Day 240 26/2/12 Well enough to shop

Sun 26th
Today Mike was fine again, happy and playing and grumpy too. Rocio took him into the city to go shopping with her and cousin Rosario. I was worried about this but it was all fine. Michael slept mostly, not in a weakened feverish was but just because he is so happy in the manta these days. Rocio came home with a baby bath for Michael and a new bizarre cushion in the shape of a heart or perhaps a poodle it’s hard to tell. Michael continues to eat well and be alert and have a lot of energy. We truly hope he stays well this time, everything is looking good so far but he has seemed well and got ill again before, so we are holding on until we see a few days of no fever or diarrhoea to be really sure he is well.



Michael has always been a clever boy and it didn’t take him long to work out that when we give him spoons full of liquid these days there’s a fair chance that it’s nasty tasting medicine. We have learnt that the best way to get round this is to mix the medicine with very liquid jelly. He loves this and eats it all as quickly as we can feed him.

Day 239 25/2/12 Kerly Birthday

Sat 25th
We woke up early again to give Michael his medicine today. He had an injection of two medicines yesterday and will have the same today. Each morning and evening he has two different drops and a powered medicine to take too. We give him medicine at 7, 8 and 9 in the morning and evening. We are making him special easy to digest food called maizena.
Today was cousin Kerly’s (Now I know how to spell it) birthday and so Bob and I went into the city to buy her presents. We wandered about the shopping centre looking for baby girl presents and eventually found a small shop with a very helpful woman who wrapped some hair bands for us and raced around the other shops finding change for our large notes. She even gave us some sweets before we went.
Michael was fine all morning but by the middle of the day was feverish and weak again. This is again really worrying for us. We called on Gloria to come round and give Michael his injection and she checked him out and checked over his medicines too. She is a trained nurse so this was really good. She found out that the doctor hadn’t given us anything to counter Michael’s fever. Something for diarrhoea and something for colic and something for sore throat and something for a bacterial infection but nothing for his fever. So she recommended that I go immediately to buy Panadol and so now Michael has another medicine in his schedule, this time he should take it every 6 hours. He’s starting to rattle.

Here´s Bob waiting to see the results



Well it must have worked because by the evening Michael was back on bouncing form and made it to Kerly’s party where he ate everything offered including his favourite jelly and he danced and smiled and had a good time.



And here is Kerly with her cake




He did get very tired though and by the time of his 9 pm medicine he was finished for the day and we took him home. He still has diarrhoea which is bad because he can’t be getting nutrition from his food but he does seem to be well otherwise. Of course we’re watching him very carefully now and really hoping for a peaceful fever free night.

Day 238 24/2/12 Private Doctor

Fri 24th
We woke up around 6 to give Michael his medicine and played around until breakfast time. Michael was still not on his best form he sleeps a lot and isn’t interested in anything. As the day went on Michael seemed ever weaker and his diarrhoea got really bad. This made us very fearful again and we decided we had to take Michael to a private doctor. The hospitals here just don’t care enough. So with the help of Rocio’s cousin Sara we found a private doctor and waited for him to finish his hospital work and to come to his private practice. He was very good to us and checked Michael thoroughly and prescribed several medicines, including injections of antibiotics. His fees were more than the normal hospital but not much more if you include all the silly extras and fees that the hospital adds on and anyway we just want our Michael well again, and soon. At the pharmacy next door I helped hold Michael down whilst he had another injection in his bum, poor thing. He cried of course but he was so weak he didn’t cry much really. We got home really tired and worried and everyone was waiting for us. Mum had prepared some special food for Michael. Made mostly of corn flour it is very easy to eat and should keep him firm if you know what I mean. Michael ate well and drank his milk and fell asleep again.

Here he is sleeping in the manta




In the evening, as Rocio and I were watching comedies on the telly Michael suddenly woke up full of life. He was alert and interested in things and playing with whatever he could get his hands on and smiling and all in all back to his normal self. It was so sudden and wonderful. As he went to bed this evening he is still a bit weak but so much better than he has been for days. Hope it stays that way.

