Back in Lima!

“Donde está tu flaco?”

I’ve been getting that question a lot since I’ve arrived in Lima. The literal translation of “flaco” is skinny but what my family was actually referring to was Doug. Not because he’s skinny, but because that’s slang for boyfriend/girlfriend. I suppose they use it since the alternative is enamorado, which is a mouthful.

I’m super excited to be in Lima again. I can walk to cafes, people watch, go running, etc. I know the areas where I’m staying better and feel safe walking around on my own. Independence is good.

Our last day in Colán was bittersweet. Lucho showed me photos of the irrigation system they were just starting to put in at the fundo (his farm). I learned that the fundo is named Maria Cortés after my great-grandmother. That day, the day of my birthday, they were laying down cement and installing the pipes that would make up the heart of the irrigation system. Then after that segment was finished, they baptized it and named it Vanessa since it was put in on my birthday. I thought that was super cool and was actually quite touched to have my name etched in cement on a parcel of land my uncle has been working very hard to revive. Around sunset, we did a caravan of dirt bikes and ATVs to the church in Colán, the first church constructed in South America, but unfortunately it wasn’t open that afternoon. Later on back at the house, we drank wine and cut cake to celebrate my 27 years. Ursula had asked in the morning what kind of cake to pick up because she would be in Piura. I asked for something with fruit, something I couldn’t get up there. She ended up picking up a delicious cake with cherimoya. Mmmm! After singing me happy birthday and staying up talking, we said our good-byes to that side of the family. Our flights were in the morning and we would have to leave early to get to Piura to check in.

Over the weekend, we spent a few days at Lucho’s place in the San Isidro part of Lima. We enjoyed lunch at La Baguette and Dad and I went walking around to re-acclimate ourselves to the area (more me than him since he had already done that his first week here). Tia Rocio came over later that afternoon with some of my cousins and we went a whole group of us went to chifa that night at Kan Men in Miraflores (another district of Lima). Chifa is the term used to describe Peruvian Chinese food and it more or less tastes the same as good Chinese food from home.

I went running the next morning and intentionally got lost so I could discover some other parts. I spent most of the rest of the day dipping in and out of the house for coffees, reading and playing with the my other cousin Rodrigo’s dog, Gastón. He slept with me both nights that I was there since I was sleeping in Rodrigo’s room and it was nice to have some company.

El Chino was in town with Jenny so they came over Saturday evening and we laid out some piqueos to munch on. They stayed until 1AM or so and then I helped Mom clean up some of the dishes. We got up 3.5 hours later to say bye to Alyssa and Travis who were taking a taxi to the airport.

We hit the road to Lagunas around 9AM Sunday morning and an hour later we were pulling into Wieland’s house. I was so excited to see the other Kafka family and gave Wieland, Lucia, Camila and Norma (their maid at the beach house) big hugs as soon as we got in. Since much of life at Wieland’s revolves around delicious food, I will most likely spend the remainder of my trip writing about what I ate. Yesterday was arroz con pollo for lunch and then homemade pizza for dinner. Norma had also made a lovely cake with jello, vanilla batter and peaches. I stayed up with Wieland and Lucia for an extra hour catching up while Mom and Dad went to sleep.

I slept like a log last night but against my wishes, my body woke me up around 5:30. I checked my email to see if Doug had written with news of Alyssa and Travis getting home safely. They did and were home around 2AM in CT much to Sappa’s pleasure.
I already laid out in the beach for a few hours with the family and went into the water for some refreshing wave jumping. The current is strong here so it’s not safe to swim, but you can go in and wash off the heat and that still feels wonderful.
We had steak with potatoes, rice and salad for lunch. Delicious. It’s a little cloudy this afternoon and very windy so I’ll probably just stretch out on the hammock and road.

A little more than a week down and Doug arrives Friday. Everyone keeps giving me ideas on where to take him and I already know there won’t be enough time to do everything. That’s not necessarily a bad problem to have though.

I’m continuing my music “war” with Wieland. It’s fun to hear what he’s listening to lately and trade new music recommendations.