2015-October-30 Peru, San Ramon: In Search Of Paddington

Fo here.  I’ve decided to give you an update on J&A’s travels since they flew out of New York for Lima, Peru. It’s late evening and J&A are waiting tables at Oxon Café in San Ramon in exchange for their room and meals. They work from 6pm to 11pm five nights a week and are getting the hang of it. Very few of the customers speak English but they are enjoying listening to J&A have a go at ‘Hablando Espanol’.  Thankfully the free online Duolingo sessions they did before (and continue to do) are coming in handy.  

Rosie And Her 5 Kittens

I haven’t needed much Spanish in my time here as I only get to speak to Robbie, Rosie and Rosie’s new kittens who share our kitchen.  Coming from an Anglo-Peruvian family, their English is very good.

San Ramon is an 8 hour bus ride inland from Lima. It is on the edge of the (deepest, darkest) Peruvian jungle and I must admit to being excited that I’ve made it this close to where Paddington grew up.  I am keeping my nose peeled for the smell of marmalade but no luck so far.  I know it’s like hoping to bump into a member of the British royal family just because you are visiting London, but still. 

Generally, the time here has been good but Jean has had a chest infection.  She started getting a sore throat in Lima and has been coughing for much of the night for almost 2 weeks now. A & J went to the doctor with Lucy (the café owner) to help with translations and got a prescription for some antibiotics.  It’s been 5 days since then and Jean is slowly improving. Between the jellyfish sting and this she is over being sick but claws crossed this is the last of any health issues for a while.

We are being accommodated in a simple but nice apartment in a small block right around the corner from the café. We are sharing quarters with Shannon, who is doing some work with an NGO helping local communities implement various health programs. We all get on well and share some meals together on the weekends when A & J are not working. The only thing that Jean initially struggled with was the lack of hot water. She has taken to boiling a jug of water, tipping that into an old garbage bin and diluting that with water from her shower to create a warm rinse off.   Actually the lack of hot water provides a challenge in cleaning up in the café kitchen as well but loads of detergent and extra elbow grease seems to work!

The Kitchen / Dining / Living Area Of Our Flat

Anthony celebrated his 46^th Birthday the day we arrived in town. Fortunately, a friend of the café owner, Alison, had a birthday the next day so he was invited to a joint tea and shared some birthday cake. He was even given a bag of local coffee as a gift which J&A have been enjoying in the mornings. To top it off there was a lovely card waiting on his bed all the way from Australia (thanks mum & dad!).

Clockwise From Bottom Left: Shannon, Freddie, Lucy, Petra, Pia, Alison and Anthony

We haven’t seen much of the surrounding area what with Jean being sick.  However, this weekend we are going to Oxapampa for two nights. It’s a town settled by German immigrants in the 1800’s and apparently has some interesting buildings, nice walks and waterfalls and an interesting mix of Peruvian and Germanic foods. J & A were also lured by tales of a brewery and small cheesemaker in town. It will be a few degrees cooler so we will pack our sweaters.

We’ve enjoyed watching the Rugby Semi Finals on our hosts’ TV.  They are the first games we’ve seen live and they start at a very civilised 10 or 11 am here.  Anthony is excited & “eternally hopeful” about the prospects for the Wallabies this Saturday. 

We’ve got another 2 weeks here and then make our way to Cusco for a few days with a day trip from there to Machu Picchu before we take our leave of Peru.  All very exciting and I can’t wait to see the ruins.

The Village Park

I think that covers the news from Peru so far.  I am enjoying my time in this little village nestled amongst the mountains. The locals are lovely, the tuk-tuks are omnipresent and I’ve enjoyed the occasional evening walk in the park watching the children play elastics and chase each other around.  Parents sit relaxed on benches at the edge of the park catching up on their respective lives and there is a very comfortable feel to it all.  I don’t think I’d live here full time but I’m pleased J & A have given me the opportunity to experience living here as we have.

An Off Duty Tuk-Tuk At The Edge Of Town

I’ll leave you with some photos from a festival held this week. It is called “El Señor de los Milagros”.  Businesses, schools and community organisations construct beautiful murals on the road made of flowers, leaves, ground coffee and other materials.  A group from the church then carry a figure past each mural in the town in a procession led by incense wavers and followed by a band. They started at 10:30am and finished around 1:30 am the following day with some very loud cannon-fire type fireworks.

The Mural From The School At Our Font Door

The Tail End Of A Particularly Long, Flowery Mural

Locals Putting Their Display Together

The Teams Carrying This Change At Each Mural - Just As Well Given How Heavy It Looks!