Mexico thus far!

Hello everyone! This is the first of hopefully many blogs for the summer :) We arrived safely in Mexico City and went straight to Puebla (a city about an hour away from D.F.) and we went to eat dinner at a tacos arabes (arab tacos). They are like normal tacos except you put strained cheese, a bacon type of meat, and onions. SOO Good! We are eating a lot of good food here. Then we went out to a cantina and a mariachi band came by ... it was so much fun. Our hostal isnt anything to write home about, so ill skip it.

The next day we wake up, and I went for a run around the city. I only went for about 15 minutes, but it was still fun to go. Then we went on a tour of the city of Puebla on a touristy bus ... that was OK, but I just listened to my iPod and looked over the side (because it was a double decker). Then we went and ate chilaquiles verdes at a nice restaurant, which is like fried tortilla, salsa verde (green sauce), shreaded chicken and cheese ... my favorite Mexican dish! We went to go for pasitas which are like gourmet shots that you sip slowly. I got a lime flavored one and it was really suave (smoothe). Then we saw IRON MAN DOS! It was a great movie and we also got Krispy Kreme donas (doughnuts). I asked Colleen (newest member of Project Guanajuato) if she forgot that she was in Mexico and she said yes! haha I did too.

Yesterday, we checked out of the hostal and headed for Cholula, a small town outside of Puebla, where one of Miguels friends lives. We visited some churches and visited the huge pyramid that is the base of the whole town. Once the Spanish came, they built a cathedral on the top of the pyramid and the rest of the town started to develop on top of the pyramid. Last night we went to a house party with some other Americans from Boston, French, Mexicans, and others. We had a lot of fun because there were so many languages all over the place!

Now we are up to date! We just woke up today and chilled at a friends house and now we are heading to Mexico City to meet up with the rest of our crew!

Hallo! I'm back and gonna try and update what's going on in life/Guanajuato! I have around 3 weeks until Mexico, but before then, I have to write like 50 pages :( I cannot wait for the summer!

The first week we're going to Mexico City and Puebla. We're gonna go to the Mexico City vs. Chile soccer game and just go out in the big city with some friends who stayed with me in March (Miguel, Karina, y Kike!)

hasta luego

the gym

The gym is where many people try to cover up their insecurities, but by doing so they emphasize them even more! We I got into the gym, I become a much calmer person, I don't like to really talk with anyone, and I just want to workout and leave. Everyone is so quiet and serious like their muscles are the most important issue in their lives. It's funny that people are less serious when it comes to classes and academia than in the gym. I think it is hilarious when you see really timid guys who obviously don't work out very much, so they aren't as directed and don't know what to do or even what they want to do (sometimes that's me), but good for them going at it. Then there are the guys whose whole sense of worth comes from how much they can lift ... they are the guys you see everyday in the gym that check themselves out, where cut-off shirts, and bring their protein powder to the gym because, let's face it, it is too much of a hassle to drink it before or after your workout! duh! Then once a week or so, I run into that guy who wants everyone to know that he is a doctor, so without fail he wears his scrubs. It's not the same guy every time, but it's the same role - almost the same identity. It is really interesting to see who wins the right of way and who yields. The bigger guys are used to the rest of us to ceding the way to them, but sometimes I am not paying attention or I just don't want to yield the way, and it throws a wrench in their whole workout caste system ... shakes them up a bit.

august!

So August:

Got back to the States and I haven't had any culture shock! At least when I went to Mexico, I would come back with some sort of transitioning time, but I was so prepared to be home, so I haven't had any weird emotional swings or anything from being gone! I really have just been catching up with friends and family since I have been back. We had our family birthday parties and then I've just been chilling at home and around Raleigh. We had cheerleading camp this past week and it was awesome being back! It was so tough because my skills have digressed a lot, so I just have to bust my tail over the next few weeks to get back to where I was. On the second day of camp though, I could tell that I got better than the first day of camp, so that's a plus! I have had the best time over the past few weeks catching up with all my friends at home (Jordan, Jordan, Kristy, Brandy, Matt, Matt, Joel, Anna, Amy, Ben, and Funder)! I'm not trying to name drop ... I just want to remember later in life :) I've been working out really hard this past week since camp and today was the worst! I went running with my friend Justice and I had to really push myself to keep up with him.

