Happy birthday to me!

I am the first one in the family to celebrate a birthday here.  It was a wonderful day!  Dave started the morning by making my favorite pancake recipe (Four Grain Pancakes from the Joy of Cooking).  I obviously didn’t bring my tome of a cookbook down here, but fortunately someone else put it online.  I got to sleep in while Dave was cooking the pancakes and entertaining the girls.

After breakfast, I was able to hang out by myself (introverts around the world will understand what a treat that was).  I looked over my Facebook messages, read a novel, and generally enjoyed the time to myself. 

Dave and I went out for lunch downtown and I got to stop in a few shops.  We came home where I again got time to myself.  Dinner was my pick- pasta and garlic bread (neither of which I typically get at home since the rest of the family is gluten free).  And I made myself a delicious cheesecake.  Then some Skyping with family back home and a great night of sleep. 

Chocolate chip cheesecake!  Unaffected by the altitude....

M is ready to blow out the candles.

 

We aren’t typically into gifts (we tend to spend our money on travel instead of giving things).  Dave made me a fun flower bouquet with qualities written on each stem.  Mirabel drew several pictures and made a special card.  My mom sent money to buy some jewelry and Dave picked out some fun earrings.  And I got some money from my in-laws to spend on whatever I want (it’s either going to be a spa day or in-home massage). 

 

My flower bouquet.  I've been looking at one each day.

 

A bouquet of compliments.

My earrings.  You can buy a lot of sterling silver jewelry here.

We’ve been to several kid birthday parties here, but no grown up events.  I found out after my birthday that some traditions include staying up until midnight the night before to immediately wish the birthday person a happy birthday.  Some people go out drinking and there are sometimes fireworks (which seem to be the perfect complement to just about anything, based on how frequently we hear them).

It was a great birthday.

Some cultural observations....

From Dave:

 

If you like these things, you’ll love Arequipa:

 

Dogs – it seems like every family has one – it certainly seems like the majority of families.  If the dogs decide to take over, it won’t be a contest.  I think I’ve seen one cat. 

 

 

 

Warm sunny days – we haven’t had a drop of rain in three months – and the average high has been around 75 degrees - and that’s normal here.

 

 

 

Car alarms and horns – we have found it to be safe around here, but wow do we hear a lot of car alarms (maybe less expensive car alarms go off a lot?).  For example, when I was helping load up a family into their car after a party, her own car alarm went off twice.  Also, folks (like taxis) will pull up to a house and honk a couple times (I assume to get someone's attention inside).  Doesn't matter if it's 6:00 a.m. or 11:00 at night.  They also use car horns to communicate things like 'I'm passing' 'look out' 'you're not moving fast enough on that light' and the like.  I guess they like car horns here.

 

Corner stores – we have two of them within one block of our house.  They are like the Superettes of old (if you remember that idea).  It’s a shop about the size of a family room in a typical house, that sells candy, toilet paper, bread, liquor, and the like – stacked up to the ceiling.  They are all over the place here.  Want a few eggs at 8:00 at night?  Just go four doors down to Katty’s to buy some.  Reasonable prices too. 

 

Regular garbage pickup – are you tired of once a week garbage pickup?  Come to Arequipa, where we have twice daily garbage pickup – once at about 6:00 a.m., and again at about 10:00 p.m.  No idea why.  It’s not to keep out wild animals – there are none here… except the dogs (see above).

 

Dairy-free ice cream – it’s everywhere.  I think there are 5 places I could get ‘ice cream’ within a two-block radius of our house – street vendors – little shops – in corner shops – and the ingredients always start with: water, sugar, vegetable oil… and end without a drop of dairy to be found.
 

 

Gates – no, not Bill, but wrought iron, or steel gates.  For people, for cars – in front of houses, businesses, even some neighborhoods.  If you don’t have a gate or three, you don’t belong.

 

So, if you’re big on the above, you can "vive la buena vida" in Arequipa. 

Par-tay! Or, the kindergarten graduation fiesta that was as fancy as a wedding reception

*Apologies for the poor photo/video quality; our real camera hasn't surfaced since Thanksgiving so we were stuck using the cell phone.*

So, Miss M is wrapping up kindergarten and they had a big party to celebrate.  We went to the event not knowing exactly what to expect.  We had gotten information on the appropriate clothing to wear, knew we would have a meal, paid for our tickets (including a small token fee for Little A that covered the entertainment and "surprise" prize pack but not her meal...which was just as well given that she doesn't eat wheat and couldn't eat much of the meal anyway.)

The parents had been preparing special surprise entertainment (*spoiler* Dave was a wolf in a children's storybook interpretation....short video clip will be embedded below) and we knew there would be a clown and a piñata.  However...when we got there...the sheer level of decorations was somewhat astounding for us.  It looked like an American wedding reception. 

