Have you seen this face before?

Zoe and Andy seemed to have a special friendship going on at the Bear Lake Reunion. Andy can't resist a pretty face!

It was just a few short years ago when Andy returned from his mission in Japan. He couldn't resist that pretty face then either! Zoe is the spittin' image of her mommy!

Back to School!

As you study the J.A. Barfuss family Coat of Arms, created several years ago by Chad and Grandma Slly, you will notice that education is a prominent component of our family values.
As a new school year begins we are so proud of all of our Wilfardos and Wilfys as they eagerly go "Back to School"!
Did you know that there are Wilfardos and Wilfys on every educational level from pre-school to graduate school?
We thought it would be fun to have a contest to see how well you know your cousins and where they are on the education ladder. Those steps include pre-school, middle school, high school, college, and graduate school as well as the "School of Hard Knocks"!
Grandma will send an e-mail to each of you with a form to fill out for your answers. You will get a point for every correct answer. There will be extra points for those who can give the name of the schools. Just fill out the form and send it back to Grandma at jsbarfuss@comcast.net We will announce the winners and the prizes in an upcoming Barometer.
There are some keen competitors in our family so this should be fun!
Good Luck!

New address for Nick

Hey everybody! We just found out today that Nick is being transferred back to Switzerland. His new address will be:

Elder Nickolas Barfuss
Schweiz Zürich Mission
Grünbergstrasse 1
CH - 7000 Chur
SWITZERLAND

Hope everyone is having a great week! :o)

Friday, August 15, 2008

ok, so today was VERY interesting. We woke up early this morning, we drove to Puno at about 6:45. It was a 40 minute drive, and we went straight to the airport. This is where the, quote on quote ¨fun¨began. When we arrived, we all got shunted in a separate line because we were a big group, but it actually took LONGER than the other line!! then we still had to pay an airport fee of about 4 dollars or so in order to get on the plane, like we have the security tax. Anyway, so we made it through to the gate. When we boarded though, it turned out they had overbooked, and Will Love had to stay in Juliaca ( like the worst place in peru) until the 400 flight in the afternoon!!! but he had to wait, so we went on to lima. we checked into our hotel, then went to see the city.

We took taxis all over town it was hilarious, yet slightly sickening. The People here are insane!!! Nobody stays in their own lane, nobody blinkers, it is such a rush!!! On a 3 lane highway, we had 5 lanes going, it was nuts. we went to the main plaza, and we waited while everyone else drove up in their taxis. Everyone was coming at different times, (different drivers have different styles of driving: fast, really fast, and fast combined with recklessness.) so we were first there. We went to lunch together and got into some really stupid argument with a kid named Nate. He left the church about a year ago, and he really seems to have twisted views about what the church believes. Anyway, every time we have a debate with him, he ends up totally contradicting himself.

Well, after we went to the Catacombs in Lima and saw chamber full of the bones of dead priests and saints. There was one room where you could look down a well and there were skulls and bones aranged into patterns!! It was cool. Then we walked a few blocks until we got to the museum of the Peruvian version of the spanish inquisition. IT was really cool to hear a lot of the things i learned about in AP European history about the original Spanish inquisiton and the 3 Popes at the same time and stuff. And about Martin Luther, Zwingli, and Calvin. Anyway, they had one reoom that depicted the tortures they inflicted to try and make them confess. There was one where they tied your arms behind your back then lift you 15 feet in the air by your wrists, it destroys all the muscle and tissue in the arms. Then there was the stratching rack.... and some other stuff, way wierd.

wellthen we split up. Dad and Grandpa and a few others went back to the hotel, and two groups went to the Mall. It is supposed to be way beautiful and amazing. Well they got there and went to dinner then did some shopping. In my group ( me, Elena, Valerie, and Caitlin) got into a taxi, but halfway to the mall, stuck in bumper to bumper traffic, decided to take a 15 minute detour to see the Lima temple. It took 30 minutes, but that was ok. WE took some picutures, then got a book of mormon in spanish for our taxi driver. he was not LDS, but he said he loves to see the temple, and he really wanted a book of mormon. So we each wrote our name and favorite scripture on the inside of it. It was really cool, he was really excited. So then we went to the mall, but it was taking forever, and we werent hungry, so we ended up just going back to the hotel. But everywhere we went, the trafiic was buts, and we werent really moving. But there were buses that were all over the road, trying to squeeze into tiny gaps, etcetera, so we honestly hardly even were crawling. Instead of the 30 minutes to the mall and 40 minutes to the hotel for 15 soles, it turned out to be a 3 hour taxi ride for 100 soles. RIP OFF!!! we were feeling so sick from the fumes frim all the cars, it was not good. well, we got back, eventually, and we went and got ice cream (the most amazing banana split ever made) then i started to type it all up. Well, that is today. This is also the last time i will be writing about my escapades, for we leave peru early tomorrow morning. So long!!!
Jake Lythgoe
Peruvian Explorer
Signing Off

