On Edging Further South...

On Edging Further South....If we continue edging South we will begin Edging North and end  up in INDIA. Interesting thought...

How nice to have guests...

It's the third day of Madelle and Larry's visit and how lovely to have them with us. So far we have taken them to the Malecon and lunch at Mango's then a walk back to Parke Kennedy and cafe at La Favoritas. This weekend is a little of a challenge because it's Easter weekend and many places will be closed. But Laurie is busy finding out what is open and what we should see.
I am enjoying the conversations with Madelle and Larry. I'm sure that Laurie will have more to say about what is happening and also posting pictures. I just wanted to add my thoughts so far.
Gene

Update....I took a walk and our morning coffee bakery is open and so was the bakery around the block. :-) And... the streets were almost devoid of traffic! Great day for a walk. 

A slice of history in Maine...

 Laurie wrote...

"The notebook of my grandmother's poetry had been sitting in a box for nearly 50 years. Her handwritten poems told stories of surviving the long winters deep in the woods of Maine, the mystery of the icy landscape after an ice storm, the odd event when sand storms from the mid-west threw sand all the way to Maine. There were stories of her neighbors and what the women did with their time. This year I finally put all of her poetry into book form so that all of her other relatives could enjoy this wonderful little piece of Gram's story. It was a wonderful project of love to be able to do it." 

A good ending...

Today was last day of the January Spanish classes. I was not sure if I would do well enough to go up the ladder to the next level of spanish class. I PASSED!! (just) The February classes start on the 3rd of Feb. I really have to study now.  But tonight we will clink our drinks together in celebration of a job well done for both Laurie and I. Laurie did very well in her Spanish class. 
Like Laurie said to me "It's about learning something, not about taking tests." 
Cheers!!

Summer time and the living is...

Easy. Yep the liv'n is easy. If only those bad vibes from U.S. about Social Security can be stopped. 
Well we will keep our fingers crossed and hope sounder minds will prevail and keep SS safe from cuts.

Off to the clinic...

I will miss my Spanish class today. Have an appointment with the ear Dr. at our new clinic Good Hope. We will be card carrying members on the 20th when we get our gold cards. It's health insurance with this clinic/hospital.
Gene

Volver a la escuela

Back to basics....Spanish that is. First day. It's a short walk to the Instituto Cultural Preuano Norte Americano. It's a mad house of students. I think Laurie took some pictures to show. I figure out what they give the teacher, like an apple. Maybe an empanada. (sp)

The Holidays

I was thinking about this date Nov. 30th as sort of a fork in the road. One way points to Christmas and all that, that entails both secular and religious. The buying of gifts, sending cards, parties, the Christmas tree and all the trimmings, Advent, Christmas Eve services, Christmas day! wide eyed kids looking at all those packages under the tree, most for them. And more...

The other road points to a more laid back time of the year. Being an observer rather then a participant of Christmas. The older we get the more this path seems easier. Why bother with all that rushing around, buying gifts, putting up decorations, Christmas Eve service,  sure we will go to an open house or two. Wish everyone a merry Christmas, eat too much, drink too much. But all that other stuff- nah.

Which way to go? Or as someone wrote "Take a path less traveled" and that may make all the difference in the world. Do what gives us the most pleasure, the most satisfaction, the most happiness. Let you heart guide you during this special time of the year. Enjoy!!

Alive and well...

One of the most interesting Thanksgivings! I'm thankful that I didn't have a concussion or skull fracture nor any broken things in my knee, or right shoulder. Thankful for the good Samaritan George, who stopped to give aid, for my wife who worried over me, and the good doctors that looked after my injuries. I'm also thankful that 4d was still open after we left the hospital.

It's now Friday and I am alive and well (almost), resting, icing, and reading all about my fall yesterday and meeting George. It all seems dream-like now, but fate has a strange way of bringing people and events together. Hey George, thanks for all your aid and your Spanish. If I wasn't so happy be retired i would seek your aid in getting a job. :-) Hope I get to see more of George and also his wife and family. Got to finish this post now and do an icing again.

A new place with new friends

Going to ride the new Metropolitano bus system today to meet with Mike and Marylin. The Metropolitano is an express bus that is like a metro but not under ground. It's about time we learned how to use this system. The price to ride is very cheap.
We will get to see one of the big malls in Lima when we meet at Cafe/Cafe. Not sure where we will go from there. Mike and Marylin live in the area so will let them lead the way. (to be continued) http://www.plazalimasur.com/frm_PlazaLimaSur.aspx (the mall)

Getting things organized...

I finished putting up shelves that Laurie wanted in our pantry/storage room. If you lined up all the shelves end to end, it would be a 30 foot  shelf.
They will be a good help in getting things organized. My  basement studio is starting to look like a studio, with paintings lining the walls.
Even the master bedroom is looking like a master bedroom. We just have to get some window coverings for privacy. I will be putting up a reed window blind tomorrow in the library, off of the the master BR. This has really been a "Honey-do" week, but I enjoy doing these kinds of things.
I have discovered that some of the voltage reducers I bought in the states are not working out putting enough voltage to operate hand drills, and other electric tools I have. Rats! Good old "made in China". Out of 4 voltage converters only the oldest one is working.

