Birthday Dinner

I turned 32 on June 19 (yikes!) and celebrated by going out to dinner with Marc and Megan at Zampas. It was nice to be home for my birthday again for the first time in four years and we had a great night! Good food, good wine, good company - all the things you need for a fabulous birthday!

Boston

I spent a few days last week in Boston, getting a little dose of culture outside the mecca of Epping, NH. It is always fun to go down and hang out with Rosemary and Karen and this trip was no exception. Rosemary and I went to the JFK Museum, which I absolutely love. As some of you know, I've been a JFK fan for as long as I can remember and was particularly infatuated with him in middle school and high school when my political aspirations were in full swing. I remember going to the museum at one point in high school (I think maybe my dad took me down...), but I honestly remembered very little of the museum, except for the architecture and the fact that I loved it - I just didn't have very many details about it still in my head. So it was great to go back now and experience the museum again. It is incredibly well done and just so beautiful.

It was a picture-perfect day in Boston and the museum is in a beautiful location out on the point in Boston. I love the architecture of the building, particularly this dramatic part of it that is all covered in glass. All in all, a wonderful trip to the JFK Museum - Rosemary, thanks for taking me!

The highlight of my trip to Boston was meeting little Sierra Piche Nicholas. Sierra is the 6 week old daughter of my friend Nicole and her husband Joshua. Nicole and I have been friends since the beginning of first grade and we stayed friends even after her family moved to Massachusetts in 2nd grade. Nicole is definitely the keeper of lots of my childhood memories and I love that we are still friends. It was wonderful to meet Sierra and to see Nicole being such a fabulous mother. Sierra is beautiful and I had a great time cuddling with her all day.

Weekend At Wanakee

It is amazing to me how much I can actually LOVE a place. The minute I get anywhere near Wanakee, I am incredibly happy. As I was driving up on Saturday morning, my first sight of the lake and the island made me break into a huge smile. I feel so lucky to have this place be such an important part of my life. Jean and I walked down to the waterfront this morning and were talking about how it just does our hearts good to be there and, for me, having Jean and Mike there makes it even better. I spent Saturday helping Jean out with Work Day - we cooked lunch for the volunteers and just did some general work around camp. I'm hoping to spend as much time as possible up at camp during the month of June. It gives me a chance to be at my favorite place on the planet AND spend time with Jean, Mike and the kids, some of my favorite people. So look for many more Wanakee pictures and posts to follow. Life is good at Wanakee!

Bar Harbor with Sarah

As some of you know, I spent every summer of my life up near Bar Harbor - our camp is on George's Pond in Franklin, about 30 minutes from BH and we were always going into BH since it was the only place around where there was anything to do. My dad was born in BH, so we have always felt close ties to the place and growing up there was an incredibly important part of my life. I wouldn't have traded spending every summer on George's Pond for anything in the world. It was a very idyllic life and I know how lucky I was to have that.

I'm always happy to be able to share BH with people and let them see how special it is, so it was great to have Sarah come up to visit. She took Friday off and made the long drive up here (Sarah, you are the best!) and we arrived in BH by mid-afternoon. It was sunny and beautiful and we had a great time walking around the town and checking things out. A lot of shops were beginning to close, but we made note of which places we wanted to check out the nest day, being the practiced shoppers that we are. :) Here were are in the park overlooking the pier in downtown BH.

Unfortunately Saturday ended up being very rainy, but we still made the best of it. We did some shopping and got some great things - BH has an awesome dog store with all kinds of gourmet treats, so Sarah stocked up for Annabelle and Bentley and I bought a few things to bring to my boy Ralph. We had hoped to do a boat ride around the island and see the sights from the ocean, but decided it just wasn't going to happen in the rain. We would have been freezing! Instead, we opted for a trolley ride, which meant we got to see the sights, while still staying relatively warm and dry. Our trolley driver was very informative and we hit all the big things to see in Bar Harbor - Cadillac Mountain (which was completely fogged in), Thunder Hole (which wasn't doing much, but still always nice to see), Sieur de Mont spring, all the big mansions along the ocean, Jackson Laboratory, and Jordan Pond House.

This photo is from Jordan Pond House, where we stopped to warm up with coffee. When it is warm and sunny, this place is packed with people who've come to eat the famous popovers and drink tea on the lawn. It was pretty quiet when we were there, but the view was still beautiful, even in the rain. The mountains are called The Bubbles, or the Boobies as we used to call them when we were little.

