Walking with the Washburns

We Have MOVED In!

 

We are so excited to announce that we have moved into our apartment here in Arequipa. We have been a little busy trying to make this place look more like a home so we have been off the grid for a while. Our internet, which we got a few days ago works wonderfully - which is super exciting for us and our families :)
 

 

The house is coming along. We have couches, a table, a refrigerator, a stove, a washing machine (they do not really do dryers here in Peru and they do not need to because it is so arid here), a mircowave (!!) and we all have beds. The most important things of course. Actually buying all of those objects was quite interesting - each item (including all three beds) were bought at different stores. This might sound like no big deal but it has proven quite exhausting, especially for the pregnant woman (me). We feel so blessed though to have all that we do and most missionaries in other countries probably do not have all of the items listed above. In some ways we feel quite spoiled and in other ways well we just need to suck it up and take it :) It was an adventure buying each item and seeing how we would get it home. For example, our dining room table with 6 chairs went sort of like this in our subaru taxi - 6 chairs in back of the car, which is where I actually road home, and the kids twin mattresses on top of the subaru, with the actual dining room table on top of the mattresses, and of course John road in the front seat to direct the taxi driver to our apartment. Needless to say with every turn we took I cringed at the thought of seeing our table in the middle of the street. The table made it home safely and so did we. I only wish we had taken our camera!!

 

Another totally typical scene around here.

 

 

Our microwave did just stop working today but apparently it is quite normal for things not to work. So John tried to return it. They told us they do not exchange but they will fix it with their technicians and call us back within 15 days. We will see how that goes.

 

Currently, John is glueing together a computer desk for us. We bought it as a kit, here at a store similiar to Home Depot back home. John is laughing at the fact that he has to glue it together with "assembly glue" also known as Elmers Glue!
 

 We have been busy filling the house with all of our stuff as well. It has been a fun week of unpacking all of the bins we brought. The kids have had a great time with all of their "new" toys - to them it seems like Christmas. We have all of the bins unpacked and mostly everything in its allotted place. It has been interesting putting things in our house since we have NO dressers?! I find this a bit different but hey I guess built in closets in all of the rooms works too right? Everything fits but my room feels odd with no dresser. I am sure I will get over it :)

 

We do have hot water in our showers, but this is the only place we have hot water. So for dishes everyday I boil LOTS of water to wash with. Cooking here takes 5 times as long, and washing the dishes takes even longer. I do not have a double sink so I think this lengthens the process as well, but we are making adjustmenst to make this cooking thing easier. John is willing to do whatever it takes so that I cook for him :)

 

John and I also celebrated our 5 year anniversary at the end of May. We just spent the day in the city without the children - it was definitely refreshing. To top of the day we walked home in the beautiful Arequipa weather only to hear a trash truck playing the Fur Elise as it picked up everyone's trash in the street. Yes, the trash trucks here play the funniest tunes - even The Little Mermaids "Under the Sea". We defnitely took video because we just could not help it!

 

We had a freak wind storm this week. Tin was blowing off of peoples houses, and schools were closed. Our laundry room is actually open to the air so tons of dirt/cement blew in and clogged up our sink for our laundry - which led to the washer overflowing with water. The weather has been quite strange here lately - EVEN RAINING!
 

 

Well it has been a long day, so this post is not going to get proofread - sorry guys :). The kids are having fun but are having a difficult time with the move and us being away so often. Pray for an easy adjustment for them as we will start language school next week. We are also having some troubles applying for the kids visas so pray that that goes smoothly and that John does not have to make yet another flight to Lima. We also have a doctors appointment coming up on Friday, so we will keep you posted.

 

On that note, we were looking at baby toys and some of the same brands they have in the States cost $50.00 or more. For BABY TOYS! John and I thought we would be able to find lots of cheaper Peruvian versions here but for some reason we cannot seem to find much. Aparently most of the time the little babies are across their mother's backs while they work/sell things, so there appears to not really be time for toys. When they get to be Caleb's age (2-3) they start preschool full time here. Not sure I am ready to part with my boy for preschool, although we are thinking about putting him in a jardin (kindergarten) just so he will learn Spanish. Pray that God gives us direction on this!