31 August 2010

Celia left this morning, her month of cooking being done. It's a bit sad to see these workers leave. During the last weeks, we've shared a kitchen and so have gotten to know her a bit. She is Sanchez's sister so hopefully she will be back again so we can see her. She is off to her village to be with her family including five girls between the ages of 5 and 28!

The plumber and his crew were cleaning the pool when I got up this morning. They had the circulation pumps going and had added chemicals. The brushed and vacuumed the sides and bottom of the pool. It looks a bit more inviting this afternoon, as some of the algae bloom has disappeared. They were also installing the gutters for the run off at the far end of the pool. We also now have a ladder for easier access in and out. The water is 1.2 meters deep, and isn't really too bad for getting out of without the ladder; but this will be oh so much easier!

Direct TV has also been contracted to install cable TV. Once again, as a foreigner, I had to have someone co-sign the contract with me. Koki was generous enough to do so. I had to pay a $30 instalation fee. The Direct TV office gave me their bank information and I had to pay the fee directly into their account at the bank. The bank gave me a voucher which I then returned to the store to show the bill had been paid. I find it an interesting method of doing things...a lot of businesses don't collect money directly from customers. Even in the stores where they do, they have a cashier who takes the sales clerk's chit, charges your account and then gives you a voucher to take back to the salesperson. He then gathers your purchases together and takes it to the door where a security guard checks each item against the voucher. In some stores, like the electronic store, they will even record the serial number and the product code into a notebook as you leave. They are very security conscious.



Chino has now finished the floor of the BBQ pit. All that is left here is for the water to be hooked up to a faucet, and some kind of BBQ rack/apparatus. It is an interesting spot, ambience as they say here. The tiles are slight off at the steps, but the center lines up with the whole which could receive the post for a large umbrella if we chose.

The walkway between the front of the living room and the pool is cemented in and workers are waiting on the arrival of more tiles with Koki tomorrow. The stairs should also arrive tomorrow.

The carpenters have been here installing doors for the service building. Last I looked, they had installed all the doors there, also into the pantry/kitchen and the storage room. The only other wooden door I can think of right now is into the bathroom from the music room. I don't think that one is in yet. They will then have the stairs to deal with.

Haven't seen the glass guys; but they want to come in after carpenters to do the windows in the service building and the railings for the stairs and lofts.

Truly, the only things left are little things. And there are a lot of little things, but we should be able to get these things done in a short time. Hard to believe, after nine months we are just about there.

I didn't work at all on the mural today. The next animal will be the tortoise, and my design for him just wasn't coming together well. I read for a while, took a nap, and then revisited the tortoise. I have the colors chosen, but not the specific design. I've learned a lot from the mural so far...1. you don't have to have % coverage of paint. Having a little of the white background can work for you. 2. generally colors applied on the fly rather than ones that have been thought out, don't work. 3. A lot of color mixing happens on the wall. 4. Do the background first. I was too anxious to get started to do the background. It will now be infinitely more difficult....The price for impatience. 5. Ladders in Peru aren't nearly as sturdy as those in the States. The rungs on this one are one by two's, with the one inch side as the top of the step. It is, however, a step up from the bamboo ladder the crew constructed and I first used. 6. Murals are works in progress. You learn as you go; you figure out design flaws as you go. For example, the parts of the mural I am the most excited about are the ones that have a realistic shape and color; but also have folk art designs encorporated into them. When you see the marlin, you know it is a marlin....the first fish I did is just a stylized fish. I'm hoping I see something close to it in the market so I say it is a specific kind of fish!

Doug leaves the states tonight and will be in Lima in the morning. He will then travel by bus up north and be here by Thursday morning. It has been a long three plus weeks that he's been gone. Unfortunately, he missed a lot of the final decisions around the house here, so he will have to live with I've decided. Meanwhile, I am glad he has had this opportunity to spend with both of his parents. He's had some good quality time with his family in these last few weeks.

30 August 2010

It has been so tranqil with only three workers here. Chino has been working on laying the tile in the BBQ pit. José has been doing the concrete work necessary to extend the terrace in front of the living room out to the pool. Freddy has been doing the grunt work; carrying the cement from the mixer to the site, and doing general clean up.

Celia informed me today that she would be going into town with me in the morning so she could travel to her home village. She has only been here a short month, but she has been so sweet. She made me a plate of ceviche today for lunch which has to be the best ceviche I have ever had. I baked a couple of loaves of banana bread today and gave Celia, Juana and Sanchez one of the loaves. I will miss her, even though I don´t feel I have the same connection with her as I do with Juana.

