percy and nienke arrived saturday afternoon from washington d.c. for a ten-day stay in the country of peru. this couple constitutes our second pair of "dutchies," as we so lovingly refer to them, to visit us in lima.
during our visit from maartje and jeroen (whom i met while visiting lauren in mexico) last april we discussed such fun facts as why a dutch oven is called a dutch oven, where the phrase "going dutch" came from, and how many capitals holland has. we also enjoyed dutch cuisine - consisting mainly of meat and potatoes served in surprisingly large portions - thanks to maartje and an invitation to queen's day at the dutch embassy. their visit was an engaging cultural exchange. i tried herring. they ate mac n' cheese. we played scrabble, and then we did a puzzle (prounounced "poo-sell" in dutch).
the dutch love to puzzle. in dutch, puzzle is not only a noun, but also a verb, which only goes to show the delight they take in the activity. a pig puzzle my mom bought for me while we were in yemen as an antidote for bordem-induced-depression provided the four of us hours upon hours of entertainment as we learned about helpful puzzling accessories for the beloved dutch pastime. from sunup to sundown we puzzled, and then dreamed about it, too. a week and 1000 pieces later we could go on with our lives, but as a parting gift maartje and jeroen oh-so-thoughtfully gave us a 5000-piece van gogh puzzle (oh those hilarious dutch!).
so what was one of the first things jj pulls out to show nienke and percy upon arrival? none other than holland's most famous artist in the form of holland's foremost leisure activity: the van gogh puzzle.
nienke's mother is an avid puzzler.
so the past three days have consisted of this:
please note the two extra leaves inserted in our dining room table that normally seats six people. i think we'll be eating thanksgiving dinner on the patio.
the limeño "winter" is getting to me. there are really only two seasons here in lima: summer and "winter". it really shouldn't be called winter, as it never drops below 65 degrees farenheit, nor snows nor does anything really winter-like. the season is characterized by a constant cloud-cover resulting in general grayness throughout the city. it is not rare to go weeks without seeing the sun. which is more than depressing. and unfortunately? "winter" typically lasts anywhere from 6-9 months. we're in about month 8 right about now and i'm looking for brightness wherever i can get it. this colorful facade was spotted downtown yesterday as jj and i shopped for christmas gifts.
more colors to brighten up my day: a salt shaker at a french restaurant run by nuns just off the plaza de armas in downtown lima.