Day 237 23/2/12 Poorly Boy

Thurs 23rd
We went to the hospital this morning to have Michael checked out again. This time it was all a little easier, perhaps because of the practice. We paid our money and got an appointment and waited for the paediatrician to arrive and start work. It was a different doctor this time and much friendlier and he bothered to look at Michael too. He more or less confirmed all that the night staff had said and reassured us that Michael had simple flu and sent us on our way. Michael was a lot perkier this morning and so we decided to go ahead with the days plans and so we found Bob and went off to Sapallanga again this time with the expectation of seeing music and dancing there. On the bus there we were all very tired I think and Rocio slept as you can see here.



We found Mum in Sapallanga on her stall with the relatives hat stalls next door. It’s always very sociable and Mum seems to always want to keep buying us nice things to eat and drink, which is great too. It did rain for a short while but most of the day was hot sunshine and I had to be careful not to get a sunburn on my scalp again. Michael seemed fine and made his rounds of the friends and relatives there, going from arms to arms.



Here´s Bob




More and more musicians and dancers arrived and started practicing around the town square. Some of the practices amounted to full performances. Videos comming soon.

Here is an orchestra practicing



and some girls buying mum´s hats for their costume



We went home as the market closed, actually before the main performance events took place but I was very happy with what we did see. We came home in a taxi which ran out of fuel on the way and spent the evening with the t.v.
We slept fine with Michael though he was always a bit hot.

Day 236 22/2/12 Hospital

Wed 22nd

Sorry no picture today for reasons that I think you´ll understand

We took Michael to the hospital this morning as soon as it opened. I was so happy that Rocio has her Peruvian right to preferential treatment as we jumped all the queues and got ourselves an early appointment with the Paediatrician. Registering for the for time t the hospital was made complicated by Michael not yet having his National ID card. The woman entering his details kept reading from Rocio’s ID and putting her info in. Also she could not accept that Michael’s first sir name is Jenkins and she spelt it wrongly even after several repetitions of how it goes. When we got through to see the Doctor he was a terrible rude and ignorant man, who hardly looked in Michael’s direction at all and sent us to get an analysis of Michael’s nappy contents. This all turned out to be another encounter with rude arrogant officious staff who wouldn’t accept nappy contents from a nappy and wanted us to go buy a small plastic container and wait until Michael somehow chose to fill it for us. We went and hid and gave them the nappy contents we already had from an earlier change and they analysed this for us. It proved to be an all clear and after another visit to Doctor Ego we went home. We spent all day looking after Michael and he seemed to be doing well and we went to bed happy that he was getting better but in the night we noticed that he was really hot and weak and just not as responsive as he normally is. He was breathing fast and I listened to his chest and his poor heart was racing away. This really really frightened Rocio and I and we got up and rushed out to the emergency hospital. We didn’t really know what to do and decided to go straight to a private hospital by taxi only to be turned away as they don’t have a paediatric section. The next hospital happened to be the one we had gone to earlier and was just up the road so Rocio and I jogged up there only to find it all closed and locked up. We ran around and banged on all the doors to no effect. We were desperate by this time but no one seemed to be in. I noticed a security guard in a doorway across the road was watching us, though not saying anything and we went over to him to ask if he knew where the emergency room was. It turned out that he was in the door of the emergency room and had watched us searching with desperation without saying anything. So we were led in and from then on we met nothing but kind caring efficient hospital staff. Michael was taken and examined weighed and temperature taken, breathing and heart checked. At every stage that they could they returned Michel to Rocio for some comfort feeding and love. I thought this was very wise and caring of them. The very worst of it all for Michel was that they decided that he couldn’t breathe properly though his nose and I helped hold him down whilst they unblocked it for him. Michael never likes even having his nose wiped for him and having cotton buds poked up his nose made him scream and scream. We were sent home with Ibuprfen liquid to give him for his temperature and instructions to go back to the hospital again in the morning for the paediatrician to check him over again.
When we got home we found we were locked out as neither of us had the keys and we had to wake Paolita us next door by phoning her mobile and get her to jump the garden wall and open he street door for us. We had about two hours sleep before going back to the hospital again.

