Quito was my last stop in South America. I did a bit of sight seeing, but, then on my very last day in there, it turned out Ecuador was playing Brasil in a World Cup Qualifying match! Sight seeing, or joining drunken spectators watching world class football, a sport that I don't care about, but could get into? You guessed correctly.... 4 hours standing to reserve a little space on the stairwell in what the USA would clearly block off as a fire hazard in order to watch 90 minutes of play time, drinking beer and chatting with some locals. A perfect last day.
Bright and early on Monday morning, I set out to return to North America. Here I am, in sunny West Palm Beach, FL back for about two week. There is definitely some reverse culture shock. So... I have created a "best of" list for N and S America.
THINGS I LOVE ABOUT NORTH AMERICA
1. Toilet paper is always available and with such high quality brands
2. Toilet seats on every toilet
3. Not paying to use public bathrooms
4. Plentiful soap dispensers in public bathrooms
5. Trains, planes, and automobiles
6. People who use logic
7. Paying for an item is a 1 step process
8. No matter where I am on the East coast, I'm always at sea level!
THINGS I LOVE ABOUT SOUTH AMERICA
1. A liter of beer costs $1 USD
2. Tuk-tuks came all the way over from Asia!
3. Spanish architecture
4. The Andes
5. Semi-cama overnight buses, you go to sleep in one amazing city and wake up in another
6. Being able to use my somewhat conversational spanish
7. Crazy city/town buses with the most interesting characters in them
8. Hot Latin Men
Below are links to the final round of pictures from Peru and the week in Ecuador.
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2389088&id=907196&l=881b0857d8
Thank you for reading my blog over the last 14 months. I hope you got a little taste of my experience down here (there.... I forgot, I'm back in the states). I hope to see you all soon if I haven't already.
Muchas gracias, chao, cuidate, nos vemos.....
Lauren
Monday, April 6, 2009
Thursday, March 19, 2009
almost there....
It was finally time to leave Huaraz, I had been there for about a week and was getting a little stir crazy there. One week is too much time to spend in 1 city! I took an overnight bus to Trujillo, the first charming town that I have seen outside of Cusco in Peru, went to Chan Chan, walked around the square, and then got another overnight bus to Chachapoyas! After an exhausting two days of travel, I was in the cloud forest to see 2 things: Kuelap and Golca. Kuelap are some large, pre-Inca ruins that are on par with Macchu Picchu. They were discovered earlier than Macchu Picchu, but haven't been restored as much as MP. The architecture isn't nearly as meticulous as MP, but there is a lot of interesting history there, and with the lack of restoration, the ruins were a bit overgrown by trees. It looks like you are discovering it and no one has been there yet! An archeological site that is on a 3000 meter summit, has 3 different levels, used as a fortress, and housed warriors and shamans is definitely worth seeing. It was very cool, and a great way to end the "ruin" aspect of my travels.
The next day, I went to Golca, the 3rd highest waterfall in the world following Angel Falls in Venezuela and another one in Africa. It's two-tiered and 771 meters!
After about 10 days straight of hiking and traveling, I decided on some beach time. I went up to Mancora for some R&R at a backpackers resort and hung out poolside for a few days. No hiking, no culture, just relaxing and hanging out with fellow travelers and celebrating St. Patty's day with green slushies. Obviously, it's a world-wide holiday.
I then realized I had been in Peru for nearly 7 weeks, and was only planning on being there for about 5 or 6. I also realized, I had a flight out of Quito, Ecuador 10 days later and was still not in the country of my departure. oops... time to get moving.
Vicabamba was my first stop in Ecuador. It's a beautiful town that's known for it's long living residence. Considering how beautiful and peaceful the town is, it's no surprise. I hung out there for 2 days and did some easy hikes in the surrounding areas. Nothing too exciting, but very pretty.
Now, I am in Cuenca, a very charming city about 10 hours south of Quito. I met up with 1 girl I met in Mancora, and 2 friends from Bariloche (who I also saw in Mancora). Tonight, we are on our way to Quito where we will see the Old Town, straddle the equator, and then on Monday morning I fly back to the states!
Pictures to come soon....
The next day, I went to Golca, the 3rd highest waterfall in the world following Angel Falls in Venezuela and another one in Africa. It's two-tiered and 771 meters!
After about 10 days straight of hiking and traveling, I decided on some beach time. I went up to Mancora for some R&R at a backpackers resort and hung out poolside for a few days. No hiking, no culture, just relaxing and hanging out with fellow travelers and celebrating St. Patty's day with green slushies. Obviously, it's a world-wide holiday.
I then realized I had been in Peru for nearly 7 weeks, and was only planning on being there for about 5 or 6. I also realized, I had a flight out of Quito, Ecuador 10 days later and was still not in the country of my departure. oops... time to get moving.
Vicabamba was my first stop in Ecuador. It's a beautiful town that's known for it's long living residence. Considering how beautiful and peaceful the town is, it's no surprise. I hung out there for 2 days and did some easy hikes in the surrounding areas. Nothing too exciting, but very pretty.
Now, I am in Cuenca, a very charming city about 10 hours south of Quito. I met up with 1 girl I met in Mancora, and 2 friends from Bariloche (who I also saw in Mancora). Tonight, we are on our way to Quito where we will see the Old Town, straddle the equator, and then on Monday morning I fly back to the states!
Pictures to come soon....
A cracker jack of a week!
Huaraz, home to the Cordillera Blanca, which are absolutely beautiful snow covered mountains. I met up with a friend who I met in Pisco a few weeks prior. I did some hiking, and then we met an Aussie rafting instructor who convinced the two of us to go with him and some others on the 2 night/3 day Santa Cruz trek. We looked at each other, shrugged, and said, why the hell not?! It's supposed to be beautiful and I wanted to get one more camping trip in anyway. Off we went on our trek. The first camping grounds were a short and easy 2.5 hour hike. We got there early and had NOTHING to do because our packs were with the donkeys who were lagging behind. So, we hung out and played bachi with rocks that we found. Not that exciting.... but then our donkeys arrived!! We had out wine available and we were very happy. The second day was a hard hard hike. It was about 2 hours flat, then 3 hours on straight up switchbacks. It was drizzling and I was walking on a rock basically, so it was a little tricky. I arrived at the pass, Punta Union, 4,750 meters above sea level, and the clouds miraculously parted and we had sunshine for about 30 minutes just in time to eat lunch, relax, and take some photos. Que suerte.
On the way down in started to rain again, then pour, and it eventually snowed. We ate our dinner and went to sleep at 9 only to wake up an hour later with water in the tent, on my mat and definitely on my sleeping bag. After some failed attempts at fixing the problem, trying to ignore the problem and sheer anger, we finally decided to line the tents with the burlap mats that were on the donkeys. So, I went to sleep itchy and smelling like an ass. really. not fun. but, I did get a solid 4 hours of sleep in before our 8 hour hike back to base.
On the last day of the hike we woke up and it was sunny and gorgeous! It was a cracker jack of a day!! (That's the Aussie's saying, not mine. But, I do kinda love it....I am bringing it to the states. get ready.) We hiked basically flat and down the whole time. There was also a swamp involved, I tried jumping over a wide creek and totally missed so now not only are my feet wet, but I'm standing waist high in water. I dried off, and then fell into some more water later. Is anyone surprised that I was wetter and dirtier than everyone else on the hike? Of course not. It's just how I roll.
