Mike's Family Visit!

Hi guys,

Sorry it has been so long. Things with my host mom have not gotten much better and I'm still quite worried for her health. On top of this, I have literally been running around all over Peru and the pace of my work is not going to slow down anytime soon. In the next three weeks, I will be installing a solar panel system with Mike/our good friend Katherine, building a wind turbine with my community partner, going down to Lima so Mike (and me a little bit) can share our projects with the new volunteers, and then I will be installing my turbine/holding a wind energy workshop for my students. Two weeks after this whole mess of work my family is coming! On that note, I'd love to share some photos from the vacation I recently experienced with Mike's wonderful family. After hearing so many amazing things about Mike's family, I was both nervous and very excited to meet his family. Mike's sister (Amanda) is an incredibly beautiful, talented, creative, intelligent, strong, and passionate woman. I see how she has influenced Mike in so many wonderful ways and it was nice to see where he gets all of his creativity. Mike's mom (Carla) is a loving, gorgeous, driven, big hearted, sincere, and thoughtful woman. I see so much of what first attracted me to Mike in her, like his incredibly large heart. Finally, there is Mike's step-dad (Dave.) Dave is an adventurous, funny, charming, helpful, warmhearted, and spirited man. I realize this sounds repetitive but I again see so much of Dave in Mike, like his adventurous spirit. It was amazing meeting and seeing how these people, crucial to Mike's life, have had such an influence on him. In our travels, we visited Cusco, Machu Picchu, Arequipa, Trujillo, my site, Mike's site, and Mancora. We did things from watching the sunset in Mancora over the ocean, riding Peruvian pasos, hiking Huayna Picchu at Machu Picchu, seeing Peruvian wildlife, eating amazing food everywhere etc. Also we talked. While I had already heard a lot about Mike's family from Mike, it was really interesting rehearing stories from their perspectives, and hearing other great stories about Mike's childhood. Amanda was kind enough to bring some embarrassing pictures from when Mike was a kid (I hope my sisters don't get any ideas...) Anyways, while it was so incredibly wonderful meeting his family, it did make me miss my family and it made me incredibly excited for my own family's visit. Here are a few photos of highlights, enjoy!

Enjoying a lovely breakfast with views in Cusco

Enjoying some ruins

The train ride to Machu Picchu

The amazing Machu. I adore this shot.

The whole gang

Can you guess what we are doing? Google Totoro in the rain

Troopers hiking Huayna Picchu

Posing by the Mountain they conquered

Mike and Amanda go for a bike ride

Enjoying a nice ride on Peruvian Pasos

Peruvian Pasos!

No blogpost would be complete without a cute street dog

Mike and his Mom by the condors

Seeing some Condors

We got some pretty spectacular condor shots

My favorite coffee place in Trujillo

Enjoying a lovely lunch by the beach, yes I'm wearing a bib

Vicuñas!

More beautiful Vicuñas

Super cute mountain bunny

Wild Alpaca? Llama? Obviously I learned nothing in Arequipa...

Mike's parents enjoying a nice beach stroll

This photo turned out super weirdly but I love it. BTW Mike and I just celebrated 1 year together!