What a GREAT trip Loic had going to Peru

Ok so most of my family which reads this Blog already know about how I was not able to get onto the plane to Lima Peru due to ridiculous bureaucracy but most of you don't yet know what happened to me after I spent the night there. I swear by well anything which is not sacrilegious that this story has not been one bit embellished and that there are many details left out so as to not make the story too long. If you can read it out loud with someone it will make the story more enjoyable. I'll keep posting if any more funny stories come up.

So here is how it went. That morning I met another traveler who's flight had been canceled and he had to wait at the airport until the evening for the next flight. So while he was sorting out all of his problems so as to get onto his flight I was watching his bags so that he didn't have to go all around the airport carrying them. Once he had succeeded at everything which he had to do he came back and we went to get something to eat and whatnot. Then later at around 1:30 – 2:00 he was taking a nap in the corner where I had spent the night and I asked him if he was game to watch my bags for a while while I tried to do what I needed to so that I could fly that night. So just for prudence's sake we thought it would be better if I gave him my phone # just in case something came up.

So now I was running all around the airport trying to find a way to receive a fax or to print the document which I needed. By the way, the airport is quite big and has four different terminals where you can check in. So I was at a different terminal and Adrial (the guy I had met) called me and said that I should come back because there were two police men who had seen something in my bag.... and then the phone cut off. So naturally I assumed that it would be best if I returned, so I picked up my backpack which I had with me and took off at a jog, but it still took me 5 minutes before I got back to where he was and when I was almost there Adrial was putting back all of his things in his suitcases so I immediately knew that they had searched his bags.

Once I arrived though the sheriff told me to put the bag there on the ground, and I obliged, but he then said “no, you're not listening to me. I said put it there pointing to a specific location on the ground.” It was at that point that I almost burst out laughing, but I was able to hold it in otherwise it would have been quite bad. So I moved my bag to where he pointed and stood up to see him with his hand on his holster, and I thought that this might be a bit worse than I thought. Even though I knew that it was just for the intimidation factor, it is still quite intimidating. So then he made me turn around and put my hands on the wall, and he stared searching me. He took everything out of my pockets and did a very through search. I was actually impressed at how well his search was, I don't think that I would have been able to hide anything on my body without him finding it had I wanted to.

After the body search, he took my documents and wrote down all of my information and then started asking questions such as if I had ever before been arrested, and where I was going... Continuing one of the sheriffs asked me why I was traveling with a machete, and whether I knew that it was illegal to travel with a machete in the airport. So I started to respond, wanting to tell him that it is not illegal but he kept on cutting me off. From there on out I don't really remember the details very well because I was way to fed up with them and just started to zone out.

Either way, a little while later an airport official came up and told the policemen that it was perfectly okay for me to be traveling with a machete and and knives as long as they were secure and in a checked bag. So at that point the policemen, were like O'hh, and then they started lose the intimidating facade and actually would let me answer them. So again they asked me when I was supposed to travel and I told them yesterday but that due to the bad organization of Spirit Air lines I had already spent the night at the airport, and that due to them I was about to miss my next flight and that I might have to spend the night there again. From there on out, it was obvious to see that they actually felt a bit bad. So they spoke to Adrial and I and said that a few hours is not enough time to be willing to leave your bags with some one and that if they wanted they could impose us with a hefty fine for being so naive and leaving our bags with strangers. One of the sheriffs told me “for all you know he could be a terrorist or a serial killer, and same goes for you, even though he is young he could be.... well point proven he's traveling with a machete in his backpack.”

Now that the whole ordeal was at an end, they let Adrial go and asked me what it was that I needed to be able to travel. So I told them the whole story. In the end they were actually quite helpful and were able to print out the document that I had been able to save to a flash drive earlier that morning. Additionally, they were able make up for the lost time by cutting to the front of the lines so that I didn't miss the flight again. On the way to the gate I struck up a conversation with the sheriff which was accompanying me. I started it by asking things about his job and then he asked me what year I was in and if I had a girl friend and what not. He was actually quite a friendly guy once he stopped playing the role of bad cop.

Now that I was at my gate I met Adrial again and he told me what happened to him before I arrived. He said that he woke up and was wandering around, but was still close to the bags but that the policemen must have thought that they were unattended luggage. So the sheriffs asked him if the luggage with the machete was his and he said no. They then asked him if he knew me and he also said no, because we had just met. Adrial then offered to call me and they then assumed that he had lied because if he had my phone # he must know me. So he called me. Afterwards he told me that the reason it cut off was because when he had said that there were two policemen they jumped on him, knocked the phone out of his hands and slammed him up against the wall. Supposedly he was not supposed to let me know that there were policemen there because it would give me a chance to escape. When I heard that it made me feel sorry for him, that all that happened to him just because he was around me. I guess that I am just not a goo one to be around when traveling.

Well that is it for the story with the policemen. Just to add to the irony of the trip and all of its difficulties, another thing just had to happen. So I am now on the plane down to Peru and I take a deep breath and think to myself, “few, it is all over now, no more worries.” Then when I arrive, going through immigration is fine and easy, and then comes baggage claim. So I'm waiting because it always takes some time and the airport in Lima. Well not this time, this time instead of just taking time, my bag flat out did not arrive!!! Yep, they had lost my bag. I was able to get my bag the next night, but that whole day I was stuck in shorts, a T-shirt and a jacket and I was quite a bit cold. At least everything is okay now, I have my bag, my health, my family and one heck of a story which I'll able to tell my children. Of course by then, due to exaggeration, it will probably be a S.W.A.T. team which came up to me at the airport, and I probably will have been living at the airport for a few months eating out of the trashcans.

Well I hope that you enjoyed the story of my little adventure and feel free to post comments laughing at me, many of my friends already have. Have a great summer everybody.

PS. if anybody wants my e-mail address here it is Loic1445f37@yahoo.com