Llywindatravels 2025

New Year’s celebrates the weekend

New Year’s Eve is when you get together with friends. We had a big family lunch with our neighbors the Byrne’s, mostly to celebrate Gaim’s release from the hospital and four day vacation at home. After almost a year in Lima receiving treatment for leukemia, Gaim and his mother Dona Teresa, were both happy to breathe the sea air and enjoy the bustle.

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Gaim and I seem to have been discussing something very important.

We had delicious causa, an appetizer made with potatos, a filling–in this case vegetables in mayonnaise, and garnished with egg, red pepper, raw onion and parsley.

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It was followed by seco de res, a stewed beef seasoned with coriander, ginger, orange chili peppers (aji amarillo), and other things. It was delicious. The meal concluded with caramel and coconut filled chocotejas made by Gaim’s sister Fiorella, an excellent cook. Chocotejas originated in the city of Ica on the south coast of Peru, but are known everywhere.

Lunch was the quiet portion of the day–we were so full afterward that we all read books or napped for the rest of the afternoon and into the evening. After guacamole for dinner, around 8:30 pm we went out to walk along the beachfront. A surprising number of people had put up tents on the beach. We stopped not far down the street to visit with our neighbors the Tello family. They don’t spend a lot of time in Barranca any more, so it was enjoyable to catch up a bit. I was impressed with everyone’s tales of their travels. One sister had spent four months in Indonesia with her son’s family–he has a business there. Another had been to Florida and others to the US, Spain, and other destinations. We seemed to be among Peru’s one-percenters. The matriarch of the group is Dona Elvira, mother of six (I think), and at 93, she often dominates the conversation, swirling the ice cubes in her cocktail, and nipping out on the porch for a smoke. The next day, we ran into each other on the beach where she was going in for a dip. I was impressed.

On New Year’s Eve, dinner was just going to be served at 10 pm when we begged off and went home. There are lots of traditions to observe on New Year’s Eve in Peru. You can take a suitcase and parade around the perimeter of your property, to make sure that you will travel during the coming year. Wear yellow underwear to ensure good luck, while you eat a dozen grapes. The grape seller was doing a good business that day.

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At midnight, sprinkle everyone with lentils to ensure a year of plenty. One year we also sat under the dining room table for a while, though I don’t recall what wonderful benefit we were going to receive.

Despite thinking we’d go to bed, we whiled away the time until midnight, when the house suddenly was being bombarded with rockets. Out in the street, you could see that fireworks–big, soaring, sparkle-shooting fireworks–were being set off in about eight places along the beach and on the escarpment above. It was very pretty, if very loud and probably very unsafe. Large fireworks are illegal but manage to be widely distributed. After about a half hour the fireworks subsided and we returned home to sleep. There was an undercurrent of music, as the clubs on the beach open at midnight on New Year’s, not before midnight, and rock on until morning and in fact all weekend. The music didn’t keep me awake and I slept peacefully until another big salvo of fireworks went off around 2:30 am. By morning, there were a lot more tents on the beach.

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We went for a stroll at about 10 am and then retreated as the sidewalks filled with people, cars filled both sides of the street, and the undercurrent of music (boom!-da-bum-bum, boom!-da-bum-bum) continued. It makes me laugh just a little because the dominant rhythm is identical to the music used in every zumba class in the world. I always thought of zumba as music for a room full of ladies like me watching their feet, not cutting edge nightclub sound.

1.1.16 New Years Dat-012 — Sandcastle decoration.

1.1.16 New Years Dat-001 — Jonathan pursuing his hobby of offering to take group photos.

Because New Year’s Day is a holiday and fell on a Friday, the partying continued all weekend. At lunch time, we’d put the table and a few extra chairs on the porch and see who dropped by to chat.

1.1.16 New Years Dat-014 — L-R: Neil, Lillian, Alex, Gaim, Jonathan, Julio. Facundo is under the table, hoping for the best.

I went out to swim a couple of times, but even under an umbrella I can’t take the heat all afternoon as many people do. We put the chairs out to watch the sunset, though one night we had to position them carefully to get a view of the horizon through the parked cars.

On Sunday morning while the music was still thumping, Lillian and Neil set out on their journey to Lima-Cusco-Ollantaytamob-Machu Picchu

1.3.16 leaving Barranca-002sm — They’ve got hiking boots and crossword puzzles, they’re ready.

