falafal for lunch which is not exactly Peruvian.  I had to go someplace where I could try to find something for the kids.  Of course the PB&J with bananas went uneaten because the bananas were fried and that isn't what the kids wanted.  The pepperoni pizza also went uneaten because there were grilled onions and mushrooms on top.  That's when we had a conversation about trying new foods until they get something they like or they can just expect not to eat any desserts while they are in Peru.  We won't be replacing meals with familiar junk food.  That's when they tried Aaron's empañada and decided they liked it.  They do like Inka Kola, probably because it tastes like bubble gum.

So this is the frustrating part of traveling with children.  There are also many delights of carting around an incredibly observant and sensitive boy as well as a joyful enthusiastic girl.  Cole spotted a band lined up in front of the capital building and a few people milling around.  We wandered over, unable to walk through the central square because of the stern policeman standing there with a baton.  But we waited awhile and eventually were treated to the Peruvian anthem (we think) played each time a diplomat of some sort drove in through the gates.  This was fun, but most fun was watching the kids love being a part of it.

Anna walks around like she is a long lost blonde Inca princess.  Perhaps because people keep telling her how beautiful she is and that she IS, in fact, like a princess.  Today at the PB&J cafe, the man gave me the food I ordered then gave her a free banana muffin.  I think there are not too many blonde 6 year old girls with smiles on their faces leaping around and acting like a cheetah on the streets of Ollanta.  She pays attention to all the things the different shopkeepers are trying to sell her, touching everything, grinning appreciatively when they slide knit gloves onto her fingers, oohing and awing over the family of cheap gold llamas they want her to buy.  She took some cars to a concrete area (no parks anywhere) and some children came up and played with her.  Everybody speaks the language of hot wheels cars.

Today Cole and I spent a fair amount of time in our hotel.  He is in sensory overload, loving Peru one minute and then overwhelmed the next.  But we made this a blessing as well.  We sat with the owners of the hotel and watched some World Cup.  We noticed them plucking kernels off corn and asked if we could help.  They showed us how you peel the skin off each and every kernel.  This is so they can grind it tomorrow and make it into a sweet torte which we will now be invited to try.  We peeled corn for awhile, long enough for another man to make and bring us hot chocolate (I heard him grating the chocolate in the kitchen).  Long enough for one of them to ask if Cole knows how to play Risk.  I think tomorrow they might have a match- one speaking English, one Spanish, both in kindness.