Arrival and first day

Well we have arrived. Our plane was classically late and customs, while organized, were a bit of a drag, though everything seems to move slowly when you have been trapped in the waiting rooms of airports and airplane seats. We finally receieved our much-coveted ¨Peru¨stamp in our passports and proceded to baggage claim. There we found that Jordan´s tent had mysteriously dissappeared from his pack, although no harm or mangling of the straps that had secured it was evident, the tent was gone none the less. Dissappointed, but determinted we proceeded to exchange our American dollars for Peruvian soles and proceeded through customs without incident. By now it was 1 am and we were glad to have booked a driver from our hostal to meet us at the airport. The wonderful guy had waited since our intended arrival time of 10:30pm, and was now just as tired as we were, but openly shared about Lima as we drove through the abandoned streets. The hostal was everything the website had presented it to be (surprisingly enough) and we found ourselves in a maze of dormitory-style rooms created from an old mansion. With an internet cafe on the first floor and a restaurant on the 3rd, with lots of interesting and informative people inbetween, we had found a winner. Jordan and I were both glad to brush our teeth, and go to bed with the promise of breakfast with Sophie in the morning.

The morning dawned without the sun, but with a healthy amount of brick dropping, or something of the like. We were both awakened by what sounded like bricks falling through the ceiling and hitting the tile floor with resounding sounds. Though the hour was decent, what a way to wake up!!!! We brushed it off and got dressed, and went to meet Sophie. SOOOO great to see her and hear of what her 2 days in Lima have held for her. After breakfast we set out to see the city, which although it is grand in size and population (around 9 million) is rather boring apart from its many plazas. We journied to Miraflores, the newer outer part of town that is right on the beach, or on the cliffs above the beach. We wandered around there and saw a great skate park and BMX track right on the beach, had a marvelous 3 course meal for $1.50 and then took the long and arduous journey by bus back to our part of town. During our bus ride we met a guy named Lorenzo who was 21 and studying English at a local university. We were unsure of where to get off the bus and he gladly guided us back to Plaza de las Armas, which is 4 blocks from our hostel. The plaza was blocked off by police barricades due to protest demonstrations due to a visit from the president. The country is in a bit of healthy turmoil as elections come up on June 4, in Cusco. If one party wins there will be war with Chile to reclaim previously lost territory and settle old grudges. Due to the proximity of the elections and the circumstances of a winning party the police went to extreme measures to secure the Presidential palace which is in the Plaza de las Armas.

Upon returning to the hostel Sophie, Jordan and I sat down and began to roughly sketch out our trip, since we are done with Lima and ready to move on. What began as a rough sketch became an outline, since it takes so much longer to travel between destinations here due to road conditions. With the advice and encouragement of John, one of our fellow travelers we planned a jungle expedition as well as visiting some national parks and such(more on those soon!). We bit off a bit more than we can handle and realized a detailed trip schedule will be necessary if we intend on reaching Costa Rica by the end of June. Not to be pressured or worried, but to fulfill one of our main goals, which is to attend Spanish language school and improve our spanish.

The city is okay, but I would rather see the country and the wildness of the untamed jungles. The people here, though in a city, seldom speak English, which is both challenging and refreshing, though sometimes frustrating when you can´t communicate well. Challenging and and refeshing though because it is forcing us to remember and improve our spanish speaking skills daily, and gives a true authentic feel, rather than the mexican spanish speaking thing in baja. All in all, its been a great start, apart from the missing tent, which we hope to soon recover. Tomorrow we depart from Lima to the south to see ¨Poor Man´s Galapagos Islands of Peru¨ whose names I can´t remember. Buenos noches.