What is on my mind is that I am growing up (ish). I am officially moved into my HOUSE! I went grocery shopping tonight and I can decide everything I am doing ... when did this happen? Kristy Herrmann said that, "You know you're grown up when you have to pay for your own toilet paper." And that is the truth! I have my car here, I have a kitchen and living room! ahh it's so oddd being grown up, but it's so fun. All of my friends are getting legit places to stay instead of dorms like Matt and Kristy (theirs are the only I have seen), but it's so much fun going to someone's house instead of going to someone's dorm! I am going to try and keep this blog going during the year, so whoever wants to read about my life can!

Uruguay and Iguazú

So after Buenos Aires, we traveled to Colonia, Uruguay with a friend we met from Scotland! We were exhausted from going out the night before so we slept our whole day in Colonia and walked around a bit at night! We had a pretty good dinner at a local restaurant where many local women come play bridge every night. Then we went down to the shore of the Río de la Plata. A random group of uruguayos were hanging out nearby and playing music, and then came over for a bit and offered us pot! Ahh! We also had a great talk with Bob, a Englishman that hasn´t lived in England for over 20 years! We talked about religion and politics and all the stuff you aren´t supposed to. He was an atheist and he posed a question that I didn´t know how to answer: Why do you need God, or religion, or someone else telling you how to live your life?

I didn´t know how to answer this for a long time, but I just started praying about it and then I realized that I need God! I need him to tell me that my life isn´t just about living for myself but for pouring myself out and experiencing everything! I need him to tell me that I am free from my fears and insecurities. The whole concept that a relationship with God offers us freedom and a relationship with religion offers us rules and regulations has really sunk in this summer. That is why I got a tattoo last Thursday of the word libertad which means freedom or liberty in Spanish. Then, the pastor at the children´s home that we are at in Arequipa asked me to give my testimony in front of the whole church. I had no idea where to start or how to summarize my relationship with God over the past 8ish years. Then God led me to think about this question posed by the atheist in Uruguay. I posed the same question to the congregation: Why do you need God? Not why does the world need God, or this church, but why do YOU? What has He done for you in your life? The answer won´t be the same as anyone else because we are all different and have different relationships with God, ya?

Anyways, Colonia was beautiful and only had about 20,000 residents, so it was one of the most tranquil times of the trip! I want to go back someday ... maybe on my honeymoon? ¿quién sabe? So we headed to Montevideo for a bit and found out that there is not all that much to do there. We walked around the first day and bought some stuff from markets, but it was also a really chill place to be. We hung out mostly in the hostal, where we met a group of believers from Memphis. We went with them on Monday to do some service work! We started off by sorting cards for games for kids and then went to another site to paint a room in a community center. It was really cool meeting some good southern people all the way in Montevideo and getting to talk in English about God!

We left then for Iguazú, which took sooo long to get to. We had to take a 6-7 hour busride to Salto, where we had to sleep in the terminal that night. We then took a 1-2 hour busride to Corrientes, then to Posadas where we took a bus at 1:30 in the morning and it was late (5-6 hours), then to Puerto Iguazú! On our journey to Iguazú we met a girl named Dana who was from California! She traveled through Canada, went to London, and now is going to teach English in Antofogasta, Chile until November or December. It took her 5 or 6 years to do college, but she has 3 or 4 minors. This is amazing to me because it´s another example of how everyone´s path is different!

We dropped our bags off at the hostal and then headed for the falls. Andrew read in the travel book that there were swimming areas, so we all wore our bathing suits. Everyone else was wearing warm clothing, so we were like oh shoot! The falls were absolutely amazing and I can only describe them through the pictures and videos I took while we were there. There is an island that the falls created called La isla de San Martín. We went over to it and climbed off the pathway because we were determined to swim! We climbed up some little falls and found awesome swimming holes. It was by far the best part of the day! There were so many condors that petrified me, but thankfully Andrew went first and shooed them away! I got shivers everytime I saw them!

We were also trying to meet up with our Colombian friends who were following a similar route as us, and towards the end of the day it looked like we weren´t going to be able to find them at Iguazú! But after seeing the last and most amazing fall who should come along? Carolina and Johanna! It was awesome being able to see them one last time on our trip because now we know colombianas and have some people to know when I make my way to Colombia!

I would go on to talk about Salta and Arequipa again, but I want to write good posts, so I´ll write them once I get back to the States on FRIDAY! ahh locura

WOW! It has been entirely too long, but I have been traveling so much it is hard to stop and write.

The last time I wrote was about Santiago, so I am going to start with Mendoza!

