Day Two
Acheivements:
– First full day with Josefina. She is our angel and helped us figure out three very important things: where to buy affordable vegetables, how to get water delivered, and neighborhood trash service.
– Fun walk at sunset along the cliffs overlooking the sea. Unfortunately, I forgot to put a memory card in the camera (placenta brain) so we missed the beautiful snap of the sun as it disappeared — try to look at the view in the pictures below and picture it just above the clouds. It will make Paul very happy.
Bummers:
– Valerie (my faculty connection and future committee member) was stricken ill last night and had to postpone our meeting today. We’ll look into reconnecting tomorrow morning or afternoon.
– Will had some melt-downs today. Including probably the biggest he’s had to date (he didn’t want to stop playing and eat dinner.) He is pretty clingy with me (experience with him tells that he takes a few days after a change before he feels safe without me in his line of vision) so it worked well that I was here. I spent the day with Josefina, generally buchering her language, discussing cooking techniques, and trying to figure out the best way to use her, keep Will on a schedule, and convince her not to work herself to death here all day. (She offers over and over to stay until 8pm, bathe Will, and put him to bed!)
Looking towards tomorrow:
– Meeting with Valerie is up on my list.
– Making final arrangements for spanish tutoring to start next week.
– Getting a doctor’s appointment for Will (I want a good contact and a face-to-face visit in the event Will should become ill during our stay.)
– We are trying to convince Josefina to go home early since it is a holiday.
– We are planning on going out to dinner. One of the “family friendly” places recommended in our travel book around Parque Kennedy. There is also a Cafe-Cafe there (the other branch of the one we had lunch in yesterday) — and since we know they will be open, are affordable, and have a ton of meat-free meals, this is a good backup.
– There is a church near Parque Kennedy that we may go to for Epiphany service. The pastors are from Ambridge, PA — the tiny area along the Ohio where my entire extended family has its roots. I internet-met them through the expat list I am on and thought it would be fun to visit a local church on a holiday. (Will is the loose canon on this one, as the 7pm service comes close to bedtime!)
Night-time in Miraflores
Will is asleep and our world is quiet. Looking up the street towards the rest of Miraflores. 
Estamos Aqui
We are here! And tired.
Some notes:
– We changed Will in Houston before the 6 hour flight to Lima. Bad Idea not pre-emptively changing him at least once on the flight (as cumbersome as that would have been on a full flight in coach.) When we landed, he had wet through everything and was positively sopping wet. Poor kid. Have I mentioned he is a totally amazing?
– Lima is lovely. We’re about two blocks from the ocean. Huge cliffs, lined with blooming vines, create a wall around the seaside. The effect is beautiful. We walk two blocks and can stand along a walking path and look down over the sea.
– We walked along the ocean to Larcomar, an upscale shopping area with movie theatre, restaurants, and more. An affordable lunch was munched looking out over the Pacific.
– Swimmers and surfers dot the shore. While they are fun to watch, I would not join them, even on a dare.
– The house is great. Owned by lovely family (nice pictures everywhere). Not quite on the same “neat freak” level as us so we have been working to make space for ourselves without disturbing much. It is nice to be somewhere so clearly lived in and loved by a neat family. Beautiful rooms, big living space, 3 bedrooms, bathrooms, an office, and roof top terrace. The house is filled with toys, making us feel (not for the first time) that we seriously deprive our child. Will was so in to the toys that when asked if he wanted to go outside (we wanted to walk to the grocery to get some essentials) he said “no.” That was the first and only time Will has ever said “no” to going outside. Until he found out there was a little tikes play gym on the roof.
– Expensive and upscale grocery (Vivanda) is a few blocks (7? 8?) away. Walk over, take taxi back for about a buck.
– Paul is set up for work (I’m using his computer right now). He’ll set up the household wireless soon and I’ll be able to plug in at will with my compy. The wonders of technology!
– Vonage is up and working, call us at will! We’re told the connection can be rough — but we experimented and found that it is better when we don’t use the household wireless phone and don’t touch the internet while we are talking. It’s pretty good on our end, though! (And sort of amazing when you consider we can call out and be called as if we were in the States!)
– Will’s new trick: shaking hands and saying “mucho gusto” (pleased to meet you). Combined with his “dame besito” where he blows kisses, it is sort of like a one-two punch of cuteness winning us friends throughout Lima.
We’re happy to be here, excited about the next few weeks, and tired out from the long day!
Peru 4-1-1
What: 6 weeks in Lima, Peru, to lay some ground work for a disseration — starting tomorrow.
Where: Corner of Porta and Juan Fanning, Miraflores, Lima, Peru
How: With financial support through the renting of our house while we are gone
Why: To figure out what, exactly, this disseration is going to look like, to be inspired in my field, to improve our spanish, and to collect enough information to write strong applications for disseration funding and go back on a grant
Other tidbits:
– With the blessing of the owners, we are bringing a travel bug to Lima
– We will be on east coast time
– We will have our home phone through the magic of Vonage, so calling us in Lima is exactly the same as calling us in the States (same number, same charges, same everything)
