Transitions and then some

Not much has happened since I last posted - except- David meeting with a former US Secretary of the Interior, selling everything in our entire house in Peru, saying goodbye to our friends/the students/our house keeper, traveling for 27 hours to get from Pucallpa to Hendersonville, NC, a funtastic week at a camp for David's family reunion, 4 great days with my family, an overnight with David's brothers family, a long drive to Richmond, the successful start to Ruby's kindergarten  and the kindness of many, many family, friends and neighbors. 

In fact, I've officially renamed us the The Spongebury's, feeling more than a little self-conscious about it.  But I figure we can return the favors in due time.  We officially move back in our house in 2 days but it has been a long 3 weeks with 6 moves and a mountain of stuff.  It is amazing how much stuff you can have for a family of four living in polar opposite climates.  But even more surprising is how much that stuff can tether your mind as it dangles around homeless and untethered.

I write, and will likely continue to, because as we re-immerse in the land of Uncle Sam - a lot more impressions come to mind of how the trip impacted us.  As soon as we get back settled in our own house I'll be working up some posts on : The most common questions I have gotten since our return, the realization that many people i know have no idea what it means to live in a poor neighborhood, some parenting lessons from the Peruvians, and just how difficult it is to explain the experience. 

The thing I miss most is working on my Spanish - it is almost too easy (dare i say boring) to speak in your native tongue.  I do have people I can continue to work on it with but it is so much more interesting/challenging to be forced to.  Exhausting sometimes too but as you make progress, it can be very satisfying.

Ruby got a guitar from her grandparents and loves it

walking on my parents rarely frozen pond

david and leigh

snow sculptures of santa, an elf and mrs. claus

grandma, abby, papa

sledding in North Carolina

Happy Holidays!

We probably won't be getting our holiday cards out this year so Happy Holidays to everyone. 

And please, if you are reading along, give us a comment and let us know.  We are a blog only for friends and family.  We are getting hits but can't figure out who they are from - help solve the mystery.

Besos from Peru!

Things to Not Miss/Miss

Things I won't miss:

• Internet issues
• The mosquitoes
• The heat - most days over 100 sans a/c
• The contaminated water
• The ants/cockroaches/spiders 
• The litter
• The power outages, oh wait...
• Sleeping with a fan every night
• Worrying about the kids and heat, sun, insects 24/7
• The open air living noises - dogs, roosters, music, motocarros
• The dust
• The playgrounds 
• Limited food/shopping/reading material options
• The extra pounds I lost

Things I will miss:

• The neighborhood kids - definitely high on the list
• The motocarros - always a ride available
• The inexpensive lifestyle
• The fruit juices
• The fish
• Edith and all of her care of us
• The friendly, laid back and courteous people - always a 'buenos dias' from strangers
• The kid's school and big-hearted, hard-working teachers
• Our friends and the ease at which to make new friends daily
• My exercise class - a fast-paced punching/latina dance combo
• Challenging my brain every day with the language
• The interesting flowers, birds, animals
• Boat rides on the lake and river

So, pluses and minuses, like with most things.  I thought about some of the things I had worried about before we came and am so pleased some of them did not come to pass.  We did not have any trouble with security or getting robbed.  We did not have any trouble with accidents needing medical care or serious illness.  Other things did come up that I hadn't thought of but all in all we prepared as well as possible and brought the right things with us.  People keep asking if we'll be back as a family (david will always be back), I never say never but my thought right now is that I'd like to come back to Peru and South America and leave it at that.

more differences than similarities?

I've been thinking about how to wrap up the blog now that our trip is coming to an end.  I may decide to wait a bit until I get an impression of life after re-adjustment.  I notice I haven't been carrying my camera around with me as much in the last few months which could mean this place is becoming the new norm.  Although I feel like it would take 6 more months for that to be completely true.  To really solidify those friendships and to really feel fluent in a way that I would feel comfortable.

I love the motocarros and their myriad of purposes from hauling people, pigs, construction materials, or just each other.  I like that they are just an instant couch anywhere you can drive them to whether it is for watching a soccer match or just hanging out with your friends.  I am endlessly surprised that the drivers feel no qualms about stopping for gas at anytime and getting 1 sol's worth ($.33).  And, why is it that they never have change?  Isn't their business in dealing with change?  Why is their uniform approach to the rain a marginally effective plastic sheet tied under their chin?  These may be questions I leave here unanswered.