One of the best parts about being in BH this weekend was being able to eat at Rosalie's Pizza. This is my favorite restaurant in BH and my favorite pizza place in the world. It used to be called Napoli's and, to my family it will always be Napoli's, even though the name changed to Rosalie's probably 20 years ago. Eating at Napoli's is always an important part of our summers in BH. It is only open in the summers and, lucky for Sarah and I, it opened for the season two days before we arrived. We saw a line out the door when we walked by on Friday night, but we were able to get a seat on Saturday afternoon. The pizza was as amazing as I remembered it, if not better, and Sarah said it was some of the best pizza she has ever had. We had a great time drinking beer, eating pizza, and talking, talking, talking, as good friends do. Sarah is one of my favorite people to travel with and I always love our girls weekends away. It was great to be able to show her around BH and for her to enjoy it so much. All and all, a fabulous weekend!

Golf Carts, Lawn Mowers, and Hondas

I think the title of this post accurately describes the last couple of weeks up here in Maine. It has been great spending time with my parents - I think we have spent more time together in the past 4 weeks than in the previous 4 years. I've gone golfing with my dad a couple of times and he actually let me drive the golf cart! It's pretty impressive since the last time I drove a golf cart was probably 20 years ago and I ran it into the post that was holding up a deck. Not good! But this time I safely transported Dad around the golf course and he happily told me all about the ins and outs of playing golf. I don't think I'll ever actually be a golfer, but it was nice time spent with my dad and I know he liked being able to share his favorite hobby with me.

Since I've been living with my parents for free since I got home, eating their food, driving their car, and all of that, I decided that it was time for me to get off my butt and do something. It came in the form of mowing the lawn. I've never been a big lawn mower - I tried mowing the fields one summer at Wanakee and Dave Johnston yelled at me because I hit too many rocks with the tractor. Luckily our yard doesn't have too many rocks, though it is pretty big and mowing it takes a lot of time. However, we have a riding lawn mower, which makes it much easier. I was pretty happy to tool around on the lawn mower, listening to my iPod and enjoying the sun. It wasn't a bad way to spend an afternoon and I know my parents were happy to have all of us working out in the yard together. I think Dad is a little sad that I am moving to the cottage and won't be around to mow the lawn for him this summer. Maybe I have a future in landscaping if the whole teaching thing doesn't work out...

One of the big things that has consumed the last few weeks is having to buy a car. One of the things I loved best about living overseas was not having to worry about owning a car, but having a car is unavoidable here. I wish I lived in a city where I could use public transportation, but instead I live in rural Maine and I have to have a car. Luckily my parents again came to my rescue (have I mentioned how amazing they are and how great they have been about my sudden life change, which has affected all of our lives?). When I thought I would be returning from Lima at the end of next year, my parents and I had talked about me buying my mom's Honda CRV from them and she would get a new car. When I came home earlier than expected, we went back and forth about whether that was still the best thing to do financially. Dad and I went and looked at used Honda Civics for me and found nothing. We also looked at new CRVs for Mom and decided that they were too expensive. Now, my mom has always wanted a minivan (I know, it makes no sense - she has no one to schlepp around anymore, but she still loves them) and luckily the people who live next to my grandparents own a car dealership with a lot of minivans. They were able to give my parents a good deal on a year old minivan that my mom absolutely loves, which means I get the CRV. The CRV is a great car and it was really the solution I wanted anyway, but I needed to let my parents work through the different options. None of the solutions were perfect, since we weren't planning on 2 car payments right now, but this seems like it will work out. And now I have a car!!

So, that is my last few weeks in a nutshell. Being in Maine has been good - my counseling sessions went well and just being home has made me feel better. I leave tomorrow to move to our cottage at Hedding for the summer. After having been in Maine for 4 weeks and basically spending all my time with my parents, I am ready for a change of scenery and a chance to catch up with friends.

