THE DAY FROM HELL!!!

7/02/11-Living on a prayer—literally!

So we left pretty early in the morning on Saturday and got to the airport around 9:30 to catch our flight from Cuzco to Lima at like 10:55. However, when we got there they told us our flight was about an hour delayed because of the weather still being so bad. No big deal, we’re used to delays now…HAH little did we know they would continue to delay it every hour without giving us any real information until finally around 2 or 3 pm we begin to freak out thinking we were not going to get out of Cuzco and make our flights to the US the next day. I remained optimistic, but Lena was seriously freaking out! Because the weather was not even bad at all in Cuzco, but it’s kind of like Telluride, CO in a bowl in the mountains where you have to make a really fast steep descent to land and since the cloud coverage was so thick and low no flights were able to land, so the problem was the airport was completely shut down and we had no planes to fly out on. Except, LAN the way more expensive airline was flying out all day because their planes had the better instruments to land. One of the most frustrating/exhausting/emotionally draining days of my life! It was so funny though because everyone trying to get to Lima on our flight had befriended each other and it was like one big comradery. The thing that was so awful was when other airlines began to have flights coming in, though many flights were completely cancelled, and we just waited in agony watching for the Star Peru planes to land, everyone jumping up and getting excited every time we saw a small plane come in only to be disappointed to see the damn LAN symbol! The worst part was that there was no communication, no one knew what was going on and we couldn’t get any information from the airline. Finally, this awesome man paid for internet on his iPad and would go around updating us, bringing us good news about 2 Star Peru flights finally taking off from Lima heading to Cuzco. So around 3 or 3:30 we got so excited with relief knowing we would make it back to the US after hours of agony and uncertainty wondering what in the world we should do if we miss our flight and get stuck in Cuzco because the weather for the next 4 days looked just as bad and how much it was going to cost us. (And how bad my dad was going to kill me!) So pretty much all of us on our flight went and got a Cusqueña (Peruvian beer) and toasted in excitement! Only to be incredibly disappointed later after the first Star Peru flight made it out and we, the very last flight and people in the airport, boarded our plane which finally arrived around 5:15 in a frantic rush as the airline was hurrying us to board because in Cuzco it is law that they have to take off no later than 5:30 because of the dark and the steep mountains. (Hilarious chaos to watch!) So we get on the plane thinking we have finally made it only to be deboarded about 10 minutes later and after waiting in the airport for another hour told that we were going to try and fly out at 6 am the next morning. So now we are pissed after wasting about 10 hours in the airport all day and freaking out again that I won’t make my connecting flight to the US at noon the next day. So we head back to Pirwa hostel, where we were greeted with looks of surprise by the staff who thought we were long gone. We told them our horror story, went to grab some good dinner and a calientito (hot mulled wine) and hit the bed only to get up at 4:15 again to go back to the dreaded Cuzco airport where we waited in line for like an hour and finally boarded and Gracias a Dios made it back to Lima by like 8:20 am!! Such a miracle because this morning it was still bad weather and cloudy, but the cloud coverage was higher above the mountains so we were able to take off and I made it with tons of time to spare for my flight home! The most awful and painstaking flying experience I’ve ever had, especially being stuck in a foreign country. It was a real bummer because we were supposed to reunite with the rest of our group in Lima last night at the hostel and spend one last night together, but I didn’t even get to tell them bye because I just stayed in the airport. Lena didn’t fly out til late tonight at like 10 pm, so she got to go back to the hostel and hang out with them today. Bummer, but so so so thankful I was able to make my flight back to the US! Made me very ready to be home!

What a day…a NIGHTMARE, but a patience building experience, let me just tell you. Crazy though because if this had happened in the US and how poorly they communicated to us there would have been cuss words and fists flying. But we had the most chill group of passengers, we were all very patient and just hung out together all day in the airport. We got to know a funny group of Brazilian guys, some old American men, and 2 older women who were like our moms. I was just proud of Lena and I for being able to handle the chaos in another country in a foreign language and making it back to the hostel and everything just fine. Also, another hidden blessing from the horrible day in the Cuzco airport was Lena, who is Jewish although not necessarily a practicing Jew, and I got to have about an hour and a half long religious conversation about Christianity in the airport. It was weird because I had been praying for an opportunity as such to be able to share my faith on this trip with my group members, many of which were actually atheist or non religious. I’m not even sure how the conversation began but she ended up asking me to tell her all about the history of Jesus’ life and what he taught and why he was crucified, none of which she really even knew about before. It was really great to if all else fails at least inform her of what Jesus was really all about and what Christianity and my faith is really all about in the midst of all her poor misconceptions of Christianity due to the bad rep it gets from many extremist and crazy “Christian” churches and groups. Thankfully I had just taken a World Religions class this semester and so I knew enough about Judaism to relate and not sound totally ignorant. She said she really does want to learn more about Jesus’ life and Christianity and so I directed her to certain parts of the New Testament and gospel to read and I pray that she really does read more on her own.