We are still trying to settle into life here in Peru.  It continues to be pretty tough.  Yesterday I kind of lost it,  I seem to have lost confidence going out on my own.  I keep getting lost in places that should be familiar  and trying to negotiate transport etc etc has proved harder than I remember. It is making me a bit crazy.  However, I´m feeling a bit better today and I´m trying to get over that.

We have moved houses to Martin´s cousin place.  It is more comfortable in that we are now only living with one other person not 4 (one of whom was my mother in law and another a very full on four year old). We are also in a room that has a cupboard so I have been able to unpack some things.  It is also in a quieter area of town so I feel like I have finally got a little headspace.  There is a 25m pool nearby.  We had a visit with Nina which she absolutley loved.  I think she must be missing water too.  I have been running there and doing some laps on a regular basis which really helps me feel good.

The house however does only have a single bed that Martin and I sharing and Nina is on a matress on the floor.  It is also pretty hot so none of us are sleeping that well yet.  It is getting exhausting.  There is also no internet there yet so I am not able to be on that much.  We went to try to get a USB that we can have internet on (what are they called again?) and despite spending literally hours we didn´t really manage to get anywhere.  Maybe we´ll try again soon.   I suppose I better get used to it, that´s life here.

We have decided to move to Chulucanas and rent Martin´s mother´s house from her.  There is someone living there at the moment and we told him that we would wait til he found something.  Should be around 8th of January as that´s when he pays rent each month so he is keen to be out by then.  I am a little nervous about renting from my mother in law because part of the deal is that she stays there about two nights a week.  Two nights is fine but it could turn into more I would imagine.  in the past when we spend lots of time together it hasn´t always gone smoothly.  In saying that we´ve actually been getting on really well and I imagine that having her around to help with Nina may be a blessing.  It´s been pretty hard here without all the support we had in Alice.  I also really like her place and there´s not much else in Chulucanas that I like at all and she really wants us there so it works out all round.

Martin has had some meeting with some people from the municipality who work with farmers.  They have a position they are encouraging him to apply for.  I am trying not to count my chickens before they hatch as jobs can be hard to get but it would be so great if it did work out.  I have also had a job offer teaching English at the private university but it´s full time in Piura so I don´t think that will work out.  The national university said I could work there on the weekends.  While I don´t love the idea of working weekends, as that´s probably when Martin will be around and social thing happen, the money isn´t bad for Piura and it means I would only have to come two days per week and would have the rest of the week to explore other things I want to be involved in.  It would also mean Martin and I can continue to do all Nina´s care with the help of some family hopefully.

So that´s me.  It´s hard but all shall be well I am sure.

It’s been a hard week to say the least.  Martin and I have both been sick, not to mention tired and jet lagged.  Been in someone else’s home is really beginning to take it’s toll but other options haven’t appeared yet.  I am finding Piura a difficult place to be, it’s so hectic and uncomfortable and nothing like I remember.  And I miss everyone so, so much and I have been feeling unsure how I will make it through a year here as well as unsure if it’s right at all. 

However, today we went to Chulucanas.  As soon as we got off the bus I felt like I could breathe again.  We wondered around and met up with family and friends and talked to the municipality about job possibilities.  There isn’t that much and finding a house will be hard but it feels so right there that those things don’t matter.  I trust God.  While waiting is never a comfortable place to be as I look back on my life I know that I can trust Him.  I feel much happier. 

Stopping people from sleeping is a form of torture.

It’s currently 2.45am in the morning and I don’t think I have had any sleep yet.  Turns out Alejandra lives around the corner from a discotech that palays very loud dance music.  I am sure there should be rules about this but not here unfortunately.  This week I have already had two sleepless nights on a plane and a bus I do not need this one too especially seeing as I still have a little one who still wakes up during the night.

Thank God.  No more airports, airplanes or buses for a very long time.

We are safe and sound in Piura.  Yay.  And my cold seems to be better so double yay.  Piura is really diffrent and as yet I still haven´t really found my bearings.  I guess it will take some time.  We are staying at my sister in laws place which is fine but I am pretty desperate for our own place.  To unpack our bags would be so great.  It´s hard though as we don´t really know where we are going to end up.  We are hoping we can find something at least temporarily.

Nina seems to be coping in her usual style.  She wants to feed all the time and is back to waking twice a night but apart from that seems to be enjoying the younger members of the family here.   She is doing a fair bit of standing but no steps yet.  Maybe soon.

