Some more fun pictures at the orphanage. Here is me with Eduis again, and stephany trying to be in the picture. She really is happy but I think she was concentrating on what I was trying to do, not on smiling for the picture.

Did I mention I have been teaching cooking classes? This is my attempt to teach apple crisp! Haha We decided to use the recipe off the internet that called for an egg, but they wanted to use 2 eggs. Also, they don’t have brown sugar here, only granulated sugar that is brown. It ended up turning out to be a delicious apple cake! Who knew we could create a new cake. Haha It actually tasted really good.

Because I taught them how to make a cake, in return, they taught me how to make a Peruvian cake. Here is Anna and Tia Flor playing around while cooking. The same night Flor wanted to die her hair, so while waiting for the die to settle in she was managing the kitchen. She wanted Anna to look like a real “chef” and while she was putting the hat on her I decided to take a quick picture.

Casa 5 teaching me how to wash my clothes. I promise this was a different week, and different day than the picture before with Casa 5 and I, and I don’t always wear the same thing. It just so happened that this day I was wearing the same outfit. There are only so many clothes to chose from. J

More cleaning! This was the first photo I took after Della left and I was the only one in the orphanage. I had to put the camera on a chair and on self timer. Even without someone there to take my picture cleaning it still turned out just fine!

Orphanage!

I wanted to post SO MANY pictures, but because the Internet isn’t the fastest here I will have to choose the most important ones. Here are some pictures of me at the orphanage and me with Cristina’s family on the weekend. My schedule from now until I come home, which is August 18th! I work at the orphanage Monday through Friday and I sleep there in my own Casa. Then on the weekends I come into town (Trujillo) and stay with Cristina, a BYU student and her family. We go to church on Sunday and then Monday morning I return to the orphanage. Anna Raquel had her Feliz Cumpleanos, for her Quinceanero! Here in Peru they call it a Quinceaero instead of ending it with an a. The Tia's spent the whole week making these cakes for the party. Doesn't she look beautiful!

The kids in Casa 1 were attacking me with tickles after I came in from running! And the crazy thing was it really did tickle! Isn't it supposed to be the other way around?

I taught the boys in Casa 5 how to make lemon squares. Look how handsome they are!

Here is Cristina and her family. The only person missing is her step dad who was taking the photo.

I promised that picture of me eating cuy, and here it is! Can you see the leg on this hunk of meat? haha Really there is not much meat to eat because the layer of skin is so thick. Once you get to the meat it's pretty small.

Before the press conference started, and after I had sat down, in walked 3 other queens that were representing the town of Cascas. I guess this whole press conference was to welcome everyone out to their annual fair. The girls were all decked out in their dresses and crowns! I was lookin’ pretty mighty myself in my jeans! haha After the press conference we went out to lunch and then I was invited to another media event that evening. This time I showed up in a dress (just a casual Sunday dress.) We went on the local news and posed for the camera, were entertained by local dancers, and took pictures outside. This was one of my favorite pictures! The 4 Reinas!! (Queens)

I knew that Blanca said we were going to a press conference, but I had no idea what that entailed. When we arrived, Blanca started telling me things about the Aldea that I should remember and be sure to talk about. I was wondering why she was wanting me to know all of these things, and just assumed she wanted them to be said in my conversation with others. Then to my surprise, a man came and led me to the front table and had me sit in one of the big, black, leather chairs. It then occurred to me that I would be speaking! The next thing I started to do was... PANIC!! jk, no I started to prepare. I had a notebook and my dictionary with me. I started to write everything down that I knew how to say, and the verbs I could conjugate correctly. As for the words I didn’t know, I looked up in my dictionary. I did that up until the time I had to speak. My speech went ok, but I don't think I said half of the things I wanted to, nor as eloquently as I had hoped, but I think they got the idea. haha

Friday (the 3rd day at the Aldea) Blanca (the Aldea supervisor) came to our Casa and told us that we had to hurry and get ready because we would be going into town for a press conference. She asked me if I had a dress I could wear so that I could represent the Aldea as a former Miss Utah. I didn't have one there with me, but I did have a fairly nice shirt, jeans and high heels. We all know high heels make ANY outfit legit! We were in such a rush to meet back at the office in the 15 min that Blanca said we had, that I decided I would do my makeup in the car. Della and I made it to the office in time, but then we ended up waiting for 45 min. (I should remember that we are running on Peruvian time. haha) The wait was fine for me because I got to put on my makeup. All of the kids came in to see what was going on, and they wanted to "paint" too! I let them take turns brushing the bronzer onto my face. I thought it was so cute!

Look how cute this is. The second day Della and I were there they had a festival because one of the kids had been adopted, and her new parents had come to take her home to France. Here is one of the boys enjoying the party, mostly because he got to eat cake! This is one of my favorite little boys at the Aldea. His name is Eduis. He is not always this dirty. I promise his Tia makes him take a bath every night! However, towards the end of the day, he is always this dirty!

The Casa that I am now living in was really dirty when I got there. Jason and Carrie, the volunteers before me from BYU, helped Della and I clean the house the day before they left! We didn't have much to clean with, but the volunteers before Carrie and Jason, girls from Scottland, left a lot of their clothes. Nothing says clean better than a nice rubdown by some UNDDIES! haha I was very grateful they contributed to the cleaning of Casa! Thanks girls!

This is what I am going to be for Halloween! Here is a close up of her head. It is crazy how part of the rope that was around her neck is still there. You can see her hands were grabbing at it, and her mouth was open as if grasping for air. Della’s favorite part is that she has a double tooth.