I still find the number of bodegas and juice stands mind boggling.  There are at least 3 or 4 bodegas on every block and they all carry virtually the same products.  I suppose there is enough business for them all and it is a way to be your own boss and work at home, although nowhere near a get rich quick scheme.  The juice stands are such a great self-starter business, especially if you have fruit trees in your yard.  Every household is making juice daily anyway - all you need for a stand is to make extra and put it on a table on the street.  It is so hot that people are always looking for juice.

Some of the construction choices and quality I find curious but I'm guessing those all come down to economics and climate.  Shelter has a whole new meaning for me now.  It is not the traditional American middle-class home.  It is a roof if you live somewhere where it rains or you need protection from the sun.  It is walls if there is something you want to keep out or in.  It is glass windows if you need to keep warm, screens if you don't, or open air with mosquito nets is a viable option.  Floors are a convenience - people lived for a long time with dirt floors and still do.  Doesn't seem ideal but it is a reality.  I read in the guide books about Pucallpa that it was hastily put together and I am not sure exactly what that means but they are definitely not pulling architecture from a European page.  They are making exactly what they need made to live in at the time and nothing more.

Having lawns with grass is regarded on a complete opposite end of the spectrum from the States.  We have a small yard and noticed that kids didn't play in it.  We saw one friend shooing his son out of the yard.  When we asked why he indicated there are insects like chiggers that can be very irritating.  Upon further inspection we noticed many people don't have grass.  I even noticed a woman digging up the grass that was growing in her 'yard', preferring to have the dirt.  Having concrete seems like a desired solution and the kid's school is 90% concrete.  A definite difference.

And while it was hard to get used to, the schedule of life where the big meal of the day is at 2 for families to eat together does make a lot of sense in some ways.  Families spend time together while they have energy and have a little rest period together during the hottest part of the day.  This can make the dinner hour less stressful whereas it is usually just leftovers or a snack.  And 8-2 seems like a perfectly reasonable school day for children.  They have time to learn and eat and play and come home for significant family time.  This was challenging on my American work schedule but we had Edith for the kids.

Sometimes I felt like the list of similarities was almost shorter than the list of differences but that's not entirely true.  People are not that different.  They are trying to get by in ways they have learned and that make sense to them and trying to do right by their families.

David rocks the morning show and Ruby's graduation

David made an appearance on the local morning show and did about a 20 minute segment answering questions about the impending road through to Brazil.  There are some issues with it in terms of the people and environment that will be affected.  He did great and the kids were shocked and thrilled to see him right there on the same box they watch Backyardigans on - now that is fame.

David on the local morning show

 

 

We also had a birthday party for Edith and invited her mother and sister over to help celebrate.  The kids love a party so we enjoyed decorating and hosting the event, especially considering all that Edith does for us.  Although felt a little awkward that she said she had never had one before.  I think she had fun.

Ruby and Felix had their last days of school here, which was a bittersweet milestone.  We like the school, friends and teachers and will be sorry to not see them anymore.  Tonight Ruby had her kindergarten graduation and it was a lavish and fun affair!  It's so funny because we never have any idea what to expect from the school (and I don't fully understand all of the communication that comes home) so there are always plenty of surprises.  There was a huge production graduation that over the course of 2 hours went from a formal ceremony with caps and gowns, diplomas, introductions of the families to dancing, clowns, balloons and mayhem.  It was great and I love the way Peruvians and my kids know how to party!  I am a proponent on educating our kids on how to let loose and have fun - sure, there's all that reading, writing and math they worked hard on all year that is important.  But then, let's celebrate the hard work and good friends and being together.  Loved it.

Visit to indigenous community

We had an opportunity to take a boat up the Ucayali River to an indigenous community where David's students are working on his project.  Normally this is an 8 to 10 hour trip but we rented a boat with an outboard motor and were able to make in about 3, aided by the rainy season making some additional shortcuts available.  The Ucayali is one of the main tributaries that leads to the Amazon River.  It runs right through Pucallpa near downtown and is a busy port in this region.  It feels huge, although you can see across, and was running rapidly with a lot of stray logs in the water due to the start of the rainy season knocking things loose.  This added some stress to the start of the trip since we needed to avoid those to not damage the motor.  We hit a few but ended up being ok.  We were already under a bit of mental duress after hearing a few stories lately of armed robberies on the water.  The speed of our boat was supposed to be a deterrent  and luckily we didn't have any problems.