Day 235 21/2/12 Granny and Michael

Tues 21nd



This morning Rocio’s granny came to visit. She was very worried about Michael. She had been told somehow that Michael was ill and had been in hospital. She rushed round to see how he was and we reassured her that Michael is fine. She sat with us in the garden for a long time and ate lunch with us too. On a tangent I learnt today that Granny is 95 years old and had 12 children in her life. Granny went away happy that Michael is well.



Here he is posing as Andy Hamilton



We decided later to go to Granny’s house to visit the family there and watch a video of Santiago traditional dancing from 1995. This had so many relatives in looking younger and even video of Rocio’s granddad dancing Santiago a short while before he died. We had a great time and ate a lot of popcorn and had a surprisingly acceptable cup of barley “coffee”.
During the night Michael got more and more hot and we had a terribly worrying night with him.
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Day 234 20/2/12 Immigrations

Mon 20th
Michael woke up full of fun today and bothered Rocio and I until we woke up to play with him.



We went to immigrations today to start the process of my residency in Peru and to renew Rocio’s Peruvian passport. This didn’t work out so well as they have recently moved to a new office and haven’t got their computer system working yet so they couldn’t help Rocio and anyway I can only apply for my residency in the capital Lima. It’s ridiculous how centralised Peru is. Basically nothing happens officially outside Lima. The TV news is just as bad never anything to say about life outside Lima.
Sonia made a special meal today, Cerviche, a real Peruvian classic. Bob payed for the fish and Sonia and her girls worked hard for a long time it seemed to prepare it. Obviously Rocio, Mike and I didn’t try it ‘cos we don’t eat fish but Bob seemed to enjoy it. We are gradually getting Bob to try all the local and national specialities. We have yet to get him to try picaronnes (like doughnuts) or Chuno (like slimy potatoes, not my favourite) but there’s time yet.
I got the first of the two violins back from Uncle Adam. It’s looking great now and as far as I know plays really well too. It only remains for me to learn how to play it.
Here are a couple of views from the steps up the outside of the house. First the roofs of the city and the beautiful hills which surround Huancayo. I well remember the time I climbed the hill in the middle of the picture.



And secondly of the neighbours’ houses, just to show the normal adobe which is used to build houses here.



And here’s Bob on the same steps posing with his cousin Mike.

Day 233 19/2/12 Carnival

Today we went to a huge outdoor market, even bigger than the usual Sunday market. It was much more interesting too with lots of second hand stuff, a bit like a huge car boot sale. We were expecting to meet Bob there as he went early with Neri but despite walking the 12 block length of the market twice we never found him. We did buy some things and have very nice apple tasting bananas, churros, yoghurt and classicos and the fruity drink chichi morada. Michael ate a glass of jelly almost as big as he is. It was extremely strong sunshine and I got sunburn on my neck and on the top of my head through my short hair. Even Rocio suffered with sunburnt ears. We went home and found Bob and Neri waiting for us. They told us that they had been attacked by the carnival. In Peru carnival involves a lot of throwing water and talcum powder at strangers and Bob had become a target for this. He told me he did get his own back. He bought his own supplies of talc and water bombs from the convenient mobile carnival supply stalls. He says that it got a lot out of hand later with people throwing not water from buckets but the empty buckets themselves, or attacking with nettles, or throwing rocks, or punches. He kept out of all that.
Here is Yandheri looking after Michael and keeping him well amused.

Day 232 18/2/12 Pizza in Peru

Rain in the morning stopped most of our plans for the day. Bob Ademir and I did put up a bit of plywood in the ceiling of Rocio and my room. We still need some more but this was a good step towards better sound and heat insulation.
When the rain stopped a bit we went in to Huancayo city to a newly built shopping centre called Plaza real. It was shockingly like England. Almost as if the whole airplane journey and Lima and crossing the Andes had been a dream and we were in another English town. We tried to buy Pizza from the Pizza Hut but it turned out complicated. As usual the woman serving said “Yes yes yes we have pizza for vegetarians” and then offered us meat pizza and she had never heard of Margarita.
We did find nice coffee later in a cafe I remember going to before when I was in Huancayo. They bring you a glass of boiled milk and let you put your own coffee essence in and I put in a lot. I’ll be going there again.

