Choco Museum [BY JENNA]

We went to a chocolate factory and we got to make our very own chocolate.  We started off making yummy drinks.  the first drink we made was a choco tea, don't worry the tea was ok to drink. The second drink we made was another choco drink but better than the first one we made.  Also, we made one more, it was really really yummy.  It tasted like a chocolate smoothie with milk, cinnamon sugar, cloves and chocolate paste. We made chocolate paste.  We had this bowl type thing and a really heavy stick.  We got choco beans and put them in the bowl type thing and mashed it up with the heavy stick.  We had to mash for 5 minutes or so.

My Español Skills

I got to try and talk with these kids for a while, it didn't work out too well.

I've been taking Spanish class for about 3/4 of a year and I was excited to come to Peru and actually use it. I can usually pick up on a word or two of what someone is saying and get the general idea of a sentence, but I can't really talk to them because I don't know all of the secrets about Spanish. My dad speaks a good amount of Spanish so usually I only have to translate to my family when he's not there. There have been a few...uh... minor translation errors. For example, when Joe was buying a souvenir I asked how many soles it was and I thought that the vendor said 15. Turns out that the shop keeper actually said 50, I still don't really understand how I confused those because they don't really sound that much alike. Anyway, that was kind of embarrassing and I'm sure that my family will never let me forget it.  Its been fun trying to speak Spanish, but also kind of annoying because whenever I say something in English, even to my family, my mind automatically tries to come up with how to say it in Spanish.
Even though my Spanish is not that good, sometimes I get the feeling that it is sometimes better than Google translate (see below).

I think they are trying to say that they aren't responsible for lost things, but I'm not sure.

Money Woes in Peru

We have had a bit of money woes here in Peru.  First day in Cusco, at the airport, the ATM took my debit card.  After a moment of panic on my part, Rich, with his limited Spanish, made a few calls to the local bank. But it was Sunday and the bank was closed.  We had transportation arranged to take us to a city about 1 1/2 hours away so we left without our debit card.  When we arrived, I called the emergency number on the debit card (after getting it from my brother) and cancelled the card.  Good thing we always travel with more than one card.

No problems for several days. . . until today.

Machu Picchu, A WOW kind of day!

We had a great day at Machu Picchu. 

We arrived in Aguas Calientes, the town closest to Machu Picchu, the night before in the rain. We promptly got lost looking for our hotel, but it wasn't all bad because we ended up right where we needed to be to buy tickets to MP.  We then found someone to help us find the hotel, which was on the other side of town where we had gotten off the train.  We had planned on hiking up to MP since we abandoned our original plan to hike the Inca Trail, but the rain changed my mind and we bought bus tickets for $90.  The rain stopped and we went to bed early so we could get up early the next day.  Only problem is kids started playing soccer at 10:00 in the alley/sidewalk right outside our window.  We could feel and hear the ball against the wall and they were having a great time laughing and cheering.  This went on for about two hours! So much for getting to bed early.

On the Road Again

For many months I have been meaning to update our blog, and now seems like a good time. We have been home for several months from our trip around the world. In some ways it has been so nice to be home but in other ways we have truly missed traveling. When we left, we planned to be gone for one school year and then return to our normal life.  But somehow we caught the travel bug and we have longed to travel more.  I don't know how  many conversations at our house have involved traveling.  We talk about it all the time.  We have many of our travel photos on our walls and a large map of the world in our entry way.

We have been limited in our ability to travel because our children wanted to return to traditional school after being away.  There just are not enough vacation days in a school year to satisfy us!  We decided we better take advantage of spring break.  We tried so many plans and nothing really was coming together for us.  Then just two weeks before the break we were able to get a good price on airline tickets (with the help of some frequent flyer miles) to Peru.  So our travel adventure will continue with our first trip to South America.

Back for a while

We have been back for quite a while know,  and it feels so weird and different to be back. I feel like it has just been a dream and has passed and gone. Even though we are back we have over 27,000 pictures to remind me. My family and I may seem a little bit different or we do things differently. I have learned that different is not so bad. Whenever We were on our trip and we/I say something weird, my mom and dad would correct me and say "Different, not weird." I have come to realize that there are lots of different ways to do things in life.
Our family has enjoyed our travels so much. I want to thank my mom and dad for taking me on this trip!!! I don't want to live in AF anymore, I want to keep traveling. I really miss the places and the people. I will hope to never forget this experience
It has changed me and my life forever!!

