peru!

After a busy few days of mission work and adventure sports, Tommy and I flew to Lima, Peru to meet my grandparents! Arriving in Peru was an adventure. For the first time in 9 months, I had to learn how to use a different currency, barter with taxi drivers and get used to a different spanish accent. I loved the challenge. My grandparents arrived a few hours after us and it was so great to give them big hugs! We spent the first night catching up, The next day, we took a city tour of Lima and learned a lot about Peru's history.

After a couple of days getting used to the altitude in Lima, we were off to Cusco, Peru. We also took a city tour there and learned even more about the Incan empire and their history. We were able to see a big parade in the middle of the city plaza full of colors, music and dancing. It was such a neat experience to witness a different part of South American culture. While in Cusco, we also visited old Inca places, including an Inca fortress and religious complex called Sacsayhuaman (aka sexy woman). It was a really impressive sight and got us excited for the main event; machu picchu.


We woke up at 330am and started our trip to "the lost city of the Incas", Machu Picchu. It was worth waking up early! We took the 'long' trail through the urban and agricultural sectors (good job Toots and Gpa!) with our tour guide, Mariela. Tommy's favorite part was getting up close to the llamas. It was such an awesome experience and it was so special to see such an incredible site and country with my grandparents!



We all flew back to Bogota and they spent a few days in Bogota, visiting the missions in Soacha and Usme. There will be a blog about their time in Colombia soon!
Love, Kate