If You Love Mangoes...

We are settling into a bit of a rountine now. The kids have restarted their homeschool studies and we are beginning to figure out how to live here. Life is very different here and just normal living takes much more time.

Our main focus right now is learning Spanish. Adri is Nathan, Noah and Rachel's language teacher. She watches the kids every afternoon while Evan and I are at our spanish class. The kids are enjoying the time they spend with Adri and will soon surpass our ability to speak the language. Oh, to be a kid again!

Evan and I were warned that our language teacher was a bit of a task-master. In fact, she said that of herself! Everyday we have 2 hours of class and then 2-3 hours of homework. She also believes that weekends are a great opportunity to do more work. We know this is good for us and that we need to learn the language, and can see progress already.

We are learning how to shop every second day without a car, find necessities at markets and little supermarkets with our limited language skills, and cook with no convenience foods (no cans here!) I make my own sauces from scratch, and yesterday Imade applesauce from scratch ~Martha Stewart would be proud. If we purchase fruit and vegetables in season, they are very affordable and delicious. This month is mango season. Last week we picked up mangos for only 35 cents a kilogram. Needless to say, we are eating a lot of mangoes these days!

On Sunday afternoon we had Justin and Sarah Eaton (Director of the future Aldea Infantil) over for lunch. Dessert was mango smoothies. As you can see from the photo, their baby, Kathryn, REALLY liked the mango smoothie. She sat like that for several minutes and drank half the cup. Good thing we made lots!

Things we love about life in Lima:
~We live within minutes of the Bible College, church and most of our friends. We love the strong sense of community here.
~The park outside our apartment is beautiful and is guarded 24/7. The kids have the freedom to run around outside. We did not think this would be the case when we moved because Lima has a very high crime rate.
~Garbage is collected every evening. Recycling pick-up is weekly and free!
~The raisins here are 4 times the size of the raisins in Canada and are really yummy!
~Mangoes and tomatoes are really inexpensive (they are also in season right now)
~There is a little store (bodega) on almost every corner.
~There is a fresh fruit stand just down our street.
~The ice cream is out of this world! Come visit and you can try it yourself!