Arrived!

I've arrived! Right now I'm in my new home for the summer (I have wireless! Yay!), so I think it's time for an update.

Travels yesterday: My plane was delayed from Orlando to Miami, and then in Miami we waited on the plane for a good two hours because of the rain/lightning, before we could take off. In this time I read American Airline's NEXOS Latin American magazine, about globalization, new music, and Brasil (all in Spanish!), and made intermittent small talk with my seat-mate (on an EIGHT-seat-across plane, hugest I've ever flown on), whose name I (much later) learned was Doug.

I soon realized that Americans on planes to South America must be at least marginally interesting, so I began conversing with said seat-mate, and was soon fascinated by his life. He must've been in his mid-to-late-30's, and was visiting his Peruvian girlfriend in Lima. He lived in Miami, absolutely loved the Latin culture, and had traveled a TON, all over Latin America, or so it seemed to me. Colombia, Mexico, Venezuela, Peru--and then Germany and some other places. He'd planned on law school after college, then got a summer job at Medieval Times Chicago, fell in love with acting, and then went to Hollywood for two years--a lifestyle, he recounted, that he would not recommend, though it was undoubtedly fascinating and quite fun. After conversing with my new friend Doug, I read a little bit of Walden (the foreword), ate dinner, slept a little bit, and continued to alternately read and chat.

When I arrived, it was already 11:30 or so, Peru time, and the customs line was ridiculous. That took another half hour at least, until I finally got my luggage, pressed the exit button (you get green-GO-or red-BAG CHECK-randomly), got green, and proceeded to the lobby area where about a hundred Peruvians waited behind a rope, all visually searching the crowd and holding up hand-made signs or white-boards with names on them. Doug had warned me that this was a little overwhelming, and he was right. I started walking slowly, looking at the signs one-by-one, trying to navigate the travelers while rolling my suitcases behind me, attempting not to look too too lost, probably in vain. The little traveler-holding-area was a square shape, so I went around and looked at all of them, and could not find my name. I was mildly freaking out on the inside, so I went off to a little cafe area so that I could call my mentor, where I was immediately accosted by the cafe-guy with a menu. I turned him down, told him I'd only be a minute, and thankfully my call went through and I found Dr. S.

On the drive to my new home, he told me I'd speak Spanish with everyone else but only English to him, since he needed to practice. Fine with me! The music on the radio was American, which was funny to me, since here I am in a Peruvian car, being shown around the different areas of Lima ("this is Callao, this is San Isidro, this is San Borja..."), with "Poker Face," some Blink-182 song, and "Get Low," in the background.

We arrived, and it was around 1 AM already, so my homecoming was short and sweet; I met my host parents, Dr. P and Sra. P, was shown to my room, shown where the bathroom was, told that they wanted me to feel completely at home here, that I should ask for whatever, whatever I needed, and that the other people in the house were Dr. P's mom ("Abuela") and their two kids, a 15-year-old high-school-4th-year girl (W), and a 19-year-old medical student boy (Jr.). Then they told me that tomorrow I should sleep in, rest, and that they'd see me later on.

Last night was really the first time it hit me, the whole OMG-I'm-in-Peru feeling. All I could think was, This is crazy.

This morning I woke up, met the Abuela and the girl who works here (it feels strange to call her a maid, maybe housekeeper?), who's 20 and very sweet. She asked me what I wanted for breakfast (such a strange feeling, being waited on, and by a girl my age), and after I showered I ate, chatted with her for a bit, and then she helped me unpack and put my clothes in the closet/drawers. I got a call from E, Dr. S's sister, who's going to be like my second mom here, asking what I wanted to do today, and she arranged for Dr. S to pick me up after he's done at the hospital so we can go paseando (visiting) around the area. I'll be getting my Peruvian cell phone then, and probably learning more about what my day-to-day life will be like. I've met the daughter, W, and the son, Jr., and so now I'm just at the dining room table typing across from W. I'm not sure what else to do.

Pues, hasta la proxima!
Nicole