I'm Going to Peru!!!

Fabiola and I in 2006. ( Oh, my, can you tell I've lost weight since then?)

Yes, it's true, we are going to Peru.

Now I have a story to tell. Two years ago, there was a young veterinarian from Peru working at my Vet's clinic. She was here on a program called Experience International. She worked here for 6 months, then got an extension to work at a llama farm in Central Oregon for another six months.

One day, one of the vets called me. She said Fabiola needed to get more exposure to camelids (alpacas and llamas) and this being horse and cow country, they were not able to get much work for her in that area. She asked me if I would like Fabiola to come to the farm for a few hours two times a week and work with me! Well, of course, I said yes, but how much would this cost me? Oh, nothing, she is on payroll at the clinic. We just want her to get this exposure.

Well, it soon became 3 days a week, and we became fast friends.

Since she has been back in Peru, she keeps sending us slide shows of the trips she takes with her new job. She works for the government, traveling into the mountain villages to help the farmer's associations with their ag practices and animal husbandry. She has been inviting us to visit, and we finally decided to. In November, the U.S. will hopefully renew her visa so she can return here to be with her husband (another long and complicated love story), so this opportunity will not be here for us in the future.

Fabiola will make all of our arrangements for us! She will be our tour guide in and around Lima. Then we will go to Cuzco where we will stay in the Hotel Villamayor, a guesthouse run by her cousin. From Cuzco, we will tour Macchu Picchu, Saccsanhuaman, and the Sacred Valley. I have wanted to see Machu Picchu since I first saw a picture of it in Fifth grade!

This just seems so magical to me that this is happening. The trip is not going to cost us much. And I am soooooo looking forward to seeing Fabiola and her family.