Closing down...

It's all over!

The year is completed, and what a year it has been!
Marco drove us to the airport on Wednesday evening and his wife and daughter, Yolanda and Trini, accompanied us in order for them to say a final goodbye. We were joined there by more of our special friends and I can assure you this did not help one bit when the time finally came to say goodbye to everyone! I keep saying it is impossible to work so closely with these people for a year and then just turn your back and walk away. We have to return some time in the future, even for a short visit.
As expected it is a huge culture shock to be back home. Great to be here but still so very different to what we have been used to for the past year.
Now for a belated Christmas celebration with our family - and that will be fun.

Farewell in Motupe.

The Motupe parish team of Mick, Marg, Maria, Irma, Clare, Marion and Napa in the back row and Teresa, Lucy and Yeny in the front with Teresa’s daughter Lucero.
Mick McKinnon is the parish priest and Napa is a Columban priest from Tonga. Lucy is the parish social worker and supervisor of all the programs; she was also the instigator of this event! Marg and Clare are Josephite Sisters from Australia and New Zealand respectively. Teresa is the parish nurse and a fantastic nurse at that! Maria is her mother and she conducts extremely successful cooking classes in the parish centre. Irma is a Columban lay missionary and Yeny supports Lucy in the parish office.

The meal, provided by Maria and others, was enjoyed by all.

The final speeches and the presentations of our gifts will be treasured because of the strong and positive memories of the Motupe parish team.

The undoing of quite a few came about with Maria, Teresa, Lucy and Yeny singing the Spanish version of ‘Auld Lang Syne’. It was very hard to say goodbye to such wonderful people.

The final pack up.

Forty-eight hours to departure and Marion has the house virtually packed up already. All the pictures are off the wall and our books and other English resources have been distributed to a number of very grateful people. Various piles of furniture and other odds and ends are appearing in the main room. Their actual placement in the room depending on their future destinations. Some back to the Columbans, some to Mick, some to Leo and so forth!

I have been asked a few times when I am going to start packing and my response has never changed, it will be done before 6.00 p.m. Wednesday afternoon when Marco arrives with his taxi to take us to Jorge Chávez International Airport, Lima!

Feliz Año Nuevo.

Feliz Año Nuevo – Happy New Year
The local people told us that if we thought celebrating the arrival of Christmas Day was rowdy just wait and see what happens when New Years Day ticks over.
We were not disappointed. It would have to have been the loudest and longest celebrations I have ever come across. The fireworks started intermittently early evening and then built up to the most sustained barrage lasting for almost forty-five minutes around midnight. Even as I write this blog around six in the morning an occasional explosion shatters the morning. ‘Shatters’ is a good term because I do not know what the actual sizes the fireworks manufacturers make and sell but they must be king size! I honestly believed the house rattled every now and then!
Looking down our road, please forgive the poor camera focus, it may have something to do with a shaking hand every time another 'bomb' exploded, however, you get a good idea of what was happening.

Next morning with the smoke and gun powder haze everywhere in the air.
We went outside at midnight and the whole area resembled a war zone, fires had been lit up and down the street, people running around and fireworks exploding everywhere. One strange thing we noticed was that over here the dogs seemed accustomed to the noise, not like back home.

Looking up the road from our front door.

Same view next morning.

In Lima yellow is the traditional colour for New Year and it began last night with this young man wearing a yellow T-shirt, yellow neck decoration and a yellow hat. Marion and I are prepared for today with our yellow ensembles!

Lunch at Pedregal Alto.

Would you believe another social engagement in our ever filling social calendar? These final two weeks have been, and will continue to be socially hectic.
Our cook and host for the day was Imelda and she was supported by Nancy and Maritza.

The ladies had gone to a great deal of trouble to entertain us.

It was a simple yet delicious lunch with some of the ladies of Pedregal Alto, and their children and dogs. It was organised by Maritza, Nancy and Imelda. Imelda supplied all the food and it arrived by taxi in a huge plastic carry bag.

