Peru Surfing Adventure.

Ready for the waves.

 The day dawned early on the day of our peruvian ruins and surf adventure.  Our guide Jorge with Eco-Innovations tours picked us up at our hotel in the "surf adventure" van and drove us south.  After about an hour, we turned off at Pachacamac to visit the ruins there.   We toured the ruins with a guide for about 2 hours and learned all about the religious center that was located there hundreds of years ago.

Madeline Surfs!

Go Katherine!

The Incan people would send the most beautiful and brightest daughters to live there where they were guarded by eunuchs and taught to embroider and make the special ceremonial drink.  When they turned 16, one or two were chosen to sacrifice to the God of the Sun - and the others were married off to the Incan governors and priests as concubines.  The temple was very high and painted bright red and overlooked the sea.  The indigenous people would make pilgrimages there — often at the end of their lives and usually died there so they could be buried close to the temples.  They approximate that there are tens of thousands of mummies buried on the property.

After touring the ruins, we headed out to a small town south of Lima.  Our guide took us to a small public beach for surfing.  The water was very busy with sunbathers, swimmers and surfers.  And to us Galvestonians - the water was COLD.  Even in a wetsuit, Madeline came out with her lips blue and her teeth chattering.  It was nice to get out of Lima and see some more of the country and get to a place surrounded by locals.  Ladies walked around the beaches selling chips, sodas and beer (no glass of course) and we ate sandwiches packed by the tour.  Chris and the girls had a ball surfing and we loved our guide.  We went home, happy and exhausted and ready for another day!

Christmas Vacation 2010 - Lima Peru

We have arrived safely in Lima, Peru.  The trip here was an adventure in itself.  We left home at 10:30 in the morning for a 7:20 pm flight.  We went to the office to pick up Daddy, then headed out for the airport.  One of our friends the week before had left 4 hours before her flight and never made it due to traffic and work being done on the road due to the landslides.  We did not want to take a chance, as if we missed our flights, we would likely not be able to find another flight out of Caracas until after Christmas.

The traffic was heavier than usual, and you could see multiple landslides along the way - complete with multiple homes destroyed from the landslides, but we made it to the airport in 2.5 hours.  With that much time to kill, we decided to head out to the Marriott close to the airport for lunch.  It killed a couple of hours, and the kids got to play on the playground there and burn up some energy.  We arrived ready to check in at 2 pm - an hour before what the US embassy recommended, and they would not let us check in until 3 pm.  It only took an hour to check in, clear security and clear customs, so at 4 pm we were checking into the American Airlines lounge looking for four chairs together.

We got settled, then Chris and Madeline left for what is becoming a Haver Family Tradition - airport massages.  There is a kiosk, with a wonderful woman, who gives 10 and 15 minute chair massages for a very reasonable prices.  It is so inexpensive, we let the kids get them as well.  We all took turns, then went back to the lounge.  When we booked the tickets to Buenos Aires - we had to transfer through Lima as there is no direct flight from Caracas - so I decided we should stay and explore Lima for a few days.  The tickets were written in spanish - and were in first class - though I missed that part when we booked them.  When I was reviewing the tickets a few weeks ago I realized that our seats were in row 3!  A happy accident for us.

We boarded and realized the first class section was on of the ones that was REALLY first class.  The asiles were huge, and the seats were the ones that go from sitting to a full flat bed.  Each chair had its own entertainment system, complete with Bose type headphones.  The seats alone provided hours of entertainment for my children.  They were served a real meal, with cloth napkins and silverwear and drinks in glasses.  Of course, my worldly children acted like they were in DisneyLand - screaming, "Mom, check THIS out!" over and over again across the plane.

Five and a half hours later, we landed in Peru in the middle of the night.  We cleared customs and emigration and were met by the hotel to take us to our home for the next few days.  We crawled into our beds and fell asleep at about 2 am.

The next day we woke up to a view of the Pacific Ocean - just in front of our hotel, over looking the ocean, is a beautiful outdoor mall and park - so we decided to head there for breakfast.  After breakfast we took a long walk along the cliffs and parks that overlook the rocky beaches and plotted out our day.   We went back to the mall to eat a sushi restaurant and had some of the best ceviche we have ever had in my life.   The seafood here is amazing!  I also had my first pisco sour.  The pisco sour is the local drink here - kind of like a margarita and about 100x as strong.  We went shopping and bought a few scarves and a hat for Madeline made out of baby alpaca - one of the local handicrafts here.

Dinner last night was at Cala - a beautiful restaurant on the beach, specializing in seafood.  The prices here are half of what we would expect to pay in San Francisco for the same food and level of service.   Everyone here - from the maids, to the waiters, to the taxi drivers are some of the most polite, and genuinely happy people we have ever met.  We have become so used to people treating us like we had intelligence issues because or command of spanish was lacking, but here they smile, and remain very patient trying to help us along.  Of course, nothing is pefect, my meal was not what I thought I was ordering last night, but was delicious none the less.