8 hours of hiking followed by about 1.5 hours of driving around mountains with no railings, no pavement, and no security, and another 1.5 hours of crazy scary collectivos (small public vans) and 2 drunk passengers one of which made us stop so that he could urinate on the curb, we arrived back in Huaraz. It was our Aussie friend's birthday so obviously we had to go out. We went dancing and were drinking our Pisco Sours and Cuba Libres (that's just a rum and coke) and having a great time. As I am always trying to add to my cultural well being, we met some folks from Huaraz, all incredible dancers, and they noticed I was trying to copy them on the dance floor. They loved that I was trying and we all started dancing together. It was very "dirty dancing" when Penny is trying to help Baby, but without all the drama that makes DD a classic. 2 of the girls were sisters, one named Lorena! We bonded over having the same name and the next day she invited me to have lunch with her family. Her parents were so sweet and we spoke spanish the whole time! It was a proud moment for me. Her father is from the next town that I will visit, so we chatted about places to go there. I forced myself to eat as much as possible, but this family put out so much food, I couldn't eat anymore. I felt like I was being rude, and it was delicious, but I had to stop!
The Aussie and my friend went south, so we parted ways as I was heading north.
Next stop... Chachapoyas!
pics from Huaraz http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=42802638&l=338155e52d&id=907196
On the way down in started to rain again, then pour, and it eventually snowed. We ate our dinner and went to sleep at 9 only to wake up an hour later with water in the tent, on my mat and definitely on my sleeping bag. After some failed attempts at fixing the problem, trying to ignore the problem and sheer anger, we finally decided to line the tents with the burlap mats that were on the donkeys. So, I went to sleep itchy and smelling like an ass. really. not fun. but, I did get a solid 4 hours of sleep in before our 8 hour hike back to base.
On the last day of the hike we woke up and it was sunny and gorgeous! It was a cracker jack of a day!! (That's the Aussie's saying, not mine. But, I do kinda love it....I am bringing it to the states. get ready.) We hiked basically flat and down the whole time. There was also a swamp involved, I tried jumping over a wide creek and totally missed so now not only are my feet wet, but I'm standing waist high in water. I dried off, and then fell into some more water later. Is anyone surprised that I was wetter and dirtier than everyone else on the hike? Of course not. It's just how I roll.
8 hours of hiking followed by about 1.5 hours of driving around mountains with no railings, no pavement, and no security, and another 1.5 hours of crazy scary collectivos (small public vans) and 2 drunk passengers one of which made us stop so that he could urinate on the curb, we arrived back in Huaraz. It was our Aussie friend's birthday so obviously we had to go out. We went dancing and were drinking our Pisco Sours and Cuba Libres (that's just a rum and coke) and having a great time. As I am always trying to add to my cultural well being, we met some folks from Huaraz, all incredible dancers, and they noticed I was trying to copy them on the dance floor. They loved that I was trying and we all started dancing together. It was very "dirty dancing" when Penny is trying to help Baby, but without all the drama that makes DD a classic. 2 of the girls were sisters, one named Lorena! We bonded over having the same name and the next day she invited me to have lunch with her family. Her parents were so sweet and we spoke spanish the whole time! It was a proud moment for me. Her father is from the next town that I will visit, so we chatted about places to go there. I forced myself to eat as much as possible, but this family put out so much food, I couldn't eat anymore. I felt like I was being rude, and it was delicious, but I had to stop!
The Aussie and my friend went south, so we parted ways as I was heading north.
Next stop... Chachapoyas!
pics from Huaraz http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=42802638&l=338155e52d&id=907196
Sunday, March 1, 2009
Jungle Woman I am Not.
One more thing that I forgot to add from my week in Pisco....
Carnaval is celebrated all over South America, not just Rio. In Peru, every Sunday in February there are waterfights all around each town. So, on the last Sunday in Feb. when I was in Pisco, a water fight commenced with the kids on the street. Then the parents got involved. Then, the kids added paint to their buckets of water. Then we added mud to our buckets of water (but really, we stopped using buckets and just started throwing fists full of mud). Then we tried stealing their amo (their waterguns and buckets). Then our neighbors kidnapped me when I was trying to steal one of the kids buckets and they pinned me down, pulled me into their courtyard area, locked the door and 3 of the family members proceeded to put shoepolish ALL OVER ME as I screamed for help, in english and in spanish (it was all in good fun, I wasn't actually yelling for real). Then the released me. Then they kidnapped one of the British volunteers who I was with and did the same to her, but worse. Then we called a truce. Then I took a very long shower because I had a hard time scrubbing the polish off my arms and neck. And that's how you do Carnaval Peru style.
I took my last flight of this trip up to Iquitos, the main Peruvian city on the Amazon. I am gonna be honest. I got screwed by the travel agents. I spent a ton of money and didn't see that much cool stuff. I was going to stay an extra day and hire a different guide to go swim with the pink dolphins and feed monkeys in the wild because I didn't get to do that, but then I decided I just wanted to get the hell out of there.
However, if you do plan to go to Iquitos at some point, I feel the need to mention the following information:
1. The water in the jungle accomodations, not in Iquitos, is yellow. Basically, when you go to pee, it looks like there is already urine in the toilet. And before you ask, I did flush several times to make sure that it wasn't someone else's leftover urine in the john.
2. The rooms have a wall/mosquito net combo. There are actual walls that separate the rooms, but the "ceiling" is just a mosquito net that is pulled over posts, so you can't see other people but you can hear them. That goes for the bathroom as well. You can imagine how hard I laughed when I walked in and saw that after I diangosed myself with a parasite and my stomach still isn't the stomach of steel I once knew.
3. I think the domestic airlines in Peru recognize that the average height of a Peruvian is much shorter than those from, let's say the states. So, they take the beat up old planes that we used in the states, add some more rows, and off they go. Usually, I am ok in planes, but here, I felt like a giant. It's like when Jeff (that's my brother who stands just under 6'5" or 195 cm for those on the metric system) doesn't get his exit row seat. Highly uncomfortable.
I am in Lima for the last time and soon I am going up to Huarez to get back to good old fashion outdoorsy stuff like hiking. Can't wait.
Pictures coming soon.
Love,
Lauren
Carnaval is celebrated all over South America, not just Rio. In Peru, every Sunday in February there are waterfights all around each town. So, on the last Sunday in Feb. when I was in Pisco, a water fight commenced with the kids on the street. Then the parents got involved. Then, the kids added paint to their buckets of water. Then we added mud to our buckets of water (but really, we stopped using buckets and just started throwing fists full of mud). Then we tried stealing their amo (their waterguns and buckets). Then our neighbors kidnapped me when I was trying to steal one of the kids buckets and they pinned me down, pulled me into their courtyard area, locked the door and 3 of the family members proceeded to put shoepolish ALL OVER ME as I screamed for help, in english and in spanish (it was all in good fun, I wasn't actually yelling for real). Then the released me. Then they kidnapped one of the British volunteers who I was with and did the same to her, but worse. Then we called a truce. Then I took a very long shower because I had a hard time scrubbing the polish off my arms and neck. And that's how you do Carnaval Peru style.
I took my last flight of this trip up to Iquitos, the main Peruvian city on the Amazon. I am gonna be honest. I got screwed by the travel agents. I spent a ton of money and didn't see that much cool stuff. I was going to stay an extra day and hire a different guide to go swim with the pink dolphins and feed monkeys in the wild because I didn't get to do that, but then I decided I just wanted to get the hell out of there.
