First Class Kids

Joffre was so sweet on the Alaska Airlines flight to LA, it broke my heart. He did up his own seatbelt, listened to the PA and told me what he heard - and asked about things he missed - and looked out the window and gave me a play-by-play of what was happening on the tarmac. He was very excited to be going on a plane. Actually, when we left the Fairmont and entered the departures lounge, he was blown away, since I think he'd forgotten that we were at the airport! So, once the plane took off, Joffre told me all about how fast the plane was going, and how we were flying up in the sky, above the clouds. He watched the lights of the city disappear as the sun rose, and he even waited patiently till the seatbelt sign was off to visit the potty.

Aaron sat with Joffre for the flight and let Alec and I sleep a bit, which we greatly appreciated. We landed in LA at about 9:30 am, and easily found the international terminal.

Lost and Found and Lost; Or We Should Have Known Better

Aaron and I have, between the two of us, been travelling internationally for decades. We're pretty experienced travellers. Which is why what happened next is especially embarrassing.

After checking in with LAN for our flight to Peru, we noticed that one of the adorable yellow duckie foot booties that Michelle had given Alec had fallen off. I stayed with the kids while Aaron went looking for it, and then he stayed with them while I searched, but it was to no avail. Alec was short a bootie.

We went through the long and arduous security line in Tom Bradley International Terminal, and imagine our joy when the missing bootie appeared in the stroller, neatly tucked behind Joffre's back. We're still not sure how it got there. After clearing security, we proceeded to the Business Class Lounge for a coffee, a bite to eat, and a bit of relaxation. I settled our many carry on items in a secluded corner, but Joffre was drawn by the TV and so we ended up relocating to the TV area instead. After a bit of playing, eating, and watching TV, we heard our flight called for boarding, so we packed up and headed for our gate. There was a huge line at the gate, and we waited there for quite a while. Then we took a shuttle bus out to where the plane was to be boarded. While standing in line, waiting to enter the plane, I glanced over our carry on bags. Not, you know, before leaving the Lounge. Sure enough, one bag was missing: Joffre's treasured Nemo suitcase, a gift from his Grandma Mary, containing his portable DVD player, a brand new Thomas the Tank Engine DVD, a photo album his Amma had made for him, and his new duckie slippers from Michelle. I immediately told the LAN agent, who radioed their desk back at the terminal and asked them to go and look in the lounge. When they closed the flight, however, nothing had been found. Not only were we not counting our bags each time we moved - which is something we've generally been good at, especially when not travelling light, but we hadn't bothered to label half of our carry on bags with address tags. So now we were expecting LAX security and the good people at LAN to come up with an unaddressed bag in the LA airport, and get it to us in Lima.

There are many kinds of travellers, but all of these can be divided into two general categories: efficient travellers and inefficient ones. Efficient travellers always have their papers in order, never struggle under more bags than they can manage, are never late for/miss flights, never have items with them that don't fit easily into the overhead compartment, always pack their belongings in such a way that they aren't damaged in transit, and above all, never lose bags. Man, I miss being an efficient traveller.

At any rate, Business Class on LAN was lovely. Joffre fell asleep shortly after takeoff, and Aaron and Alec quickly followed suit. It was a 7.5 hour flight, and while the family spent much of the time awake and restless, there were few meltdowns and many happy moments. This was doubtless because we had an extra seat for Alec, seats that completely reclined - essentially forming beds - individual TVs with children's programs, movies, and video games, a map showing the flight path of the plane, and enough leg room that both children could play on the floor in front of their parents. As most of you know, I could go on and on about the food, but I'll limit myself to saying it was delightful.

We landed at midnight, not feeling too rough at all!

Jam and Cheese

Okay, just one comment about the food: about two hours before we landed, they served a snack. The flight attendant asked if I wanted cake, fruit, or a sandwich. I asked what kind of sandwich, and she said, "jam and cheese." I said, "okay," thinking it might be a Peruvian thing and I should keep an open mind. Of course, when she brought it, it turned out to be roasted yellow and red peppers, swiss cheese, and ham. It was just her accent.