My apologies for not getting here earlier, my biggest blogger fail is consistency I swear but life happens and it just isn't always possible. Besides I am just not that person that can manage to blog ahead of time and just sign on and hit post.. sometimes.. but not often.
My life is still looking like this...
Sadly at this point I am still not feeling better, half way through the day I feel like I could go to bed for the night! Today although I seem to no longer have a fever I am definitely suffering from shortness of breath going upstairs causes me to feel like I just ran a 5K. I think its one of those things that really just needs to run its course, I am trying to get as much rest as I can and take as much as possible of all of the above pictured! Maybe tomorrow will be a better day.
Last night I heard from Jason that the deck was a no go! The city declined out proposal on account of drainage in the back yard, I think its crap to be honest.. its our freakin' yard and our drainage.. they should basically mind their own business. So last night Jason was FURIOUS and we were selling the house, tonight we were in a little better way... at this point I think we are going to go with a different design of a very similar size and it should not effect the drainage in any way, we will see how that goes. If it is approved and the builder is telling us there shouldn't be a problem then building will commence on Monday!
Today we had the gentlemen come in and deal with the door frames we were having issues with and the alarm company come (they didn't make it yesterday) and replaced out faulty motion detector therefore I am hoping we will no longer have any issues with that.
So I promised to start my Peru trip recap today and truthfully I didn't think it was going to happen, I really have missed being around here and sharing everything with you guys but feeling crappy the last couple of days the idea of sitting here and having to do a lot of thinking hasn't seemed too appealing! Having said that I promised and therefore I am here! I thought I would at least stop by and detail my actual day of travel there and the likes and dislikes I experienced while there. I will say that I absolutely loved my time there, it was an amazing experience that I am so grateful for, but it is still another country, a third world country and I stand by my original opinion that it is a place to visit and not live.. at least not for me.
As I mentioned before leaving Jason had already been in Peru for a week before I arrived and he was absolutely HATING it!! I did not let that give me a preconceived notion before arriving myself and was absolutely anxious to arrive. I was not however looking forward to the actual trip, I naturally did not get much sleep the night before and was up super early to get myself ready and the house ready before I left. The airport taxi showed up 40 minutes early and so I rushed out the door. Everything in Raleigh was simple and easy and I had enough time to visit my favorite Raleigh airport used book store before heading to my gate with a much needed Starbucks.
My flight from Raleigh to Fort Lauderdale was crappy if I remember quickly and although some people love it I don't particularly care for flying into Florida and being over the ocean...umm.. no thanks! This was my first time at the Fort Lauderdale airport and terminal 3 is a hole! I felt like the overall place was ghetto, it was dirty and there was absolutely NOTHING there. Your options to eat were extremely limited, what was advertised did not exist. When it was time to board my flight to Lima chaos ensued! I was honestly shocked by the lack of organization that existed when it was time to board the flight, nothing being said over the intercom was in English! I understand that we were going to a predominantly Spanish speaking country but we were still in America! They did not board the plane by zone or anything people just bombarded the entrance to the gate and then the jetway to the plane.. it was madness.
When Jason booked my ticket he booked for me to have one of the seats with extra leg room which was fantastic. Besides the fact that the boarding was a mess I will say that flying with JetBlue was a fantastic experience.. we fly a decent amount and JetBlue is by far the most enjoyable experience. Anyways back to the spacious seats! Well not only did I have a great seat with lots of room the seat in the middle of myself and the person on the aisle was empty... haha let me tell you about the person on the aisle! She we Peruvian and I would say about 65, she was 4 foot nothing and let me tell you she was FIERCE! Before we even took off the flight attendants continuously yelled at her for standing on her seat to get into the overhead luggage bins, not putting her bag up there but instead belting it in the seat between us and trying to hide it under her sweater! It was so entertaining. She did not speak much English so I expected little interaction, but that was not so the case! She insisted I put my feet on the middle seat and when I did she rubbed my feet.. weird, but cute.. she did it in a very grandmotherly way! When it came time to get off the plane she again was yelled at for standing on her seat, then she proceeded to block the aisle in a very assertive way so I could get my bag down and head out. She was absolutely hilarious!
