Mom and Dad in Lima

My parents arrived Wednesday night for a 2 week trip to Peru. They got in really, really late Wednesday night, then came to school Thursday afternoon to spend some time with me before my concert. Here they are in my classroom. Aren't they cute? We had a nice afternoon just hanging out at school. My students were all excited to meet my parents, so they all kept stopping in to introduce themselves. They were so great. And my parents loved meeting all of them.

My concert at school was Thursday night and it featured the jazz band, orchestra and symphonic band. Here I am conducting the symphonic band. The concert went really well. I was very pleased with all the performances and it was so nice to have Mom and Dad sitting in the audience again. They sat in the same spot in the auditorium that they always sat in when I conducted in Manchester so it was fun to see them there. There was a decent crowd at the concert and it was nice to be able to introduce my parents to some of the music parents that I have gotten to know.

I had to teach all day Friday, so Mom and Dad spent the day walking along the Malecon and checking out a little bit of Miraflores, the district where I live. I sent them to lunch at the Park Hotel, since it was the one spot where I could guarantee they would have an English menu and a waitress that spoke English. They said it was really good and they had a nice time sitting out on the terrace.

Mom and Dad are off to Cusco and Machu Picchu this morning. I just got a phone call from my driver guy who had taken them to the airport and he said they have boarded the plane, so they are off. I know they were a bit nervous about traveling without me, but hopefully they will be fine. There is a tour guide who will be meeting them at the airport in Cusco and will be with them for their whole time in Cusco/Machu Picchu. I wish I could have gone with them, but I have to teach this week and it would be crazy for them to come to Peru and not get to see Machu Picchu. I really hope they have fun and don't get too stressed. Keep them in your thoughts and hope that they have a good trip. They return to Lima on Tuesday afternoon and we fly to Santiago, Chile on Wednesday night. I haven't been to Santiago and I hear it is really nice, so I figured it would be good for Mom and Dad to have a chance to see somewhere else in South America. I'll let you know how it goes...