As with all of Latin America, this is a Catholic land, so there are images of Jesus somewhere in every household. There is a disproportionate amount of this imagery in our little apartment. We have come to ignore the blood dripping from the crucifix in our entry way—it is becoming a commonplace part of the landscape here for us. In a similar way, we have gotten used to seeing peasants from the countryside walking the modern city streets in their beautiful traditional dress (unfortunately those photos are harder to finesse, will work on that later). But we still do a double-take when we occasionally see a family of traditional countryside folks getting out of their new Toyota sedan to have a special meal at the local version of Kentucky Fried Chicken.
Our place is the yellow house with white roof in the middle of the picture above the green slope.
We found a great 10km running route up the hill from our house, around the backside of the hill/mountain in the distance in this photo (with a massive statue of the "Virgen of the Clouds" on top). Menacing dogs are ubiquitous, but so far we haven't lost any blood to the varmints.
In some ways, our neighborhood seems very suburban-American, as many of the houses have a modern European design. But as you might guess, when viewed up-close, unique characteristics become apparent. Concrete is the construction material of choice, used to fashion walls, balconies, pillars, faux wood and brick exteriors--nearly anything. Homeless dogs lay around on the sidewalks in the warm sun by day, recovering from their usual night-long forays with other nearby packs. At the same time, "owned" pets enjoy little sweat suits and bows. Ubiquitous litter blows down the streets, yet there is curbside pick up for recycling and compost. A politely-worded sign asks people not to urinate on the brick wall at the nearby park (directed at the guys who gather every night to play volleyball after work). Kids eke out soccer games in tiny neighborhood parks. Small markets and deli's dot nearly every corner, even in the most suburban neighborhoods. It's the details that lend character to the place.
