Adventura Peruana: June 2^nd

3:00 A.M.- Wake up at my uncle Ali’s house to shower and gather our belongings

3:45 A.M.- Cab driver arrives, we load in, say good-bye to Ali and thank him letting us stay the night

4:15 A.M.- Arrive at O’Hare Intl. Airport, check-in, go through security

5:00 A.M.- Arrive at our gate for our 7:30 departure.

7:00 A.M.- Flight is delayed.  I drink a large McDonalds coffee and read as Simon takes a nap in his sleeping bag

9:00 A.M.- Our names are called to the boarding gate, as we are the last passengers to enter.

9:30 A.M.- Plane takes off, spent the entire 4 hour flight sleeping as we were exhausted.

12:00 P.M.- Arrive at Fort Lauderdale airport for a 5 hour layover

1:00 P.M.- We eat an airport lunch as we search desperately for an open electrical outlet.

1:30 P.M.- Finally discover an outlet, proceed to check in on the computer and inform our parents where we are.

2:30 P.M.- Make a call to Rebecca, let her know what’s up; excited for her to join us in Cuzco come July!

3:00 P.M.- Strike up a conversation with a man named Scott after Simon acts as his interpreter to help him reserve a hotel room.  We learn that he too is going to Peru, and that he has traveled there many times.  Gain some valuable advice, including the name of a nice hotel for a good price.

4:30 P.M.- Finally board our plane to Lima!

6:00 P.M.-  Simon notices the passenger seated in front of us is wearing a small, red climbing hex as a necklace.  After talking with him and his friends, we learn that they too have come  from Boulder, CO to Peru to climb, primarily in Las Cordilleras near Huaraz.  Excited to meet others with a similar passion and goal to ours.

9:00 P.M. (Current time)- After trying to wind down the 5 hours of flight by a mixture of conversing, sleeping, reading, listening to music, and now blogging about our experiences.  We should be landing within the hour, and then our adventure will truly begin!

Yesterday, Sunday June 1^st: we woke up after our party and drove with my parents up to Chicago.  Along the way we stopped in Lafayette to meet my dad’s parents for lunch, and Simon’s grandma was able to join us as well.  In Chicago, we had a nice visit with my mom’s parents, including a great dinner fixed by Bushra’s tenant, Amina (Thank-you!).

Observations:  Spirit Airlines really takes frugality to the next level.  Not only do they charge for bags, reserving seats, and many other optional fees along the way, they also do not offer anything in terms of a meal (or ever free water).  It is somewhat understandable though, considering the almost unheard of cheapness of the tickets.  The flight attendants also have an ironic sense of humor about the whole thing, and seem to relish the fact that they only have to give us half-assed service.  It’s all in good fun though, right?   Anyway, none of that really matters now as this travel day is coming to an end and will soon be behind us.

Note:  I really wish to make an effort to keep in contact with all our friends and family back home, and so will attempt to create a few blog entries each week.  Simon and I will be taking photos and videos to supplement the writings.  That being said, if you ever want to find out what’s going on with us, just send a message through Facebook, or set up a Skype session with us.  We’d be more than willing to see your beautiful faces whenever we have connection to the Internet.  Also, if you give me your address, I’d be happy to send you a beautiful postcard.  Anyway, that’s all for now, but you can be assured the best is yet to come!