our first visitors!

One of the things David & I were most looking forward to during our time in Peru was hosting visitors. This past week we had a great time showing David's parents around our new city and then traveling together to some fun places.

We had so much fun showing Mom & Dad around Arequipa, our new "home."

Their first combi ride. I was glad Mom scored a seat ... and glad Dad didn't (so he could enjoy the full experience of hanging on for dear life and bumping into fellow travelers).

Giving them a tour of the market where I buy our veggies and eggs.

Out to eat (which we did a lot of!) with some of the office staff.

Lake Titicaca is a huge lake (the size of Belgium, according to a man from Belgium we met on the boat) that borders Peru and Bolivia, sitting at above 12,000 feet elevation. There are 60+ small floating islands made of reeds that people -- usually 3-5 families per island -- actually live on!!

Machu Picchu was still amazing the second time around for us -- and of course it was so fun to watch Mom & Dad's reaction to this incredible place.

Traveling in another country is bound to create some predicaments and challenges. But for the most part, this 10-day trip went very smoothly. Mom & Dad were excellent traveling companions, all our travel arrangements and hotel reservations worked out well, and we had a wonderful time.

Just two small glitches...

Glitch # 1: The Allergy Attack
On day 7 of the trip, David took a bite of my salad, which had some pesto dressing, which evidently had brazil nuts in it -- enough to set off a severe allergic reaction. Within just a couple minutes, David's lip and tongue had started to swell. He ran back to our hotel to get some Benadryl, but by the time he got back he was swelling up pretty good and getting hives all over his body. Our waiter jumped in a cab with us and directed the driver to a nearby clinic. David was in pretty bad shape by the time we got inside. He quickly explained to the English-speaking doctor what was going on and that he would need a shot of epinephrine. They quickly took his name, passport number and blood pressure, which was terrifyingly low. He was sweating profusely and so weak he couldn't hold his head up. They gave him a shot of epinephrin, and then it got really freaky (for me anyway). He lost consciousness and got all stiff and jerky. I kept saying into his ear, "David can you hear me? Are you okay?" and he couldn't respond. That lasted for about 6 hours. Not really, but that's how it felt. In reality, it was maybe about a minute or two. Then he snapped out of it and things immediately started improving.

I knew David must be feeling better when he asked me to take a picture!

Both of us dislike drugs in general, but this episode made us both very, very thankful for emergency medicine! We stayed at the clinic for a couple hours, where they kept David on oxygen and checked his blood pressure every 30 minutes or so. He was wiped out for the rest of that day, but by the next day he was back to normal. Thanks God!

Glitch #2: The Bus Ride from Hell
After putting Mom & Dad on a plane Monday afternoon, David and I had some time to kill until 8:00 when we were scheduled to take an overnight bus ride back to Arequipa. We were feeling pretty good about the trip home because we'd ridden a few of these same buses during our travels, and they were very comfortable with big cushy seats that recline, food and drinks served, movies, etc.

We spent a lot of time on these big (most comfy) buses traveling around with Mom & Dad.

We arrived at the bus station a half hour early, checked our bags and sat down to wait. As 8:00 approached, we were surprised that they still hadn't began boarding because this particular company has a reputation for always leaving on time (in contrast to other bus companies, which we are told will often wait until the seats are full no matter how long it takes). At 8:05 we found employee to ask what was going on. As he was checking our tickets and telling us to take a seat, we noticed a bus pulling out of the station.

"Is that the 8:00??" David asked.

"Si," he replied, gesturing for us to take a seat.

"To Arequipa??" I said.

"Si," he said again much too calmly.

We both took off running as fast as we could out of the station and ran up alongside the driver's window to plead for mercy. Three employees followed us out of the station, and a few minutes of rapid-fire questions ensued, including a slightly patronizing question, "Where were you? In the bathroom?" We didn't care too much though -- about that or about the bus full of passengers watching our drama from the windows -- because they checked our passports, videotaped our faces (a normal security measure), and let us on board.

We were relieved to have made it since the next bus didn't leave until the following morning. But about 15 minutes into the trip, I wasn't so sure anymore. The road was bumpy and windy, and the driver had a maddening habit of gunning the engine on the straights and then slamming on the brakes to roll violently into the curves. I was carsick most of the 10-hour trip. Plus, it was hot on board. Plus, one of us (whose name will go unmentioned) forgot his/her earplugs, so we each only had one earplug each with which to block out the sounds of the the revving engine, grinding brakes and snoring passengers. We both slept restlessly and were relieved to arrive back in Arequipa at 5:30 a.m.

Thankfully, Peru has an abundance of holidays, and yesterday happened to be one of them. So we were able to relax and recover for the rest of the day thanks to Santa Rosa, who is the patron saint of:
Lima,
The Philippines,
California,
gardeners,
florists,
the Peruvian police force,
people misunderstood for their piety,
and a few other miscellaneous places and things.

August 30 is a national holiday in honor of Saint Rosa. Bonus cultural fact: my Spanish teacher told me that if I meet a girl named Rosa, there's a 90% chance she was born on this day.

So now it's back to normal life for a while. Things are picking up at the clinic, which David (and of course his boss) are thrilled about. I'm anxiously waiting to hear if my students passed their English exam, which they took while I was away. And we are already looking forward to our next visitors, whoever that may be...

There are a bunch more photos on facebook for those who want to see more of our traveling adventures with Mom & Dad.