In the evening after chatting with Gloria and Curly in the garden



we went round to her house to use the internet and especially to use Skype which turned out fun but very complicated with people coming in and out all the time



and Michael getting a bit restless and Gloria bringing us lots of lovely papaya (From Bob’s favourite tree) and the connection being very hard to hear and other things all at once. Still it was really good to talk to Michael’s Aunty Sharron and cousin Annie.

Here is Michael sleeping peacefully swaddled in ablanket ahhhhh!

Day 231 17/2/12 Rabies

We went today with Bob to get his rabies immunisation. There had been some confusion over which exact injection he needed but with that cleared up we took him to the vetinary section of the hospital and they dosed him up. His immunisation says “Developed in humans cells” on it the one they were going to give him, the normal one in Peru, says “Developed in the brains of lactating rats” Lucky escape then for Bob.
I’ve paid Uncle Adam for the work he will get his ‘Maestro’ do on the two violins and I can’t wait to see them. Uncle Adam didn’t want to do half a job on them and I agreed. I think they will be great when they are done.
Now that the house is full of children, the five cousins of Mike and various visiting neighbours’ children, Michael is never short of company.



In fact he often is surrounded by four or five children pulling him about and giving him things and taking them away again and getting him to try crawling and picking him up and carrying him about.
Here he is trying on Bob’s biggest boots.



It all looks very hard on the poor boy but perhaps I’m wrong as he never complains and just gets on with whatever is in front of him. By the end of the day I think he is worn out by all the attention and fun and he seems to sleep much better now.

Day 230 16/2/12 Recovery

Michel woke us up early as usual. He seems destined to wake at seven despite all changes due to British Summer Time or changing continent. Rocio and I went to the Reniec again, leaving a pale looking Bob to rest for the morning. Rocio had some success this time name and by April Michael should receive his ID card though it’s worrying that they have spelt his name wrong on the receipt. Then Rocio, Mike and I went to Sapallanga like last week. Mum had got up early despite drinking in the party until later then Rocio and I and had gone off to bed. We found her there bright and cheery as normal and she made us very welcome by buying us snacks to eat including cancha, like enormous popcorn made into tubes.



After finishing work we went home to find Dad, Neri and Jose had continued drinking and were asking for Bob to go back to the party. Bob is not feeling too well today and wisely has stayed away.
Towards evening Dad came home, ate some boiled rice and fell asleep on the settee. There he stayed all evening, even when the room filled up with people watching soap operas and others watching pop videos on the computer, both at the same time.

Day 229 15/2/12 Party Day

We had a frustrating morning out at the Reniec, government office, trying to get Michael’s ID card issued. Still no luck with this. They seem to be very obstinate in there and also convinced that Rocio can’t possibly be married to a Mr Jenkins and have lived in England. They don’t seem to believe that Michael was born in England despite his birth certificates being issued in London.

We have asked for Uncle Adam’s help with the violins. He is leader if a local orchestra and his violins player has taken the violins to repair and set them both up for me. It’s muchbetter to have someone do it who actually knows what they are doing.

Here is a picture to show just how brown Michael is going despite hiding him from the sun almost always. Sorry about the food on his forehead and the snotty nose, it’s hard to stop either of these from happening these days.



This afternoon Michel and I played Ukulele and watch the boys playing their run- around games whist Rocio helped mum making hats. They were trying to finish quickly because we had all been invited to a party next door at cousin Jose’s house. This looked likely to be a wild and loud affair and didn’t disappoint.

Here are a couple of Pics of Michael in his party suit getting into the spirit.





The party started with many bottles of beer passing around and stayed that way for a long time. The hosts made a special journey to the local shop just to buy fizzy pop for me to drink, which was very touching to me and Rocio’s Mormon brother Ademir even came for a short while. This couldn’t have been easy for him at all considering all the beer around and it was so good to see him there. I shared a few glasses of pop with him before he was briefly dragged into the dancing. I did ask Ademir about the other drug being used at the party, coca leaf, as several of the women were sitting chewing it. He said that he didn’t like to chew it (neither do I it tastes like privet hedge) but according to the Mormon church it’s nothing so not banned. Strange that for what would be a class A drug in England. I’m told it’s a stimulant but from my experience it isn’t as strong as a cup of coffee. As the party went on and the beers continued even Bob was drawn into the dancing. Rocio had quite a hard time at the party because several people insisted on smoking in the room. Rocio is still strongly affected by cigarette smoke and had to leave the party and hide upstairs each time. Cigarette smokers of whatever country are the same. They always confuse “Outside” with “Just inside the door blowing the smoke inwards” and can never tell just how bad they make a room smell. This aside it was a great party and we all had a great time.



