02 November

Yesterday we asked our friend Perico if there was someone in his family that could teach Doug to speak Spanish. His 16 yr old nephew was appointed. Giordy arrived this morning at 7:00 and he and Doug sat across the table from each other, each wondering what to do next. Finally, to break the ice, Doug took Giordy for a walk and showed him our property, the house layout and the surrounding territory. Once back at the house, Giordy decided he was going to work on pronunciation and had Doug read several stories from a beginning Spanish text we brought from the states. Even after a couple of hours, I'm not sure either one of them knew what was happening. At any rate, Giordy will be back twice more this week for lessons. As a former teacher, I'm biting my tongue and trying not to interfere!
Just after lunch we drove into Mancora to visit our friends at Samana Chakra. We need to take our truck into Talara for its first service. Lucia and Feruque are quite familiar with Talara, so we asked if they might go with us to show us around while the truck was being serviced. We'll go with them on Thursday.
Later this afternoon, we went into Vichayito for massages. Origenes spa is a beautiful spot right on the beach with very modern facilities. The massages that we've had there have all been great and at reasonable prices; probably high by Peruvian standards, but quite reasonable by US standards ($60-70). I tried the hot stone massage for the first time and really liked it.
We then went by El Refugio to talk with Georg who is up from Lima. When we do break ground, one of the first things they build will be the cystern for water. The plan has it located in the exact spot Georg's septic tank is. Within the next week or so, Georg will have to move his septic tank onto his own property. We also talked about getting a generator; asking him for his opinion as to what would be needed.