All of the press came to Chan Chan to see the woman’s bones. Dr. Compana is down in the pit pointing to her feet where they cut them off. This was a BIG day for Chan Chan!

The number one discovery!! This is the first real evidence proving that the Chimu/Incan people did live sacrifices. These bones are the remains of an 18 year old virgin that was part of a live sacrifice. They buried her alive! They also cut off her feet as part of the ceremony. Look at the perfect condition of the bones, it is really magnificent.

Look at the pot that they found in a differnt pit by us. They found this the last day we were in Chan Chan. It was ironic because Della was saying that morning how she saw everything she wanted to in Chan Chan except for an actual pottery vase, not just broken pieces. I guess the universe works towards our desires. (That last sentence was generated from the book “Alchemist” I am reading it right now, and I would highly suggest it. It is less than 100 pages and a quick read!)

This is the team at our digging pit!

Look at us archeologists at work. Haha William (the real archeologist) was the manager of the dig we were working at. Della is showing her skills at uncovering the precious bones, I am just there for the food, and Brian is showing his intellectual/creative side as he thinks about how he is going to draw our new discovery. The amazing thing is, the archeologists really do draw everything they excavate. It is very meticulous work.

The Fearless Della taking her turn running our unnecessary dirt up the dump hill. After this day we were sore from head to toe. Della and I both cut our fingers; we all had blisters on our hands, sore backs and legs, but I can tell you this, we never stopped smiling! We liked the thrill of actually working hard instead of just playing with dirt.

Brian: “I am sick of looking through dirt.” Kayla: “Hey look what I found… MORE DIRT!!!”
I am really just kidding. Brian didn’t say that. I don’t think I ever heard a complaining word come out of his mouth. He was just pretending to roll around in the dirt. This is the place where they sent us when they didn't know what else to do with us. We had to sift through the dirt and look for small beads, broken pottery, or anything else that wasn't just dirt.

Shake and Shake the ketchup bottle, first non will come and then a lot’il

Here is doctor Compana teaching us about the instrument we just uncovered. It was the first thing that we had personally uncovered! It was pretty exciting. Dr. Compana (AKA Dr. Chan Chan, it was a name I liked to call him) said he thinks it was used to crank something, or maybe used just to stir something. He thought that the curve in the wood was significant and had a purpose.

This is me working feverously in Chan Chan. haha

I was actually very grateful to finally dig the dirt with a shovel! Before this photo we had to uncover the first layer with very small instuments and meticulous movements so that we wouldn't runin the adobe brick. Even though it was slow paced, it was still a good thing because it gave me admiration for the archeologists. They have to have patience to discover the worlds treasures.

I went to the store to get something and there was a group of people gathered around this stand who kept looking at us. Later, when we went back, we saw an article about the fact that Miss Utah 2008 was in Peru with Southern Cross Humanitarian. We thought it was so funny we would take a picture.

I had this picture (with me playing in the mud) as my facebook profile the other day. This was part of the "Citizens of Chan Chan" project. The project allows the school children to come out to Chan Chan and learn more about their countries heritage and see the hard work that is put into preserving it. In this picture we are making brick adobes.

At the Izaguierres home they asked me to play Bubbly on the guitar.

While we were working in Chan Chan we stayed with the Izaguierres who are friends with Carlos Tejeta (who is the Southern Cross Representative in Peru.) haha hope you understood all of that. The Izaguierre family is so wonderful! Vicky taught us how to make her famous chocolates and Manuel taught Brian and I how to play the spoons! The other blond haired girl in the picture is Anna. She was a foreign exchanaged student from Denmark who lived with the Izaguierres two years ago. She is now back for a month to visit.

The Tejeta's took us out to lunch the first day Brian and I got there. (They are the family to the left) It just so happened that the Izaguierre family was out to lunch at the same place so we sat with them. (They are the family to the right)

This is the wonderful Jonda family!! I love them so much! They are the first people I saw when I got to Peru. They picked me up in Lima at 6 a.m. in the morning. Chelsey is also an intern from BYU working in Lima with the perpetual education fund.

Is anyone hungry? Do you want CUY!! Cuy is ginny pig! Which is a delicacy in Peru. And to make it better they give you the option to eat it on pizza :) I haven't had it on pizza yet, but I actually did try it last week. I will post some pictures.

PERU!!

I HAVE MY OWN BLOG!!! I have been meaning to set up my own Blog since I can’t really update my Miss Utah one ;) and because I have had so many wonderful experiences in the last month it pushed me over the edge and I decided I had to buckle down and set one up.

I know that I sent 3 emails out to family but I haven’t yet sent pictures. This will be the best way to inform everyone of what I am doing! I love you all!!

Machu Picchu!! Look how beautiful it is! We went up there at 5:30 in the morning and it was really foggy, but by the time we came back down, around 3 p.m. it was nice and clear.

Part of the Inti Raymi festival. The food above is what the store owner brought Alberto Puertas when our driver told her Alberto was his cousin. It is a plate of steamed corn, cheese, and a glass of coca tea. People in Cusco drink Coca Tea because it helps you with the high altitude. It is really yummy, and the cheese was exquisite.

To the left is Josephe and I helping a lady in Josephe's corn feild. And below is Ofiela, our tour guide, and I at the top of Wynu Picchu looking down on Machu Picchu.

For some reason I attached this picture twice and I don't know how to get it off. Sorry

Below is a picture of the hill in Cusco!

The Humphrey's and I at the Inti Rayme parade