As of yesterday afternoon I was feeling out of options for our apartment search…
My leads from online classifieds had run dry. The Your Peru travel agency needed another week to help me. And our current hotel wasn’t feeling like the right kind of atmosphere for us.
So, I picked up an El Pueblo paper from a vendor on the street and started scouring the noticias for these key words:
| departamento | apartment (as opposed to ‘habitación’ = room) |
| almoblada | furnished |
| internet | internet |
| Yanahuara | A really great district north of Areqiupa’s city center |
| Cayma | Another district, adjoining the west side of Yanahuara |
We’d been through Yanahuara on the Arequipa Bus Tour yesterday, and loved it’s plaza, and distance from the city center. So when one of the noticias said “cerca Plaza Yanahuara”, I called them immediately.
By the way, speaking Spanish over the phone is really difficult. It’s one thing to supplement your broken Spanish with hand gestures and facial expressions… The phone is intimidating.
So, I initially reached a Spanish speaker, who turned me over to her English speaking son, Ruben. We spoke for a bit about the apartment, but quickly realized they weren’t offering it with furniture, and we’d have to set up an internet connection.
Heart breaking. But not the end of the story.
About an hour later Ruben called me back. (Being completely intimidated by the phone, I jumped when it rang and then waited until the third ring to pick up for some mental preparation.)
After some negotiating and a visit this morning, we’re set up with an amazing, furnished apartment about a half block from the Plaza Yanahuara!
Exciting day. We move in tomorrow.
That’s awesome! Can’t wait to see pics of you and Scott in your new home.
Excellent, home is where you hang your hat whether its furnished or not. Furniture helps though. What’s the picture in this post? Is it a view from your new digs?
Yes, YAY!
The picture is of the “Vista del Mirador” in the Plaza Yanahuara, literally 1/2 a block from our new digs. Beyond the arches is the city center of Lima.
I heard from a little bird the apartment is $/mo. THAT’S NUTS! I need to move myself to Peru.
I’m heading to Arequipa in mid-March and will be looking for an apartment for a month in March-April. Needless to say finding your blog was pretty exciting for me! I’ll be reading through, but if you have any suggestions or hear of any apartment openings, I’d love to hear about them! Also, if you’re still around, my husband and I would love to meet up when we’re down there.
[...] did, however, make a stop at the Yanahuara Plaza on that bus ride, which ultimately led to us finding an apartment close by. I think part of it’s appeal is just the way the word “Yanahuara” sounds: sophisticated and [...]
Hi Cara. That’s awesome… I did the exact same thing you’re doing when we came down… scoured for blogs!
Stay tuned for an email with lots of details. 