MENDOZA:
We finally got to Mendoza, Argentina and met up with Sarita! She is researching the gay and lesbian culture in Argentina, so a few nights we went to gay clubs with her! I had the best time because the gay community seems to me to love to dance, so I just got to dance and have a great time! We went to some straight clubs too where there were more Americans. The schedule in Mendoza is so relaxed. Everyday they take siesta, so all of the stores are closed from about 12 to 5 or 6! Andrew and I could not get on this schedule to save our lives, so a lot of things took longer to do because we would not be able to do anything until places opened back up around 6! We went to the park a lot and went on a lot of awesome jogs around the city, which was really odd because NO ONE runs in the city. They drive to the park and run there, so needless to say we got a lot of weird looks! We stayed with this man named Mario. He was about 60 and he was an actor when he was younger, but now focuses more on his art projects around his house! He lived in Chile during the Pinochet times, so that was interesting to hear about. We also got to meet some of Sarita´s friends from the south of Chile - where they speak more clearly and they are nicer! Carla and her brother, Arturo, who was visiting for Carla´s birthday hung out with us all week! The last day was by far the greatest because we all went to a winery or a bodega and tasted wine! It was so much fun to be tipsy in the afternoon. Sara´s friend worked there, so he completely comped everything and we had an amazing meal in the wine cellar. That night, they all came over and we cooked dinner and Mario ate with us! Andrew was drinking scotch, so he was saying ridiculous things about the ballenas, which is pronounced so much like vaginas! So everytime Mario talked about the Patagonia and the ballenas flapping through the water, Andrew was cracking me and Sara up! The hispanohablantes or Spanish-speakers didn´t get the joke. Andrew then asked Sarita how many ballenas she had seen when she visited the Patagonia, which she answered something like all of them! Such good times! We also met Sarita´s other friends Matias and Martin, who were really good at speaking English, so between all of us we had some good laughs. We hung out at Sarita´s house with her madre Mariana, who was really cool. She is really used to have Americans because she hosts students when they study abroad, so it was really great talking with her because she was really patient and spoke clearly. She was also pretty hilarious! Mendoza is definitely one of my favorite cities in South America!

BUENOS AIRES:
We took an overnight bus from Mendoza to BA, and found the coolest hostal called LimeHouse! We were right on the Avenida 9 de junio - June 9th Avenue. The first day we went to the grocery store and got some amazing food. For five quality steaks here, it cost about 10 pesos, which is about $3.30! We went to this tour called the Pub Crawl that night. It turned out to be a rip because it was so expensive and then we had to buy drinks, which we were told we´d get enough free drinks, but anyways we met some cool folks from Scotland, England, and Chapel Hill! It was so much fun because at the last boliche or club, we got up on the tables and our whole group was dancing! We went to various barrios or neighborhoods around where we stayed. The first one was called Recoleta and the other was called La Boca. Recoleta was the fancy, posh side of town and everything was expensive. It is also where the cemetery is! This cemetery was like nothing we had ever seen. It was like a little village, but instead of houses, they had little shrines or cottages that fit a whole extended family after death! It was so bizarre! La Boca was the coolest because it was like a mixture of Charleston and New Orleans. Everything was colorful and there was so much tango and music! It was great and I wish I spent more time there. I bought a huge blue poncho there that is so cool! I cannot wait to bust it out in the States!

That´s about it for now: I still have to write about Uruguay, Iguazú, Salta, and then back in Arequipa!

chau chau

last two weeks ... ish

the last time that i wrote, we were in chile ... now we are about 60 hours away in Montevideo, Uruguay!!! I am going to try and write through the past few weeks as I remember!

Santiago: if you want to go here, see if you like NYC first and then learn spanish and come! this city seems so NYC to me because it was cold and the people were a bit NYC acting. a bit busy a bit unfriendly and a bit expensive, but it was a great learning experience. we only spent the weekend here because the pass to mendoza, argentina was blocked because of snow. we stayed in this amazing hostal (that had many rules :( ). it was in a colonial red house called la casa roja (the red house). there were about a 100 travelers passing through there. this place had a pool and bar in the hostal, so it was pretty fun! we went running everyday in santiago, which was great to explore this overcast city. as a side note, we met some awesome chilenos from the south of chile in argentina and they were super friendly! the currency was really crazy because it was 540 chilean pesos to the dollar! so if something was 5400 pesos, it was about $10. it was really weird doing these conversions in our heads, so we spent more :(

im going to finish this later because the space bar isnt working well, so it´s a PITA!