Perú

From February 1996 to February 1998 I served a mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints in northern Peru. During that time I grew to love the culture, people, and land. In Peru I learned to be happy even among the most difficult of circumstances. I learned to appreciate the small things of life. Peru is a beautiful country with beautiful beaches, majestic mountains, and flourishing jungles. The people there are just as unique as the terrain. Because Peru was conquered by the Spanish back in the 1500's Spanish is the main language spoken, but also there is Quechua, Aymara, and countless other dialects spoken by the natives of South America. They are a happy people, and welcome foreigners. They are excited to share their culture with everyone.

The first city I got to know while in Peru was Chiclayo. The image to the right is the town square of Chiclayo. Chiclayo has the best of both worlds.   While it is a bustling city with all kinds of clubs and shopping plazas it also has it's quaint and peaceful country side. There are smaller towns like Reque, Chongoyape and Monsefu around it which have their own things to do and see. Most tourists go to Chiclayo to see "El Señor de Sipán" which is an old Inca tomb. Chiclayo was a great place.

My stay in Peru was basically split up in three main places. I was in the city of Chiclayo for about eleven months though not all at once. Part of the time I was in Chiclayo I worked in the mission office and got to travel all over the north. That was a real blessing because I got to see many different places and meet many different people. For about six months I was in the northern most coastal city of Peru called Tumbes. Tumbes was a beautiful but smaller city where the majority of the people were fisherman, or worked in huge shrimp farms. It was hot there but I ate well! For the last six months of my mission I was in a town called San Ignacio. San Ignacio is way up in the mountains of Peru, a 12 hour (scary) bus ride from Chiclayo, and borders both Ecuador and the Amazon Rain Forest. It was an incredibly beautiful place, though very remote. San Ignacio only had electricity 24 hours a day for a year when I got there and the phone company had just made it possible to get residential phones. The surrounding villages have neither water or electricity. (the image on the left is of San Ignacio, and the image up top to the left is in Tumbes).

Other cities that I got to visit were Piura, Paita, Talara, Sullana, Jaen, Querecotillo, Cajamarca, Bambamarca, Chota, Chongoyape, Reque, Monsefu, and Zarumilla. I count myself very lucky for having seen so much. Each little town and city has it's own unique charm. People are different from one place to another and it is very interesting to see those differences, and to hear what people have to say about each other.

I miss Peru terribly. I plan on returning soon to see and do all of the amazing things I didn't get to see or do during my two year stay.