The last 2 months

We've now moved from the Incan Baths back to the coastal city of Chiclayo, where we are living in a nice, peaceful area of the city in a very little house, and still unsure of where to put all of our things.  Living in the mountains was lovely and we were able to enjoy many moments in nature, the tranquility of the region as well as the near proximity to nearly everywhere we wished to go as well.  Moving back to the coast has been an adjustment and hard on each of us and we await Igor's arrival at the end of the month so that he can do external rotations in coastal hospitals for the next year before we once again return to Cajamarca.

Here are some pictures from the last two months:

We couldn't get into the nearby thermal pools when we took the kids, 

so made a warm little pool in the house.  They were thrilled.

Iris and I made cornstarch-based sidewalk paint and she went outside 

to paint with a few of her friends from the condominium.

Isaac relishes in his recently developed skills of sitting, rolling, army crawling and handling balls.  His sister is quickly learning not to leave her things on the floot, because he will get them.

Iris is always busy using her imagination and finding ways to entertain herself.

As we packed up in Chiclayo, Isaac and Iris played together.

Exhausted our first day in Chiclayo, they crashed together.

As we have not been able to yet purchase the necessary components to hook up our wash machine, Iris rinsed the clothes that I washed and Isaac decided after a while that he'd just take a nap until we were done.

Ventanillas de Otuzco

Igor got off of work early at mid-afternoon yesterday so we were able to take a little trip to las Ventanillas de Otuzco to hike up to the ruins, which are believed to be a burial site about from about 800 years ago.  It rained most of the day before and after we were there inluding during the drive to and from but we were fortunate to be able to enjoy a bit of sunshine at the ruins.

recently

During the months of August and September, we've had several fun experiences, and a few have been briefly documented by camera--something I'm certainly not good about doing.

In early August, we got to watch an airshow from our apartment window.  There were 11 aircrafts involved that made their rounds numerous times.  The helicopter came within 20 meters of our window and they flew directly over the apartment on many occasions.  

Iris turned 2 and celebrated her birthday by looking for cows and going to the nearby playground with Igor and me.

We went to the fairgrounds 3 blocks from our apartment one evening where Iris played in a fun house and rode a llama, although she thought the latter was terrifying.

Llacanora

This weekend Iris and I went on an excursion with her abuelo and tio to the quaint village of Llacanora, only about 15 minutes from where we live.  Only about 1 km from the pueblo are two waterfalls.  Because this is the dry season, they didn't have much water, but the short hike itself was lovely.   Iris also enjoyed eating one of her favourite foods that her abuelo treated her to -- guinea pig.  (She makes a much better Cajamarcan than me, as that is a typical food of this region, and I have no desire to eat it.)

All tuckered out but loving the flowers 

relaxing and observing the sheep 

devouring guinea pig

A Dream

The last month has brought about a number of big changes for our family, but it feels like a dream come true. 

Igor got into the medical residency program he applied for in Cajamarca to become a pediatrician.  Although he has a grueling schedule, alternating between 36 and 12 hour shifts, without any days off, he enjoys his work and is learning a lot.  This month he began his residency in the neonatal pathology unit where he works every day.  For each of his nightshifts he works in the pediatric part of the emergency room where he has seen numerous interesting cases, including a child with Guillain Barre syndrome and another with Kawasaki Disease. 

The possibility of Iris and me staying behind in Chiclayo until her younger sibling is born existed, but two days before Igor had to move to begin his program, we decided that we would all move together.  That meant that we had a whirlwind of activities to complete.  Since my contract with the university had not yet ended, I had to get permission from the director of the university’s language center to continue teaching my online classes, but from Cajamarca.  We had to pack up all of our belongings, search for a truck and driver who could transport our belongings, and create the absurd inventory list every item we were moving to be submitted at various tax points along the route since we were moving outside of the province.  Although it was an exhausting experience, we learned a lot about moving in this country and are happily settled in in our new home.

We now live in what could be described as a suburb of Cajamarca—Los Baños del Inca (The Incan Baths).  An independent community about 4 miles from Cajamarca’s city center, the Incan Baths is considered to be Peru’s First Wonder.  While many tourists come to bathe in the thermal springs, the community is tranquil and is a mosaic of the past, present and future, of city and farm life.  We live in a lovely apartment in a condominium, just five blocks from the city’s main square, but with farm animals nearby.  Some animals are kept in lots walled with bricks, while other animals are brought by their owners to graze in the open, green, grassy lots around.  Iris has enjoyed seeing sheep, pigs, turkeys, ducks, hens and roosters, donkeys, horses, cats, dogs and even locals milking their cows—all within 2 blocks of our home.  Iris found it particularly humorous to see a woman walking her donkey that was loaded down with packs.  To her the “donkey [was] wearing a purse!”  Iris also thoroughly enjoys the nearby playground that also has several swimming pools inside.

 Iris's new bedroom

our living room and the view out its window

Iris thrilled with her friend "Pepe" the cricket that she found in the apartment

Unlike Chiclayo, Cajamarca has more cultural events.  We took Iris to a live production the Wizard of Oz.  I was very excited, but unfortunately it was not the Wicked Witch that made us leave only a half an hour after it began, but rather that Iris was terrified of the Tin Man, and we were unable to subdue her screams.  She now seems to have conquered her fear of the Tin Man as she now finds many tiny, imaginary tin men on our floor and asks them if they need some grease.  We also went to a 3D photo museum display the other day which was really neat.  The paintings all represented themes that Cajamarca is well known for.

 Iris and I were ready to milk the cows, who seemed all to eager to be milked :)

 Iris and I mixed the Chicha de Jorra (a beverage made from corn)

 Iris and I beat the drum for the Carnival festival

  Iris and I danced at the base of Santa Apolonia for the Carnival festival

 A man threw paint on us at the the Carnival festival

After dreaming of being together on our own for a long time, we are finally able to really enjoy it, even if Igor isn’t home all that often.

Below are a few pictures from the Independence Day parade that we went to earlier this morning.

El Niño

We survived the unexpected force of the unnatural disaster caused by a natural phenomenon.  What I mean, is that, in many parts of the world, the amount of rain we recieved over the last week, would have done little damage, but here in the desert city of Chiclayo, it is a different story.  Unprepared for rains, with no drainage system, high poverty rates and many homes built of adobe or other materials not meant to withstand extreme weather, thousands of homes collapsed in ruins.  Just a block and a half from our house, a neighbor's roof collapsed.

The city was without electricity for a time and without running water for days.  Sewage pipes broke and streets were filled with contaminated waste.  While rain streamed through fissures in our roof and rushed down the stairs from our roof the first few nights before my father-in-law helped secure our apartment, we have nothing to complain about.  We lived on the fringes of the disaster, isolated in a bubble, unable to truly comprehend the horrors that others expereienced.

While water still stands, mosquitos breed, and a stench fills the air, people are picking up the pieces of their lives and moving forward.  Businesses are resuming their normal hours, but there's still a tension in the air as all wonder if it is completly over.

For a video with footage of flooding in Chiclayo you can watch;  http://www.americatv.com.pe/cuarto-poder/reportaje/emergencia-chiclayo-lluvias-inundaciones-y-alerta-sanitaria-noticia-64680

The photos below show Iris and me just outside our house after the first of five consecutive nights of rain.