Day 4: Lima and fancy sandwiches

After breakfast of bread and jam, Yessica and uncle Alejandro went to set up the DVD player. When they got to the point of insisting that it was faulty, they let me try to fix it, and soon it was set up correctly with a film playing. I left them there and went back down to my grandfather.

Soon my aunt Pilar came over to take me out: she's one of my mum's best friends and has always been really lovely to me. Today she took me out to a very nice restaurant for fancy sandwiches, the sweetest strawberry tarts, and a pastry called milhojas which was delicious. It was wonderful eating and chatting with her. Pilar works as a SEN psychologist, so we had a lot to talk about since I've worked in psychology and hope to work as a psychologist in the future. She offered to have me in her clinic when I'm back to see how she works, which would be a wonderful opportunity, so we booked some provisional dates. I'm excited about this since I've been out of the field since arriving in Spain!

In the afternoon, my grandfather and I listened to radio, read the news online and discussed the news. When he went for a rest, my mum's friend Angela's daughter came over to pick up the holy water my mum had sent from her trip to Knock. 

I then stayed reading until dinner: today Mirian made chips for me and Yessica, which made a change from the pasta! My grandfather's happy eating his same compote every day and Yessica prepares her own food, so nobody really knew what else to make me. The kitchen's too small for more than one person and has little storage space so I didn't feel able to prepare my own things as I would at home. 

After dinner, my grandfather insisted that I join him in eating the chocolates my mum had sent over from England. I've explained countless times that I'm allergic, it was less bother to just move the chocolates about in the bag and say that I was eating them to be honest! So we continued this way, reading the news and 'eating' the chocolates until it was an acceptable time for me to go to bed and read alone.

Day 3: Lima and exchanging travelling stories

At breakfast this morning, I suggested that today I visit Zari, an old friend of my grandma, who lives three roads away. My uncle Alejandro at first insisted that we phone ahead in case she wasn't there, then when I reasoned that since it was only a five minute walk from here it wouldn't waste much time, he suggested taking the bus there. At last we both left the house and he walked me to Zari's. It was really fun swapping travel stories with Zari, she's very sweet and kept serving me Inca Kola, the national fizzy drink. It's divine.

After a fun morning, I headed back to the house and went with Yessica for lunch to the same small restaurant. When we got back my grandfather was sleeping after his Thursday morning meeting with former coworkers, so I skyped home. During this time there was a knock at the door: I was expecting my mum's friend Angela to pick up some holy water my mum had sent for her, so I was quite surprised when I heard a male voice asking for my grandfather. Side note: due to Asperger Syndrome I get really uncomfortable answering the door or phone when I can't see who's calling, and get even more worked up when I have to answer at someone else's house. I asked who was there and didn't recognise the name at all: thankfully my mum, who was still on skype, recognised the name as the housecall doctors who give my grandfather his regular checkup. I opened the door and Yessica, who until now was upstairs, came down and showed them through. I retreated upstairs.

I spent the rest of the afternoon reading the news to my grandfather (suffice to say we have differing political views) and reading in my aunt's room. We tried to do a crossword puzzle, but his hearing problems meant that he misheard most of the clues that I shouted out, so after one we switched back to the news.

My uncle Mañuco came over at one point with Alvaro: after answering Alvaro's questions about planes and coaches and the Spanish branch of his business, I asked my uncle if I could borrow his card to book my trip to Huancayo and pay him back. I'd hoped to travel on Saturday, but unfortunately the coach was full and there were only two seats left on Sunday's coach. I quickly booked one. To be honest at this point I was tired of being in Lima, to say the least, and looked forward to leaving for Huancayo.

More reading in the evening until bed, so by the time Mirian brought me pasta and my grandfather his peach compote, my throat was sore from shouting. My grandfather said that the way I read (I was shouting and very slowly reading the words that I didn't know how to pronounce) made me sound Peruvian without an accent, which slightly concerned me as to how deaf he must be!