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Published: August 6th 2007
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Wasting time in the ariport...
This was still several hours before the whole wrong plane incident. Well, I honestly don’t even know where to start. So much has happened in the past 3 days! My flight and airport time was seriously boring. I didn’t think I was going to make even the wait just to get on my first flight out of SFO. So, to liven things up I tried to get on the wrong flight. No, really, I did. The best part is that when the lady came down the line to check and make sure people were in the right line before we go to the front, all I could think was, ´who the hell gets on the wrong flight?!?´ Well, as it turns out, that would be me.
I did meet Fanny, a super nice preschool teacher from Peru who now lives in Bay Point. That certainly made the 5 hour lay over in El Salvador much more fun. She was awesome! and when we got here to Lima she was all motherly and made sure I was set before she took off with her own family. She even gave me their hotel info. so that they could lend me money if I couldn’t figure out how to get my ATM to work.
Pisco sour
This is Angie waiting for her ´to go´pisco sour on the streets of Lima. The taxi ride in the dark to the hostel was so Latin America. It was great to be back, and as usually, as scary as can be. The swerving, the honking, the smell, the style of buildings, it was all so familiar and yet still new, and always interesting. The best part was almost getting side swiped by a purple and orange stripped bus. By far the most awesome vehicle to almost take me out! It was also pretty incredible to make one turn and basically go from this crazy city street to an ocean side road. I don’t think that I’ve ever been in an coastal city this big.
The vibe at the hostel that first night (Tuesday) was NOT at all what I was looking for. It was filled with loud students from the U.S. and I really didn’t fit in. I basically put on several layers of clothes (it was ridiculously cold!) and went to bed thinking that about how screwed I’m going to be on the trek if I have to bust out the long underwear inside a hostel in Lima.
Luckily, late that same night I was woken up by my new
Romance
A romantic statue in a romantic park, it was filled with mosaics with love-filled quotes. Note the couples. In Miraflores. roommates. Luckily, that is, that I had new roommates. We hit off immediately the next morning and they very kindly invited me to spend the day with them exploring Lima. They are Chas and Angie from Washington state. We have a surprising amount in common--Angie is a teacher who has spent the last two years teaching in Thailand. So for the past few days I’ve had some really amazing company and a boy to keep run-ins on the street to the bare minimum. I’ve been doing all the Spanish translation and communication, so I don’t feel too much like a lame tag-a-long.
Wednesday we went to the central part of the city and saw some churches and stuff. The best were these catacombs with the bones arranged in geometric designs. Creepy and yet fascinating!
Yesterday, (Thursday) I suggested paragliding and they got into my plan right away (what’d I tell you? great people!) We tried, but discovered that Lima was having a day without wind. We tried back all day and it just wasn’t going to happen, so we found other random things to keep us entertained. They even humored me and went with me to a vegetarian
ocean
View of the ocean from Lima. restaurant for lunch (we went back to day as well!) It was really yummy.
Today the wind had returned and we all got to go paragliding over the city and beach. It was pretty amazing. The paragliding office was closed so we walked up to the park they seemed to take off from and asked around for some guy named Gato prepared to tell him that Max had sent us. Now, last time I did this (in Chile) I’m pretty sure that they took a few minutes in the office to make sure they had the right equipment, ask my weight, etc. But here they just asked who was going first, and then at basically at the same time he strapped me in, hooked himself to me, and we were off. Within five minutes of arriving in the park I was airborne.
It was spectacular to fly over the city like that, it is so serene up there in the air, totally quiet and peaceful. Not at all what I would expect. You have a little seat of straps to sit in and your guide is doing all the work, so all you have to do is sit
View from our hostel in Lima
We were thrilled with the geometric shapes to frame our shots. back, relax, and take pictures of your feet with the city below. There were a few moments where I was more than a little concerned that we were going to hit a hill or a high-rise, but all turned out well. My guy thought it was fun to do spins over the ocean before coming in so we ended up flying for about 15-20 minutes and, to be honest, one more second and I was going to be upchucking all over the crowd’s upturned faces watching me land. It’s cool too because there were three of us going at different times (but overlapping) so someone’s camera has the take off and landing of each of us.
Other great things about Lima:
-So far, I think that the people are the friendliest I’ve encountered in my travels. They are so nice, and helpful. We’ve had people on the streets stop of their own accord and help with directions or restaurant suggestions several times. And always with a smile.
-They have humitas! All kinds of humitas!!! Anyone who has seen the pictures of me eating Ecuadorian food in Madrid knows that my love for humitas runs deep.
I
can’t figure out where the USB port is on this computer so I’m not uploading pictures now, but I promise to make a serious effort to do so at a better internet cafe in Cusco. Speaking of which, wish me luck--I fly out tomorrow morning and I still don’t have a confirmed hostel. I’m a tad stressed and it would seem that this ‘go with the flow’ plan is not going to work for me after all.
Ill try to post again soon! I love you all, and thanks for all the emails, they have been really fun to read. Extra gold stars for Auntie Jen who was the only person to write my first day here, Arantxa who has already written 2 novel length emails, mom who is emailing from a cell phone while staying with Grandpa, and Grandma and Dad who have finally joined the 21st century and learned how to use the internet. You all rock!!!
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Anitza
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OMG!
PARAGLIDING?! That is one of those things that I think are so awesome yet paralyze me with fear. I can't wait to see your photos! Are you posting them here or on Flickr? I will totally get you a paid account if you post them on Flickr because they will store your originals and resize them for you, like you've seen. Anyway, I can't believe you tried getting on the wrong flight. lol You left your story off at the good part, mind you. I wanted to know what the lady said. lol At home I signed up Juan for an awesometastic race car driving school for his bday. But then we realized that he needed to already know how to drive stick and he doesn't and didn't think he could learn it well enough to be driving a race car in less than a month, so I had to cancel it. So sad. Oh well, now he has a damn good reason to try it the next time he has a chance.