However, if you do plan to go to Iquitos at some point, I feel the need to mention the following information:
1. The water in the jungle accomodations, not in Iquitos, is yellow. Basically, when you go to pee, it looks like there is already urine in the toilet. And before you ask, I did flush several times to make sure that it wasn't someone else's leftover urine in the john.
2. The rooms have a wall/mosquito net combo. There are actual walls that separate the rooms, but the "ceiling" is just a mosquito net that is pulled over posts, so you can't see other people but you can hear them. That goes for the bathroom as well. You can imagine how hard I laughed when I walked in and saw that after I diangosed myself with a parasite and my stomach still isn't the stomach of steel I once knew.
3. I think the domestic airlines in Peru recognize that the average height of a Peruvian is much shorter than those from, let's say the states. So, they take the beat up old planes that we used in the states, add some more rows, and off they go. Usually, I am ok in planes, but here, I felt like a giant. It's like when Jeff (that's my brother who stands just under 6'5" or 195 cm for those on the metric system) doesn't get his exit row seat. Highly uncomfortable.
I am in Lima for the last time and soon I am going up to Huarez to get back to good old fashion outdoorsy stuff like hiking. Can't wait.
Pictures coming soon.
Love,
Lauren
Thursday, February 19, 2009
I heart Peru
Hola todos!!!
The past few weeks in Lima have been crazy.... here what's happening.
I arrived in Lima and quickly went to Cusco... and guess who I ran into!? Mom and Earle! Ok... that was planned, but still. I spent the day with them and had a not very delicious meal with them, but it was nice to see them!
Mom and Earle left, and I went to Puno, the main town on Lake Titicaca. It was just my luck that when I arrived it was the end of Virgen de la Candelaria Festival, aka the Devil Dancing Festival, which is a parade celebrating the victory of good over evil. The parade was huge and lasted for hours with lots of people in crazy costumes, marching bands, oh yeah, and the people who aren't in the parade partake in a giant town-wide shaving cream fight! Adults, old men, kids, everyone. Totally amazing!
The following day, I took a tour of the islands of Titicaca, include Isla Uros, floating islands that are completely made out of reeds. Everything is made of reeds including the actual island, the houses, the boat, they even eat the reeds. Sadly, because it's become such a tourist destination, it's become rather commercial, but still very cool to see. Then, I hung out for a bit on Isla Taquile which is one of the larger islands and quite beautiful. Its population is under 2,000 and they don't really go to the other islands to "make friends" so there is a lot of inbreeding.
After Lake Titicaca, I returned to Cusco to have my last family encounter: Aunt Sam and Paul! We took a city tour of Cusco which included the ruins on the outskirts of town and went to a very cool market in Pesac to buy lots of baby alpaca goods. Softer than cashmere and cheaper! What could be better? We went went to Macchu Picchu and explored the ruins there and heard about how it was found accidentally, and I ditched the family and guide to climb up Waynapicchu to see Macchu Picchu from a birds eye view, definitely an intense hike, but only an hour up, so it wasn't so bad.
Back in Lima, Aunt Sam and Paul treated me to yet another delicious dinner and a stay in the 5 star Marriott. How could they spoil me so and then expect me to go back to the slumming ways of a backpacker staying in hostels, sharing rooms, sharing bathrooms, wearing flipflops in the shower, having no TV, no cable, and eating cheap food? Easily, but I enjoyed everyone second of my time with them along with the accomodations.
From Lima, I made a detour to head south to a town called Pisco. Pisco was devestated about a year and a half ago by an 8.0 earthquake and there are several organizations there helping to rebuild the homes. I went there intending to spend just a few days, and stayed a week. I dug trenches for homes that would use concrete and helped put a tarp roof on homes that are more like glorified huts. The owners of the soon to be completed homes were so grateful, and it was nice that we were able to meet them. I wanted to stay longer and continue to help, but it was time to get moving. Really, I wanted to stay another week because my arms would have been seriously buff, and I wanted to be there when they poured concrete because apparently, it's fun, oh well. But, all of the manual labor was fun... there were cool people and we were all there for a good cause, but I have other cool things that I want to see.
The pictures of me as a construction worker are coming, sadly, we didn't use hardhats or boots, but I know my way around a shovel, pick, and lots of tie-wire.
While in Pisco, I also tried octupus ceviche. A little chewy, but quite tasty! If you get a chance to go to a Peruvian restaurant, you should definitely try it.
Pictures from Cusco and Lake Titicaca:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2368770&id=907196&l=3dc99
Next stop.... the jungle!
Hope everyone is well.
besos!
Lauren
The past few weeks in Lima have been crazy.... here what's happening.
I arrived in Lima and quickly went to Cusco... and guess who I ran into!? Mom and Earle! Ok... that was planned, but still. I spent the day with them and had a not very delicious meal with them, but it was nice to see them!
Mom and Earle left, and I went to Puno, the main town on Lake Titicaca. It was just my luck that when I arrived it was the end of Virgen de la Candelaria Festival, aka the Devil Dancing Festival, which is a parade celebrating the victory of good over evil. The parade was huge and lasted for hours with lots of people in crazy costumes, marching bands, oh yeah, and the people who aren't in the parade partake in a giant town-wide shaving cream fight! Adults, old men, kids, everyone. Totally amazing!
The following day, I took a tour of the islands of Titicaca, include Isla Uros, floating islands that are completely made out of reeds. Everything is made of reeds including the actual island, the houses, the boat, they even eat the reeds. Sadly, because it's become such a tourist destination, it's become rather commercial, but still very cool to see. Then, I hung out for a bit on Isla Taquile which is one of the larger islands and quite beautiful. Its population is under 2,000 and they don't really go to the other islands to "make friends" so there is a lot of inbreeding.
After Lake Titicaca, I returned to Cusco to have my last family encounter: Aunt Sam and Paul! We took a city tour of Cusco which included the ruins on the outskirts of town and went to a very cool market in Pesac to buy lots of baby alpaca goods. Softer than cashmere and cheaper! What could be better? We went went to Macchu Picchu and explored the ruins there and heard about how it was found accidentally, and I ditched the family and guide to climb up Waynapicchu to see Macchu Picchu from a birds eye view, definitely an intense hike, but only an hour up, so it wasn't so bad.
Back in Lima, Aunt Sam and Paul treated me to yet another delicious dinner and a stay in the 5 star Marriott. How could they spoil me so and then expect me to go back to the slumming ways of a backpacker staying in hostels, sharing rooms, sharing bathrooms, wearing flipflops in the shower, having no TV, no cable, and eating cheap food? Easily, but I enjoyed everyone second of my time with them along with the accomodations.
From Lima, I made a detour to head south to a town called Pisco. Pisco was devestated about a year and a half ago by an 8.0 earthquake and there are several organizations there helping to rebuild the homes. I went there intending to spend just a few days, and stayed a week. I dug trenches for homes that would use concrete and helped put a tarp roof on homes that are more like glorified huts. The owners of the soon to be completed homes were so grateful, and it was nice that we were able to meet them. I wanted to stay longer and continue to help, but it was time to get moving. Really, I wanted to stay another week because my arms would have been seriously buff, and I wanted to be there when they poured concrete because apparently, it's fun, oh well. But, all of the manual labor was fun... there were cool people and we were all there for a good cause, but I have other cool things that I want to see.
The pictures of me as a construction worker are coming, sadly, we didn't use hardhats or boots, but I know my way around a shovel, pick, and lots of tie-wire.
