A Fun Father's Day Weekend

Last weekend was Father's Day. Beyond one meal, we did not really do anything specifically to celebrate the holiday. But the meal we had was really remarkable. And the other things we did, which could have been any other weekend, added to the enjoyment. Here is a quick rundown.

Horse Show and Lunch at Dpaso Mamacona

Peru has a very strong equestrian tradition. Horses arrived to Peru during the Spanish conquest, and particular breeding practices gave rise to the Paso, or Peruvian Smooth-Gait Horse. The most distinctive feature of the horse is the way it walks. Peruvian breeders wanted horses that were comfortable to ride and easy to control So in their breeding decisions, they focused on maintaining horses with good temperament and a smooth gait. Therefore, on of the most distinctive characteristics of this horse is that it does not trot. It has a four-beat gait that is very smooth and comfortable. This weekend we went to a show featuring the Peruvian Paso, and it was great fun!

Urban Design and Subtle Effects of Location

It feels like we are a lot more mobile during this visit to Lima than last time, and I think this is rooted in subtle differences in how the location of our current apartment allows us to interact with elements of urban design. We are just a few blocks from where we lived on our last trip. But, somehow, it feels much easier to get around. The Little Lady is two years older, but I don't think that explains it. There have also been some general infrastructure improvements that I'll mention. But I think the most important explanation is connected to the details of our location and how location affects our interactions with the built environment.

A Wonderful Trip to the Cordillera Blanca

Last week the Little Lady's school was closed for a week of vacation. When school is closed it's tough for Jana and I to make as much progress on research and writing. We traded off childcare duties for the first part of the week, but knowing that work time would be reduced with school closed, we made plans to get away from Lima for a long weekend starting on Thursday. We wanted to go someplace we've never been before, and were hoping for something quiet and close to nature. We ended up choosing the Ancash region, which contains some of the highest mountain peaks in the western hemisphere. Huaraz is the capital of the region, and we made our base there. It was a great weekend, and I highly recommend a visit to the area if you're ever in Peru. Here are some of the highlights:

Settling In

We've only been in Lima for a little over a week. Several of those days included work-related academic conferences. But at this point I'd say we're pretty much completely settled in. That includes a school for the Little Lady, a full complement of groceries that are restocked on a regular basis, a work routine, and finding our bearings around the neighborhood. Here is where things stand and how we were able to set things up so quickly.

Flight to Lima: Dealing with Disruption

Our trip to Lima began on Tuesday afternoon. We loaded our stuff into the station wagon and our wonderful friend/surrogate family member Travetta was kind enough to ride with us to the airport and then drive our car back to be safely stowed away in Knoxville while we are away. The trip was uneventful enough to begin with. We had an on time departure and arrival to Dallas, a comfortable layover that allowed us to sit down and eat a decent meal with plenty of time to board our late night flight to Lima. Except that flight didn't go exactly as planned.

Back to Lima Again

We're headed back to Peru for most of summer of 2017. Looking back, I have not posted since we returned from Peru nearly two years ago. It's not that we haven't been traveling, it's just that nothing we have done would qualify as particularly "authentic." I'm hoping to have a good enough internet connection and enough spare minutes in Lima to provide regular updates on what we're doing in Peru without repeating myself too much from our last trip. We leave Tuesday afternoon and are now in the last throes of packing up the house so that the friends staying here while we are gone can move in after our departure. Once we get back from Peru, it's just a couple of weeks before we head to New York for a year in Manhattan at the Russell Sage Foundation. So, all the packing for over a hear away from Knoxville has to happen now. It's a stressful time, but we are excited about what the next year-plus has in store.