The nieghbourhood

Friends:

We find the area where we live to be very interesting. The pictures here are of places we can get to in 15-30 minutes on foot.  We walk as much as possible. 

The main street on which the temple is located is noisy and busy so as fast as we can, we cut up side streets that get us where we want to go by going parallel to the main street, or we go back into the farmlands or ruins of Chan Chan.  We love the cultural contrasts between Canada and here. 

Most people have to live very frugally, so that affects everything from housing to transportation as well as food and lifestyle. In contrast, we North Americans live embarrassingly extravagant lifestyles. Since American culture is exported from Hollywood in great quantities all over the world, everybody here assumes that all North Americans are rich. In comparison, we definitely are. Never-the-less, people are generally very happy, proving the old saying that "Money can not buy happiness".  

The first picture is from the top of a mound of what was probably an adobe building in Chan Chan. It looks across irrigated fields toward the foot hills of the Andes. Second is an irrigation dam. Some dams are just piles of rags, sticks and stones to control flow in lesser streams. The third is a couple grazing sheep on stubble in  field that was harvested recently. #4 is actually right in the city along a route that we take to the mall, one block over from the main street.  Cows are grazing on corn stubble. The "farmer" takes his cows home every night. #5, people have harvested some corn stalks with a machete and are carrying them home to feed animals that live in or near the city.  It seems that a lot of corn is grown not for corn but stalks for feed, the cobs are small and the stalks very tall,  and harvested a bit at a time by hand. The last 4 pictures are taken along that same route that I mentioned before to go to the mall.  Note the use of red brick and cement in building. Mostly the buildings are covered with stucco on the side facing the street, sooner or later. It appears that some wait many years for stucco and paint. Parts not facing the street may never see stucco.  In the last picture, Debbie is negotiating for a pineapple and some mangoes with a street vendor .There are a lot of those moto trucks around. They sometimes haul amazing cargos. 

I don't know how many pictures I can put in one email, but I am probably close to, or over the maximum. Will have to do a part 2 on the neighborhood sometime. 

Love, Peter & Debbie