Back home again

We came back to the US on May 20, which is already a few weeks behind us.  The first few weeks have been a whirlwind as we've tried to re-acclimate to US living, find and collect the things we stored here at various friend and family homes, start back to work, get moved back in our house, and more.

There have been school appointments, calls to the utilities, lots of expenses as we start things up again, shopping trips, garage saling, reconnecting with family and friends and a lot of mundane.

We're happy to be home and for the most part we are adjusting pretty well.  The house has newly refinished hardwood floors, we can still find our way around the cities when driving, and it's oh so nice to be able to fully express ourselves in English.

I feel like it took us 3 months to settle into Peru when we moved there and I wouldn't be a bit surprised to find it takes that long to resettle back home.  We won't be fully unpacked for awhile as we sort through all our things again (and probably send more out the door.  Even though we purged before we left I'm finding things we can clearly live without.)

I'll be continuing to blog as a way of processing my feelings and thoughts about reentry.  In short, I am glad we went to Peru and I would do it again, but I'm very glad to be back home and I'm looking forward to being more settled here.

Garage Sales in a Land that Doesn't Have Them

It's been a perpetual garage sale in these parts.  We had our first moving sale two weeks ago, and a second one this past weekend.  I helped a friend last year by hosting a sale in our yard (I sold a few things of ours, but mostly it was providing the space).  And, so, I present to you the things I have learned about a garage sale in Peru.

Kid section.  All of the display tables were presold to friends who let us keep them a little longer.  I could have sold them 10x each, if not more, based on how many people asked about the shelves.

• Most Peruvians don't know what a garage sale is.  It's just not something that happens here.  There isn't a strong second hand market.  While second hand items are not unknown, it's not a land of thrift stores or resale shops.  People tend to buy things and use them until they are worn out, or give them to family or friends vs. selling to strangers when they are done.  Peru doesn't have as much of a consumer culture as the US, and so the concept of someone changing their decor just because they want to isn't as common.
• Items that are new and unused are popular (there is a bit of a stigma against used items), but kitchen goods sell well, as does furniture (which is either cheap and thus falls apart quickly or really expensive for the good stuff).
• Many people asked why we were selling things- when we explained we were moving back to the US they were fine with it and stepped right in.  I wonder how they would take a Peruvian selling things just because- would it be with suspicion (what's wrong with these items) or would they be ok shopping.
• Literally, garage sale is translated "Venta de Garaje" but "Gran Remate" (big sale) is probably better.  We have old signs we are reusing that say the former and it's working out ok.
• Because garage sales are not a common thing here, there isn't a general understanding of how they work.  So part of the garage sale is basically teaching the shoppers what to do.  Some of the funny things that have happened:
• Peru has a bargaining culture, but less than we expected when we came.  You might haggle a little bit, but most of our purchases are done with whatever the posted price is. One shopper came to me and said that she would add up all of her purchases first and then figure out what she wanted to pay me overall, because she was Peruvian and bargaining was what she did.  So, that's how we handled her order.  Then, the next day, she came back with two face products she had bought and told me they were bad (I don't think they were actually bad, but they were chemical-smelling) and because Peru doesn't have a culture of returns, she told me that she didn't need her money back but would instead purchase other things.  The problem is, we had sold a ton of stuff, so there wasn't enough she wanted to buy that she hadn't already purchased.  So she got some new items and has 10 soles of credit she is going to come back to spend her credit in the next day or two.
• One shopper bought about 5 items and paid for each one as he decided he wanted to purchase it.  (Most shoppers asked if they could set aside what they wanted and I have a space designated for holding items for current shoppers.)
• The guy who stopped by with his motorcycle and trailer because he saw "Venta de Garaje" and thought we were selling a garage (or renting out the space).
• We have official sale days- first we did both all day Saturday and Sunday afternoon.  But we noticed that the traffic was much higher on Saturday, so garage sale #2 was only on Saturday.  We still got a lot of shoppers coming by on Sunday #2, and I'm happy to make a sale whenever I can, so we kept selling.  The Monday and Tuesday after our first sale saw more in total sales than all day Sunday.  
• We've been taking things in and out at night/morning- people can't believe we are leaving some of the big stuff in the yard.  (For fear of it getting stolen...I'm guessing that someone would have a hard time putting our dryer over the 7 foot spiked fence.)
• Peruvians aren't keen on putting money down for large items (like our couches or refrigerator).  I made copies of receipts to give the people who put money down, but it's a relatively low trust culture.  This means that despite a ton of people looking over our things, we haven't pre-sold any of our large items that aren't ready to leave except for a washing machine to another expat.  I'm hoping that either some expats who are moving here buy our appliances or we have at least one person for every appliance and large furniture item that shows up on the day we have posted as the day they can leave.

