Reflections on a month in Peru



Our first month in Peru has been amazing. It's hard to believe a month has gone by already. Both Abby and I are getting settled into work, and our new apartment. We've started some good habits. We've been running- we have a goal of 16k per week (about 10 miles). We've also been trying to do a "friend's dinner" every week where we pick a night and invite some friends for a home cooked meal.

I've been very happy with my work set-up. I have a desk (the only furniture we've purchased so far, everything else we have was provided with the apartment) in the guest bedroom where I have a quiet place to work. I have a decent web camera set up so I can do video meetings with my team. I even hung a little white board on the wall for sketching out designs and for Abby to leave me notes about remembering to eat lunch 😬.

There have been some challenges of course. After about a week of us moving in the gas to our apartment was turned off as a result of the landlord not paying the bill for a while, so cooking was limited to the microwave and a bread-slice toaster. I also managed to aggravate some kind of hand and foot psoriasis which resulted in a couple weeks of painful blisters, apparently commonly triggered by stress. So I've been more consciously trying to relax. But we persevered through the minor setbacks and have mostly been laughing about it.

We have also hired a maid. I consider this an extreme luxury... but it's a normal practice here, apartments generally include maid's quarters even. If nothing else it's a way for us to support the local economy I guess. And I admit it's nice to have someone tidy up once a week for us.

Speaking of the economy, how much do things cost here? It depends. Some things are surprisingly affordable. A nice dinner at a middle range restaurant will cost us 75 soles, or about $25 US. Local food like fruits and vegetables or breads are also very cheap. Taxi rides are very affordable too, we don't need a car to get around and usually walk but taxis are readily available. On the other hand, I paid $50 US for an ethernet adapter that would cost $15 on Amazon, and 50% more for a backup hard drive I needed. Imported goods and foods, like pepperoni, are noticeably more expensive than I'm used to. Overall it's quite a mix but for the normal day to day we should be saving money compared to our budget in the US.

Favorite food so far? Alli de gallina empanadas (or allí de gallina lasagna!)
Favorite activity? Running on the malecon
Most looking forward to? Our next trip and learning to surf
Biggest frustration? Haven't found a good pizza, yet...
What I miss most from home? My doggie Rey

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