Traveling to Peru. :)

I'm writing this while sitting on the plane to Lima, somewhere over South America but it is completely dark outside the windows. A baby has been hollering its lungs out for the past two hours so it's Headphones and Blog Time™! Today has been an awesome start to my Peruvian adventure and I'm not even there yet.

I woke up at 4am and my mom drove me to Myrtle Beach to make my 8am flight to Ft. Lauderdale. It was an uneventful flight, although quite cold and difficult to sleep. But once I got to Florida at 9:30am, the weather was very pleasantly warm and with a nice beach breeze. I had a 7-hour layover, so my awesome bro Steven Littleton planned a fun day for us. Steven was amusingly and characteristically late to meet me, but I was so happy I didn't care. It was really great to see him in summer mode, relaxed and goofy. He wore two pairs of glasses to drive, haha. He had gotten lost on the way to the airport and got lost again on the way out of it. Even though he was using a GPS both times. :)

 

Pembroke Pines, where his family lives, is a beautiful residential community where the pace of life seems a lot slower and more comfortable than Ft. Lauderdale or Miami. Steven's house is lovely, with a pool and mango trees and palm trees. We relaxed at the house, had some quality fun, played with his cute dog, and listened to some beautiful music. His mom brought us Pollo Tropical, delicious chicken and Cuban beans and rice for lunch!! I wish I had eaten more before I left!

We discussed cultural faux pas that I should not commit while in Peru and then we went with his little sister to say hello to their grandma in Miami. I practiced some of my Spanish with her for a short while, and then it was time to head back to the airport. Steven's mom drove so he wouldn't get lost. :) The drive was pretty long, so we took a lot of pictures in the backseats and traded life-saving back massages. They all said goodbye to me at the airport and Steven gave me a wonderful hug. The Littleton family showed me so much hospitality in such a short period of time that I can't wait to visit again if I get the chance. Too bad I didn't get to see Kevin or Mr. Littleton this time.

The Littletons got me to the airport right on time: after waiting in a worryingly long line for security check, I made it to my plane gate with an hour to spare. I realized I had left my swaggy sweater in Steven's car, but thankfully I packed three other sweaters in my checked baggage. This flight to Lima has not been nearly as cold as the flight to Florida, thank Gaga. I have only a spaghetti-strap tank top and capris. The turbulence has been pretty fun but I think the pilot is doing it on purpose. The seats are very tiny and not very comfortable.

Once I get to Lima, I need to do the following things:

Get through customs

Meet Renzo

Exchange a bunch o' cash into Nuevo Soles

Get some food! Lima is well-known for its amazing eats for very low prices.

Sleep forever, dream in Spanish and not Japanese

2:06am, el 1 de junio

My host family is awesome!! The two parents are so nice, and I have a host brother (age 24, Renzo) and a host sister (age 13, Suzy). They are all very laid back and fun, and I am taller than all of them. :) They showed me where I'll be working, the building/complex Inppares, which is only a block or two away from the house. It seems like it will take 5 minutes to walk there! Also, both of the parents said they have worked there before, in publicity and design for the pamphlets. Amazing.

They took me out to dinner even at 11:30pm, and we ate pollo a la brasa. It was some of the best chicken I have ever had. I also got to try Inca Kola, a soda I had heard tasted like bubblegum. No, it actually tastes better than bubble gum! They taught me about the Chinese-Peruvian fusion food called Chifa that is everywhere, and taught me about which neighborhoods/districts are unsafe (Callao) and which are safe (Jesus Maria, where they live).

 

We went back to my host family's apartment, on the 16^th floor of a gated nice building. There is an elevator, thank goodness. The view from their small balcony is breathtaking, a lot like the view from my host family's place in Japan! But the buildings here are of a very different style and generally much shorter than Japanese buildings. I can't wait to see it in the light of day, but I took lots of awesome pictures tonight.  They have a cat named Reina. :)

My host family gave me my own bedroom and bathroom to use! Although I do hope we will still share them, because a bunch of Renzo's things are still in this bedroom and I think there is only one other bathroom. This is a really comfortable setup! The view is beautiful. I just need to buy some purified water and all will be golden.

I should also mention that the first thing that happened to me when I got to Peru was that an old Peruvian woman noticed I was cold and she gave me her sweater. I told her it was okay, I have several in my checked luggage and I wasn't her size, but she just gave it to me. Seems like there are some really nice people here.

I was excited to come here, but now I am REALLY excited. This place seems wonderful.