She came and pounded on my door and said it was 10:30 (my flight was at 12:30, half hour drive from the airport) but I checked my handy camera and saw that it was 9:00, as she promised. I had just enough time to shower and clean up, pack my bags and head out to the jeep, sans breakfast and sans enough sleep :o/ . I said my goodbyes to a barely awake Kira and their mom and Rob...I mean Rov... and I piled into the car with Vanessa behind the wheel.
Lucky for me, Cusco is a small airport and there isn't much human traffic there. I say this because it was already 11:15 and I was checking in my bags, only to find that not only had they charged me $25 to change my flight a week prior, but they had cancelled my return ticket! This happens when you miss the first leg of your flight, as I had, but I'd had them confirm this leg of the flight when I was dealing with them the first time and they said it was all set to go! This was a problem until Vanessa, as usual, noticed that one of her friends was working at the counter. Rov quipped that I was on the flight for sure now, probably upgraded to first class, and had a limo waiting for me in Lima because on his last trip to Peru one of her friends had helped sort out his flight too. Well, I didn't get upgraded but at least I was on the flight. I napped a bit on the quick flight and touched down in Lima, where part two of the trip would begin.
Some Background
My gigantic roommate from college Ryan came to South America for six weeks about two years back with some of his SoCal friends and had met Lili through one of the guys he was traveling with's girlfriend (a Peruvian) while they were in Lima. Sure enough, they hit it off and they've been virtually long-distance dating since then with him making the trip down once a year or so. If anybody out there knows Ryan, you know that he doesn't exactly talk a lot. So when he visited me in New York last year and would spend an hour a night talking to her in Peru, I knew that she must be something good for him. When I went to Vince's wedding in LA back in September and stayed at his house while she was at the tail-end of a four-month visit and had a chance to meet her, I thought she was quick-witted and sparky and a great match for him - since he's the opposite.
Since I chatted with her every once in a while after meeting her and she got to know me a little better, she decided that she thought I'd get along great with her friend Erika and even if we didn't hit it off, she thought we'd make good friends with each other. When I first chatted with them when they were together and found out they are massive Shakira fans who love to dance, Erika was thereafter known to me as 'Shakerika' ;o). Because of her busy work schedule, Shakerika and I didn't talk much but I figured it would be fun to meet her while I was there.
As an added bonus, Ryan decided to visit Lili and arrived the same day as me in Lima! They were going to go on vacation for two weeks through the northern coast of Peru the day after I left, but we'd all get to spend a good three days together which was great. And it would be wonderful to finally have another male friend to hang out with, especially one as good as Ryan (who was my roommate all through college).
And Back to the Story
In any case, Lili was going to pick me up at the airport and take me back to the hotel near her house where Ryan and I were staying. After I got off the plane and got my baggage and headed for the exist, I looked around for Lili but all I found were taxi drivers that were swarming around me offering to take me wherever I wanted to go. I thought for sure I looked like a local and nothing like a gringo with my button-up shirt, cargo jeans, and lace-less shoes, not to mention the blonde hair and blue eyes, but somehow the taxi drivers picked me out of the crowd :o/.
After waiting around a while, I hit the pay phones and got ahold of Lili, who was stuck in miserable traffic, which didn't surprise me because this was Lima. This gave me a chance to go talk to the very unhelpful American Airlines desk, who told me that Lan should not have charged me the $25 to change my original flight to Cusco and that if I wanted to be reimbursed, I should talk to them about it. He even suggested writing to them through an inevitable black hole: their website. I was too tired to fight, so I just walked out and headed down to get some food. In Lima, Peru, there is a Papa John's next to a McDonalds in the airport. Disgusting. Looking at the array of fast food venues to choose from, I immediately disqualified Papa John's and McDonalds and although there are a lot of Chinese in Peru, the Chinese food didn't look interesting to me. Which left me with the Peruvian fast food counter. I ordered an appetizer of what looked like fried yucca, but I think it was more like potato. I was eating out of necessity, not looking for a fine dining experience!
Shortly thereafter I met up with Lili and was whisked away down to the hotel Ryan and I were staying at. Because of traffic, we drove along Lima's coast, which I hadn't been to before, and I got to admire the beautiful coast line along with massive cliffs that were crumbling to our left with houses sitting precariously close to the edge. Rocks were falling from the side enough that the authorities had closed two of the lanes closest to the cliffs because people were getting killed by the landslides. Ahh...life in South America!