Lima's 10K Run

Last night we enjoyed being part of the watchers of the start and finish of the Lima 10K Run. I don't know how many runners there were. I can only say that the runners filled up over two street blocks at Parque Kennedy! We sat at our favorite coffee shop, which was right in front of all the action. It was wonderful to see so many people in the street, and they were not protesting anything. Just happy people ready to run and as many people ready to watch those runners. Laurie tried to get a picture of the first runner to head for the finish line but he was going so fast it was just a blur. 6.2 miles in less then 30 minutes! Around 12 mph! 

We're almost there...

 The fun of moving in...

Saturday  10;00 AM The delivery of the bottled water, dispenser, and stand arrived and we now have 20 liters of agua and a delivery service for more when needed. Next we are waiting for our bed to come sometime around noon,
Laurie wanting to make some espresso with our new Espresso
machine she found that the electrical outlet was not installed. She talked to Pimpo, the supervisor about this. First he offered to give us a extension cord until they put in the outlet. Laurie said, no way so the next thing we knew the handy man was installing the outlet. One would think that it's working. NOT. When we turned on the unit the over head light came on and the light switch stopped working! Very weird. Armando seemed to know what happened and within a few the outlets were just that and the light switch worked as it should.
Then a little after 12noon the men arrived with our bed and 2 wardrobes. They look great.
Time for lunch and after lunch off to a huge appliance store for a Microwave.
 Now some might say, "Big deal so what's so great about all of this?"   We now can sleep, eat, and have cappuccino,  in our newly rented house. Right on schedule! Next a TV.

We're In...

We are now long term renters living in Miraflores, Lima. It was an eventful day. We signed the contract and paid the rent and were given the keys. Not only that, the landlord Augusto is letting us use one of their stove's and frig's. until we get our own. Their workmen scrubbed and polished them till they looked like new. We are being made to feel like family. The big surprise today came when the cable people arrived to install our TV, wireless, and phone. We had only gotten the contract with the cable company the day before! It was a long day and after being in the house with no furniture for 6 hours Laurie was beat. The phone works, the TV lit up, and we have access to high speed Internet. Not too bad for day one.   

Meeting friends...

It's Sunday and a good day to meet with new friends.

There is always a work-a-round in Peru...

This happened in one of Lima's large department stores. If you have been following our buying adventures you know that we have been  out pricing house hold things and today was no different. While we were looking at bedding for the guest room, (if you visit us you will be so comfortable in the guest bed.) Up till now we have just been looking and checking prices, but today things were on sale! Laurie found the right sheets and pillow cases and it was a two for 1 sale!
Okay, here's where it get interesting...off we went to the check out counter. The women behind the counter said, "Do you have one of our credit cards?", Laurie answered, "No we don't have one of your cards". "Well, the sales person replied, if you don't have one or our "tarjetas" then you can only get one set of sheets at the regular price. By now Laurie is sad and upset. They were just what she wanted and the savings was great. Then the sales lady noticing Laurie's sad face, said, can you pay with cash? Yes was the answer, and I can still get two sets for the price of one, Laurie asked (she was very puzzled by this time). Yes was the reply. So Laurie handed over the cash to the sales lady and we waited. .......nothing happened, the sales lady waited on another shopper, still waiting. Then the work-a-round happened. Another shopper came up and after some conversation with the sales person, the shopper turned to Laurie and asked if Laurie wanted to use her tarjeta to get the 2 for 1 sales price. After a little thought Laurie realized that this is how the sales person gets around the "no card" problem. They ask one of the shoppers if they would charge the two sets of sheets and the sales person gives the shopper the cash that Laurie had given her. The kind shopper gets points on her tarjeta, we get two sets of sheets, and the sales person gets a sale.
The department store is happy and no harm done. Neat. no?

Where is the River???

 The River - Before

We awoke up this morning in wonderful Union NH to find that the river that was behind the house was now a trickling brook! That's not good. No fire protection for the town. What happened? Seems some state official opened the dam down stream. Laurie says the dams have been here for a couple hundreds years she thinks. The mills, that used the water power for running their machinery, are no longer in operation. But the the reservoir of water, needed for the town, is gone.
I'm sure that the towns people will solve the problem some how. But to be at a place and see a possible change happen. more to follow...

 The River - After

Having a good time...

As you can see, if you scroll back a few days, that we are enjoying our visit in New Hampshire. Today we are enjoying seeing our Great Nephew  Aaron. I even shared my blueberry muffin with Aaron this morning. We are now great friends.
The Artist

Need a Compass ...

 (from Orlando, FL)
If we are going further South...why are we flying North to Maine today? I know that if we keep going North we will eventually be going South again. What ever. This is too difficult to think about at 6:50 am.
We might as well visit with Laurie's sister Sue and Snooky while in Maine/NH. It should be nice up there this time of the year.
The Artist

What a great party...

So many friends have come to bid us a fond farewell. Jon and Emma out did them self's. Great food and drink, with plenty of conversations in both Spanish and English. Lots of laughter. I got a little over whelmed when everyone arrived. FRIENDS! I felt very rich at that moment and humbled at the same time. I will truly miss them.
I hope that the friends that said they will visit us in Peru can really make it. Well now I have to wrap up this entry to get all my stuff repacked and ready for 3am!
Up, Up, and away...