JULIE MEETS MISSIONARIES FROM UTAH IN PERU

Tuesday, October 07, 2008

Today, we had our “welcome” lunch at a wonderful outdoor cafe’ near our hotel. The food was so awesome and the presentation was just great! I had to bother everyone to let me take photos of their food, before they ate it, because it looked so good. Even the dishes it was all served on looked great. Food in Peru is incredible! I had chicken and pumpkin risotto with cheese sauce.

The others had beef tips, rice and fried potatoes; another chicken and cheese dish; and Brett had a sandwich. Look at the pictures and you’ll see what I mean.

After we ate, we took a tour of our hotel grounds and amenities. Then, we had complimentary soft drinks and lemonade, while waiting for Karina Oliva, our expert liaison from the Peruvian Tourism Board, who will be with us for most of the rest of our trip. A group from Ghost Hunters International (also staying at our hotel) returned from one of their excursions!! Too funny!! They were all in the lobby this morning and were not as friendly as Elijah Wood!

Under Karina’s care, we loaded onto our shuttle and grabbed a flight out to the City of Chiclayo.

We ran into a group of missionaries, who had just gotten in from the MTC. Two of them, Elders Dekleck (from West Jordan, UT) and Oakeson (Ferron, UT) were in the gift shop, waiting for their flight to Trujillo. (See picture.) Got their parents’ e-mail addresses, to send along a note with their photo.

I was the first to board the plane and stole Brett’s window seat! I was glad I did, too, because there were the most incredible cloud formations I have ever seen on the trip to Chiclayo. The area of Peru we left was almost always cloudy and overcast, with a mist in the air. From above, it was easy to see why this was the case. There was the first layer of very thick clouds over the area. Then, there was another pocket or layer of them, with a thin, clear band next. This is where we were flying. Above us was a very thick, dark layer of clouds. We were like the meat in a sandwich! It was the strangest thing I have ever experienced. There were a few breaks in some of the clouds in the between layers – and the sun shone through the middle, but didn’t ever reach the ground. I snapped a pic for you all to see.

We were met by our tour guide, Jose’, and were driven to the hotel. People drive really crazy here in Peru! Alan gets a real kick out of it. They use their car alarms, instead of their horns, so you hear the going off constantly. Jose’ said that Chiclayo is called “The City of Friendship,” and that it is actually the name of a fruit grown in the mountains. The population is 280,000. It is the capital of the province of Lambayeque, which has a total population of 1.5 million!

We are staying the next two nights at the Gran Hotel Chiclayo, which is a 4-star hotel and one of the nicest ones here. It is an older hotel and the rooms are no comparison to the one we stayed in last night, but it is clean. As most of the hotels in the area, there are both 220-volt and 110-volt outlets. I had to get an adapter for one of my 110-volt outlets, because it was older and did not have the third prong needed for my laptop cord. I strongly recommend that travelers bring voltage transformer and adapter kits with them, when traveling to foreign countries.

We had dinner at one of the hotel café’s. Food, as usual, was great. I ordered the “Barbara” pizza, and the others had lasagna, another type of pizza, fettucine alfredo, and Karina had a sandwich.

I really like Karina. She has a lot of knowledge of the area and loves her country! Tomorrow, we will get to see some pre-Inca areas—the first real tour day. I explained to her why I was so interested in the pre-Inca era – prior to the 1400’s. Got to explain what the Book of Mormon was and about the Jaredites and the other tribes. She is excited and wants us to get her a copy in Spanish so she can read it.

Well, I’m off to bed. We’ve got an early and long day tomorrow!