"home improvement" and summer

Since I've been gone, summer came in full force to Lima. It's amazing. It smells like summer. The small trees that line our street are now full of leaves. Flowers bloom year round here, but there are more blooming now than before. The days are refreshingly longer than days in Boston.

Mostly we take taxis around Lima because they are so cheap, the city is so big, and we don't know the bus system. Slowly I have been trying to figure out which buses I can take to the places I like going to. Meggie and I took a combi out to Carabayllo which is far away on the otherside of the city. This weekend I learned how to take a combi from our house to my friend César's house in San Miguel. So far, so good. After living here for 5 months, it's good to finally learn different ways of getting around, as well as learning about the different bus stops near our apartment.

Holly came back from the States and felt like our apartment really doesn't feel like home. Now it could be more than just putting up decorations to make us feel like Lima is our home, but making our home look less like a hotel is definitely part of it. So yesterday we ventured into el Barrio China (Chinatown) to look for cheap decorations. We came across a huge indoor market with lots of Asian decorating items, so now our apartment will look very international. Next we went to Lima's big flower market where I had been once before and bought a couple plants. We got home to realize one is the plant manifestation of Holly and one of me. Mine is a yucca plant and is short and spikey and I call it "Fat Albert." The other is tall and skinny and has fraggle-like hair, which we call "Fraggle."

After doing really well living the 4 of us together for a few months, it feels like we're encountering some frustrations that come from living in close quarters with other people. I have taken my typical role of not participating, not reacting, and not expressing my opinion when a debate comes up in fear of something. It's amazing, really. A discussion can happen right next to me, and my defense mechanism turns on and it's like I am reading a magazine. It might also have to do with the kind of people they are, not just an observation of who I am since I can think of past living situations where I was more vocal. Or at least I think I was. Anyway, might be something I can work on while understanding we all need to get along, express our needs, and live together for many more months.