April/Sequioa Autumn--village life!!

So when you say village do you mean like straw houses and dirt roads or is that what you would call a town?

April--that's exactly what I mean when I say "village"---dirt roads, really poor people, sometimes running water/sometimes not, and adobe houses!! If you want to see what it's like here, you can check both my husband's blog www.xanga.com/jeffkrohn and mine perukrohns.blogspot.com at least it will give you some sort of idea of life in Peru (and Thailand--because I just posted a few entries about my trip there).

Stacey

I am in complete awee right now! I looked at both of your blogs.. i read some of yours.. and looked at your dh's pictures.. Okay.. here i thought i was going to get slammed for asking a dumb question.. but i was kinda right on there. You are truely in another part of the world! Did you really eat those frogs on sticks? OMG! I think i would starve! I am very interested in reading both of your blogs all the way through. You and your dh are missionaries? Well off to reading with mouth wide open!

Amazing! Your boys are really lucky to have experienced so much in their young lives. My son only gets to learn about it in school and see pictures. Wow! I wish I could go live that way instead of the rat race going on here.

Wow...after looking at your blogs I cannot imagine living there. It looks like it is really pretty, but I think I am with April...I do not think I could eat the food there. That is really neat though that your sons get to experience so much culture.

Thanks for the encouragement ladies!! It is a WAY different way of life here, and some days I just long to be in the "rat race" of the U.S....grabbing a bagel when I want it, drive-thru Starbucks, not having to clean my veggies in an iodine solution, clean bathrooms with toilet paper that you can throw in the toilet and not in a garbage can...etc. well, you get the idea. But I do try to appreciate the fact that our kids are growing up bilingual (they go to Peruvian school and it's all in Spanish, there aren't any other "gringos" as they call us), and that hopefully they will appreciate and respect other cultures as they grow up. It does get lonely though, which is why I've really, really enjoyed having this board of moms--it makes me feel a bit more normal as we pass through these various stages together!

Thanks again for your kind words--and no, I didn't eat the frogs when I was in Thailand, but the delicacy here where we live in the mountains is...are you ready for this....guinea pig!!! And yes, I can say I've had it a few times. And it does kind of taste like chicken! lol

Stacey

Stacey--will your baby have dual citizenship being born in Peru? How does that work?

Stacey.. Are you delivering at home, with a midwife or at a hospital? Do they have proper medical there? Do you have to pay out of pocket for your visits? How does that work? Sorry so many questions.. i hope you dont mind.

A few years ago our neighbor came over to visit. His family is from Gautamala. He took one look at our guinea pig and started to tell us that he used to eat that long ago in his country. We were amazed since it was our beloved pet! We used to joke that if the guinea pig ever went missing we know who took it!

Wow it's amazing. The pictures tell the whole story. Thanks for sharing.

Sorry I haven't responded for a few days, we traveled from our town to another city in Peru, it was a 12 hour trip--we left at 3:30am and got here around 3:30pm! We only stopped for potty breaks on the side of the road (no rest areas or places to stop to eat). The boys did great, but my ankles looked like giant hippo ankles! UGH!

April--I will get to deliver in a new hospital that was just finished last year. It's quite modern and is only 1 1/2 hrs. from where we live. It's run by German missionaries/doctors and they have a surgeon, OB, pediatrician, etc. Since I'm having a repeat c/s it works out well and they have the facilities to do the c/s and a tubal ligation at the same time. I'm really thankful because the last 2 boys of mine that were born here, we had to make this 12 hour trip that we just made, which was the closest "good" hospital.

JenniVange--yes, as of right now both our boys who were born here have dual citizenship. They have both Peruvian and American passports which we use interchangeably when we travel. Our oldest was born in the U.S., so he has to have a resident visa card like we do. So far it works out well, except the U.S. Embassy is in Lima (the capitol) which is 15 hours drive from our house. Once this baby is born in March, our next youngest son will be turning 5 in March, so we'll be able to make that drive (over 14,000ft passes--really scary) to Lima to get the baby's passport and renew our other DS's passport at the same time. It's a hassle, but there's not much we can do about it.

Shannon--It is funny to see the reactions of people when we tell them that guinea pig is a delicacy!! I guess because they are cheap to buy and cheap to feed and reproduce fairly quickly...it just makes for some sort of meat for the people. Another common meat up in the highlands (mountains) is either llama or alpaca meat. I just made a llama roast a couple weeks ago in my crockpot--one of the villagers gave a big hunk of the meat to my DH and he brought it home--I didn't know how else to cook it. It tasted pretty good, but it's still a little weird.

Anyhow, thanks for your interest, it's such a different life here that sometimes it's hard to portray in words. I'm thankful to be in the "city" now for a few weeks though, I can actually get stuff that I can't normally get--it's a big treat for us. lol

Stacey

Stacey... You are very interesting! So anything you want to share to us uncultured swines would be awesome! So i showed dh your sites and a bit about you all that i know. We were watching America's Funniest home videos last night and we both looked at each other and said.. Did you know guinea pigs can swim???? This guinea pig was in a pool swimming around! LOL He says.. Do you think your friend knows that?!? LOL I know I didnt.

April--that is hysterical!!! I totally didn't know that guinea pigs could swim!! I definitely don't feel cultured though, there are many days when I just pine away for things from the U.S. instead of trying to enjoy being here. I need to do better in that area for sure. I will say that it's pretty interesting living here though, and I'm trying to teach my kids to be thankful...guess I need to practice that also! lol

Stacey

Stacey,

I honestly haven't read all of the boards or threads word for word but from what I gather you and your family are there as missionaries??? Do you ever plan to return to the US to live? How does your family feel about you being so far away? Sorry about all the questions but I find it so interesting. I live in Georgia and the only other country I have been to is Mexico (Cancun) for my honeymoon and it was nothing at all like it is in Peru.

Going to peru is my dream. We were planning a trip to machu picchu before I got pregnant..now that is postponed for awhile. I dont think I can push the graco metrolite to the top of that thing!

kboogie wrote:Going to peru is my dream. We were planning a trip to machu picchu before I got pregnant..now that is postponed for awhile. I dont think I can push the graco metrolite to the top of that thing!

My family has been to Peru and Machu Picchu twice now. We went the first time for my dad's 50th, and then we went back a few years later and hiked the Inca Trail in. That hike is my biggest accomplishment in my life (so far) because it was so hard and I needed ridiculous mental strength. That said, I can't wait to go back. I'm not a fan of Lima, but the other places we went were incredible. And I did eat guinea pig...I'll stick with what I'm used to. But you should totally go. Take time to acclimate to the elevation, but do it. It's so amazing!