Bob enjoyed himself so much that at one point he needed to go outside and hold on tightly to a small tree for support whilst he cleared his head. It was then that a papaya fell from the tree and landed by him (His good luck as it is now called) and Rocio’s sister Sonia (shaggy) and husband Neri and the rest of their five children who we hadn’t yet seen in Peru all turned up. Bob was pulled off his tree and introduced to all of them Sonia, Neri, Yandery, Yadhira, Leidy and Alvaro (Funny that because by the morning he had forgotten them and asked me “Who are all these children in the house?” ) Bob went to bed and wasn’t heard from again and the party continued for a few hours longer.



My boy was taken away from us and spirited upstairs with the children whilst they played computer games quietly and brought out lots of little plastic toys form Michael. I was worried about him and went to check up several times but he was fine sitting fiddling with the toys and watching the others. It was a real haven of tranquillity up there compared to the pounding music and dancing and beer and coca leaf chewing downstairs. I think the party went on long after we went to bed, in fact to keep drinking for two or three days is not unheard of here. We’ll see what happens about that.

Day 228 14/2/12 Bob making hats

Here's Bob helping to make hats in the morning



We went into town today to buy various things including parts for the two violins and I am so happy that I can set them up again. I hate to see musical instruments not being cared for.
We are getting to be regulars again at the corner shop. The lady who works there seems to like Michael (Who doesn’t?) and gives him little presents. Today she gave him two “Island” bananas. I’ve never seen these in England. They are orangey in colour inside and have a slightly different taste. In fact there are several things of the banana family here in Peru that are unknown in the Uk and never enough words for them all in English. We only have banana and plantain. We certainly don’t have bananas that taste of apples.Michael loved the bananas and I sat with him whilst he demolished one of them teaspoonful at a time, with great concentration. He is eating so well and so much here we will have to weigh him soon to see just how big his is getting.
Michael helped me fix the violins this evening sitting on my lap getting as involved as possible with every part. We set up both as far as I could and I managed to get a tune out of one of them. There’s still a lot of work to do on the other and I really need help as I am learning how little I know about violins.
Here he is posing in his yellow Pikachu hat.

Day 227 13/2/12 Huayucachi and X-box

We went to Huayucachi today, another outdoor market where mum goes each week to sell hats and take in hats for repair. It was a day with scorching hot sun, though not that warm, and we sat for a long time talking to all the relatives also there selling hats. We ate fruit salad and ice-cream, yuyu and Rocio and Michael ate a huge glass of jelly. Mike looked to be loving it.



In the afternoon we prepared to go to the funeral of a famous man in Huancayo, the doctor who over the years has helped in the birth of so many of the local people. Sorry to say we didn’t go in the end as the skies opened and it really poured down and we sat about watching films on the telly.
After some searching we have found the two violins giving to me by Rocio’s mum which used to belong to her father Donato, who sadly passed away when she was small. They are in a bad condition now with many parts missing and were filthy with dust but it seems no real damage has been done to them since I last saw them. I spent the evening cleaning and sorting them as best as I could, though I really don’t know much about violins. Time to learn I guess.
Afterwards Bob and I went to the internet cafe and whilst in there my other nephew Jean came in and challenged Bob to a battle on his favourite online computer games Half Life. Sadly Bob lost very badly. He did manage to kill Jean perhaps three times but Jean killed him many more. He was at disadvantage as he didn’t know the game or its controls. Jean gloated about this all evening and Bob swore to have his x-box shipped over just to get revenge on what he calls a Modern game.

Day 226 12/2/12 Classicos

Here are Michael and mum as they spend a lot of the day these days with Michael in the manta keeping a steady eye on everything happening in the house. Bob seems to be snoozing on the settee and behind you can see the calendar on the wall which people say looks like Michael. A little gringo baby in a cow costume with a sweet face adverting supplies for hat makers I think.



