take off

Arrived in lima after three flights…left my parents in traverse city mi at 5:00am and transferred flights in Chicago and fort Lauderdale before the remaining six hour flight to lima. Left our jackets in traverse where it was 5 degrees…so the much warmer lima weather was very pleasant. The lima airport is very new and clean and was the mellowist international arrival ive ever had. Customs was a breeze and our bags arrived immediately. We stepped out and our new friend Santiago was there to greet us with his sister lily.
On first impression lima seems much cleaner and quieter than I had expected…aswell as more modern…with lots of shopping and fancy restaurants . we drove up along pleasant costal road along the pacific lined by arid bluffs topped with modern buildings and shopping centers. There was a huge glowing cross off to the north. The driving in lima is somewhere between india and Europe if that makes any sense…a bit treacherous but not out of control.
We arrived at santiago’s family’s home in a short while in an attractive neighborhood with many gardens and semi tropical plants. The house was much larger than I was expecting with a central courtyard and lovely backyard with two huge pet turtles. three stories worth of rooms house a good ten members of santiago’s immediate family including his sisters, parents, nephews which I think is common in Peruvian culture.
The night we arrived was one of santiago’s other sister’s birthday so there were a good twenty five people over celebrating whom we met immediately. They were all very sweet but it became immediately apparent that our Spanish is lacking severely. We did the best we could with introductions and made ourselves a simple dinner of quail eggs and bread before calling it an early night. Overall a long travel day but a very smooth arrival.