Oh, the Places We'll Go

Our next adventure took us to Lima, Peru. Lima is a giant, sprawling city with over 9 million people. And though we had not heard the most fantastic reviews of the place, we were actually looking forward to our visit. Ted’s cousin, Ryan, lives in Lima with his beautiful wife Angela and their three kids Gabe (8), Toby (5) and Eliana (4). Ryan is the Country Director of an international non-profit organization, Food for the Hungry, and he and his family have lived overseas for a majority of the last ten years. Their other posts include La Paz, Bolivia (where Gabe was born) and Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic (where Toby was born). The kids go to an international school, and Ted and I got a kick out of their impressive, beautifully-accented Spanish (as well as when they corrected the grammer and accents of the adults!).

Ryan fought the notoriously horrendous Lima traffic to pick us up at the airport and take us to their home. Though Lima is most certainly a big city, Ryan and Angela have found themselves a great spot that is an oasis from the noise and traffic.

It was such a treat to have the opportunity to visit with family. Ted’s dad and Ryan’s mom are brother and sister, and Ted and I hadn’t seen Ryan and Angela since our wedding in May 2006. It was blast to have the youngsters around to entertain us with their stories, share their colored pencils with us, paint our fingernails, jump on the trampoline with us, correct our inadequate Spanish, and teach us a few dance moves.

A huge thank you to all the Smedes!