Last Day in Peru

We took a cab all the way back down to Huaraz, and boarded the little plane back to Lima (both of those adventures in their own right). We were the only people on the plane, along with a very important-looking gentleman with the key to some city and a security detail. Dad was curious and so struck up a conversation with the guy. He was the Israeli embassador to Peru, of course. He is also Druze, which is interesting, and rose up to be a Colonel in the Israeli military and then embassador to a number of different South American countries. So anyone who says Arabs in Israel dont have the same opportunities... But Im not wandering into politics here.

Our day in Lima was so much fun. We walked through the spooky 17th century San Franciscan monastery and the catacombs beneath. Then we shopped for last minute gifts and caught a cab to Miraflores. There we walked through the park along the high bluffs overlooking the sea, and we watched the parasailors take off and land there -- the same as Lony and I had done 2.5mo before. I showed Dad everything we had done in our first days in Peru, our apt and school and all the activities we did and the places we got food. We had some dinner and then walked through the art exhibit in the park. It was night by then and we cabbed it back to the airport where we started the long trip home. For me, it was a day of plane from Huaraz to Lima, cab around the city, jet Lima to Fort Lauderdale overnight, jet FLL to Washington DC where Trudy picked me up and whisked me home. I ate, showered, said quick hellos, and then got in my car and drove through periodic severe thundershowers and torrential rains 5.5hrs to Ohio where my cats and house were waiting for me in perfect condition and harmony, as if I just left.

I felt like Max, from Where the Wild Things Are, when he comes back from his dream to reality:
"and he sailed back over a year, in and out of weeks, and through a day ... and into the night of his very own room where he found his supper waiting for him... and it was still hot."