27 November

We spent a lot of the day on the tennis court. We had a one hour lesson with Quang at Glendeveer in Gresham this morning and then played doubles with Sue and Kurt this evening at the Clackamas River Racquet Club. It felt sooooo good to be out on the court again and even though our playing was somewhat inconsistent after three and a half months, we had a lot of fun.

We hope we can play a lot more before we take off again.

When the excavation of the pool begins on our property, much of the dirt removed will be put down where the tennis court will eventually be built. We're hoping to have a court built on community property there so we can keep playing.

We've broken ground this Monday, but haven't received any pictures or information as to how that went.

We did purchase a dalmatian pup from a breeder in Texas. She is 6 months old and a favorite at the breeder's facilities. We will meet her in Lima as they will ship her to us there. I am soooo excited to meet her. Some of her handlers have sent great stories about her. What a cutie!

Thanksgiving was great; we spent the dinner hour with Marc and Diane at the Union Mills Horse Ranch. There was tons of food and lots of good company.

What a whirlwind week this has been in Oregon. We've tried to organize taxes and finalize various other things before the container is loaded on the 14th of December. Wow!!

24 November

Being back in Oregon has been a bit of a culture shock. It isn't just that the landscape is so much greener and lush, or that some of the fall colors are still apparent. And it isn't even that the language is different. What seems so different is that the traffic is tame, the hours of daylight are shorter, and that we are going separate ways trying to get things organized and ready for the final move.
Our first day back, we each made lists of things of things that needed to happen and went separate ways to accomplish those things. Doug went to check on telephone, internet and cable, retirement insurance, a month's membership at the tennis club, and contacting the plumber and electrician for repairs needed here at the house. I went to pick up paperwork to get our taxes ready, went to the post office for change of address information, went to Whole Foods for some VitaBiotics, REI for mosquito nets, and contacted our stock broker to set up an appointment so we can finance this adventure of ours. Our list continues and we hit the road each morning trying to get things accomplished. Doug's main focus will be to finish the remodeling we started a few years ago; painting, molding, the final touches. I've been relegated to gathering necessary information for taxes.
We did purchase a dalmation pup. She is 6 months old, so is house broken. She will be spayed and then shipped to Lima and we will pick her up there. Our first dalmatian, Smudge, was such a pleasure. We had to put her down after she was hit by a car and had broken her leg. She had lived 16 years with us and had gone deaf. There is no replacing her, but I think "Stormy" will be a good fit.
I've also been able to reconnect with family and friends the last couple of days which has been wonderful. I truly appreciate those connections now; for some reason I've been somewhat of a recluse in the past.
We broke ground on the construction of our home in El Nuro on Monday. I'm saddened that we weren't there for it; but so glad we are finally getting started. Koki, the architect has sent twenty workers and his best "maestro" (contractor) to work on the project. The biggest issue for them is food. They will build themselves a shelter to sleep in, but the food will have to be brought out to the site each day; possibly twice a day. I'm anxious to hear how they figured out the logistics.
Thanks to all of you that have followed this blog; know that there will be a guest bungalow available for you when you wish to visit.

