Is that the rattle of ice cubes I hear?

Yes, it is!  And you know what?  Now that we are all safe and sound back in the good ol’ U. S. of A. we can actually have some of that ice in our cold drinks!  Yep, the remaining 26 of us and our myriad bags of luggage made it back to DFW.  We were met by our families, friends, rides back home and even a funny lil’ sign that said, “Mr. Edward Barrett.”  I laughed because we saw signs like this everytime we arrived at an airport.  Thanks for the comic relief Mr. Barrett (the dad)!

Our day started plenty early at 3 o’clock A.M.  We all met downstairs at the Hotel Colon for the last time.  We were on the bus and headed to the airport by 3:30.  Sylvia, our Buckner Peru representative rode over with us and hailed porters to help us with our bags.   Every bag had to go through security; then every person had to go through security.  We were some of the most secured people by the time we made it to our gate.

Our flight for Miami left on time at 6:30 A.M. People who could, slept for the first hour or so of the flight.  We woke up to a breakfast of microwaved airplane waffles or omelettes and something to drink (but without the ice).  Throughout this trip, we have been going without ice to cut down the chances of ingesting water that could make us sick. 

After breakfast the airline showed a movie to help pass the time (some of us were kind of expecting a fashion show a la train ride from Cusco style, but that didn’t happen).  Our flight was 6 hours long; the last hour we received our last Inka Kolas and Peruvian bags of chips.  We clapped when we landed.

Once in Miami airport, there was a  certain terminal, that shall remain unnamed (actually I cannot remember whether it was D or E), that we were hoping to avoid.  We were not able to avoid, however, the rigors of security and customs.  Although some people were pulled to the side for odd shaped souevenirs and forgotten bottles of water in carry-ons, we all cleared customs and security.  

After everyone cleared and ate lunch, we met at a gate in terminal A and had a short wait for the final leg of our trip home.  Once we boarded we were greeted by this new-fangled, extremely modern aircraft.  There were plush seats with adjustable headrests (no greasy paper covers velcroed to the chair here), small screens on the back of every chair that were remote controlled (these also controlled the air and lights…someone told me this later).  The plane was also equiped with this navigational system that showed you on a map where the plane was going, at what speed it was moving and at what altitude it was flying.  And all of this could be replaced by an on-flight movie or tv show if you so desired (I’m not quite sure what the folks on the front row did but it was still impressive). 

About mid-way through the flight the attendents started peddling their wares ($2 for an oatmeal cookie).  There were no alpaca sweaters or ponchos, but there were ice cubes.  And where there are ice cubes, there is home.

Night night from Dallas safe and sound!!