While in Pisco, I also tried octupus ceviche. A little chewy, but quite tasty! If you get a chance to go to a Peruvian restaurant, you should definitely try it.
Pictures from Cusco and Lake Titicaca:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2368770&id=907196&l=3dc99
Next stop.... the jungle!
Hope everyone is well.
besos!
Lauren
Sunday, February 15, 2009
Bariloche, aka the most wonderful place in the world.
Something struck me as odd upon entering Bariloche, Argentina. Was it the abundance of chocolate shops? No, but I did love that part. Was it the crystal clear lake that I was actually excited abut jumping into? Was it the fact that it was finally bathing suit weather? No. No. It was that there were traffic lights! Yes, traffic lights! Lindsey and I hadn't seen one in what felt like ages, but was actually 3 weeks or so. Can you imagine only being in such small towns that there wasn't even a need for traffic lights? It was sort of a strange realization.
Bariloche! One of the highlights of our trip! We went kayaking, we went hiking, we went to clubs where there were lots of people, we drank, we ate delicious argentine meals, it was fabulous. There was one day however, we had gone out fairly late the night before, and the following day, we decided we were in Bariloche, we had to continue our outdoorsy activities kick. So, in a slightly hungover state, Lindsey suggests we go on a bike ride. There is a beautiful 35 km circuit that we were told was a great half day activity. I am sort of not up for it, but I decide to go for it anyway. I mean, I am a triathlete! I do that distance in between a mile swim and a 10 km run. No sweat, right? Wrong. I was dying, it was painful, I actually got off and walked the bike up a hill. More than once. It was a sad sad day. Don't ask if there are pictures of me struggling, there aren't any.
Anyway, Bariloche was incredible, but sadly, it was time to cross the Argentina/Chile border one last time. We headed to Valdivia, Chile to go the the Kunstmann Cervezeria. Home to our favorite Chilean beer, the Kunstmann Torobayo. After eating a hamburger piled high with deliciousness, we tried every beer they made and even shared a "column" of beer with some Chileans we met, before quickly getting out of Valdivia (there isn't much to do there) and make our way to Pucon.
Pucon, the adventure capital of Chile! However, I had already done many of the adventure activities that they offered (rafting, hiking, canyoning, kayaking, etc...) throughout the last month, so I just focused on one thing, climbing Volcan Villarica. It was difficult, tiring,and at times a bit painful, but awesome. And once we got up there and saw smoke coming out, we got to slide down the volcano. Very cool stuff.
I made a quick stop in Talca to go to the wine country and then back to Santiago. Below is the link to the pictures from January:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2364757&id=907196&l=968e4
For those keeping track, I am clearly behind on updates, I returned from Patagonia nearly 3 weeks and have now been in Peru for a while. Will write more soon!
besos!
Lauren
Bariloche! One of the highlights of our trip! We went kayaking, we went hiking, we went to clubs where there were lots of people, we drank, we ate delicious argentine meals, it was fabulous. There was one day however, we had gone out fairly late the night before, and the following day, we decided we were in Bariloche, we had to continue our outdoorsy activities kick. So, in a slightly hungover state, Lindsey suggests we go on a bike ride. There is a beautiful 35 km circuit that we were told was a great half day activity. I am sort of not up for it, but I decide to go for it anyway. I mean, I am a triathlete! I do that distance in between a mile swim and a 10 km run. No sweat, right? Wrong. I was dying, it was painful, I actually got off and walked the bike up a hill. More than once. It was a sad sad day. Don't ask if there are pictures of me struggling, there aren't any.
Anyway, Bariloche was incredible, but sadly, it was time to cross the Argentina/Chile border one last time. We headed to Valdivia, Chile to go the the Kunstmann Cervezeria. Home to our favorite Chilean beer, the Kunstmann Torobayo. After eating a hamburger piled high with deliciousness, we tried every beer they made and even shared a "column" of beer with some Chileans we met, before quickly getting out of Valdivia (there isn't much to do there) and make our way to Pucon.
Pucon, the adventure capital of Chile! However, I had already done many of the adventure activities that they offered (rafting, hiking, canyoning, kayaking, etc...) throughout the last month, so I just focused on one thing, climbing Volcan Villarica. It was difficult, tiring,and at times a bit painful, but awesome. And once we got up there and saw smoke coming out, we got to slide down the volcano. Very cool stuff.
I made a quick stop in Talca to go to the wine country and then back to Santiago. Below is the link to the pictures from January:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2364757&id=907196&l=968e4
For those keeping track, I am clearly behind on updates, I returned from Patagonia nearly 3 weeks and have now been in Peru for a while. Will write more soon!
besos!
Lauren
Friday, January 23, 2009
somewhere between Chile and Argentina....
I have lots of updating to do!!!
We left off in El Chalten, known for the Fitz Roy mountain. Lindsey and I had enough hiking, so we decided to do an excursion to the biggest glacier in Patagonia near Fitz Roy. It was a 5 hour hike to/from the glacier (there is always a little hiking involved). We put these things on our boots called "crampons" (yes, that sounds an awful lot like.... ) and got to walk on the glacier and climb up a section of it too. It was very cool, and very exhausting. 10 hours of hiking is a lot!
Anyway, we stayed in the smallest room ever in the hostel in this little town. The room was so small and it had 2 bunk beds. At this point, Lindsey and I were still traveling with our other friends, Sean and Katie. So S and K are on the top bunks, Lindsey and I are on the bottom. First, the bunk beds are so close together that Lindsey and I are practically spooning. Secondly, the bunk beds were meant for kids so there wasn't much space between the top and the bottom. We had to catch and early bus out of there, so when Lindsey and I were not spooning, she would wake up in the middle of the night thinking we slept late and hit me asking me what time it was. I, of course, would panic, sit up, and hit my head on the bed above me. Sean, above me, was easily amused by these mishaps. I got him back later, read further down.
With all the backpackers in South America during the height of the season, you have to plan fast. As soon as you get to a town, you need to book your bus to the next town before it sells out. As soon as we got to El Chalten we discovered you couldn't get to the next town, Los Antiguos for another 5 days. Well, that's too long to be in Chalten, so we took a round about route to get to Los Antiguos. At 6:30 am on January 14th, we took a 5 hour dirty road path to Piedra Buena, Argentina. PB is a very small town. It's not on any maps that we have seen, not even in their own tourist information office, and you can't wiki it either. It basically doesn't exist. So we have 12 hours to kill in PB before our 12 hour overnight bus to Los Antiguos. While we only spent 12 hours in PB, I do feel the need to write a bit about it. As I said, it was a small town, but it was also very strange. Here are the top 10 reasons why Piedra Buena is a strange town (there are actually 20, but I will give the highlights):
10. There was a park with fake flowers.
9. The park also had fake grass.
8. The park had these weird sculptures that were like those cut outs you stick your face into and take a picture, but the the holes in the sculptures were in weird places, like the armpit.
7. No one was there, but it was really big.
6. Nothing is open except the bus terminal which is open till 2am.
5. It would hail, then rain, there would be some sun, then hail again.
4. There were garbage cans that had painted fish on the sides.
3. The fish garbage cans were every 10 meters, yet there were no people around to need that many garbage cans.
2. The sidewalks were painted blue, white, and yellow.
And the number 1 reason why Piedra Buena, Argentina is strange: we went to another park that was a little island about a 15 minute walk away, and the benches in the park faced a hill. On the other side of the very small island was a beautiful river. Why didn't the benches face the river instead?