We had a trek through the mud upon arrival but were greeted by a friendly community and David's students.  They had an impromptu community meeting at which David and Jorge spoke, while Edith and I ran around after the kids.  Ruby was enthralled with the water pump and shortly thereafter she was able to use it a lot to help me clean Felix's clothes and the hammock he got sick in...  Edith had been trying to rock him to sleep but I think a combination of the heat and motion didn't work for him.  We left shortly thereafter, unsure if he was coming down with something.  The boat ride home was amazing - we took some very small rivers and were up close and personal with the beautiful plants and birds of the region.  We even got to see monkeys swinging through the trees, just as we'd see squirrels back home.  We made it home early and the kids were fine.  It was difficult and quite an adventure but a good way to wind up our last few weeks here.

Ruby at indigenous community.  The students and community members are playing volleyball in the background.

The community's water pump - ruby and felix loved.

The boat ride home - Mirela, David, Felix crashed out, a friend, the driver, Leigh, Ruby, the driver's family, Edith and another friend.

The real deal jungle and some of the logs we had to navigate through.

Cuzco - part dos

As expected, the trip with my family and my sister's family was much different than the one I took with my friend last month.  Sure it had the part where we ate yummy food and got to go to Machu Picchu - but it also had the part where Felix had two doctor visits and a penchant for screaming all night.  Ruby did great though and it was really special to be able to share the whole thing with my sister's family.  The fact that they said it was their best vacation was icing on the cake!  The kids missed some school but what they learned about the Inkas, traveling and the Peruvian culture more than made up for it I would think.  And it made me realize how big they are getting - we may not be able to do family vacations for that much longer.  So, while I can't say as it is common or even recommended for people to bring their kids, under 6, to Cuzco - ours loved the trip.  They didn't seem too affected by the altitude and loved climbing around on all the rocks.  But remember to have a bunch of family with you that are great with kids, like we had.  You have to maintain a pretty tight grip on the unfenced (ie. all) dropoffs and David basically carried Felix up the mountain, but they definitely got something out of it.  Three days of big-time ruin climbing is a lot for anyone but if you are 5 and can hang with everyone else, it is pretty impressive.  I could tell her confidence was getting a big boost by the whole experience.

Our hotel, a former Inkan palace, was over 500 years old and gorgeous

Sacsaywayman ruins looking over Cuzco

The stones they used are huge and there is a great mystery about how they constructed with them

Theo, Abby and Ruby with the Andean women and animals

Waiting for the train

Dancing on a stage at Machu Picchu

Drawing in the dirt at Machu Picchu

Personal porter

In Cuzco

'It's not why you came, but it's why you stayed'....

'Peruvian Food - It's not why you came, but it's why you stayed.' I can't get this quote from the Expat Peru website out of my head.  It should be noted that most expats live in Lima.  And Lima is a large city with many different food options. 

Food is regional, anywhere.  But with a 20 hour, dangerous car ride to Lima on the only road out of town - there isn't a huge amount of import/export going on.  To generalize the food in Peru would be a little like saying that New Orleans and Anchorage have the same options, but more dramatic. 


So I'll speak to my experience with food in the Amazon region.  Basically the things in abundance here are fish and fruit so a lot of the cuisine revolves around that.  Many dishes are also starch heavy because starches are inexpensive and available.  There is a lot of yuca, rice and of course, potatoes.  In fact, Peruvians are quite proud of their potatoes and the variety is unmatched and dates back to before the Incas.

We handcuff ourselves a bit with choice.  We only eat chicken and fish for meat here, but those are readily available and the most common.  We have deemed beef and pork are too risky for us.  And some of the fruit and vegetable prep makes me nervous - as the sickest I've ever been was 6 years ago in Peru from the food.  Because the water is so contaminated you have to be very careful about any fruit or vegetable that you do not peel.   We do eat green beans, broccoli and tomatoes but I always feel the most comfortable when I'm eating peeled things like carrots or avocados.