After checking into my hotel and slipping into something more comfortable (it was warm and humid!), Lili and I went to grab something to eat. There's a great place called Norky's (which is as hilarious a name as Yonkers) that was within walking distance of the hotel that we checked out. Apparently, this is their definition of fast food but it was anything but. They specialize in roasted or bbq chicken and it did arrive rather quickly, but the quality of the chicken was amazing. I typically cook organic free range chicken because it tends to be a million times more tender and juicy than the hormone, antibiotic infested stuff that is sold in Gristedes. This chicken was easily as tender, if not more tender, than my free range stuff. Add to it a wonderful rub and some chimmichuri sauce on the side and it's a recipe for delish! Not bad for a meal that cost about $5.
After lunch, Lili and I took a cab into downtown Lima for a quick little tour. I've heard basically nothing good about Lima, all I've heard is that it's a very dangerous city and it doesn't offer a whole lot to visitors. Despite Lili warning me about locking my wallet in my pant's cargo pockets, I was surprised by the beautiful buildings downtown. Well, at least the big green one, the presidential palace, and the Cathedral! I guess compared to other cities it's not the most fantastic, but I did find it somehow exciting to be on the verge of being mugged at every moment. I found out sometime later that Lili, weighing in at somewhere around 100 lbs, knows a few Jiu Jitsu moves so I was in safe hands ;o) .
After going to another district called Mira Flores, which is very popular with the young crowd and with younger tourists, for ice cream and a walk around the park in the center plaza, we headed back to the hotel so that I could take a nap and Lili headed home to get ready for the big evening. Lili had plans for meeting up with Erika in a few hours and at 9:00pm to be at my hotel, grab a little something to eat, and then head off to the disco for the evening.
I begrudgingly woke up at 8:15 to start getting ready and was somewhat out of it. I got ready and prepared for yet another evening of dancing the night away at a real Latin disco, Lima style. At 9:00, I was ready to go and just waiting for the phone call from Lili to meet her and Erika outside. I guess when Ryan had told me in the past that things operate on island time in South America, that should have been a clue that they wouldn't be on time. At somewhere
around 10:00, I finally got the call and headed out to meet Shakerika and Lili and then to go get something to eat.After climbing into the back seat, I said hello to the girls in the front seats and we were off to San Antonio (the restaurant, not the city). Once we finally got out of the car, I got a formal introduction to Shakerika, who was beautiful!! We went into San Antonio and perused the 100
or so sandwich variations they had, most of which came on hard bread that's difficult to eat, but I ended up getting a mozarella and tomato sandwich (plus an Inca Kola, of course) because I was still pretty full from eating lunch.After dinner, Erika and I caught a cab to the disco while Lili drove to the airport to pick up Ryan. The disco was going to have a show with all the different dances from Peru and then the place would open up and we could all dance. But the place was already full (it was late, like 11:00), so we ended up hopping in another cab and going to a new place called Producto Peruano, which had an atrocious cover charge of $10, but with limited free drinks until 3:00am. I typically only drink water when I dance because I sweat profusely (I know, that's hot), but in this case I guess I had to stick to rum & cokes, pisco sours, beers, etc! The place was pretty empty for a while which gave Erika and I time to talk and get to k
now each other well.I may not be John Travolta, but I do like to dance and I think I dance decently well with a partner, so when Erika and I got on the dance floor and I started my Latin twirling moves, we had a great time out there. I was very much into her and her dance moves and she was clearly
into me, which was a great combination for a night of dancing. Eventually Ryan and Lili came from the airport and we all got to catch up together and do some line dancing to an annoying singer called Guajaja, who was the special guest of the evening and is apparently popular in Peru (for some reason). I was hoping that he wouldn't be there all night and he only lasted for an hour or so, thank goodness, before the dance floor opened and the DJ started playing some great Latin music. Erika and I were on point, big time, and the chemistry on the dance floor 
was perfect. On one of my dips, I even snuck in a timid little kiss ;o).We stayed at the disco for a few hours and everyone had a great time. Major props to Ry for
arriving at midnight after flying all day and lasting until 4:00am! I don't think I could have done that, but he's a trouper. Once we were all done at the disco, Lili drove Ryan and I back to the hotel and dropped us off. I got a few goodnight kisses from Erika before Ry and I headed up to crash and get some much needed sleep!Yusteen, I really dug Lima this time around ;o)!
Justin dancing with Lili
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