CMH-MIA-LIM.... Barranco is where I be! ;)

Greetings everyone!!!! :))

I'll just start w/ saying if the beginning of this trip is any indication to the rest of my journey, it's going to be one heck of a ride!!! LOL I almost missed my flight from Columbus to Miami... thank GOD for those lil guys in luggage carts!!! I SO owe him... we were flying through the terminal and yes, obviously I made it! hahaha Nothing like an adrenaline rush in the morning... I think I thrive on stress?! ugh. Then in Miami, we had to sit on the runway for 3 hours.... and after massive texting love ones and friends.. my phone died. :( So no conversation w/ my closest, but I was so blessed to have Senora Vega next to me... the chattiest, most lovely creature I have ever met and while no kin to my dear friend Percy, I had to laugh how it feels God has touched this trip in so many ways... but more on that later. :) Then on to my immigration experience where a man from Columbia straight heckled the officer 'checking' us all in for 20 minutes b/c he was SO slow. Seriously, it did take forever, but the man was met w/ giggles, dirty looks and then a woman shouting at him, 'seeeeeeenor!!! por favor! silcencio!' ahhahaha The immigration officer just smirked at the guy and all went quiet again, but not before he had caused quite the clamor amongst my fellow weary travelers. ahahaha

For now, I am jotting whatever I can as quickly as possible as I need to gather my things from my current 'dormitory' style room and go to my personal bedroom in the B n B I am at. Yes, I arrived last night at 2am- Lima time (which btw is only 1hr difference from the States)- only to discover that my bed had been given away as my plane was very late indeed! ahahahha :( What can you do?? I am just rolling w/ it at this point on all fronts... slowly but surely, I have made it where I need to go and all I can say, life is just different here, as one prolly would imagine anyway, eh? :) First and foremost- LOVE LOVE LOVE the submersion experience of stepping into another world and it being so different from everything you know... not just a language, which is fun in of itself... as it really tests the brain and my Spanish (esp since my friend doesn't speak a whole lot of English- so we both work our broken verbal skills equally!! ahhaha) but the people, the culture. So warm, open, inviting and FUN! Strangers smile more than anywhere I've ever known... then again, maybe it's the fact that I am a gringa?? LOL Es possible. ;) Bars and restaraunts stay open waaaaaaaaaaaaaay late- 6am to be exact! I was in a bar at 4:30 am kids and walking down the road w/ a beer in hand to-boot! lol No worries... as this leg of my journey I am with my friend Orlando, so I am safe, and it will be my only moment of partying this week, but it WAS fun!

Lima, and more specifically where I was last night, Barranco is like NYC. Very busy, very loud, very crazy and people evvvvvvvvvvvvvvverywhere!!!! Streets flood w/ people- guys and girls curled up in an embrace; guys shouting at one another; girls pointing out this guy and that guy (and ladies!!! omg. they have every reason to--- ps. I may not come back!! ahahaha) ... and laughter fills the road- well that and about 20 cars packed into a "road" that looks like an alley!! lol BTW- there are NO ROAD RULES here, sure they prolly have 'laws' just like us, but they certainly are not very strict about how they are regulated. Ever seen that video from India where all the cars go and go and go and go and they look as if they will smash into each other by inches????? YUP> that's here too! aahahhaha They do have traffic signals, but when they are flashing- you don't stop- you GOOOOO! Cars switch lanes, mid lane and w/ no signal, just the constant sounding of their horns... beep, beep, beep..... switch!!! LOL Literally, cars drive so close to one another in the centro that you could reach out your window and tap the next car! seriously. lol Crazy how all I could was laugh when I probably should have been gasping for my life! It's just that crazy. :))

Anyway, just some moments I have experienced thus far in the beginning of my journey... I am off to explore Barranco- which is a Bohemian district in Lima- very old, very cool!!! Pics to come. and then Lima, where my friend guarantees me the view of Lima that is amazing! Cannot wait! :)