Small World

Alan and I were reminded last night of how small the world is when we joined our neighbors for a little  get together at their apartment which was meant to introduce us to some new people in Lima.  Within the first week of living in our new apartment, I met my neighbor Catalina, who is from Chile.  She and her husband, a Peruvian, lived in NYC for years but settled in Lima in the last 2 years. They have a beautiful 6-month old baby. Catalina has been great...helping me understand our sudden water shutoff in our building since I could not understand the building employee's explanation in Spanish, taking me around to some shops for beautiful pima cotton baby clothing, and offering tons of contacts and advice about living in Lima.  She and her husband kindly invited us for an impromptu wine and snacks get together at their place the other night to which they invited some of their other close friends.  We didn't have any time to arrange child care for Eli but since we were just across the hall, we used our monitor and frequent checks, and were able to join them.  Alan had not yet met Catalina or her husband.  When her husband walked in the room, Alan did a double take and said "I know you!"  They realized that they had gotten acquainted in NYC years ago through a mutual Colombian friend and had attended many parties together over the years they lived in New York.  We couldn't get over what a coincidence that we would have chosen an apartment literally across the hall from someone Alan knows!  We had a wonderful time getting to know them and their friends.  I got lots of great advice and suggestions from the group and we really enjoyed the company...even though we were out way past our bedtime (2am!). The night made us hopeful that we will continue to build our social network and friend circle here.