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.

The Olympico

This is just to show how innovative and delicious Peruvian food can be. To the left is what they call the "Olympico", Peru's version of a BLT. It's layers of tomatoes, beans, ham, different kinds of cheeses, peppers, lettuce, half an avocado, a boiled egg, and two hot dogs just for show. The picture doesn't do it justice, it's about 8 inches high (not that I eat that kind of stuff anyways, it has too much sauce, but it's just an example). In Syria, if your ancestors ate the same food for thousands of years, they see no reason to change it, and if you ask them to put some onions or salt or pepper on your shwarma or falafel for example, they stare at you blankly for a moment and say "we don't eat it that way".

The Chinese influence in Peruvian food is one thing that gives it an edge - (warning, history lesson ahead) Peru was the first south American country to outlaw slavery (in 1854), and consequently had to import the cheapest labor available at the time - Chinese peasants (which is true today as well, for that matter). So now there are third and fourth generation Peruvian Chinese and their food has worked it's way into the cuisine. One of my favorite desserts are deep fried churro sticks with cinnamon sugar on them, filled with warm chocolate pudding, and served with a steaming cup of hot fudge to dip them in. I can't help but ask, why is Middle Eastern food so lame? They've had three times as long to perfect it and they've barely moved beyond dry pita bread and beans.

I take Alexa to her nursery in the mornings and for the few hours she is being entertained there I do what I do best, wander the streets getting to know Lima. I am somewhat of a novelty at the nursery as the only father to hang out with his kid. All the other kids are there with their nannies. To the right/above is Alexa in her school uniform, with her backpack and stroller that she pushes to the nursery as I push her empty one.

She also had her first trip to the dentist's torture chair and had to have some teeth cleaned, which she did not like. They gave her a pill that was supposed to calm her down but it didn't work. We also went to a new water fountain park in downtown Lima with some fountains you can play in, others that put on a show like the Bellagio, and others that spray water everywhere and they play movies and laser shows on them. It was pretty cool, but I miss-stepped on one fountain and got a jet of water straight in the gut. Then one fountain you walk through this tunnel of water and Alexa freaked out and almost had a nervous breakdown. It was pretty traumatic for both of us, I think we'll stay away from there for a while.

The weather is wet and misty and pretty dismal, but the coldest it gets is around 65 degrees, and while people walk around in big winter jackets Vanessa wears flip flops and I wear a t-shirt or sweatshirt.
I hear that most of my collegues that studied Arabic with me in Syria are not finding it too easy to find a job, even being some of the most advanced Arabic speakers in the country. Nobody wants to give them a clearance after they've lived in Syria - even though it was the government that sent them to Syria in the first place. Hopefully things will look better when I start searching next year. In the meantime I've found a Palestinian woman in Lima married to a Peruvian and will meet with her twice a week for conversation so as not to fall behind the curve.

Back together again

The reunion was a smash, and it's good to be back together again. Alexa likes her new father and he likes being one again and really likes the good food in Lima.

The last two weeks were fun but started to stretch out as I ran errands in DC and caught up with old friends and quickly got re-adjusted to expensive life the US. I did some yard work in my house and almost cried to see how my garden looked after a year of neglect. It was good to see the Reynolds and eat some organic pizza with them, and I had for the first time in one year some Root Beer - it was heaven in a bottle. I also went up to New York and saw Ash, Brian and Eliot, who is doing great and liked to do the running-man to Michael Jackson songs. My friends the Hammonds and I met up and we ate some soul food in Harlem (not much else to do there).

I then arrived late at night at the Lima airport to a man with a sign with my name on it who didn't know where he was supposed to go. I barely remembered where Vanessa lived from three years ago and finally arrived at midnight to find both of them waiting for me.

The picture to the right is where the apartment is, one of those buildings on the left in the distance. Compared to Damascus Lima really seems super-deluxe. Of course it still has that comfortable 3rd world feeling, but is much more modern and clean, and has a more American influenced style, as well as American brands and stuff. It's nice to be back in the familiar arms of globalization.

So far we've been doing errands, eating really good food, playing games, watching elmo, and I've been catching up on sleep. I'm the stay at home dad for now, so I get Alexa ready in the morning and take her to nursery, and figure out how to keep her entertained the rest of the day.

The plan is this: I'll eventually start looking for part-time work (as we do have a nanny), I'll find out what's up in the climbing scene (I already know there are three rock-climbing gyms in Lima), I'll try to find a Spanish class and learn some Espanol, and I'll seek out the few Arabic speakers in Lima (there must be at least a few) to keep up on my skills. The picture to the left shows a paraglider gliding right by where we live, there are a lot of them that hover back and forth over the coast in the perpetual sea-breeze and offer rides to the tourists for $10.

Below is Alexa puckering up after eating her favorite treat - raw onions with lime juice. She puckers up and shudders every time she eats one and then keeps on going.