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.