12 Junio 2011

11am thursday

cousin henry leaves viña del mar on a 30 hour bus ride for arica

this is when i lose communication with henry

6ish friday

henry should be arriving in arica. he informs his mother

i am expecting him sunday afternoon

saturday 6ish

my mother, in the united states, calls me in a panic because no one knows where henry is.

i assure her he is arriving sunday afternoon in arequipa. i was wrong

saturday 7ish

my mother assures me, via mathematical correctness, that he would be arriving in arequipa a day sooner than i thought, and i should be worried.

i call his cell, it goes to voicemail

i do the math in my head, and realize i should be worried.

saturday 8ish

henry's mother calls my mother and says he arrived in arequipa at 2pm

i start to friek, because i am still in lima

saturday 9ish

henry's mother calls my mother and says he arrived in arequipa at 10pm

i wonder which time is correct

saturday 9:30

i send my peruvian friends on a wild goose chase in attempts to contact henry via his cellular apparatus, or intersection at bus stations.

still, no henry

saturday 10ish

henry's mother calls my mother and says henry just arrived in arequipa and is staying at a hostal whose name had the word backpackers in it.

i wonder, which of the hundreds of hotels with the title 'backpacker' in their name, he could be staying at.

saturday late

henry finds a phone that can connect to my cell

the international crisis is averted.

Hirma's family is putting both of us up tonight. now we sit on our beds chatting about the interesting smells in south america and the joy of being stuck on buses which encase those aromas.