April Fools

I'm going to make a departure from talking about the kids and talk a bit about our new "hometown" and some of its follies. Lima isn't a town, but rather a huge city. It forms a contiguous urban area with the seaport of Callao (where Eric works), and is the 5th largest city in South America behind Sao Paulo, Mexico City, Buenos Aires, and Rio de Janeiro. (OK, I admit I copied that from the Wikipedia entry on Lima, Peru.) There are about 8 million people in Lima and about 11 million if you add Callao. For perspective, that's about one-third of the population of Peru.


We live in a residential district called "Miraflores," which means "look at the flowers." The district does a excellent job of keeping up the parks and all of the flowers in them. However, I've found a few of their gardening techniques, well, a bit bizarre.

Because there is so little rainfall in Lima, the city needs to water the grass. It almost never rains, especially in the summer. In the winter there is a fog/mist that accounts for a very small amount of rainfall, but there is never a pounding rain of any significance. (I can't say I really miss the rain.) I have seen one or two parks with sprinklers, but this is how they often water the grass.

Yep, it's a big old cistern truck spraying water, much like a fire truck, and it makes a lot of noise. When I first heard it, I wondered what the heck it was outside. It's not the best picture, but they tend to do it in the evening or the early morning before sunrise. (Thank you David for getting me up at this hour...)

So, not only do they lack sprinklers, they also lack enough real lawnmowers to take care of the grass. I often see teams of city maintenance people weed whacking large expanses of grass. They're not just trimming around the trees in this picture.

Oh wait, it looks like the lawnmower just showed up from another park just as they were finishing. Efficiency is not one of Peru's strong suits.

Now, for all of the lack of technological advancement in their landscaping techniques, Miraflores is on the cutting edge of Police transportation. Last August, the city bought six Segways! It's a very interesting juxtaposition to see a policeman on a Segway riding by a half dozen guys weed whacking a park the size of a soccer field.




In spite of all of the strange things that go on here, it can be a very beautiful place on a bright, sunny, summer afternoon. Note the parachutes gliding over the cliffs - some days we see ten or twelve hovering over the cliffs.

For just $50US, you too could take a 10-15 minute tandem ride in a "parapente" and view the coastline of Lima. We think this would be an excellent stop for the Amazing Race. Apparently they were in Lima in Season 7 Episode 1, but only stopped at the Plaza de Armas in downtown Lima and then quickly got out of the city.

OK, so I know my Spanish isn't perfect, but I couldn't help but laugh and poke a little fun at the city's sign. It should read "Closed Road" not "Close Road." Apparently their best English speaker isn't the best speller...

So, that's a little bit about our life and our new surroundings here in Peru. Peru is at a fascinating stage of its development right now. There is much that is new and relatively modern, but at the same time, there are always reminders that we are in a developing country. I think it will be interesting to watch it change before our eyes over the three years that we are here.