Friday, August 6, 2010

6 August 2010


It has been a week since I've posted. Mandy and I have been afield. We spent two days in Lima visiting with Maximo and his family. We then flew to Arequipa for another couple of days. Arequipa is the home of the Michell factory which processes 70% of all the alpaca sold in the world. They have a beautiful shop where they sell sweaters, shawls, scarfs, etc. But, they also have a factory outlet for yarns; for weaving and for knitting. The prices for these yarns are easily a quarter of what they are in the US! Their selection is tremendous; it's a candy store for knitters and weavers.
The weather in Arequipa was absolutely perfect! Temperatures were in the 70's with a warm sun. At night, it dropped to the low 60's so you could snuggle under the blankets and be cozy. We didn't do any of the touristic sites, but found some great restaurants. Arequipa is known as the "white city." The stone that has been used in building most of the structures has a beautiful white quality. It is a clean city, and has a character all its own. Mandy's favorite jewelry store is there, and there is also a large commercial center which displays work from various artisans from all over Peru. Maximo's work is displayed as well as Seminario's. Seminario is a ceramic artist from the Urubamba Valley outside of Cusco. I have a few of Seminario's pieces; one is a mirror surrounded by ceramic pieces and the other is a light fixture designed to cover an outside entry light. Google Seminario and you will see some beautiful pieces; functional as well as artistic.

When I returned to El Ă‘uro, Doug had ¨moved¨ into the house. First he set up one of the bungalows for Mandy; set up a bed, and supplied it with towels, TP, and soap. The workers had also been instructed that this bungalow needed to be finished as Mandy was arriving. Everything was functional; the bathroom and Doug had set up a bed for her.

The master bedroom had not been finished; the jacuzzi had not been installed sas it was awaiting the fixtures; faucets.... Doug had us set up in one of the bungalows. So, at the moment, we are sleeping in one of the bungalows. The master bedroom is finished, but we haven´t come across the bolts needed to put our bed together. Bit by bit.
We have set up the living room and nine of the workers moved my piano into the music room. Workers finished the granite work in the kitchen this afternoon and it looks amazing!! This is the largest kitchen I have ever had. I can´t imagine filling all the cabinets! At this point, I can use the cook top but not the oven. The oven should be hooked up on Monday.

During the last couple of days, we have been setting up furniture. The living room is set; as is the dining room. Most of the boxes that have been in storage have been moved into the appropriate part of the house. We still have a lot of unpacking to do, but, for now, I just want to enjoy Mandy while she is here.

This afternoon, she went for a kite surfing lesson. She used a training kite to learn how to control it. Then she and her instructor, Alex, went for a drag. A drag is where you let the kite drag you through the water. At this point in the instruction, you aren´t dealing with the board; just controling the kite. Mandy seemed to pick it up very quickly. She might be able to attempt using a board in the next lesson!

As I sit here and blog, I am totally amazed. From my vantage point in the living room, not only do I see an incredible view of the beach and ocean, but I see the pool 4/5th completed. We watched a pod of dolphins this morning moving south along the surf line. Much of this is surreal. OMG! It is amazing; we´ve built our dream home; and the reality is ten times the expectation!
Nine workers man handled the piano into the music room. I did find the screws to secure the legs of the piano, but they don´t necessarily line up. I will have to find a way to line the holes up so I can stabilize the piano while I clean and get the piano ready to play!

We acquired a kitten yesterday. She (we think) is a sweatheart; very affectionate and enjoys lots of cuddles. Stormy, on the other hand, wants to eat the kitty. Stormy is soooo intent on the kitty. I think she just wants to play, but her ¨play¨is to snatch it into her mouth! It will be interesting to see how things work out with these two!!

Buenas noches, mi amigos.

2 comments:

  1. We're at the coast for our family reunion and I was afraid I was missing out...no internet. So glad to see things are well and Mandy is there. You sound like you're having an incredible time@

    The pictures aren't coming through. Is there somewhere else they are posted? i'd love to see how it all looks. I hope the piano gets put together soon. I know how you are itching to play it!

    ReplyDelete
  2. I will try to post pictures on facebook; the piano is in the sala. But I need to line up all the screws for the legs before continuing to set it up. Doug will be gone for the next couple of weeks; visiting his Mom. Hopefully I can get things organized and put together to be able to play soon!!1

    ReplyDelete