Actually I guess it started last night, when Grandma and Grandpa dropped us off at our hotel in San Francisco...after the 20 minute detour trying to find the Sheraton Gateway. But that was just a small blip in the journey that was to come.
We woke up at the butt crack of dawn this morning to catch our 6 am flight at the airport. We were driven by a friendly fellow from the hotel. After getting swindled out of $17 for TWO sandwiches we were off. Our flight to Miami was pretty uneventful. Once we reached Miami, Jen was unsure whether or not we were still in the United States. It was a freakin dump, but i digress. (and who knows what is to come ;)
While waiting for our delayed flight to Lima from Miami we noticed a woman wearing a shirt with a map of the Peruvian Amazon on the back. I squeezed my way in to talk to her (it wasnt awkward at all, i swear) and began peppering her with questions about what to wear and what to expect. Dad struck up a conversation with a young guy sitting next to us who happened to be dating a girl from Peru. He was going to law school and had just bought a Harry Potter book. A sign from God, me thinks so. After being delayed an hour we finally boarded the plane. We were offered the delicious choices of chicken or lasagna. we both went for the pollo.
As the plane touched down in Lima we were both pretty much wetting ourselves with excitement (well I was, dad was having roubles with his head). We managed to get off and get through immigration okay. Then it was time to wait for our bags. Or in our case: PRAY. Dad´s came out no problem, but of course mine was difficult. We waited, and waited and waited. I was on the verge of puking when suddenly it emerged! Sweet and glorious Gods! It had only taken a FREAKIN HALF HOUR!! With dogs barking in the background (must have been a cocaine bust) we made our way through customs and luckily avoided the dreaded red-light-button-push extra search. So we were blessed enough to make our way into the THRONGS of people waiting to offer their services. TAXI! TAXI! CELL PHONES! CELL PHONE CARDS!! TAXI?!? we pushed our way across the street and checked into our hotel.
The Lima Airport
We are staying at the ramada costa del sol. Everything is basic...except the price but what can you do. At least they gave us free pisco sours? Pisco sours are the local peruvian drink. Word on the street is that they have egg white in it. Dad says its a strong gin fizz and since he´s the expert I take his word there. So we preceeded downstairs to get our free drinks. When, YIKES! They´re made with ice. I really hope we dont have explosive diarreha by morning. So we sat in the bar watching VH1 (i know who knew they had it here) when the contestants on Smartest Supermodel start cussing. I mean F*CK and everything!?! So dad gets the bright idea to ask the non english speaking bartender about the censors in peru. But the guy doesnt understand. So now dad is PANTOMIMING the cuss words. He´s grabbing his balls and yelling "BALLS...OR DICK" while the guy stares back in horror. He´s yelling "FUCK" and its echoing. Then he asks "¿you no habla ingles?". BEST. PART. OF. THE. DAY.
our hotel
So now we are hittin the hay before we die of exhaustion. We catch our plane to Cusco tomorow morning, bright and early. Luckily the hotel is literally 2 lanes from the airport.
Travel time:
SFO-MIAMI= 5hrs.
LAYOVER= 2 hours
MIAMI-LIMA= 5 hours
WATCHING DAD PANTOMIME "BALLS" AND YELLING "FUCK" AT A PURUVIAN BARTENDER= PRICELESS
p.s. for all yáll wondering Peru is 2 hours ahead of CALI
ADIOS!!!
