JON: We arrived in Lima a bit after midnight, and the cool, moist air of Callao - Lima's port - felt good after 8 hours on Lan Chile. Not a bad flight, however, and the food reminded me how bad we have it in the land of US air travel, where it seems American airline companies have complete disdain for their passengers.
Lima is much more modern than I expected, with lots of late night café's and what appears to be the latest arrival, Las Vegas-like casinos. Long stretches of the city, coming into Miraflores, where our hotel is located, have pint-sized versions of Vegas style clubs, with lots of neon, uniformed door men and the like. Oh, and of course, the promise of instant riches. It would be easy to criticize these garish pleasure palaces, but it would be mighty hypocritical. They appear to be serving their purpose here: separating people from their money.
I've only been here less than two hours, but I am left with an inescapable
reflection. It was here, in this city, 41 years ago, that I first saw the
world outside the US. It was the first city off the North American
continent where I ever set foot. Traveling with Fr. Paul Meineke, I was all
of 15 years old. A young boy traveling abroad with an elderly priest
probably just couldn't happen today, but of course, that was a different
time.
Nonetheless, it leaves me with a bit of nostalgia, thinking that this was
where I first experienced the wider world.
It's after 3:00 am, local time; I'm beat. Off to bed.
No comments:
Post a Comment