I spent much of the day working on the mural. I had designed the marlin last night and was anxious to put it up today. I really like the fact that the overall
shape was realistic, but the interior colors and design were stylized. I wasn´t 100% satisfied with the colors, but the more I look at it, the better I like it. I´m hoping to work on the tortoise tomorrow. This has been a fun project; especially for someone who ¨has no artistic talents!¨ Not bad for a left brained thinking individual!

Doug will be traveling to Lima tomorrow night arriving sometime in the early morning of the 1st of September. He will then travel north by bus and be here on the 2nd. I am sooo looking forward to his being here; although there is a tad bit of apprehension because I´ve been making decisions around the construction without him. I can only hope he will concur with my decisions.

The plumber and the carpenters of the roof will arrive tomorrow morning. I am so glad the plumber will be here, as he is t0 arrive with chemicals, and ladders for the pool. I swam in it the first night it was full. Since then it has looked like lime green jello. The algae will hopefully disappear with the chemicals and I can once again swim in my pool.

Stormy and the kitten had another run in today. The kitten decided to go outside and then was caught by Stormy. Escot, Sanchez´s dog was in on it too, although, his heart wasn´t in it. I give kudos to the kitten, in that she held her own before I could physically pull Stormy off. However, it literally scared the shit out of her. I still can´t quite figure out whether Stormy wants to eat the cat or just play with her. So far they have both survived their encounters. Time and patience will tell.

I´ve discovered Sudoku on line. It has consumed a great deal of my time. My daughter tells me it is good to engage the mind and keep it active in my old age. I do enjoy it, but it does seem to override other things.

29 August 2010W

Workers are going to extend the terrace in front of the living room over to the pool deck. They started to extend only the middle two patterns of the tile, but I asked them to extend it the full length. I think it will look less chopped up this way. The reason they didn't plan it this way was because they didn't have enough tile. Now they will order more tile and it will be a smooth transition from the terrace of the living room to the pool deck.

Chino began laying the tile for the BBQ pit today. He changed the orientation of the tiles so the central point would work for an umbrella. His work is incredible.... meticulous and thoughtful.

Freddy has been doing a lot of clean up. He has been removing construction detritus from various areas and moving it off somewhere. A large truck was here yesterday to haul off the garbage. A lot of it was loaded, but there still is a significant amount here yet to go. There is still a lot of clean up that needs to happen...I never realized how messy construction could be. The crew has been quite good at cleaning up as they work; but oh so much garbage and trash has been generated.

I've been working on the mural for the wall in the entry way. I've finished parts, but have a lot of wall to go. This afternoon I was in my studio designing elements for the wall. I'm really excited as things come together. I am a bit concerned about the background.....I almost wished the painters had painted the wall the sand color that the rest of the house is painted. I think this should have happened first....but it didn't. Ultimately, what this means is that the mural will come together bit by bit; and the background will have to be done at the end. I suspect most artists would cringe at this; the background should have been done first......Ah the joys of inexperience!!

28 August 2010

Really? The end of August already? OMG!

I spent most of my day painting the mural on the wall at our entry. As I work on it, both at the wall and in my studio, it gets more complex all the time. I am really liking the design though, so I only hope it comes through as it gets painted. Today I finished one fish, part of two crabs and another fish. I need to discipline myself to try out the colors in the studio before I try to put them on the wall. So far, mixing the colors hasn't been an issue. I'm somewhat limited in t he red, blue and yellow I can find so will have to do with what I have.

Some of the sliding glass doors now have screens. These have been tricky as they have not wanted to put tracks above the level of the tile. The doors close nicely, but the tolerance is slight. The tracks only hold the bottom of each door by an inch at most. I'm thinking they need a magnet to hold the doors closed..
will a magnet work on aluminum?

The pool was so beautiful this morning. It is full to the brim, which is the idea. The sun was glistening off the water and it looked so inviting. However, it appears that some algae has taken hold as it had the color of lime jello this morning. I think I will wait until the chemicals arrive and the recirculation is active before I swim again.

Chino worked on smoothing out the floor of the BBQ pit so he can lay tiles in there tomorrow. He also worked on making the cabinets and sinks for the laundry room today. It took me a while to realize what he was doing.... He was down where the camp was making cement slabs with rebar running through them. He would then carry these up to the laundry room and these became the sides of the cabinets. Freddy worked on clean up most of the day. He has been scraping the garden areas and clearing them of debris. He seems to be the grunt of the three though, as Chino would ask him to bring him cement and mortar when he was ready for it. José worked on finishing cement: the far end of the pool, the stairs coming up from the parking area, etc. It seems so quiet here with only the three workers.