Thursday August 14, 2008

Ok, so this morning we woke up at about 5:30 this morning so we could leave the hotel at 6. We had to be at the airport to catch our flight from Cuzco to Juliaca at 7:20. We drove from Juliaca to Puno. then after we dropped off our baggage at the Hotel Plaza Mayor, we took little bike taxis and raced through town to Lake Titicaca. there is a joke about the name. The Peru side is the titi and the Bolivian side is the caca (poop) :). Well, we took a boat to the Floating Isles ( yes they really exist) and went to three of the islands, including Mormon Island. They really are floating Islands, because the people did not like others taking over their lands, so they created the Islands. The people take huge blocks of lake ground that are the roots blocks for reeds in the lake. So the dirt has lots of layers of reeds placed over the top, just places, and the reeds from the roots in the dirt grow and intertwine into the reeds and holds it together. Then, they untie from the land and it floats. They build everthing out of reeds. Seats, Houses, beds, everything. Once they had the original islands built, they were able to build more on the islands themselves. Now, there are 48 Islands, each with 8-10 families on it. It was really cool. Well, we went back to the hotel and rode in a Motorcycle taxi, really cool!! Then we did some shopping around the city. I found some really cool things. Well, i am really tired, and lots of people are waiting, that is why i am not going into very much detail about the Floating Islands and MachuPicchu.

Well, Love you!!
Bye
Jake Lythgoe

Wednesday, August 13, 2008

Sorry, i ran out of time last night, but there are a few things you just cannot miss. So i will start with our arrival at Machupicchu. We met two guys on the train that had decided to come with us to machupicchu the next day. Juan decided to come and hike Waynapicchu early in the morning with us.

Anyway, when we arrived in the city, it was about 8 at night, but the moon was out and it was really bright. So we walked to the Hostal ( not hotel) where we were staying. But it turned out they didnt have enough space and some of us had to go to another hostal down the street and around the corner, where they had shifted our reservation. Well, Dad grandpa and i had the room on ground level, and there were about 3 stories of rooms above that. The thing was, above the first floor, the wall opposite the rooms were all blown out, and there was junk everywhere on the other side of the stairs!!! It was so nasty!! ok, and there were a few problems. First, i believe every single person in our group had left their flea collars in our other luggage!!! ( we had only packed an overnight bag.) so a lot of the girls were having problems with sleeping in the beds. As far as i know, almost all of them slept with just one sheet on them and all the blankets on the floor. But grandpa dad and i slept great, we used the blankets and still didnt get any fleas. Also, Valerie and Caitlin had a problem with their bathroom window. IT WOULDNT LOCK CLOSED!!! I ended up taking a chunk of tile from the constructiontools all over the ground. WE used it to brace the window shut.

So on Wednesday morning, 9 of us gathered at six to catch the bus up to MachuPicchu. We arrived up there at 6:30 planning to be at the top of Waynapicchu when the sun rose. But, the whole way up, we were completly surrounded in fog! We got to the gate to WaynaPicchu, but there was a huge line to get in. We werent able to get through the gate until 8:30!! But we made it in. They only let 200 people in at 7:00, and 200 at 10:00, but they only let them in a few at a time! We ended up barely making it, Dad was number 194, only 6 more people made it in!!!

The climb was beautiful, the fog made everything so surreal. We got t0 the top at about 9:00 ish, and the fog was just starting to clear. It was very Beautiful, but we couldnt really see Machupicchu. The top was really scary, it was so steep!!! Amazing. Well, It turned out Grandpa was the oldest person to hike that day, at 70 years old!! Well, most people were in their twenties, and we had them in the teens, the forties, and grandpa. It was awesome. Thenwe explored the ruins, it was amazing how much work the Incans were able to do on top of such a steep mountian!! They had been building it for 94 years, but never finished it. They abandoned it when they thought the Spaniards were invading. Anyway, I will post pics later so you can see.

We took the train back to Urubamba, then took a two hour drive to Cuzco, then slept for 5 hours at the Maybe Hotel.

Jacob in Peru, Day 8 (ish)

Ok, today is Wednesday, August 13, 2008, 11:25 PM Peruvian time, 10:25 Utah time.

Sorry i havent written for a few days, things have been pretty CrAzY!!! haha. ok, well, i guess the last time i had a chance to write was on sunday night, so i will start with MOnday.

Monday, August 11, 2008 (Day 6)

We woke up at around 6:30 on Monday morning, because we were doing things a bit different.

We had to leave by 7:30 because we were going out to work on the Farm for El Girasol (the sunflower, the name of the orphanage we were working at). One of the other groups that has been here in the past helped start a farm for El Girasol to help it be self sufficient. So, we ended up splitting into two groups, Dad Grandpa and I went back to the orphanage and everyone else went to the Farm. They were using pickaxes to dig a channel for water to reach a trout pond they are build, and they poured cement in some other places, i dont really know all the details. Anyway, We went to Girasol to help Antonio finish the Guardhouse we had started building earlier in the week. The basic structure was there, the walls and the windows and door, but it still needed the top half of the back wall, another few layers on the walls, and a roof. So we started to help finish it.

