Preparing for Peru '09

As everyone knows, a trip doesn't start when you get on the plane, but months ahead of time thoughtfully preparing.

My partner Eduardo is from Lima, Peru and we are going back to spend Christmas with his family. We are less than a month away from our departure. 19 days to be exact.

We finally purchased our tickets in late October after months of watching air-fare rates rise and fall and working out possible date combos. We settled on the dates, applied for the time-off at work and pulled out the credit card.

The trip dates are almost ideal. We will leave the 7th of December from Portland and return the 27th of December. This will include a mini-tour that Eduardo will do with his two bands, a trip to Machu Picchu, his mother's birthday AND Christmas. Whew!

So far my personal preparations have included studying Spanish grammar and researching Machu Picchu. Eduardo is pressing a 7" vinyl record that he will release on his tour in Peru. He has been doing a lot of work getting everything set up for his shows.

I also have been asking him a lot about what Christmas in Lima is like. So far the highlights that I am looking forward to are: Of course number one is family (his family is amazing), the Panettone, the all night party, the amazing food and FIREWORKS!

We have purchased our tickets for the flight from Lima to Cuzco and back but not the train tickets from Cuzco to Machu Picchu yet.

How exciting! Getting prepared for such a trip! This will be my third time to South America. Last year in November we went for a couple of weeks to connect with Eduardo's family. I went on a tourist trip to Ecuador in 2005. This will be the best by far.

My Spanish is coming along and I am feeling more confident every day. I have grown in leaps and bounds over the last year and a half. We continuiously used mixed Spanglish in our house. I always correct Eduardo's English and he corrects my Spanish.

I am excited to be able to communicate more easily with Eduardo's family in Lima.