Milk in a bag

What's up with milk in a bag? Can't someone just make some milk in a carton? What are you supposed to do once you open it when you can't even set it down? Vanessa tells me you're supposed to place it upright in a tea saucer, everybody knows that. But it still seems like an unnecessary extra step if you'd just put it in something that stands itself up to begin with. Bagged milk is the only way to get fresh milk though, otherwise you have to drink that di-sgusting UHT milk from a box, and any milk that can sit un-refrigerated for 6 months just isn't right.

But enough complaining. I've started Spanish classes in the mornings while Alexa is at nursery in a class of three Japanese, one Italian and a Russian. I've also been initiated into the mothers group that meets every week at someone's house where everyone brings a food dish and stands around and chats while their kids make each other cry. I met some interesting people but most of them look at me a bit weird when I say that I don't work and stay home with the baby. But then I met a woman whose husband does the same thing and agreed we're probably the only two in Peru.

I've joined the local climbing gym and have gotten to know a few people who will take me climbing in a few weeks once it's warmer. It's a small gym with a bunch of regulars. The thing I like about climbers is that they're the same everywhere you go and I tend to get along with them from the first moment I meet them. They all have funny nicknames and were all surprised to learn that I went by my actual name.

On the baby front, I've accomplished something completely amazing - tonight I put Alexa in bed, read to her the four books we have to read before bed, and then turned out the light and left. Why this may not sound amazing to some, she has slept in bed with us from the moment she was born until I arrived in Peru three weeks ago, and in those three weeks I have step by step weaned her away from our bed, her mother's milk at bedtime, and sleeping next to someone. There were a few rough nights, but as I sit and read in total silence at 10Pm and stretch out in my now-roomy bed it was all worth it.

Vanessa is working from home now, which is nice - taking me from total isolation in Syria to family overload. This week we went to Vanessa's grandmothers birthday party and spent the evening with all of her aunts, uncles, and cousins which was a good time as well as some good food. The first week of August I'll be going back to Salt Lake for my brother Clay's wedding and hope to see some friends there if the time permits.