Home

It is amazing the restorative effects of home, of just being in this place. I returned to Maine last Tuesday afternoon, after a weepy goodbye with Reada, Dave and Tim in Lima on Monday night. As sad as I was to leave them, I was incredibly happy to be leaving Lima and the situation there and returning home to Maine and my family. I've been feeling bad lately that I haven't been feeling more guilty about leaving school and my students, but my counselor made a good point - we feel guilty when we've done something that we think was wrong, so these feelings just further support that I made the right decision. I'm still struggling with a lot of things and have been having some unexpected crying moments that have come out of nowhere, but hopefully being home will continue to help me heal. Thanks to all of you for your emails and phone calls over the past few weeks. I appreciate the support and love more than I can ever tell you - I'm so lucky to have you all in my life.

It is hard to believe I have already been home for a week. As I am writing this, I am watching the torrential downpour that is happening outside my window. It is taking some adjustment to be back in a place where the weather changes daily, but I like it. The past week has been beautiful spring weather, the best Maine has to offer, and I don't mind a good rain shower here and there. I'm just hoping for sun tomorrow - I'm meeting Stacey and my 3 year old goddaughter Christel in Portland and we are going to the Children's Museum and out to lunch. I'm really looking forward to spending some good time with them - the joys of being back home.

One of the best parts of the past week has been hanging out with Ralph, my brother's 2 year old black lab. Marc, being the good brother he can be sometimes, decided that Ralph would be good therapy for me when I got home and he was right. It does the heart good to have a dog to take care of and Ralph is especially lovey. As long as he is around his people, he is content, so he snuggled with me and followed me around for 6 days and made me incredibly happy. We went on walks and played in the yard and just laid around for days and it was great. I was very sad to see him leave today (Marc and Megan were missing him and wouldn't let me keep him any longer), but I'm hoping to convince them to let me have him one day a week this summer while I'm down at Hedding. And I think a dog of my own might be in my future. We'll see...

The other highlight of my first week home was my friends Becky and Betsy coming up to Maine for a visit. We've been friends forever - we were all percussionists at UNH together and then all taught music at the same time and would meet in Manchester for dinner once a week for years until I left for Berlin. They were on school vacation last week and immediately asked if they could come up and see me. They are the first people who have ever offered to come all the way up here, so I of course said yes! We hung out in Bangor the first night and I took them to a fun Irish pub. Then Friday morning we headed for Mount Desert Island. As lots of you know, I grew up spending my summers on a lake about 30 minutes from MDI and it is one of my favorite places on the planet - right up there with Wanakee and Berlin. It was so fun to be able to show Becky and Betsy around the island and play tourists for a day. The weather was perfect and the island was pretty quiet since the summer season hasn't started yet. We drove to the top of Cadillac Mountain and the view was incredible - it felt like we could see forever. Then we went to Sand Beach (where this photo was taken) and Thunder Hole, then into downtown Bar Harbor for lunch at Geddy's, the only restaurant open in the off-season. It was a perfect day and I'm so glad Becky and Betsy came to visit and I could share it with them.

So, that sums up my first week back in my non-international life. Future posts may not include exciting destinations like previous posts, but I'll try to keep you updated on life back in New England.

Earthquake Season??

I woke up this morning to an earthquake, not the most pleasant way to be awakened. It was short, but felt very strong. Ever since the big earthquake in August, I often think that I am feeling one, but I'm pretty sure it is just my brain playing tricks on me. But I was talking with some friends last night and Deb said she had been feeling some little tremors the last few days. I've felt nothing, so I didn't think much of it until this morning when my entire apartment was shaking and rattling. Apparently the epicenter was really close to Lima, which is why it felt so violent this morning. Here is an article on the earthquake that was posted on the English language Peruvian news website:

Lima: Two earthquakes hit Peru's capital city

(LIP-ir) -- Two earthquakes, one a magnitude 4.4 and the other a 5.4, which were felt across Peru's capital and throughout the province of Lima, struck Peru's coast early Saturday morning, said the U.S. Geological Survey.

The first occurred at approximately 1:41 a.m. and was not perceived by many of Lima's citizens.

The second, however, which was felt at 7:51 a.m., alarmed many and caused people in the country's capital to dart out of their homes and business establishments.

According to Peru's Geophysical Institute (IGP), even though there were no immediate reports of damage, citizens in the region were alarmed by the seismic movement and immediately took to the streets seeking safe places to stand.

The first earthquake's epicenter, which was just off the Peruvian coast, was at a depth of approximately 61.3 km (38.1 miles) and 75 km (45 miles) north of Lima, Peru.

