Sleeping at an “airport hotel” in Lima is interesting. Apparently we were located directly under the flight path of several large jets as they either landed or took off from the airport during the night. And, as is typical in many cities the walls are thin and the city doesn’t sleep so there were many noises from both inside and outside the hotel during the night. But, when one is tired one does sleep fairly well, even with the noise and on a bed that feels as hard as sleeping on the floor. Breakfast was scheduled for 9:30 so there was plenty of time for a nice shower and packing before going downstairs to meet everyone else. The hotel dining room is small but nice. Coffee, hot (warm) tea, fresh orange juice, fresh rolls, and scrambled eggs for breakfast. We loaded up the bus and started out just before 11 a.m.
Lima is a busy, busy city of approximately 10 million people. It took us nearly 1.5 hours to make it out of the city! As we drove along the highway it took us along the Pacific coast. So far the sky has been overcast….or maybe it’s smog…but the waves are huge. Dave, one of our team members from Santa Cruz, California, grew up doing some surfing. He says that the waves we see are really, really too rough to surf in but it’s still really awesome! There are several people out in the water anyway.
Finally, we turn inland into another area of town. It is definitely a much more economically depressed area. Our missionary host, Jose David, told us this is where many people who came to Lima from the countryside but who couldn’t afford to live in Lima decided to settle. Still very crowded and busy with people, dogs, cars, trucks, motorbikes and taxis everywhere. Before long we reach the countryside.
Jose David told us it never rains in Lima or along the coast. We asked “never?” He said “no, never”. Not unless there is a rare weather condition called “el nino”. When that happens then it rains and the city floods because it has no drainage systems. It doesn’t rain because normally the rains come from the east, from the Amazon. The clouds are stopped by the Andes and never make it over to the coast. Therefore, the coast is desert and dry. Before long we can definitely see that. Miles and miles of nothing but sand in every direction. We are on the Pan American Highway, which is a good highway. There are frequent small towns and occasional little groupings of white walled houses grouped together along the coast, of which many are are small resorts. About 1:30 we stopped at a large gas station/convenience store for lunch. We had sandwiches and chips while sitting outside at little tables. I drank some guarana soda for lunch. I remember having some of that in Brazil. Then back in the bus for more highway and sand for many, many miles. We followed the coast for many miles and turned inland again through a small farming valley. Corn is grown here, along with many fields of squash and artichoke. Apparently the artichoke as grown for export only as Jose David said they don’t eat them here.
Finally, about 4:30 we arrived at our hotel in Pisco. It is a nice little courtyard hotel along a busy highway with nothing around but farmland and unknown smells. Our rooms are nice. Dinner was scheduled at 6 p.m. in the small hotel cafe but, since the meal is prepared by the owner of the hotel it takes a little bit of time to get it all ready and served. The local Nazarene pastor, Luiz, his wife and his daughter joined us for the evening meal. We had a delicious meal of salad (properly prepared for our stomachs), grilled chicken, rice and thick french fried potatoes. Way too much food!!
After the meal we went over the schedule for this next week with Jose David, who not only is the missionary here (from Venezuela) but is also the District Superintendent. He has planned a busy week for us but has also put in time for sight seeing and siestas! The one kink in the week is that Pastor Luiz has some concrete block laying he wants done but nobody brought that type of work clothes. We’ll have to figure something out so we can get that done one day this week.
It’s now 8:30 p.m. and everybody is heading off to their rooms for the night. So, good night, sleep tight. Sweet dreams!
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