The cakes- 5 for Ano 5

Waterfall outside

Many rose bouquets

 Getting in on the fun costumes....there isn't really a place to put these pics but I thought they were funny so here they are.

M as an "Angry Bird" (yes, I know it's a piggy)

A, as a decidedly less Angry Bird

The girls had fancy dresses and hair (I took M to a salon near our house and paid about $7 for them to do her hair up in curls, which started falling out as soon as we left.  Thanks to the power of Aqua-Net hair spray, she did still have wavy hair the morning after.  Her straight hair comes directly from both grandmothers. :)   The boys wore suits and parents were dressed in suits, skirts, dresses, and other "Sunday-best" level of clothing. 


The girls and me



The whole fam

The program was as follows:
1. Announcement/processional of the kids (each child escorted by opposite gender parent)

2. Welcome speech by principal
3. Dance of the graduates (with opposite gender parent)

4. Presentation of gifts to teachers of the past three years
5. Lunch (the kids all sat at a head table along with teachers and administrators, who appeared to spend most of the lunch running around helping the kids pour pop, cut meat, etc.)
                                                             


Our meal- chicken cordon bleu, fruit salad with whipped cream, and maybe potatoes?  Not sure.

Our table

6. Presentation of diplomas (recuerdos or remembrances).  This is a big framed picture with one pic of the graduate and a class photo, along with everyone's names.  The children also signed a class book.  During the presentation, they played a mini-slide show of each child (6 pictures) and talked about the child, what they liked about school.  That was all in Spanish, so I didn't catch all of M's, but she said she loved her dad and she had the best mom.  M is doing the traditional Peruvian picture face (no smile).

7. Parent Entertainment- one dancing show, followed by a theater production that Dave was in, followed by another dance.  Everyone was in costume.  If you didn't have at least one parent participating (some families had both parents in something), you had to pay a fine.   Dave being in the play got me out of the dance.

Moms dancing (I think this is a dance a famous group Hi 5 does).

The play.  Dave is the energetic wolf trying to steal a crown from a rock.

8. Animacion Infantil: A clown and his sidekick did games (including things like relay races which wore the kids out) and a parent participation where you could earn prizes.  M and I won for tossing your child high up in the air and catching them again.  Not bad for a girl in heels, I say.  After the games, the clown did a puppet show and magic show and then it was Hora Loca (Crazy Hour).  This is apparently normal at Peruvian parties as a wind down/finale activity.  In this case, we had a light show, tubes of confetti, shaving cream, and loud music, all done with people marching around wearing hats, headbands, ties, masks, and other accessories that were handed out, waving long balloons and making noise in addition to the music.  See video clip below.



Magic Show

Balloons at the ready for Hora Loca (Crazy Hour)

9. Distribution of party favors and cake.  (We ate cake earlier, but the kids all got a boxed piece of cake to take home, too.)

It was an incredible amount of work to pull something like this off, and we are thankful to the other parents who did it.  We went to at least 8 or 9 meetings (not counting all of the theater practices) and boy does it seem like a lot of work to plan in a collaborative culture where everyone gets to vote on things like what food is served and what color tablecloths to use.  But the end result was a really fun party.  And long, too...Dave and A left after 5.5 hours and M and I headed out at the end (8 hours after we arrived!)

Living the 1860s Dream

I've taken a little bit of a break from the blog...life had settled into a normal pace and I needed a little time to think, reflect, and get over the 3 month hump.  But, here we are....with Thanksgiving behind us (post coming whenever our camera surfaces) and Christmas and New Year's ahead.  And the first quarter of 2014 brings some travel for us and our first visitors from back home!  We're excited about the activities in the next months.

One of the things I've been doing is comparing and contrasting my life now with what life might have been like in the 1860s in frontier Minnesota.

You may or may not know that my hobby is civilian reenacting with The Living History Society of Minnesota.  I'm in a little bit of history withdrawal here, so I signed up to follow a few reenactment Facebook pages and have been planning my next dresses by pinning pictures of originals to my 1860s Pinterest board.

My sweet girls.

That's me in the middle.  None of that white stuff down here!

But...living here has been both the realization of a dream and the death of a dream.  Specifically.....*STAGE WHISPER*....I don't think I actually would have been as great of a prairie housewife as I've always imagined I would be. 

Here in Peru, I've got many more resources and comforts than I would have had on the prairie- namely, running water, a gas stove, a washing machine (cold water only until recently, but Dave got us into the big leagues with hot water), electricity, and of course, the internet.  On the work side, I've got two kids, responsibility for setting up the house, buying food and other household necessities, a "maid-of-all-work" who does most of the routine cleaning (check out the job duties from 1871), and more.  I'm also fortunate enough to have a husband who does most of the cooking and related clean up and takes a goodly share of the childcare duties.  (Thanks for all you do, DP!)