Followed by Ollantaytambo-Pisac-Cusco

and then Cusco-Lima-Miami-Chicago. I won’t see them again for a while.

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The tide of people turned on Sunday afternoon about 5 pm and streams of families headed for home. By Sunday night at 10 pm, the tents were struck, the last disco had quieted, the last fireworks were set off and the sound of the ocean had retaken its regular role as the loudest sound on the beach. It may already be January 4, but I can assure you the New Year has just arrived on the beach.

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Beachcombing at the Albufera del Medio Mundo

The Albufera del Medio Mundo has the best beachcombing on our coast. We had an interesting walk, first along the lagoon and then along the beach.

Nest of an American Oystercatcher

There were a lot of different things to be found along the beach.

We found the skull of a sea lion.

Only one person walked by us, though we could see people in the distance.

Merry Christmas

We celebrated Christmas Peruvian style, with turkey dinner on Christmas Eve, Noche Buena.

There’s nothing like a Christmas morning walk on the beach to make a great holiday.

There were a few presents.

Jonathan found a replacement for my wedding ring. I lost it the only time I took it off. It’s by Vidal Aragon, an artist from Santo Domingo pueblo.

We put on our best Christmas sweaters.

…and frosted a few cookies…

It was a lovely day.

Our holiday guests

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Lillian and Neil arrived from the US, spent the night in Lima and we all headed north for two days of seeing the great sites in the Moche Valley. The murals at Huaca de la Luna were spectacular. Five stories of multicolored carvings are impressive.

We were so busy with our selfie, there isn’t much of Cerro Sechin that is visible.

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We had a great two days on the north coast. The Hotel Bracamonte is as nice as ever. A dip in the pool was a great way to end a hot day. We had a delicious meal at Violeta’s one night and at Club Colonial the next, both in Huanchaco.

Your room is ready

I finished redecorating the guest room and it is now posted on Airbnb. We have already blocked out the dates for friends who we know are coming to visit, so it is not all business. Today I go to Lima to meet Lillian and Neil at the airport and tomorrow we will return to Barranca and let our young guests try out the space.

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This is the doorway to the suite from our central patio.

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Double bed with wall hanging of mantas.

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Sitting area with baskets hung on the wall. The bathroom is through the doorway to the left, the walk-in closet is through the doorway to the right.

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The update falls within our budget and was completed within a month. I am happy with the result and curious to see whether there are people out there who would like to stay with us. Ours does have the advantage of being only one room. No neighbors making loud noise. The dog does occasionally bark and the birds sing very loudly early in the morning….we can’t do anything about them.

Worshipping our icons

When did the kitchen become a shrine? The two covered items are those we worship, the microwave and the toaster oven. In order to keep them functioning, they must be covered with a towel when not in use. This may sound silly, but it works. We now have had the microwave for more than one year! It’s a miracle. The toaster oven is new (previous post) and therefore larger than the microwave.

The candles and vases are a nice touch, though I don’t keep the vases filled with fresh flowers as in a proper shrine. Now take a look at the opposite side of the kitchen, where the kitchen mother overlooks all the activity.

I particularly like the forest of travel mugs below her and the wine and water glasses on either side. I guess that covers everything.

A Shopping Trip to Lima

The original goal of a visit to Lima was to see the Julie Taymor version of “The Magic Flute” being offered as part of the Metropolitan Opera in HD series. It’s an abridged version of the opera, finishing in under two hours, and absolutely gorgeous, as well as having wonderful singers (Nathan Gunn, Matthew Polenzani).

We ended up tacking on an additional day and a half to accommodate doctor visits and shopping for our home redecorating project. Welcome to shopping in Lima! Here are a few thoughts.

(!) Lima traffic has always been bad–now it is worse. Traffic is rerouted from major streets for projects that do not have a projected end date. Traffic is rerouted within neighborhoods for projects to replace water lines. There is no indication of where these projects are located or how long they will last. The extensive system of one way streets guarantees that you cannot escape the long line of cars backed up to turn onto the only street going the direction you want. I brought a book.

