Lima
I moved to Lima, Peru just before my first birthday as part of my mom's career as a US Foreign Service Officer. We'll be stationed here for two years, and while here I plan to learn to speak Spanish, walk, run, and — hopefully — swim.
City Life
Lima is a huge city and overall a pretty cool place to live. We live in a district called Miraflores ("look at the flowers!"), which is a pretty lively tourist hotspot right along the coast. Our immediate area is mostly residential and parks, but throughout Miraflores there is a good mix of residential with commercial (restaurants, groceries, small shops). The city is full of life, and there is always some excitement going on the streets.
Most days my sister Sonja and I go to a nido in the mornings. Nido means "nest" in Spanish, but here it means like a nursery for little kids; ours is called Nido Killa and has kids up to 4 years old! (Killa means "moon" I think, but I like to pronounce it like Killa Cam) Our nanny, Sofia, drops us off in the morning and then picks us up mid-day when we're done doing our arts + crafts, outdoor play, and general socializing. After that we eat lunch, do a quick nap, then it's off to the park!
Lima has a really mild climate, highs in the mid 70s and lows in the upper 60s most of the year. The fog off the coast keeps humidity high (80%) and plants green. Apparently in the winter (August and September) it is always overcast with average sunny hours dropping from 190/mo to 30/mo, but I'll update here with more info about how that goes when we get to that point! So far, no complaints!
Housing
We have a four bedroom apartment which means Sonja and I get our own rooms. Construction quality is pretty good compared to Africa; I'd put it on par with the United States. The windows are a bit thin for my taste and let in a lot of noise, but I'm trying to not let it bother me and just power through on my naps.
The apartment overlooks the malecón (aka promenade) and so have a huge park right outside of our door where we can do a ton of cool stuff like run, watch paragliders, scooter, watch dogs, play on the playground, go to the skatepark or attend impromptu concerts! Mom and dad go for runs at night or during the day with Sonja in the chariot; the park goes for about 3.5 miles North to South with a great sidewalk for running and a bike path buffering the road.
One of our biggest problems in the apartment is with the WiFi signal.