Today we head out for surfing lessons for Chris and the kids at a beach south of Lima - we will let you know how it goes.

Rain Rain Go Away....

Caracas has made CNN.  Again.  Not for the crazy president, but for the torrential rains that have drenched the area.  Yesterday, the government declared a state of emergency and closed the schools for the rest of the week in anticipation of more rainfall, and the ensuing flooding and landslides.  Here is a picture of the sky this morning from my bedroom.  You can't see the Avila - as the clouds are obscuring the view.

We are OK.  We live up on a hill so flooding is not an issue.  We already have landslides around the building on the property and in the surrounding areas - but nothing major.  My neighbor might have to leave her building due to a very large landslide that may have affected the structural integrity of the building.

The weirdest part is the waiting...  It is almost like when a hurricane hits the Gulf of Mexico, and we wait to see which way it will go.  We know it will hit somewhere, and it will be bad, and it might be us, but probably not.

But here, I am not surrounded by my best friends, making gumbo, and telling stories.  AND we don't have weather.com or wunderground.com - where during hurricane season, I am freakishly glued for days at a time.  So I sit and stare and the fat grey clouds outside of my window, waiting for the rain to start, and for whatever will happen, to just happen.

The rest of the photos are a series of pictures taken from the property  around my building.  We have one minor and one moderate slide so far.  The area above the driveway had a slide last year which was repaired, and now the area just lateral to the repair has failed.

I will keep everyone posted.  But again, we are fine!

Halloween and Other News

 So, I am sitting here in Caracas.  Today is Halloween.  We had a big Chevron Halloween party last night for the kids, and Chris left for California for a meeting today for 10 days.

The kids had a wonderful time on Friday at school.  They got to come to school dressed in their Halloween costumes and then had a parade around the auditorium, followed by parties in their classrooms.

As I am a room mom for both classes, I spent the next couple of hours running back and forth between classrooms helping with snacks, games, decorations, etc.  It was a little bit exhausting, but fun.  

Above is Madeline's first grade class - and denotes one of the things I will miss most about the international experience - DIVERSITY.  In Madeline's picture are Madeline (USA), Jae Yeon (Korea), Jose (Venezuela), Juan David (Venezuela), Arif (Indonesia), Gaby (Columbia), Amelia (Poland), Sofie (Venezuela), Marta (Spain), Josef (Venezuela) and Andres (Norway).    Katherine's class is just as diverse, but I was not able to get a picture of her class all together.

After the party, I rushed down to the pool for my swimming session with my coach.  There is a small group of Mom's - at all levels, that work out with the swim coaches at the kid's school.  Of course, I grew up swimming, but never really learned the proper strokes until I moved here.  Pedro is my coach and I just love him.  He also coached Madeline last year, and he is her absolute favorite.  He has agreed to "train" me for the Galveston Lone Star Triathlon 2011 - and my goal is simply to beat my best time (not hard to do).

On Saturday evening, we headed to the Kelly's apartment for a Chevron Halloween Party.  Rhonda really outdid herself.  The decorations were fantastic and the food incredible.  The kids really had fun.  Our favorite was the "mummy making contest".  The kids had to wrap a "volunteer" in toilet paper to make the best mummy they could and it ended up being so much fun.

Chris volunteered and I think the kids did a pretty good job.  The finished product of all of the dads is below.

Today I am on back rest for some low back musculoskeletal injury that has gotten much worse over the last two weeks - I finally had to break down and consult one of my old orthopedic text books to see what the heck was wrong with me and how to treat it.  Shockingly, it seems that resting for two days then running 6 miles or the like was not the best therapy.  I am now on back rest for at least a week.

AND I am FINALLY feeling better from the mononucleosis.  That was horrible and I would not wish it on anyone.  Although, I did lose 10 pounds without trying.  I am on oral corticosteroids for the back inflammation (and boy did it go a long way to help me regain my appetite!).  Quarantine from aerobic exercise and my kids Halloween candy should go a long way to helping me regain some of the weight.

My next big adventure is going back to New Orleans in 10 days for my best friend's (from childhood) wedding.  I'll keep you posted.

Fall Break 2010

In lieu of time off for Thanksgiving, our kids get a Fall Break in October for one week.  Last year we went to Curacao, but this year we decided to go home to Louisiana and Galveston as we are not going to the States for Christmas or Spring Break this year.

Fortunately, my best friend Stephanie decided to celebrate her 40th birthday in New Orleans the weekend we arrived.  When we touched down in Houston on Friday, Chris took the girls on to rent a car to drive to Galveston, and I boarded a plane to New Orleans.  

New Orleans was a blast, and a bit of a blur.  Stephanie rented us beautiful rooms at the Royal Sonesta on Bourbon Street.  We even had a balcony to watch all of the activities below.  I laughed until my sides hurt, danced until my feet hurt (my shoe choice, although stylish, was not conducive to a long night on Bourbon Street), and had a fabulous time.  I got smart the second night and packed a pair of flip flops in my purse to change into when my feet started hurting and I just didn't care about fashion anymore.  Highly recommended.  

