WHAT HAPPENS IN LIMA? STAYING IN LIMA!!!

Friday August 1

"Welcome. A Magical Experience. Welcome to Peru"

The Jorge Chavez International Airport in Lima, Peru was also a pretty big airport. We got there at about 9:30 pm. I went through customs without a problem and as soon as I got into the concourse of the airport, I saw some people playing Andean music in front of a store. Andean music is the music of the indigenous people who live on the Andes mountains that stretch across a lot of countries, but mainly in Peru.  I was listening to it live! You can watch it here (sorry, I couldn't embed it into this post.)

Well, after that, I went to look for the gate I was leaving from. Since it was getting late, a lot of stores were closing, and the wifi had been turned off for the night! I found the gate and started waiting.  The flight would leave at 11 and I would be in Argentina at 6 in the morning tomorrow!

Except when we all got in line to start boarding, the staff announced that there was bad weather in Córdoba, so the flight will be delayed until 1 am! A lot of people were upset, but they sat down again to wait.  Now I had to find a way to contact my family and tell them about this delay- both my host and real families. But there was no wifi! the payphones required local currency, and there were no open coffeeshops like in Miami. What to do? Well there was a sushi place that has computers for use if you are a customer, so I bought myself a Sprite and got on the computer.  The keyboard is different!! After some difficulty, I signed into facebook, contacted my host mother and through a friend,  I contacted my real mother. (Thanks Becca!)

Saturday, August 2, 2014

When that was finally taken care of, I relaxed, until I looked at the time.  It's almost 1!!! I ran towards the gate hoping I wasn't left behind.  I wasn't, so I sat down to wait with everyone else and after a while they moved us to another gate. where they announced the flight would be delayed again. This time until 3:30 pm! There was an uproar, as a lot of angry people ready to get to Córdoba expressed their grievances to the staff. But the time was set for 3:30 pm.

So the hotel provided us with a hotel to stay at until then.  We followed Zeus (a staff member, the same age as me, if not younger) around the entire airport and finally went through immigration to officially check into Peru at around 2:30 am.  We went outside to the bus....that wasn't there! We waited a bit until it finally got here, and when we were getting on, one of the people in our group said it best, "Bueno, sigue la aventura." (Well, the adventure continues).

Once the bus started moving, the driver turned up the radio. It was playing "All by myself." That's kind of how I was feeling.  I was all alone in a different country on a different hemisphere as everyone I know and love.  But I remembered what my neighbor told me before I left. "God made it possible for this to happen. He won't leave you on your butt!"  It was a good reminder. No, I wasn't all by myself.

We drove through Lima towards the hotel.  It seems like the most common gas station here is called Repsol. I've seen 7 in about 15 minutes.

Then I saw a KFC. KFC? Kentucky Fried Chicken? In Lima, Peru? and then a Popeyes.  Popeyes? Popeyes Louisiana Kitchen? That was surprising. Some other familiar brands down there:

There were a lot of people out and about at 3 am.  There was also traffic... a lot of drivers for such an early hour.  And they use their claxton a whole lot more than in Alabama! Then I saw a whimsical vehicle drive by.  The back half was like a motorcycle, but the front half was like a shopping cart.

We finally got to the hotel. The Lima Sheraton (another familliar name!) We were checked in and I went to sleep in my 5 star hotel bed. This wasn't bad at all.