Lima at a Blury Glance and the Sappy Wedding Dress Story

The blogs have been a little light lately as wedding plans and house renovating are really in full swing (another air conditioner is being installed as we speak). All of my wedding plans have been done thus far via the internet and via my mom and a few other special ladies. Thanks girls : ) But there are a few things that I wanted to take care of outside of cyberspace, and one of them was searching for a wedding dress. Although I will have a couple of months in California before the wedding that I could use to search for a wedding dress, I really wanted to take a look while I was in Peru. I had dreams of finding something I couldn’t find in the States and I was hoping for an awesome deal. So…..the weekend trip to Lima was basically Mission Wedding Dress. And in the end I found one that I loved, and it was an incredible deal.

I will unfold the wedding dress story in just a minute. But first I will sum up our trip to Lima. It was a complete blur.





Between all of the visiting of family/friends and the shopping we needed to accomplish, there were only a few moments to relax. The reason we shopped was because we are starting to get our house ready for living so when we return from the States we can actually come home to a “home” in Iquitos. Shopping needed to be done in Lima because the selection of household items to choose from in Iquitos is beyond slim, and reeeeally expensive as everything has to be imported. So we chose to go to Lima with empty suitcases and fill them up with stuff like sheets, silverware, cooking spices, a new rice cooker, a coffee maker, a better wheel for the moto, some décor items, and a few clothes. Lucky for us we traveled on a cargo plane and we were able to take a tv, a comforter, a huge bag of groceries (four bags of tortilla chips, salsa, grapes, coffee, corn tortillas), and Jorge’s bed frame and mattress. I love cargo planes. Because of them we can furnish the house.



Our time was spent in and out of stores, taxis, buses, more stores.



Amidst all of that shameful material consumption we did manage a brief trip to Downtown Lima in its night time splendor, we took in Avatar 3D (we really wanted to get in on the worldwide craze, just because we live in the jungle doesn’t mean we are totally removed), went to our favorite restaurant, ate ceviche, jorge made me try octupus (i didn't like it), drank Starbucks, checked on Panda, and took a little night stroll in Barranco. Whew! I feel tired again just blogging about it.
































On to the wedding dress story. Males who are reading this…feel free to tune out and go find something more interesting on the internet.

Girls, I know you will be able to identify so I am going to get a little personal.
We all know finding a wedding dress is a huge mountain to climb and it can feel like Mount Everest especially when you have a dreamy dress in mind on a shoe string budget.



So you can imagine my frustration in being stranded in the jungle without even one wedding dress shop to peruse. I always dreamed of combing stores for months with my mother in search of the perfect dress. Or something close. Well sometimes life doesn’t go as you planned, I never dreamed I would be getting married to a wonderful Peruvian man and living in the jungle…but God has an awesome way of rerouting us and I am continually thankful for that. So it is what is, and I knew I had to take the opportunity to find a dress made in Peru.

The plan was to find a dress in Lima, with mom in my heart, and in hopeful spirits. Plan B was to have a dress handmade in Iquitos…but that could be kind of a gamble. So I was supposed to go to Lima a couple of weeks ago. I was all packed and ready to go when I found out our plane was in Haiti providing relief efforts. Imagine how incredibly selfish I felt when I had my woe is me moment… “I am supposed to be shopping for a wedding dress!” followed by a meltdown due to frustrations about planning a wedding from South America with a bad internet connection. A few rational and calm words from Jorge and I got over it…and waited till the next weekend. Yay! We got on the plane! Who cares if it was a cargo plane and it was delayed 4 hours and my armpits were sweating profusely while we waited for take off….we got on the plane and we were going to Lima…there was a chance I could find a dress.




The women I had lined up to take me shopping ended up being all tied up. Doom! What now? Can’t go by myself…Spanish is still developing especially when it comes to wedding dress alteration terminology…plus where do I begin…it’s Lima…a huge city. Jorge again used his rational genius when he proposed the idea of taking me. What???? You’re the groom buddy….not a good idea. But I was desperate…and my one opportunity to find a dress was slipping through my fingers. So we went to Miraflores where we heard there was some bridal shops. First one we went to had a few models but really the owner was more of a tailor then a vendor. She offered to make the exact dress from a magazine picture I had chosen, but I needed to make the decision right then and there if I wanted her to make it because the first fitting needed to be done that day because we were leaving for Iquitos….Agh! Now I feel cornered and limited. What? One store? Make this decision right now? I have never even tried on a wedding dress. Tears!!!!!!! A meltdown. Guess who picked up the pieces? The groom who was sitting with his back to me acting as a translator who couldn’t see any of the designs we were discussing. The groom and I decided to move on.

