Peru Trip! (Sacred Valley and Machu Picchu) (!!!!)

We made it to Machu Picchu! It was completely amazing. I had no concept of the scope of it from pictures (a whole city! on a mountain!) so seeing it in person was really just awe-inducing.

Okay so that was Day 6. First, to get there, we took a crazy scenic trip by road and rail through all the most beautiful parts of beautiful Peru. I mean every place was more gorgeous than the last. Seriously, Peru, with the scenery. Seriously.

DAY 5: SACRED VALLEY OF THE INCAS

Outside of Cusco, we stopped to see several different Incan ruin sites. One of them was called Sacsayhuamán which totally sounds like "sexy woman" (just trust me, it does) (and if you don't find that funny, then you're exactly like my coworkers and nothing like me) and there were tons of steep steps, but from the top the view of Cusco was breathtaking.

Y'all. The climbing. At 11,000+ feet elevation. With a still-recovering foot. It was haaaaard. Like harder than I want to admit.

We also climbed around in some caves and learned about Incan tradition (we know surprisingly little, which is intriguing to me).

Also there were more alpacas. You could guess that, right?

We saw several ruins sites, road tripping over and through the Andes, and then we stopped for lunch in a little mountain town that's basically totally sustained by its silver mine. I bought a mother earth necklace. Yes I haggled. Yes I love it.

At one point we stopped to walk around and see the scenery of the Sacred Valley, and oh man we could barely breathe deep enough just for normal walking. I think our driver said we were like 12,500 feet or so. It's funny how we were all mostly fine in Cusco at 11k, but that extra 1500 feet did us in. Like dizzy and headachy just for those moments up high, until we came back over the other side of the mountain.

It sure was gorgeous though.

We made it to a darling town called Ollantaytambo (so pleasing to say out loud! do it. yes you. do it!) and caught the train to the village below Machu Picchu.

Let me tell y'all, catching a train in Peru is not the same thing as catching a train in, say, Germany. Or even catching Amtrak here in the states. The boarding cars and lining up process are quite a Thing. Like a big ol' mess that somehow works anyway. I was both horrified and impressed.

The train ride was (you guessed it) SUPER SCENIC. They played pan flute music the whole time, and served juice cocktails (fresh juice with milk in it is a very big thing in Peru) and snacks and it was all very charming.

NIGHT 5: AGUAS CALIENTES

The town at the base of Machu Picchu is called Aguas Calientes, and I have... never seen a town quite like it. It's small, it only exists becuase of Machu Picchu (which was only discovered a hundred-ish years ago), and it is basically just a crop of shopping stalls and guest houses and restaurants and chapels. There are no real roads, and no vehicle traffic, except the buses that take people up the mountain. It felt more like a base camp than a town. It was crawling with backpackers and tourists and people excited to go hike the ruins. There's an air of fun and anticipation, and packed bars and pubs.

dinner on a rooftop terrace! 

Other people in our group were wearying of lack of hot showers (our hotel in Cusco was only intermittently warm, so people had been banking on great showers in Aguas Calientes, but it turns out not only was there no hot water but no water at all, because of some kind of main break? or something? people were still hosing off the sidewalks outside so I don't believe one word of whatever explanation was handed out, ha) but while they were craving hot water, I was craving quiet. It was maybe about Night 5 that the noise of South America started to exhaust me. This is a culture of people who enjoy background noise, and loud music, and blaring tv's that no one is watching. People embrace it as the feeling of living happening, and while I get that, it's also exhausting for me. I'm not an "unneccessary noise" kind of gal, and it can shoot my nerves real quick. The town was fun but even louder than Cusco, which was even louder than Lima, so by bedtime in Aguas Calientes I just wanted all the nightclub thumping to be... less. Or none. I had earplugs, but no earplugs are truly good enough for Peru. Trust.

DAY 6: MACHU PICCHU

We woke up super early (super! early!) (like, every hotel started breakfast at 5am. What? Why? Why do people love Machu Picchu so early in the day? What, it's not going to still be there at noon? I'm sure there's a reason this is a trend but I never did suss it out) and caught a bus up the mountain to Machu Picchu. Let me tell you, that drive was terrifying. I would not have taken my Honda Accord around those curves that fast, and they did it while passing other buses. People kept looking out the bus windows and pointing out all the memorials on the side of the mountain and I was like Y'ALL. CAN YOU NOT.

But we made it to the top, and oh man. So stunning.

Just... all the exclamation points.

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I had never fully grasped how big it is until I saw it in real life. I mean you can't tell scale in pictures.but each of those little squares is a non-small building, like an entire house or temple or whatever. This was a whole thriving city. People were born and died here and probably never had any reason to leave the mountain. It's huge.

