Christmas in Peru - Chiclayo with Juan's Family -

The morning after our midnight arrival from the missionary zone activity in Barranca, we left Huaraz at 8:30 on the one hour flight to Lima. In Peru, all roads, and flights, lead to Lima. There are virtually no direct flights between major cities, all pass through Lima. Juan, our trainer and coworker in the archives, had invited us to spend Christmas with his family in Chiclayo which is on the coast. We spent the day in the Lima airport until our 7:00 flight to Chiclayo, which took an hour and 20 minutes.

Killing time at the Lima airport. 4d was the name of the restaurant.  We used the time to finish and send our Christmas letter.

Juan met us at the airport and took us to our hotel, a nice 4 star Ramada. I (Elder O) got up early Christmas eve morning and walked down to the main plaza.  I (Sis. O) slept in an extra hour. Sounds perfectly normal, right?

The cathedral on the main plaza was quite different in style.

 

The main plaza was more of a park and this nativity was featured--one of the nicer ones we've seen.

The huge Christmas tree was impressive.

Chiclayo is the 4th largest city in Peru with a population of 780,000. It dates from pre-colonial times and is located about 6 miles inland from the ocean. This beautiful building on the plaza houses city government offices.

Juan took us to his home, a modest two story in a growing residential area. He and Jasmin have four children. They immediately got us into the holiday spirit with some reindeer horns and a Rudolf nose. Pictured are Israel (11), Amiraly (8), and Fernanda (5).

Fernanda and Lidia (11 months).

Fernanda liked her picture taken.

About 1:00 we sat down to what we thought would be lunch but it was a large bowl of tasty wheat and chicken soup made by Jasmin. It turned out to be just an appetizer, as we left shortly thereafter and went to a seafood restaurant for lunch.

This was a full course meal. Tony had cebiche, the raw fish marinated with lemon and other spices. What he thought was a thin slice of tomato turned out to be a very hot pepper, which he didn't realize until he had the whole piece in his mouth. Needless to say, it took most of his lemonade to put out the fire!

We returned to the house and visited with Juan's family. In the early evening, the missionaries and some members came by and sang Christmas carols.

A 6'5" U.S. Elder and his short Hispanic companion. In the house, they asked us and the U.S. Elder to sing Jingle Bells in English, which we did.

The sister missionaries.  They all came in to visit and Jasmin served everyone a slice of panetón (see picture below).

About 10:00 p.m. we gathered with the family and enjoyed a dinner of turkey, stuffing (that Marilyn had made), empanadas, a canned peach, panetón and some almonds. Jasmin prepared the turkey by covering it with some red spices and butter and then cut a pineapple and put slices around the pan and added orange juice. They had made an appointment with the local bakery to cook it, but it took about an hour longer than planned. It was very good and moist.

Juan had eaten the stuffing at the Thanksgiving dinner and wanted me to show Jasmin how to make that and a chocolate cake.  However, since there was only one baking dish, I didn't really bake the stuffing long enough and it wasn't as good as before.  The cake turned out OK but we didn't eat any.  They shared it with their other relatives.  

It was actually the first time Jasmin had used her oven.  She had been using it for storage--a common practice here.  Delicious home made hot chocolate was the drink. This was our fourth meal that day and we were stuffed! The children finished their meal quickly and opened their presents--they just couldn't wait any longer--while we finished dinner.  Each child received two presents. We brought them two small boxes of Legos from Lima and they quickly built a fire station and ambulance. We also brought a coloring book, colored pencils, a story book and a chess set.

Panetón with hot chocolate is the traditional midnight dessert on Christmas Eve. It is similar to our fruit cake but much lighter.

We got to bed about midnight back at the hotel. Christmas Day we went to the beach with Juan and his family, another tradition of many families who live on the coast. More on this in the next blog.

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?

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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.