21 November

I'm not sure what the high or low temperatures for today were, but I know I'm cold! We arrived in Oregon yesterday afternoon and spent the afternoon trying to get cell phones and internet access for the time we are here. This proved to be a bit of a hassle, but I have to say the people at Best Buy on 82nd Ave stuck it out with us and finally got the job done. Here are our phone numbers for the next six weeks; Karen 503-406-7676 and Doug 503-406-7677. Feel free to call and check in. Hopefully we will be able to connect with a lot of you during this time.
On Tuesday the architect, Koki came up to see the property, visit with us, and check on local prices for building materials. The bus dropped him off at the entrance to El Nuro and we met him there a little after 10:30 in the morning. He came up to the house and really enjoyed the view (he had only pictures and technical information about the property). We ate lunch at the house and shortly thereafter, Georg showed up and the beer started flowing. I let the guys drink and I packed up the house. When they were ready to move on, everyone chipped in to help us move things into a storage building behind Georg's house.
We drove into Los Organos and Koki visted some building supply stores to get some prices. Meanwhile, I checked in at the furniture store where we bought the bed and they had the missing piece and the queen mattress. So we loaded matress on top of the bedframe in the back of the pick-up, picked up Koki and took the furniture up to Jay's. Once unloaded into the room we will rent, we took Koki into Mancora to catch a bus home.
Once in Mancora, Koki could not find passage on any bus line back to Chiclayo. Apparantly, there was a protest going on near Zorritos that had shut down the highway for two days. The protest was against a foreign oil company that had been granted permission to do siesmic testing on the ocean floor. This testing however interrupted the fishery there; driving the fish out of the area. No traffic was passing north or south so many busses were stuck. Koki finally found one seat on a bus and immediately took off. We had thought he would spend the night, so had made reservations for him, but he wanted to get back for work in the morning.
Our trip home was long, but uneventful. We left Georg's house Weds. afternoon, taking the reservation the architect didn't take at El Refugio. I figured we paid for the room, and since they wouldn't refund us for the room, we'd take it. I was really looking forward to the hot water shower. Not! It was our luck that their hot water was down and would be fixed the next day...so once again cold showers.
Victor, a driver we first met on an earlier trip, drove us to Piura. In Piura we caught a plane for Lima in the early afternoon. Domestic flights in Peru are very favorable for the foreigner. The fare for a Peruvian for this flight is $52. Doug and I each paid $138 a piece for the same flight.
Once in Lima, Maximo's wife, Teresa picked us up and drove us to the health insurance agent we had contacted to get insurance coverage. We found the office amidst rush hour traffic, which in Lima, is ugly.
We met with the agent, filled out paperwork and got the process started. We had to do it that afternoon since once Doug turns 61, on the 14th of December, he is no longer accepted for private health insurance policies. I was rather proud of myself for doing all the negotiations and filling out the application in spanish. As a matter of fact, the agent said my spanish "was very good."
We then went back to Maximo's house for dinner and a bit of celebration in honor of Maximo's birthday. Maximo and his wife returned us to the airport about 11:30 for our 1:40 a.m. flight to LAX. We spent the night in Pomona with Doug's sister and then flew to Oregon the next day.
And here we are, back in Oregon. The blog may get a bit spotty during the next six weeks, but will fill you in on anything that happens toward our final move to El Nuro, Peru. Meanwhile, you can contact us through the above phone numbers!

16 November

Today's hi 81, 52% humidity, sunny

lo 66.8%, 78% humidity, clear

Bed partners? When Doug headed to bed last night this little creature was there to share it with him. The rock wall is the headboard for our bed. Doug got out the fly swatter and urged him back outside! These lizards are all over the place here, and until now, I've only seen them outside.

Doug cleaned the house this morning; moved furniture outside and then swept, and mopped the floors. Sanchez came and he wiped down the furniture. I did a couple loads of laundry, baked a loaf of sourdough bread, and hemmed some pants.

We then went into town to get the bed frame and mattress. When we got to the store, the gal said they did not have a queen bed or mattress. I showed her the queen bed but there wasn't a mattress to fit it. We bought the bed and will pick up the mattress upon our return from the states.

We tried to get a hold of Jay so we could take the bed by, but he wasn't available. In the process of shuffling things around, we found out we were missing a piece of the bed. So back to the store and we were told that the boy who handled that stuff was out and would return by 5:00.

When we returned at 5:30, we were informed that the missing piece wasn't available but would be tomorrow. I'm starting to get the hang of Peruvian time. I've already made bets against that piece being available tomorrow and added a queen size air mattress on our list of things to bring back from the states.

The architect was supposed to arrive tonight sometime around midnight. He just called to say his bus had been cancelled, and he couldn't get here before tomorrow afternoon. We'd already made hotel reservations for him and arranged with Jay to deliver the bed at that time. Another change of plans; at least Peruvians are good at this sort of thing!

The count is down to 2; 2 more cold showers before we leave and hopefully will encounter hot water thereafter.

15 November

Today's hi, 80.1; 64% humidity, sunny

Lo 65.7, 78% humidity, clear becoming cloudy



This was a very quiet day, although Doug took a 4 kilometer walk up the beach toward the vilage of El Nuro.

Here are some other things we've learned;

We would never be able to do this without our Peruvian friends. They have watched over us and been ever so willing to answer questions.

Be patient. Peruvian time isn't the same as US time. Just because they say they'll be there, doesn't necessarily mean today, tomorrow, or the next day.

Our driver's have become protective of us. Before we had our own transportation, they watched out for us no matter where we were. One driver called us after we traveled to Chiclayo by bus to be sure we had made it to our hotel safely! Another offerred to bring the doctor to me at any time of the day or night when I had tonsilitis.

A lot of togetherness is a good thing when your companion is your best friend as well as your partner and lover.

You have to have the memory card in you camera to save any pictures you take.

Having only one hour of electricity is do-able.

Don't leave any clothes on the floor as some critter may take up residency.

Be thankful for normal bowel movements and rejoice if they are regular.

Spices come in packets like sugar in a restaurant and have some weird names that don't give you a clue as to what it is. One packet proudly displayed the name "Comino" which the dictionary translates to "I don't give a damn."

