We got a lovely send off at the station (despite the early start) and thoroughly enjoyed the trip down to Lima on the second highest train route in the world. It was a familiar route, since it largely follows the road, but much more slower-paced which gives you more time to appreciate the stunning views.
As a final send off and to get in with the Peruvian custom of throwing a baby shower whilst they still could, our friends David and Charito and Cesar organised a lovely evening with a few friends that we thought we’d share with you.
More paperwork surprises – I managed to beat my record from 2 days ago and was in and out the government office inside 2 minutes with the bit of paper in my hand saying that we are free to leave the country. Now just the question remains of what we’re heading back to. Job searching continues, but it’s highly competitive. I managed to get feedback from one of my unsuccessful applications and was told that my application was excellent, but I was 1 of 117 candidates!!
Whilst waiting for documents to be processed, I went down to Chincha today to say our goodbyes to the folk down there. I got to see nearly everyone I hoped to see as I did my rounds. Generally, folk were sad to hear that we were leaving, but very excited to hear about Rachel’s pregnancy. I also got to spend some time with our friends whose marriage is in tatters. Time was short and it’s still in tatters, but at least I was able to have a frank talk with the husband and gave him some things to think about. He has promised to come back to me on the points I raised and has started reading a book (minor miracle!) which should help him understand himself better. We finished the day off with Chinese take away, during which my taxi-driving friend, Daniel (known as Biry Biry) presented me with two replica football shirts – one of Peru and one of Allianza, his team – which was a lovely gesture.
So, today marks the 12 week mark in terms of Rachel’s pregnancy!!!! It’s more high risk being in the high altitude (if you weren’t born there) and Rachel has been told that she can’t leave the altitude until at least week 15, but scans show that the baby is developing well. We have managed to make friends with the top gynaecologist in the area (it’s great – we get free consultations and he takes us out for meals!!) and are getting excellent treatment. We’ve already had a couple of scans done, with the photo below taken at 10 weeks and 4 days old. Apparently, baby size hardly varies around the world until the baby has 20 weeks, so our gynaecologist was very surprised to discover that the baby was already over 12 weeks in terms of size, even in a land where Paul is considered a giant!!
It finished a couple of weeks ago now, but we still thought we should share with you the joy which was the large-scale 4 days and nights party in our park. All this footage was shot from our flat…
Video: Party In Our Park
At last, after a very long period of silence, both husband and wife (the couple we had been couselling) in Chincha have made contact again. Wife M sent Rachel and email apologising for their silence – not really giving a reason, but nevermind. Husband A, having been finally asked to not come home because of his continued unfaithfulness, made contact again and seems to have a renewed desire to sort out his personal problems. Whether this will last we don’t know. Two days ago Rachel gave him a task to do, (generally tasks put him off as he seems to want answers given to him on a plate), and we haven’t heard from him since, but we are now on national holidays so we probably won’t hear anything until next week if he does make contact again.
Paul has to go to Lima next week to take Francesca to the airport and so he will take the opportunity to go down to Chincha for the day to catch up in person and also say goodbye to folk down there.
Not long before we leave now!!
Click to see where we live and work. Be sure to zoom in around the flagged areas to take a closer look. You must have it set to satellite in order to see the real image as opposed to a digital map!!!
With Francesca, our short-term volunteer, here at the moment with her passion for cooking, we decided to introduce the gastronomy students at the Training Centre to a feast of English cuisine (shepherd’s pie – pye de pastores; apple crumble – crocante de manzana; bread and butter pudding – postre de pan y mantequilla) for the day. While Francesca managed the main course, we took turns to teach the desserts, which we reckon are the best bit of British cuisine. It was occasionally pandemonium, but many students valued the opportunity to be introduced to new foods and new ways of cooking.