Finally we made it to Lima.  What a relief. We arrived at about 9.30pm but by the time we dealt with everything it was midnight before we got to the hotel.  Thankfully Nina went down ok and only woke up once before she got up at 8.00am. I am especially thankful as my body has collapsed and I have come down with a terrible flu.

Lima is busy, busy, busy and very noisy.  Martin and Nina have been catching up with family and friends and I am mostly trying to stay in bed and rest.  I did make it up to go to a meeting with Ruth from an NGO here called “Paz y Esperanza”.  She is also the coordinator for Micah Challenge South America.  It was great to chat with her. I also went for a little walk around Miraflores where we are staying.  It’s near the beach and while it’s not great for swimming and I am not up to that anyway it was good to smell the sea air.

We were going to stay in Lima one more day but have decided to head to Piura today.  I just don’t think I am going to get well in Lima.  It’s pretty full on.  I also need to stop travelling.  I want to have a home again.  That does mean 15 hours on a bus though.  I keep telling myself this journey does have to end but sometimes it doesn’t feel like it.  It’s all pretty overwhelming.

We are currently at Buenas Aires Airport.  This journey has been epic.  It’s now been almost 48 hours since we got to Sydney Airport and we are still going.  I am so tired I can hardly string a sentence together and I think I might be coming down with something.  I don’t think I can go into how many stuff ups we have had to endure in these two days.

But we are almost there I suppose and I am looking forward to getting some sleep.  Please pray Nina has the same thing on her mind.  She has been exceptional really.  It all must be so hard for her and she’s a little bit unsettled but mostly she’s her usual curious and funny self and she’s giving us lots of big, big hugs.  All the people around us have been very friendly to her as well and understanding so that’s been a blessing.

For those wondering Nina didn’t sleep through again last night but that’s okay.  I wasn’t really expecting it would be that easy.  We are all having a nice time in the mountains though.  Gem and Jem have a lovely home and they and their lovely housemates have been very hospitable to us.  Nina is really enjoying some auntie time and so am I.  Martin and I had a little nap together this arvo while they cared for her.

I am missing Alice tonight.  Martin called Libby tonight and just hearing her voice through his phone made me long to be there.  And my mum wrote a post about how Mallie prepared her a little meal on the night we left to try to cheer her up.  This post reminded me of the big and small ways our lovely little community on Honeymoon Gap cares for each other in hard times.

Saying goodbye sure is hard.  I am dreading it all the farewells still to go……

Last night something amazing happened.  I am very excited.  Can you guess what it is?

Nina slept through the night!  She went to sleep around 7pm and woke up at 6.30am.  It was amazing.  That’s the first full nights sleep that I have had in 15 months.  And I don’t think she could have timed it better really.  I was so exhausted yesterday.  Martin has been working as a bush regenerator again this week so he has had to leave early and gets back very late and I am not really used to that.

She is probably very tired from all the stair climbing that she has been doing.  She is up and down the Frenchs steps all day.  Thankfully their steps are very child safe.  Her obsession with steps was much more stressful when we went to Tom’s place and when we were on the train.  And there were also the very, very hard steps at the cafe I was in with Marlene.

Unfortunately parenting isn’t always totally linear so I am trying to keep in check that I will now be sleping through every night but one full night does make a difference.

We started packing yesterday.  It’s now less than two weeks to go until we leave.  I hate packing and having a baby certainly adds to the stress of it.  Nina kept trying to climb into the boxes and pull out everything that we put in.  Thankfully, we know the lovely people moving in after us and they have a baby too so much of it we can leave behind but much of it also needs to go in boxes.

It’s always pretty sad packing up a house you have loved living in.  Lots of emotions.  It’s also hard packing up stuff that you may not see again for a few years.

Books – she can’t get enough of them.  She especially loves “found you little wombat” and “ten little fingers and ten little toes”.  Here is daddy reading to her before bed, which he does every night.

Bitta- The Cavanagh’s (our neighbours) have a dog named Bitta.  She is beautiful dog and Nina loves her.  And more than she loves her she loves to say her name over and over all day “Bitta, Bitta, Bitta”  The other night I woke up at 3am and she was in her cot saying Bitta.  Here is a photo of Her with Bitta and Libby.  She really, really loves Libby too.

Blueberries – Nina loves blueberries.  In face she loves most fruit especially is she can get it all over face.  Nina loves being dirty.  Here is a good example.

Climbing into the washing basket- Nina is a great help when I am putting away washing.  She will pass me things and say “Ta”.  But she will also climb in the basket in the hope I will give her a push.