This is the highway, not a parking lot(!). We stopped at one of the large malls (San Miguel) and I headed for Ripley, one of the largest department stores, to look at their “Beach and Terrace” section. I finally asked for directions. It was in the underground parking garage and unlike the catalogue with its sets of wicker furniture neatly arranged, there was a row of bicycles, one set of plastic wicker (too small), and two unmatched chairs. Lots of molded plastic chairs in a stack. The only beach umbrella available was part of an extensive set of loveseat, chairs, table and pillows (plastic). So much for getting a pair of wicker chairs and a beach umbrella. This scenario was repeated at the two other large stores I visited, right down to the location in the underground parking and lack of stock. On line I found a store that sells wicker furniture in Lima but it was far from any other place on our list and we ran out of time before getting there. Result: a new toaster oven. No wicker.

Here’s my shopping issue. I’m ruined for shopping in the developing world because I want to shop like I do in the US. Go someplace, find things, pay, take them home. The “finding” is the biggest job. In Peru, finding may require a lot of work, but the paying and taking home can make you want to tear your hair out.

Take the toaster oven. First the cultural issue: Most Peruvians do not have any oven. They have a range top. Thus, they do not want a toaster oven for toast, but to roast a chicken, or bake dinner for six. Sadly, we just want toast. All the toaster ovens are too big and their heating elements are in the corners to make room for the chicken. We decided to buy the smallest, only double the size of what we would buy in the US, and with heating elements somewhat closer to the center. We now needed a sales person.

The floor is teeming with sales persons. They are grouped in tight circles chatting and laughing, or they are hidden in the corners of the display areas. Their training does not seem to have included anything about sales or customer service. We break into a group and ask for help. We are referred to a young man, who seems nonplussed that he would be asked about a toaster oven. He finds a young woman. She would like to demonstrate the features of the toaster, show us how each rack is positioned and that it slides in and out. We say that we have made up our mind just need a toaster oven in a box. There are none of the one we’ve selected visible. She waves vaguely to indicate that we should go pay and she will get the toaster oven. We go stand in line to pay. We are allowed to pay with a credit card (It used to be worse. You used to have to go to a bank, pay into an account there and return to the store with the voucher for the payment). We return to the toaster zone, looking for our box. Our helper is not there.

I go looking in one direction. Jonathan goes in the other. He finds our assistant hiding in a corner playing a game on her phone. She grudgingly agrees that she will go get our toaster. We, of course, are ready to leave but must await the toaster. She leaves. We get very tired of waiting. A supervisor steps out of the circle of chatting women nearby and I ask her why we can’t get our box. I begin to wave my arms and try to describe how simple it should be to get us our toaster. The supervisor looks alarmed and leaves. A few minutes later our person returns with our toaster on a cart. She had to go to a warehouse area and there was no one there to help her. She had to open the box to make sure all the pieces were there and she had to do it all on her own. (They do this. They open every box you purchase to make sure that its sealed contents haven’t disappeared between China and the department store). Now she must accompany us downstairs before we can leave. Three young men in the next location do not want to help us, they want us to sit in a row of chairs for a while. We decline. Our assistant retapes the box and we leave. We need lunch. Or a drink.

I did find some of the things I was looking for, bedspreads, small rugs for the floor by the bed. We ended up finding chairs and lamps at a store that Jonathan passed on his way to the Surquillo market, one of the good city markets where we buy a few upscale items (baby artichokes, cheese, nuts, sushi vinegar). Whether a store is on one of our routes in and out of the city definitely shapes where we shop, which shows you how truly awful traffic is in Lima.

Last but not least was the shopping at the tourist market. We like traditional craft items, and we needed two more decorative plates to go with the others we hang in the patio. We found these without difficulty. Our final stop was the stall of the people who make finely woven floor mats from reeds. The reeds are harvested outside Huacho, less than an hour’s drive from our house in Barranca, but the sales are in Lima, so we visit the tourist market for the best selection. They have lots of colorful baskets, but no floor mats. They don’t make them for the stall any more, they are made to order. They offer to carry out the process via Whatsapp, sending photos and prices. We are thinking this over as we leave with their phone number. I think about suggesting a visit to the wicker store and decide that I would rather lie down. We return to the hotel.

The next day we visit the “Bioferia” the organic market that takes place on Saturday mornings. It is lovely, outdoors along the side of a park. We run into a friend and catch up a bit. I buy a vegan tart with whole grain crust, cashew cream filling and big berries on top. It’s actually pretty good and my day is already a success.

We get to the theater on time for the movie and find out that popcorn is not available because the opera goers as a group don’t purchase enough of it. My entreaties to the concession manager fall on deaf ears. Next time I’ll bring my own damn popcorn. The show is wonderful. We head for home. It takes forever (4+ hrs for 100 miles, you do the math). Jonathan says he is not going to Lima again, except we bought tickets for the next opera on Jan. 16.

