Christmas in Peru - Multi-zone Christmas activity - 

On Monday, December 22, we boarded a bus at 7:00 a.m. in the main square with 26 elders and sisters and the Dicksons. We then headed down the mountain to Barranca on the coast for a multi-zone Christmas activity with our mission president, Blake Archibald, and his wife. 

 

Our comfortable 30 seat bus. And a real plus was that he was a careful driver.

Starting out. Some were already asleep, but most were bright eyed.

As soon as we arrived the missionaries began to decorate the chapel.  This was the third, and last of these parties for the Mission President and the Elders were very efficient in decorating.  And the room looked very nice.

We held a brief meeting and then had a delicious meal prepared by Sister Archibald and brought from Lima (4 hours) in their Honda van. Sister Archibald said it was nice to have some "adult" help to get things organized.

Unloading the food with the Dicksons.

The dinner consisted of sliced Virginia ham (the one and only time we have seen ham since we arrived), baked potatoes, green salad, frozen mixed veggies and rolls.  For dessert, she had purchased six cakes from a local bakery which were very tasty.  We really enjoyed eating a "regular" Christmas dinner.  It was probably very unusual for most of the Hispanic missionaries but we saw heaping plates of food disappear so it appears that they enjoyed it also.

                                     
Following the meal, each of the three zones presented a musical number and then each put on a skit. The one from our zone was easily the best and funniest. It was entitled "How the Grinch Got Baptized". Here is a photo summary.

The Grinch and his two accomplices.  The Elders had recorded various clips of music to add to the fun. These two always moved to the Pink Panther theme.

The sinister Grinch and his cohorts make their plans to steal Christmas gifts.

Under the watchful eye of the Grinch, his henchmen go about stealing gifts from the sleeping missionaries.

Among the stolen gifts is a Book of Mormon.

The sister missionaries teach him about the Gospel.

He is interviewed by the zone leader.

He is interviewed by the Mission President. Elder Oxborrow used some of the same expressions and gestures of President Archibald that had everyone laughing. Here we are discussing tithing.

He is ready for baptism--which took four tries because a foot or hand or something always popped up.

He comes out of the water dressed in white and proclaims; "I am a new man!" (a different Elder).

Santa and Mrs. Claus (the Dicksons) helped distribute the gifts.

The Grinch (Elder Sarria from Chile).  His facial expressions were spot-on perfect.

After the skits, Sister Archibald brought all the ingredients for making gingerbread houses and asked each table of missionaries to build any building they wanted. Our table chose the Lima temple as did several other tables. Due to the nature of the frosting mixture, we were unable to construct very tall buildings and many fell or were leaning by the time came to judge the three best. It is obvious that these missionaries could take a few lessons from our grandkids, who built some awesome houses this year.

Just big kids making gingerbread houses.

I think this was supposed to be the Provo temple.

These missionaries wanted to make sure the judges knew who made it. 

With our mission president, President Archibald and Sister Archibald.

The Huaraz zone with President and Sister Archibald.

After pictures and cleanup, we boarded the bus again for the four hour ride back to Huaraz. We got home about midnight. It was a wonderful experience.  We are always amazed at the quality of the Elders and Sisters.  We appreciate the heavy responsibility that the missions presidents have--they are the unsung heroes of the church.

Christmas in Peru - Main Plaza Huaraz -

Local companies are invited to mount displays in the main plaza of the city.  We saw the same in Chiclayo so it is probably nation-wide.  Here are a few of the more colorful ones. These were wired with lights and probably more impressive at night. We were unable to see them at night.

A nice white tree, moderately decorated.

The closest to a snowman we will get here in Huaraz.

Obviously, this tree and display were put up by a cellphone company.

Nice flowers.

The center fountain of the plaza.

Interesting tree behind the purple Christmas tree.

A nice blue tree.

Not sure what happened to his arms.

Colored Christmas trees are very popular here.

One of our favorite restaurants, "Bistro de los Andes" is on the second floor of the building in the background. The restaurant seating provides a birds-eye view of the main plaza.

A close look reveals he is wearing a Peruvian "chullo" (chew-yo) cap (like we sent to all the grandkids) and playing the classic Incan flute pipes (zampoña).

The centerpiece of the plaza was this nativity.  Those are life-sized statues.  And as with most of their nativities nothing is really to scale but interesting, nevertheless. 

A close up of the nativity.  Since the rainy season has started the park has gotten much greener.

A Parade and a Wedding -

The Parade - As we have noted previously, the small plaza in front of our apartment is the launching pad for parades, all kinds -- political, religious, schools, military, etc. Here is a small parade which was supporting families and children. It was interesting because of the two llamas/alpacas that were included.

Either two llamas or alpacas, not sure which.

In the middle of the parade.

Supporting the role of the regional Superior Court in family matters.

A pro-family organization.

Not sure who they represent and they are not too organized, but one of their signs says "Love your neighbor as yourself."

This group represents the Municipal Office for the Defense of the Rights of Small Children and Adolescents.

What would a parade be without a band?

- - -###- - -

The Wedding - On December 19th, a popular couple in the ward had their civil marriage and reception at the Stake Center. In Peru, no religious weddings are recognized, only the civil ceremony performed by the mayor or his designated representatives. As a result, LDS couples who wish to be married in the temple, must first be married in a civil ceremony and then travel to the temple to be sealed. 