Looking in (the for sale items are inside our fenced front yard)

Action shot from day 1.  Most of this has been sold.

Friend came over and had to expand into the carport area because our stuff filled the front yard.  Now we are down to a box or two.

We've done great on our sale- I pre-sold a lot of items to our friends who were willing to pay in US dollars and wait to get their items until we were close to leaving.  All the smaller things that are left in the sale are either items that I am willing to take home with us, give away, or lower the price.  So we are just down to three appliances (fridge, stove, and dryer) and two large furniture items (couches and dining room table/chairs) and our latex bed toppers.  The latter might be hard to sell here because no one knows what latex is and I don't know that they would be willing to pay what we are asking (which is a great deal for latex but expensive for here).  So we'll have to see what we sell and what we do with this stuff if it doesn't sell by when we leave.  (I'm hoping we don't have to slash the price too much as this is our money to pay for new carpet back home.)

We are moving into a furnished flat across the street for our last week in Arequipa, and I'm really thinking that was a great idea.  It will allow us to have a week to get our big stuff sold and out the door and we don't have to change anything about our neighborhood or normal haunts.

Stove.  Still for sale.  Pricing model changed to price the stove/oven and the gas tanks separately because no one understood the original price included two gas tanks and a hose and regulator (because stoves here run on propane tanks.)

So....here's to selling the rest of our stuff!

Next month....

This is our last full month in Arequipa.  My days and even dreams to a certain extent are becoming consumed with details of our departure....figuring out what we can sell off now, what to put in the garage sale later this month, how much cash we need and if we have enough for daily living off what we are selling now, and what we have to do to get home.

I'm determined to not have this be as stressful as our US departure and so far we've been getting enough sleep and also getting ready.  I planned my work schedule so I am working more now and can taper off my hours the last few weeks.  I have a list of things to buy before we go (like souvenirs we haven't purchased yet) and bills we have to pay.

We've done great on pre-selling a number of items- still have our appliances, couches, and kitchen table to get rid of, but I'm hoping the garage sale will bring some buyers.

But then there is the other stuff.  The saying goodbye to friends.  The planning for "one last time" outings.  When will be the last time we walk Puente Bolognesi and look out over the bridge vista?  (I'm scared of heights but I like this walk...it's the place that reminds me the most of MN with a nice river and green trees.  Those mountains in the back don't exactly evoke the MN vibe but I like to think of it as my two worlds colliding.)  The trying to make sure we are living here and not just existing.  The daily stuff of paying bills and buying groceries and such.

The "Three Sisters" mountains in the background.

My favorite view.  The river, the trees, and the mountains.

I'm an analyzer by nature and this is no different....what have we accomplished on this sabbatical?  It's certainly not everything I had thought would happen before we came.  It's been difficult and stretching in different ways than I had expected.  I am certain I'll be processing for months to come.  I'm glad we came and I'm looking forward to going back home again.

And I really want someone to buy our appliances.  :)

Living in the Land of Lists

Anyone who knows me knows that I'm a list maker.  So, naturally, I'm creating lists like crazy as we prepare to return home to the states.  Such as lists of:

• Last things that Miss M and Miss A want to do before we go home.  
• Our visitors from home.
• Summer camp and activity options for the girls
• School supplies to buy here (well, they give those to you in Spanish; my list is in English)
• Things to sell and prices
• Things to bring home
• The number of checked and carry on bags we have available to us
• How much suitcase space and weight to allot to different items we are bringing home
• Calendar dates for when we get back (contact me now to get on the schedule!)
• My personal goals for the next year, 5 years, and 10 years
• Budget for back in the states
• List of funds needed and funds available for repatriation
• Project plan for things we have to do to at the house before we move in (like refinish the hardwood floors and unpack).
• Etc.

Lists, lists, and more lists (these are the school supply lists for the girls).

But I've also been thinking about things that might be difficult to adjust to once we are back home or just seem weird.