The epicenter of the magnitude 5.4 quake, which was felt much more by citizens on the coast, was registered to be at a depth of 41.2 km (25.6 miles) and just 14 kilometers (9 miles) west of the country's capital.

Every time there is an earthquake, people down here start talking about it being "earthquake season". Yes, I know it sounds completely illogical, but people here think that the earthquakes happen during certain times of the year and are related to the change in weather. I'm sure there is no real science to support it, but the weather has been changing lately. The mornings are cooler when I wake up and the weather is staying grayer in Miraflores during the day, instead of always been sunny. Winter isn't here yet, but any stretch of the imagination, but it is on its way and the weather is becoming different than it was in the height of summer. Maybe there actually is something to the earthquakes/changing weather idea...

Band Geeks

I had a great moment in symphonic band rehearsal yesterday that I just have to share. We are working on this great piece called Abracadabra, by Frank Ticheli. Ticheli is my favorite band composer and we've played one of his pieces on every concert I've done in the last 2 years here. The kids really like Abracadabra and always want to play it all the way through, from beginning to end, but I am constantly stopping and starting to work on different sections (as you should do in rehearsal). They worked really hard yesterday on another piece we are doing and there was 5 minutes left at the end of class, so I told them we could finally play Abracadabra through, beginning to end, no stops. They did a great job focusing and played it pretty well (it still isn't ready for the concert in 3 weeks, but it will definitely get there). They were playing with lots of energy and there was just a good feeling about it as we were making music together. And the best part was the end. After they played the last note, they sat there for a second, then broke into applause. It was wonderful!! I love that they had that reaction about their playing and that they felt so great about what they had just done. It was an awesome moment!

The Sacred Valley and Machu Picchu

Karisti has been visiting from London since last Monday and it has been great to have her here. I had Thursday and Friday off from school, so we went to Cusco, the Sacred Valley and Machu Picchu. My friend Reada had been to MP twice over Christmas break (she had lots of visitors) and she gave us great advice about what to see and where to stay. She also hooked us up with a great driver named Jose. He didn't speak any English, but he was very patient with my Spanish and it was nice to be able to practice it so much.

We started the trip in Cusco and then drove through the Sacred Valley to Ollantaytambo. The ruins at Ollantaytambo are incredible. They sit right on the edge of the little town and it was cool to see them from everywhere. We hiked up to near the top of the ruins and had a great view of the town and the valley. Here we are walking along the ruins.

The most amazing ruin was the one at Moray. The Incas built this site as an agricultural experiment. They planted different crops on different levels to see what altitude was best for growing. The site is incredible and this picture doesn't even do it justice. The bowl it sits in is enormous and it is amazing to stand at the top and look down into it. It is all laid out so perfectly and so logically. As our driver Jose said, the Incas really were so much smarter than us. They figured out all these things, just using the resources they had. And they thrived for hundreds of years, developing a very advanced culture.

Though I had been to Machu Picchu before, this trip was even more amazing than the first. We spent the night before in Aguas Calientes (Karisti likes to remind me that we were in hot water on the trip), which is the town at the base of the mountain Machu Picchu is on. Because we had spent the night in AC and didn't have to take the train in from somewhere else in the morning, we were able to get on one of the first buses up to MP Saturday morning. We were at MP by 8am and it was amazing! The sun was shining, but there were still clouds covering some of the mountains. It made for beautiful light and some incredible photos of MP. Standing up above the site and looking down on the entire complex is one of the most overwhelming experiences. It is definitely the most amazing place I have ever seen in my life and I'm sure I will never stop being blown away by it. What the Incas created and the way it has been preserved is just incredible. We spent about 3 hours wandering around the site and managed to pretty much walk through the entire thing. We tagged onto the end of tour groups in English every once and a while to hear the guides were explaining, but for most of it we just wandered around, checking out the things that looked interesting to us.

We were back down in Aguas Calientes by noon, happily eating Mexican food and watching it rain, pleased with ourselves for getting up to MP early and back down before the rain that tends to happen there every afternoon. We took the afternoon train back to Ollantaytambo, where Jose picked us up and drove us back to Cusco. We had a very yummy dinner at this great place called Jack's that I highly recommend to anyone going to Cusco, and flew back to Lima Sunday morning. Overall, a fabulous trip. Everything went perfectly - trains, driver, weather, everything. It couldn't have been a better trip. It was great to be able to share Machu Picchu with Karisti and she said over and over how much she loved it. It was a wonderful experience!

