Monday, September 2, 2013

Perfect Weekend

We still really, really love it here. . .so much more than living in Europe, it is hard to even believe.  After living in so many people's "dream" location from 2010-2012 (and liking but not loving it), we had pretty low expectations for this place.  It has far, far surpassed those expectations.  The girls are napping, and I probably don't have enough time before they wake up to describe the many amazing things we are experiencing, so I will leave a brief description of our weekend and a few photos.

On Saturday, we went to a shopping area we hadn't been to, in search of a birthday present for my mother.  We didn't find one, but found a great local restaurant with lots of character and ate some great local food.  And drank juice.  The local juices here are AMAZING--loads of interesting fruits I've never heard of before, let alone tried.  Then we went to the park with the kids, and made some new friends while we were there.  One of our new friends had on these amazing boots, which she had made here just for her, after choosing the leather, style, and fittings all herself, for only $100.  I am SO having boots made.

Boots:

Then on Sunday, we walked to a street market.  We had planned for a great/long adventure, because we thought that it was located really far from our house, but were pleased to discover that it is only about a mile and a half away.  It turned out to be a great walk, with lots of interesting stuff to check out on the way, like:

Bike polo (?):


And cool buildings:

and street vendors selling roasted corn as a snack. . .you only want to eat this variety of corn if you are in need of a little fiber.  I think it's what we call "cow corn" back home--in other words, cattle feed.  It is very. . .earthy.

While we were at the market, we ran into a couple T had met at the park.  They are here adopting a little boy, and are hoping their adoption will be final later this week, so they can return home.  He was with them, and it was pretty amazing to watch him interact with them.  They've only known him five weeks, and from watching them together, you would have thought they had all belonged to each other forever.

Late Sunday afternoon, our housekeeper came over to watch the kids, and we had dinner with friends.  The kids LOVE our housekeeper.  It's hard to believe we haven't known her forever, either!  SB is completely attached to her whenever she is here, and Miss M told both T and I that she was so much fun that she didn't want her to ever leave.  It is so nice to know that my kids like her so much.  It makes me feel okay about getting out once in a while for a grown-up night out.

There were 14 of us at a friend's apartment for dinner last night, and it was really fun.  Our friend has an apartment with stunning views of the city, and the food was great.  It was so nice to get out and hang out with adults.  And, we have met so many people here that we also had a second invite for dinner which we had to turn down, which was too bad, because we would have liked to have seen those folks, too.  It is amazing how many people we have met here, and how friendly people are.  Let's just say that living in northern Europe was a wee bit different!  We love, love, love how warm the people are here.  It is so very nice to have friends in a new place.  And everyone--EVERYONE--has offered to lend us stuff until our stuff finally arrives from the US, which is just so kind.

Then today, Miss M had school, and while SB napped, T and I went to the old historic part of town and walked around a bit, and toured some museums.  The cab ride both ways was terrifying, but it was otherwise great to get out and explore the city a bit.  I don't like taking the girls in the cabs here (they are ridiculously unsafe. . .well, for everyone, but particularly children), so this was the first time we'd been to that particular area, and it was really cool.


Although, we will have to go back to that area at some point so the girls can ride these:


Gotta love the tourist llamas.  

And with that, I can hear the little one waking up.  We are so very blessed.



2 comments:

Eb said...

I love the look of the new city. Reminds me of BA or Lima but seems a bit clean for the Lima I remember!!

Enjoy every moment and share as much as you can :)

Jessica White said...

Sounds like a great place! So glad you guys are settling in well.