Rocio, Bob, Michael and I went to the street market today and walked up and down a few blocks of it. It is truly huge, Rocio estimates that it is 10 city blocks long and I have never walked it all. It was busy and crowed and we were careful not to get our pockets picked.
We stopped to eat Classicos, another long waited for treat a bit like rice pudding and jam and Bob bough himself a set of pan pipes. We bought a few practical clothes for Michael, especially the socks we forgot to pack and had a very nice time being the gringo tourists.
This evening Gloria came to visit and when she visited took Michael with her to go play with Curly. They only live two doors away but still it was a little difficult. We didn’t really leave it long until we followed and found Michael sitting up really well and playing pass the toys with Curly. He was pleased to see us but didn’t interrupt his games. He gets on really well with Curly, not quite sharing toys but more or less playing together.

Day 225 11/2/12 Washing

It was really dry and sunny today for the first time so we all wanted to do our washing. Bob and I took turns hand washing our stuff in the stone sink. Here’s Bob getting to grips with his jeans.



Here too is Mum at the sink wearing the Cardigan we bought her in Nottingham and the hat she made me for my wedding



Also since I’ve been here they have taken back the hat they made for me for my wedding and are rebuilding it completely. It’s had its ribbon cut off and been washed and now is being reformed before being ironed and the ribbon replaced. Here it is with the other new and repair hats looking out of shape and naked without its ribbon.
We went back to Miguel’s house today and we didn’t take Michael with us. He has been a cry baby all day. We think he might be ill with a cold. Perhaps also he has decided that he can always get his own way by crying. He cries and screams for the smallest reason and won’t wait for anything these days. We are extra accommodating of him as he is ill and we are always trying to make him happy anyway but he seems to think we are capable of resolving all his desires immediately always which isn’t true and he gets very upset at waiting. Well, he had been in the room with us screaming about us getting him dressed. So mum came to take him from us and wanted to look after him whilst we went visiting. It was hard decision to make as we hadn’t been doing anything wrong to grumpy Michael and he would have been very happy out visiting with us and Rocio has never left him with anyone else for very long, what if he cried for her or for milk? We are so unused to going anywhere without Mike that we were at Miguel’s house before I noticed I was still carrying the nappy bag with his change of clothes and things in.
We also went this time without Bobby as he was away at a traditional tree cutting ceremony with Gloria and Jose’s family. I think Bobby the dog probably missed his twin as he stayed outside and didn’t talk to us. We had a great time laughing and talking but were constantly worried about Michael. As it turned out he was fine. He cried a bit we’re told but mum calmed him and they came to meet us as we walked home. Michel did look very pleased to see us though,

Day 224 10/2/12 Peruvian ID

I was one of the first awake today, but not before Nestor who was complaining of a headache but went out early to work in a factory making metal doors.
We planned to go to Reniec today, the government office, to get Michael’s national ID card issued. These days every Peruvian has an ID card, even babies, and these can be check anytime especially on the buses. So we need this fixed before we travel to Mentushari in the jungle.

We went first to “the cousins” photo business to get Michael’s official photo taken, in his tiger suit,



and there we met baby Curly. Not sure how to spell her name yet but they didn’t know it was appropriate for a curly little girl.



Michael was given a push along toy butterfly to play with on a long plastic stick. He quickly detached the butterfly, discarded it and had a great time bashing things with the stick. I love him very much.



For tactical reasons Bob and I went to the offices with Rocio but let her take Michael in alone. We have had problems with them there before. If Rocio has anyone with her they are desperate to speak to that person not Rocio. They have even gone so far before as to ask Rocio to get an adult to sign her forms for her. This rightly infuriates her. The mother of my boy is in fact herself an adult and quite capable of talking for herself and signing their forms. So she was in and out quite quickly whilst Bob and I sat in a cafe drinking Inka Kola (a real favourite just because of the name and despite it tasting like bubblegum).
Michael likes all this action. He loves to be out and about and if tired can easily sleep in the new sling. All in all he is very happy here though he seems to be getting much more clingy at nights strangely. He sleeps in the bad with us as he mostly did in England towards the end but he won’t let Rocio go even a centimetre or so from him and if she goes to the loo without him in the night he always notices and screams until she comes back. Nothing I can do as daddy makes any difference.

