An Arequipa Tour

Last Thursday and Friday were national holidays here in Peru, and Marshall didn't have any classes. We've seen the double-decker tour buses around town and had mentioned to each other that we wanted to do that sometime. We found out that a few German classmates were going on Thursday, so we went along too. We went to some of the main tourist spots here, some we'd been to before, and some were new to both of us. Here are some pictures of beautiful Arequipa and our tour so you get a glimpse into our lives here! =)

A goofy picture to start us out! =)

Our first stop or pass-by was the Plaza de Armas (main central square of the town). Its traditional in almost every Latin American town to have a Plaza de Armas with a cathedral. Here's some photo fun from our pass-by:

(I LOVE a lot of the iron gates they have here!)

 You aren't supposed to honk your horns around this part of town (or play the trumpet, I guess)....I'll have to blog another day about the car honking language here.

Some of God's beauty in creation along the way...

Mirador de Yanahuara (Yanahuara lookout)...on a more clear day, you can see the volcano Misti beautifully through the arches.... you can see it here, but its hazy, and about 1/2 hour later it was covered.

Another lookout....couldn't tell you the name...it's nice to see pretty green though! =)

Lookout with volcano Chichani in the background......

Zoomed in, in case you didn't see those peaks well!! =)

One of our stops was at Incalpaca, where they make nice clothes from Inca and Alpaca hair. There were some precious little ones I had to capture some pictures of!

And Marshall learned a valuable lesson for our whole group....He got close to and made eye contact with a certain llama who was quite aggressive (and behind a fence).... FYI camels (who spit) are in the same family as llamas, and this one wasn't happy with Marshall! He got him good...TWICE! Grassy spit in his hair, face, ears, and obviously his shirt....I wish these pictures showed it better.... but its still humorous!

One of our next stops on the tour was the founder's (of Arequipa) mansion. We didn't go inside for the tour, but it was very beautiful and had a llama and alpaca outside on the grounds hanging out.

Our last stop was an old mill in a very scenic area of Arequipa.

A group shot of those of us who went. (we were the only ones from the US, the rest of our friends are from Germany... we learned a few German words that day. =D )

On the way back to town, we stopped for them to show us old Incan terraces in farming...this little girl was having fun in this old rusty truck.

 Thanks for joining us for our tour of Arequipa! Hope you enjoyed it!

Professional Soccer Game in Arequipa

Yesterday afternoon we had the fun opportunity to go to a Peruvian professional soccer game. I (Becca) have wanted to do this for years, and for whatever reason never did when I lived here in Peru before. Yes, I was the only girl in our group who went, but whatever, I still had fun!! I played soccer when I was in elementary school, but there's a lot more to it than those simple little-league games I remember, so I have a lot more to learn when it comes to watching/playing games here!

With some of our friends, host family men, and teachers.

We saw the match between La Alianza (a team from Lima) vs Melgar (the team from Arequipa). Melgar won 3-0. Arequipeños were happy. 

The weather was great for the most part. Our seats were right in the line of the beaming sun, but the breeze made up for the heat. I couldn't help but look off to the north to see Chachani above the stands. We had a lot of fun, and I hope we can go to another one before we leave Arequipa. 

Marshall Preaching in Arequipa

Last month Marshall was talking Pedro who is the director of the language school and a pastor of the church we attend in Arequipa. He shared with Pedro about having taught the Old Testament in Pucallpa and how so often in the church we don't have a good grasp of the OT and how and why Christ had to come. They continued talking, and Pedro asked Marshall to preach over 3 Sundays covering the OT. He just finished that quick summary over the last 3 Sundays and will also be preaching this Sunday for Easter as well as a few Sundays after Easter giving another quick overview, but this time of the New Testament. He's doing great and his Spanish is getting better and better! Many people have commented on how much they're learning, and how much they enjoy his laid-back preaching style. They've all been great as he's made Spanish mistakes and help him during his sermons. He has great interaction with the congregation and can laugh at his own mistakes, most are happy to help.

Please continue to pray for him as he prepares the sermons and as God uses him here in Arequipa. Even today he ran into someone downtown who has been there for his sermons and she was excited when he told her he could send her his notes.

Here are a few pictures of him teaching...I'm so proud of my husband!!

Becca's 31st Birthday

Last Tuesday, March 27th was my 31st birthday. It was my first birthday with friends in Arequipa. I've celebrated several in Lima. Birthdays are a big deal in Peru. Marshall got me flowers, chocolates, and earrings (plus a small shopping spree later in Lima for fun things for the house). My host family gave me more chocolate and earrings too! A single girl, Maisie, lives in our host's house with us as well, and it was also her birthday. We went out that morning while Marshall was in class to Starbucks and walked around a mall. It was a lazy day for me, a self-pedicure, skyping with friends and family, plus many greetings on facebook and twitter.

That evening our host family had a party for us. It is pretty typical for people to come by your place on your birthday even if you aren't having a party to wish you a happy birthday. There were many of our friends who either came by to wish my a happy birthday or stayed for the party. I got a few more sweet gifts that night too.

The delicious food prepared by our host family for the party!

The cumpleañeras (the birthday girls).

With my love!

It was a fun day itself....but the celebration continued....the next day at school they had a cake for me and their traditional cake-in-the-face moment....sorry....we didn't get pictures of that!  Then Friday night, Marshall took me out to a restaurant of my choice, which was the Trattoria de Santa Catalina....an Italian/Peruvian restaurant that opens up to an old beautiful monastery here in Arequipa. It was a fun date! (way to go Marshall on all the details! => ) And at church on Sunday everyone sang to the people with birthdays that week.

It was all great! This girl can't complain! =)

Matchmaker, matchmaker make me a match....

As many of you know, we were introduced by a language teacher we both had 3 years apart from each other. Her name is Karen Becerra and we've enjoyed hanging out with her since we've been back in Arequipa. We've gone on a few dates with her and her husband, Omar. This post is quite a bit overdue in my mind, but better late than never. So here's a few pictures from a lunch we had with them a few weeks ago at a Cebiche restaurant....one of my (Becca) favorite Peruvian meals!