Basically the last entry was interrupted by the boarding of the plane. That’s why it ended so abruptly. See, in Philadelphia, the flight was at 6:35pm. They started boarding at 6:35pm. I figured that the time that was written on the ticket was basically the boarding time. Well, I learned that it changes from airport to airport. I was chilling in Miami International Airport writing my little blog entry while watching One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest in the background when all of a sudden, I heard that a plane was boarding for Lima, Peru with my flight number. I hurried up right quick, packed everything away, and chucked the drink that I wasn’t quite finished with. It was a fountain soda and I wanted more since I paid basically $10 for chicken fingers, crinkle fries, and this drink. The chicken fingers were compromised, which is to say they were so bad, but you really could tell that they had potential which was disappointing. The crinkle fries were perfect, but I couldn’t find ketchup. So I had this drink, and I was only on my second refill and it was really only about 11:15pm with the time on my ticket saying 11:50pm. I was mad chilling thinking I at least had some time. No. I didn’t. All of a sudden they were calling Group 4 to board. Ooops. Point of the story is that I almost missed the plane to Lima.
Now to the actually flight, yes? I had a window seat, which was cool. The first flight from Philly to Miami I also had a window seat, but there were a bunch of empty seats in the back, so I picked up one of those about halfway through the flight. I was sitting next to a friendly older couple. The lady jokingly told me when I first got on, “And you can’t get up and use the bathroom now.” Since I had the window seat. I was frightened to ask when I had to pee, so I had to wait for her to get up. She seemed all nervous to be flying in the first place with her hand on her husband’s leg or in his hand. It made me want to be sitting next to my Ardilla although I wasn’t nearly as frightened as her.
However, the flight from Miami to Lima, I wasn’t as fortunate. Apparently there was another flight the night before that had been cancelled so this one was PACKED. I mean, people didn’t have places to put their carry-ons and their things and everything, and some people were getting kind of salty. Understandable since it was like midnight basically. I had a window seat again, and lucky for me, a spot in the overhead compartment to put my carry-on. I was sitting next to a Peruvian lady and next to her was an American older woman. I was straight chilling until I had to pee at like 3:00 in the morning. The other two ladies were passed out asleep. Yeah, I had to wake them up. The first attempt proved fruitless; I just kind of tapped the Peruvian lady. She didn’t wake up. Then she was turning or moving or something, and I caught her like that and woke her up. I had to squeeze by her. Of course that went well, and I wasn’t all up on her AT ALL. When I came back, it was a little bit better since the American lady also decided to go back to the bathroom (I guess since she was awake). I was a tad more graceful when I was passing the Peruvian lady but not by much. I slept for a couple of hours as we went from Miami to Lima, but I reached a point where I just couldn’t anymore.
By the time I reached Lima, I was dog tired and basically just so confused. When I’m in a situation like that, I just walk. I follow someone else and see where they go. I tried to read the signs and make sense of them, but I just wasn’t even sure where I was trying to go. My plan worked out fairly well. I went to migration first and turned in this little document that we had been given on the plane. I spoke with the guy to whom I gave my document, and he was the first person I spoke Spanish with in Peru. Our conversation? He was sleepy; so was I. And he told me not to lose the little paper that he gave me. I went to go get my luggage and was mad confused what to do next. I was super lucky and met a girl who studies in New York but has family in Lima (and is Peruvian) and who spoke perfect English. I asked her what to do, and she basically gave me the run down. I had to collect my luggage, go press a random button (in customs or something to determine if they were going to check my bag or not…they didn’t since I got a green light), and check in with the airline. It all seemed so simple enough. But I’m half-dumb sometimes and since I was so tired, this characteristic was a little bit exacerbated. I knew at one point that I was flying Lan Chile from Lima to Cuzco, but for some reason when I read my itinerary this time, I thought I was still on American Airlines. Hence, I didn’t know which to go to in order to check in. I asked some random guy and then another person and was lead to Lan Chile. The person behind the counter said, “Buenos dios,” to which I replied the same and therefore giving him the impression that of course I am a fluent Spanish speaker. I am not. He asked me for something in Spanish to which I just returned a puzzled look and a “Que?” He realized that maybe English would be better. He asked me if I spoke Spanish or English. I said, “I can speak Spanish, but just not right now.”