Food Prep area at our group's annual lyceum (learning event)

Cooking area.  Prep, cooking, and clean up takes ALL DAY.

I'm realizing that no matter how you cut it, running a household with two littles is just a ton of work!  And work that isn't of the nature that makes my heart sing.  The introvert in me really appreciates time alone, which is in short supply when you are in a house with other people all the time.  Our house here is great (and bigger than what we probably would have had on the prairie).  But there is always someone around, so you never really get to be alone.

And while I am really, really, ReaLLy thankful for the opportunity we have here, it's just a little bit sad to me to realize that the romanticized prairie life would have been even harder than I already realized.  And I am thankful to live in the modern era, with all the support and comforts it affords.

*Please note, this post is in no way intended to be a commentary on being at home or working outside the home.  I'm very thankful to live in an era where we have options; had I been living during the 1860s I would not have had many options at all.  My post is just a reflection on the fact that living in the past would have been even harder than I realized after all these years of reenacting.  I hope all readers are able to do as they prefer in their own lives and I am also very grateful for the support of family and friends in my own life choices.

(Away from) Home for the Holidays

I like the weather here.  Except for a few days, the weather for the past three months we've lived here has been sunny and warm (low to mid 70s) during the day, sun up around 6am, sun down about 6pm, cooler in the evening and early morning hours.  That's nice. 

But....for a Midwestern girl, heading into fall without any cold weather, leaves changing, or frost is just plain weird. (Yes, technically it's spring here, since we're on the other side of the equator.  But I'm sticking with the seasons I know since there isn't much change here except that summer (Jan/Feb) is rainy season and apparently yukky.)

I tried to help by putting up a few fall decorations.  I made two of these felt leaf garlands. And while I was making them, it helped.  But putting up pumpkins and fall leaves when it's 70 degrees out just doesn't do a whole lot.  It seems like you're just pretending. 

I do love the hand sewn acorns and I look forward to putting this up in MN.

It didn't feel like Halloween, it doesn't feel like Thanksgiving is just around the corner, that it is less than one month to my birthday, or that Christmas is just over one month away.  In some ways, I feel like Groundhog Day...we wake up, we do the same stuff, and the weather never changes. I even pass the same people on the way to and from school....  :)

I am curious...what do other people who grew up with four defined seasons and now live somewhere with more temperate weather do to get into the holiday spirit?  I need some tips, people!  I love the holidays but this weird weather is throwing off my groove. 

We did get a couple of packages over the past couple of weeks that included pictures of our extended family.  I hung up a little picture gallery in our stairwell and I LOVE, love, LOVE seeing the family every day as I go up and down.  It's a little piece of home. 

My happy place.  Sometimes A sits on the stairs and talks to the pictures.

I miss being home for the holidays.  I'm sad I can't go shopping the day after Thanksgiving with my BFF.  I'm glad that we have some families to celebrate Thanksgiving with here and that I get to make the pies.  I'm glad that the holidays have a bigger meaning.  But I'm sad to be away from our norms (even the snow). 

Eat an extra piece of pie or whatever food makes the holiday special for you and give your loved ones an extra squeeze!

"Picado" does NOT mean "Fish"

From the Dave Files:

Scene from last week:

“I should try some fish for supper tonight.  Let’s see here… a number of options in this freezer case.  That one looks scary.  That one looks doable, but a lot of work… how about one without a head, tail and fins on it?  Oh, here’s one that’s already prepped – nice bite sized pieces… per usual, can’t tell what those other words mean, but ‘picado’ – fish, and the price seems reasonable… about s/15 a kilo – that’s just north of $2 a pound.  Let’s go with that for supper tonight.  Maybe Flor knows how to make this in some special Peruvian way.”

(rough idea of the conversation in my terrible Spanish)

D: “Flor, can you help me make this fish tonight?”

F: “What fish?”

D: “This fish.”

F: “No, that’s not fish, but it’s good.  I can help you.”

D: “What is it?”

F: (something I don’t understand)

Keturah: “I veto that.”

D: “Veto what?”

F: “It’s really pretty good.”

K: “Yeah, no way.”

D: “What is it?”

 

K: “That’s stomach – pieces of stomach.”

D: “Oh… not pescado?... Oh, it says ‘picado’… pieces… of something.”

K: “Yeah, no thanks.”

Needless to say, Flor’s dog had a special treat that night.

