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
Tuesday, July 28, 2009
Friday, July 17, 2009
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
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
Saturday, July 4, 2009
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!
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!
Friday, June 19, 2009
4 days of travelling
This all started out on Tuesday when Jason went back to NC. We went back to el Terminal Terrestre (Ground Terminal) to catch a bus to Tacna, Perú. There were no buses there because of a huge farmers´ strike that began on Sunday, but we found a bus to Arequipa that took a different route and supposedly avoided the strike. A few hours into the trip we realized that the farmers had mobilized to our route as well. We were about 4 hours into the trip, which was only supposed to be 12 hours, when we ran into the farmers. They threw a few rocks at the windows, but all we had to do was turn around. We had to drive all the way back to about an hour outside of Cuzco and take a rickety bridge. We then drove through the desert on some paved and some not paved roads, so the trip took about 16 hours instead of 12. We were in Arequipa for only 45 minutes, so we didn´t have time to stop and see our friends nor eat our beloved Mixtos!
Next was Tacna, about 7 hours away from Arequipa, which was a nice ride through the southern desert of Perú. Not very many people were on the bus so we got two whole seats to ourselves. We watched the whole Beverly Hills Cop series in Spanish, and it was still awful!!! We finally got to Tacna, and stayed for no more than 20 minutes because we took a colectivo to Arica. A colectivo is basically a cab, but it holds five people. The whole journey from Tacna to Arica took about an hour, and the taxista (cabbie) told us that he made about three trips a night. The trip only cost 10 soles or 2000 chilean pesos or $3.30, so we got a really good deal. We went through customs and could barely understand the chilenos. They speak so fast and do not even attempt to speak slower to us when we ask questions or are confused ... so frustrating. That has been our general impression of Chile ... a bit like Americans who don´t like foreigners.
From Arica to Santiago, took about 32 hours including the stops. We met to colombianas (Colombian girls) who were really nice and translated from Chilean Spanish to normal paced Spanish for us. Their Spanish was so clear and easy to understand. I think it´s a general rule that the closer you are to Colombia, the clearer the Spanish is. They have been travelling like us for four days and they are going to Buenos Aires, so we may meet up with them there. The attendant on the bus was a jerk! I can speak good enough Spanish to know that I can understand if someone is speaking clearly. So that was a bust trying to get any help from him.
So we arrived this morning into a huge terminal that was also connected to a mall and a metro station. So we took the metro and missed our stop to the next bus station that was connected to a mall and also a hotel. It is crazy hear because the people look so white and European. Not white like in the States but white like from Spain and Italy.
Now, we´re off to Mendoza, Argentina to meet up with our amiga Sarita Wilkins!!! We´ll be there in about 7 hours, so we´ll be finally staying somewhere for about a week! We´re going out tonight finally!!!!
chau chau
Next was Tacna, about 7 hours away from Arequipa, which was a nice ride through the southern desert of Perú. Not very many people were on the bus so we got two whole seats to ourselves. We watched the whole Beverly Hills Cop series in Spanish, and it was still awful!!! We finally got to Tacna, and stayed for no more than 20 minutes because we took a colectivo to Arica. A colectivo is basically a cab, but it holds five people. The whole journey from Tacna to Arica took about an hour, and the taxista (cabbie) told us that he made about three trips a night. The trip only cost 10 soles or 2000 chilean pesos or $3.30, so we got a really good deal. We went through customs and could barely understand the chilenos. They speak so fast and do not even attempt to speak slower to us when we ask questions or are confused ... so frustrating. That has been our general impression of Chile ... a bit like Americans who don´t like foreigners.
From Arica to Santiago, took about 32 hours including the stops. We met to colombianas (Colombian girls) who were really nice and translated from Chilean Spanish to normal paced Spanish for us. Their Spanish was so clear and easy to understand. I think it´s a general rule that the closer you are to Colombia, the clearer the Spanish is. They have been travelling like us for four days and they are going to Buenos Aires, so we may meet up with them there. The attendant on the bus was a jerk! I can speak good enough Spanish to know that I can understand if someone is speaking clearly. So that was a bust trying to get any help from him.
So we arrived this morning into a huge terminal that was also connected to a mall and a metro station. So we took the metro and missed our stop to the next bus station that was connected to a mall and also a hotel. It is crazy hear because the people look so white and European. Not white like in the States but white like from Spain and Italy.