The next couple stores had a few more models….but not many. My emotions still fragile…..tears!….wedding dress meltdown number 3 occurred in the hallway of mini mall. Poor Jorge. He said “You want to see a big selection of dresses and you want to be shopping with your mom, right?.” He read my mind. Then a breakthrough….a text message from Jorge’s sweet cousin Erika who said we needed to go to a place called “Palacio de las Novias” or “The Palace of Brides.” Hello! Yes please! Surely I can find something for me in this heavenly bridal ‘palace’. So we took a taxi to downtown Lima and entered the royal 3 story mini mall of all things wedding. Dresses, cakes, rings, shoes, hair salons, nail salons, more dresses. So Jorge stared at his shoes the whole time and stayed outside of shops while I combed through dresses that interested me. Occasionally the groom was summoned inside for a translation and then sent back outside. He was the only guy in the whole place. I tried on one dress because I liked the shape, but not the details, again a lady told me she could design a dress for me…but for a hefty price. I moved on.





After checking each store, which were each about the size of my bedroom, I found a dress on a disturbing looking manikin that looked like it was worth trying on. So I tried it on in behind a big curtain with Jorge standing right outside. Hm…this dress looks pretty great. I think I kind of like it. But it has a long tail, “Baby, ask them if they can cut the tail.” “Yes baby the say they can cut the tail.” Hm… “Ask them if they can add some material here and fix some details here.” “They say they can fix anything.” Hm…I asked how much it was…I definitely know how to say that in Spanish. “Well baby they said it’s a used dress and you can rent it or buy it.” Then he told me how much it was to buy…and it was cheeeeeeeeap. Way under my original budget. Oh my gosh! I officially love this dress. I want it. Now.



So after Jorge asked me about 10 times if I was “sure” we ended up buying the dress. I understand his disbelief at the fact that I had apparently chosen a dress after only trying on two and really only spending about 1.5 hours in the whole search….but I was sure I was sure. So, it was done. There are no pictures of course….you will have to wait for the wedding. But I will let you in on a secret, it’s white. Ha ha, what an unexpected joke. So that is the story of the dress. Special thanks to Erika for the text message, special thanks to the girl who wore the dress before me and saved me the time and trouble of designing it, and how about a round of applause for the groom who handled three meltdowns, did all the translating, and endured the strangeness of being the only groom in the “Palace.” I love you for that Coco, and I won’t forget it.

More blogs coming soon.

P.S. This is one of my neighbors. Found him a few nights ago. I think she/he might actually be bigger than the King of the Frogs we usually see.

She Came, She Saw, She Translated, She Conquered

So my first California visitor came, and I couldn’t have asked for a better guest. My well-traveled and Spanish-Savvy friend from college, Rachel, came to visit me and Jorge. I was so happy to see her at the airport and I don’t think I stopped smiling the entire time she was here. Her infectious laugh and amazing hugs (if you you’ve had one from her, you know what I mean about her hugs, they are the best) made the week awesome. I have a handful of close friends who I would call my sisters and I was so excited to be showing one of them my new home here in Peru.



She came bearing gifts…things that I had really missed/needed. Like Bisquick, corn tortillas, chocolate chips, salsa, towels, ziplock bags, bobby pins for blondes, heavy duty bug repellent, sunscreen, books in English, some other things, and her smile. She was a bit if guinea pig as she was my first visitor. I took her a lot of places I have never been before so there were a few bumps in the road. But thankfully she is an amazing traveler who loves the adventure of uncertainty….and she speaks Spanish 1000 times better than I do…so that helped too.



We managed to do the following things during her time here….

She got a walking tour of the Plaza and the Boardwalk along the river. She also got a special plate of welcome Causa made by Jorge…she claimed it was one of the best things she ate all week.











We went to Pilpintuwasi, a refuge for butterflies and a few animals. We had to take a mototaxi to the Port of Nanay where we were hounded by boat drivers wanting to overcharge us for a boat ride that was supposed to only cost us 3 soles for both of us. Rachel used her charming Spanish to get us a good deal and we headed out on the water in a Peki Peki boat.