Marion, Nancy, Imelda and Maritza in the new community centre kitchen.
The two dishes were Papa a la Huancaina (wah-kai-eena) and Huacatay (wah-car-tie).
Papa a la Huancaina is a Peruvian salad of boiled yellow potatoes in a spicy, creamy sauce called Huancaina sauce. It is typically served over lettuce leaves and garnished with black olives, white corn kernels and hard boiled egg quarters. The sauce is made of fresh white cheese, vegetable oil, yellow Peruvian pepper, evaporated milk and salt mixed in a blender. Some recipes call for garlic, onion and crushed saltines. This salad is served cold, as a starter.
The second, Huacatay, I had not tasted before and it was superb. Pan cooked chicken pieces covered in a green Huacatay salsa. This sauce is a blend of green Huacatay leaves, small onions, garlic, peanuts, yellow pepper, egg, black olives and local cheese. Huacatay is not too far removed from our mint in both flavour and colour.

This really was the last time that we would walk away from the people of Pedregal Alto and they waved us goodbye as we trudged down the hill to catch a motor taxi home. We promised them that we would visit sometime in the future but as they say ‘cuando no se’ – don’t know when.

We both wonder how different the area will be if we do come back to visit in a few years time. More than likely the growth areas would have climbed up the surrounding valleys.

Montenegro sunset.

All of a sudden something special happens in the sky over Montenegro and it alters the whole appearance of the area. The sunset tended to focus your eyes upwards rather than the usual downwards!

Maria's scone and pizza lesson.

Maria teaches the young women of the Motupe parish simple recipes so that they in turn are able to bake some 'goodies' for sale. These weekly classes have proven to be extremely successful for all involved.

Marion promised to show Maria how to bake the humble scone as well as very tasty pizzas. These recipes are very simple and inexpensive to prepare. Maria was delighted with both the simplicity of preparation and the final taste test! I am sure they will be listed on the parish cooking list very shortly.

Pilar's party.

Pilar had very graciously organised a lunch time party at her house for all the members of our first English class.
Our very first group for English celebrating and they are from left to right – Pilar, Trini, Maria Teresa, Marion, self, Juana, Paolo and Antonio. Joao and Claudia are in front and Gladys was the only person missing. She lives way up in Valle Sagrado and could not be contacted.

We had a delightful meal of champagne and ‘Lomo Saltado’ - a beef and onion stir fry mingled with French fries and served on rice. Absolutely hopeless for the diet but amazingly good for the taste buds!

All the group took turns to speak and what they said was amazing. Then they made a presentation to each of us of matching T-shirts with appropriate messages.
Marion’s reads ‘Soy la engreída de Perú’ – ‘I have embraced Peru’ and mine says ‘Yo vivo en Perú’ – ‘I live in Montenegro’ The joke behind mine is that this line was one of the very first I mastered in Spanish and the class continually loved to ask me where I lived, much to their amusement!

Are Paolo and Antonio enjoying themselves or are they planning ways of avoiding the dance floor?

As with every gathering we have attended dancing always takes a priority, the Peruvians just love to get up and dance. One of the favourites at this gathering was ‘The Macarena’, with all the right moves.

Joao was the DJ for the afternoon by supplying the music through the internet.

Pilar’s mother, Peta, took great delight in presenting me with one of her cuy, guinea pigs. She knows exactly what I think of cuy as a meal! This little fellow will not take too long before he is on the menu.

The park lawnmower!

During the year the local workers have been doing a huge amount of work in re-greening the entire park area and they have done an excellent job. However, now that the sun is beginning to shine and there is warmth in the air the grass is really taking off. So much so they have had to 'employ' a lawnmower! I doubt if this fellow has ever had life so good!

Initially they had two working on the grass, no there is only one. Heavens knows what ever happened to this one's mate.

Our final Mass at Pedregal Alto.

The ‘Christmas’ Cross…

Mick, Joao, Marion and I headed off very early Sunday morning for our final Mass at Pedregal Alto and when we arrived we discovered that there was nobody else around apart from Imelda and Martin. The locals had apparently forgotten that this was their Mass Sunday.

Marion and Joao set up their music corner hoping that a few would arrive.

Have no fear, the new bell appeared and was used very loudly, and very often. It soon drew positive results.

The first arrivals…

And then more…

Eventually Mass began with a reasonable group in attendance.

And would you believe Santa made a belated call on Pedregal Alto and this time everybody profited from his visit, old and young. He just cannot help himself, or is he simply obeying the ‘suggestions’ of Mrs. Claus?