Here is the link to all of my photos on Picassa web albums if you are interested in checking them out:

Machu Picchu and the Sacred Valley with Karisti

First Full Week of School

We all managed to survive our first full week back at school and it really went well. It is great to be back with the kids - hectic, but great. I had some good rehearsals with my band and orchestra this week and I'm excited about the new music we are working on. Our next performance is the 3rd week of April, so we are pushing to get all this new music learned by then. The kids don't seemed to be as worried about it as I am, but hopefully they will step it up and work hard the next few weeks.

Wednesday was WOW (Wild On Wednesdays) after school for all teachers, staff, and workers. We were all split up into 4 teams (with corresponding colored t-shirts) and played games all afternoon. It was fun to see everyone together, playing volleyball, soccer, giant Jenga, Apples to Apples, and other random games. It always makes me happy when they do things that involve everyone, including the workers. And they gave us free beer, ice cream, and Chinese food, so that was nice too.

The week ended yesterday with a fabulous vocal ensemble rehearsal after school. There hasn't been a choir here at FDR for years and years, from what I hear anyway. A couple of kids have mentioned it to me, but I never felt comfortable starting one, since I don't have a ton of vocal experience. Luckily David, the new theater teacher, is a vocalist and has directed choirs before, so he and I decided to collaborate and offer after school choir. We didn't know what to expect in terms of turn out, but we had 13 girls there for the first rehearsal yesterday and it was great!! They were really into it and we had a lot of fun singing for an hour. David is directing while I accompany and it is nice to be playing piano again too. I'm really excited about this whole thing and am so happy to be able to offer choir and reach some kids other than the ones in band and orchestra.

All and all, a very good week!

P.S. My friend Karisti arrives next Saturday for a 2 week visit and we are spending Easter weekend at Machu Picchu, so look for more posts over the next few weeks. I can't wait for Karisti to arrive and to be able to show her around Lima, and around Peru.

FINISHED!!!!

It is official, I have completed my final project for graduate school and just submitted it to Boston University. I am done with my masters degree!!!! Now I just have to wait for the project to be graded and make sure I do well enough to pass and receive my degree - I should know in a couple of months. Graduation is in May and, while I won't be there, I am looking forward to my diploma waiting for me in the mail when I get home in July. It has been a LONG, often frustrating, process and I am incredibly glad to be finished. So keep your fingers crossed and hopefully in a few months I'll have a masters degree in music education. Thanks for all the support along the way!!

Babies and the Bioferia

As most of you know, I often make reference to the number of women who are pregnant or have just had babies at my school. I really do worry that there is something in the water here that makes women incredibly fertile. The elementary principal got up at our all school faculty meeting on Thursday and announced that for the first time in years, there were no elementary staff out on maternity leave at the beginning of the semester - it is VERY rare!! My friends here have all had their babies and now it is fun to be able to watch them grow up. Last night we had a baby shower for little Maximo, who was born almost 3 months premature and spent a month in the NICU. You would never believe it to see him now at 5 months - he is a chunky little monkey and very cute. There were 4 babies under the age of 1 at the shower yesterday and I enjoyed snuggling a bit with all of them. Here I am with little Lucia Belle, just 2 and 1/2 weeks old. I love holding all these little babies, but I'm also very happy to hand them back to their moms and not have to take them home with me. :)

Now, to change topics completely, I finally went to the Bioferia this morning. The Bioferia is the organic market that happens every Saturday morning in Miraflores. My friend Judy goes every week and has invited me a million times, but I've never made it. After reading "Animal, Vegetable, Miracle" by Barbara Kingsolver while I was home (you HAVE to read it - it is the best book I've read in a long time) and thinking about eating locally, I decided I really needed to check out the Bioferia. After being there, I can't believe it took me so long. It is great!!! It isn't very big, but there are stands with organic produce, grains, ready made vegetarian foods, and little gifts. I bought some amazing cheese, a loaf of yummy wheat bread, some all natural granola, and some empanadas. Everything is so good, and so inexpensive. I can't wait to go back next week! I think it is going to become my Saturday morning routine.

