Royal Family Times: Cuzco: The City (July 25, 2010)

The LDS chapel in Cuzco is pretty big, nice

I did not sleep well last night. I have an ever so slight upset stomach and bugged me just enough to keep me from good, sound slumber. I got up early and walked out onto the terrace area of our hotel. The sun was just starting to rise. The air was clean. It was quiet and peaceful - and quite cold. It reminded me of awaking early in the morning at scout camp and going to the pool area for the “Polar Bear” where we, as leaders, would subject ourselves to all kinds of abuse with the bravest of our young men for to sake of earning a patch by week’s end. (We would be in our swimsuits and would have to jump into the pool, then get out, get sprayed with water, walk around the pool on all fours like a polar bear - all while seeing our breath. Good, good times.) By the way, our hotel is hard core Spanish, evidenced by the fact that the “C” on the bathroom faucet does not stand for “Cold.” Oh no, it stands for caliente or, as we say in Las Vegas, HOT. (The “cold” handle is identified by “F” for frio.)

The only time we saw grass with sprinklers anywhere in Peru was at the Cuzco building

Instead of a parking lot, the Cuzco chapel has a combined soccer/basketball court

We looked up the start of the local wards in Cuzco online and LDS.org indicated a 9:00 a.m. start time. David said that all chapels with multiple wards, in his experience, started at 8:00 a.m., then the second ward at 10:00 a.m. We decided to ignore David’s experience and go with the Church website. David was right. (Should have known.) We took a taxi to a spot near the chapel. We were not sure where it was, neither was the taxi. We walked around in a bit of a panic, hoping not to miss sacrament meeting. Of course, we chose the wrong direction. (We do that a lot!) We found the church a couple blocks from where we were left by the taxi. It is an impressively large building. It had a very green lawn with sprinklers, an outdoor soccer/basketball court, and a parking lot accommodating about three vehicles. (Not many people here own vehicles.) As we walked into the church, we feared we were very late. But, as it turns out, we were both late AND early. By arriving at just after 9:00 a.m., we were late for the 8:00 a.m. meeting and early for the 10:00 a.m. meeting. (Yes, David was right.) So we decided to just wait at the church until the 10:00 a.m. sacrament meeting. We were not there for more than 10 minutes before two sets of missionaries exited the chapel. Immediately David recognized Elder Fiestas from Paita, Peru, a missionary with whom he served in the CCM in Lima, Peru. They had one of those typical missionary embraces that we have seen so often. Elder Fiestas was all smiles as they conversed in Spanish. Elder Fiestas will be winding up his mission in a couple weeks.

David ran into Elder Fiestas who he served with in the Lima MTC

Two of the other three missionaries were from the United States: Elder Whitton is from Marietta, CA, and Elder McCracken from Utah. The other missionary, Elder Macades, was from Guatemala. He actually had pretty good English. We visited with the missionaries for a while. The Peru Cuzco Mission is fairly new. Elder Whitton was initially in the Peru Lima South Mission before getting moved into his present mission. Interestingly, the mission president for the Peru Cuzco Mission is President Calderon, the father of Elder Calderon with whom David served as a companion twice. In fact, President Calderon was present for the sacrament meeting we attended along with Elder Hooker, the Area Authority. David did not get the chance to speak with President Calderon because he and Elder Hooker left the service early to attend to other business. David did, however, identify and visit with two other former Latino missionaries from his mission who have since married and reside in the Cuzco area. So, church was a great success.

David with missionaries at the Cuzco building

David met some other former missionaries from Piura, too, here with Hermano Sonco

We spent the rest of the day relaxing, then touring Cuzco. There are some amazing cathedrals and ruins here. We went to some areas around the city that were great for pictures. We met some people who began asking questions about David and his missionary service. David took the next couple hours casually explaining his work as a missionary as we walked to a few city sites together. We met Kim and her adult son Jack, from Iowa. David and Jack began talking of David's missionary service. I enjoyed watching all of that transpire from a relative distance. Sometimes I have to pinch myself to realize this is all really happening - we are in Peru, with our son, and we really have been enjoying a great trip. We were so fatigued today - all of us. In fact, today I actually had an experience where I nearly fell asleep while standing up. I did not think that was possible, but I nearly pulled it off. We did not eat until late in the afternoon, and I did not drink nearly enough water. That, combined with the thin air at 11,500 feet, can put anyone to sleep.

The streets in Cuzco central are incredibly narrow, but that doesn't stop the taxis

David here talking with Jack from Iowa outside one of the Cuzco cathedrals

Maralea and David in front of some Inca structure walls, stones connected without mortar

David and I by what is purported to be the oldest cathedral in the Western Hemisphere

I told David I would make him pay for making funny faces, although I think this picture would make a great album cover

Here at some Inca fortress site (we were really too tired to pay attention at this point) (The couple next to Maralea and David to the right are from Canada, by the way. They love hockey and chuck wagon racing.)

Nice view of Cuzco here (Explanation: My hat is on backwards ONLY because it was windy and I could not risk losing my lucky BYU cap)

Maralea works on her camera setting

David and Maralea at the Inca city just outside Cuzco

We got lost along the dark streets of Cuzco in the evening. David was sure he could lead us back to our hotel, bragging about his keen sense of direction. I had not paid close attention, so I just relinquished the reins to David. He seemed pretty confident in his abilities. But no, we got lost - not super lost, but lost nonetheless. Finally, after some stranger with a French accent (there are so many European tourists here) who overheard our family discussion about David needing to return his Orienteering Merit Badge to the Scout Office stopped us, gave us directions, and we made it back to our hotel in no time. I am so tired, but sleep just does not come. I am excited about Machu Picchu, the Amazon jungle . . . but mostly excited about getting back home. We are enjoying our time together very much, but my body will be demanding a vacation from the Peru vacation, I am quite sure.