flying the friendly skies

I'm ar Terminal 1 in SFO right now and despite a few self-imposed setbacks, I am at the gate waiting to board an Alaska Airlines flight to Seattle. Now I'm not on my orignal flight but that's another story about alarm clocks.

Alaska deserves a great big hug for their customer service. The clerks at the check-in counter were very helpful with my checked bags. It's cheaper to check 2 bags than to pay overage for one, and these heroes of the airline will let you know. Now I just have to hope that the runway construction at SFO doesn't delay me too much.

So far, this Alaska Airlines experience could not be more different from Jetblue odyssey to and from Colombia. I have never been delayed coming and going, nor have I ever been delayed as long as 10 hours. Jetblue's proactive reroute of my itinerary to Colombia is commendable. Sitting on the tarmac for 1 hour and causing me to nearly miss my connecting flight is not. And that connection from dull Fort Lauderdale back to SFO? That was a jetblue flight, too.

This poor soul didn't make it, and I almost thought my fate would be the same. Beware Jetblue!

it's a gray day in JFK

Due to a delay in my SFO to FTL flight, I was not going to make my original Bogota connection. So Jetblue offered an alternate itinerary through JFK and ORL that would set me back 10 hours instead of 24.

Perhaps because I complained so much about the new accommodation in Bogotá it is ironically fitting that I miss the walking tour of the capital city. I've made peace with that. I'll be happy if I arrive in Bogotá without any more delays so I don't miss my tour.

pre-flight fancies

SFO's Terminal 2 is so fancy that there is a museum-ette showcasing an exhibit on everyday art... about a year ago there was a collection of silver serveware for all to see.

On display last weekend... Scandinavian ceramics!

Two cats and a fox chill out in the exhibit.

This monkey and jaguar duo were - surprise! - also made by Scandinavian artists!
Someone's got jungle fever!

Two pieces showcasing the "rice" technique,
where bits of clay are nicked out before glazing
and the finished pieces end up with seemingly translucent grains of rice.

Birds... not angry!

Thanks to last weekend's clear weather, I got a lovely view of San Francisco before the plane turned south for Los Angeles...

There's no view like a bird's-eye view...

por fin

Yes, after five days of scrambling to remember what I do here, it's finally time to blog and reveal all the fantastic happenings from Peru.

The LAN flight to Jorge Chavez International Airport in Callao was very comfortable and only about 8.5 hours. On top of friendly smiles in the friendly skies, LAN has a really good entertainment system. Watched 30 Minutes or Less, enjoyed two hot meals, and read LAN's bilingual onboard magazine In as well as the Peruvian newspaper they were passing out. Perhaps the best part is that I got a window seat in the row right in front of the bathroom. No one kicked me on this flight!

Goodbye California!

Adventure began once I landed. My friend's dad (Papá) picked me up from the airport and we went straight to Lima's Parque de Aguas (the formal name is Parque de la Reserva Circuito Mágico del Agua.) I had missed this attraction the last time I was in Peru so it was tops on my list of things to do in Lima. It turned out that it was Papá's first time as well!

Since visitors are allowed to run through certain fountains, the Park can feel like a waterpark during the day. But it's better to visit at night, when the water is accompanied by lights of all colors and even music.

Fuente de la Fantasia

Fuente de la Fantasia was by far the most entertaining... Every night the park plays a light show on the fountain with music, showcasing a little seasonal ballet to Tchaikovsky's Nutcracker Suite, traditional dancing styles from all over Peru, and of course, lasers. For reasons unknown to myself, my six year-old camera did not capture sound on most of the videos I took. But you can still see the marinera dancers in the mist:

We passed by other fountains...

Fuente de la Ilusión

... and walked through others!

Fuente Túnel de las Sorpresas
(Tunnel of Surprises Fountain)

perfect parabolas

put your hands up!

It turns out that one of the surprises was a young boy who kept splashing me while I was in the tunnel. So when you're walking through, watchout for bystanders who are suspiciously close to the tunnel.

The Maze of Dreams Fountain was also very popular...

Fuente Laberinto del Ensueño

trapped!

Most fountains were just for pondering:

Fuente de la Vida

Fuente de las Tradiciones

Fuente Mágica

Magic Fountain is also the tallest in the Park...

cue sound effects

Afterwards, we went to the restaurant across the street Papá treated me to a dinner of anticuchos, pancita, and something else (grilled cow hearts, stomach, and intestines... was it intestines?) Already a fan of anticuchos, I was delighted to learn that pancita is also surprisingly tender. The intestines... not so much.

anticuchos and Cristal... what more do you need?

As my first night back in Peru, the Parque de Aguas set the tone for the rest of the stay. It was off to the bus station (buses are the preferred way of getting from city to city in Peru) and off to a place I had not previously visited: Trujillo!