An update on Home Improvements

I’ve moved ahead with preparation of the suite for guests. Here’s a photo of the partial redecoration. By next weekend I should have most of it completed, though there will be fine-tuning until Lillian and Neil arrive.

Here is stage 1 of the basket wall: Now stage 2 with better chairs:

Here is where the new table and wicker chairs will go.

Here is the new table and temporary chairs.

I created this wall hanging from mantas that women use to carry babies, and other things. — I created this wall hanging from mantas that women use to carry babies and other things.

This will have a bar and clothes hangars. — This will have a bar and clothes hangars, and perhaps a small lamp shade on the overhead light.

Outside the bathroom in the guest suite.

Should I put a dispenser of drinking water outside the bathroom on a stand (in the space to the left of the door) or just a pitcher of water? You can brush your teeth with the local water, but we drink (and make ice cubes) from bottled water. We make tea and coffee with local water on the theory that it is boiled, though not for 15 minutes. Neither of us have suffered from the local water, ever. I drank it full time for a few weeks at one point a few years back, though I don’t remember exactly why. No ill effects, other than the gray hair.

That’s it for now. We are going to Lima on Thursday for doctor’s appointments and shopping. I am hoping to have the rest of our improvements in place shortly after we return on Saturday.

What do we do here?

If you wonder how I manage to spend four months in Peru, here is how some of my days go.

Coffee–fortunately, Jonathan gets up before I do and brings me a cup at 8 am. I get up, get dressed and eat breakfast while reading the New York Times on line. I subscribe to the Lima newspaper, El Comercio. That gets delivered around 10 am. If I don’t answer the door, it gets tucked behind one of the shutters in the window well, as the windows are always open by that hour.

Jonathan may go to the market, and I may or may not go along. This time I am stopping by to see whether the woman who gets baskets from Huaraz has gotten the ones I requested. She’s very crabby and generally very anti-American but business is business. Since I purchased five baskets when I asked for five baskets, it seemed like I might show up to buy the next lot. She may or may not get them. If I stop by several times to say hello it becomes more likely she will remember to get them for me. (She wasn’t there, her stall was shuttered.)

Our Peruvian friends seem incredulous that we actually like the Barranca market. They describe it as dirty and disorganized. To me it is only underfoot in the fish section that is a problem.

Today's fish was a cherlo, something like grouper. — Today’s fish was cherlo, something like grouper.

So much water drips off the tables that it gets muddy underfoot. People often put down cardboard, but you end up walking on sodden, muddy cardboard. On the bright side, the fish are absolutely fresh, often still in rigor or even alive.

My response to our friends is that food in the US is so old by the time it gets to stores that the food in Barranca seems wonderful in contrast. Much of what is in the market is no more than two days from the plant or tree it grew on. Chickens are killed while you wait. The sound is not very nice, but the chicken is fresh. We have a regular person from whom we get chicken and eggs, another for oranges and most fruit, another for vegetables, except avocados, because Jonathan likes the ones a woman around the corner sells.

Vegetable lady peeking out from under parsley.

A family we have known for years sells us olives, cheese, butter, raisins and nuts. We look forward to seeing our vendors, and they look forward to having us as regular customers. Explained that way, our delight in the market is more understandable.

From the market, we are likely to go to the Metro, the supermarket. It is not very interesting and the selection is not great, but it has decent Chilean and Argentine wine, club soda, UHT milk, crackers and a few other things. I did just buy new towels at the Metro, too.

There may be other errands at this time of day, more dog food, or the hardware store. Today I wanted to get new canvas backs and seats made for the two directors chairs we have not been using. You cannot get the fabric from the tailor, you must take it in. My first stop was at a fabric store, looking for canvas of equal weight to what was on the chairs. There was one option that was acceptable. On to the tailor, where we spent some time discussing the quality of finishing that I want, with double folded seams and heavy stitching. It’s a chair, after all. We settled on the work being finished by next Saturday. Now let’s see how it goes.

Back home, we sit down to work on the portion of our research that we are writing up this year.

