Come on In!

Maribel, Brian and I welcome you to our home! No need to take off your shoes – nobody does that in Chiclayo. There are no rugs and the sand blown in by the constant wind will get your socks dirty.

As long as we’re in the dining room why don’t we sit a bit and chat about how to go about finding living quarters in Chiclayo? To my knowledge there is only one official real estate agency in Peru….a small Coldwell Banker office that never seems to have any clients. In 15 months I have seen only one of their signs on a property. There are private people with titles such as “Agencia de Servicios Varios” which means agency of various services who advertise in the newspaper regarding buying, renting or selling property, but their services are rarely sought. Peruvians don’t see the value in paying someone to do what they and their family can probably do faster and cheaper. I remember sitting in Wisconsin after selling our home thinking that our only plan to find housing in Chiclayo was to live in a hotel and pound the pavement hoping to spot a for rent or sale sign. I needn’t have worried. After our arrival Maribel described to family and friends what we were looking for and within 2 days we had more leads than we had time to follow up on. Word of mouth is by far the best way to locate housing. Enough chat - let’s see the rest of the place.

This is the kitchen. There are no outside windows but it does have a large skylight and windows to the dining room. I can’t say I’m crazy about the black tile floor, but it does serve the purpose. The refrigerator is an LG, and the stove is Indurama. I don’t know where they’re made but maybe you do. We bought them at Elektra, which is similar to American or Best Buy in the States. We’ve had no trouble with them so far. About once a month the stove will run out of gas, but a call to the gas service usually results in a new tank within 10 minutes.

This is the master bedroom. Nothing much to say about it. One complete wall has built in storage, which holds a surprising amount of clothing and other items. Behind us is a TV and chest of drawers. Brian likes to watch the Simpsons here at night.

The bathroom attached to the master bedroom is similar to 3 others in the apartment. The electric shower head is visible at top.

This is Brian’s room. He’s responsible for keeping it organized and clean. Right!

The office where the three of us fight over the computer. We really need at least one more computer. We tried a sign up list to reserve specific times, but we all cheated.

The hallway leading to the living room. The morning sun streams in from the window on the right.

The living room. This is where I spend most of my time when Maribel and Brian won’t let me use the computer. I do a lot of reading here and also watch football Americano. Patio doors open onto the balcony where I like to drink a beer while watching whatever is going on in the street. The furniture and accessories throughout the apartment are all manufactured locally, are good quality and very reasonably priced.

Well, that’s the end of the tour. Thanks for visiting our home. We’ll be talking with you soon.

Tom, Maribel and Brian