Lima, Peru

We have been in Lima for a week now and time is flying by! A small orange house above a garage is our new home. The family next door lets us stay here for free and treats us like part of the family. On the first floor, there are two rooms and a balcony, and on the lower floor, there is another room that we transformed into a kitchen like on a DIY TV show. Iris will stay here for another two weeks and then our paths will likely separate. Velochicas go separate... Lima has a whole new look since our last stay here! The city has so many sides. We live in 'Pueblo libre', the name suits us pretty well;-) It takes about 20 minutes by bus to get to Miraflores. This neighborhood is particularly beautiful. The sea meets the city here and there are many parks that are really lush green, and you can even sit on the grass, skate parks, and of course, beaches that are not too bad for a big city. After Miraflores comes Districto Barranco, which is a paradise for artists. Here we could attend a great circus show, listen to musicians, and be inspired by the diversity of the city. Papa 'Petro' has bikes for us to borrow. Iris and I have been zipping around in this wild city traffic. Riding a bike makes you feel really free and you can experience the city in a completely different way. Ruben, the young Venezuelan we live with here, is really nice and every day I can imagine staying with him and living in Lima for a while. He still has a job here at a nice little colorful restaurant until the end of the year. After that, we will likely go north together 'jicha mas arriva'... Yesterday we went on a trip to a huge market. We were looking for fabric and some things we need. If you know where to go, you can find pretty much anything here. After asking around for a while, we found the fabric paradise. It was about the size of a floor of a parking garage and here you can find all kinds of fabrics, cords, trimmings, and sewing supplies that you can imagine. As we continued walking, we also passed through Chinatown - yes, it really exists here too! Everything is also written in Chinese here, there are plenty of essences to buy, and there is a Chinese supermarket on every corner. So we immediately set out to pursue our new hobby of visiting all the markets and looking for everything we need for a delicious pho soup. Iris is a dream chef, in case you didn't already know. She conjures up the most exotic and delicious dishes every day.

It's amazing how different the neighborhoods, the people, and the surroundings can be. Everything can change just by going one district further. Today, we are likely going to a concert. Moderat, a band from Germany that makes exceptional electronic music, is playing in the city.

The concert was absolutely insane, really good. I think we are now fans of Moderat ;-) electronic music, an awesome light show with visuals, lots of fog, and loud bass - what more could you want, it was like being at home! We meet Benjamin and Ramon, who happen to be almost our neighbors (a real coincidence in a city with 8 million inhabitants).

The week flies by again, knitting, sewing, painting, city trips, and countless visits to the hospital... Ruben has two whole days off this week, so we spend the time together, cooking, laughing, and playing! Iris takes advantage of the time and sews herself a pretty cool hipster bag, a new tobacco pouch, and the fanny pack is also in progress. Then Friday evening comes when we are invited to a 'house party' at the guys' place from the concert. Of course, we go and celebrate a little... the surroundings are a bit unfamiliar - everything is a bit like in OC California, but well, we are a good party team hehe!

The next morning, we get up early, I have to go to the hospital, if it's meant to be, I will finally have the long-awaited operation on my granuloma today. And yes, it works. I am locally anesthetized and two doctors operate on me. Suddenly, the doctor says she sees something black and a few minutes later, she pulls out a worm-like creature that is alive! A nurse takes her phone and films the worm moving wildly. I can't really believe that I have been living with a worm for two months, but well, he is kind of cute and not inside me anymore. Of course, I definitely want to take him with me, which the doctors here find quite funny. So, I am stitched up again and the whole fun is over. With breakfast, I make my way home and look forward to telling Iris the story!