Ed. Note: Sorry I don't have a picture.  It was white stomach that did look a lot like fish.  Also, most of the fish here in the grocery store is on ice, with heads and tails still attached, but gutted.  I'm not sure if they do more in store when you select your fish or if you finish the preparations at home.

Further humor.  When my mom was in Peru 40 years ago as a missionary, she told people they needed to repent of their pescados (fishes); what she actually meant to say was they needed to repent of their pecados (sins).  Clearly, my family has a problem with the Spanish word for "fish."

Holiday Series: Halloween- the same but different

Growing up, Halloween was always a favorite of mine.  I'm sorry that I can't post a picture of me, circa 8th grade (since it's in MN and not accessible).  That was the year that I went dressed as the Hardin County Courthouse (and my brother was City Hall).  Yes, we made the costumes ourselves, out of cardboard boxes that we painted with bricks painstakingly hand-drawn.  I messed up a bit on the armhole placement, so I never quite managed to get my head all the way up the tower (my face was one of the clock faces).

Halloween was always about dressing up and using your imagination, not about scary things or gore.  I still hate scary movies and refuse to watch them.  Even suspense movies give me nightmares and I don't like murder mystery shows unless I know who dies and who did it in advance. 

So, with that background, we've been happy to let our girls experience the fun of dressing up and running around getting candy.  Here in Arequipa, there are some things that are much the same as Halloween in the states and some that are pretty different.  And a third category- "claim Halloween for yourself and make it awesome" that we were lucky enough to tag onto here.

Tinkerbell and our little Princess Pea

Girls at the beginning of the party in the park- the little cat kept trying to run away.

 Things that are the Same:

• Kids dress up in uniforms (very similar- mix of princesses, fairies, superheroes, cartoon characters, some "scary" things, esp. for older kids).
• Kids go out trick-or-treating.
• Kids love candy and sweets.

Trick-or-Treating in the mall

Once the kids figured out a store was giving candy, a whole group entered.

Things that are Different:

• Almost all costumes are rented, not purchased (and renting them is pretty spendy, compared to US prices and considering the average income here.)  We used dress up clothes we brought from home for both girls and I bought a wing kit downtown for M's costume.
• Trick-or-treating is mostly at businesses, not at individual homes.  If at individual homes, it's the decision of the neighborhood and (I think) done primarily for kids in that neighborhood and their friends.  We didn't hand out candy or have any trick-or-treaters.
• Businesses hand out mostly hard candy, with a few doing popcorn (not always in a bag- scooped out of a large bin), and some doing small crackers or cookies.
• Kids say "Sorpresa!" (Surprise!) and not "trick-or-treat" or the directly translated equivalent. But in practical experience, most of them just sort of went in, looked hopeful, and were either given candy or waved away by businesses that weren't handing anything out.
• A lot of employees had costumes, which isn't necessarily different, but the grocery store employees had MATCHING costumes....at Plaza Vea (kind of like a Super Target) all the men were dressed as cowboys, for example.

Trick-or-Treating in the mall

Some mall performers (hired by a store)

New thing that was really fun:

There are a lot of ecological, healthy-minded folks that  we've met down here. (Family, don't worry- I can still learn plenty of hippie tricks.)  One of them is wonderfully creative and inclusive and coordinated a kids party in mid-afternoon at the park near her house.  The parents all brought some kind of healthy treat, and the kids had a chance to run around the park, slide on the slides, and trick-or-treat around the park.  We had the cutest little pumpkin fruit cups, papaya/banana smoothies, glove "bags" of popcorn, healthy brownie bites, monster popcorn (with honey and spirulina (a kind of algae) sprinkled on it to make it green), and organic fruit. 

Her favorite treat- papaya/banana smoothie.

Super cute "pumpkin" fruit cups.

We went bobbing for apples (stems picked to be long and give the kiddos a chance to succeed) and it was such a treat to be able to let the kids eat whatever they wanted without worrying about it. 

M's first bob!

A thought apple bobbing was hilarious.

We had a great time out and about and enjoying the holiday experience in a new country.  The not so fun part?  Learning that today is a national holiday AFTER showing up to school with Miss M.  The custodian was at the gate and told me there wasn't any school today.  I had kind of wondered...because there was a school party last night, and often if the teachers work extra there is no school soon thereafter...but I had looked at her school calendar and in her homework notebook (where they have sent such notes before) and it didn't say anything about no school.  I think it's one of those things that everyone just "knows," except we don't.  So M, A and I got some quality bonding time this morning bussing to school and walking home.

Funny sight of the day...they put all the Christmas decorations
up at the mall this past week.  So the kids were in costumes
walking right by a giant Christmas tree and elves.

Halloween (that's this post)

Thanksgiving

Advent

Christmas

New Years

Easter

Mother's Day