After picking up some last minute things (Christina sent an email asking for some Pisco) I headed to the airport to make my way home. The check in line took about an hour and a half to go though, but once I was checked in I made my way to the plane only to find out that my seat was directly in front of the exit row, and therefore I would not be able to put my seat back. This made for a very long sleepless night, but as I was quite excited to get home for a while, I was wide awake when I made it to Newark early in the morning.
My time in Newark was short lived. As the plane arrived about 25 minutes late, I had only 40 minutes to go through the boarder checks, security and make it to my flight. Every person wearing a Continental uniform I asked if I had enough time to make my flight, and each one looked at their watch and said no, but I should give it a shot. As I was rather rushed and flustered, when I made it to customs, with what looked like a pipe bomb on the side of my backpack, they asked quite a few questions about what I was carrying, what was in my bag, how much was in my bag and most importantly, how could I have such a heavy second bag that was just filled with souvenirs (they obviously haven’t been to Ecuador where the hammocks are so comfortable and cheep that you have to buy at least two of them). After he let me through, I tossed my bags on the conveyer belt and ran as fast as I could to the airplane. Luckily I made it in time, and surprisingly my bags made it to the plane before I did.
My flight from Newark to Halifax was much more pleasant as there were very few people on the plane so I could sit wherever I wanted and stretch out. We were very fortunate to have clear skies and were able to fly directly over Manhattan Island (with the flight attendant pointing out all the sites), Boston and then directly up the centre of Nova Scotia. It was so clear you could see both sides of the province and make out everything, including Chester and South Shore Marine.
As with every time I come home, I try to do something different to “shock” my parents a bit, but it doesn’t work anymore. This time I decided to get off the plane with the brightest orange felt hat I could find. Well, I didn’t think it was that unusual of me to do something like this, but when I got off the plane I came out and saw Mom look at me, turn around and walk to the other end of the airport, obviously not recognizing me. I guess after 4 months in South America, not even my family knows who I am (but luckily she did acknowledge me once I caught up to her at the other end of the airport).
That night it was good to be home in my own bed, speak English to everyone I saw, know that I can eat everything laid out in front of me, and throw the toilet paper in the toilet. The past four months had been one of the most incredible experiences in my life and definitely not something I will ever forget. All I need now are a couple of trees to string my hammock between, lie back, sort through my thousands of pictures and remember the good times, good friends and wonderful memories that will last a lifetime.
Tuesday, June 3, 2008
Monday, June 2, 2008
Jun. 1 – 2 – One last time in Lima
My bus arrived mid morning and my cab driver took me to a hostel he knew about, and since I didn’t sleep a wink I was more than happy to have the driver select a hostel for me (but when he tired to convince the front desk staff that I was willing to pay at least twice as much for the room I decided I should take care and notice what was going on). Once I got settled I went out on the town to get a few things done before I came home including get a haircut, buy a few last minute souvenirs.
One of my stops was taking doing some art shopping. After my conversation in Cusco, I decided I needed another piece of art as my quintessential souvenir from South America and headed to the artisan alley in Lima. After poking around a dozen or so art shops, I managed to find the perfect piece of art which they packed for me in a piece of PVC pipe. Needless to say, it looked like a pipe bomb, so I was a little nervous going through the airports with it later.
As I had spent much time in Lima, there wasn’t much for me to do there, so I spent most of my time left in South America relaxing at Larcomar and at various places in Miraflores that I enjoyed reading and relaxing before my flight (there was lots of fog and quite cold so I didn’t head down to the beach as planned). The one thing I did do that I hadn’t made time for before was head to the Museo de Oro del Perú. This museum was one of the must see attractions in Lima, but in 2001 there was a story that over 80% of the artifacts were fakes. Needless to say, this destroyed the reputation of the museum which was filled with the largest collection of gold artifacts in Peru. Since then they have cleaned up their exhibition and have reopened.
When you go into the Museo de Oro, you head down to the basement to view the artifacts, which are all located within the massive underground vault. There are rooms filled with thousands of artifacts made of gold, silver, bronze and clay from all the various South American cultures. There is even a room dedicated to only cups, there’s that much stuff. As they had problems in the past regarding reproductions, some of the items are labeled as reproductions and the wax figures dressed in the traditional costumes of different tribes are labeled as being representations. That doesn’t mean they don’t have a mummy room complete with four mummified remaines and the various items found in their graves (including cone shaped sculls and a poncho made of gold).
The ground floor of the museum, though not as interesting or filled with historical significance, is astonishing. This part of the museum is known as the Museo de Armas, and holds the world’s largest collection of weapons. There are at least 10 massive rooms where the walls, tables, shelves, drawers, ceiling and every nook and cranny are filled with every imaginable type of weapon. They have a whole room dedicated to Japanese weaponry, swards filling four rooms, every kind of gun known to man (in some display cases the guns are two or three deep) and helmets from every army to ever fight. When you look at a room you think you saw everything, only to notice that stuck under the table, beside your feet, is another shelf filled with more guns or swards, or brass knuckles. It reminds you of an old book store where there are books everywhere you look, but instead of books they are weapons.
One of my stops was taking doing some art shopping. After my conversation in Cusco, I decided I needed another piece of art as my quintessential souvenir from South America and headed to the artisan alley in Lima. After poking around a dozen or so art shops, I managed to find the perfect piece of art which they packed for me in a piece of PVC pipe. Needless to say, it looked like a pipe bomb, so I was a little nervous going through the airports with it later.
As I had spent much time in Lima, there wasn’t much for me to do there, so I spent most of my time left in South America relaxing at Larcomar and at various places in Miraflores that I enjoyed reading and relaxing before my flight (there was lots of fog and quite cold so I didn’t head down to the beach as planned). The one thing I did do that I hadn’t made time for before was head to the Museo de Oro del Perú. This museum was one of the must see attractions in Lima, but in 2001 there was a story that over 80% of the artifacts were fakes. Needless to say, this destroyed the reputation of the museum which was filled with the largest collection of gold artifacts in Peru. Since then they have cleaned up their exhibition and have reopened.
When you go into the Museo de Oro, you head down to the basement to view the artifacts, which are all located within the massive underground vault. There are rooms filled with thousands of artifacts made of gold, silver, bronze and clay from all the various South American cultures. There is even a room dedicated to only cups, there’s that much stuff. As they had problems in the past regarding reproductions, some of the items are labeled as reproductions and the wax figures dressed in the traditional costumes of different tribes are labeled as being representations. That doesn’t mean they don’t have a mummy room complete with four mummified remaines and the various items found in their graves (including cone shaped sculls and a poncho made of gold).
The ground floor of the museum, though not as interesting or filled with historical significance, is astonishing. This part of the museum is known as the Museo de Armas, and holds the world’s largest collection of weapons. There are at least 10 massive rooms where the walls, tables, shelves, drawers, ceiling and every nook and cranny are filled with every imaginable type of weapon. They have a whole room dedicated to Japanese weaponry, swards filling four rooms, every kind of gun known to man (in some display cases the guns are two or three deep) and helmets from every army to ever fight. When you look at a room you think you saw everything, only to notice that stuck under the table, beside your feet, is another shelf filled with more guns or swards, or brass knuckles. It reminds you of an old book store where there are books everywhere you look, but instead of books they are weapons.
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