Home Sweet Home!

La Valle Sagrado from above our house

Things always seem to work out...eventually.

Before we left the States, I had spent a lot of time on line trying to find a house to rent once we arrived in the Sacred Valley. Once here, though, the worry continued as we made phone calls and drove from town to town in a rental car looking at posted bulletin board classified notices in each town square. Finally I stayed up late one night going through all of the online Peruvian classified ads and made a comprehensive list of every single house listing available. Most did not seem like very good choices, but they were choices nonetheless. After all, although we loved staying at La Capilla Lodge, we can't afford to live in a hotel for five months.

The next day, we sat down and started making phone calls. Rhomina, our awesome innkeeper and semi-voluntary consigliere, offered to help us make them. We sat down and went through the list, crossing off options as our options narrowed.

We landed a few appointments, but things were not looking too promising. After we called the last number Rhomina looked at us and said, “I know of a house nearby, but I think it is too small for you.” Little did she know that we were looking for something simple.

“What??,” we said. “Small sounds perfect!”. She said that she hesitated to tell us about the home because she wasn't sure it was available and didn't want us to get our hopes up. I am not sure why she waited so long to tell us about it, but perhaps she just forgot about the home until that moment. Or, maybe, it may have been that she was waiting to be sure we weren't crazy, since living in the home would make us neighbors. (They may now regret showing us the house, as we have since pestered them with all sorts of questions about the area, phones, internet, the market, the taxis, etc. and they have now threatened to impose a limit of only two questions per day on us, and I don't blame them for it.) Anyway, we threw on our shoes and headed out that minute to take a look at this new prospect.

We walked down a small trail that led to an even smaller trail heading up the hill past tiny fields and houses. So far it seemed perfect. On the way she stopped by the owner's house and found out that the home was still available, so the owner joined us with the key. We arrived at a little door that entered into a walled garden. As she opened the door it was immediately clear that this was going to be our home.

The smell. Flowers and blooming trees welcomed us into this little oasis among the fields and forests. It has this perfect little yard and the girls already looked right at home running around on the grass and climbing on the rocks. The kitchen was big, fully stocked, and inviting. Beyond the spacious kitchen, there are two rooms: one is a roomy bedroom that was fully furnished and connected to a beautiful bathroom with a big walk-in shower, then there is another room that is up a few stairs and it has a little fireplace in it (it will double well as a guest room for anyone that would like to come visit. Hint. Hint.). I wanted to cry. It was all perfect.

We were so emotional about the house, we didn't even care that there was no clothes washer, although with three kids that love both playing in dirt and displaying on their shirts a portion of each course of every meal, we sure should have been worried. Luckily, though, Rhomina negotiated on our behalf, persuading the owners to agree to install a washing machine if we paid the first two months up front to cover the costs. So not only did we get the most awesome fully-furnished house with the most amazing garden, pressurized hot water, but we also got a new washing machine to boot. We have it all. (Although Travis has determined that you can only say “have it all” if there is a dishwasher. After only 10 days he has determined that doing dishes is for the birds...)

Travis at the keyboard now, interjecting to brag on Melissa for a paragraph. As it happens, overconfidence in my iron stomach has usually led me to comfortably hit the local menu wherever we travel and drink the tap water fairly carelessly. This trip, though, my relaxed approach to G.I. tract concerns came home to roost fairly swiftly, and sent me on a number of middle-of-the-night scrambles to head on the eve of our big move to the new house. With me bedridden, and with only the aid of a rickety wheelbarrow, Melissa hauled all of our luggage over rough and rocky terrain from the hotel to our new pad. It was truly a humbling experience to be of so little help when there was so much to do, but I'm so grateful that my girl is such a trooper. Must be her spartan pioneer heritage.

Welcome to our new home:

We have been loving the house so much, we haven't felt much need to leave. Each day we try to do school with the girls, read books, hike up the trails that are right outside our door, and venture into town to stroll around and hit the market. It feels so good to slow down. We haven't had very good internet access, though, which has allowed us to disconnect and unplug (the grandparents might not agree, as they have been waiting patiently to Skype with us.) It has been great to just spend time as a family without all the distractions we left back in the States. This was exactly why we came here and we just laugh at how well it has all come together.

Walled garden area

Our hiking mountain in the background

Now settled into our new digs, we want this mellow vibe to last. Hopefully we won't soon be posting cryptic S.O.S. messages begging for someone to free us from all this “family time”. Can you get sick of the people you love the most?