So then the night of 1/14, we took an overnight, but very comfortable bus to Los Antiguos. We arrived in Los Antiguos, Argentina, and quickly crossed the border to Chile Chico, obviously in Chile, obviously a small town with nothing to do. Hung out there for a bit, and then the afternoon of the 15th, we took a 3 hour, very bumpy ferry to a town to take a 2 hour curvy nauseating bus ride to Coyhaique. Stayed in Coyhaique for the night and then early on the morning of the 16th, we took what would be the worst, 12 hour, all dirty road, not an overnight bus ride to Futaleufu arriving at 8 pm on 1/16. That summarizes what was roughly 4 days straight of travel. If we aren't doing 9 hour hikes, we are sitting in a bus for hours and hours!
And then the fun continues.... Futaleufu, also known as Futa, is a town that people from all over the world visit just for the river. Seriously, kayakers and rafting experts flock to this place. It's the only thing to do here. The Rio Futaleufu is an absolutely gorgeous light blue river with many Class V rapids. And we did it (with a guide, no doubt). Let's take a moment to talk about the rafting. The rafting was really, really fun. At times scary, but our guides were incredible, and we had 2 guys in 2 other boats as safety precautions. We paddled hard, we saw fantastic scenery, and I saved Sean's life. What could make for a better day? How did I save Sean's life? Sean didn't hook his foot into the boat as well as he should have and as we were finishing a rapid, he fell out. I will allow Lindsey to paint a picture for you, she tells the story better. Just for reference, K and S are sitting shotgun. I am behind Katie, Lindsey is behind Sean. There are 2 guides who are behind us.
Lauren: Lindsey, can you please explain to my friends and family that read my blog what happened?
Lindsey: Sure! Katie and Sean were up in the front. Wonderful people though quite the inexperienced rafters. At the end of a pretty intense rapid, appropriately named 'the terminator,' Sean loses his manly grip and proceeds to do what seemed to be a cartwhere out of the raft. Panic? Maybe? Depends what your name is. Katie, the love of Sean's life, sat and stared. ha! I was sitting right behind our beloved sri lankan friend and was therefore, the closest person to him. In my mind I had a great plan to save him, though my actions were not so valient. I tugged at his lifesuit - not so helpful. No problem though, because immediately someone threw me out of the way, launched himself to the other end of the raft and pulled sean in to the boat and on top of him in one fell swoop. For sure it was Cristian, our chilean guide, who skillfully rescued our friend. Nope. It was Lauren Sherwin, New York socialite turned tree-hugging, glacier-trekking, granola-eating champion. Like she'd been doing it for years, she yanked Sean out of the raft, leaving all spectators in shock and leaving Sean indebted and embarassed for life. On this day, I gained a new found respect for my travel pal. Makes me tear up and die laughing every time I think of it.
Lauren: And when I pulled Sean back into the raft, what did you do?
Lindsey: I nearly peed in my rented wetsuit.
Lauren: Muchas gracias, Lindsey.
Ok. So now I will always hold this over Sean's head. In 10 years, I will email Sean and ask him for a favor, and remind him about that time 10 years ago when I saved his life.
After our rafting excursion, we had a super delicious dinner and I ate muscles the size of a golf ball. It was Katie's birthday and the last night the 4 of us, the 2 happy couples, would be together so we danced and ate and had a fabulous time.
January 18th, we took a 15 min. bus ride back to the border of Argentina, and then another 2 hour bus ride to Esquel and then another 2 hour bus ride to El Bolson, this hippy town just south of Bariloche. We went up to a lake to relax and walk around a bit and had dinner with an interesting (but cute) Portugese dentist that sort of followed us from Futa.
We really liked El Bolson, but stayed in by far, the worst hostel EVER. Hospedaje Piltri, the gateway to hell. First, the first and second floor was separated by planks and that's about it. The room lacked windows, the showers lacked curtains, the beds lacked comfort, and the señora lacked a soul. With all due respect, she did have one talent, chain smoking for 12 hours in a room without ventilation. In the morning, we told her we had a bus at 2:30, could she hold our bags until 2 so we didn't have to carry them? Of course, no problem. We return to the hostel at 2, and she isn't there. We called her cell phone, she didn't pick up. We asked her neighbors, we tried to see if we could break in. Finally, the dirty hag shows up at 2:23, and we ask her why she wasn't here. Her response was absurd so Lindsey punched her in the face and stormed out. (NOTE = she actually punched her in the dream she had the following night.) Lindsey runs to the station to see if she can catch the bus, and threw two 50 pound bags on my body, one of the back, one on the front. She runs, I painfully walk. Luckily, the bus was late, and we got the hell out of El Bolson.
Now we are in Bariloche, our last stop in Argentina, where the beer flows like wine and the chocolate shops are more plentiful than the jews in new york city. Don't worry, the bitch didn't follow us and now we're in great hostel with great people and no bitch..yes! Bariloche is awesome and requires its own blog entry. Will update soon!
besos y abrazos,
Lauren
We left off in El Chalten, known for the Fitz Roy mountain. Lindsey and I had enough hiking, so we decided to do an excursion to the biggest glacier in Patagonia near Fitz Roy. It was a 5 hour hike to/from the glacier (there is always a little hiking involved). We put these things on our boots called "crampons" (yes, that sounds an awful lot like.... ) and got to walk on the glacier and climb up a section of it too. It was very cool, and very exhausting. 10 hours of hiking is a lot!
Anyway, we stayed in the smallest room ever in the hostel in this little town. The room was so small and it had 2 bunk beds. At this point, Lindsey and I were still traveling with our other friends, Sean and Katie. So S and K are on the top bunks, Lindsey and I are on the bottom. First, the bunk beds are so close together that Lindsey and I are practically spooning. Secondly, the bunk beds were meant for kids so there wasn't much space between the top and the bottom. We had to catch and early bus out of there, so when Lindsey and I were not spooning, she would wake up in the middle of the night thinking we slept late and hit me asking me what time it was. I, of course, would panic, sit up, and hit my head on the bed above me. Sean, above me, was easily amused by these mishaps. I got him back later, read further down.
With all the backpackers in South America during the height of the season, you have to plan fast. As soon as you get to a town, you need to book your bus to the next town before it sells out. As soon as we got to El Chalten we discovered you couldn't get to the next town, Los Antiguos for another 5 days. Well, that's too long to be in Chalten, so we took a round about route to get to Los Antiguos. At 6:30 am on January 14th, we took a 5 hour dirty road path to Piedra Buena, Argentina. PB is a very small town. It's not on any maps that we have seen, not even in their own tourist information office, and you can't wiki it either. It basically doesn't exist. So we have 12 hours to kill in PB before our 12 hour overnight bus to Los Antiguos. While we only spent 12 hours in PB, I do feel the need to write a bit about it. As I said, it was a small town, but it was also very strange. Here are the top 10 reasons why Piedra Buena is a strange town (there are actually 20, but I will give the highlights):
10. There was a park with fake flowers.
9. The park also had fake grass.
8. The park had these weird sculptures that were like those cut outs you stick your face into and take a picture, but the the holes in the sculptures were in weird places, like the armpit.
