Wed 8 Sep
3am on tuesday morning came as a bit of a bump! survived though, and thanks to stu - arrived safe and sound at manchester airport. my first flight to amsterdam was great - thank you klm.
had the usual guilt pangs as i filled in the declaration, "has anybody given you anything to take with you in your luggage?" well, er... actually, a few things... but this was an exercise in faith. i trust trevor condy and les green not to give me anything illegal to take to peru! as it turns out - i was right. my faith was in faithful men.
schipol airport seemed much like all others, albeit bigger! eventually worked out that i only had a 5 minute stroll to the gate for my flight to peru - that was good.
on the plane to peru - sat next to 2 peruvians with 2 children. had a go at the lingo - said a few things - falteringly but warmed up in the end... i think. the little boy was prob. only about 1 year old or a bit more - and at times he grissled - but he was remarkably good. he stared at this gringo from time to time, wondering where i came from.
after about 3 hours on the plane, the remaining 10 hours seemed like eternity, but after a few rubbish movies and a bit of shut eye lima finally came into view. perfect touchdown and the usual applause from the passengers and we were out. during this time, i had filled in the immigration papers - no small feat as they were in spanish. i was trying to work out how to say, "they're presents for my friend in arequipa - i am not an international terrorist, honestly" - as it happens i didn't need to practicar mi espanol, porque nada person hable conmigo!! phew!
there was anthony waiting for me and we were jumping in a taxi - hurtling through the streets of lima - it reminded me a bit like being back in lagos - same sorts of buildings (lots only half built) and the usual sort of driving too. along the coast - my 1st view of el pacifico - away from the airport and to the region (el barrio) called "millaflores" where the latin link apartment was. a nice place - i will try to post some pics if possible, but at present i don't know how to get them from my camera to the laptop - my memory card is not the standard sd card.
after packing and having my 1st of many cups of tea, it was out to a restuarant where we enjoyed a superb argentian steak - yum. we were the only ones there - it was about 7.30pm. it must have been obvious that we were british!! i must be careful not to put on 2 stone whilst i'm out here. it would be very easy with all this food. then a 30 min stroll around the city - it was now about 9pm and things were just getting started. which meant it must be about time for bed for one very tired gringo.
woke at 3am - my body still thinks it's in southport. then spent the next 2 hours trying to work out what i would have said if i was stopped in the airport. i had an attempt at preaching a sermon, to prove to the officer that i really was a preacher. "i have a question for you. where will you go when you leave this world? will you go to be with God in heaven or to the other place?" (don't know the spanish for hell - it's probably "el inferno" but i wasn't sure!)
"tengo una pregunt para ti. cuando saldre esto mundo, y va a la eternidad, a donda ire usted? ire a los cielos, con el Senor? o a el otra vez?"
anyway after about 2 hours of this - i realised i wasn't getting any sleep - so i did manage to get a few hours before waking at 7am.
to cut a long story short - we strolled around milleflores for a few hours, before going to el aeropuerta, and catching a peruvian airlines flight to arequipa. all went well. had 1st view of the Andes and arrived safe and sound.
Ronny & Rocio were there to drive us home - had a good attempt at conversation - not bad. They are both well, as is Samuel. We will get more chance to see them in the coming days.
Mellie and Scooby (el pero) greeted us all enthusiastically. (Scooby was growling for a few minutes until he realised i smelt ok!! then settled in , gave greetings to Roxy from folks in southport and a lovely soup of noodles, meat, chilli, garlic etc... buen provecho!!
It's now 20:19 Arequipa time (02:19 BST) and my body (and my red eyes) are telling me it's time for bed. but i will tough it out for an hour or 2 more, so i can try to get into Arequipa time.
The plan for tomorrow :
Ronny coming round at 9am, then later we shall go to the two houses to see where teh envision team will be staying in january. i am supposed to be the health & safety officer for this trip - ha ha. after that - who knows?
Hasta Luego -
Ad
had the usual guilt pangs as i filled in the declaration, "has anybody given you anything to take with you in your luggage?" well, er... actually, a few things... but this was an exercise in faith. i trust trevor condy and les green not to give me anything illegal to take to peru! as it turns out - i was right. my faith was in faithful men.
schipol airport seemed much like all others, albeit bigger! eventually worked out that i only had a 5 minute stroll to the gate for my flight to peru - that was good.
on the plane to peru - sat next to 2 peruvians with 2 children. had a go at the lingo - said a few things - falteringly but warmed up in the end... i think. the little boy was prob. only about 1 year old or a bit more - and at times he grissled - but he was remarkably good. he stared at this gringo from time to time, wondering where i came from.
after about 3 hours on the plane, the remaining 10 hours seemed like eternity, but after a few rubbish movies and a bit of shut eye lima finally came into view. perfect touchdown and the usual applause from the passengers and we were out. during this time, i had filled in the immigration papers - no small feat as they were in spanish. i was trying to work out how to say, "they're presents for my friend in arequipa - i am not an international terrorist, honestly" - as it happens i didn't need to practicar mi espanol, porque nada person hable conmigo!! phew!
there was anthony waiting for me and we were jumping in a taxi - hurtling through the streets of lima - it reminded me a bit like being back in lagos - same sorts of buildings (lots only half built) and the usual sort of driving too. along the coast - my 1st view of el pacifico - away from the airport and to the region (el barrio) called "millaflores" where the latin link apartment was. a nice place - i will try to post some pics if possible, but at present i don't know how to get them from my camera to the laptop - my memory card is not the standard sd card.
after packing and having my 1st of many cups of tea, it was out to a restuarant where we enjoyed a superb argentian steak - yum. we were the only ones there - it was about 7.30pm. it must have been obvious that we were british!! i must be careful not to put on 2 stone whilst i'm out here. it would be very easy with all this food. then a 30 min stroll around the city - it was now about 9pm and things were just getting started. which meant it must be about time for bed for one very tired gringo.
woke at 3am - my body still thinks it's in southport. then spent the next 2 hours trying to work out what i would have said if i was stopped in the airport. i had an attempt at preaching a sermon, to prove to the officer that i really was a preacher. "i have a question for you. where will you go when you leave this world? will you go to be with God in heaven or to the other place?" (don't know the spanish for hell - it's probably "el inferno" but i wasn't sure!)
"tengo una pregunt para ti. cuando saldre esto mundo, y va a la eternidad, a donda ire usted? ire a los cielos, con el Senor? o a el otra vez?"
anyway after about 2 hours of this - i realised i wasn't getting any sleep - so i did manage to get a few hours before waking at 7am.
to cut a long story short - we strolled around milleflores for a few hours, before going to el aeropuerta, and catching a peruvian airlines flight to arequipa. all went well. had 1st view of the Andes and arrived safe and sound.
Ronny & Rocio were there to drive us home - had a good attempt at conversation - not bad. They are both well, as is Samuel. We will get more chance to see them in the coming days.
Mellie and Scooby (el pero) greeted us all enthusiastically. (Scooby was growling for a few minutes until he realised i smelt ok!! then settled in , gave greetings to Roxy from folks in southport and a lovely soup of noodles, meat, chilli, garlic etc... buen provecho!!
It's now 20:19 Arequipa time (02:19 BST) and my body (and my red eyes) are telling me it's time for bed. but i will tough it out for an hour or 2 more, so i can try to get into Arequipa time.
The plan for tomorrow :
Ronny coming round at 9am, then later we shall go to the two houses to see where teh envision team will be staying in january. i am supposed to be the health & safety officer for this trip - ha ha. after that - who knows?
Hasta Luego -
Ad
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