Arrived around 11pm. They ran out of customs forms on the plane so I had to track someone down and ask them in Spanish or they wouldn't let me into the country. We first went through immigration. It was a long line and we were exhausted carrying heavy bags. There were many other people there and of course you wonder what they are doing, why they are here, where they come from, what their stories are. Everyone got through immigration fine, although there were some nerves as it was some peoples' first time outside the U.S. We picked up our luggage and then went through customs, then exchanged our money.

Our host from the Peruvian YMCA was waiting for us. His name is Donato and he is 23. He is the Marketing VP for the Lima, Peru Y. He arranged for a bus to pick us up. He brought with him as a surprise one of the Y's young leaders, Francisco. Francisco was born in the U.S. to Peruvian parents, and came to Peru to visit and get in touch with his ancestry. He is only 18, and has been living here on his own for almost a year now. He needed a way to get integrated into the community so he started volunteering for the Y. The Latin American Ys have a very strong leadership development program for youth. YMCAs all over the world have adopted the model because it is so successful in involving young people in civic engagement.

Donato drove us to a restaurant close to our hotel. We went through the city of Lima to get there and seeing the architecture, traffic, people etc was culture shock, as expected. It was mostly about getting acquainted with the group, and getting familiar with our surroundings and absorbing everything happening around us and to us.

The restaurant was a 24 hour spot that was bustling with people. We sat outside as the weather is a consistent 70 degrees and sunny - not humid. Lima is a coastal city on the Pacific Ocean, and Peru is the country directly south of Ecuador, which has the equator running through the center of it, so we are fairly close to the equator which accounts for the wonderful climate.

We ordered a pre-fix menu for the group for the entire week to save time, keep under budget, and ensure the group got exposed to new cuisine and traditional Peruvian food. At this restaurant we ate Chicken Tornador - chicken breast with bacon on top. It was served with French fries and rice. It's customary in Peru to serve all meals with 2 carbs - rice and a potato. We also drank a purple drink traditional to Peru called Chinca Morado. It is made from purple corn and taste sort of sweet with a hint of cloves. It is served room temperature or cold - I prefer it cold. They do nothing else with this purple corn except turn it into this drink. Donato was very clear about this. =) It was also served with a side salad, which we were discouraged from eating because the rule here, similar to when US residents travel to any foreign country, is don't eat it unless you can cook or peel it. Our digestive systems can't process some of the chemicals and lack of chemicals here, so the lettuce and tomatoes of the salad being washed in tap water could easily cause us tummy issues. For dessert they served little apple pies with ice cream, or little chocolate mousse pies.

We arrive at the hotel around 3am. We had to all check in which was a long process involving paperwork and passports. The hotel is quaint and nice. It looks like a house from the outside and is run by a family. We make it a point to stay in moderate accommodations when on these trips. Our policy is to stay in a hotel that the local residents would stay in themselves. The hotel has hot water, cable TV, and obviously, internet. We also all got single rooms which is a luxury. I have a huge window which overlooks the street and the "superwalmart-eque" store across the street. I also have a skylight/window in my shower which I didn't realize was totally propped open. That creeped me out a bit but I locked it before going to bed.