7. No one was there, but it was really big.
6. Nothing is open except the bus terminal which is open till 2am.
5. It would hail, then rain, there would be some sun, then hail again.
4. There were garbage cans that had painted fish on the sides.
3. The fish garbage cans were every 10 meters, yet there were no people around to need that many garbage cans.
2. The sidewalks were painted blue, white, and yellow.
And the number 1 reason why Piedra Buena, Argentina is strange: we went to another park that was a little island about a 15 minute walk away, and the benches in the park faced a hill. On the other side of the very small island was a beautiful river. Why didn't the benches face the river instead?
So then the night of 1/14, we took an overnight, but very comfortable bus to Los Antiguos. We arrived in Los Antiguos, Argentina, and quickly crossed the border to Chile Chico, obviously in Chile, obviously a small town with nothing to do. Hung out there for a bit, and then the afternoon of the 15th, we took a 3 hour, very bumpy ferry to a town to take a 2 hour curvy nauseating bus ride to Coyhaique. Stayed in Coyhaique for the night and then early on the morning of the 16th, we took what would be the worst, 12 hour, all dirty road, not an overnight bus ride to Futaleufu arriving at 8 pm on 1/16. That summarizes what was roughly 4 days straight of travel. If we aren't doing 9 hour hikes, we are sitting in a bus for hours and hours!
And then the fun continues.... Futaleufu, also known as Futa, is a town that people from all over the world visit just for the river. Seriously, kayakers and rafting experts flock to this place. It's the only thing to do here. The Rio Futaleufu is an absolutely gorgeous light blue river with many Class V rapids. And we did it (with a guide, no doubt). Let's take a moment to talk about the rafting. The rafting was really, really fun. At times scary, but our guides were incredible, and we had 2 guys in 2 other boats as safety precautions. We paddled hard, we saw fantastic scenery, and I saved Sean's life. What could make for a better day? How did I save Sean's life? Sean didn't hook his foot into the boat as well as he should have and as we were finishing a rapid, he fell out. I will allow Lindsey to paint a picture for you, she tells the story better. Just for reference, K and S are sitting shotgun. I am behind Katie, Lindsey is behind Sean. There are 2 guides who are behind us.
Lauren: Lindsey, can you please explain to my friends and family that read my blog what happened?
Lindsey: Sure! Katie and Sean were up in the front. Wonderful people though quite the inexperienced rafters. At the end of a pretty intense rapid, appropriately named 'the terminator,' Sean loses his manly grip and proceeds to do what seemed to be a cartwhere out of the raft. Panic? Maybe? Depends what your name is. Katie, the love of Sean's life, sat and stared. ha! I was sitting right behind our beloved sri lankan friend and was therefore, the closest person to him. In my mind I had a great plan to save him, though my actions were not so valient. I tugged at his lifesuit - not so helpful. No problem though, because immediately someone threw me out of the way, launched himself to the other end of the raft and pulled sean in to the boat and on top of him in one fell swoop. For sure it was Cristian, our chilean guide, who skillfully rescued our friend. Nope. It was Lauren Sherwin, New York socialite turned tree-hugging, glacier-trekking, granola-eating champion. Like she'd been doing it for years, she yanked Sean out of the raft, leaving all spectators in shock and leaving Sean indebted and embarassed for life. On this day, I gained a new found respect for my travel pal. Makes me tear up and die laughing every time I think of it.
Lauren: And when I pulled Sean back into the raft, what did you do?
Lindsey: I nearly peed in my rented wetsuit.
Lauren: Muchas gracias, Lindsey.
Ok. So now I will always hold this over Sean's head. In 10 years, I will email Sean and ask him for a favor, and remind him about that time 10 years ago when I saved his life.
After our rafting excursion, we had a super delicious dinner and I ate muscles the size of a golf ball. It was Katie's birthday and the last night the 4 of us, the 2 happy couples, would be together so we danced and ate and had a fabulous time.
January 18th, we took a 15 min. bus ride back to the border of Argentina, and then another 2 hour bus ride to Esquel and then another 2 hour bus ride to El Bolson, this hippy town just south of Bariloche. We went up to a lake to relax and walk around a bit and had dinner with an interesting (but cute) Portugese dentist that sort of followed us from Futa.
We really liked El Bolson, but stayed in by far, the worst hostel EVER. Hospedaje Piltri, the gateway to hell. First, the first and second floor was separated by planks and that's about it. The room lacked windows, the showers lacked curtains, the beds lacked comfort, and the señora lacked a soul. With all due respect, she did have one talent, chain smoking for 12 hours in a room without ventilation. In the morning, we told her we had a bus at 2:30, could she hold our bags until 2 so we didn't have to carry them? Of course, no problem. We return to the hostel at 2, and she isn't there. We called her cell phone, she didn't pick up. We asked her neighbors, we tried to see if we could break in. Finally, the dirty hag shows up at 2:23, and we ask her why she wasn't here. Her response was absurd so Lindsey punched her in the face and stormed out. (NOTE = she actually punched her in the dream she had the following night.) Lindsey runs to the station to see if she can catch the bus, and threw two 50 pound bags on my body, one of the back, one on the front. She runs, I painfully walk. Luckily, the bus was late, and we got the hell out of El Bolson.
Now we are in Bariloche, our last stop in Argentina, where the beer flows like wine and the chocolate shops are more plentiful than the jews in new york city. Don't worry, the bitch didn't follow us and now we're in great hostel with great people and no bitch..yes! Bariloche is awesome and requires its own blog entry. Will update soon!
besos y abrazos,
Lauren
Monday, January 12, 2009
Hola from Southern Patagonia!!!
Where to start! I have only been traveling for 9 days and I feel like I have been gone for ages. Right now, I am in El Chalten, Argentina with my friends Lindsey, Katie, and Sean. Let's back up and start from the beginning:
The first few days we were in transit to Parque Nacional Torres del Paine. Here is where it all begins.
January 5 we started our camping trip for 4 nights and 5 days in the park. With all of our camping gear and food (no, I brought hardly any extra clothes) we started our way from Lago Pehoe up to Glacier Grey. It was a challenging first day with our mochillas (backpacks) at their heaviest. However, the hike was beautiful and the weather wasn't too bad. It was raining a bit, but nothing to cry about. We arrived at the camp site (yes, I camped out) which was on Lago Grey. The campsite was really tranquilo (relaxing) and we were on a beautiful lake where we saw little pieces of broken of glaciers pass by. We rented all the equipment we needed, and by equipment, I mean our home-in-a-bag tent that literally only fits two sleeping bags and there is no way in hell you can sit up straight in there. We basically had to crawl in.
In the morning we woke up and were very lucky to have a gorgeous day! We hiked back down to where we started from and up a little up towards Valle Frances. Since the weather wasn't great the first day, we had a beautiful view on this 2nd day of Lago Pehoe which was absolutely incredible. "Paine" actually means blue in spanish, and all of the lakes are these beautiful shades of blue. We camped out next to a raging river and met tons of people, mostly from Israel and Germany.
Day 3 my knee bothered me a little so I didn't go crazy. We hiked up into Valle Frances and back down to the same camp site. We had incredible views of the cuernos (horns), one of the highlights of the park since again, we had incredible weather.
Day 4, this was the real doozy. We hiked about 16+ kilometers this day (about 10 miles). We started off leaving the valley and hiked alongside another beautiful lake and then up to the part for the grand final, the Torres. However, this hike was the longest and hardest. We had to get over a part of the river where, in lieu of a bridge, they had a wire that you had to hold as you crossed over rocks with some decent current. After passing some fields and feeling like we were never getting to where we were going, we arrived to the hard part. We had to go over the peaks and valleys of some hills with some pretty steep inclines. Everytime we got over the next peak, and we thought we were getting close, there were still more. Finally, we got to our campsite and relaxed.
