First time in Southern Hemisphere

Well we made it! Two days later (40 hours of travel)... we were not expecting for the adventure to start in the airport. It was kindof a mess getting to Lima but hopefully this isn´t a foreshadow of the next 6 weeks in Peru and Ecuador.

Here´s what happened...
Basically I thought Prati and I were on the same flight from Dallas to Miami but I was on the 1230 flight and he departed at 330. Ooops. Completely my fault. Needless to say I missed my flight in Dallas. Prati and i didn´t want to separate because we didn´t want to be on different flights into lima. That would have been a nightmare. I could picture my email titled ¨lost in lima!¨ So he missed his flight too to stay with me and we got on a 625 flight hoping and praying that we would still make our connection in miami. We did. The miami flight was delayed until 1am and even then didn´t leave until 2. Lima´s airport closed due to massive fog so we temporarily landed in Ecuador to get gas and deboarded the plane to stretch our legs. Other passengers for different flights were rioting in the airport and my only complaint was not having a change of undies or a toothbrush. We kept our calm though... at least we had each other and plenty of literature to read. I slept most of the time. It didn´t help that I had a gang member sitting next to me. (On the first flight I sat next to a 21 year old missionary... quite the opposite of my new gang friend or should I say homie) Finally we landed in Lima at noon. My debit card isn´t working but luckily Prati´s is so we were able to get SOME cash out. I can´t get to a bank until Monday to figure out what is wrong. It will all work out though. We were attacked by the taxi hounds in the airport but since this isn´t our first rodeo we knew to escape the airport madness and find a taxi by ourselves. We took a taxi (Juan the driver was wonderful... his new nickname is Juanderful) to a bus station called Cruz del sur which is one of the first class busses with airconditioning, tv, and snacks. After 40 hours in an airport and airplane we were totally fine with splurging on a nice bus ride. My booty still hurts from sitting so much :) We bussed it to Ica then got another taxi to Huacachina which is where were are today! Huacachina is a tiny little oasis (literally) town that is famous for its ¨dune surfing.¨ We are in the desert right now surrounded by sand dunes. All of the hotels surround this lagoon that supposedly has healing powers. I touched the water today for good luck but our pool at the hotel is much more inviting and less sulfur-like smelling. Earlier this morning we hiked up to the surrounding dunes to see the view and get a little workout. At 4 oclock today we are going dune buggy-ing to the top of a huge dune then we strap on a sand board which is really just plywood with some velcro. I have been wanting to try this forever!!! I will let you know how it goes. Wish us luck! So far Peru is one of the more difficult places I have traveled. No english speakers, which is good for me to brush up on my spanish while looking like a total idiot at the same time. Everyone laughs at us but it´s all fun and games and I´m not being sensitive to it:) No one in this town has change and all we have is large bills. If you want to buy breakfast you might as well eat as much as possible and buy a bunch of bottled waters because they hardly have change for 50 soles which is less than $20. Needless to say I will be on the internet for a LONG TIME! $20 worth of internet might take a while. We are going to spend one more night in Huacachina and then take a bus to Arequipa tomorrow.