Last night I contacted the taxi driver who had brought us home from the airport last week. He was able to come, thankfully.
While I was milking the cow this morning, he called for final directions. It is hard to keep up a rhythm of milking and wave one’s hand in order to give directions. And yes, I know he couldn’t see, but waving helps.
Finally, I told him I’d just drive out to the road and find him. Obviously I wasn’t waving enthusiastically enough because of milking. Turns out, he had gone to Compone. We were in the driveway ready to load at 6:45.
Steph had made egg sandwiches and coffee to send along. We were off, with the taxista trying to get to Cusco in record time for no reason at all. Sadly, there were some sick children along the way. Happily, they weren’t in the truck I was driving.
At the airport they said we couldn’t park at the gate, nor could we park in the road to unload, nor could we drive inside to unload at the door. One officer told me I must go, must move the truck. Another said no, wait, just wait. Another said he would move the cones so I could drive in. They had no clue what was what.
The taxi driver convinced them to let us in because we had artos niños (many children). That was a blessing. We got them unloaded, and I paid a taxi more than I ever have before. But I was glad to have made it safely and quickly (and sickly) to the very door of the airport.
Andrew’s had trouble with the baby’s ticket not showing up. They showed the reservation on the website with the necessary numbers, but they still had to pay a bit to get him on the flight–leaving him in Peru wasn’t really an option.
They are now waiting in Lima. Their next flight isn’t until 1:00 am tomorrow morning. They cannot check-in their bags until after 8:00 tonight, so they are stuck with only the food court to keep them occupied. We’ll see how plump they are when they return home.
They were a blessing and encouragement to us, for sure. We feel more joyful and grateful now than before they came.
It was unfortunate that they struggled with adjusting to the elevation. But they didn’t let that keep them from lending helping hands. Andrew tried to work on welding up a chicken fence, but he was feeling ill more of the time than the others. The elephant falls harder than the ant, as they say. The progress he made will be a help.
Lauretta was a great help keeping the house stuff happening and looking for ways to let Stephanie rest. She knows what it’s like to be an expectant mother of six. She put in a tremendous amount of work to make this trip come together, arranging our packages and theirs, dealing with travel agencies for endless hours, and so on.
The children made chores go by quickly and enjoyably. Anson poured himself into working with the animals. He’s dreaming of having his own goats in the States. His dad isn’t convinced that the dream isn’t a nightmare. Hopefully, they’ll get it figured out and have a few dozen goats by year’s end.
Our children loved having so many friends and playmates to get into mischief with. It warmed my heart to see them enjoying themselves. (And sometimes there were moments where I wondered if they couldn’t take a break from mischief-making.)
Thank you, Andrew and Lauretta and family, for your visit. Qué Dios les bendiga mucho. Les extrañaremos. Cuídense.
Juan David 