Juana is back! Sanchez's wife took the month of August off to go visit her family somewhere in the back hills of Peru. She had been doing all the cooking for the workers; sometimes cooking for upwards of 30 in a teeny tiny camp kitchen. She was amazing..she worked her little but off. I had asked her to come work for us in the house; not as a cook but to help me clean and maintain things. She agreed quite readily, and we feel blessed to have her. We still haven't negotiated a salary for her but I don't think she plans on officially starting until the 1st of September. However, her first day back she was in the kitchen helping Celia and began sweeping and cleaning. What a gem! When I first saw her, she raised her arms for a big hug and told me she had missed me. I've enjoyed Celia but I have to say, I've missed Juana too. She has the most precious laugh I've ever heard; so totally filled with the joy of life.

I had a great tuna filete tonight. I marinated it in garlic, onion, olive oil, lime juice and soy sauce. Then I used the marinate in the hot skillet to sear the tuna. Such good stuff. So many people just think of tuna as the stuff that comes out of the can... and it is so much more. The fresh fish doesn't even taste like the stuff in the can!

Still missing my hubby. He should be back next week...can't wait.

27 August 2010

I went for a swim in my swimming pool tonight. The last truck load came just after 6:00pm. This was the larger truck from El Alto and it was supposed to complete the filling of the pool. The pool only lacks an inch of water to be totally full. I didn’t care though. I still went swimming. I couldn’t even wait until the truck had finished dumping the water in. I did one length and banged into the far wall (it was dark, mind you.) Even so, I came up with a “WooHoo!” I did a couple more lengths and looked up and saw the workers, and truck attendants watching; that only made the whole thing better. How does one describe the realization of a childhood dream? I’ve been told I was swimming before I could walk. My parents would take us to the club. They would go off to play their tennis and leave us at the pool with the nanny. I’ve always loved to swim; competed since I was old enough to participate until I was classified as a senior. I’ve loved the long distances more so than the sprints. Most pools are not long enough to do laps in, which has always frustrated me. To me, swimming is swimming a distance and now I can do it in my very own pool. How excellent is that?
I also bought a ladder (?) and some paint at the hardware store this morning so I could begin to paint my mural. I question the ladder as it is only a step up from what the workers made here. The rungs are made from 1 X 2’s and there is no cross brace to hold the ladder at a certain angle. As it turned out, maybe that was a good thing as I needed to situate the ladder over the stairs next to the wall. I was able to finish sketching out the mural this afternoon.
I bought five colors; red, blue, yellow, white and black. I filled five small pop bottles with each color. I also bought a bunch of small plastic cups to mix the colors in. I am hoping to maintain some really bright colors for the mural…it will be interesting to see what I can come up with. I only got some of the two fish done today. I need to be patient and take my time with this project. I’d really like it to turn out well. Sometimes the image in my head far exceeds what I can do in reality!
Another truck load of water arrived as I was blogging. This cistern of water will put the pool “over the edge.” This is a good thing, as the overflow will fill the recirculation tank and all will be ready to function as intended. Sanchez has also asked for a bit of water; no problem as far as we are concerned. Sanchez more than earns any perks we can give him. He technically works for Georg as the guardian for the property. However, he is often here helping me out. His wife, Juana, has agreed to become our housekeeper. I am so thankful for this…she is a treasure. She returned from her vacation with her family yesterday. Today she was cleaning house for me without my asking or any kind of contract for her work. I can’t express how appreciative I am of her willingness to help us maintain the house.
Stormy and the kitten maintain their enmity. I can’t quite decide whether Stormy wants to play or wants to eat the cat. I had the kitten on my shoulder today; and for the first time, Stormy decided to get the cat while I had her in my possession. The cat, of course, spit and struck out… but the recipient was me! I’m not sure what else I can do to resolve the conflict between cat and dog. I’m trying to give the cat more outside time but that means she needs to fend for herself against the dog. Stormy hasn’t had any more bloody noses, but she hasn’t let up as far as going after the cat! It seems I am the one with the bloody hands as I am the one holding the kitten when she decides to hiss, spit and strike out.
The flies have been terrible lately. It seems like they come in waves. Sometimes they are terrible and then they seem to disappear. Lately, they have been terrible. I have resorted to fly spray to kill them, which ultimately is a temporary fix. The window guys that have been making the screens have been making progress in terms of enclosing each living space. Once they complete their work, and the carpenter finishes installing the doors, I’m hoping things will be much better. Meanwhile, I am consuming a can of fly insecticide every couple of days. I know it is not very eco-friendly, but at the same time, you want the flies gone!!