We floated on the Nanay to a tiny town/village called Padre Cocha.



So there we were, in the middle of nowhere…and the driver said, “Just walk straight.” Okay great. All we saw was a hill, once we got past that hill we saw a few different paths. We took the one that led us straight, and that dead ended.





So we decided to go back to the beginning and go to the right (which was going against the advice of our driver to go ‘straight’).



But eventually that lead us to a little jungle path barely cleared enough for walking space and a little sign with butterflies on it.





At the end of that path we were greeted by a shirtless man who led us across a bridge to the butterflies and other animals.





We had an amazingly kind tour guide who answered all our questions and taught us a lot of crazy things about butterflies, too bad I don’t remember those facts now, sorry. We also got to see the whole butterfly metamorphis from beginning to end.









And then we got a look at the other animals.





Later that day we went to eat Humitas and Juanes.



We had to take a mototaxi to Plaza Veinte Ocho where we my favorite Humitas are cooked by lady and sold on the front sidewalk of her house. Humitas are a little bit like tamales and they always have chicken inside.



Juanes is made by wrapping rice, chicken, an egg, and olive inside of a Bijao Leaf and a placed on the fire to steam. The result is delicious and it is usually served with a spicy puree of cocona which is a local fruit they use to spice up the dishes.



And of course we had chicha morada to wash it all down whish always ends up turning my tongue purple.



Rachel had the chance to meet our friends Anthony and Marlis from Lima. We all had a meal of homemade tacos together, a game of bilingual Scrabble, a killer game of SPOONS, and some shenanigans in the pool.



A few weeks ago my friend Fio had gone to a place where local university students were working on a Manatee Rescue Project and she had the chance to see the Manatees up close and personal. I knew I couldn’t let Rachel pass up the chance to see them too.



So Jorge got us a mototaxi who said he knew exactly where the place was, and he definitely didn’t. After turning around about 10 times and asking local coconut vendors who looked clueless as to where this mysterious “Manatee Place” was, our driver decided it didn’t exist anymore. Awesome. We convinced him that it did and eventually it was us who found the place obscurely hidden. And it definitely turned out to be worth the journey.

Not only did we get to see the manatees, but we had the chance to pet them and feed them. They were amazingly sweet and cute and soft. I loved them.





I think my favorite part was when we saw big bubbles coming up from the water and one of the research students, who spoke very limited English said, “Flatulence.” We laughed so hard, and his friend repeated the word and they said “No really, it’s good. Good for them, good for him, good for me, good for you.” Why yes it is, I couldn’t agree more.



After the farting manatees we had dinner at the fabulous Bucanero and then we headed to the Plaza de Armas so Rachel could take it all in with it’s night time charm. And of course we took her to Texas so she could see one of our favorite hangouts. And later that night we spotted the King of the Frogs, no visit to Iquitos would be complete without meeting him.






One day we took some time to conquer souvenir shopping and had a little drink up in the Eiffel House. I was scheduled to teach in the afternoon so Jorge took Rachel on a little moto tour of the air base and other parts of the city. He also took her to great place to snap a picture of the sunset. I have to say her results were pretty awesome…









We went to Al Fria Al Fuego. This is a fancy floating restaurant Jorge and I have been waiting for the right occasion to try it out. We decided Rachel was a perfect occasion and we ventured out after sunset. It was an amazing place.











They serve regional food, gourmet style and it was all very delicious.





If any of you all come to visit, I would also be willing to consider you a special occasion and go here with you. I’ll start saving up for your visit.




The next day we went on a Jungle excursion on the Amazon. And it was awesome. Here's the line where the Amazon meets the Itayu River.






Some highlights from the day……we participated in a tribal dance, blew poison darts, had encounters with friendly monkeys, friendly snakes (my favorite), tucans, turtles, alligators, sloths, jungle lodges, spiders, mud, giant lilly pads, a quaint canoe ride in a swamp, and huge hungry fish.











































































































Later that night Jorge cooked lomo saltado and at some point we ended up swimming in the rain. The next day Rachel had to leave, and we were really sad. I miss her and the rest of my girls a lot. I love you guys!

Some things I will remember for my next guest…you have to pay an exit fee, small change is essential for everything, jungle juice is not as good for your body as it sounds, and you really need to keep that little white paper they give you when you enter Peru because you can’t leave without it.