Look at those tiny people and stairs, for scale. 

We spent half a day hiking and climbing around, and we only saw part of it. It would take multiple days to actually see every section, maybe more.

It kept striking me just how far-flung it was. This whole city, up on a mountain. A mountain that's pretttty inaccessible even for modern-day tourists. I mean we took a flight from an international gateway to the closest airport, then a long bus ride over mountains just to catch a train, which is basically the only way into the base camp town, and then a scary ride for miles up the mountain itself, before we even had a glimpse of it. HOW DID THEY EVEN FIND IT?? It was only discovered a hundred years ago, and I can see why! And why/how would they have built a city up on such a high mountain anyway? For safety? Defense? Amazing scenery? It's totally fascinating to me.

Before we hiked down, there were (of course!) (obviously!) more alpacas. Everyone, behold: the most Peru thing that has ever Peru'd:

After a long hard hike (my foot was angry at me but it was so so worth it) we had lunch in town before catching the train out. Look at this delightful lunch view!

We were ravenous, and Peru just kept consistently handing us amazing avocados. Every single one we had (and there were many) were perfectly ripe. I am not even a particularly avocado-y person, but daaaaaang these were incredible.

Also they have giant corn. Look at those huge kernels! They toast them and serve them like pretzels. Fun!

Also this was on the menu at lunch, so I will leave you with this final Machu Picchu thought: trout to the male thing. That is all.

Trout to the male thing. TROUT. TO. THE. MALE. THING.

Peru Trip! (Cusco)

DAY 3: TO CUSCO

We flew from Lima (sea level) south into the Andes to Cusco (11k feet or something bananas), and it was a really stunning flight.

I can see why doing this journey by bus would take 24 hours, even though it was such a short flight. There are so. many. mountains. And not that many roads, and definitely not great roads. It was beautiful to see though.

When we landed there was a bowl of coca leaves (not coco, not cocoa -- but coca: a whole 'nother thing) which we were welcome to chew on to help with elevation sickness? Apparently? I don't know it looks pretty legit to me?

ONLY THREE FREE THOUGH, DO NOT GO CRAZY NOW.

I mean, if you're not getting off the plane in a new place and putting random plants in your mouth immediately, then why even travel, right? (They were not tasty. But, yknow, when in Rome or whatever.)

Basically when we landed it was suddenly winter (because, it was winter) (and in the mountains) but we got checked into our hotel/ guesthouse and I climbed to the roof to look at the hillside. The building is an inteesting mix of indoor/outdoor space (chilly!) but it makes for fun exploring.

We all went out for a great dinner together. Steaks (more alpaca!) came on sizzling hot rocks and finished cooking right at the table. This is also a trend America should embrace, soon and very soon.

It was cold at night. Like, cold! No heater! Winter! Mountains! But they had these giant wool blankets (heavy rugs, basically) and oh man can I say again how amazing alpaca wool is? That stuff is no joke.

Unrelated, I met a baby goat. So there's that.

DAY 4: CUSCO

We started our day with Peruvian Starbucks (judge away, it delighted me and I'm  not sorry) and we used a room there to drink our coffee and have some team meetings, which, well. {Insert unbloggagble frustrations here, and feel free to ask me any time about the intersection of faith and workplace, when you're not in a specific faith-related call. It gets... complicated.}

But the historical city square is just gorgeous.

I really liked this door. It was my favorite door I saw in Peru. I called it early, on day 3.

Also, there's a random courtyard with random alpacas. I don't know why. I wasn't with any spanish speakers at the time so I couldn't ask. I just waved.

Always with the alpacas.

We adventured on a city bus (they don't look official, BUT THEY ARE) to the home of one of my colleagues who lives there. He is heading up a nonprofit with some local teachers, to aid and support kids who are aging out of orphanages and group homes. Foster care isn't really a Thing in Peru, so for most of these kids they don't have much of an idea about what living alone or cooking or getting around a city even looks like. I mean it would be a lot for any 18-year-old, but particularly when you've never even seen the life you're trying to live. It's very cool work they are doing, and it was fun to meet his friends and other people involved in his organization, and some of the kids he is working with.

Also the view from his house is not shabby.

We had Pervuian pizza for dinner. Peruvian pizza is a lot like American pizza except you have to walk to the carry-out place to order it, and then it takes several hours (!) because Peru.

While we waited, we went to a Peruvian grocery store, because grocery shopping in new places is one of my MOST FAVORITE THINGS to do when traveling in a new place. I bought all manner of fun snacks and treats to bring home.

Why are these juice boxes this shape, besides simply to delight me?

purple maize!

it's super dry and cold. my lips needed help. this seems legit yes?