Back in Lima

These are the extremes of my life recently. The snowy photos is from my brother's yard in Epping when I first got home at Christmas. Of course, there has been tons more snow since then. I think I can actually tolerate the snow more now that I don't have to live with it every day. It didn't put too much of a damper on any of my travel plans while I was home and it was actually nice to be snowed in at my parents' house last Wednesday. It gave me an excuse to stay in my warm fleece pajamas and read all day!!

Now I am back in Lima, enjoying a beautiful Peruvian summer day. As lots of you know, there are things about living in Peru that drive me crazy, but days like today make me like it a lot more. Yes, there are car alarms and sirens going constantly (the car alarm on my street that always goes off went off the minute I turned out my light last night and I'm listening to tons of obnoxious sirens right now), but there is also lots of sun and warmth right now and that makes me happy. I love that I am sitting next to an open window in a sleeveless dress and flipflops and I am not cold at all. Wearing sandals again makes me happy, so here is a picture of my happy feet this morning (good thing Sarah and I had pedicures a few weeks ago)!


And here is my view this afternoon - windows open, green trees, lots of sun. Life is good!! I had a great trip to the States and loved being home. I'm so thankful I got to see so many people and just catch up and feel like a part of everyones' lives again for a little while. I know I talked with a lot of you about some of my frustrations with Lima and my thoughts about coming back to the States. But I am also relieved to feel good about being back in Lima today. I still have a year and a half here and it would be pretty horrible if I started to count down the days already. I'm lucky to be able to live in both worlds - home and away - and am so thankful for both.

I'm off to meet Reada and Dave for lunch at Arugula, my favorite neighborhood restaurant. I'm excited to catch up with them and to see others friends as we all come back over the next few days.

Obama in Maine

Okay, I know I am WAY behind on updating my blog, so I decided to start with the most recent things and work my way back.

Barack Obama was speaking today at the Bangor Auditorium and my mom and I decided to go. We were told the doors would open at 2:30, so we got there around 2:15, expecting to maybe have to wait a little while, but not long. We were so wrong! When we arrived, the line stretched around the auditorium, down Main Street, and up the street that runs beside the auditorium for at least 6 blocks. It took us 10 minutes to walk to the end of the line. It was really exciting to see all those people there, especially since I didn't know how many to expect. We waited in line for an hour, at which point we had made it down to Main Street, but were still a ways from the entrance to the auditorium. The people in line behind us got a phone call from someone inside who told them that the auditorium was completely full and that Obama would probably be coming out to address the crowd outside. As much as I wanted to hear him, it was FREEZING and Mom and I had not dressed appropriately, so we were really cold. We decided to ditch our effort and go get warm. When we left the line, we saw that it still stretched forever and that there were still people lining up. It really was a neat thing to see all these people out to be a part of this. It made me feel good about the democratic process and the fact that people were inspired enough by this man to stand in the cold for hours to pack into an auditorium to hear him speak for a few minutes. When we got home, I found out that there were 10,000 people there today - 7,500 in the auditorium and 2,500 outside. Pretty impressive!!

I've been doing some more research on Obama, since I am really intrigued and inspired by him. I found this great video on YouTube that you should check out: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2fZHou18Cdk
If you can't click on the link (I'm not so computer savvy with the links, so it may not be there), then go to YouTube and type in "Yes We Can Obama Song by will.i.am".

I'll be honest, it is pretty exciting to actually be excited about politics in America right now. It has been a long time since I have felt this way. Whoever you are supporting and decide to vote for, I hope you are feeling the same way too.

FDR Christmas Party

Our school Christmas party was last night and we had a good time. It is at a nice restaurant in San Isidro and all the teachers and staff go, so there is a huge group of us. It is fun to get dressed up and to see everyone else all decked out. Here are the girls - Anne, me, and Reada.

Tim and Dave were enjoying each other's company last night. They look like a scary Christmas card picture.

Family

My parents were visiting the same time that Dave's mom was here from Texas, so we had to get together for a true family dinner and have our Lima family meet our home family. We took our parents to dinner at a great Peruvian restaurant and had a really nice time. Here is the whole gang: Dave, his mom Janice, Reada, Tim, me, Mom and Dad

Reada's birthday was this past Thursday and since we had family dinner Wednesday night, I decided we needed to start celebrating early. I made a yummy Betty Crocker cake (thanks to the commissary) and I didn't have any candles, so Tim and Dave decided that she should blow out the flame on the lighter I use to light my gas stove.

