My Arrival in Lima

Well, here it begins! I hope this will be as exciting of a blog for you all as this trip is for me.

I'm currently at my hostel in the Barranco district of Lima, Peru, and it pleasantly surprised me by having computers with internet access (which are free to use). I doubt that most of the hostels that I stay at will.

Having just arrived, I've got some exploring to do, so I'll keep this semi-short. I did want to send something out, so that you all wouldn't worry!

I flew from San Francisco to Miami yesterday afternoon, and then had a red-eye flight from Miami to Lima. Waiting for the flight in Miami, and surrounded by South Americans all speaking Spanish (which I can more or less, but mostly less, understand), I stood out as the gringo. There was, however, another. I noticed her in the boarding line initially because she happened to have the exact same lime green day-pack from REI that I had. It was comforting to see that someone else was in the same boat as me - the lime green day-pack gringo boat.

As fate would have it, my seat would place me next to a gentlemen, who asked me if I would mind switching seats with his wife so that they could sit together. And that switch would put me sitting next to that very lime green day-pack gringo! So we talked about traveling on the way over, and about what it was like to stick out like a sore thumb, and to be a little intimidated by the idea of getting off of a plane in a foreign country, and things like that. This discussion, also, was comforting because I discovered that she's been to Latin America before by herself knowing less Spanish than me and been just fine.

I would describe my mood upon arriving in Lima as: tired. I know I was probably supposed to say something transcendental about what it was like to step out courageously into the unknown, and be enriched by the experience, but it was 4AM, and I was just tired. One thing I couldn't help but notice, however, was that there were two other white individuals with lime green REI day-packs in addition to their larger backpacking backpacks. It was like we were all trying to be obvious.

Anyhow, since I had to wait around to be able to check into the hostel that I had reservations at, I took a nap in the lounge. I followed the tradition set by a number of people around me and laid across a row of chairs, and got a good 4 hours of sleep in before me and my friends were woken up by a security guard. That's right, I've already been reprimanded by a security guard. It was the first thing I did.

After that, I found my way around the airport - figured out how to get money, use the payphones to call my hostel, and things like that. I ordered, embarrassingly enough, an "American Coffee" for what was probably too much money - I'm in transition, okay? Shortly after 10, I got myself a shuttle to my hostel, and got my first taste of what driving is like in Lima. In a few words: a little crazy.

As for the moment, like I said before, I'm ready to go check things out. I haven't taken any pictures yet, but you can expect them to be forthcoming.

Adios,
Esteban