We started out by mixing a huge pile of mud using sand we had sifted on saturday and buckets of water from a rain barrel. This was used as a kind of mortar, wierd, i know. Then, we would give him buckets of Barro ( mud) which he would spread all over the adobe bricks already in place, then we would give him the bricks for the next layer. it was very cool because he uded a string and a weight as a plumbers line in order to keep everything level. Also, he was more or less balanced on the wall, and he would just keep standing on what he had just built in order to build the next level!! the back wall is what we mostly did, and it started about 5 feet tall, but when we were done it was like 15 feet high!!! at the top, he used a string tied to a bamboo pole to set the blocks so the wall ended in a point, like a triangle, but just on the one end. After we finished the wall, we had to use the new chainsaw grandpa had constructed ( with the help of about 10 adoring orphans) to cut up logs for the framework of the roof. We cut the logs into long segments, then had to carry them onto the roof and kinda piece it together so we knew where to cut the ends to make it sit solidly. We used the chainsaw to cut it. Then, we used big long nails (clavos) to hold them together. The shape of the roof was like one of those circular hawaian huts cut in half, like half an octagon.

As we worked, one of the boys, a 14 year old name John, was being adopted by a couple we had been working with, the Andersons. it was really cool to watch how the orphans and the adults handled the adoption. Each of the boys said something about their time together, then they would hug. It was so much fun to watch, one of those bitter/sweet moments. He had to leave his friends, but now he had a home in the USA. I was way happy for him.

Then we had a fiesta!!! We played games with all the little kids, but really they played, and we helped them figure it out. We had races, where they had a starburst on a spoon and had to run around a cone and back, then pass it to the next teammate. Then, We did a lot of different games with jumpropes that i learned. We had badmitton, tetherball, tons of stuff, the kids loved it!!! We were all extremly tired, but it was tons of fun!!

Ok, now for Tuesday August 12, 2008.

This was by far the most interesting day so far, i think. I think you will agree for obvious reasons.

Today we went to a small village called Tucson (Tuck-sawn) like in arizona. WE were going to help them pour cement for a new schoolhouse and help them bathe kids. The thing was, it was built on a fairly sttep hill with flat spots for houses. First, we had all the men get together. We had to take a cement mixer, and get it probably 200 yards uphill!!! it was so tough, but we found a way to get it up switchbacks!!! IT was a fair sized mixer!!

NExt, we had people take buckets, and we had to carry sand all the way up, ususally we could only take half a bucket at a time, because we had to go so far uphill, it was way hard, but all the peruvians were helping carry it up. ( right before we took the mixer up, we had to carry 90 pound bags of cement mix up the mountain to the schoolhouse) We finally got all the sand up after a few hours, but right as we were down to the last few bucketfulls, he drove up with a whole other truckload!!! He started to dump it there, but Grandpa and I convinced him to drive it up the same way we took the mixer. it was such a relief!! By this time, it was almost 12:00 noon. We had been there for hours!! ( this whole time, the women had been showing the village ladies how to bathe their kids with soap and tubs they had brought.) ONce we got the majority of the sand up there with the cement, we started to mix it up. We had four wheelbarrows going, one right after the other!! the wheelbarrows would get the cement, then you would have to get a running start to get it up part of this slope. Then you had to go into the schoolhouse (we had just finished laying big stones for a foundation) and go across the stones and dump the cement wherever the two guys who were spreading it out wanted it. All of this was happening at the same time.

We were supposed to be leaving for the orphanage at noon, but we didnt leave until 2ish becasue we had to finish the floor. When they were done, they had a ceremony where they hung a clay pot full of cement mix over the doorway, then Will Love and Dad got to break it using a hammer. It is considered the christening or something of the house. Then we went down to the main plaza of the village and they wanted to have us participate in some ceremony. It turned out that we had to dance with them to the music, and this one guys kept pulling the girls out of the chairs and dancing with them (he had like 1 tooth, and he was like 3 feet tall) they would dance and he would randomly start yelling!! it was way wierd. Then we sat and they brought out food for us to eat..... And you know that it is offensive if you dont eat it....

Well it turned out they had this really big pieces of corn and wierd nuts, but that was ok. Remember they dont have refrigerators... Next They brought out Cuy, Freshly caught and cooked. I have been looking forward to trying Cuy, but in a proffesional restaurant, not in some backwater town!!! Anyway for those who dont know, Cuy is basically Guinea Pig. There you go! Well, I ate it, and it was suprisingly good!! once i got past the fact that there was a little bit of fur on the end of the leg, and you could easily see the little claws on the end of the feet, i had two!!

After, we went back to Girasol for the last few hours we would get there. We helped put the bamboo poles on the roof, and nail them down. Them they were covered with mud and clay tiles for roofing, but we left before it was finished. Then we hopped on the train to Machupicchu.`

Well, I it is 12:30, and i am going to bed. I will write early tomorrow about today, If i can.

Lova you all!!!
Jake Lythgoe