Here is Heidi, me, Steph, Pamela, Emily and Margaret on Friday night.  I think the guy behind us is the bellman from our hotel.  Gracias to the photographer.  

 On Sunday, we headed to Mandeville and Madisonville to see my cousin, Marla and some old friends from medical school.  Marla is as funny and gorgeous as ever.  Here we are at a lake front restaurant in Mandeville, having, what accidentally turned out to be a 5 hour lunch/pub crawl.  Got to love family dinners and it was worth every minute to see her and my aunt and uncle.

After lunch, we spent the night in Madsionville with Jherie (my roommate from medical school) and her husband Charlie and their beautiful kids Trent, Kate and Lauren.  She asked me what I wanted to eat for dinner before we arrived and I told her good seafood is hard to find in Caracas.  She made the MOST fabulous gumbo with lump crab, shrimp and crab claws AND had seared tuna steaks and scallops on the side.

Uncle Jude and Aunt Jamie came in from New Orleans for a visit and Uncle Jeremiah was able to bring cousin Juliana over for a day to play with the girls.  On our last night in Louisiana, I was able to drag myself out of bed to take the girls to Randol's, their favorite cajun restaurant.  Aunt Leah and most of the uncles were able to make it and we had a wonderful dinner.  The girls love it so much because they play cajun music and dance.   

I captured a short video of the girls dancing together - but as cute as they are, they did not steal the show.  You have to watch the video to understand what I am talking about.  Some people really know how to have fun. The next two days we spent in Galveston, running errands and visiting our loved ones there. 

On Saturday night, we returned to Caracas. 

We have a couple of months of routine, and then we head out to Peru and Argentina for three weeks over the winter break.  Expect a blog with video and all of the usual trimmings.  

We plan to visit Lima for three days then head to Buenos Aires to meet up with Chris' sister and her family there for Christmas Day.  On December 26th we leave for Bariloche - a resort high in the Patagoinian Andes.  After exploring the lakes around Bariloche, we will head to the Glaciers National Park to see Mount Fitzroy and the surrounding glaciers and finally we will head to Tierra Del Fuego and Ushuaia - at the end of the world.  

Good Things About Venezuela.....

We are back.

I did not leave claw marks on the tarmac in Houston.  I was actually glad to go back.  Don't get me wrong, I had a fantastic summer working, visiting friends, and soaking up some Galveston time, but when it was time to go back - I was ready.

You could say I missed my rock star apartment, the near perfect daily spring like weather, the gorgeous mountain view from every window in my home, the kids swanky private school — and you would only be partially correct.

You see, I really, really missed Julia, my maid.

After a summer of single motherhood, while I was bringing in the bacon, driving it home, cooking it, serving it AND cleaning up after it was done made me acutely realize how lucky I am here in Caracas.  I know that most women in America do what I did every day and call it life, and it is very humbling to me.  When I was working, my 100 + hour weeks qualified me for a live-in housekeeper/baby sitter — so I never really did it all before.

I asked Chris to have Julia there when we arrived in Caracas to help us unpack and get settled as the kids were starting school in a couple of days after our arrival.  I missed Julia so much that I had visions of me running in slow motion, to the tune of "Chariots of Fire," towards her, only to crumple, sobbing, at her feet in sheer gratitude.

Well, there was a miscommunication, and she was not there when we arrived.  I took a deep breath, squared my shoulders, and started unpacking our 9 suitcases.  Julia called and apologized for the misunderstanding and we told her to come the next day.  A few hours later, my door bell rang, and I absentmindedly went to answer it.

It was Julia - in all of her 5 foot 1 shining glory, there to save me from unpacking hell.  I literally threw my arms around her and showered her with the gifts I had brought her back from the states.  She quickly shooed me away, and changed into her uniform.  Within minutes, she took charge of the unpacking I basically acted as her grateful assistant.

She has eased us back into our routine and I am eternally grateful.  The kids are back at school and loving it.  They have new friends, great teachers, and are looking forward to another wonderful year.

Monday is sheet changing day at our house.  I guess Julia decided changing the sheets is not enough.  She decided to wash the duvet covers and pillow shams as well.  Our pillows suffer from years of my Mediterranean blooded husband sleeping on them and his, well essence, being left on them nightly.  The pillows (inside the cases) were stained a splotchy brownish color.  They were cleanish, just stained from years of use.

I figured when I got fed up enough, I would bring in some new ones from the states.

It seems, however, that Julia had other ideas.

She opened the seams of the pillows and removed the stuffing so she could bleach and scour the covers. When I got home from tennis lessons, I watched in shock as she was hand sewing the seams back together after she had dried and restuffed the covers.

I am seriously thinking about putting plastic covers on them now to protect them from future damage!

God I love that woman.