It’s important to have a project in Barranca, because there isn’t a lot to do other than walk up and down the beach. There was no movie theater from about 1999 to 2012, and the new theater only shows films dubbed in Spanish. There is no local theater, music or art. No branch of AAUW. Thus, we need projects. We each have books we are writing and together we are writing about our research. Though the field work is over, there is still quite a bit of data that needs to be brought together. We plan to post our completed work on the project website. This should keep us busy for several years of spending the austral summer in Peru. (We are not much for sitting on the beach.)

At one pm, we put all the things we’d like to have for lunch on a tray and set a table and two chairs out on the front porch. We look out at the Pacific Ocean, I read El Comercio, Jonathan works on crosswords, and we have lunch. We chat with friends who pass by.

Today Leila was painting a new logo on Las Gaviotas, the restaurant next door. She does this most years, as the restaurant repaints before the start of the busy season each December.

After lunch is siesta (optional) and more work. If there are other errands to run, we go out around 4 pm. At 5 pm we head out to walk down the beach, checking on what has been going on in the neighborhood. We say hello to as many people as possible, from the restaurant owners and staff who are there every day to the young men who stack their surfing gear on the sea wall, and the mototaxi drivers who play soccer on the beach. We wave or say hello to the police on motorcycles, the mother, daughter and granddaughter who are out on the sidewalk every day at this time.

We check out what is changing. Three story brick houses are being tucked in behind the row of houses that fronts the beach. The new hotel almoar finished the wall around the top floor where they’ll hang the laundry. There’s a new padlock on the door of a long-abandoned house. Will there be new construction? The debris from the two guys knocking down old wall segments is indeed piled in the nearest alley where we thought it might end up.

We spotted a new bird on the beach, a single black skimmer in a flock of laughing gulls. I often wear my jacket just to have a pocket for binoculars.

We passed Hadar and Marita sitting with a friend on the patio of the Casa Blanca, the hotel they manage.

I have never seen this before in Barranca. Salud!

At the Malabu, we turn around and stroll home.

Someone was celebrating on the beach.

There is late afternoon light that is particularly beautiful.

Since we are in the tropics, the sun still sets around 6:15 pm. The longest day of the year is coming up on Dec. 21, and the sun will probably set at 6:21 pm.

From the patio, the sky is beautiful. The two vultures are heading for the tree where they roost. We see lots of them them gather there every evening.

We often put chairs on the porch to watch the sunset. Today’s is particularly lovely because the previous three days were cloudy and there was no sunset to watch. Summer is on the way in.

We go inside at sunset, close the shutters, bar the door and move the center of activity back to the office and the kitchen.

Jonathan brings me an appetizer so that I won’t get cranky before dinner, and then he cooks.

After dinner there is Netflix, blog posts, email and such until bedtime. That’s my day!

In the neighborhood

Every afternoon at 5 pm we walk down the sidewalk to the end of the beach and back We say hello to most of the people we pass, and occasionally stop to exchange air kisses with friends who we have not yet seen this season. We also keep track of what changes and what stays the same.

One thing that stays the same is the group that plays soccer most afternoons on the beach. Here the tide is high enough that they splashed in and out of the water.

Both teams are mototaxi drivers taking a break. Sometimes there are a dozen vehicles parked along the sidewalk. Friends and family watch and chat.

Working moms in Barranca often take children to work when they are not in school, or on the weekends. Here are a couple of women who sell goods in street stalls with their playpen set up beside them and their babies playing together.

Something that is new is the construction of a very small two story house right by the public water tap, where people who have no plumbing get their water and wash their clothes. You can see the large sign “No washing cars” that is ignored.

We spoke to a man working on the project who said it is a space for the local security men (Serenazgo). I’m wondering whether this location was selected so that the security people can collect bribes from the people who insist on washing their cars with the public water.

And in the “Some things never change” category,

Some time ago, this hole in the pavement was cordoned off as you see, shoveled out (pile in background), ready for repaving with new asphalt. Now there’s a good crop of weeds, but no sign of a road crew. Will they come before I leave Barranca on March 1? Wait and see.

There’s nothing like an unexpected procession to enliven my Saturday.

For the feast day of Saint Martin de Porres, a very important saint in Peru, there was a procession on Saturday that went up the street past our house and then back down to his shrine, set up outside the Ordonez restaurant. After the solemnities were over, there was a fiesta with food and dancing, and regular fireworks. For late in the evening a large framework for fireworks was constructed on the beach. I didn’t stay up late enough to see it, though I checked outside the front door a couple of times during the evening.

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