We´re Alive!!!!

After 20 hours of travelling and forcing down plane food we arrived in the capital of Peru! You have never felt the need to wear your seatbelt more, than when seated in a taxi driving through Lima...they are crazy! After arriving at our hotel we went out to grab something to eat, and got our first taste of Peruvian cuisine; emapanadas (like cornish pasties except nice!) and Inca Kola (Irn Brew with more sweeteners and colourings!)
The next day we flew to Tacna where we were able to use the Brew´s house as our base. It was brilliant to see John and Lourdes along with their Son-In-Law,daughter and two grandchildren. Stephanie, who was the grandchild of 8, thought it would be hilarious to turn Simon into a Pirate. Gordon, the director of Baptist Missions, was next in line to be attacked by the face painter but carefully evaded the situation by threatening to fire her grandad!!! (Only joking!)

On Wednesday we were sent in different directions to spend 6 hours with 3 separate families. We woke up to find the table spread for breakfast before going to the seminary. There we met 3 of the pastors who took us to different homes. Simon and Shirley were treated to a second breakfast when they arrived! It was a good start to the day. Simon then went with Pastor Abram who took him to do chruch visits. A starter and main cousre was produced for them at the third home before they headed to see Wilmar from church who made a Peruvian dish called ceviche (a dish of raw fish covered in lemon...delicious!) So he didn´t do too badly having 2 breakfasts and 2 lunches! He´ll be massive by the time he gets home!
After breakfast Shirley headed into Tacna Centre with 2 young people from the Luz de Vida Church, while Lynne went with Pastor Quintin to a family where she visited the dentist and peeled potatoes. It was difficult to make conversation but the Peruvians were patient and the dictionaries came in very handy!

This morning we left Tacna after our "whistle stop tour" and travelled to Ite where we had a 15 minute tour of the campsite. Ilo was our next port of call where we had lunch with Christine Morrow. It was great to see Christine although we only had an hour with her before we had to catch the bus for our 5 hour journey to Arequipa.

In Arequipa we met Ruth and Paul Turner from Latin Link. They´re helping us get settled in to life here. We are really glad to be here and can´t wait to get stuck into the language school and the church where we are staying. Tomorrow morning we´re heading to the market to buy the two main essentials ... food and bog roll!

Thanks for all your thoughts and prayers.
We´ll hopefully keep you updated as much as possible!