Success!

We have arrived in Lima and all 90 pairs of shoes that we brought with us made it!  This is so important to us.  We really had a hard time deciding if we should even attempt it - and we were so afraid of losing some of the shoes if they were confiscated. 

I must admit, Allan and I had a few glasses of wine on the plane to keep us loose.  5 1/2 hour flight seemed like nothing.  And we picked up our luggage and headed for the green light / red light judgement contraption.  Allan went first with 2 suitcases full of shoes.  The customs guy there said, "Are you by yourself sir?"  Allan replied, " uh.." .and gestured towards us.  He wanted to see if he hit the red light because if he did he'd be on his own  -  I had the other suitcase full of shoes.  He hit the green light and then turned back to the guy and said, "Yes, that's my family right there."  The guy said - "Ok, you can all go through."  It was all we could do not to scream.  We thought all 4 of us were going to have to hit the button. 

What a freaking relief.  It's really hard to describe the adrenaline rush of walking out to the Lima air with all our shoes. 

Ben and Tony were actually stopped and their cameras were inspected.  That gave us a few anxious moments because they aren't really supposed to have professional quality cameras come into the country either....we are just such bad actors all round.  

A lovely gentleman by the name of Bran welcomed us to Lima.  He had no idea how happy we were to be on that side of customs.  He brought us to the Soul Mate Inn...which is really a hostel. 

We made a quick stop for beer on the way here and are now relaxing...secure in the fact that 90 kids are going to have new shoes courtesy of the generous kids in Manitoba. 

Congrats Shea!  Your dream is going to be a reality.