Thankfully we have Edith and that provides us with a lot of peace of mind about food preparation.  A little ironic that as I type this Edith is sick from food poisoning from some ceviche she ate downtown.  We have been remarkably lucky in this regard (the sound you hear is me knocking on wood).  We have had a few little minor tummy aches but no full blown food poisoning, which is huge.  Particularly with the less discerning kiddos.

We benefit from Edith's fresh squeezed juice every day.  With the overabundance of fruit trees, this is the most common way to stay hydrated.  (I won't talk about all the Inka Cola and Coke people drink because I was talking about being hydrated. ;))  With the incredible heat, hydration is very important.  There is a juice stand on every corner and many points between.   I admit to not frequenting those and not because I mind sharing a glass someone else has used, I'm just still nervous about the water.  Many times the prep is just squeezing the fruit - like orange, lime, etc.  But other times the prep involves peeling and boiling the fruit first. It may be irrational but if one drop of water was not boiled or was used in the washing of something (and not dried) it is possible to get sick.  I'm taking the better safe than sorry approach here.  Popular fruit drink choices are camu camu, pineapple, cocona, papaya, passion fruit, gaunabana.  Chicha morada is a drink we're often served at birthday parties which is a dark purple from purple corn and has cinnamon, cloves and pineapple. 

Edith also cooks well and we enjoy her guiso (chicken, potato, carrot stew), fried chicken/fish and pasta dishes.  She usually cooks a big lunch and then we have the leftovers for dinner.  Dinner is a less significant meal here and we have adapted to that now.  And it works.

A meal prepared by Edith (beet/potato salad, rice, plantain, fried chicken)

A typical middle class meal - rice, beans and a grilled fish - the WHOLE fish

An appetizer including ham, shaved  palm heart, yuca

Plenty of delicious avocado

Juanes - a typical amazonian meal. It is rice, chicken, egg, olive.  This one has had the banana leaves removed.

Great grilled chicken and papas

Smorgasbord of typical Amazon region dishes

Very common to purchase food off the street like this

Brace yourself - fried boa (uh, no i didn't try it but david and felix did)

David's student Gerardo eating fried cayman (similar to crocodile)

My only real confusion lies with the mangoes.  They are literally dripping off every other tree here by the hundreds.  I would think there would be mango in Everything - mango smoothies, mango alcoholic drinks, mango ice cream, mango salsa.  I'll have to do some research and figure that one out.  People do eat the fruit and are many times looking to give away mangoes as they will just rot in their yard.  But why there isn't more emphasis on mangoes is a little mysterious to me - perhaps just too many good fruits to choose from.  A good problem to have.

Felixia

Felix has become quite a parrot. Well, actually Felix has gone beyond parroting to invent his own version of Spanish we call Felixia. Felixia staples include useful words and phrases like:
Guaca..MA..yo (macaw)
¿No sé? (i don't know or you don't know?)
gusto teta (i want my milk)
No gusto, no gusto eso (i don't like, i don't like this)
miso (permiso) (excuse me)
A ver (to see)
¿Pór que? (why)
¡Saltar agua! (jump in the water, i.e. go swimming)
Niños sí (children yes, i.e. we have school today)
Niños no (children no, i.e. no school today)
Helado (ice cream)
¡Grande! (big!)
¡Pí pí en de potty! (i went in the potty)
Saca mis zapatos (take off my shoes)
Por favor (please)
Gusto tele, Gusto watch somedin (i want to watch something on tv)
Corta cinta (cut this tape for me)
Gusto pintar (i want to paint)
Gusto manky (i like my blanket)
Hay hormigas (there are ants)
Eso es roto (this is broken)
Tienes llaves (do you have the keys)
Tengo picas (i have bug bites)
Aqui estory (here i am)
Gusto jugo (i like juice)
Quien es esos (what are these)
Otro ... (other)
brazo, brazo (hug, hug)
Gusto eat (i'm hungry)

A lot right now revolves around liking something or not liking something - liking television or puzzles and not liking putting on clothes :)  Can't blame the kid - it's pretty darn hot still.

We will add some more later.

Eat, Hike, and Eat Some More

Luisa at the Parque Natural

Boat ride on the lake - saw fresh water dolphins!