25 August 2010

This morning’s grocery run was a busy one. I stopped at the laundry to drop off a couple of loads. Then I went on to the grocery store. Since it was market day, they were shorthanded in the stall. Other workers were at the drop off area on the PanAmerican Hwy where supplies come in on Wednesdays. We stopped at the hardware store and then went out to the market drop off area.
Koki had ordered some wood for the deck, and it was to come in on the truck. When we got there, we found it was indeed on the truck but at the bottom and it would take them at least an hour to unload everything else to get to it. We didn’t wait around, and planned on returning later for the wood.
We then went out to the entrance to Vichayito to drop off garbage. We don’t have garbage pick up out this far from El Ñuro, so we have to bring it into town. Sometimes I can catch one of the garbage carts in town. If I have to stop for fuel, I will drop it at the gas station. Otherwise, I’ll drive out to the entrance to Vichayito where there are depositories along the side of the road for garbage. The only recycling collection I know of is on that road as well. There’s a bin for plastic and a bin for glass.
We also stopped at the bus station (which is also our “post office”) and picked up a catalogue for windows and glass products. Another American, from Ohio, is building a home closer to El Ñuro and he had asked for information from our “glass” guy. We dropped the catalogue off at his home on our way by. It gave me a chance to introduce Koki to Ricardo who is the building contractor and a brother to the developer.
Back at the house, I began sketching out the mural on the wall at the entry. I have a basic plan drawn out in a sketch book, and was trying to transfer those drawings onto the wall. I was able to sketch out a bit less than half of the wall today. The top part of the wall is 8 feet high. As the steps go down, the wall gets taller. I think it is about 11 feet at the bottom. So far I like what I’ve done; will start painting it later in the week and hopefully won’t foul it up. I guess it is just a wall, so I can paint over the top of everything if it doesn’t work out.
We had three loads of water come today. With two more loads, the pool will be full. At that point the plumber will return with stairs to get in and out of the pool, the chemicals and accessories we will need to maintain it. All the workers are getting a big kick out of how excited I am to see this pool filling up. It has to be amazing to them as well….I wonder how many pools this size they have ever seen or worked on. Maybe they just want to see what a gringa will do in such a pool!
Late this afternoon, the generator unexpectedly shut down. I was outside working on the mural so didn’t realize anything was amiss until I walked into the kitchen and it was quite dark. Celia said, there are no lights. The workers told me that a problem came up when they were using a chop saw to cut the aluminum for the screens. Thank goodness Koki was here as he took charge, investigated the problem and restarted the generator. I had gone down to play the piano; mostly to stay out of their way, but also to occupy my mind while they were figuring out this problem. After the lights came back on, Koki brought me an extension cord I had bought in Talara just last week to extend the cord for the light on my loom. Every few inches along the extension cord, the cord showed burnt marks and the interior wires were showing through. This was the problem. The extension cord was not heavy enough to carry the load. I had actually wondered about how light weight the extension cord was, but I figured the store clerk wouldn’t sell me something that wouldn’t work with 220 for a small lamp fixture. OK, lesson learned. Koki said he would send me four or five extension cords to use around the house….ones that wouldn’t short everything out!
I took Koki to Mancora tonight so he could catch his bus home. No sooner had I returned home and another worker needed a ride into Los Organos to catch a bus to Chiclayo. I was told the moto-taxi driver wasn’t answering his phone, so they couldn’t arrange transportation. I don’t actually mind driving them as it gives me an opportunity to get to know each one a little bit. Now that my Spanish is better, I’m more comfortable trying to carry on a conversation. It used to be totally silent all the way into town. Within this last week or so, the workers have really warmed up to me. I think they realize that my hesitancy to interact has been because of the language, and they are very forgiving of my inadequacy with the language. They don’t want to correct me though, so I have to ask if what I’ve said is correct.
The workers still have to work around me, as I have to move about around them. I try not to get in their way and to let them know, they have priority as they need to finish things up. They have all been very gracious and also somewhat protective of me. I’ve invited most of them to return with their families once the construction is completed so they can enjoy the fruits of their labor and a vacation at the beach. It’s hard to know how many of them will actually come back to visit, but I hope many of them will. One of our hopes in building this home is that many people will chose to come visit.
Chino is such a perfectionist when it comes to his work. This BBQ pit has been his project from the beginning. Each wall is built with bricks and mortar. He then puts a rough finish of concrete over the bricks. Finally he puts a very clean, very smooth finish of concrete.

I'm sorry you can't see the sketching on the wall. But at least you can appreciate the ladder I am using. It works, but I'm not sure how much confidence I have in it. As I move further down the wall, it may become more of an issue for me.











Only two more truckloads of water and the pool will be full. Maybe I'll get to swim in it tomorrow!