Pleasurable, Peculiar, and Perilous Peru (Part 1)

Over the last three years we have seen and experienced things in Peru that we will never forget, things that have been odd, dangerous, and enjoyable.  We wanted to share a few of those things this week with our readers.  They are in no particular order, and the anecdotes below are obviously a mere sample of the seemingly unlimited tales that we had to choose from.  Regardless, here are a few of my personal favorites.

After living in Peru for about 2 months, Geoff stumbled upon an Amazon River Raft Race while searching the internet.  Having the adventurous spirit that he does, he was immediately hooked.  He put a team of five together and they headed to the jungle to tackle the Amazon.  The team was responsible for building their own raft and floating it down the Amazon for three consecutive days (about 120 miles).  Although it was an amazing experience, Geoff confronted this challenge with a fever and after returning to Lima he slept for two days straight in order to recover from the grueling escapade.  

Our two youngest boys attended a small Peruvian school for the first year.  Although this was extremely difficult in many ways, the experience provided an insightful view into the Peruvian culture.  One of the things Peruvians love to do is celebrate.  For Mother's Day, the school rented out a small amphitheater, rented costumes for the kids, and put on a grandiose performance.  Malachi's class danced to Jail House Rock.  Despite the happy expression on his face below, he was not thrilled with the idea and I ended up sitting with him on stage during the performance coaxing him into dancing, which he did for about 10 seconds.  

Zeke, on the other hand, executed an amazing rendition of "One That I Want" from the movie Grease.  Below is the video.

It is quite a sight to see so many dogs, even homeless neighborhood dogs, in sweaters.  Now, I have nothing against dogs in sweaters, but I think it would need to be pretty cold for me to feel compelled to clothe my dog...I mean they do have fur covering their entire bodies.  (Although....Peru is famous for their hairless Peruvian dogs...Maybe the sweaters started with this breed and then people noticed the envy in the eyes of the other dogs.  Hmmmm...)  The coldest it gets here is probably low 50's, not exactly what I consider extreme cold.  The dog below is sporting a risque, off the shoulder design, while the other is modeling the fall hunting line.  You can place your orders at www.alldogsneedsweaters.com.

 While we technically live in the desert, you have to get out of the city to see the undulating hills of desolate sand.  We did just this when Geoff's parents came to visit.  After a 5 hour bus ride south, we hired a desert adventure company to take us out into this wide spans of wilderness.  We enjoyed riding in a dune buggy that felt much like a roller coaster at times and also engaged in sand sledding, a sport I did not know existed.