How the other half lives

David is at a conference in Lima today and tomorrow so, feeling the pang of guilt for leaving me here alone, he suggested we go early and bring the kids for a getaway. I had one thought in my head - tortillas, I can buy tortillas in Lima! Followed by several thoughts like - wow, the weather will not be hot, I could buy some books in English, there will be less bugs, there will be new and interesting things to do, I adore the friends we have there... ok, You had me at tortillas - I am in! So somewhat last minute we packed up the kids and headed to the big city!

Nine million big to be exact - which like many cities, the infrastructure is not prepared for. The traffic can be insane - I'm talking Los Angeles type nutso. And a lot of Lima is not what you would call 'easy on the eyes'. In fact, anything within 20 minutes of the airport (to me) looks no better than Pucallpa. But there are nice parts and we saw those in spades this past weekend. The trick to anywhere is obviously knowing the locals. Our friend, Mariana, who is a month away from also completing her PhD at UT, said David was one of the first people in Austin to befriend her when she arrived. I can tell she will never forget this and she has returned this kindness on many occasions. Heck - if someone KNOWS you have a two year old and they invite you to their house ANYWAY....well, safe to say their karmic bank overfloweth.

Mariana lives with her husband, mother, 2 children and a housekeeper in the upscale La Molina neighborhood of Lima. The first thing you notice is the heavy, New York City-heavy security precautions in place and security guards for every 4-5 clumps of houses. But you also notice the step forward in time with completely modern ammenities, cars, grocery stores (central market-ish) and cafe's. The streets are spotless and well landscaped. Our friends brought us to their country club to play on the playground and watch their son play soccer. The children had an amazing time and I got a kick out of watching the standard issue ballboys on the tennis court, the 50+ soccer match, and the floton (like racquetball with 1 wall) games that were going on.

Our friend's country club entrance

Ruby watching the tennis

That evening we went to Larco Mar, which is an upscale shopping center overlooking the ocean and a no brainer for international travelers to Lima. They have a slew of American stores and restaurants including Chilli's. When david suggested we eat there, my jaw dropped since he is not usually a chain restaurant guy even in the States. But I was happy to have my burger and even chips and queso. We don't eat beef or pork in Pucallpa so it was especially nice to have something different. I found the portions overwhelming and Felix was running AMOK but it was a great treat just the same.

Felix at Larco Mar overlooking the ocean, just after sunset

Finally a burger!

Felix the fireman

Felix and Mikaela

News flash - traveling with a 2 year old ain't easy. He is such a happy go lucky, free flowing guy that he really doesn't like to be pinned in by any of these pesky parental constraints. Security line? not for me. Sprinting down the street as a chase game? why not. Felix's thought process 'wait, what are you doing? all i have to do is flash my cute smile and i can do whatever i want, excuse me, you have seen my cute smile right?' The big bonus of being there is that the kids played so hard on our 'playground tour' of a weekend with our host family that they slept 10 hours straight both nights in Lima. In Pucallpa, that is not the case - the noise, the bugs, the heat - something inevitably wakes them several times a night.

It might shock you to know I'm not always irresistibly sweet

Sunday we headed to an area inland from Lima called Cieneguilla. There is a river and several large restaurants that line it with pools and huge playgrounds for kids - the type of place you could go and spend all day. Even though the river bed was dry this time of year and it was too cold for the pools, the kids enjoyed bouncing themselves silly. We rounded out the weekend by heading back to the country club for a lovely cookout with their friends. They grilled beef, sausage, and chicken. People brought salads, beer, cheese, potato pie and flan. It was perfect for families to have the kids playing while the adults were able to socialize and eat. I only wish there were this type of place in Richmond.

Cieneguilla - dry river bed

Cieneguilla - view from bridge

Cieneguilla - one of the many restaurants/play areas

We were sad to leave - not only our dear friends and David but also Lima, the cooler temps, the ability to wear long sleeves, HOT showers, and the bugless atmosphere. Typical that we arrived home and there was a power outage in Pucallpa. And it felt warm, real warm. Here's to readjusting soon.

dog pile at the final cookout

Best flan I've ever had!