I was super duper tired since it was only about 4:30ish in the morning. I kept going and eventually found my departure gate, Gate 13. By this time, my hands kind of hurt from carrying my carry-on from which I have learned that wheels are our friends. I got on the plane, and there was basically nobody else on it. I was so pleased. I waited for everyone to board, and I switched to a different seat where I had all three seats to myself. I rested my head on the side of the plane and passed out. I don’t even remember taking off. At one point I had to have taken off my seatbelt, and I fell asleep across the seats. I awoke to a male flight attendant telling me, “Disculpa.” I had to put my belt back on since we were almost in Cuzco. The view of the mountains was jaw-dropping, breath-taking, however you want to describe it. It was awesome. I’ve never seen anything like it that close.
I was super duper tired since it was only about 4:30ish in the morning. I kept going and eventually found my departure gate, Gate 13. By this time, my hands kind of hurt from carrying my carry-on from which I have learned that wheels are our friends. I got on the plane, and there was basically nobody else on it. I was so pleased. I waited for everyone to board, and I switched to a different seat where I had all three seats to myself. I rested my head on the side of the plane and passed out. I don’t even remember taking off. At one point I had to have taken off my seatbelt, and I fell asleep across the seats. I awoke to a male flight attendant telling me, “Disculpa.” I had to put my belt back on since we were almost in Cuzco. The view of the mountains was jaw-dropping, breath-taking, however you want to describe it. It was awesome. I’ve never seen anything like it that close.
I got to Cuzco airport, and it was cold. I was waiting for my luggage, and a person offered to help me with it. He was talking about my Osito, and I told him that his name was Osito, but I’m not sure he understood what I was trying to say. When I met Chavu (my host mama), I had to give him a tip. He wanted me to give him so much more, but Chavu gave him 2 nuevo soles and told him to leave. He was not happy with this. We took a taxi to our house which is an apartment on the second floor but is very well kept. In the taxi, we were trying to communicate, but it was a little bit difficult. She commented on how I spoke Castellano but how we’re going to learn to understand each other. I really like her. She’s super sweet; you can tell she’s sweet but also firm and wise at the same time.
I met two of her daughters when we got to the house. Mariella, who lives on the fourth floor of the same building, and Larissa who lives a little bit away from here. I really like Mariella. She’s way cool. She is renting out a room, and the roomer was coming today, but she still didn’t have the room ready. I feel like I’m in part like her – last minute kind of person but just kind of goes with things, which is in part why I like her. We went looking for a dresser for the room, so I got to see a little bit of the city. It’s dirty, and I absolutely love it. It reminds me a little of Athens with its dirtiness, but it has its own character as well.
Today I ate chicken cooked a certain way – I think it was called marapela – but I can never be certain. And there was rice and salad too. There was also this kind of tea se llama mate de coca. Also a lemonade that tasted banging. I’m not really a lemonade person, but apparently it was just water, lemon, and sugar. Oh, can we pause and talk about something for a minute? When I first came, Chavu me pregunto si quise jugo o coca. Yo dije jugo. La cocinera brought out fruit from the fridge and literally just squeezed out some fresh juice. Like, ok? I wasn’t expecting that, but thanks!
I met Chavu’s friend and she also has an American girl named Margaret. Way cool girl. She’s a bit more eclectic than I am, but she’s a buena onda. She’s going to study at the same place as me. I’m excited. We’re going to start speaking in just Spanish tomorrow. Today we were too tired. But we both like it, so it should be good. She’s from Maryland (near D.C.), but goes to school in Florida (near Tampa). It’s some small liberal arts school. She’s been to Europe and studied in London and Costa Rica too. She likes dancing, and I’m going to try to teach her the little bit of basic bachata that I know. We’re gonna be good friends. She’s definitely my first friend so that counts for something. We both love being here and are already in love with the city. It’s gonna be good.
Ok, so I need to sleep. If I missed things, I’ll try to add them later. ::)
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