Peru, for a moment

We're sitting in the airport in Lima, Peru.  Exhausted.  Excited.  A little in shock, I think.  At least I am.  I know I've said this probably 100 times, but I can't believe we're finally doing this!  Hubster and I have been talking about this trip, in theoretical terms, for over a year.  Wow.

So, this morning we dropped off our cars at Vike's house.  Before leaving them, Peter (our nephew, almost 3) told me he'd miss me.  :)  I have SUCH a soft spot for those boys and I can't wait to live so close next year.  

We got to DCA and our flight was about 30 minutes delayed but other than that went off without a hitch.  We made it to Miami in just under 2.5 hours on a pretty smooth flight.  

For those of you who don't know, I don't enjoy flying.  I used to.  And then 9/11 happened and I went skydiving and I flew directly over Manhattan all within a few months.  I'm not sure if it was some combination of these events or what, but my imagination goes wild now when I fly.  It's not good.  I pray (a lot sometimes), read, watch movies or whatever I can to distract myself.  So, all in all, the trip to Miami was smooth and therefore good.  

We arrived in Miami with less than an hour to make our connection to Lima.  Not a big deal, right?  Ha.  No.  We ended up at the wrong gate and when we figured it out, had to run (bum knees and all) across the airport.  Plus it was hot and we had 3 layers of clothes on each.  Add to that the ever present inability of Latinos to understand this American's need to be on time and we have a recipe for disaster.  At the LAN counter, we had to recheck in (we had originally received all of our boarding passes in DC, but apparently that didn't count for much) and then make it through security.  

Here's where the bump in the sweaty road came for Los Vicentes.  I had one set of boarding passes - for the Lima to Buenos Aires leg.  Hubster had the ones for Miami to Lima, the ones we needed.  Well, the security guard grabbed the ones I was holding from my hands and when I told him those weren't the right ones, he got REALLY pissed and said "well miss, if you want to make your plane, you'd best do what I want."  Grrrrr.  I almost hit a 40+ balding sweaty man in the Miami airport.  It's a good thing Hubster was there to step in.  Anyway, we eventually made it with time (and a few mumbled curses) to spare.  

FYI, LAN airlines is GREAT. We had a fantastic beef meal, free wine, and loads of blockbuster movies to choose from.  I watched Twilight and Four Christmases then played some games. Pretty cool.  And really good for someone who needs distraction.  There wasn't a ton of turbulence, but enough to make my stomach churn.  Ugh.  

Now that we've had a beer and an empanda in the airport, we're just hanging out waiting for the next (and final!) flight.  I'm going to try and sleep on the plane some so I'm not completely out of commission when we get into BA tomorrow morning.  

Have I told you how excited I am????? :)  

Also, we're happy to take bets on whether or not our luggage arrives with us tomorrow.  My vote is no.  It's the Vicente way!

Before I go, I have to tell you all the shock of the trip so far.  I've never been to Peru, so I have no idea how progressive they are as a society.  However, South America is not known for its environmental consciousness; so when we walked into the terminal here in Lima and I saw recycling (bottles, cans and paper!) containers.  Just have to say WAY TO GO PERU!!  Do you think Argentina has changed that much in the last year and 3 months?  I think I'll not bet on this one.

Ciao todos!!  Hasta luego!