Anticipated Adjustment Points:

• Remembering to throw toilet paper in the toilet instead of the garbage can.  (Don't know what I'm talking about?  Read about toileting in South America.  And so far, I haven't forgotten once in the time we've been here!)
• Being able to call most relatives or friends from our house instead of scheduling a Skype session.
• Getting online orders in a matter of days (not having to wait weeks or months for the next visitor to bring it down).
• Drying our clothing in a dryer instead of on the line (and if we do hang it on the line, having it take days, not hours to dry out).
• Having access to warm, nay, hot water basically all of the time (currently, we are dependent on a solar heated water tank).
• Driving and biking (we don't have a car here and walk most places or take a combi (mini-van bus).  
• Nearly everyone speaking English and reading things in English.  I may have to work on remembering to lower my voice (right now I say whatever in a regular conversational tone because I assume no one else will understand what I'm saying anyway.)
• Checking the weather (no need to do that here- it's basically the same every day!  Sunny, high in the 70s, lows in the 50s.  Except for rainy season which is just a little different but still haven't checked the weather.

I am currently trying to figure out if we need one or two more of these packs to get us all the way to departure....it's going to be close with just one but I don't want a lot of extra.....

Curiosity Points:

• I currently spend a lot of time doing errands (because I don't know the language or system or just because things like paying bills take a LOT of time.)  So when we get back, will I feel like I have more, less, or about the same amount of time?  Currently, I am working 10-15 hours a week and doing any number of errands that take more time than it would in the states.  But I am not working full time.  We also have a house helper who helps with things like laundry and basic cleaning.  How busy/crazy will I feel when we get back to Minnesota vs. here (we still haven't hit the bored/twiddle your thumbs stage and I fall into bed exhausted most nights).
• How much easier will jogging be when I'm not at high altitude?  (Better be a lot easier than here!)
• How much weight will I gain eating cheese and "Mexican" food that we haven't been able to eat down here? (Tortillas are not a Peruvian thing- hard to find and quite expensive.)
• How long will we take to adjust to being "home" again?
• What is going to explode or feel strange that we haven't anticipated?

Oh, how I miss cheese!  (Thanks for bringing this down, mom!)

If you have ever had reverse culture shock or have ideas for us as we adjust to coming back to the States, leave them in the comments!

And the countdown begins.....

I knew once 2015 hit that it would seem like a downhill slide...a little slow at first, then faster and faster until we leave for home this coming summer.  Yep, we have entered into the double digit countdown until we leave Peru.  At points during this sabbatical, it's seemed that we would be here forever, but we picked our 21 month time frame to give us the opportunity to be home for two summers in MN (leaving at the end of one summer and coming home the beginning of one) and we get to miss two winters that way, too.  Also, we knew the effort to leave and come back would be about the same regardless of how long we went, and I think that 18-21 months is just about right.

Not a lot of sledding going on down here in Peru.  Nor do we have snow.  Or Civil War era reenacting.  But I am looking forward to all of that when we get back.

In case you were wondering, we really did go down the hill.

January flew right by and now we are almost midway through February.  I'm trying to be smarter about how we leave Peru than how we left the states (not that we weren't smart about it, but we ran out of time and it was really stressful toward the end).  So I started posting the things we are selling and offered them to our friends here.  Most of our things are already spoken for- I will just need to find someone to buy some of our appliances.  (Unfurnished homes here mean you don't get appliances, either, so we own our fridge, stove, washer, and dryer.)  I'm hoping to sell the dryer in March and we have someone interested in the fridge, so it's just two more appliances to get out the door.  (Well...at least spoken for.)  We found someone who wants to take our bed, which is great (because you kind of need those until the last minute....) and most of our little things.  There is a guest house across the street that we have booked for the last days, which will allow us to sell off our stuff without having to use it those last few days.  And people seem to be able to turn over their households here in a matter of weeks...there is always someone wanting to buy expat items.

It's all got to go.  Dave is determined to come home with less stuff than we initially brought.

Anyone want to buy a stove?

I registered Miss M for school in the states and we are looking at signing Miss A up for preschool for the fall.  I started picking summer camps and classes for the girls and we have our summer child care lined up.  We started to review and interview au pair candidates for August (we hope to get another native Spanish speaker and keep the girls going on their Spanish).

Quintessential summer....does it get better than sand, sun and ice cream?

Soaking up the sun and trying to enjoy our last months and unique experiences.

So it goes...one foot in each world....getting more and more prepared for reentry but trying hard to enjoy and truly experience our last months here in Peru.  I don't expect that we will be doing something like this again, at least not in the foreseeable future.  I am looking forward to continuing to take international vacations- but that won't be the same as living somewhere else.  I feel like I have finally adapted to living abroad (for the most part).  I understand where to go to buy things and get stuff done, my tourist Spanish is pretty good, and I don't miss home with the same ache as before.  But it sure will be nice to get back to our home, our culture, and our people!  I'm looking forward to it.  But I know I will miss the people we've met here, too.

