It has been more than 50 days since we left Boston for Lima, Peru and I am embarrassed to say that this is my first entry in our now resurrected blog. All I can say is “better late than never.” We’ve been busy settling in and adjusting to life in Lima. In this entry, I’ll try to bring you up to speed and I promise to be more forthcoming with stories from Peru. We miss everyone back home and think of you often. I know many are curious to see pictures and hear of our time here. I promise to do a better job!
Our first two weeks in Lima were spent at the Residencial Carlos, a small hotel in San Isidro. The week before we arrived in Lima, we learned that my friend Jennifer’s mom, Betsy (who is from Peru), has a cousin who owns a hotel in Lima (little did we know we would spend 13 nights at “Aurora’s place” as Caroline and Luke dubbed it). When we stepped off of the plane late at night in Lima, we were met by a driver holding up a sign for “Mat Augustin.” Matt and I looked at each other and decided that was probably us. The driver whisked us through the night streets of Lima to our very quiet, very nice hotel with it’s beautiful garden, pet turtle, delicious breakfast of fresh rolls, eggs, papaya and fresh-squeezed orange juice, which we enjoyed for about 9 or 10 mornings in a row!
We spent our first week enjoying the warm temperatures and sunshine. It was great to pull on short sleeves while leaving our winter coats, hats and boots behind. We haven’t missed them, yet! We explored the beautiful parks of Miraflores, where we now live. We took great pleasure in seeing the vast Pacific Ocean from atop the cliffs of Lima. We explored new grocery stores, visited Larcomar (an outdoor shopping center with restaurants, stores and “kid rides”- Caroline and Luke’s favorite place in all of Lima), and strolled along the Malecon (the long pedestrian and bike road that goes along the ocean and connects the parks). We also began an apartment search that was interesting and quite laborious. We did get to “know” Miraflores quite well during that time. Two weeks isn’t a long time to find an apartment… except when you are a family of four living in one room!
We finally moved in to our current home on February 5. It was the very last place we viewed. Even though we felt at that point that we’d move into the next place we saw (no matter what), it is by far the best. We are in a great location and can walk anywhere we like (which is good since we don’t have a car). We are a block away from the famous Parque del Amour and the cliffs that overlook the ocean. Matt and I enjoy running on the malecon most mornings. The kids love the parks and “hiking” down to the ocean. We can walk to playgrounds, Larcomar and supermarkets. Matt is also able to walk to work.
Above is a photo from the malecon – one block from our place. Hope it convinces some of you to come visit us in Lima!
No comments:
Post a Comment