Yay Backpacks!

Tenemos nuestros maletas!!! Finalmente! Me encanta mucho Lima. El conductor taxi, Jorge, nos condujo al aeropuerto y después, al mar (para que celebrar). Él es muy simpático. Bueno, no quiero escribir más en Español porqué estoy muy cansada y necesito hablar en (broken) Español todo el día.

We have our bags!!! Finally! I love Lima. The taxi driver, Jorge, drove us to the airport and after, to the beach (to celebrate). He is very nice. Well, I don´t want to write more in Spanish because I am very tired and I have to speak in (broken) Spanish all day.

I´m incredibly relieved. It definitely feels as though we´re beginning our trip anew. Patti and Javier have been amazingly helpful and accommodating. Without their hospitality and assistance (unlimited phone & Internet access!), I´m not quite sure how we would have gotten ourselves in contact with all of the necessary people. Speaking of which, shoutout to my Mom for being another vital element of this success story -- she got in touch with the woman who finally located our bags!

Sam and I have already encountered so many wonderful & interesting people, and it´s only been about 24 hours. At the Miami airport, we met a woman from Lima who very quickly shared stories of her life and relationships with us. I was struck by how immediately friendly and comfortable she seemed. One of the things I´m most excited about with respect to travel is learning people´s stories, witnessing their interactions, getting a sense of their views and lives. I can´t quite tell if I´m a sociologist or a writer when it comes to my love of humans & their personal histories. Maybe, by the end of this trip, I´ll have more of an answer.

The past 24 hours have been exhausting. It´s definitely time to put on a clean outfit (for the first time in about three days... I think this makes me a bonafide backpacker!), relax, and drift off to sleep thinking about la playa (the beach), where we´ll be tomorrow!

Much Love,
Ally