Day 5, we woke up to rain! How sad! One of the main things to see was completely blocked by clouds and we totally missed it. But, it's not about the destination, it's about the journey. We saw the torres very briefly from the campsite the night before, but decided to forgo the hike up to the look out point this morning because we knew we wouldn't see much. We headed back down and returned to Puerto Natales for what was the best shower ever.
Sorry, no photos until I return to Santiago. I will tell you that I think you will see a clear progression in the photos based on the daily grease level of my hair since you wont be able to tell from my outfit. I am wearing the same thing everday.
After our wonderful shower and a very delicious meal, we headed to El Calafate, Argentina. Here we went to Perito Moreno, an "active" glacier. There are viewing platforms since the glacier has pieces that break off mutliple times a day, and then it re-freezes over time. Apparently, it's one of the few glaciers that continues to grow.
Today, we left El Calafate for Chalten, Argentina home to the Fitz Roy Mountain. This town is just about to be paved so imagine how small it is and that the main road is still a dirt road. We leave on the 14th and are still deciding exactly where we want to go from here. We will end up in Bariloche around January 20th, because we will probably be sick of these small towns by then!
Anyway, hope everyone is well! Next time I write, I will probably be in the Lakes District... maybe in Argentina, maybe in Chile. Who knows?!?!
besitos!
Lauren
The first few days we were in transit to Parque Nacional Torres del Paine. Here is where it all begins.
January 5 we started our camping trip for 4 nights and 5 days in the park. With all of our camping gear and food (no, I brought hardly any extra clothes) we started our way from Lago Pehoe up to Glacier Grey. It was a challenging first day with our mochillas (backpacks) at their heaviest. However, the hike was beautiful and the weather wasn't too bad. It was raining a bit, but nothing to cry about. We arrived at the camp site (yes, I camped out) which was on Lago Grey. The campsite was really tranquilo (relaxing) and we were on a beautiful lake where we saw little pieces of broken of glaciers pass by. We rented all the equipment we needed, and by equipment, I mean our home-in-a-bag tent that literally only fits two sleeping bags and there is no way in hell you can sit up straight in there. We basically had to crawl in.
In the morning we woke up and were very lucky to have a gorgeous day! We hiked back down to where we started from and up a little up towards Valle Frances. Since the weather wasn't great the first day, we had a beautiful view on this 2nd day of Lago Pehoe which was absolutely incredible. "Paine" actually means blue in spanish, and all of the lakes are these beautiful shades of blue. We camped out next to a raging river and met tons of people, mostly from Israel and Germany.
Day 3 my knee bothered me a little so I didn't go crazy. We hiked up into Valle Frances and back down to the same camp site. We had incredible views of the cuernos (horns), one of the highlights of the park since again, we had incredible weather.
Day 4, this was the real doozy. We hiked about 16+ kilometers this day (about 10 miles). We started off leaving the valley and hiked alongside another beautiful lake and then up to the part for the grand final, the Torres. However, this hike was the longest and hardest. We had to get over a part of the river where, in lieu of a bridge, they had a wire that you had to hold as you crossed over rocks with some decent current. After passing some fields and feeling like we were never getting to where we were going, we arrived to the hard part. We had to go over the peaks and valleys of some hills with some pretty steep inclines. Everytime we got over the next peak, and we thought we were getting close, there were still more. Finally, we got to our campsite and relaxed.
Day 5, we woke up to rain! How sad! One of the main things to see was completely blocked by clouds and we totally missed it. But, it's not about the destination, it's about the journey. We saw the torres very briefly from the campsite the night before, but decided to forgo the hike up to the look out point this morning because we knew we wouldn't see much. We headed back down and returned to Puerto Natales for what was the best shower ever.
Sorry, no photos until I return to Santiago. I will tell you that I think you will see a clear progression in the photos based on the daily grease level of my hair since you wont be able to tell from my outfit. I am wearing the same thing everday.
After our wonderful shower and a very delicious meal, we headed to El Calafate, Argentina. Here we went to Perito Moreno, an "active" glacier. There are viewing platforms since the glacier has pieces that break off mutliple times a day, and then it re-freezes over time. Apparently, it's one of the few glaciers that continues to grow.
Today, we left El Calafate for Chalten, Argentina home to the Fitz Roy Mountain. This town is just about to be paved so imagine how small it is and that the main road is still a dirt road. We leave on the 14th and are still deciding exactly where we want to go from here. We will end up in Bariloche around January 20th, because we will probably be sick of these small towns by then!
Anyway, hope everyone is well! Next time I write, I will probably be in the Lakes District... maybe in Argentina, maybe in Chile. Who knows?!?!
besitos!
Lauren
Saturday, January 3, 2009
Let the real adventure begin!
Hola!
I am heading down south to Patagonia today and working my way up the Argentine/Chilean border until I return to Santiago. I plan to post messages as I go, so blog postings will be more frequent than in the past.
Highlights of the trip include:
Torres del Paine
Perito Moreno
Bariloche
Valdivia
Pictures will be posted when I return at the end of the month!
Happy New Year
Feliz Año Nuevo!
cuidase,
Lauren
I am heading down south to Patagonia today and working my way up the Argentine/Chilean border until I return to Santiago. I plan to post messages as I go, so blog postings will be more frequent than in the past.
Highlights of the trip include:
Torres del Paine
Perito Moreno
Bariloche
Valdivia
Pictures will be posted when I return at the end of the month!
Happy New Year
Feliz Año Nuevo!
cuidase,
Lauren
Thursday, December 11, 2008
Tanto Tiempo!!!
Ok.... I know, I am a terrible blogger, I apologize. So where have I been since my trip to San Pedro at the end of July? Here is the update....
August I met Mom and Earle in Buenos Aires. We had a fabulous time, and I took every advantage of the fact that I was staying in a reputable hotel and not some crappy hostel where you have to rent a towel. The food was outstanding, there was no such thing as too much meat. The city, absolutely gorgeous, very hip. The tango, unbelievable. We then headed back to good ol' Santiago and to Valparaiso before they went went back home. It was some G rated fun for all. Pictures from that:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2343496&l=d0544&id=907196
When and where was my next trip? Only to the greatest city in South America! Back to Buenos Aires to hang out with Nicole and Rachel, for some... um. PG-13 fun. Just as much meat, but more going out.
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2343509&l=e4af4&id=907196
2 weeks later, 18 de septiembre! Fiestas Patrias. The July 4th of Chile, except bigger and better. Lots of drinking, lots of dancing the cueca, and lots of kites (some with razors to knock out other kites.... that's not a joke). I was invited to my friend Carolina's parents house. In typical Chilean fashion, we had super late lunches, with lots of beer and lots of meat. All fun things.
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2343514&l=d4a58&id=907196
Did I tell you that I learned how to surf? For those privy to surf culture, I went to Pichilemu, the best surfing in Chile is here. In fact, the national championships are held here at Punta de Lobos. I took a lesson (not at Punta de Lobos, at a place with baby waves), I was up for about a half a second once, and that's questionable. Was I successful? Not quite. Was it fun? Hell yeah. The lesson was kinda funny. The instructors held the board for you so you didn't have to bother doing the turn and the paddle thing. It felt like back in the day when I had to use chopsticks with the rubber band on top to hold it. I wasn't really using the chopsticks, but I felt like I was. When I was "surfing", I didn't have to think about which wave to take or anything. They held the board with me on it, we would sit there chatting, and when there was a wave worthy of attempting, they would say "ok, go!" The super sexy pictures of me in a wet suit aren't on my camera, I apologize.
