El Viaje Hasta Ahora

Hola from La Paz! My travel buddies and I have successfully survived three plane rides, spent approximately 6 hours in various airports, and made it through customs! Needless to say, I'm very thankful that there haven't been any problems so far. (I don't want to jinx it, though - we still have 6 hours in the La Paz airport and our flight to Cochabamba.) I figured I'd fill all my lovely readers in on the viaje, because it has definitely been overwhelming. PS - I'm writing from my iPhone because I didn't bring my computer, so sorry if anything is messed up format-wise. 

I spent all of yesterday packing and cleaning my room - the second part was quite necessary for the first, since my clothes somehow end up strewn all over my floor whenever I'm home for more than Thanksgiving break. After a last-minute trip to Target and 4 "final" to-do lists, I was finally done! Here's what I brought for the two week trip. The roller bags were checked, and the little backpack was my carry-on. I'm going to buy a purse at the market tomorrow, too! (Also, if anyone reading this went on the AP Euro trip with me before senior year of high school, this backpack should look pretty familiar!)

MSP --- Miami

My mom and I left the house at 3:30 this morning to make sure I got to the gate with plenty of time for the 6:25 am flight. I wasn't tired then because I was so excited, but I'm definitely feeling the lack of sleep now. The American Airlines guy had to deal with a ton of cranky, frazzled travelers (many of whom didn't speak English - I guess really early is the preferred time for international travelers), and he was the best airport employee I've ever met. I didn't get his name, but he deserves a shout-out at the very least. 

I met Joyce and Alexa at the gate and we boarded the flight without problems. I didn't know this, but American Airlines has a new policy where travelers with only one carry on bag can get on the plane first! (My uncle flies for Delta, so I feel kind of bad giving so much praise to American, but they really were great to me today.) I had been the last passenger to check in for the flight online, so I was stuck in a middle seat in the back between a guy who was on the phone with his wife discussing their love for one another until he got yelled at by a flight attendant and a guy who basically just creeped me out. Luckily, there was an aisle seat open a few rows up, so a flight attendant told me I could sit there. 

Miami --- Lima

We landed in Miami a few minutes early, which was just fantastic because we already had a 5 hour layover. Alexa, Joyce and I had a bit of trouble figuring out where to go print our boarding passes for the next two flights (they were operated by a different carrier, so we had to get them separately), but eventually figured it out and found our new gate. Let me tell you, the Miami airport is HUGE. There is an on-site hotel with an entrance literally next to a gate, a ton of shopping, and 10 CONCOURSES! Naturally we had to trek across six of them to get from our arrival to our next departure, but it was okay. Joyce has a pedometer and tries to log 10,000 steps a day, so we definitely made a dent in that. We grabbed some food and got comfortable at our gate, and in what seemed like no time at all we were boarding!

These are my other travel buddies - notice a trend in my trading material?

One thing I didn't expect about TACA was that its primary language is Spanish. I liked that it gave me a chance to practice a bit before getting to Bolivia, but it was definitely overwhelming trying to figure out what rows were boarding when there were a ton of people all clamoring to get on board first and the gate agents were mumbling very fast español in an attempt to speed things up. I also got pretty offended when I would say something in Spanish and they would answer me in English! I'm sure it's what they're trained to do for gringas like me, but I wanted them to at least acknowledge the fact that I was trying. Oh well. 

On this flight, I was sitting next to some people who were all from the same huge family - and they all kept switching seats. Over the course of the flight, I sat by a grandma (who was adorable), a little boy (also adorable), and his mom. The little boy had a friend in the row behind him and kept standing on his seat to yell "HOLA" at the top of his lungs. It was cute for a while and then got a little old. 

This is a picture of the crossword puzle in the back of the airplane magazine. I couldn't figure it out at all. 

This is what the plane looked like from my seat! The seats were 2-4-2 by row and pretty comfy. Our little screens had plenty of entertainment: I watched three movies (instead of sleeping, which might explain why I'm so tired) - White House Down (meh), Couples Retreat (funny but I've seen it before), and Just Go With It (in a word, awful). We were served a meal - I chose chicken with rice and it was really surprisingly good! 

Lima --- La Paz

We landed in Lima a little late, and it was pretty crazy. Everyone was speed walking off the plane, and we had to go through security again. I have NEVER seen people whipping off their jackets and flinging their bags into the conveyor belt like that. It was especially weird because I've heard that Latin Americans in general are all very easygoing and always get places late. These people were the opposite of that. (We then learned that we had been a little late in our landing, and there was a mad dash for a lot of people to make their connection to Sao Paulo, so that might explain it.)

From the bathroom in Peru - one of the things that's going to take the most adjustment is the fact that we can't flush our toilet paper! Something that is such a habit in the US is very frowned-upon in South America. I'm really hoping I don't mess up!

This is a little band that was playing in the Lima airport. We joked that this was as close to Peruvian culture as we would get, since we got pretty much directly on our flight to La Paz. 

The flight to La Paz was pretty empty; everyone had at least one open seat by them. We met an American guy visiting his partner in Bolivia. His partner works for the State Department there, and this guy goes to La Paz every 2 months! He says the novelty has worn off, but that he does love Bolivia. I slept for most of that plane ride, so not much to report. 

We landed and disembarked, and the altitude was definitely and immediately noticeable. I was expecting to feel short of breath, but it's more of a tingling,jittery  feeling that you can't make go away. It's subsided a bit since we've been here, though, so I'm hopeful that the rest of the trip will be free of altitude sickness!

This is the hallway where we have spent the past few hours attempting to sleep and FREEZING. Cohabamba may be known as a city with constantly perfect weather, but La Paz is cold at night. We've layered on a bunch of clothing, though, and are drinking coffee.

The counter for our boarding passes to Cochabamba should be opening soon, so I'll update about that flight later! Once we get there, were going to take a bit of time to settle in, and then go to the Cancha, Cochabamba's biggest market! Message me on Facebook if you want a souvenir!