Peruvian Mishaps

A little over a year ago my familia went to Peru to pick up my now very Peruvian sister from her mission. We told her we would be coming down a couple days later than we actually did because we decided to surprise her at her ward's church down there on Father's Day. Surprising her and picking her up was so wonderful, but there were so many other experiences besides just that.

The trip was amazing. Hands down. The little touches of "typical family vacation" made it memorable....

My family all knows Spanish super well... except for me. Okay, well I know it, but I don't speak it well. At all. The first step into the international airport wing was culture shock. On the outside I was all smooth as butter, but on the inside I'm thinking, "AUUUUGggggghhh! Where are all these foreigners coming from!!!! (when in fact I
was the foreigner)" I had to carry the carry on bag with the food in it including an opened package of jerky. I walked along as calmly as I could while silently freaking out because of all the scary looking Peruvian airplane guards. As I walked I began to notice something following me from the corner of my eye. One of the guard dogs smelled my jerky and was following me around the airport, a guard following along with the leash. This is the point when I started freaking out... more. The guard was pretty suspicious and I had to pretty much empty my entire bag in front of him. My family who had not noticed walked on without me, leaving me to be lost in a Peruvian airport where I couldn't speak a word. Moral of the story.. never eat jerky.

In one of the towns we visited I got my first chance to see the ocean. Over-excited, I ran down to the shore to collect shells by the water. Not paying attention, I got quite a shock when a giant wave came up and smacked me, soaking any and every place imaginable. I got to walk in sopping wet clothes for the rest of the night while we visited my sister's old converts. Contrary to perhaps popular belief, Peru does have a winter, and its winter is CHILLY! But I wasn't the only uncomfortable one. While walking along, my padre got smacked with some bird poop right on his shoulder. He didn't notice it until my mom felt it.

The shells I had collected I put in the carry on bag I had been put in charge of. Little did I know that shells from the ocean are extremely stinky and do not do well in enclosed places, especially with food. My sister got quite the surprise when she bit into a granola bar that had been in the smelly fishy bag. Apparently fish granola bars aren't as delectable. Weirdly... she still ate it.

Of course I could go on and on about story after story on this Peruvian escapade, but that would take days. There's nothing like being the dork in a new country, and there's no greater experience.