Cerro de Pasco, Peru: Arrival and the Crate

By Cliff Potts
Bay Bay City, Leyte, Philippines — August 27, 2026

This is a serialized installment from the autobiography of Cliff Potts.

Leaving Los Baños

We left Los Baños just days after my ninth birthday on October 28, 1966.

Around November 1, we boarded a plane heading south. I remember Mexico City first — the scale of it, the noise, the sense of movement. Then Lima. Then the climb into the Andes.

The ascent felt gradual and endless. By the time we reached Cerro de Pasco, it seemed we had left ordinary geography behind.

School in Four Days

Four days after arriving, I began school.

Lauren had arrived four days earlier, so she already understood the rhythm. I entered as the new student — again.

The school was small, two rooms. Lil Savoy taught multiple grades in one classroom and maintained order without raising her voice. It was efficient and quiet.

Waiting for Proof

Our household goods had not yet arrived. We lived with borrowed furniture and borrowed utensils. Everything felt provisional.

Then the crate came.

It arrived around Lauren’s birthday, which made sense. It had been shipped from California before we left and had taken roughly ten days to reach us by truck through the Andes. At nine years old, ten days felt extended beyond measure.

The crate contained more than furniture. It was confirmation that our previous life had not disappeared entirely.