Jason's Here!

Jason's flight landed at 10:32pm on Friday and based on my research into how many international flights were arriving at the same time, I figured it would take a while in baggage claim and customs so I planned to leave The Point at 11pm for the 30 minute ride to the airport. Traffic was pretty bad and I arrived just before midnight. Whilst standing amongst the anxious crowd doused with signs containing last names, I excitedly browsed the incoming travelers. I was taken aback when someone hugged me from behind and it turned out to be Jason! The first words out of his mouth were 'you look great!' which pretty much made my day. He had been ready for 45 minutes so I felt bad for making him wait but he didn't seem phased. We took the 30 minute cab ride back to The Point, checked Jason in, and headed to the bar for his first Peruvian beer; Cuzqueña. At first Jason wasn't placed in the same room as me because Thursday night we were bombarded with fifteen 20 year old Argentinians on Summer break. Because of this, Rob was even kicked our of our staff room! I'm not sure why they let me stay but I'm guessing it was because I had too much crap to shlep. After 2 large beers Jason went to bed and I stayed up a bit chatting with some friends. I was finally sleepy enough by 3am which was still a pretty early night for me considering my bartending schedule the last few weeks and going to bed at 6am. I woke up at 9:30am and greeted Jason outside in the garden reading a book. I grabbed a coffee included in free breakfast and sat down to chat. I already had the day planned out for us and couldn't wait to play tour guide! We planned to leave at 10:30am and hopped on a bus for 1 Sole each to head into Miraflores. We window shopped for a bit, took Jason to meet Sarah, the middle aged Peruvian woman with a store of chachkees who I met when I first arrived, and at 12:30pm we were ready for lunch. Jason and I went to El Parquetito where I knew he could try alpaca. We sat outside, people watched, and enjoyed our yummy lunch. I had tacu tacu con seco de res; a rice and bean dish (stir fried together) with tender beef in a cilantro sauce. After lunch we walked into Larcomar where I had scheduled Jason's surprise birthday/Channukah present; paragliding over the cliffs of Lima! I was told to find the booth at the end of Larcomar and to ask for Cato. Because I am an employee at The Point in Lima, I could go for free so I only had to pay for Jason. We got to the booth at 2:30pm with no Cato to be found but had the young woman sitting in the booth call Cato to approve our price adjustment. Unfortunately, the day was too hot (28 degree Celsius) and there wasn't enough wind so we were asked to come back at 3:15pm. We sat in the park in the shade for about 15 minutes until a security officer asked us to get off the grass. When we returned to the booth, the wind still wasn't sufficient so we were asked to wait another 30 minutes. In the meantime, we sat on a bench and observed a man with his paragliding gear disarming so I decided to go up and ask him how the wind conditions were. When I said 'como esta el viento?' he responded 'you sound like an American!' Sean was in the Canadian armed forces for 20 years, had been deployed to Qatar, and his favorite sport in the world is paragliding. We chatted for about 15 minutes, got some great advice, and decided to give paragliding another try on the back end of our trip. We walked to an outdoor mall for ice cream to cool us down, took pictures of things that reminded us of our family; TGI Fridays (Hariel worked at Fridays!) & Tony Romas (Stan's favorite place to get beef ribs), and grabbed a cab back to the hostel to freshen up. Upon returning to the hostel and looking at myself in the mirror, I realized I had made a huge mistake; I didn't put on sunscreen while walking outside and could see the formation of a chest burn, an outline of my sunglasses, and a strip from where my across-the-body purse was laying. Welp- I wasn't going to let this little hiccup ruin my night so I rubbed myself down with some aloe curtesy of one of our new bartenders and we headed to dinner; sushi! For 98 Soles, Jason and I ate 40 (total) pieces of delicious/mystery sushi and tuna wontons for an appetizer- delish! We went back to The Point, took a cold shower and went straight to bed. I woke up at 1pm yesterday (thanks to Jason for letting me sleep in!) and at first decided to take Jason to the beach. I figured the cool water of the Pacific Ocean would feel nice on our lobster-red skin but because of the lack of time I have to show Jason around, I decided to take him to Central Lima to see the architecture and do the other touristy stuff there is to do in this busy capital. We took the Metropolitana bus for 1.5 Soles each and arrived in the city's center by 2pm. The scorching sun didn't feel so nice on our already hot skin so we tried to walk in the shade as much as possible. Jason had alreayd eaten lunch while I was still sleeping but I was hungry. We stopped for pollo a la brasa and ice cream for Jason but I was too hot to eat most of my lunch. We browsed the buildings of Central Lima, asked families to take our pictures figuring they'd be less likely to run away with my digital camera and took a bus tour for 5 Soles up the San Martin Mountain. I was told that the tour was in both English and Spanish but it turns out that was a load of crap but it was worth it to sit on a bus with fans and to see the view from the top of a mountain. At 6 we went to a café for Jason's first pisco sour- the designated alcoholic beverage of Peru and munched on canchitas. A group of 13 white kids came into the outdoor seating area to sit and sip on pisco sours and on our way out I asked where they were from. Two girls were from Rockville, go to the University of Maryland, and live in Oakland; the brand new dorm they built on North Campus. Small world! We hopped in a cab to go to the Parque de Aguas to show Jason the light/laser show of the fountains. We had a lot of fun and felt more comfortable as the sun was setting and the air around us was cooling down. Jason and I took the Metropolitana bus back to Barranco and browsed the artisan tables looking for crafty bracelets to wear and remind us of his visit. After Jason's 1 Sole bracelet purchase we went to Javier, one of my favorite restaurants in Barranco because there is rooftop seating perfect for watching sunsets. I ordered us an array of dishes so Jason could try some food that Peru is famous for; Causa de Pollo, Cebiche, and Guinea Pig! We shared the first two and Jason finished every last bite of his no longer furry rodent friend. We went back to the hostel, shared stories from the day, packed our bags and went to sleep to prepare for our 4:30am wake up to head to the airport for Cusco! We're sitting at The Point in Cusco which is a really nice facility. It's 9:25 am and check in isn't until 2pm. We'll be taking naps!