Basket of Thoughts

If you’ve been following along you may have noticed that the title is the same day as the entry before. There were several occasions while writing this journal when I wrote two entries in the day. When I could, I would write an entry in the morning and an entry in the night. I wanted to document as much as I could so that THIS could happen. So that I’d have a real life story to tell. Without further ado, we start again…

Todays Advice: Don’t try to pet stray dogs. Yeah, it should be obvious I suppose but I just love dogs and wanted to give it some affection. I was in Lima with Mark and Christine, a very nice Bulgarian couple I had met at the hostel. They helped me and a girl named Kyun (pronounced Quinn) get a hotel room at which they were staying at as well. I spent the day with Christine and Mark and we went into downtown Lima. We checked out a few museums while we were there. One was pretty interesting, as it was a tour of a church and the catacombs that ran underneath it. It was kinda creepy to see a bunch of bones piled into boxes in a pit. Another museum was inside a bank and showed all types of gold from the Inca’s. It was neat it was neat seeing some of the stuff they used to wear. The last tour we took was all in spanish so I didn’t understand much of it at all. It was about the Holy Inquisition. It was boring until the tour displayed a room showing some of the methods of torture they used. Yeah, I’m whacked but all who know me aren’t surprised I found that part interesting. Anyways, I detoured a bit about the story of the stray dog. He or she was just laying out in front of an exhibit and it seemed pretty docile. It didn’t seem alarmed by people or anything. I just wanted to be nice and give it some attention so I walked over to it. It had the color scheme of a doberman but it wasn’t. It looked at me and I went slowly toward it’s head to pet it. As I reached slowly, it snapped at me. I pulled back in time but then it bit at my leg and grabbed hold of my pants. It didn’t bite me thankfully but I was alarmed and couldn’t even speak. Christine yelled at it and it ran off. Lesson was learned unfortunately. I still hope that maybe one will take a liking to me. Oh, and good news. My backpack has arrived at the airport. A load of stress is now off my back to be replaced with some meaningful weight now. Ironically, Grant has ended up staying at the same hotel. He said he would knock on my door later and we may go out and have a couple drinks and play some darts. I found a pamphlet for a british pub so we’re gonna try to check it out. I know that even though I don’t know him too much, he’ll be missed we part ways. He has definitely been a good part of my travel experience. I haven’t done much but I learn quick on the life of a traveler. You meet people and you leave people. That’s the way it goes. Traveling is something I love and embrace but I know it will be hard saying good bye to some of the people I meet.

As I reflect on this entry, I think of Mark and Christine. In all honesty, they were simply great people I met but looking back they were really tools I used. That is not to be read in a derogatory way but the literal way. I consider them as tools because they could speak and understand spanish. They had greatly assisted me with the communication barrier and as I mentioned, with being able to help me book a room. Other than those things and the fact I had written of them in my journal there’s not a whole lot I can recollect about them. Guardian angels rarely make flamboyant entrances though. I met a few on that trip. The people that I met while there that helped me the most I don’t remember a whole lot about other than they saved my hide in one way or another. I’m forever grateful for them though and for those who were praying for me. I’m not a particularly religious person but there was something looking out for me, of that I’ve been convinced.