El Mundo Pequenito (by Lawrence)

Pre-haircut...

Post haircut, with choclo

While walking through the Miraflores neighborhood of Lima a week ago, I passed a person who I thought I recognized. But, no, I thought to myself, that couldn't be my friend Randy Richards. Randy and I worked together as instructors on Outward Bound courses in the early 1990s. Krista told me to go back and see if it was him. I declined. We had two hungry girls to feed and there was no chance it was Randy.

On a lark I googled Randy a week later and found the organization he has created, Mountain Spirit Institute. Sure enough, he was in Peru on the day I thought I saw him! I shot him an email to confirm the sighting and he confirmed it. He was still in Peru, but in the mountain town of Huaraz, far far away. He gave me his cell phone number and between hoots of laughter we spent 45 minutes reconnecting. Now for the weird part: Randy and his wife just moved out of the very apartment in Cusco that we are moving into on Sunday. They were actually in the apartment one floor up from ours, but really, isn't that kind of cosmic? I was so glad to reconnect with Randy and I look forward to staying connected with him this time, he's a really wonderful person.

So yes, we have found a place to call home while here in Cusco. I can't wait to post pictures, but we are not there yet. It is located right in the heart of colonial Cusco and is surrounded by great restaurants, Spanish/Inca ruins, and the main plazas of the city. It is a twenty minute cab ride from the school that we are trying out, but we think the benefit of living in the historical center outweighs the convenience of living closer to the school in what is, essentially, Peruvian urban sprawl.

Sophia is doing really well at school and is very happy to have something to do. Isabel, on the other hand, is bored during the English portion of the day (she is the only native speaker) and completely clueless during the Spanish portion of the day (she barely speaks a word yet). She has attended the school for two days, but is not too keen to return on Monday. I am sure she is learning Spanish through osmosis, but to her it feels like she is doing nothing. So we will have to see what happens. Isabel has proposed focusing on Spanish lessons and homeschooling for the next four months, and then trying the school again for the start of the school year (March 2nd here in Peru). Not a bad plan, so we'll see what we all decide.

I went out and got a haircut today (see photos), and then ventured to the market to shop for lunch. The produce here in Cusco is exquisite. While we are constricted to preparing more-or-less boiled meals, we still have our favorite foods. Choclo is the native Andean corn that you see above with enormous kernels. It is tastiest when eaten with fresh cheese on the side --a nibble of corn, a nibble of cheese. This is called "Choclo Completo." We all also love fresh fava beans which cost around 80 cents for 2 and 1/2 pounds! The avocados and apples are also delicious. The fruits and vegetables here have so much more flavor than what we get in our typical Maine produce section -- it is wonderful.



A pot full of favas













Later in the day I took Sophia for a walk around town and found this outrageously steep street named Calle Matoq. Look at the steps on the left to gauge the steepness of the street. Sophia was a trooper and made it up this high on her own steam.






Work the brakes!!!

One of the many not-stray but stray-looking dogs of Cusco.

Tomorrow morning we shop for some furniture and equipment for the apartment. We'll need two beds, two mattresses, pots/pans/plates/cutlery, a couple of tables and some chairs. It's a lot of stuff but the rent is cheaper than we had expected, so we can rationalize the purchase. It is going to feel quite grounding to get our belongings out of suitcases and into drawers. This bouncing stone may be getting closer to finding its angle of repose here in Cusco(thank you Wallace Stegner) .