You would think that with the inordinate amount of free time I've had in the past two days I would be a blogging machine, but for whatever reason my motivation has all but gone down the shitter. I just moved to a couch and put some headphones on in an attempt to change my scenery up a bit, we'll see what happens.
My personal favorite airport purchase and new travel watch.
So effing cute! I have missed Flik and Flak.
A little wary of my aisle companions...
(can you tell how much I like the solo shot option on my phone?)
The flight down here was interesting. I sat next to some Americans from Hawaii (yes, I am nosy and checked out their passports), and I wanted to ask what they did that allowed them to live in Hawaii full time, but then I thought I might look like a creep so I thought better of it. We sat on the runway for the better part of an hour thanks to weather, but I kept dozing in and and out and I would rather be on the ground than in the air any day. Dinner came and as I poked at my "cheese ravioli" with a fork I sent a silent prayer to the Starbucks gods for the turkey sandwich I had purchased in the airport terminal. It wasn't that great either and I only ate half, but... Regardless, three bottles of wine later (the only person not judging was the stewardess, and I was paying her not to) I was out like a light for the rest of the trip. I think I might have been snoring (but I don't do that, so) or at least had my mouth hanging wide open because once I finally did wake up the guy across the aisle kept giggling at me. Damnit. Anyway, as I mentioned before, Carl got me elite access, hallelujah, so once I got through immigration (having an anxiety attack because I didn't know my address in Lima - what if they don't let me in?! where am I going to go?! damnit, I should have just put the Ritz down) there were my bag(S) floating on the conveyer belt just waiting for me. The customs situation in Lima is as follows: give the woman your immigration sheet, she tells you to press a button...green light = go ahead and enjoy your visit (!) and red light = you / your bags get strip searched. Ok, I don't know about strip searched but they do go through all your luggage. The guy in front of me got a red light. HA! Naturally I was bound for green. Anyway, I walked through the door, awkward to the say the least, in to the throngs of people harrassing for taxis and holding signs welcoming visitors. I didn't see my people anywhere and thought that it would be pretty typical for me to get left at the airport, so I went and stood in a corner hoping someone might recognize me and tried to look as cool and on top of it as possible (ie not cool and / or on top of it). After realizing no one was going to find me, I did another loop and thankfully found my ride home. We met up with the rest of the crew, headed home and that was that...unpacked a for a minute, watched tv, called my parents, and slept like I hadn't slept in years. Bienvenidos a Peru!
Dinner (gag, vomit, etc)
What I actually ate - A slight step up
By far and away the best part of my flight (plus one more bottle).
My God I had forgotten how good Brussels are.
So today is my second full day in Peru, and I have to say, it's certainly going better than the first (I guess?). Hm, I guess that also sounds like I don't like it here, which is completely untrue, I just still don't have the slightest inkling of what I'm supposed to be doing. At all. Yesterday was spent mostly getting acquainted with my new surroundings, which is still taking some time, but I will get used to it. After I thought I might be living in the
Alvear Palace Hotel in Buenos Aires for a month a few years ago I have to admit my travel standards are pretty high (I didn't live there...just so you know), but I have acclimated! I'm sleeping on a top bunk, which is funny and difficult when you're drunk (a skill I never mastered at summer camp), but it's comfy and blankey is keeping me great company. My roommates have me pretty wigged out about pickpockets and I keep silently thanking Carlos for telling me to bring my North Face fleece down here as it has a boob pocket and you
know no one's getting near that baby. We don't even carry bags - apparently violent crime is a non-issue here in Lima, but these peeps are stealth pickpocketers, so I haven't taken my camera out, which means no fotos of anything other than the house yet.
top bunk = mine
living room / work area
again..
Anyway, last night we went to a market and drank some wine while watching a traditional Peruvian band play and an awesome, if I do say so myself, dancer show off his moves. Then we walked to a chicken place where we had the best chicken (aside from Dad's bbq chicken, no one will ever beat it) I've ever had, and then off to the fair grounds with more wine in hand to watch people celebrate El Dia de la Independencia. It wasn't as wild as we suspected, but we got drunk, so what's the diff. I opted out of late night (I'm not trying to see how much I can eat here, though 97% of my pants do have stretchy wasitbands...ie are spandex) but immediately regretted not partaking in the pollo frito insanity that returned from down the street. I do think my hips thanked me this morning though. Everyone's feeling a little off today, sick, bad sleep, hungover, etc, so we've just been chillin. We walked through the market to get some treats earlier - a tangerine and 4 liters of water for me. It's also a national holiday which means we didn't have to work, woo, though I still don't know what "work" means yet, but hopefully we'll go out again tonight to do some more exploring and see what's going on.
This is the longest post in awhile, I hope y'all read all the way down...I guess it's kind of exciting to actually have something of some relevance (I mean, other than my unbelievably interesting life) to talk about. Chau!
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