Day 223 9/2/12 Nestor´s Surprise

This morning almost as soon as I was awake I bumped into Nestor, Rocio’s other brother. I didn’t know he had come back to Huancayo from living in another part of Peru and to the house in the early morning and was already on his way out to work.
I feel almost normal today It’s still cold and rainy and I am desperate for the sunshine but at least my head only hurt when I bend down now., I made Yorkshire tea for everyone at breakfast today with some fresh unpasteurised milk we bought from a woman at the door who was looking for the house that had ordered it. She didn’t seem to mind selling it to the wrong people and even went over the road to knock on the neighbour’s door to get me some change. The tea turned out really well despite the water never seeming to boil fully. I’m not sure it was a great success with all the family but dad really liked it I think and it did me the world of good.
Here is Bob trying his strength with Jean Fernando




Later Rocio, Bob, Michael and I went on the buses to a village outside Huancayo called Sapallanga. Mum goes there ever week to the market to sell hats and to take and return hats for repair. There were lots of friends and relatives there and once again Michael went off to be passed around and admired by all. I was especially please to see Rocio’s Granny there and she was tearfully happy to see Rocio again. Granny is quite ill these days and in a lot of pain but she still works and walks and was happy to hold Michael on her lap.



We sat in the market and ate yuyo and chuno. I can’t explain details about all the wonderful Peruvian food but these two are a couple of savoury snacks that Rocio and I have been missing for 5 years in England.
On the way home we went by bus and I had the moment I have waited for. Bob in Peruvian bus seat.



In the afternoon we went into the city centre to open a bank account. On the way as we were passing her door anyway we called on Rocio’s friend Milagros. It was great to see her again and her little boy called Carlos. Milagros didn’t want any photos taking as she wasn’t prepared but she promised to visit us soon.
Here are Michael and I playing with the camera in the living room


This evening Nestor started drinking after work and carried on into the night, a sort of impromptu party. Bob, Nestor, dad, aunt Yola, mum and others sat on settees in the downstairs hall passing round the beer bottles, listening to music and getting quite loud. Any other day this would have been quite fine but the thing is this happened to be the first time his brother Ademir had brought his fiancée to the house to meet the parents. Ademir and fiancée Shirley are both Mormons and opposed to drinking. In fact we missed Ademir terribly at the welcoming party even though he was in the house at the time because he wouldn’t enter the room where people were drinking. This caused him various problems as he couldn’t get to his own room without going through that hallway and so was left standing outside in the rain. I invited them both upstairs where mum was preparing tea but for some reason they still stood in the rain. It all worked out like a farce with prodigal son drinking with the father and the good son left in the rain trying to put on a good show for his fiancée. They did eventually come upstairs to eat with us whist Nestor continued shouting and drinking downstairs. To be fair she seemed to take it all in her stride and chatted about theology with Rocio. After she had gone and Ademir disappeared again I went done to the party with Michael and had a sing with them all. It was all good and I did some translating for Nestor who was upset that he couldn’t make Bob understand what he was trying to say. It turned out to be the important message “I love this beer, it is my life, it is better than women”. So that little problem cleared up the party continued and Nestor was soon floppy drunk so Rocio, Michael and I went to bed.

Day 222 8/2/12 Recovering and Miguel

I woke up feeling much better today although throughout the day I have had relapses where I suddenly felt extremely cold. I am still wearing many layers of clothing and my head is splitting with pain each time the pain killers wear off. We were planning to go to the swimming pool today but we decided this was too ambitious and we planned a picnic instead. Just before we set of the rains started so the plan was abandoned. We made it out later in the day to visit Rocio’s friend Rocio and her son Miguel (Who is blind). They have a dog called Bobby which caused great hilarity when Rocio was throwing him out of the room shouting “Get out of here Bobby you’re filthy” and nephew Bobby didn’t know what he had done wrong. Miguel’s English is excellent.