Also, we had Inca Kola! I don't know why this delights me so much, it's basically just a super sweet tropical Sun Drop, and yet. Delightful.

I bought Mark an Inca Kola shirt to bring home. Oh yes I did. WHAT. HE LIKES SHIRTS.

I actually did some other fun shopping and wandering in our downtime in Cusco, with one of my colleagues who is also prone to such things. Places stay open late, and shopping in the dark in crowds of people was totally fun! (I'm not being sarcastic in the least.)

There were some really nice stores with beautiful clothes and hats, and I splurged on some amazing alpaca-cashmere scarves in bright colors that I could not walk away from, and a tunic sweater for Charlotte.

I also got to haggle in some little stalls for cute kitch, like coin purses and alpaca ornaments and these tiny Peruvian style hats that I cannot wait for my children to adorn their winter coats with. They're so charming. I'm charmed! SO CHARMED.

Less charming: since most bathrooms don't provide toilet paper, there is TP for sale everywhere, by the roll. Everyone just keeps a roll in their purse. It both makes all the sense in the world and yet none at all. By the end of the trip it made me smile to see it everywhere on every street corner and even roadside farm stands. Ha.

And thus ends this post, with toilet paper.

2015: We Walked on a Frozen Lake So Nothing Else Even Matters

{I wrote this on New Year's Eve, but I was in a funk and never posted it, so it's getting posted months later and I'm not that sorry. Happy New Year! ish? I guess?}

What did you do in 2015 that you'd never done before?
     We walked on a frozen lake! We were terrified and amazed! (Yes really, just ask Tinytown Sarah and her husband.)

So basically this was on January 2nd and we might as well have called 2015 a wrap after that, but I did some other new things too, like:
- drove halfway across the country with all three children, and back by myself with them!
- listened to audiobooks 
- got progressive lenses for my old lady eyes
- spent the night in a hotel room for no reason other than alone time (was glorious)

How did you spend New Year's Eve? 
     Sadly we did not get together with David and Another Nathan as we have for many years, since Clemson finally made it to the national championship game (go Tigers?) and Mark and I have had a long understanding that when/if this moment came, he would go. And he's going! To Phoenix, next week.
     Which means this weekend, we are home in Raleigh. We took the kids downtown to one of his company's office buildings for a 7pm "family hour" ringing in of the new year with fireworks. Now I'm fiddling on the computer and maybe we will watch a movie or new years rockin dicken clarken whatever at midnight. Woo!

Did you keep last year's resolutions, and will you make more for this year?
     Last year, I said I wanted to get a real job this year. And I did! I took a copywriting job earlier this fall and I hated it and resigned within six weeks, and then an opportunity came up to do similar work to what I did before the girls were born (a sales job, travel, in the non-profit sector, negotiating contracts with airlines and vendors for people doing mission trips, disaster relief, service work, humanitarian aid, etc). So far it's going okay but it's very new. 
     This year's resolution is but one: find the balance at home. With our jobs and our marriage and parenting and and and, we have been in upheavel/transition since Mark started his new job almost two years ago, and it will break us if we can't find the balance. FIND THE BALANCE. 

How old were you on your birthday, and what did you do? 
     I turned 35, and it was a fun lovely day. We went to worship as a family, and Nathan did his first communion that morning. Then Mark and I had a nice dinner date while Another Nathan was in the air flying down to see me after his own worky Sunday, and made me my most favorite birthday peanut butter pie. I ended the day feeling happy and so loved. Mark and I had a great visit with him that week.

Where did you travel? 
     We took a HUGE family road trip across eleven states and 17 days, and it was wonderful. Mark and I also went to Mexico for a fantastic kid-free getaway. And I went to Seattle in April and got lovedrunk on friend time! Oh, and a girls weekend for the Hoopla in Illinois in September, and a road trip to see my brother near Savannah that month too!

What would you like to have in 2016 that you lacked in 2015? 
     Balance and heart-shaped feelings on the home front. A fancy new master bath. Jeans that I love. A pretty laptop bag. Sleep, all the sleep.

What would you like less of in 2016? 
     Upheaval at home. 

What dates from 2015 will remain etched in your memory? 
     March 20th, when my newest baby nephew Everett was born. July 30th, when we embarked on our road trip. November 30th, when I started back to work.

Whose behavior merited celebration? 
     At the top of the list, my dad, who becomes a better and better human with each passing year. He came to our house and lived here for a week so we could go to Mexico! He did all the things! ALL THE THINGS. 

I don't know very many (read: any) other grandpas who would single-dad three kids in two different schools for a week, alone. He is wonderful for that and a million other things, but that one is fresh on my mind tonight.