Deviled Eggs: Historical Food Fortnightly Challenge #15

 For background on the Historical Food Fortnightly, click here.

The Challenge: Sacred or Profane December 14 - December 27
In this challenge, be as divine or as devious as you like! It could be a food with connections to a religion, a dish served for sacred celebrations, or a concoction with a not-so-polite name. Whatever your choice, show us how naughty and/or nice you can be!

Deviled Eggs!

I haven't been on the challenge bandwagon since my parents came to visit us in Peru toward the end of November...two weeks of fun followed by a couple weeks of recovery and then Christmas meant not much extra time. But, I thought of deviled eggs as a fun Christmas treat and set out to find a historical recipe. Bonus was that I found one that didn't require mayonnaise (we never use it, so if I need it for a recipe it's an extra expense/hassle) and it had an interesting twist.

The Recipe: Deviled Eggs, Many Ways for Cooking Eggs, Sarah Rorer, [1907] (p. 51)

The Date/Year and Region: Recipe is English, published 1907 in Philadelphia.

How Did You Make It: I decided to follow her instructions for how to hard boil the eggs.  I first warmed water until it was warm but comfortable to the touch, then added the eggs.  I then heated the water to a boil by turning up the burner heat and when the water started to boil, I turned off the heat and left it for 20 minutes.  I then put the eggs into cool tap water, removed the shells after a period of time and cut the hard boiled eggs in half.  At this point, I followed the deviled egg instructions exactly except for making an additional sauce or rolling them in tissue paper fringed on the edges.  I decided that was too much work on Christmas and I'm don't have a lot of extra tissue paper here in Peru.

Time to Complete: Approximately 1 hour from start to finish.  Some of the time was passive time waiting for the eggs to boil, set, and cool.  I did use some of that time to chop the chicken (which was previously cooked so all I had to do was measure it out) and measure out my salt and pepper.

Total Cost: Approximately $5.25 USD (Eggs: 12 soles (approx. $4 at today's exchange rates), chicken maybe 2 soles or 70 cents? butter approx 50 cents, salt and pepper from pantry.)

How Successful Was It?: I thought these were delicious and judging by the rate at which we consumed the whole batch, the rest of the family thought so, too.  I would be interested in making these again with a little mustard for kick.  The chicken adds a very interesting yet delicious flavor.

How Accurate Is It?: I used all modern equipment (including a lime press instead of a sieve) but I think the end result was quite accurate.

Time to Research:  I got the idea for deviled eggs, spent a few minutes looking online for historical cookbooks and figured that a cookbook called Many Ways for Cooking Eggs had better have such a recipe.  It did.  15 minutes tops.

Our from the farm eggs

Adding them to prewarmed water per instructions

Letting the butter melt and then mixing in the salt and pepper.  I put it on top of the eggs as they cooked.

Chopped chicken with the butter, salt and pepper rubbed in, along with the eggs.

A lime squeezer was the closest thing to a sieve I had available.  I then mushed the egg yolks with the chicken.

The finished product.  There was surprisingly little extra filling- I could easily have made it work out exactly. 

Travel Tip Series: #2- Carry-on luggage only

My parents came to visit us for two weeks in late Nov/early Dec and while we had a great time, I'm a bit behind with blog posts.  This is part of a new travel series. With over 30 countries visited in our lifetimes, we hope we can share a few tips that will make your travels more interesting and enjoyable. (Dave did a 7 month round-the-world trip back in the 1990s, we have traveled to several countries together and as individuals, and we've been on sabbatical in Peru since August 2013.) 

Comment below if there are specific kinds of tips you want to hear. I'm going to be sharing packing tips, products we love, how to scope out deals, and more.

We traveled for 2 weeks to Peru, leaving in the dead of MN winter, with a backpack each.

Back in college, I was the person who always had everything available.  My college roomie and now best friend still laughs about how we bought a couple of silver serving trays at a thrift store and they were a bit tarnished and I said I had tarnish remover.  In our dorm room.  Yep, be prepared for anything and everything was my motto.  My first international trip beyond Canada and Mexico was a trip in college to Israel, Egypt and Jordan.  It was a trip that counted for college credit and also was open to friends of the University.  A couple with a lot of international travel experience came along and they had everything you could wish for in their luggage.  That experience reinforced my desire to never be without.  So my next several trips consisted of me packing as much as I could in my luggage allotment.

