Tourism, a huge industry in today's world where millions of people manage to break away from their mundane daily 9-5 routine for a few weeks of rest and relaxation.  Here in Peru tourism is an industry that has helped the country gain more and more recognition in the world, and with beginning days of summer in effect and the yule tide vacations the number of tourists is at its PEAK.  For most people entering Peru the first land they step onto is that of the renovated Jorge Chavez International Airport located in the Constitutional Province city of Callao.  Being the main international airport, Jorge Chavez sees large volumes of people migrating and traveling from all parts of the world, and believe me it gets crowded.  The airport itself is not a large airport in comparison to behemoths like JFK or LAX, and therefore can create a sense of claustrophobia during high traffic seasons like December and June.

Yesterday I traveled with my father to Callao at 11:59PM to pickup my mother, grandmother, and brother from the airport.  We arrived to a full house with almost no place to park.  It made me wonder that with all that open parking lot space why they never thought to build a multi-level parking structure?  After circling around the parking lot like vultures waiting for a meal to hurry up and die, we finally found a spot towards the back of the lot (you know the part where no one wants to park because they don't want to have to actually use their legs and walk 100 meters).  By this time it was 12:20PM and my families flight from LA had just landed and so we made our way towards the arrivals section of the airport and waited amongst hundreds of other people.  After an hour of surveying the ocean of travelers we finally spotted my family and rushed down to meet them.  It is always a great feeling to be reunited with family especially when separated by distance.

For my grandmother this trip marks her very first time visiting the country of Peru or the continent of South America for that matter.  I can sense she is nervous and excited as the mystery of a foreign country and its marvels and perils do tangos in her head.  My brother is excited to be back in what for the last seven years he considered home, free to once again take back the night and reclaim his teenage youth with his old Leoncio Pradiño friends.  Mom is happy to be by her husbands side once again and I'm sure to see her FAVORITE SON of the bunch.    The next few weeks will be full of trips to museums and ancient cities to the south, so I will be posting quite frequently.  This should be an interesting Christmas season, and this American Photographer plans on taking a lot of family memories.