The last two months before we left for Peru was a whirlwind with selling the house, finding homes for our things, most of which we gave away, participating in training at the AIM base in Georgia, selling Robert’s business, finalizing support raising and endless small details that need to be done before you leave for a new country.
The final day was the craziest with closing our storage shed, visiting with friends who stopped by to say goodbye and trying to pack everything we had left still in the Moger’s home.
Only about a third of what we had would fit into those suitcases and not go over the 50 pound limit.
We did bring one extra one which we had to pay $80 to transport.
The rest of the things were put in boxes and placed under Harvey and Carol’s ping pong table to be moved to friend’s basements.
With no time for sleep that night, we got ready to leave for the airport at 4:30 for a flight at 6:20 a.m.
With long lines at the ticket counter and even longer lines at the security line, we were the last to get onto the plane before departure.
We had layovers in DC and Atlanta GA with an estimated arrival time of 11:45 p.m. in Lima, Peru.
We boarded the full large 767 plane and taxied to the runway.
The captain said there was a problem with a door and we’d need to return to the terminal.
Once that was repaired, we taxied again then had more problems, this time electrical.
We returned the third time to wait for a repairman when the captain instructed the passengers to deplane.
The shortened version is that we did finally take off in the same place to arrive in Peru 5+ hours late.
Our Peruvian contact, Rick Mavila, met us at the airport after a short 2 hours of sleep and brought us to his home.
He had taken a taxi to the airport and got us a van to fit the four of us, 7 suitcases and 5 carry-ons.
After being assigned our rooms, Robert went to sleep and Ricky brought me to the grocery store to see how to purchase food.
It was similar to stores in the US but everything is in Spanish and anything from the US is very expensive.
I’ve made 2 dinners now and found it a big challenge to find the ingredients I need.
I’m hoping that I will find someone who will teach me how to cook Peruvian.
Tonight I made beef stew and Ricky added Aji Rocoto (hot pepper sauce) to it.
It was a definite improvement to the flavor.
Since it was a local voting day, Ricky also showed us how they vote in Peru. It is mandatory to vote here or you are fined. We will start our search for a place to rent tomorrow. Nothing is open on voting day. In fact, it is illegal to have any alcohol 48 hours before the voting begins and throughout the day. We have a lot to learn here.