Luisa and Ruby making tortillas

Leigh and Luisa at Granja Heidi, our favorite restaurant in Cuzco

View from Machu Picchu

Machu Picchu

Machu Picchu

Just a friend along the trail

View from the Sun Gate

Art exhibit in Cuzco

Q'oricancha in Cuzco

Our close friend from Austin, Luisa, came to visit us and get this… she was even willing to come to Pucallpa.  Pucallpa is not for the faint of heart and if not for the few researchers, NGO’s, or missionaries it is quite rare to see an American here.   Luckily, Luisa has travelled and lived extensively in Latin America and she has recently been to Haiti to perform relief work as a registered nurse.  So Pucallpa was definitely a step up from Haiti where people were living in tents Everywhere there was a spare speck of land.  She took the whole frontier city visit in stride and we enjoyed showing her the Jungla, Yarinacocha Lake, Parque Natural, Mundo Feliz, my exercise class and our new favorite pool.  We had several visits to our favorite home-made ice cream place and she came to see the kid’s school.  She basically got a slice of our life in the jungle and we were Thrilled to have her.

And the good times continued as she and I took a much anticipated girl’s trip to Cuzco for a few days.  Granted I’ve had little variety in food in Pucallpa, but to me the food in Cuzco was some of the best I’ve ever had!  We did more eating, shopping and sleeping than anything else but managed to get in a tour of the Cathedral, Q'oricancha, Sacsayhuaman ruins and of course, Machu Picchu.  We kept everything at a nice leisurely pace – which is pretty much required when jumping to 11,000 feet – and I really reveled in the idea of doing things at my own schedule rather than the children’s schedule.  I did, however, think of them constantly and did a lot of research for our Thanksgiving trip where I will go back with my family and meet up with my sister’s family.

Cuzco is an incredible place – there seems to be a relaxed pace of life in a quaint, colonial city enhanced by the mountain setting, artist community and friendly people.  I feel like the most miraculous thing is the way they gracefully absorb the huge number of tourists from all over the world.  There seems to be pretty strict control over the signage and the external appearance of the buildings in the center, wisely maintaining the city’s aesthetics.  Staying in San Blas is perfection because it had everything you need without feeling tourist-manipulated.  We could walk down the street to the bakery, a plethora of shops, and countless restaurants and bars.   Our ‘hostal’ was lovely, friendly, comfortable, clean, with hot water and breakfast for $18/night.  I really can’t figure out a way you can beat that.

Food deserves its own special paragraph.  I could go on and on but will just suffice it to say that my body was extremely happy to soak in all the nutrients and flavor.  Our favorite restaurant was a casual place called Granja Heidi.  They grow their own food and raise their own cows – and they have an incredible knack for putting flavors together.  They have a menu of the day that is a 4 course meal including drink for about $7.  After we went there the first day we told the waitress that we would be back every day of our trip.  She thought we were joking.  We did manage to mix in a few other places though and Cicciolina’s grilled vegetable sandwich and gnocchi have a special place in my heart.  There was also a casual Aussie joint that gave us a good brunch/smoothie fix.  I can’t wait to go back for the food alone.

But there was also Machu Picchu.  You can see the pictures and you can appreciate the ingenuity and engineering prowess of the Incas from books, but until you go to the Lost City itself, you can’t experience how special it is.  With the natural setting of the perch atop breath-taking, green peaks it is easy to see why so many people go there specifically for a spiritual journey or find one without even looking.  We took a 1 hour hike to the sun gate which is the point at which the people who have hiked the Inca Trail for 4 days get to see Machu Picchu for the first time.  I loved being able to spy their expressions and was certain they appreciated it more than I after having worked so hard to get to that there.  Other favorite moments were randomly running into Alpaca’s on the trail and temporarily feeling a part of the international jet set.  I enjoyed talking with different folks on the trains/planes from Japan, England, Germany, Norway to name a few.  Always something to be learned - best place to travel in Asia is Korea, parts of Norway have no sun in winter and no darkness in summer.  It seemed quite common for Europeans aged 50-60 to take long trekking trips in the area.  I couldn’t help but notice a lot of folks wait until they retire to take this type of trip – that makes sense on some levels but the altitude and climbing are difficult so to get the full experience I hope people choose to do it sooner rather than later.  And to quote everything I’ve ever read on the subject – Machu Picchu does not disappoint.