Page VIII-Saborear la Vida: Lima, Peru (and it all goes full circle)

August 10, 2013-Day 8

This is probably the second most difficult blog post to write (Machu Picchu day will still be the first).

 What I remember the most about this day is that I dreaded it and welcomed it at the same time.

I believe most of my tourmates felt the same.We were all ready to move out of Puno but we were not ready for the trip to wind down just yet. At the same time, home is calling and the inkling that it will be where we would want to be once we get there was definitely in the air. The feeling was sort of-bipolar. I was definitely not ready to leave Peru. Not yet. Angele and I were flying out early the next day to get back to the US and start back work the next day. I was not ready to let this vacation go.

We visited one last site where in we saw the Puno landscape for the last time. Afterwards, we were driven to Juliaca to the Juliaca airport. The Juliaca that we saw this time around was different. It was lively. Perhaps it was because there was some sort of "fiesta" or ceremony going on in the middle of the street. Nonetheless, it was definitely different.

The wait at the Juliaca airport was excruciating. This airport was probably my least favorite. It was small, cramped and slow. The city girl in me was definitely not liking it and it took a lot of effort to employ the virtue of patience that I really was not gifted in.

Nonetheless, we got on the plane and landed in Lima. It was nice to be back at sea level. We headed back to the same hotel as Day 1 and then we had a bit of free time before dinner. Angele and I decided to buy last minute souvenirs and stop by at La Mora for a light afternoon snack.

Dinner then happened. It was probably one of my favorite dinners in the whole trip, not only for the food but for the whole atmosphere as well. I generally do not take photos of people close up, meaning portraits. I can't do it, at least not to the point that I'm happy with how it will turn out. I need you to be in a setting that I would like to emphasize and you being there will add to the effect but when you are the subject of the photo, for some reason, to me the photo I took falls flat. 

Nonetheless, during dinner, I did it. I took photos of everyone. I guess, there was something about the atmosphere and the sound of laughter and chiding and happy people. Everyone, you can tell, was content. They all felt content. They were all happy. We were all happy. I wanted to capture it. I wanted to hold it in my hand for me to remember. There's something about tender times like this that makes me want to keep it forever.

In this trip, we all started as strangers. However, we're not ending it as strangers. We all shared an experience that is a milestone in our lives. We may become acquaintances but we will never be strangers to each other ever again.

I can't help but thank Elvis and everyone else from that. Gate 1 did a very good job of highlighting something that I realized about Peru and its people. They all live and function under the presumption that we are all connected, and that we are all friends. One is not a stranger from the other. Somehow, somewhere, you and I have a link. We are never alone.

After dinner, Angele and I opted to walk around the streets of Lima once again. It was a very surreal walk. We were both just taking in the city for the last time. God knows how long it will be until we are back, walking those streets, in the midst of the historic and the modern, the young and the old.

This trip was my trip to celebrate. To remind myself why I work hard and who I am beyond what I do for a living. This was a trip to wake up the lost passion in me, the one that goes dormant when responsibilities take over. Sometimes, these things, we lose touch of and if that happens for so long we might not even remember.

Ever since I immigrated to the US, I finally understood that  the world is much bigger than where home is and I made it my resolve to experience it. I will not be ignorant. I will not be trapped. I will savor living in this vast world that's too big and small at the same time.

Saborear la vida. Siempre. 

Until the next adventure,

Nicole

PS: For more photos: My Flickr