We don't have to worry about losing electricity no matter how hard the wind blows.

Hang your T-shirts by the bottom so you don't have clothespin marks on your shoulders for days.

14 November

Today's hi; 76.3, 72% humidity, sunny

Lo 64.9, 76% humidity, clear

The surf the last couple of days has been quite turbulent. If you look closely at the photos, you can see the spray drifting with the wind. We could see rainbows in the spray, but they didn't show up on the pictures.

I baked some rolls from the sourdough sponge. Half were plain sourdough, the other half were cinnamon rolls (made without brown sugar, which is non-existant in Peru) . The rolls burnt on the bottom a bit because of the cinnamon sugar, but still had a great flavor. I did however have just a slight problem with storing the flour!

We took off for Talara to find a bed. A queen sized bed to use while we are staying with Jay. We only found double beds and mattresses. I think one of the salespeople lied to us as she told us one mattress and frame were queen size, but when we took out our measuring tape, it wasn't. She hastened to tell us that queen sized mattresses aren't available in Peru. We know this to be false, as we have and are sleeping on a queen. So needless to say, we didn't buy one. We thought there was one in Los Organos, but when we went back to the store, the saleslady said they didn't have the mattress, but they did have the frame.

On our way into Talara, there was a huge tractor trailer loaded with onions on it's side and across the road. It had not negotiated one of the many hairpins turns well. There was a gathering of people to watch the clean up. In Peru, if the load is insured, anyone can pick up any part of the load on the road or roadside for themselves. On our return, there were twenty or thirty people helping to repackage and reload the onions onto another truck. Yesterday there was another accident just south of where we are that overturned with its load of cement.

We did get more of the plans printed into blueprint size. We are still missing plans for the solar panels and batteries, water tower, septic tank and irrigation system. Just the important stuff.

The architect is supposed to come here on Monday so hopefully we can iron everything out so they can start construction while we are gone.

While in Talara, we met Charlito, Perico;s daughter. She works at El Refugio and had taken the bus specifically to go to the bank. The line for the bank was out the door and down the block. Saturday is the day to pay bills (which you do at your bank) and do other banking business. Once we were allowed to enter the bank, inside was a sea of people. There were even longer lines inside for the two ATM machines (with the ability to pay bills) and the lobby of the bank was elbow to elbow (Peuvian style, that's CLOSE). I swiped my debit card to get a ticket to see someone at the teller counter. Kinda like when you go to DMV? In about 10 minutes my number appeared on an overhead screen and I approached the teller. My business was soon done and I had to wind my way outside. Some Peruvians are very polite and willing to move out of your way, but there are others that look at you and stay right where they are.

Once Charlito and I were out of the bank, she took us to find furniture stores. Two stores are in the middle of the market and cannot be seen from the outside. The market itself is a warren of booths, and stalls selling all kinds of things. We had to walk through who knows how many stalls to actually get to the furniture store.

We then brought Charlito back with us and delivered her to El Refugio. We stayed and had another excellent meal.

Friday the 13th

Hi today; 76.7; 52% humidity,sunny

Lo today; 66.6; 79% humidity, overcast

This is our lucky day! Doug and I were married on the 13th, so we celebrate Friday the 13th as an anniversary! Great day.

Today we went on a hunt for a bed. We are hoping to put a bed in the room Jay is renting us so that when we come back, we have a place to sleep.

There are a couple of places in Los Organos that have furniture. We found queen mattress at both; at one the mattress would cost S/.450 whereas the other it would cost S/.900. The first place had some headboards, but most had flaws and looked like they were used. At the other store, they had a pine headboard and a foot with drawers in it. The quality of the pine furniture was definitely superior to the other. We decided to look at our plans for the house, take some measurements, and then take a look at what might be available in Talara.

The first picture here is of the waves near the harbor of El Nuro. You can see the fishing fleet moored in the background which is about three kilometers away. The rocks often sport a beautiful spray of water when the waves hit. It is also the one and only surfing spot of El Nuro. In the next picture, you can see the fishing boats returning to port after a day out in the ocean. Often times they disappear over the horizon and come in late in the afternoon. The tuna have been running so many more boats than usual are going out, and are going out even further than usual. We knew something was up when so many boats left the harbor than the usual amount, and were out longer than usual. Once we went to the market and found tuna available again, we figured they were running again.

We contacted a gentleman about getting health insurance here in Peru. He sent us various options which we will have to study before making a decision.

I worked some more on my tapestry while Doug read the New York Times on the Kindle and studied Spanish. It was a very relaxed and peaceful afternoon. We even laid out in the sun for a while.