Friday, March 31, 2023
Finally, international travel again! Today is technically a work day, but I worked from home last Sunday to complete my report cards/progress reports and am using today as a comp day. Last night there was a problem just as I was getting ready to go to bed. I heard a sound in the basement and traced it to the hot water heater. Water was spraying out of one of the flexible metal pipes/hoses connected to the hot water heater! Luckily I had a tiny roll of black electrical tape in a box of supplies from my dad and used that to tape it up and then turned the lever on that pipe to 'off'. Yikes! Then I texted Randy and woke him up (he is in Spain for his spring break trip and it was the middle of the night) because he knows way more about plumbing than I do and has done some of the plumbing in our house. He couldn't think of anything else I needed to do. The damage to the drywall that he water was spraying onto seemed pretty superficial, so I think that will be okay as well. I was planning to have the hot water heater replaced (with the furnace) after I return from spring break, using the money I inherited from my dad. So I washed my dishes in cold water (yuk!) and figured that I would have to skip my shower in the morning before leaving for the airport.
So I woke up this morning at 4:00 to finish packing, have a cold water sponge bath, and eat breakfast (not necessarily in that order). I washed my breakfast dishes and was out the door by 5:15. It rained quite a bit overnight, so I had to dodge puddles as I walked to the bus stop. This year, I bought the first suitcase I have had in over 25 years. I was using travel backpacks before this, but decided to take pity on my back (I have sciatica and arthritis in my spine) and got a roller carry-on (in fact it is called The Carry On!). Combined with my normal backpack that I use everyday, it is perfect. Just as I was about to buy my transit ticket (it would work for both the express bus and the light rail train), the bus stopped. The driver yelled out to me to get on the bus! Said it was an express bus, so it couldn't wait. So I got on and just bought my ticket at the light rail station. The bus driver was quite talkative and we talked the entire way to the train station. Despite many people complaining about negative experiences lately on the buses and trains, my trip was pleasant and uneventful.
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| I'm on my way to Lima! |
A few days ago I was confirming my reservations and I entered my second flight from Houston to Lima into the United app. It came up showing that flight as Houston to Los Angeles!! Luckily I can use the app to contact a customer service rep and was told that they had changed the flight number (!). Yikes. She emailed me the updated numbers. On the plane this morning (we were waiting to take off), I received an email that United had changed my seat assignment for the flight from Houston to Lima for the third time--this time they put me in a window seat--I prefer aisle. So I had to go online on the app and change that. So many last minute issues! At the Houston airport (which is huge and spread out) I realized that I forgot the charger for my laptop! So I found a store in terminal B with Apple products. The amount for a charger block and a cable was criminal, but weighed against not having the use of the laptop that I was hauling around for 10 days, I did it. <sigh>
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| Houston airport from terminal E |
Okay, there were delays because our plane wasn't there and they put us on another plane that wasn't thoroughly cleaned (they handed you a packaged wipe as you entered the plane. They were asking for people to take another flight tomorrow or the next day because the plane we got was smaller. And anyone with a roller bag was required to gate check it because they were running out of room. First class, of course, was exempt. We sat there in the plane for quite awhile while they finished some maintenance. Then they found that one of the lavatories was leaking into a lower compartment (where our baggage was). So we deplaned and waited, and waited, and waited. We were finally allowed back on the plane at 6:00 (our original departure was before 4:30). Then we waited until 7:00 for them to finish cleaning the lower compartment and replace all of the bags they had had to take out. Then we waited in queue to take off, finally taking off around 7:30. I messaged my driver to say that I may be closer to 12 or 1:00 and gave him the new flight number. <sigh>. Then half of the onflight screens (including mine) didn't work--eventually they rebooted the system.
Well, after all of that we flew to Lima (the pilot said that he was looking for a short cut). We arrived, did immigration, had to get our bags, then I needed to find my ride. Because the taxi system in Peru is corrupt, you are advised to have transport scheduled. One of the taxi drivers followed me around to "help" me find my driver. Eventually Arturo and I found each other and he took me to the hotel. It was difficult to identify from the street. Arturo reminds me of the drivers in India--crazy! Everyone was honking and driving crazy, despite it being almost 2:00 in the morning. Road striping doesn't seem to matter much, you create your own as needed. I checked in, made sure I had a driver booked for the morning and said yes for the complimentary breakfast (7:30 and 7:00) then carried my bags up to the third floor on an almost sprial staircase, just less tightly circular. I had a small room with a twin bed and the world's most compact bathroom attached. No matter, it's just a place to sleep for. the night. It's really warm and humid in Lima!
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