Safety

All is well here in Lima. Ixchel is growing by leaps and bounds and learning lots of Spanish. She now pretty much repeats anything we tell her. We've been here for seven months now and haven't had any problem safety-wise. Of course, like in any big city (or anywhere for that matter) you have to take precautions such as not walking alone at night or leaving your bag unattended, and always being aware of your surroundings. Also, like any big city, Lima has some areas that are safer than others. We live in theMiraflores district which is one of the safer ones. I don't think that here in Lima you're in any greater danger than you would be in NYC or LA (if that's any consolation). I think that nowadays (unfortunately) the capital cities in Central America (which are much smaller than Lima) are more dangerous. People here don't complain so much about the security situation as they do about the economic situation.

Actually, the main problems we've hadhave been health related especially for my wife. There are hundreds of small restaurants everywhere you go, most of them offering very tasty food at rock-bottom prices. We have succumbed to the temptation and paid with our stomachs. The lesson learned is that you have to be careful where and what you eat. Also, Lima has lots of air pollution which has done a number on my wife'sasthma. She has also been suffering from allergies due to yet-to-be-identified particles in the air. Back to safety, you need to be very careful with the heavy and disordered Lima traffic. The golden rule is: Pedestrians NEVER have the right of way. Before crossing any street (I don't care if it's a quiet little street) you need to look in all directions because a car, a truck, or a bus may come careening through out of nowhere. If you're not careful, getting runover is a real possibility here in Lima. All that said, Lima is a fun and exciting place to live as there are always a myriad cultural happenings, the people are warm and welcoming, plus as I said earlier, the cuisine is great (just be careful).

Ixchel hace pilita

Ixchel has initiated her own potty training. We were in no hurry given the fun it is finding clean bathrooms for touch-everything little ones when travelling. "Hace pilita" is the term used here for "going potty." At school Ixchel "hace pilita" every hour, so she's in pull-ups. At home is different story. She does like to sit on the pilita (a mini one we bought) and she calls it "pishy" (for "pee-pee"). Her sound effects are great...you might think she was going "pishy" if you weren't watching. In fact, she's taken a greater interest in potty training "osito" (teddy bear) than going herself. He goes pishy regularly and Ixchel patiently sits beside him for as long as 10 or 15 minutes. He also seems to suffer from a bit of nausea because sometimes we find him face down in the pilita.