"Oscar" ...love at first sight...

The state of Missouri is trying to get the word out about how they are helping first time homebuyers...here's some information from Senator McCaskill's webpage before watching the video.

"McCaskill Productions unveils today its inaugural project, Looking for Compatibility with Your First Home, available on computers nationwide via YouTube. Shot in St. Louis featuring two locals, it’s the heartwarming story of a young couple falling in love their first home but struggling to afford the American Dream. A subtle spoof on the common eHarmony commercials, the video is both touching and informative.

In an attempt to raise awareness, the video highlights a program that many other Missourians qualify for but too few have pursued – a tax credit for first time homebuyers established under the stimulus and a Missouri program that allows people to tap in to those funds now rather than waiting until tax filing next year.

The $8,000 tax credit was created as part of the stimulus bill, but the credit can only be claimed by a homebuyer after the purchase of the home, usually at tax filing time. The Missouri Housing and Development Commission (MHDC) introduced a program to accompany this federal tax credit that advances the tax credit as a loan, with the agreement that the homebuyer will pay it back when their federal tax refund arrives."





My favorite part about the video is the couple...I work with Alyse. Ahhh... it makes the video that much better when you know the people in it. Alyse shared this with me this afternoon...it's been a few days since I have had such a good laugh...especially when Joe pops up at the end to agree with the princess comment.

MY LAST DAY

Sunday I caught the 11:00pm Cruz de Sol bus to Lima…about an 8½ hours bus ride. It was a little more rocky than usual so I spent most of the night “bus sick”. Gonzalo had some documents he had to sign at the German embassy so he came to Lima as well. We spent the morning on the grounds of the Lima LDS Temple. It was Gonzalo’s first time seeing the temple and it was a great to be able to talk to him and answer his questions regarding Moroni and temples in general.

YouTube - Mormon Messages: Why Mormons Build Temples

I had my last Peruvian meal…for now…and it was good. No sandwich de queso…instead, rice, lentils and fried fish! The afternoon was spent in the Inca and Indian Markets…yes, I went shopping. I told myself that I wasn’t going to…but the souvenirs stores just seemed to call out my name…buy me, buy me…actually, I went to just look at first and to get a couple of things but I found myself being pulled in by the shopkeepers…I have a hard time saying no when they are trying soooo hard to sell. Yes, I am now the proud owner of many Peruvian products that I don’t really have room for or need.

Peru was great. I enjoyed becoming more familiar with the plants that we are working with from the medicinal markets. As always, for me it really is about ethnobotany, the study of cultures and how they use the plants! It makes the plants come to life to learn how they have benefitted various communities.

My challenge to everyone is to learn the name of one plant in the area you live in (that you don’t already know) and learn how the plant was or is used.

Experiencing Peru

While celebrating a birthday at the Torres family home my first week in Peru, I was asked if I knew how to make TORTA or CAKE. The family was very excited to find out that I knew how to make dessert…but I failed to tell them that Betty Crocker is my best friend and making things from scratch does not happen too often in my life. Because of my lack of being fluent in Spanish… although head nods and big smiles can go a long way… I found out a couple of weeks later that I had promised to make cake for the family and was asked when I was going to do it. In very much my style, with a bazillion other things that also had to be completed before leaving Peru, I somehow squeezed in buying ingredients for the brownies late Friday night. I did find a Betty Crocker brownie mix and was very tempted to buy that instead…but I held out and bought the ingredients to make them from scratch. (Thanks Laura for the recipe)! I am always amazed how my broken Spanish can bring on wonderful, even exciting conversations…even in the baking isle of the grocery store regarding the best cocoa to use for torta…too bad I didn’t understand 95% of the conversation but we both seemed to walk away happy and I had cocoa in my basket. Well, the BIG MOMENT finally arrived! We didn’t have the correct size pan so the brownies turned into a cake…and because of oven temperature challenges…it came out a little burnt but overall, we had a lot of fun and we made TORTA!

The Torres family the night of the birthday party.

Rosa Maria and I with our "brownies"

Jerry and Hermana Torres

My friend Mario also had a birthday while I was in Peru. I was able to participate in his celebration with his family and friends. I admit, we bought the torta from the bakery…and it was delicious. I think I already mentioned this but Mario is an incredible botanist/biologist and I could not have gotten everything done in Peru without his help. But that is not all, both he and his wife are incredible, kind, generous, patient, wonderful people!!

Mario and his family

(only three of the girls are his, the others are nieces)

One afternoon, I spent the SIESTA with my friend Julio, learning about and tasting many of the delicious fruits grown here. I met Julio at church the first time I came to Peru. Although he chastised me for not coming back to Peru with a better knowledge of Spanish, he was still willing to take some time and teach me the names of the fruits in Spanish.

Julio and his wife

Working in the herbarium... What can I say? My experiences in Peru could not have been possible without these plants to identify!

Where I spend my time

The Huanchaco bus:

The University where I spend time in the HERBARIUM:


The University where I spend time in the lab with the students and where most of the chemical testing will be done:


Laundry…I love clean clothes…


My favorite place to buy water and crackers


Taxi!!


My room at the Hostal de Huanchaco

FAMILY

Aunt Michele said it tonight on her blog..."families are where it is at". MY FAMILY IS AWESOME!!! (Both immediate and extended). I love that so many of us blog because it has been a great way to stay connected.

I have been wearing my T-shirt from our last family reunion here in Peru. A couple of people have commented about it, asking what the bee on my shirt means to my family. It has been fun to share with them about our beekeeping background.

The other reason family has been on my mind is because my sister has become a consultant for Heritage Makers...basically I way to do family history via digital books, photo albums and so on. She just completed a cookbook for my niece Kelsi (her daughter) who is graduating this year from high school and headed to college. It was fun to flip through the cookbook and see the family photos in there....especially of my grandparents, who were and are great examples of faith and generosity. She has it posted on her blog: http://www.protectmyhistory.blogspot.com/

Families are the best.

Working in Peru

My adventures in Peru have been great this month. I have spent the majority of my time identifying plants in the Universidad Privada Antenor Orrego (UPAO) herbarium with the help of Mario Zapata. Because of permit processes and changes in government agencies the plants we collected in Peru last year never made it to MBG, hence, I am here identifying them. (We collected over 500 medicinal plants from the market last year). We are also preparing the plants to go through a series of chemical tests later this summer…meaning that we are grinding the bulk material into powder. We have had several students from the Universidad Nacional de Trujillo help us in this process. It's about a 10 minute bus ride between the two Universities. Here are some pictures of our incredible team here in Peru:

Mario Zapata from UPAO (outside the herbarium)

Me and Diana outside Universidad Nacional

Grinding plants

We use meat grinders

Majer (one of the chemists helping out)
...writing the plan for bioassays and
phytochemistry on the chalkboard for the students.
Some of the team.

Gonzalo showing the finished product...ground Puya.
Gonzalo is the coordinator for the team here in Peru but

at the end of this month will to continue his
studies in Germany.
Team work: Johann and Pilar
Diana and her professor weighing out samples.
A great team to work with!! Wonderful, wonderful people.

Sandwich de queso y papas fritas

The above has become my staple here in Peru. I often get back to Huanchaco too late...meaning that most of the restaurants are closed leaving me with few options. I don't know if it is sad that all I have to say is "lo mismo" and they make this for me, or if it is good because I am predictable.

On other occassions I do eat more traditional food as below (minus the alcohol):

(This was some of the food at my friend Mario's birthday party)


My least favorite thing to eat is an ant sandwhich. This morning I was eating a piece a bread when I realized that it was infested with ants...hmmmm...a little extra protein.