Peru Fragments: Part I: False Starts, Detours and Other Adventures - Days 1-2

In the summer of 2014, I taught a short-term summer abroad class in Peru. Here are the fragments.

My colleague C and I worked for over a year on this project. This included (but is not limited to): brainstorming, hoping, planning, applying, paperwork, promotion, fundraising, more planning, more fundraising, hoping and praying, more promotion, jumping through hoops for our district overlords, and informational sessions in classes, for parents and countless one-on-one sessions. Then we faced the arduous task of prepping the curriculum!

There was a very sweet moment, when C and I were gazing upon the Andes mountains when C said, "Every headache, every disappointment, every inconvience....it was all worth it." And he was absolutely right.




This is the kinda of thing that is typical in the Sacred Valley. You look to your left and see a beautiful sight then you turn to your right and the new sight just blows away what you just saw. Although it was "typical" - it never felt that way. I was in a constant state of awe.

 

We started with 13 students in January, we ended up going with 5 as we were a "pilot program". I had already drafted the cancellation email in early March, but the stars aligned right and it happened. I didn't think it was going to happen until we were on the plane, and as we came to find out, it still almost didn't happen!

The five students were about as ideal as you could get - a few personality issues but nothing that was unexpected or something that even rose above an annoyance.

We all arrived at the SAT airport on time and walked through the gate together - it felt like it was really happening - and then we found out our flight was cancelled due to bad weather in the Midwest.

There was a drunk guy that sat down near us and pissed himself. The tip-off was the sound of trickling liquid pouring down the seat onto the ground. A sad sight to see as the police took him away. He was so drunk he didn't know where his wallet was. Of course, one of my students was taking pictures and posting them on facebook.

We worked with the agent at the desk (who was actually pretty awesome) for what seemed like an hour -  we hatched a plan. We would fly to Houston, stay over night, fly on to Panama City (with 6 hour layover), and then to Lima (arriving around midnight). This meant we just lost one whole day in Peru. At first we were all a little bummed but we made the most of it. One of our students had a friend in Houston, who picked us up and took us to some great Cajun food. We were in high spirits and we chatted in the hallway of the hotel until well past midnight making plans for an adventure in our six hour layover in Panama.

We knew we couldn't just sit in the Panama City airport doing nothing - we would have regretted it forever. Besides, the group was just itching for adventure, especially being that we missed our first day in Peru. We arranged for a visit downtown with one of the local guides - I thought we would see some ruins but somehow that got miscommunicated.  Anyway, we weren't even  5 minutes from the airport when our driver got into a fight with another driver. Our van was cut off to the toll booth by the other vehicle. The exchange was (of course) all in Spanish so I kinda zoned out and was mainly entertained by the whole heated escapade.

The only concern about this dispute was that as we were stuck in traffic the whole time - and both our van and the van that cut us off were next to each other. There was no time or space to "cool off". I didn't know at the time but it turns out our driver threatened the other driver by asking, "Do you want me to take out my gun?" In fact, after the bottleneck loosened, we were stuck again, and our driver got out of the car. Thankfully the situation did not resort to physical violence. Our driver called the cops as the driver was only 14 (although riding with an older male). Another van was called to take us to our destination. We dubbed it our "Panamanian Stand Off". What a start to the trip!

Downtown Panama was beautiful. I am sure there are other not-so-wonderful sides to the city we were not seeing, but what we did see was nice. We stopped at a local tourist market (decided against buying anything this early in the trip) and stopped at lunch at a very interesting restaurant called Diablicos.

There was a reason devil faces were all around but I really don't feel like typing it out, except to say the art in this place was pretty special. As was the food and service. We dined like royalty. Royalty surrounded by evil demons, but royalty all the same.

 

We got a huge appetizer plate and a few more plates (ceviche, soups, cow stomach, ya know the normal stuff). Maybe it was the fact it was 2:00 PM and we had only eaten a quick bite at the hotel at 6:00 AM in Houston, but I have to say the food was amazing. It was a great feast and like the best of meals, it was all shared with good company.  It was definitely fun sharing and exploring new foods together as a group. The ceviche here (served in a half of a coconut) might have been my favorite all trip long!  

We had really taken our time shopping and eating and it was time to head back to the airport. Our flight was at 6:00ish and it was about 4:30 so I was anxious to get back, being that we heard traffic was crazy from some Panamanian on the plane. It turns out he was right to warn us.  We headed right back into stopped traffic. At first, I tried to take it easy, and tell myself it was no big deal, but then it dawned on me (and soon C) that we could very possibly miss our flight to Peru.

Sitting in traffic is always a powerless feeling. However, this time around, my thoughts weighed heavily on me. I was in charge of this whole shin-dig.  Our driver did his best but the line stretched for miles and miles. Suddenly our adventure into Panama City seemed less and less like a good idea. My brain replayed all the things that took up time:  the "Stand Off", the fact that someone ordered an extra plate after we had received our food, how lenient and silly we were to let two of the students go to a market stand right before we got on the bus. I was starting to feel stressed.

If we missed our flight, we would most likely miss our next flight in Peru from Lima to Cuzco. If we missed that flight, it would throw our whole itinerary in the trash and who knows what we could miss....maybe even Machu Picchu?? If we miss this flight, our district overlords would be really pissed and I would feel stupid for even entertaining the idea of leaving the airport. I wasn't having a panic attack but I think I understand the concept more clearly now.

One of our students, F, played his music on the van's stereo system, including, Bob Marley's "Everything's' Gonna Be Alright" and "Don't Worry, Be Happy". I liked his spirit but hated hearing the songs in that situation. It's like being told to calm down when you're not calm - you know the feeling....right?

Luckily, our driver drove like an old pro. He was cutting, weaving and occasionally driving on the side of the road. He got us to the airport with about 35 minutes before our flight. It was clear looking at the security gate, we would be just fine. It turns out the Panama City airport is pretty small - something I didn't really notice when we got there. I sighed a sigh of relief. We were finally on our way to Peru!

We knew we would arrive late but C talked us into doing something a little crazy - going out in Lima when we arrived. C called his cousin as he had suggested we check out some penas (small pubs that play an African-influenced type of music) but all the penas nearby were closing, so we settled on a Cuban place with an obscenely loud band.

It was great and while I am pretty sure they were Peruvians playing Cuban music, the atmosphere was great. We had a drink but because it was so loud, it prohibited talking a great deal - we just watched the band play and locals dance. All this is to say we got back to our hotel room well after 3:00 in the morning with our wake up call coming in about two hours. We had to board our next flight to Cuzco. Travel worn already, we were finally ready to experience Peru at long last and we would not be disappointed.

On the way to Cuzco over the Andes. Quite a pleasant flight.

Part 2 Coming Soon.....