A Week In...

A week in, and I’m not sure if “getting my bearings” is really the right term since I haven’t gone far from home base much, but I am starting to feel a tad more comfortable in our new surroundings.  Moving to a new country is such a different experience than visiting a new country, I suppose because the priorities are so drastically different.  I think, especially now that we have a child to look after, creating routine, stocking the house with necessities, and getting logistics sorted completely overtake any temptation to sightsee and be a tourist.  So these last few days have in some ways been a world wind exercise in checking off tasks. But, despite checking off things on my list, I still feel I’m slowly learning a bit here and there about Peruvian culture and what I see so far, I really like. Something that strikes me is just how enamored by children Peruvians are.  Walking with Eli through the streets, grocery stores, and up and down elevators, has shown me that Peruvians really love children.  Everyone from the checkout lady at the store to the security guard at our building, to our neighbor down the hall, is so interactive with Eli and makes such an effort to engage him.  This puts me at ease until they start a full fledged conversation with me in Spanish…I have been trying my best to practice what I do know in Spanish but it is exhausting and frustrating and must provide some humor to those I’m talking with. But so far, the Peruvians have been very patient with me, speaking slowly, repeating themselves until I get a jist of what they are saying and then they help me through my jumbled sentences until I can make my point.  I’ll get the hang of it eventually and am working on hiring a private Spanish tutor to get some more practice in.

These days have also been fully of activity mostly centered around children which has really been a blessing since Eli would go a bit nuts cooped up in our apartment with only the handful of toys we brought on the plane with us (thank goodness the light switches are within reach for him so he spends most of his time running around turning them on and off!).  Valerie, Alan’s sister, has a full schedule for the children (Yoav are almost 4 and Zoe about 16 months).   It is summer here so the kids are out of school so camps, outdoor activities, and weekends at the beach fill their time. So Eli and I have gotten to tag along for all the outings.  We went to Yoav’s swim lesson at an elaborate club on Monday, and during the lesson Eli and Zoe got to play in the big playground.  Tuesday we joined Yoav for his first day at Jewish day camp at the Jewish club.  Eli had a ball and I got to meet a few mom’s.  Wednesday was a play date for young children at someone’s house.   This weekend we’ll go to Yves and Valerie’s beach house nearby so that should be really fun. 

So all in all, we are settling in and finding things to stay busy.  Here are some pictures from our first week playing in Lima!