OK-too much to say for Facebook

So now, we live in Peru.  For two days.

There has been so much going on...we packed, hotel-ed, Kermessed (the international festival that is the school social event of the year!) I worked like a fiend to get my papers done.  That's 29 out of 32 papers, in 15 weeks completed.  The way work and writing wheels around in my mind has me thinking that perhaps I should take two courses at a time, since I'm at home after all...and get done faster because being enrolled means that it's on my mind.  There are other things to do to...and I have a hard time putting myself on the other things without thinking that I should be getting the assignments read/written/revised/ and then wondering if I have the right tone, did I pursue a worthwhile angle?  etc...

Since we arrived, it's been wonderful seeing the place and experiencing all this with the kids.  I know how I feel about everything, and it's illuminating and fantastic sharing it with the kids.  There's also a measure of relief in their eyes when I agree that something is less than fantastic, i.e. water that runs brown, then black, and smells like a three day's old egg salad sandwich left out in the sun.  Cheers to smelly bath products!  And, I'm going to buy a thousand toilet pucks, because the fresh water that flushes the toilet smells worse (in most cases!).

And, I've just taken a little break while the curtain ladies came to install the roman blind in Dane's room- oops- coming back tomorrow when it's smaller.  But that's cool, because my curtains in the bedroom, on the three sets of windows, all need to be hemmed, because they're either too long, or the rod was installed too low.  So they'll come back tomorrow to hem them.  Speaking of windows, there's a skylight nearly everywhere.  And the house doesn't really have a heating system, but it does have two fireplaces that are a cool adobe covered brick, and natural stone.  It's a pretty cool house--imagine fusing a mountain lodge with an adobe hut, and that's our new place.

There's a huge patio on two sides, with skylights in the roof...and an outside kitchen.  There's also an outside laundry with the sinks and machines under the roof, and part of it open-I imagine it's for circulation and sun to heat the clothes on the line.  I've been trying to dry ONE load in the dryer, all day.  It doesn't really work that well.

The oven on the other side of the house...well that works really well.  It has racks and everything.  The kitchen is a glorious size, with a gas range-oven combo.  The racks are hinged to the door so when it opens the rack come forward to greet and offer up the treats.  Dinner was a bit on the short order side tonight: lentils for me, baked hot dogs, and french toast.  I wanted to try out the oven.  I sliced the hotdogs round, fried them, and in the oven-in a loaf pan- I bent three pieces of bread into the shape of hot dog buns, put in cheese, and baked them...added in the browned slices, and put them back in...and they came out looking quite fun and the kids liked them.  I went for comfort foods, because that's one of the easiest ways to help kids settle--in my experience, anyway.

Overall, the food here is delicious.  The chicken dinner we had two nights ago has me wanting to get back there soon.  It's a family restaurant, with the kids in uniforms too.  We hit the brand new mall for lunch and had yum sauces for the salchipapas (sliced wieners with fries). 

It's been challenging with respect to the water, and adjusting to the idea, as Ella puts it..."how can I be clean when the water smells so stinky?!!"  She's also the one who described the place as "seeming a bit broken" as we drove by all the little huts, on the humpingly bumping road...and past the houses that appear broken down by an earthquake but are actually unfinished on purpose, with rebar sticking out the top.  Unfinished houses either don't accumulate tax, or accumulate waaaay less tax:)  More than one way to save a penny here.

We were warned about gas stations that cut the product to earn more $, we were told that the veggies from the store were fine (no strange watering conditions, etc...), that all the meats were fine, and when our stomachs were more settled, we could go to the fish market and pick out our nice whole fishes...little did the lady know how much we love fish:)

Dane's doing his own blog about it and I was so impressed with his impressions...and never would have known how he saw it were it not for the blog.  I'm pursuing home education with them while we're out of school for so long-and I really enjoyed seeing them in action today.  They can concentrate really well, which I don't get to see while they're at school.  I posted Ella's picture to Facebook, because it was her boiled down view.

I took a video this morning to try and capture the symphonic efforts of the birds in the morning.  There were clouds settled into the crooks of the surrounding mountains, and a heavy mist rising off the fields behind our place.  It's 6:30 now and fully, fully dark.  I've seen only one star since we arrived thanks to the cloud. 

OK-Ella's just taken her blankie and turned it into a genie diaper...so my train of thought is altered.  Sort of like when I suddenly remember that we need scotch tape for the receipts!  So to recap before bedtime here...water, view, laundry, good oven, good range...oh yeah, and we did quite a bit of unpacking, suitcase vacuuming, floor sweeping, and tub bleaching.  It's a laugh when you realize how much better you feel once your bathroom has been bleached.  I'm still super tired, but trying to stay up late enough to sleep past the rooster....

The kids have enjoyed themselves today, at home...and I think with the new housekeeper coming tomorrow, we'll have another home day.  Quite different having no car, and only a hint of a notion of how to get anywhere here-which only serves to enhance the enjoyment of staying home.  One last note...no seatbelts in the cabs-which I really don't dig--especially as a person who walks the earth thanks to using them so faithfully. (In case it's news, the quick scoop is that when I was 5 months pregnant with Dane, I hit ice, spun, rolled over twice, and landed right side up in the ditch totaling the car, and being fine but for a headache where I banged into the side window with each roll...not something I've ever forgotten.  Seatbelts, and quite possibly the grace of god were a contributing factor as well- and I still feel as fortunate and grateful that day.)  It makes me super-twitchy to be in a car without them.  The only way I can deal with it is that the speeds are always low...but I still prefer to click everyone in!

That's all, because I'm sworn to wade through the dynamics of crude oil supply and demand tonight, as well as start my response.  I need to look it through again because all I got so far was "blah blah blah, opposite of blah blah blah, back to original blah blah blah, etc..."  I like to do a little better than that, so there's work to be done!

Hope everyone reading is doing well--please post your comments if you like, because the kids are interested in the responses too:)

Cheers and chao!

Lynnel