Not for the faint of heart!

The journey back has been a challenge.  It began on Saturday eve when Allan, Bree, Zak, Shea and I headed into Trujillo ahead of Tony, Ben and Ezi.  We checked our bags in at the bus depot and found a nice spot around the corner to eat and kill time.  It was great when the other team joined us.  Then we got on our luxurious bus.  And it really was.  But...it's still pretty challenging getting a good sleep on a moving bus. And I should mention that all EIGHT of us have tummy trouble right now.  No one can be too far from a bathroom for long. 

Our faithful tour guide Brand was at the station in Lima to welcome us at 6:15 am!  However, our luggage didn't come with us.  It turned out that because we had arrived at the bus depot early, they had "checked" the bags in storage rather than "checking" it in on the bus.  We had done the exact same thing when we went on the bus up north so along with our language barrier we didn't realize.  So there we were - needing to head directly to the airport with no luggage.  (the second team's luggage made it just fine.)  So after a few VERY anxious moments, we were told that they put the luggage on the last bus when they realized it was left over and should be going to Lima.  This meant a 1 1/2 hour wait and anxious moments to get to the airport on time.

But we made it.

We tried at the airport to get Ezi moved over to our itinerary.  They said no but we could try again in Guayaquil.  Ezi and I worked on it again when we got to Guayaquil but to no avail.  They said it would cost $2,000 to change.  We were also told in Lima that we would all be subject to a $40 airport tax in Quito.  This wasn't great news. For us that meant an additional $160 bucks. 

We had to clear customs in Guayaquil and in Quito - these are very long, arduous processes.  The crew was pretty tired having dealt with so much stress each place we went - we didn't actually get charged the $40 each which was a bonus.  Lots of coordination for bathroom breaks.  Our poor crew was pretty worn out. 

Arrived in Miami at 11:30 pm.  Then an unbelievably long line up to clear customs.  By the time we got our van rental and drove to Fort Lauderdale, we got to the beautfiul Riverside Hotel at 2 am with full intention of sleeping for 2 hours and going back to pick Ezi up at 5.   (a quick check of our emails and Pablo indicated Ezi's uncle was going to pick him up.)  So we enjoyed a magnificent sleep in.  

Our original itinerary had us in Fort Lauderdale until 9 tonight - so we had been looking forward to enjoying a full day in the sun, but the flight was changed and now we need to get to the airport for noon which is disappointing.  It is beautiful and warm here and the hotel is gorgeous.

But we ARE well rested which is the main thing.

It's bittersweet.  We're looking forward to getting home but we'll never forget our experiences in Peru.

A couple more pics.

Thanks Pablo and Paula

That was quite frustrating.  The blog was down.  But now, thanks to the Szajts, we are back in business.
Last night was really fun.  We had no plan and bussed into Huancaco to visit the market and act like real tourists for awhile.  We found a fun little pizza joint where it was Happy Hour.  Everyone enjoyed their strawberry daquiries and pisco sours.   We did a little shopping and started looking for some live music.  We were told about a place closer to our hotel so we jumped back on a bus.  No sooner had the bus started moving than I spied two traditional Incan street musicians outside a little restaurant.  In less than 10 seconds we were off the bus again.  We sat outside the restaurant, enjoyed their amazing music and had a bottle of wine.  The night was perfect.  We bought two of their CDs so we'll be able to share.  Shea's camera was out of battery so no pics - although I'm pretty sure Bree will have some.

Bussed back to the hotel and sat in the lounge for awhile.  Met Douglas, a Brazilian who is travelling all over South America.  We had a really enjoyable time chatting with him.  He was most impressed that we would take on this "dangerous" assignment - bringing shoes to the kids in Peru.  We never really took the danger part all that seriously...however, I guess I must confess here that my camera was stolen during the festivities yesterday.


Charo - our hostess was so upset and the kids told her that they had seen it happening.  They identified who had it and a bit of a yelling match ensued.  But the family responsible for stealing it is notorious and very dangerous....needless to say - we didn't choose to pursue the matter.

I'm sorry that I have lost my photos.  I care significantly less about the camera itself.  But most importantly, we had a wonderful party, incredible life-long memories, and everyone is safe and sound.  

Today was a wonderful day.

It really was unbelievable.  What a team!  When we arrived we gathered the kids and went for a bit of a hike (in reality we never really know what we're doing...we just follow along.)  It turned out Charo had a spot in mind for our party.  So we arrived at the spot in quite severe heat and sun and tried to get ourselves organized.  We had all sorts of games but no real plan.  Here's where the teamwork came in.  I laid out my blanket and started setting up the face paints.  Shea had the nail polish - the spa was set.  A few of the other volunteers had another face painting station.  Ben took charge of the fishing prize game.  He was impressed how the kids helped each other figure out how to do it.  Ezi ran over to the soccer pitch (SURPRISE).  It was a fair distance away and he was pretty tired taking care of that on his own.  Allan was in charge of bowling.  Bree the ring toss.  Zak was with the hula hoops, Twister game and volleyball.  Tony was running around shooting things.  It was crazy chaotic but the sounds of the kids laughing and screaming was music to our ears. 

After an hour and a half or so of that we headed back to the school and together the Fuze team dished out 53 plates of chicken nuggetty things and fries.   And poured out the Fanta (orange) and Coke.  Finished off with cookies and lollipops and the party was done. 

Everyone is a little sunburnt.  The kids all received little toys and we left soccer balls, the Twister, hula hoops, ring toss, bowling game etc. 

What an amazing feeling.  We really do hate to leave these kids.  We talked to them a bit about the school and reading and education.  And encouraged them to work hard. 

And now, we prepare for our departure from Huancaco/Trujillo tomorrow night.