To say that today has been a long day would be an understatement. I woke up at 4:30 am to catch my flight, and went to Houston, then San Jose, Costa Rica, and finally to Lima. I arrived in Houston at about 7:30, and I laughed when I saw a restaurant advertising margaritas at that hour. Maybe people are still partying from the night before, who knows.
When I arrived in San Jose, I had several hours to kill. Time to kill is the worst because I have a mind that likes to wander, and it started to think about all the Spanish I didn't know and everything that I hadn't planned. I began to doubt this trip and basically everything I had planned, and wanted to go back home and sleep and watch TV instead. The fact that I basically have no itinerary did not help much.
When it came time to board the plan to Lima, I found that my seat was between an elderly couple that spoke only Spanish. When I gestured that my seat was the one between them, they made no moves (I assumed they would rather sit together, but I guess not). If you've ever sat between two people who know each other but don't know you, you can probably sympathize with the awkwardness throughout the flight. Add on to that, I tried to tell the flight attendant I wanted "jugo de manzana" and he kind of chuckled and spoke English to me. Well, so much for my confidence there. One of the immigration forms they gave me was completely in Spanish too, and that was just. It was bad.
But then I walked out of the airport and met my taxi driver, who was very nice. He spoke some English, and he talked a little about Peru, the ocean, and Lima. There was a lot that I couldn't say, but I was surprised that I got by pretty well, including lying about being married. I've read that it's the smart thing to do as a solo woman.
When I arrived at the place I had booked on AirBnb, I was comforted even more. Tess and Antonio were sweet, helpful, and understanding. They left me alone, gave me wifi, and showed that they were willing to help me out and had genuine interest in making my stay a good one. On the night of day 1, I'm excited! Short blog post is due to long, long day, but I'll include pictures and be more descriptive of my subsequent days.
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