Esto Es Perú: Moving to the Villa

We are on our way to our "new" apartment on the villa this week and we are in the process of packing things up. I say new in quotations because the apartment is actually quite old. There are a number of things that we have to remedy such as not having a heater for our water, no cabinetry in the kitchen and no dressers in the closets but given that it is quite large and provided to us at a very economical price, we have little to complain about. I am very grateful. I like that there are flower boxes in front of each window and that there is an enormous tree with bright orange red flowers. The birds chirp away and I have a bit of nature outside my window to remind me that the city isn't just a huge cement-filled place. There is lots of room for laundry and Pepe has plenty of space both inside and out. I also enjoy the process of moving because it means I get rid of a lot of stuff that I haven't used and won't use in the future.

What is weird is that this is the first time that I have accumulated furniture. I had never bought furniture or anything to furnish a house before this year since I never had a place to do so. It's kind of scary establishing yourself in one place but it's also comforting. I am looking forward to hosting some parties and gatherings at our new place once we are settled in. It is super easy to get isolated here in Lima and I find that now that I am not teaching English online anymore I will have more time to get out and do things (especially wedding related things!).

I met some other wives at a meeting that was held at the War School last Friday evening. It was very informative about what our husbands are doing while at school. The first female officer to complete the program gave us a presentation. The event was actually a three-day event but I could only make it the last day. We watched some videos that featured soldiers and military activities and she showed us a powerpoint on the academics and scheduling that the enrolled officers had to endure. It is definitely an intensive course and I am impressed by Marco's ability to manage it all. I can only imagine how wives with children feel when they need help and their husband has to work on a group project or be in a maneuver that keeps him at the school for the week more or less. I have been doing fine since I have tons of things to put my time into such as my teaching job. I am learning as I am going and it has been quite stressful for me but it keeps me occupied so I don't mind when Marco is busy. I look at all of it as an advantage. I don't feel bad that I am putting more time into studying music and practicing because he has things to do as well.

I have to get back to packing! I leave you with some pictures from our trip to the Parque de las Aguas Magicas or Parque de la Reserva from two weeks ago. It is quite a beautiful place. I highly recommend going. We went on Father's day and there was supposed to be a show with the main fountain but it was down for maintenance. There were still dancers though! There was a tunnel that lead to the other part of the park and it had tons of information about the water cycle and consumption in Peru and world wide. It was kind of interesting considering that the park uses water and lots of energy to provide a service for people to enjoy when there are plenty of people in Peru that don't have access to potable water. However, if there are billboards like this one that go up all over the coast, a lot more people could have drinking water.