El aeropuerto
Trip Start
Dec 26, 2008
1
2
10
Trip End
Jan 15, 2009
Lima,
Peru
Saturday, December 27, 2008
The first person that I connected with was the man at the check in counter in San Diego. There was only one lady manning the international check in until 6 and she was doing an amazing job keeping a positive attitude. You could tell that through her demeanor that she wasn't letting the ever extending line stress her out. I was quite impressed. I looked forward to interacting with her for this reason alone, but at 6 a man popped out and set up his check in counter. He was older and tiny but you could definitely see a spark in his eye. I was his first customer. Unfortunately while checking in by backpack was just a couple inches too long to carry it on, so I took a couple books out of the front pocket to put into my side bag; one of them being the new manifesto by Rob Bell on saving christians. The guy read the title, and was staring at it for awhile, and so I asked if he'd ever heard of him. He said no, but that he was a minister so the book intrigued him... a minister? i was blown away that at 6 in the morning I was being served by a minister. Not that a minister isn't just a human being like the rest of us, but people in that type of position I feel deserve a certain level of respect. It made me realize that you never know who is serving you. It's a lot like that parable Jesus gives about when you give to the least you are really giving to Him.
Anyway, I was off to I felt a very good start. At least I felt that God was definitely by my side. My flight went relatively smoothly to Atlanta. There was a 3 year old behind me; when we took off he yelled "holy guacamole!! mom are we in the air!?!" I couldn't help but smile to myself. I loved his enthusiasm. I thought he was cute, but I think his mother felt bad for me because he kept crying. I leaned back and commended her for flying with her two boys. I think she really appreciated that.
In Atlanta I had a three hour layover. This also went pretty fast. I just had lunch and read. I loved sitting there and listening to people from Germany Peru and Korea all in the same room. I don't know why but that type of situation just makes the blood start flowing in my veins. It somehow feels inspiring.
On the actual flight I sat next to an older woman named Sally. It was her first time out of the country and she was super nervous. So she was my travel buddy from the plane to checkout. I think she appreciated the guidance, and it made me feel like an experienced traveler :) So it was nice both ways.
I was kind of worried when we arrived because I didn't have Mariana's address or number. I know, talk about unprepared, and we had arrived an hour late! I exited and she was nowhere to be found. So I just started to walk around. But there she was, sitting on a chair half asleep with her friend Mari. It was sooo good to see her. Since I arrived around one in the morning, she took me on a night tour of Lima: we went through San Isidro (which is where she lives), down along the bay (which is so beautiful because you can see the city lights surrounding the edge of the bay and this huge lit cross that looks like it is floating in the air), and then through Mira Flores, and Barranco.
We were going to go straight to sleep but the girls saw a couple of boys they knew so we decided to go out. I was in my awesome pink pants (you know the one's you gave me Brooke). Talk about looking ready to go out. Anyway, one thing I noticed when I was here was that everything is behind doors. Mariana knew the guy that owned the bar so he had us park in a parking lot. It was behind these closed doors on the street, which I thought was strange. We barely made it in with the car. (people here drive even crazier than in Mexico by the way). Then we took a motorcycle taxi (which is a motorcycle with a type of carriage attached to it) to the bar. The bar itself was behind closed doors, but inside was definitely loud and just getting started. They played a mix of english and spanish songs, and i was surprised to see everyone singing along to even the American songs. I did have a cerveza, because my friend Nick told me I had to try the beer here. It was called cuzcuena. It actually wasn't that bad, and I normally can't stand beer. But of course, maybe I was just so excited that everything tasted and looked good. quien sabe ;)
The next place we went to down the street had its doors completely shut. Apparently after three bars aren't allowed to let people in. It was probably 3:05. It was weird because you could hear all the noise inside, but you couldn't get in. We kept knocking and finally someone came to the door, looked around for cops, and then let us in. The strangest part about this place was that the people running the bar were probably 18 or 19. At least that's how old they looked.
I feel like Mariana knows everyone here. I guess that's what happens when you grow up somewhere though. But it is nice being with a local, because I feel like I'm meeting and hanging out with the real people of this area.
This morning after we woke up (probably ended up in bed a little past 4 lima time, 1 san diego time), I decided to go for a walk as Mariana packed for our trip to Cuzco. One thing I am definitely noticing is that Mariana lives in a high class part of town. All the houses here are beautiful. But I have also noticed that the majority of people here live in fear. There are fences, security guards, and barbed wire; some sort of security at every building.
How have we reached a place in society that we have the ability to communicate with anybody in the world at a touch of a button, yet we are scared to let our own neighbors into our homes. Better yet, how was this type of society enabled to be developed. I'm not singling out Peru. this exists everywhere. There really is so much love here. But like every big city that is lined with billboard after billboard, and McDonald signs and a Starbucks on every corner, there is a definite sense of disconnect between the classes.
But not with Mariana. I was so humbled when she told me she was packing sweaters for the people in Cuzco. Who thinks about stuff like that? To be honest, getting ready for this trip, I have mainly been thinking of myself. Which is ok. But hearing her wanting to give back awakened the importance of this in my heart. I hope to have an opportunity to volunteer. I was reading about different surf places along the coast that offer that opportunity to give back to the community, so maybe you can pray that I get a chance to do that?
Ok. this is getting really long, so I will wrap it up with the fact that we did not leave for Cuzco today. I think they overbooked the flight so we're leaving tomorrow. But this was definitely a blessing because all of us got a voucher for $200 at lan.com! (meaning I don't have to take a bus, so I will have more time in each city). This is why I feel like I live in an airport though, because we were there for hours getting the voucher, and changing flights. But it was worth it not only because of the free airplane tickets, but because the guys fell sorry for us (or just thought we were cute ;) ) and gave us a voucher for a free lunch too. We ate at a peruvian fast food place in the airport. I have to admit I was nervous, but the dishes were so delicious. They use a lot of potatoe. Okay, I must go, Mari and Mariana are sleeping and I need to join them so I can have enough energy to go out tonight.
besos y abrazos.michelle E
Comments
Very nice writing.
You have a fresh style that really conveys your sense of wonder, keep up the great work.
Louise Brown
TravelPod Community Manager
thanks
i really appreciate that a lot :)