Zaboravljeno, izgubljeno... stiglo.

We didn't expect the journey to be eventful. Now we are both glad to have arrived at our host families' in Trujillo (Julia) and Chiclayo (Carole) after a long and tiring journey. But let's start from the beginning:

Since our flight from Madrid to Lima landed with a delay of about 30 minutes, Julia's connecting time was reduced to only 1 hour and 45 minutes. During this time, we had to complete the immigration formalities, collect the luggage, go through customs, check in again, and go through security to reach the gate. It was quite a tight schedule. We were aware that it could take some time for all 300 passengers to get their luggage. But why did Julia's backpack have to be the last one to arrive?!? We started to get nervous and Julia was running out of time. There was just under an hour left until the departure of the connecting flight and the backpack was still missing. But it got even worse: when the last bags had moved along the baggage carousel, we realized that the backpack had not arrived in Lima. Unfortunately, an airport employee confirmed this to us. By the time all the paperwork for the lost backpack was completed, it was practically certain that Julia would miss her flight. There simply wasn't enough time left for customs, check-in, and security. But luck was still on her side and the flight was delayed by an hour, so she made it without any problems. From the airport, she went to the friendly host family, who had already arranged a private city tour with her in the afternoon. In the evening, she enjoyed a good dinner with her "roommates", two students from the USA.

Fortunately, my (Carole's) luggage was not lost, but there were other surprises waiting for me. The airport transfer organized by the language school was not there when I arrived in Chiclayo. A call to the office eventually prompted the school's driver to come to the airport. After waiting for about an hour, he finally arrived. He was surprised that he had not been informed in advance of the arrival of a new student, as is normally the case. Therefore, he also did not know where the ride should go. When I showed him the information sheet from my host family, which I had received from the school, he briefly consulted the language school office. However, it turned out that this family had not been informed of my arrival and was now on vacation. It can be said that the school completely forgot about my booking. They showed me around the small town and the school and quickly organized a new host family for me. As soon as I arrived there, I was immediately invited to the family celebration, to which we immediately set off. Surrounded by aunts, grandmothers, cousins, and sisters, I lost track of who was who, but I enjoyed the warm hospitality, Peruvian cuisine, and the subsequent games in the garden with my host siblings and my "roommate", an Italian student.

This afternoon completely compensated us for all the travel stress and made our arrival in Peru much easier. Soon Julia will start her internship at the hospital and I will start my language school.

Hasta pronto :)