Now, we´re off to Mendoza, Argentina to meet up with our amiga Sarita Wilkins!!! We´ll be there in about 7 hours, so we´ll be finally staying somewhere for about a week! We´re going out tonight finally!!!!
chau chau
Monday, June 15, 2009
bacterial ulcer
i have a bacterial ulcer in my eye!! i cannot wear contacts for two weeks or drink for a few days to keep my immune system up, but my eye is already feeling tons better after getting some perscriptions. Tonight is our last night in peru because tomorrow were taking an overnight bus to arica, chile. im so pumped to see some different money and some different culture. in chile were going to santiago and maybe a few stops along the way, but were not really sure yet. so by wednesday night were going to be in santiago!!! well stay there for about three days and then were gonig to mendoza, argentina (wine country). we have a friend that is conducting research over there so well get to hang out with her and go out some! the bus ride to chile is going to be in total about 60 hours!!! its gonna be insane, so maybe ill finish reading a book or whatnot! now were going to play some poker and go out for jasons birthday!!!
love love love
love love love
Sunday, June 14, 2009
MACHU PICCHU!
yesterday we visited Machu Picchu! It was out of this world. We left the hostal at 3:30 in the morning and started hiking the trail around 4. we finally got there around 5 in the morning and were the first ones there!! We didn´t have our tickets bought, so we didn´t actually get to enter the park first. But it was amazing anyways. The tour guide said that this was sort of the spiritual capital of the Incan empire. Only about 500 people lived there and they were probably doctors, priests, virgins, and healers. The mountain is in a strategic location because you can see the whole valley from the city. Pachacutec was the emperor who united all of the groups by force, so he had to have several strongholds. There were no bodies or gold found in Machu Picchu except one woman´s body a little ways from the main part of the city. This leaves archaeologists to believe that the city was abandoned as the Spanish were conquering the heart of the Incan empire. The ruins were not found by the Spaniards, therefore they remain entact. The city was not as much as a beautiful city but a normal Incan city. This is the only example of a city that remains in the world ... that we know of.
We climbed everywhere and climbed places where if we fell, we´d die, but it was SOOO worth it. It´s hard to explain without pictures, so I´ll have to show y´all when we get home!
We climbed everywhere and climbed places where if we fell, we´d die, but it was SOOO worth it. It´s hard to explain without pictures, so I´ll have to show y´all when we get home!
Thursday, June 11, 2009
It is just past noon here, and yesterday was awesome! We bought our tickets for Machu Picchu, which is the most expensive part of the excursion, and it was only $ 62! After that we went to the market to get gifts and treasures. I found some great stuff for some people, but I still have a lot more stuff to get! Everything here is so cheap, so it´s hard to resist getting people presents! Then we went on a tour of the local convent that used to be the main temple of the Incan empire. The Andeans built this amazingly geometrically-sound structure that the conquistadores built a church and convent over. But in the early 1950s there was an earthquake in Cuzco and everything that the catholics built crumbled and all that was left was the structurally sound indigenous building. It makes me wonder to what extent we should travel and impose our culture on others. Around the temple they had tons and tons of gold. 20% went to Queen Isabel of Spain - because she worked so hard for it - and the other 80% went to the catholic priests that took over the temple, so now most of that 80% is in the Vatican ... great job catholicism because that was not was Jesus said to do: take over the world and exploit them and FORCE them to be Christians. Christianity is about liberating people from their problems, not forcing onto them Christianity by creating problems for them. What I don´t get is why it isn´t returned to the people of Perú?? Anyways, I know tons of great Catholics, but Catholicism still eats me up sometimes, but then again the modern Church has become a lot more progressive, so I guess we can only look forward?
Then we went on a 4 hour tour of the ruins around Cuzco: Saqsaywamán, Q´enqo, Pukapukara, and Tambomachay. These ruins were OUTSTANDING! Many times I wondered why he was repeating the same information, and then I realized that he was speaking in both Spanish and English and I was thinking in both!! This is a huge step in becoming fluent!!! We got a little bored of listening to the tour, so we went off and explored a little bit. One time we almost got left! But we caught the bus and everything was great! We also did backflips at the different sites and took some cool pictures, but I still cannot find a way to upload the pics on facebook or anywhere :(
Today we are just hanging in Cuzco and going out tonight! Tomorrow we´re heading onto Pisac and Ollantaytambo, and then to Aguas Calientes for the night (the town closest to Machu Picchu!) We got a tour guide to MP, the Sacred Valley (Pisac & Ollantaytambo), and the tour yesterday all for s/.65.00!!! That´s only $21.66ish!!!
Then we went on a 4 hour tour of the ruins around Cuzco: Saqsaywamán, Q´enqo, Pukapukara, and Tambomachay. These ruins were OUTSTANDING! Many times I wondered why he was repeating the same information, and then I realized that he was speaking in both Spanish and English and I was thinking in both!! This is a huge step in becoming fluent!!! We got a little bored of listening to the tour, so we went off and explored a little bit. One time we almost got left! But we caught the bus and everything was great! We also did backflips at the different sites and took some cool pictures, but I still cannot find a way to upload the pics on facebook or anywhere :(
Today we are just hanging in Cuzco and going out tonight! Tomorrow we´re heading onto Pisac and Ollantaytambo, and then to Aguas Calientes for the night (the town closest to Machu Picchu!) We got a tour guide to MP, the Sacred Valley (Pisac & Ollantaytambo), and the tour yesterday all for s/.65.00!!! That´s only $21.66ish!!!
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