HOLA! From Cusco Peru

Hello elder nielsen,
I am trying to write this letter on moms iPod and it is hard to type. We just read the letter from your mission president about the typhoon and we hope and pray that you are safe.

We have already been to the amazon jungle and rain forest. It was very hot And humid and it rained every day. When it rains it comes down in buckets. But we kept thinking this must be how Cody feels in the Philippines. We saw crocodiles parrots, macaws, trianchulas, etc. nothing that great. The monkeys were really cool. The guides went out and called them in and the came in like crazy jumping from tree to tree. There were 3 dominate males that came in so that was a little intense to watch them . We had to be careful.

We are in cusco now and head to machipuchu  today. The day we got here, I had the revenge from the jungle. Every 20 minutes all night long I had to use the bathroom. The diarea had hit me with a vengence. I did not eat anything all day long yesterday or dinner the night before. So there is nothing left in my system. I ate breakfast this morning as I was getting weak. So we will see how it goes. It was a good thing they had public rest rooms on our tour yesterday or it could have been ugly. I think 1 bano will have to be condemned after I used it.

I have loved talking to everyone in Spanish . It is great. But I must have a magnet on my forhead as when all these people see that I am a tourist and speak Spanish they almost maul me. Sometimes we have 3 and 4 people at the same time trying to sell us something. I wish we could help them all but we can't .

We love you and pray for you daily. Keep working hard and be safe.

Love

Dad from Peru   

 

Dearest Elder Nielsen,

This may be kind of short because I'm typing it on the pink phone here in Cusco, Peruuu. We have been having quite an adventure.  We first place we went to a place in the jungle, on a river, where we stayed in our own bungalow, I loved that. To get there we flew into a little town and took a van to the river docks.  On the streets there were more people on motorcycles and scooters than driving cars.  There were whole families on motorcycles; a kid in the front and then dad and then a baby sleeping in between him and the mom, who was in the back.   We went on a little tour into the rainforest and it was raining, and we left our ponchos back in our suitcase, so we got soaked!  There's a reason why it's called a "rain" forest .  We saw monkeys up close and saw wild parrots a couple of macaws and parakeets.  We heard a Toucan( our guide pointed it out.). I really liked walking through the jungle paths, I felt like I was in a Indiana Jones movie.
Now we are in Cusco, it's a big busy city.  Lots of tourists and people wanting to sell stuff to them-- and they are persistent little people.  The traffic is crazy.  No stop signs, the cars just squeeze in where they want to go.  It makes crossing streets kind of risky for the pedestrians.  They do have stop lights, but on every corner they are enforced with these women traffic cops.  Otherwise I don't think they would follow the rules of the traffic signal--seriously !    Dad has enjoyed speaking Spanish with everyone, they always ask where he learned to speak .  He wasn't feeling to well today, he caught the Peruvian quickstep yesterday, not much different than the rocky mnt. Variety ,Except you have to move a little quicker because you aren't always near a bano.  Tomorrow we head to the machu pichu starting point.  We have met 3 couples who hiked the inca trail to it, instead if taking the train, it takes 4 days--just not enough time.  We are having a good time , but think about home and the kids a lot.  I feel good with Erin there though.  We love you lots, I enjoyed the story that resulted from singing I'm the rain-- keep singing and smiling,  love, mom