Hello family, friends, and other fellow bloggers!!  We have had enough requests, plus the fact that we have lots to share right now, that we indeed have started our own blog like many of you.  It really is a good way to share.  We hope you enjoy, and remember, we are beginners at this.  We want to tell you about our trip to Peru and Ecuador!!  It was like my dream come true (Danae's).  I got to go back to my mission with my husband who speaks Spanish.  Can life get any better than this?!!  It was wonderful, and we feel so grateful to Heavenly Father that we had this opportunity. 

And we're off!!

This was in El Salvador, just catching our connecting flight.  They still had safe drinking fountains there!

We landed in Lima, Peru, late at night.  Our host from our hotel picked us up from the airport, so we didn't have to worry about fighting any Peruvian taxi drivers :)  As we drove, we soon learned that our host and his family were members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints!!  As you can imagine, we became immediate friends and had plenty to talk about.  We loved staying at their bed and breakfast, and they were so accommodating.  (Let us know if you ever want their information). 

The next morning we flew to Trujillo, Peru and went to the home of some of Rob's friends, Genaro and Luciana, and stayed with them.  We arrived in the afternoon and took off to explore some ruins nearby called "Chan Chan".  This specific area has been excavated and renovated quite a bit.  We believe it is not quite as authentic as many other places, but it was still interesting to see.  It is the largest adobe ruins in the world.

The above three pictures are in a room that is believed to have been for government meetings. The larger spaces in the walls were where people sat (ancient cubicles!). The ceilings of those spaces were constructed with several rows of bamboo.  The walls shown in the picture directly above have long crevices. Between the wind coming through one end of the room, the bamboo in the cubicles, and the long crevices, the sound and the voices are amplified in the room. That way they could speak in a relatively normal voice and still be heard. Cool huh?

We went across the street and explored the surrounding area, finding less-excavated walls and structures.  From his last trip, Rob already had been to these areas.

This area of Peru is very dry.  Rob said that in his time there on the coast of a year and a half, it sprinkled twice!  Thus, all the ruins are still in pretty good shape!

Until next time!  Stay tuned!!