Like a Dream - Coming Back from Our Trip

The past eleven months have passed like a dream. It was not only a dream trip but also it passed quickly and I'm now awake and it's gone. I'm afraid and sad that I've already started to forget bits and pieces. Here are some random thoughts:

• I wonder if we traveled too fast. One third of the journey is anticipation. One third is enjoyment. One third is remembering. I wonder if our anticipation period for each new place was too short to get the maximum out of it. Also, I wonder if having another fun thing/place so soon after each fun thing/place deprived us the opportunity to relish the memories.
• I think we turned into mild travel snobs. After seeing so many big things right in a row we were often not interested in seeing lesser things. It seemed like every little place had a shrine or temple that they were proud of but after seeing so many others and better ones we were not always interested or impressed.
• We really did a lot of cool things: almost all of Washington DC, Philadelphia, Boston, New York, Prague, Auschwitz, Hungarian Bath, the leaning tower of Piza, Italian Pesto, the Parthenon, Mars Hill, the Coliseum, Vatican City, Sistine Chapel, Ephesus, appendicitis, the Pyramids and Sphinx, the Taj Mahal, elephant rides, camel rides, cobra charming, leper colonies, the Killing Fields, a tropical island paradise, shellfish allergy, Corregidor, Kuala Lumpur Towers, Sydney Opera House, Tim Tam Slam, tropical glacier in New Zealand, and the Great Wall of China. Wow! I'm sure I've missed something.
• I liked having a place for everything. We generally packed our bags the same way every time so we knew where everything was because it was in the same place every time.
• There were a few basic principles that worked in every country: understand the big picture (or map), orient ourselves on the map, decide where we want to go, and go. Subways worked the same pretty much everywhere. You need a ticket that you buy from a machine (or a ticket agent) or a pass that you have filled with credit. You go through a machine that checks your ticket or pass on the way in and on the way out. There are two directions on each subway train. HAlf of the battle is finding the platform for the train going in the right direction. Having these basic strategies helped a lot in each new city and country.
• There is so much good around the world. Truly. There are angels everywhere. Often people on the street would see us looking at a map and stop to ask if they could help.
• I think part of our success is that we traveled as a family. Most everyone has a family and could relate with us. Traveling as a family also protected us. With so many eyes watching our every move we felt like we were an undesirable target for people with bad intentions. Once a vendor tried to overcharge us for some popsicles and the other people walking past got after the vendor and told us the correct price.
• Before we left I had grand ambitions for our family. I envisioned family workouts, improved family scripture study, improved family prayers, weekly boy scout work, weekly Duty to God and Faith in God work. Not sure what I was thinking. Most of those things didn't happen.
• We committed before leaving that we would attend church every Sunday and stay for all of the meetings even if they were in another language. We did very well in this goal. I think we only missed 3 Sundays. Attending church each week was like coming home. We really felt comfortable attending church around the world. The 3 times we missed were once in Turkey (touring Ephesus), once in Italy (couldn't buy bus tickets), and once in Thailand (couldn't find the church). It was worth it not only because it felt like home but also because it gave the kids a feel for what the church is like around the world.
• I felt like there were a lot of places around the world where I could be happy living. There were also some places where it would be harder to be happy.
• We were really fortunate to have been able to take this trip.
• Technology is amazing. Having Internet access from just about anywhere is amazing. The ability to do video calls (Facetime/Skype) is incredible. We were also able to use technology to access things from outside the US that are only available in the US.
• After having traveled a little now I am even more interested in hearing where others have been. My favorite response to the question "Did you see .....?" is "Not on this trip. We couldn't see everything."
• I ate best (most healthily) in Asia. I felt best. I intend to continue those good eating habits.
• We can have confidence that we can do things because we've done them before. For example, we had to re-pack at every stop. We got pretty good at it. After taking our family around the world for 11 months we should be able to do just about anything. Right?