Why Peru?

Why did we choose to move to Peru?  (That's where we went for a 22 month sabbatical.) Well...we wanted a:

• Spanish speaking country (I started out by getting by in present tense with everyday life vocabulary and it's the most practical second language in the US).
• Place that had enough infrastructure to allow Dave to get a job teaching English that could help support our family while we're abroad. *update* the job fell through but that's fine; we're just stepped into our rest time.
• Developing country - not a place that was similar to the US but spoke Spanish, and not someplace where we would be concerned about sanitation or the girls' safety. 
• Country where the government was relatively stable and we wouldn't have to worry about hyperinflation or a dicey political situation.
• My mom lived in Peru for two years after college (training sunday school teachers) and so it's always had a bit of intrigue for me.
• Peru was the furthest south we could get to and back on 35,000 frequent flier miles. *Note, as of April 2013, you can use 40K miles on United to get all the way from the states to Arequipa and back.  Delta requires 45K to get from the states to Lima and back.  You then have to purchase an incountry flight from Lima to Arequipa (about $100-200 round trip depending on time of year.)
• We took a couple of scouting trips there in 2005 and 2006 and liked it- so we stopped looking.

We lived in Arequipa, which is a city of around 1 million people in the southern part of Peru.  It's in the mountains (7,661 feet/2,335 meters) and is about 70 degrees year round (plus or minus) with little rain.  (Look south, west of Lake Titicaca.)