Munch Snaps: Peru, Day 1: Arrival

Bienvenidos al Peru!!

We are HERE!!! I didn't sleep a wink on the redeye to Lima and there was a car accident on the way out of the airport, but we are finally HERE!!!

First, we had breakfast at the little cafe in our hotel. Granola on top of fresh fruit, including slices of a red thing I don't think is pomegranate, banana, papaya, sweet orange, and cantaloupe, plus fresh-squeezed orange juice.

Our room wasn't ready for check-in yet, so we explored the neighborhood around our hotel. While we walked along the street, a mangy but adorable stray dog passed us by. He trotted along ahead of us, glancing back at us every so often. When we crossed the street, he changed direction and crossed the street, too. When we stopped walking, he stopped. When we resumed, he would resume, too, always a few steps ahead or behind us. At one point I paused to check out a store while my husband and the dog kept going along the sidewalk, and when I looked ahead I saw both my husband and the dog stopped in their tracks, looking back for me.

The dog was trying to adopt us.

My husband has an incredibly soft spot for dogs, and this one, despite its matted fur, had incredibly woeful eyes. We didn't have the heart to shoo it away, so we tried to slink into a Starbucks and hoped that after awhile of waiting outside, the dog would get the hint and leave. But he tried to follow us in! It took a parking attendant with a gentle but firm hand to lead the dog away.

My husband and I sat at Starbucks for awhile, sharing pangs of - regret? shame? helplessness? Stray dogs are everywhere, but this one had tried to befriend us, and we even talked about what it would take to try to bring the dog back home with us to the United States.

But when we left Starbucks, the dog was gone, and all we could do was feel our sadness.

Afterwards we walked a few minutes to a local Incan pyramid to see about a mummy.