Guayaquil - First Airbnb

For various reasons, including tight budgets, legal policies and some substantial visitor travel costs unexpectedly charged to the area legal department, the lawyers in our office rarely (as in, never) travel outside of Lima, although we deal daily with lawyers, church employees and mission presidents throughout the five countries in our area. But our efforts to purchase some property in Quito, Ecuador, for a temple site reached the point where we really needed to meet the local attorneys working on the project and the attorney and general manager of the company that owned the property we would like to purchase. So, Evie and I, along with the interim ALC Richard Johnson and his wife Jennifer, made a trip to Ecuador.

Unfortunately (or rather fortunately) by the time all the approvals for the trip were obtained, only expensive first class seats were available on flights from Lima to Quito for the days the meetings had been set. We solved this problem by leaving a day earlier on relatively inexpensive flights to Guayaquil, Ecuador, where we would stay a day and then fly to Quito. (The Johnsons, with some other commitments, would meet up with us in Quito.) Guayaquil is near the coast and Ecuador's largest city. With its ocean port, it is the commercial center of the country.

Evie took charge of hotel arrangements and decided for the first time to book an apartment for two nights through Airbnb (a service I think everyone in our family, but us, have used). Nonetheless, it was a rather adventuresome move for us in a city in foreign country that we knew nothing about and that was not one of South America's most prosperous (and with a left wing government). Here's how it all turned out.

This is where we landed, the José Joaquín de Olmedo International Airport, a modern, clean and efficient airport less congested and of a more manageable size than Lima, which is sort of the "O'Hara International"  of South America. (I'll add later a note on the impressive infrastructure in Ecuador.) We, however, arrived at night and our first challenge was to get a taxi to take us safely (emphasis on safely) here:

	3er Pasaje 5 Northeast Pedro Menéndez Edificio bellini 2. Ap. 702, Guayaquil, Guayas 090514, Ecuador

Despite our efforts with google maps, we actually had no idea where it was and, as it turned out, the folks at the taxi counter inside the airport (which are the safest and most reliable) did not either. Nonetheless, after considerable discussion, they eventually found a taxi driver who claimed to know where it was and, as it turned out, he did. He took us here to an apartment tower in a very nice development project on the "Malecon" along the Guayas River.

The interesting squiggly building in front is not where we stayed (a bit "up market" for us). We were in the apartment building behind it on the right (which was nonetheless very nice). 

This is inside the aprtment. Nice, although we were hardly ever there except to sleep and so never took advantage of the "amenities," such access to an exercise room and Jacuzzi and a parking space. Evie did well!

This is what the "squiggly" building looks like at night. It changes colors and the color changes "move" progressively up and around the building. Interesting, ostentatious architecture, like what you would expect to see in downtown Dallas.

Some pictures along the Malecon. The statute of a famous musician and singer of traditional music (I didn't get the name) actually has a recording so you hear these beautiful old sad, traditional ballads as you walk by.

Eating an early dinner (or late lunch) along the Malecon. The Malecon is lined with apartment buildings and a hotel, with restaurants and high end retail shops on the ground level. Similar to developments in the US (e.g., Highland Village and New Park), the restaurants are lively and crowded and the retail space less so (in fact largely empty).

This is a pizza, but with the crust made from green bananas (it was really good). Banana (platanos) in place of bread is the specialty here.You can order sandwiches on "bread" made from bananas. 

Hanging out on the Malecon isn't the only thing we did in Guayaquil, but that's for the next post.

Back home for a week

Andy and Jane's wedding was the perfect excuse for us to make a short trip back to Utah. Here's some pictures that show why there are days when, despite thoroughly enjoying our mission and the people in Lima, we really miss all of you and Park City.

Hikes on dirt up a mountain with great views. Here, the regular hike up Ecker Hill behind our house.

Riding mountain bikes with people I like (and who don't really care that still, after all these years, I'm not very good at it).

The West (and off road vehicles)

Taking grand kids on exciting adventures, like off roading in Grandpa Mike's Tacoma (and seeing the excitement written all over their faces 😏)

Silly girls

(By the way, so where is Dave headed?  You decide, but inside the barn on right is ice cream and the world's largest collection ever of craft sodas.)

The happy couple

No mission rules!

Independence

July 28 was independence day in Peru (independence from Spain). It is a big deal and a couple of weeks in advance flags started sprouting and men began wearing little red and white pins on their labels.

On the day after Independence Day there is a big military parade downtown. Traditionally, the parade lasts about four hours. This year common sense prevailed and the President cut it down to two hours. In any event, we didn't go, but we happened upon a local parade in our town, La Molina.

The town held the parade the Saturday before, although we did not know that. Evie and I were walking over to Tottus for grocery shopping and found the streets blocked and heard the drums of a marching band in the distance. I headed off towards the drums. Evie, focused on the purpose of the walk, continued on towards Tottus.  We both ended up watching the parade, however, but at different places.

The parade was largely the high school marching bands and drill teams along with floats from other schools and other local organizations. The parade tradition here is the "goose step." While it may strike many Americans of excessive militarism, they don't see it that way. It is actually difficult to do together as a group, but fun to watch. The students selected for the parade spend hours practicing it.

Some young men from one of the high schools looking good.

And these goose stepping girls can hold their own against anyone.

Lame is the only word to describe this pitiful effort by the faculty. Evie tried to cover for them, noting that some of the women were in heels. But, seriously, anyone so fashion conscious to wear high heels to goose step in a military parade just isn't into the moment.