Jhony (that's how they spell Johnny) and Shantel were married on Friday, traveled all night to Lima, an 8 hour trip, and were sealed in the Lima Temple at 10:00 a.m. on Saturday. The mayor came to the chapel and performed the ceremony and gave them a long discourse of counsel. They exchanged rings and then immediately held the reception. 

The announcements said the ceremony would start at 4:00. We got there at 4:05 and they were still decorating. Finally, guests started trickling in around 5:00 and the  ceremony started at 5:45. The reception included a full course, catered meal and was served about 7:00 p.m.  We left at 9:00, having been there for 5 hours. Here are a few photos of the event.

They cleared all the pews out of the chapel and set up this display in front of the pulpit.  We didn't know that was allowed!

A closer view. The bride and groom and their parents sit at the table on the right.

Yes, there are 10 cakes! We asked someone if they ever cut and serve the cakes and were told that often they are just given to family members and not served to the guests.

The band on the stage at the back of the cultural hall. They were very loud!  The red heart is left over from a Young Adult activity.

The cultural hall all decorated and the tables set up.

The table settings were very nice.

After the ceremony, the bride and groom begin their walk around the hall, stopping to greet the guests at each table. The mayor is standing in front of the door in the background. He and his assistant stayed for the dinner.

They continue their walk. She is 25 and he is 28, both returned missionaries. We were given small bags of rice to throw as they walked but on the slick hardwood floor this was not a good idea.  One lady guest fell and hit her head and left soon after.

The bride's train.

The family photo. The groom's parent are to the right of the bride followed by his brother and wife. Other family members of the groom on the left. The bride's parents and brothers were further left and got cut out of the photo.

Lunch at the Lumber yard -

Several weeks ago, we noticed an event on the Stake calendar called a "Mixtura", scheduled for Saturday, November 29. "Mixtura" means mixture so we were puzzled as to what this could mean. When we asked some of the members, they said it is sort of a personal fund raiser in which various families bring traditional food dishes and sell them to raise some funds for their family. This sounded interesting since it is not something that is done in the U.S., nor are we familiar with it in Mexico or Guatemala. To further add to our curiosity, we were told it would be held in the lumber yard of one of the members.

It turns out that the lumber yard is only 4 blocks from our apartment and since the event was scheduled for Saturday near lunch time, we decided to make it our dining-out experience for the weekend. The following pictures tell the story.

The view as you enter the large double doors from the street. Not too many had arrived at this point. They weren't kidding when they said it would be held in a lumber yard. This location is one of two lumber yards that the bishop of the Centenario Ward owns.

More people began arriving.  Notice that the "tables"are just pieces of wood stacked together.

The only pricing sign we saw, which was near the entrance. "Chocho", very popular here, is a cold salad made with a variety of small white cooked beans, tomato, purple onions and seasoning. The prices indicated are one sol and one sol .50 céntimos. About US$.36 and $.54 respectively. We are not sure what "conchita" is. "Chicha Morada" is a tasty purple drink made from boiling black corn. The price was US$ .18 per cup.

This table caught our attention right away. Baked chicken with hominy. A bargain at 4 soles (US $1.45). Also, we wondered what the "Tacucho" sign was about. We soon found out.

This is the preparation of "tacucho", a traditional food of the jungle area of Peru. This sister moved to Huaraz about 4 years ago from Iquitos in Loreto province of Peru and on the headwaters of the Amazon River. She cooks the green bananas (actually plantain - seen on the shelf to the left) over the coals, along with the pork rind on the skewers. The pork rind is then cut into small squares and placed in the pot where the fat boils out to form a brown liquid and the rind becomes very soft. The cooked banana and the pork rind with the oil are mashed together to form a ball for serving.

Well, I couldn't resist. It was actually very good, a little bland, so I added some "aji", the Peruvian equivalent to chili or salsa, to spice it up a bit.

A great photo! Four of our good friends seated at their "stand". They were selling chocho for one sol per bowl. It was really good. From the left, Pilar, the ward RS president, Maria Louisa, the wife of the Stake President, Monica and Sharon, two young adults who are also Marilyn's piano students.  They were also selling cake by the slice which was very plain but tasty.

The back view of their "stand" with a creative seating idea.  A great example of the build-it-yourself stools and table.  Every time they moved, the stools fell over and had to be re-built.

This stand had meat and salad. We were already full of chicken, chocho, and hominy by the time we got to her location. We did buy a frozen popsicle for dessert--which were really just skinny little bags filled with fruit juice or milk with a little chocolate added

This sister brought cooked cuy (guinea pig), a big favorite here. We passed on this one.  We get teased a lot about not eating cuy.

Happy diners!

Other seating options. You had to be careful where you sat or the boards flipped up.

As the crowd increased, one had to find any seating available.

Brother Jamanca, the high councilor over family history, and his children.

Mother and daughter.  The children here are just beautiful.

So where do you find a bed for a siesta in a lumber yard? Put it together out of  pieces of plywood of course. Older sister keeping an eye on the baby.

The Sunday following this Saturday lunch, we went to Caraz to provide FH training. When we didn't show up in our regular ward, several members  asked us at a Stake fireside later that evening if the food from the Mixtura had made us sick. We assured them that it was delicious and had not harmed us in the least.