On Sunday April 28 we flew to Lima in anticipation of our May 1 airline flight home. Our god daughter, Noemi, lives there with her husband, Alejandro and their two children, Alexander (pronounce it with a Spanish accent), age 4 in kindergarden and Dayana, nearly 2 and still nursing. Alejandro does piece work knitting alpaca sweaters on their own knitting machines; Noemi works with him on the simpler parts.
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| Alejandro with his knitting machine |
We stayed in their home up 192 steps on the hill in the Rimac section of Lima. Definitely not your tourist accommodations, but they have electricity and running water, a shower and really cool washing machine. The spin is separate, like those bathing suit spinners at some swimming pools. Our clothes got dry very quickly on the line after a quick spin. We enjoyed spending the time with the family and getting to know the kids.
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| Alexander |
One day we rode the new electric train to the end of the line, Villa El Salvador, and had a wonderful ceviche lunch in that town famous for its seafood. Clean and smooth ride, very fast and modern.
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| Lima's electric train |
Typical Wiring in Peru; contrast with the modern electric train.
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| I don't think DMEA (our Colorado Electrical Co-op) would approve |
One day we went around on our own, in particular to visit the solar store to see what is available in Photovoltaic panels and efficient lights. No LED lights in the 12 volt section as good as what we brought to Taquile this trip. We did buy a couple of LEDs rated for the 220 volt grid for Noemi and Alejandro's home. We replaced a 60 watt incandescent with a 5 watt LED, which gave a lot more light. Then for the kitchen a 7 watt to replace the 8 watt florescent in the kitchen. Not quite the energy savings of replacing the incandescent, but a lot more light for the energy use.
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| Lima is a city of many variables. These dancers from the jungle livened up the street on Labor Day. |
Wednesday, May First, was international Labor Day so no school for Alexander. We went to the Zoo!
Lions and Tigers and Monkeys, Oh My!
We tried to buy more LED lights for their knitting workshop on the way home, but the shops were closed early for the holiday, so we gave them money to buy the lights.