Whose behavior appalled you? 
     (Hmmm, a blog-palatable answer? *side eye*) People who push a pumpkin agenda in August.

Who did you miss? 
     My Grandpa Bumgarner, who died in June. His big 90th birthday celebration we had planned that month didn't get to happen. Suddenly I miss all my grandparents. I officially have no grandparents, and it's weird and sad. Another generation, passing on. 

Who is the best new person you met? 
     Everett! Look how sweet he is! 

What was your favorite show? 
     Frasier. Oh hush, you're not too good for Frasier. Knowing I was going to Seattle in April, I watched the whole series starting last winter. I don't watch a ton of TV so it took me most of the year, but I love it and I'm not sorry. Mark and I also cried like babies at the Parenthood finale, and we still like watching The Mindy Project together. Also! Kimmy Schmidt is pretty darn funny.

What was your favorite book this year? 
     I read A Little Life, by Hanya Yanagihara, and it was amazing. Really troubling content, told deeply and beautifully. This is a lifetime best book for me. I also really loved Lila by Marilynne Robinson, and I'll Give You The Sun by Jandy Nelson. 

What was your favorite movie? 
     Okay this will sound dumb, but Trainwreck. It's funny, it's sassy, it's sweet, and it has THE MOST satisfying end to a raunchy romcom I can ever remember seeing. It's an easy fun movie. Watch it. You're not too good for Trainwreck either. I promise.

What was your biggest achievement in 2015? 
     Oh lawd I don't know if I ever achieve anything that's worth anything, but I did spend some time this year sewing felt into delightful objects, like these cupcakes and this penguin. Totally counts as an achievement, by my math.

Your biggest failure? 
     I remain sleep broken, although there is a new kind of med on the market that works by dampening the awake part of your brain (instead of activating the drowsy part) (yes, those are two different things) and so maybe I'm improving little by little? But mostly I just can't ever sleep well and it suuuuucks to be a sleep failure. Coffee me.

Where did most of your money go? 
     Medical bills, mortgage, taxes, school tuition, Starbucks, plane tickets.

What was the best thing you bought? 
     Plane tickets, to see friends and have getaways in various places around the country. Getting away and outside of my real life and the routine is kind of a pain for planning, but is absolutely worth the effort and expense. It's so much easier to come back to real life if you've had a mental break to fill up on rest and friendship (or romance)!
     Also a new computer! Our broken B key finally found its inner channel to Satan himself, and wouldn't stop typing, so it was like bbbbBBBBBBBBbbbbbbbBBBBBBB and you couldn't even, like, reboot it or turn off the keyboard before it was accidentally overwhelming the laptop with BBBBbbbbbbBBBBB commands. It was terrible. Of all the things to crash a computer! Anyway we have a new one and I can type just one B now. See? b
     Also I bought this airplane bag. You need a fun airplane bag. Trust.

What political issue stirred you the most? 
     Marriage equality. It finally happened. What relief and joy! I cried real tears.

How would you describe your personal fashion concept this year? 
     I have no fashion concept but this year I did dye part of the underside of my hair teal, and I freaking love it. It's subtle when my hair is down, and fun when it's up (most of the time) and it just makes me happy. 

What was great this year when you weren't expecting it? 
     Giving the kids an allowance. I thought this would be a pain but was a necessary Learning Thing, but it turns out it's adorable to let them shop for things themselves when they have a finite limit of what they can get (and therefore what they ask me for), and it's kind of the best.

What did you get really really excited about? 
     Seattle! Winter was long and tedious and icy, with all four kids (including Ali) and I so needed that break in April. I read all the guidebooks and counted down the days, and it was just a wonderful time away with friends.

What song will always remind you of 2015? 
     Shut Up and Dance. Remember when someone made this amazing compilation video of cuts of famous movie dance scenes? That sold me, and I didn't mind hearing it on the radio all summer after that, including a new energizer at Montreat involving moon boots (and a choral version under a sermon that delighted me!) - it's a fun song in any format.  

What kept you sane? 
     Sunshine breaks, group texting, phone dates, coffee, kiddie snuggles, getaways, medication, therapy, and hahahahaha okay I'm not sane y'all. But lets pretend all these things mostly worked, kinda, maybe.

What valuable lesson did you learn this year? 
     I have none smart thoughtful takeaways about this year or life right now. I just don't, We did learn, though, that New Year's Eve without our favorite NYE buddies makes us sadder than we thought and let's not do that again if we can help it.

(Charlotte's biggest achievement of 2015 is her angry eyebrows. Girl's mad face is ON POINT. Happy New Year, etc.)