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.

Yellow Undies

As is tradition in Peru, Igor, Iris and I brought in the New Year wearing new yellow undies.  The undergarments are said to bring luck and prosperity to those who wear them as the clock rolls from one year into the next.  I imagine millions of pairs of yellow underwear were sold in the last week.  They could be found in heaps in carts, hanging on stands, and sprawled out on sidewalks throughout Peruvian cities.

We also dived under the table at midnight to gobble up 12 grapes.  Each grape signifies luck to come each month.

We didn't burn an effigy as it is illegal in our city district, but throughout much of the city Donald Trump was the popular figure to be lit.

 

Happy 2017 to you from the three of us.   

Pumpkin Pie

During the firsr week of the month, I nabbed one of the leftover Halloween pumpkins that were being sold at a supermarket, since that is the only time pumpkins as we know them can be purchased.  With two private students, I'd discussed Halloween and Thanksgiving and food which of course included the traditional Thanksgiving pumpkin pie.  Although it isn't quite Thanksgiving, we celebrated early having English class in the kitchen and making a pumpkin pie together.  Iris also got in on the action.

Snippets of the past week

Over the weekend, Iris and I got together with a group of friends from the women's circle that we participate in.  We celebrated various talents that we have with some women making food to share, others teaching us how to make handcrafts, another teaching us a circular dance, one telling jokes to make us laugh, another singing and me playing my flute while Iris blew on her recorder.  We had a lovely evening spent with beautiful personalities.

October is the month of Señor de Los Milagros (Lord of the Miracles) in Peru.  Devout Peruvian Catholics dress in purple robes and adore the image of Christ that had been painted in Lima by an Angolan slave that had been brought to this country.  During the earthquake of 1655, the only thing left standing in the area with the mural of Jesus Christ and it was fully intact.  It was declared a miracle and to this day, large processions go on all over the country thoughout the month.  Featured below are a few pictures of a small procession that went by our house this week.   

Iris has loved shoes for months now.  It was one of her first words and her love for shoes has moved on to not only looking at and pointing out everyone's shoes, but also putting on any shoes or sandals of mine that are not put out of reach or out of sight.

the chaotic, busy, and sometimes tough life of Agoris

The past two months since we've been back in Peru have been chaotic, busy and at times overwhelming.    

Last weekend, Igor was able to come back to spend a few days with Iris and me and to attend his sister’s wedding.  We spent some much needed time together at the city playground, on the floor in our apartment littered with toys and animal flashcards, and running errands as a family.  After showing Igor about five minutes of resentment when he first arrived, Iris gave him love, kisses and laughter galore before he had to return to the rainforest.  The following day was hard on us all, especially Iris who found the shirt Igor had worn the day before and carried it around calling out for her papa. 

While Igor attends to numerous patients daily at his medical post, Iris keeps me on my toes as I constantly have to ask her to sit (not stand or jump) on furniture or not to climb onto the table.   In those rare moments when she decides to behave like a proper little lady and entertain herself in a not-so-dangerous fashion, I attempt to get housework done as well as do work for the online classes I teach for the university.  Much of those tasks must be completed after she goes to bed for the night.  

Those are our routines… or lack of them as we do what we can and know that time ticks by, changes occur, but it also brings us closer to the end of December when we’ll be together again, if only for a few days.  

her second year

Iris turned one this month and has started off her second year with a bang.  She keeps me busy as she likes climbing on everything, is very communicative, tests her boundaries and runs all over the place.