It was funny not having a secret language. Usually that’s Spanish in England or English in Peru but with Miguel we have no secrets. Rocio went to her old church this evening with baby Michael in the sling on her front. In church Michael was really funny he slept through all the singing and woke up when they were praying. Everyone like Michael and prayed for Rocio and him.

Day 221 7/2/12 Bad Day

I have felt terrible all day today. I guess this is the altitude affecting me. I was hoping to get away without any bad effects this time but after going for breakfast upstairs and hardly being able to eat I went downstairs again feeling as if I would be sick and couldn’t make it back up again afterwards. I was never actually sick but I have felt weak and extremely cold. I have been in bed basically al day with three jumpers on and al the covers. I still have goose bumps and a nasty headache. I hope this goes away soon. At one point today I was making my way up stairs feeling more and more out of it. About half way up the short staircase I could no longer remember where I was. It looked like I was on the stairs at Rocio’s mum’s in Peru. This was a real surprise as I don’t often find myself on the stairs in Peru but it was true.
They have a lot of herbal medicine here in Huancayo. Two favourites are hortiga or nettles which they rub you vigorously with to give you that nice warm feeling, after the stinging fades. Another is ñuchco a supremely bitter herb to drink. The only times I have suddenly felt better today have been when these were offered. So far I haven’t taken either.



Michael has been fine I’m told. No bad effects from the altitude. He has spent most of the day with mum playing around or carried on her back watching what she was doing.

Day 220 6/2/12 Sorting out

Sonia and Neri went to the jungle today leaving Bob Rocio, Michael and me with Jean and Rocio’s mum and dad. We expect to be here a few days whilst we do paperwork for baby Michael and maybe for my permanent residency. We started sorting out the house today doing all sorts of repair and maintenance as the place has hardly been lived in for a year or so. It’s good to see that the concrete floors that I laid last time I was here are all fine. We set to remaking the roof over the shower and toilet and Rocio’s dad clambered dangerously all over putting tiles back in place. Michael seems very happy here and is loving meeting all the people.

Michael really enjoyed his bath n a bucket with mum

Day 219 5/2/12 Up early

It was hard getting up and ready this morning especially as it became clear we were the only ones even awake in the house. Rocio, Bob, Michael and I eventually ended up downstairs with all our bags packed and ready with still no one awake in the house and no signs of Neri in his car come for us. There’s culture for you.
Here are Michael Sonia and Neri messing about before we set off.



Michael is at the stage now where he likes to ride on my shoulders...and dribble in my hair



We were taking 5 am to mean 5 am despite the welcoming committee drinking until very late. When they did come and we finally got on our way it was perhaps an hour late and we managed to take Jean Fernando’s ID card with us and had to wait whilst he got a lift to come and get it back.
We went up and up out of more or less sea level Lima to well over 4000 meters at place called Ticlio. I felt gradually more and more strange, tired and headachy and we stopped to buy pain killers. I was more or less expecting this; I have always had some effects of the altitude but after the first time not too badly. We got out of the car at Ticlio to take photos but were constantly bothered by a woman selling sweets so we didn’t stay. Both Neri driving and I were getting dizzy though so we stopped again quite soon and I went to bathe my head in a near frozen stream. That made me feel much better and I even drove for a little while after that. A little further on we slowed and stopped for a short while because a lorry full of crates of beer bottled had crashed and the crates were all over the road. This could have turned out to be a major incident with lots of road side buying and selling going on but we soon saw they were crate of EMPTIES so everyone just drove past. Then for weird contrast we came across a place where a minibus had gone off the road and over the edge of a huge drop. Several cars and lorries were stopped to help and Neri saw that there were many people down in the valley with the bus trying to help. There was no more help we could give so we drove on . We heard next day on the news than one person died and 40 something were injured. So we went on down the long drive down the Amazon side of the Andes into Huancayo. It was great to be back here and we went straight to a vegetarian restaurant for some tasty food.



I was feeling fine by the time we were there no headache or dizziness at all.
Afterward we arrived at Rocio’s family home in Huancayo and the party started. Lots of people came round to celebreate with us and pass the beers around. Bob showed off his new method of opening beer without an opener. The party was great but as soon as it was slowing down I flopped for the day. Michael did a few more rounds of the people there and we were soon in bed too exhausted to do any more.