14 September

We awoke this morning to a beautiful sunrise at about 6:30. All was quiet and peaceful. Maybe a bit too quiet as the morning wore on. By 11:00 both of us had "cabin fever" and decided to head into town and not wait for anyone else to show up.
We met with Sr. Espinosa, the lawyer, and let him know we were living here and beginning the process of building our home. He gave us some good information about the excavator, Mario. He recommended that we get everything in writing and clearly spelled out as to what was included in his price. He also recommended a local architect who perhaps would be more accessible to us as things progressed on the project.
We then went to visit a friend of Georg's we met on our last trip. Perico, a fisherman and elder of the village, welcomed us with open arms. We brought him four liter bottles of beer, one of which he insisted we share with him even though we said no. He went ahead and opened a bottle and then said he didn't want to drink alone! After I conceded, he told me I was a true Peruvian. We also asked him where to buy fresh fish. He didn't really answer us, but gave us two fish and a kilo of shrimp. He fishes everyday out in front of the house. He told us if he saw us and he had some fish, he would bring it up to us.
Then off to the market. We bought veggies and fruits, a chicken and a dozen eggs. One of the fruits we bought, we have no idea what it is or how it tastes, but we'll find out.
We also bought notebooks, a couple of sketch books, masking tape, a spatula and story books to help us learn the language.
We met our driver in front of the market and back to the house we went.
Mario, the excavator, came by in the afternoon with his operator. They were here to see how much time they thought it would take to level the property to one level. They were also looking to see if Mario's equipment here would be sufficient or whether we would also need a backhoe to move the biggest rocks. Mario and his operator thought the job could be done in three days. If they felt they needed the backhoe, Mario had a nephew close by he could call.
We then checked with the architect, and he told us not to do anything until the final report had been sent from the topographer and just before construction began. Both of us were disappointed we would have to wait, but have a lot of faith in our architect. Supposedly, the topographer will be out tomorrow to set the stakes to mark the boundaries and give us his final report. He DID tell us he would be here Saturday or Sunday, so only time will tell.
The caretaker's dog was hit by a car today and was tumbled a bit. Nothing serious, but a couple good cuts and a sore shoulder. He didn't like the peroxide we put in his wound to clean it, but accepted the neosporin rather well.