Friday August 14 - Arrival in Peru - Es Tiempo Para Creer y Hablar En Espanol

So the difference between Cape Town and Peru pretty much became evident before I ever got out of Miami. Everybody is speaking Spanish and it is time for me to try and flip a switch in my head. But I am not very good with Spanish, probably evident from the blog title, so this is going to be a bit difficult for me and a learning experience.

The flight with American from Miami to Lima had to be one of the worst ones I have ever been on. We left late; the plane was crowded and not all that large for a six hour international flight; it was a free for all getting your seats; and the stewardess staff was hands down the worst. Mind you that the entire trip from Cape Town to Urubamba was a total of 51 hours, so I was a little tired and not as easy going a mood at this point, but they were amazingly bad and I would be embarrassed if I were American.

For starters they piled us into a standard size 757 plane that Southwest uses domestically, OK but not for a six hour flight in my opinion. Everything else I had been on had been a Boeing 777 or similar. Nobody listened to the boarding instructions so that was a total free for all, and American likes to board me last so I am lucky I was able to find a place to stow my bag, but only after moving some things around. Then we were late getting out because there was a piece of the fuselage that was “torn off.” The pilot said it was no big deal but we had to get special permission to fly and were waiting on paperwork. I might have put it another way considering we were going to be up six hours and over the water much of the time. And the stewardess staff was hands down the worst. They literally ignored you if you asked for something. Food service was hit and miss, they skipped rows, and after they did not pick up the trash. Mostly they sat in the back, two rows behind me, chatting all the time, and were in general surly and disorganized. They also did not bother to tell us we were landing when we got to Lima so the only way I knew was the change in sounds. I know that U.S. carriers don’t tend to be as good as foreign ones but this really took it to a new level. I am just glad that my only legs with American were London to Miami and Miami to Lima. I am done with them for the rest of my trip.

There is not much for me to say about Lima. I did not get out of the airport until 11:30 p.m. so by the times I got through customs I went straight to the hotel. I got up at 3:00 to return to the airport for a 5:00 flight that was canceled when I got there. So I did not really see anything of the city but they do have a nice airport. Good since I had an unexpected extra 5 hours in it. They also cut the crusts off of the bread on your sandwiches there.

The flight into Cusco was fine and we could see the mountains poking up over the cloud tops as we flew over. The plain started to bank and we seemed too literally cork screw into the city, turning left, then straight, left, straight, left, and so on. The airport itself is just a narrow strip right in the middle of the city and the buildings are built right up to the airport grounds. Think of it like turning Central Park in New York into an airport, but narrower.

I got into Cusco about seven hours behind schedule but Projects Abroad was there waiting and off we went. The time to see the city and get things like a phone and hair cut were lost in the delay and we had to get to the main office over in Urubamba. City traffic in Cusco was crazy and cars are everywhere. And it is very normal to just start passing cars that are stopped in front of you using the opposite lane of traffic. Then you have to force yourself back into the line of cars that are none too keen on you passing them when a car comes from the opposite direction. It was pretty common and I saw busses, cars and trucks all doing this trying to get out of Cusco.

In the way out I got the five rules to remember in Peru;

1. Don’t drink the water from the tap it will make you sick, Boiled or bottled water only.

2. Be careful eating fresh salads because they may have been washed from the tap, so best to avoid them

3. Don’t pet the dogs on the street, they tend to be territorial and not so nice. If you get bit it means Rabies shots.

4. Don’t flush the toilet paper down the bowl, it goes into a trash can as it will clog up the sewers.

5. Take your card out of the ATM before you take your money as they will suck it back in for security reasons and you can’t get it back when this happens.

Projects Abroad is based in Urubamba, about a 1-1/2 hour drive away. It is a relatively small city from what I have seen of it thus far, tucked into a valley between mountains. It is on a river but I have not seen it yet.

My host family seems very nice but they speak no English! So I think this is going to be rough for the first few weeks as I can hear conversations going on but have no idea what is being said. Fortunately my roommate, a guy named Ian form Switzerland, has been here two weeks already and does speak Spanish well so I can ask him what is going on when needed. There are three kids here, one in high school, one middle school, and a 5-year-old. And I learned very quickly the 5-year-old gets into everything and in the first 30 minutes he found my cell phones and wanted to play games on them. So I’m keeping my electronics hidden in my sox and underwear. I’m not worried about him or anybody else taking them, but he is five so I am being realistic.

Time to take a deep breath, as deep as I can right now at around 7,000 feet, and get ready for this. I wanted to be challenged on this trip and I am getting what I asked for.