Lima Tour

Mom and Dad were heading back to Maine on Wednesday, so I took Tuesday off from school and we went on a tour of Central Lima. I haven't been down to Central Lima during the day since right when I first moved here, so it was nice to go back and see it all again in the light of day. We started out in Plaza San Martin, which is just as lovely during the day as it is all lit up at night.

We then went to the Plaza de Armas and did a tour of the cathedral. Francisco Pizarro is buried here in an elaborate tomb with gold covered walls. It is pretty impressive, especially for someone who treated the natives so horribly.


We had a great tour guide in the cathedral who spoke English well and gave us tons of information about the cathedral. I'm not really a huge fan of Catholic art (it just seems like too much most of the time), but the interior of the cathedral in Lima is really gorgeous. There are 8 altars along the sides of the nave and each has a different style and architecture. They are pretty ornate, but I found them fascinating, instead of ostentatious. I can really appreciate the craftsmanship that goes into creating them and it was so interesting to see how different they all are.

We finished the tour by checking out some of the Inca ruins that are in the middle of Lima. These are actually pretty close to where I live. Our tour guide said he used to play in these ruins when he was a kid, before anyone really cared about preserving them. Now they are considered historic sites and are well taken care of. It is amazing to think about the length of Peruvian history. The United States is so young compared to even Lima. It is pretty incredible!

Mirabus Tour

I've become a big fan of the Mirabus Tour in Lima. I went on one for my birthday last year and loved it, and the tour my parents and I went on last week was even better. It is a great way to see Central Lima at night (safely) and all lit up. I'm beginning to believe that Lima really is a beautiful city, at least parts of it. Here is the cathedral in the Plaza de Armas.

San Martin is a great hero in the history of Lima and Peru and this plaza is named after him. It is right around the corner from the Plaza de Armas and, while all the buildings in the Plaza de Armas are this beautiful orange/yellow color, all the ones in Plaza San Martin are white and are very striking.



A new part of the Mirabus tour includes stopping at a water fountain park in the middle of Lima. I didn't even realize it was here!! It was built in July and has become a huge hit. There are 6-8 fountains set up in this park and they are all lit up at night. For 4 soles (a little over $1) you get admission into the park and can walk around, looking at all the fountains. Some of them are even built for you to walk through and get wet. There were tons of Peruvian families at the park the Sunday night we were there, and lots of wet kids running around who had obviously had a great time playing in the fountains. It is just a really cool place. Who knew Lima had such interesting things?? :)

Santiago

My parents and I went to Santiago, Chile for Thanksgiving and had a great time. The weather was amazing - sunny and in the 70s/80s. Santiago is a nice city - very European compared to Lima, so that made me happy. Things just seem more organized and there are lots of beautiful buildings and parks. Every city in South America has a Plaza de Armas, with a church, and Santiago's Plaza de Armas is really beautiful. It isn't a wide open as some others I've seen, but there are lots of trees and it feels very cozy. The cathedral is beautiful and they light it up really nicely at night. And the best part was there were some pedestrian streets leading into the Plaza. I love pedestrian streets!! For some reason, to me they seem to signify a well-developed city. Lima doesn't have any and I wish they did. But the ones in Santiago were great and we walked on them a lot.

There is a beautiful park in Santiago called Santa Lucia and we spent a very happy morning there, wandering around and enjoying the sites. It was built on this hill and every time you go up a little higher, there is something new to see. It is really great!! Here we are in front of the fountain on the first level of the park. It was such a nice morning.

Chile is know for its good wine, so I was determined to go to a vineyard while we were in Santiago. Mom and Dad aren't wine drinkers, but they were willing to check it out (and they both even sampled some wine, though neither one like it - I just don't get it!). We went to Concha y Torro, the largest vineyard in Chile. They produce a lot of different wines that end up in stores around the world. We actually drink one of their wines pretty regularly at family dinner in Lima. We had a great tour of the vineyard and got to sample some nice wines. It was a beautiful day and it was nice to see outside of the city a bit. The vineyard was huge and very impressive.

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...