What Not To Do 6 Hours Before Your Flight To Cuzco:
-
Lose your passport
Yes … that’s right.
That’s the only advice that I have.
When you have good advice, you don’t need a lot of it, right?
To fill in those who don’t already know … late Thursday night I lost my passport in Lima, Peru.
We were in a taxi on the way home from dinner.
The area we were being dropped off in was known to be rather dangerous.
So … in hopes of fending off my would-be “attackers” I decided I would get my Nalgene out of my purse (yes, this was the best strategy I had – knock them upside the head with the water bottle)
Somehow, however, during this process I managed to rummage through everything in my purse enough to take my passport/money holder out of the purse and
lose it.
Not sure what happened … I might have left it in the taxi or it might have dropped outside of the taxi as I was getting out.
Either way, it was all pretty ironic … in my attempts to not be
robbed, I lost my passport and everything else in the holder (including my credit cards, driver’s license, and team credit card … oops?)
.
Did I mention that this was all before we were supposed to leave for our flight that morning at 3am???
Yeah … I have the worst timing.
.
.
After many tears, one radio station interview (yet another long story – thanks Chad & Eric!), a bunch of phone calls, and several hours … it was official that my belongings were
way gone and I would have to stay behind in Lima to get a new passport.
.
Beautifully, however, this is where the story gets good.
A lesson that nothing is really in my control, I raised my hands in surrender, and the next morning embarked upon the
longest yet most
interesting day of my trip thus far.
.
Left alone in a city of 10 million people, Eric and I woke at around 6:30am to head to the American Embassy.
While waiting in line for the Embassy to open, we met the first of what we would call our “god-sends” for that day.
His name was John and we spent about 15 minutes talking – simple conversation really, nothing big.
Towards the end though, he ended up giving us some advice that would end up changing the course of our day.
He simply told us that it would be important to check about our Peruvian visas.
.
Our intention at the beginning of the day was to simply get a replacement for the lost passport and get to the airport as quickly as possible to catch our flight to Cuzco and Machu Picchu.
Little did we know that this little concept of the “visa” would be so difficult.
Like I said though, with everything out of our hands, the Lord’s provision continued.
It was at this point that the
second of our god-sends made her grand entrance.
Fabiola is our sweet/feisty friend who we met while we were waiting for my passport to be printed.
She was in a similar situation – she was flying back to the US later that week but her passport was stolen and she needed a replacement.
As time progressed and we talked more, however, we
all realized that much more needed to be done than simply acquiring a new passport.
In fact, we learned that there were about 10 more hoops to jump through before being able to go
anywhere.
.
From that point on, we all were a part of the “adventure” together, and in essence, our god-send Fabiola took us under her wing for the rest of the day.
Her personal driver towed us around Lima all day … she slipped money to all the right people to speed things up when our time limit wouldn’t allow for lines … she helped us navigate the mad-house of the Peruvian immigration building … her Spanish and quick-tongue (with a little bit of attitude all mixed in there) literally
made things happen.
She was semi-crazy … but a god-send nonetheless.
.
I can say with confidence that I would not have made it to Cuzco as quickly as I did (and without later complications) if we had not met these god-sends.
Without their advice/help I really don’t know how things all would have ended up.
Yet another lesson for me in trusting the Lord to work things out … even in something as simple as a lost passport.
“Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways acknowledge him, and
he
will make your paths straight.”
Proverbs 2:5-6
So needless to say, the Lord is continuing to work in and around me.
It’s been an interesting past couple of days and I have no doubt that the adventure/craziness/lessons/hardships/joys will continue – I’m just now beginning to realize that
THAT is what I signed up for.
All of it … the good days
and the bad.
The Lord breaking/crushing me
and the Lord restoring/affirming me.
Uck and amazing all at once.
.
Hopefully you will have the opportunity to learn these lessons as well … but without having to lose your passport.
J
Love you
all and blessings to you.