I was really intimidated by what I was expecting at the airport in Lima Airport (Jorge Chavez International Airport) mostly lines. When I arrived I was SUPER lucky because we actually landed late and as we were pulling into the gate I noticed we were not the only plane arriving. I managed to get off the plane, have not one person in front of me in line at customs.. the woman was extremely nice, gave me 60 days in the country before fees applied and sent me on my way! I got my bags, sent them through the additional screening and walked through the doors into sheer madness! Thousands and thousands of people everywhere with signs looking for people, offering taxi's, thankfully I was looking for the only pretty blond!
Tanya was so gracious to come and pick me up so Jason could get some sleep because of his long work hours! I arrived tired but was really excited to be there, see Tanya and let me tell you she started the trip off right! She had Enrique (the driver) who was beyond kind and helpful and champagne.. hello good times! The drive from the airport seem to go by so quickly! I was looking forward to catching up but it seemed like the drive was over in no time. We arrived at the apartment which was beautiful and waited for Jason who was apparently in a deep sleep to answer the door!
Naturally after a long day of travel and Jason having a long time of work we just went to bed. Jason's work schedule for his entire time there has basically been leaving at 430am and getting home between 7pm and 730pm... fantastic right?
I don't think I was really jet legged the first day there, I will say that I definitely didn't feel as bad going there as I have coming home! The first day Tanya came over and met me and we went to what soon became one of my favorite restaurants in Miraflores, Tanta!
They had an English menu and like the apartment was right on the Pacific ocean.. what could be better?
I very quickly learned Pisco (Peruvian alcohol very similar but not entirely like Tequilla) Punch would be my go to drink and that I needed to get a tan because Tanya was making me look ghostly!
We somehow managed to do a ton that day, lunch, Larcomar (the outdoor mall built into a cliff overlooking the pacific) we walked up the Parque Kennedy and decided to take a bus tour around Miraflores. It was an absolutely gorgeous day and so with an open air bus we definitely took the top deck... that was a mistake. My first day in Peru I got the worst sunburn I have had in many many years! Miserable!
I don't remember what we did for dinner that night, but I got to see Dave who we lived with in Toronto and have traveled with him and his wife! Living in an apartment with Jason and Dave definitely brought back a lot of memories, we had a good time!
So this post ended up being long and I haven't gotten to my likes and dislikes... so I think I will change the title, get to that tomorrow and fill the rest of this post with some pictures! I suck I know, but lets be honest the longer a post is the more you lose interest as you read.. right? We will get it all in, you wont miss a beat I swear!
Oh.. and before I forget, all you lovers of nail polish... go out and get yourself some OPI Cajun Shrimp it is the summer color to have! TRUST ME!
Ok.. some pictures of Miraflores where we were staying!!
View from Josh & Tanya's rooftop
Yes Peru has McDonalds, can't say I ate there but it did exist!
From Larcomar looking down at the beach.
Another shot from a different side of Josh & Tanya's rooftop
The view from our apartment. The apartment seriously had floor to ceiling windows in the entire living room and dining room and this is what we looked out at.
Beautiful church outside of Parque Kennedy. I can't wait to share some pictures with you of the amazing architecture and buildings!
Walking home the first night.. the above picture looking out from the apartment is if you look left from the balcony, this is if you look right!
Devil tour bus that caused my horrific sunscreen.. it could have been partially my fault for not wearing sunscreen but probably not.
I am going to share a ton of ocean pictures because it was probably my favorite part of being there.. I got to walk this stretch multiple times a day!
Alright guys I think that is a good start, better then I expected to accomplish today! I am headed to bed because I would have liked to have been there two hours ago! Tomorrow I have no one due to be here to fix anything and I don't plan on going to far in the afternoon because we are expecting thunderstorms and I cant wait to just be at home and enjoy that, so I will be back tomorrow with Part two!
Hope you are all having a great week, get ready to watch Grey's Anatomy!
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