At home, at work

As we were winding up our week at the beach, I was pleasantly surprised to realize how frequently I kept thinking, “I am ready to be home, in Lima.” I hadn’t realized that I’d gotten that close to Lima to call it home, but there it was. That feeling solidified over the weekend when we were with a group which had been in Peru for only a few days. Sam and I were both excited to share things we’d learned (such as passing on vital information that the restaurant they were headed to had unadvertised 2-for-1 pisco sours) or crazy things Lima does, like water the heck out of every strip of grass. And when I say “water the heck out of it,” I mean “use a fire hose to water the strip of grass where a garden hose would be sufficient.”

But I digress. 

We’ve been in our apartment now for a little over a week now, and it feels so good to have a place of our own. It’s super tiny, but it is ours.

We couldn’t be better located. The organization we volunteer for, Manos Amigas, is across the street. If traffic is light, we can be from our door to theirs in 20 seconds. The director, Yannina, and her family live next door. Yannina’s brother, Roberto, and his family live above us. All of the adults work for Manos Amigas, so frequently in the afternoons Yannina’s daughter and Roberto’s son hang out at Manos Amigas until they close up shop for the day. Simon has greatly enjoyed playing with them whenever he has the chance.

The ocean is two blocks – and a cliff – away from us. There is a beautiful park that overlooks the ocean with a playground that Simon points out when we’re still a block away. I’m also excited about this park because flowers are planted strategically to echo the Nazca Lines in southern Peru, which I hope to visit in several months. The lines were made over a thousand years ago; their purpose is under debate, but they are visible from the air. Similarly, the flowers at this park are obviously visible as you walk across the grass, etc, but when you’re on the bike path above the park, the overall designs are more evident.

There is an open air market a block away, and we can shop for our fruits, vegetables, and some staples there. The produce is so ripe that we buy stuff a day or two at a time. I love being able to buy mangos and avocados and have them taste perfect every single time. We're also experimenting with jugos - we haven't made anything fabulous yet but are enjoying different flavor combinations - passion fruit with strawberries, chirimoya with aguaymanto. 

We hope to go shopping with Yannina at some point for tips, though, because we’re not sure if we’re getting fleeced at the market. Apparently negotiating the price on almost everything is standard, but that doesn’t come naturally or comfortably to me. But if we’re paying far more than we should, then I will become savvy at bargaining!


On our first day at Manos Amigas, Yannina gave us a tour and then told us about a couple of projects she’d like us to work on. Number one was building them a website. We’d noticed before we left the States that their website had disappeared. For several complicated reasons, they no longer own their domain name and had to register for a new one. And they didn’t have any of the data, pictures, or information saved on their computers. So, we were handed a password the website software site and given a Word document with some slightly awkward and stilted text to put on the site. (It’s written in English but I’m still not sure what some of it means.) The host provides a very basic software platform to design the sites, much less sophisticated than the platforms that Sam and I are both used to from website building and maintenance, so we had a bit of a learning curve. Still, it felt good to be able to do something for them quickly.


I will note that because it is so basic of a site, I was not going to include the website address here. But Sam argued that it will help build traffic for them. So, if you are curious to see what we’re working on and who we are working for, check out www.manos-amigas.com.pe. Disclaimer: I don't know how to adjust settings so that the formatting appears consistent across all browsers. It looks fine in Firefox on our computer and then looks a little off on the browser at the office. I’m sure we will continue to work on it the entire time that we are here, and there is a lot of information we will add once we learn more!


This week we’ve continued to work on the website by adding photos and finding more information to add in. We are also preparing for a year-end clearance sale that we are apparently going to run. This is right up Sam’s alley – pricing, display and inventory control. It will open mid-November, run for a month, and the proceeds will pay for an artisan training that they hold once every two years. Perhaps we’ll do our Christmas shopping at the sale too… after all, everything must go!


Sam and I are trying to figure out how to both volunteer but also care for Simon. Yannina is open to having Simon come too, since there is a lot of space for him to run around and play in, but he’s not exactly at the point where he can play independently. It is not very feasible to work on the computer or handle fragile items while also watching Simon. Right now we’re splitting the day: one of us works in the morning, the other in the afternoon. We are open to hiring a babysitter for several hours but we don’t know anyone yet! Once the kids are out of school for the summer, hopefully Simon can hang out with them more.


All in all, it is fun to have projects to work on, a kitchen to cook in, delicious and strange fruits to try out, and a city to keep exploring!

One of the fruit vendors keeps giving Simon tiny bananas, free, as a little gift...
it's a smart way to keep me coming back!