Awaiting My Flight

The day has finally arrived. Currently, I am sitting in Newark Airport. I found a comfortable little sitting area down by baggage claim where I could stay with my things and eat a bagel with cream cheese from the Bagel Spot in Springfield, New Jersey. I spent most of the morning running around grabbing last minute things and checking that I had my passport about a hundred times. My motto is, “If you haven’t packed it by now, you probably didn’t need it in the first place.” I came to the airport 4.5 hours earlier than necessary. If anything, it will be interesting to witness a morning at Newark International Airport. From where I am sitting, I can hear the incessant cries of a cat looking forward to their owner claiming them from baggage claim. I was surprised to see that Continental does not get many flights early in the morning, especially since my return flight next week is coming in about this time. I wanted to share my itinerary with everyone so you could get a sense of where we will be traveling. Tonight, we will be arriving in Peru at about 10:50 p.m. Tomorrow, Friday, we will be taking a guided tour of Lima which will include the San Francisco Monastery (I can’t wait to take pictures). Afterward, we will be visiting the National Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology. I was hoping to catch a glimpse of an Inca mummy, but I was not able to check and see if they have them on display at this museum. Saturday we will be taking an early flight over to Cuzco. We will be taken on a guided tour of the city and later we will be exploring the Inca sites of Tambomachay, Kenko, and Puca Pucara. Sunday is perhaps one of my favorite days since we will be visiting the Indian market. I am looking forward to purchasing a few woven textiles. I would especially like to find a piece which represents the Inca key design which was a symbol of nobility. We will also visit the Sacred Valley of the Incas and Ollantaytambo. Monday we will take the train to Machu Picchu. We will actually be staying overnight in the area so on Tuesday we can take a morning tour of the area which is host to some of the most beautiful sunrises in the world. I’m hoping the rain will hold off long enough for us to witness its beauty. In the afternoon, we will be returning by train to Cuzco. Wednesday is a free day for us. I’m hoping it might include either horseback riding or geocaching before returning to Lima and by Friday morning, New Jersey. For those of you not aware, there is an educator from California traveling with us. She is bringing a letter written by students in Language Arts classes at her school. We will be leaving the letter in a geocache box in Peru. I am hoping we find something interesting to bring back to them as well. In addition, I brought my traveling gnome named Cedric. Just a few days ago, Seńor Cedric was just another traveling gnome in a box at Barnes and Noble. That is until I found him. Keep an eye out for him as I am sure he will try to sneak into a few of my photos. He was more than happy to escape my home since he is terrified of cats. Not a good trait for a gnome that was brought into a home with four felines. Hopefully, he won’t want to stay in Peru. He is also a Latin American literature fanatic. I am hoping we will find some interesting literature to share on our travels. Well, that is all for now. At 2:50 p.m. today we will be taking off to a world I have only read about. Be sure to check out some of the links for books I suggested in the top right hand column. Hasta luego.