A video clip.

Listen carefully Simon and Garfunkel fans and you may recognize the tune.

I didn't stay around to watch the whole parade, but went to find Evie at the store. The intersection in front of the store was closed off and used as the assembly area for the parade. These are pictures of some floats and groups getting ready to march in the parade. This is where Evie ended up too.

Celebrating their Catholic, Spanish heritage.

In the tradition of a military parade

Some Inca warriors

A karate school warming up

I think these are little Inca and Spanish soldiers

Celebrating earth, farms and animals

A snake for the jungle theme

An Inca princess

A jungle float

They had special devotional and celebration in the Area Office dinning room. The highlight was these two dancing the "marinera," the Peru national dance. According to Wikipedia, it is an "elegant and stylized reenactment of a courtship, and it shows a blend of the different cultures of Peru." It was fun to watch. If you're going to have a national dance, this seems a great choice. Because it is not just some steps, but a story told by two people through the dance moves, it is not an easy dance to learn.

That's me with the dancers and Felix Gil. Felix is a legal coordinator who I work with. I have come to really enjoy working with him. A clip below.

Pachacamac- Life and Death in Peru

This is the Temple of the Sun in the archaeological complex of Pachacamac, located about 20 miles south of Lima in the Lurin valley. At its height in the 15th century, this was the most important religious site for people in the coastal area. 

The name Pachacamac, which can be variously translated as "He who Animated the World" or "He who Created Land and Time," comes from a powerful Wari  (pre-Inca) god. Among other things, this god caused earthquakes and was one not to be offended. When the Inca took over the area around 1450 they took Pachacamac into their pantheon, but not as an equal. The Inca god Viracocha was seen as the more powerful. Nonetheless, Pachacamac was a god to be worshiped and feared by this large and sophisticated civilization.  

Pachacamac took the form of an idol, a carved totem pole idol with two heads. It was considered an oracle and was not displayed publicly for worship, but kept in a sacred, closed room with a unique door. Only certain priests were allowed to enter and then only after days of preparation. After much preparation a priest would enter, ask the questions and then return outside to deliver the received wisdom.

The site has a very fine museum and, notwithstanding her occasional expressions to the contrary, Evie read many of the informative display signs (they were in English and Spanish) and enjoyed the museum.

It is a very large site and we were only able to see a small part. Nevertheless, it really is a deary, colorless, barren site, but it was not always that way. 

In 1533 when the Spanish arrived they would have seen, not the colorless, brown structures we see today, but temples with walls painted red and yellow. The walls of the sun temple were painted red and also covered with strips of stones swathed with a thin gold film, creating a dramatic appearance and an illusion of a giant burning pyre visible from long distances.

There would have been hundreds of people brightly dressed in colors such as this textile.

When the Inca came they not only built remarkable new pyramids and temples, but also the Acllahuasi ("House of the chosen women"), also known as "Mamacona," seen above.  

It was the Inca practice to collect from leading families in the outlying communities a few 10 year old girls to come to live in the Acllahuasi. There they would learn religion, spinning and weaving, preparation of food, and brewing chicha for special celebrations. Some would become mamakuna (priestesses) and were married to prominent men or assigned to religious duties. The most skilled and physically perfect were sent to Cusco to become secondary wives or concubines of the Inca emperor and other noblemen. 

The area was located near a stream and the Inca cleverly routed the water through the area to provide water pools for these chosen women.  You can see the distinctive Inca architecture in the trapezoid doorways. It must have been a beautiful, pleasant and vibrant place. 

Some of these women were chosen, however, for another purpose, to be sacrificed in the highest ritual of their religion, many strangled with cotton garrote to appease Pachacamac.  

There are several cemeteries at this complex, including a special one for those sacrificed. There archaeologists found the remains of bodies still with the cotton twisted around the neck. They were wrapped in fine cloth and buried in stone tombs and each have been surrounded by offerings from the highlands such as coca, quinoa, and cayenne pepper. They also found remains of sacrificed children and various animals.

When Francisco Pizarro took the Inca ruler Atahualpa prisoner at Cajamarca, he heard about this large city and the riches at Pachacamac. So he sent an expedition led by his half-brother, Hernando, to sack the place. Pizarro and his mounted soldiers arrived and burst into the chamber, to the great offense of the priests, and found little gold, but the putrid smell of the remains of various sacrificed animals. They took what gold there was, broke the idol in half and burned everything else. 

Years later in 1938, however, some archaeologists working on the site actually found the idol, or at least a carved pole that exactly fit the descriptions left by the early Spanish. Perhaps, this most sacred thing had been taken out and hidden before the Spanish arrived. In any event, what you see in the museum is a replica, an interesting piece of ancient history, a piece of wood carved by the hands of men of a once great civilization that is now largely forgotten, the manifestation of a once great and powerful god that was never anything more than a dead piece of wood. 

The children of Israel also had their issues with idols, and like Pachacamac, the Canaanite idols of Baal and Ashtoreth are gone and forgotten, except for an occasional reference in gospel doctrine classes.  The Ark of the Covenant, the tabernacle, the temple in Kirkland and the first temple in Nauvoo, were also powerful symbols of God and like the idol of Pachacamac have been lost, destroyed, or have lost their religious significance. However, unlike Pachacamac, the true and living God of Israel lives and does not ask for the sacrifice of women and children but the sacrifice of a broken heart and a contrite spirit.