Then, things all changed when I met and married my husband.  Minimalist Dave came from the train of thought that less is more.  On his 7 month trip round the world (or at least about half of it) he and his friend were true backpackers, including the tent.  He came to cherish not having to haul quite as much around and he was the one to introduce me to the concept of light travel.  On our first trip, I think he challenged me to pack carry-on only, and the main thing I did to get my stuff down was take fewer clothes and less of the emergency supplies.

Dave and I have completed several trips using only carry-on luggage and most of the time those were with only a backpack, not even two pieces of carry-on.  I admit this approach might not work for people who have a need to look fancy (goodness knows I do not look fancy at all on our carry-on only trips).  But I am living proof it's possible to pack for a 2 week trip with only a backpack.  You can google and find packing charts and outfit charts for fancier excursions like cruises.  My tips below are for trips where you have more of an adventure focus, can wash your clothing while you are gone, and don't mind if you don't always look put together.

Packing List Suggestions for an Adventure Trip Lived Out of a Backpack (focused on grownups only, not small kids, that could be another post unto itself):

• Shoes: take one pair of shoes for walking and maybe a pair of flip flops for showers.  You won't be fancy, but you will save a lot of space the fewer shoes you take.  (Men: if you take a pair of decent looking shoes that are also comfy, this can double for dressier outings.  Women: dress sandals take less space than many shoes or those foldable flats could also work for space saving.)
• Socks and Undergarments: we pack clothing with the intention of going 6 days before washing.  So, take 7 days of socks and undergarments to give time for the washing/drying.
• Pants: I usually take 2-3 pair of pants and rewear them a few days before laundering.  These could be zip off pants if you might need shorts, travel pants or something comfy.  I avoid jeans because they are heavy, bulky, and don't dry quickly.
• Tops: I pack 3-5 tops- usually something that works with layering.  The goal for all clothing is solid colors in a similar color palette so everything mixes and matches.  (Tops might be the place for a pattern to keep things interesting).
• Jacket: This depends on where you are going, but I tend to run cold all the time.  I will usually take some kind of synthetic layering jacket, like a fleece and maybe a waterproof windbreaker to put on top of that.
• Dressy Clothing: If I have a need to be dressed up (usually not a requirement on an adventure trip), I find that a dress in a lightweight, wrinkle free fabric is best, along with sandals since they take less space than other shoes.  Dave will wear a button up shirt and a pair of his dressier looking travel pants.
• Swim gear: Swimsuit and sarong.  Dave takes swim trunks and a small pack towel.  His shorts can double as PJs.  If swimming is part of your trip, take a pair of flipflops or other water sandals.
• Pajamas: I will take a long sleeved cotton shirt and some exercise pants- these allow me to have a spare outfit and also something I can sleep in.
• Sun protection: Sunscreen (make sure it is packaged in 3 oz bottles or less so you can fit within the carry-on guidelines), sunglasses, packable sunhat.  Sunscreen tends to be expensive in vacation destinations, so take enough.
• Foldable reusable cloth bag and/or plastic grocery bags.  I pack a reusable bag that packs small so that I can use it for shopping, creating a bag of things I want near me on the plane, or for souvenirs on the way home.  Bonus points if it zips or otherwise closes on the top.
• Toiletries: if using a carryon, travel sized containers are obviously critical, especially for liquids.  I take glasses instead of contacts, use bar lotion instead of liquid, and cut to bare minimums for everything else.  I can fit everything I need in my 3-1-1 bag.  I take a couple of ponytail holders.
• Watch (worn)
• Empty water bottle (allows you to buy water in larger containers and take smaller amounts with you while the bigger, cheaper bottle stays in your hotel room)
• Snacks  I pack a few granola bars (I like Luna bars Chocolate Peppermint Flavor and Kind bars).  This helps tide me over if traveling or if the airplane food isn't great.  Nuts are another good option.
• Emergency stuff: I do take 1-2 bandaids, something for digestion, something for pain.  If you take prescription medication you will need that in original bottles.  Otherwise, I've found that I usually don't have emergencies and if I have a problem I can buy what I need.

Things I leave behind:

• Makeup and jewelry
• Extra toiletries (some of the hair products that calm my curly hair, for example)
• Books (except for maybe one...now that I have a hand-me-down smartphone I would probably take that and use Kindle)
• Dressy clothing (usually)

*My packing list counts on washing laundry at least once or twice, depending on total time.  I will wash clothing 4-5 days after arrival and then once more on day 10 or so. In many foreign countries you are able to get your laundry washed, dried, and back to you within 24 hours.  In Peru, where we are currently living, this costs between 3-6 soles per kilo (about 50 cents to $1 per pound at today's exchange rates.)

What are you tips for traveling light?