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2342062&l=bb22b&id=907196
And finally, the most recent trip: Puerto Varas and Chiloe with Jamie and Horner. Jamie and her boyfriend, Horner, came down to Chile for a little visit to see me (ok, they also had a wedding to go to...) anyway, so the three of us, and a bunch of Horner's friends headed down to the Chilean Lakes District and had a great great time. We went hiking on the Volcan Osorno, which was so damn windy and cold and it was hailing. Mind you, the weather that day wasn't bad, but high up it was a little problematic. Then we went down to the island of Chiloe, which is absolutely gorgeous, very picturesque. I kept wanting to jump out of the car and pretend I was Julie Andrews for a moment, and sing at the top of my lungs, "The hills are alive with the sound of music...!!" Seriously, look at the pictures, you will understand. Gorgeous scenery, old wooden churches that are all brightly painted, good fish, AMAZING ceviche. We saw Palafitos, houses built on stilts in the water, and cemeteries with more color than you would possibly consider normal for a cemetery, which by the way, faced the water. For a cemetery, it wasn't dark or sad, it was very "tranquilo".
Then, we went rafting and canyoning in Parque Nacional Vicente Perez Rosales which which was awesome. I highly recommend canyoning, this included natural water slides down little waterfalls, jumping into pools of water, and also repelling down a 100 foot cliff next to the main waterfall. We had crappy weather most of the time, and then the day we went rafting and canyoning it was gorgeous and warm. What luck!
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2342055&l=6c00b&id=907196
What's happening with me aside from my travels? I just finished giving finals, and now I am just hanging out in Santiago, saving up a little more money, working a bit in my other jobs, and getting ready for New Years Eve in Valparaiso and my trip to Southern Patagonia. I am going to Torres del Paine and then working my way up north through Patagonia crisscrossing between Chile and Argentina.
I promise, once I am traveling I will post lots of updates! Hope everyone is well.
Besos!
Lauren
August I met Mom and Earle in Buenos Aires. We had a fabulous time, and I took every advantage of the fact that I was staying in a reputable hotel and not some crappy hostel where you have to rent a towel. The food was outstanding, there was no such thing as too much meat. The city, absolutely gorgeous, very hip. The tango, unbelievable. We then headed back to good ol' Santiago and to Valparaiso before they went went back home. It was some G rated fun for all. Pictures from that:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2343496&l=d0544&id=907196
When and where was my next trip? Only to the greatest city in South America! Back to Buenos Aires to hang out with Nicole and Rachel, for some... um. PG-13 fun. Just as much meat, but more going out.
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2343509&l=e4af4&id=907196
2 weeks later, 18 de septiembre! Fiestas Patrias. The July 4th of Chile, except bigger and better. Lots of drinking, lots of dancing the cueca, and lots of kites (some with razors to knock out other kites.... that's not a joke). I was invited to my friend Carolina's parents house. In typical Chilean fashion, we had super late lunches, with lots of beer and lots of meat. All fun things.
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2343514&l=d4a58&id=907196
Did I tell you that I learned how to surf? For those privy to surf culture, I went to Pichilemu, the best surfing in Chile is here. In fact, the national championships are held here at Punta de Lobos. I took a lesson (not at Punta de Lobos, at a place with baby waves), I was up for about a half a second once, and that's questionable. Was I successful? Not quite. Was it fun? Hell yeah. The lesson was kinda funny. The instructors held the board for you so you didn't have to bother doing the turn and the paddle thing. It felt like back in the day when I had to use chopsticks with the rubber band on top to hold it. I wasn't really using the chopsticks, but I felt like I was. When I was "surfing", I didn't have to think about which wave to take or anything. They held the board with me on it, we would sit there chatting, and when there was a wave worthy of attempting, they would say "ok, go!" The super sexy pictures of me in a wet suit aren't on my camera, I apologize.
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2342062&l=bb22b&id=907196
And finally, the most recent trip: Puerto Varas and Chiloe with Jamie and Horner. Jamie and her boyfriend, Horner, came down to Chile for a little visit to see me (ok, they also had a wedding to go to...) anyway, so the three of us, and a bunch of Horner's friends headed down to the Chilean Lakes District and had a great great time. We went hiking on the Volcan Osorno, which was so damn windy and cold and it was hailing. Mind you, the weather that day wasn't bad, but high up it was a little problematic. Then we went down to the island of Chiloe, which is absolutely gorgeous, very picturesque. I kept wanting to jump out of the car and pretend I was Julie Andrews for a moment, and sing at the top of my lungs, "The hills are alive with the sound of music...!!" Seriously, look at the pictures, you will understand. Gorgeous scenery, old wooden churches that are all brightly painted, good fish, AMAZING ceviche. We saw Palafitos, houses built on stilts in the water, and cemeteries with more color than you would possibly consider normal for a cemetery, which by the way, faced the water. For a cemetery, it wasn't dark or sad, it was very "tranquilo".
Then, we went rafting and canyoning in Parque Nacional Vicente Perez Rosales which which was awesome. I highly recommend canyoning, this included natural water slides down little waterfalls, jumping into pools of water, and also repelling down a 100 foot cliff next to the main waterfall. We had crappy weather most of the time, and then the day we went rafting and canyoning it was gorgeous and warm. What luck!
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2342055&l=6c00b&id=907196
What's happening with me aside from my travels? I just finished giving finals, and now I am just hanging out in Santiago, saving up a little more money, working a bit in my other jobs, and getting ready for New Years Eve in Valparaiso and my trip to Southern Patagonia. I am going to Torres del Paine and then working my way up north through Patagonia crisscrossing between Chile and Argentina.
I promise, once I am traveling I will post lots of updates! Hope everyone is well.
Besos!
Lauren
Sunday, August 3, 2008
Vacacion Parte III - Atacama Power!
The day before I went to San Pedro de Atacama (SPDA), I went to Zapallar, a beautiful town on the beach. Think Hamptons, but more hilly and with small but beautiful cottages. I went for lunch with my friend Caira, and her aunt and uncle and we had a wonderful day. The weather was perfect, not too hot, not too cold (it is after all, still winter here)
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2296780&l=d6741&id=907196
SAN PEDRO DE ATACAMA
Monday.
Coincidentally, I was on the same flight as another volunteer and her family. I hung out with them for the first few days. We walked around San Pedro, and when I say walked around, I mean we walked up and down the one main street there. And we planned our first few days in the desert.
Tuesday.
I woke up very early on Tuesday to go on a tour of the lagunas in and around the salar de atacama. The first stop was Chaxa, the lagoon inhabited by flamingos. There were tons of them and right after they wake up they fly from one part of the lagoon to the other so we got there in time for that. The scenery was incredible and the water was so still you could see perfect reflections in them. Next, we went to another lagoon, Laguna Miscanti. This was at an altitude of 4,200 meters, and I was definitely feeling it. We were walking on a flat area and my heart was pounding! After the tour of the lagoons, we went to a few small towns in the area and ate some lunch. Once we arrived back in SPDA, I took a very long siesta and then another delicious meal at the best restaurant in SPDA, Todo Natural.
Wednesday.
Back to Todo Natural for breakfast. I am a creature of habit, what can I say? Then Katie's family and I went on another tour to the Valle de la Muerte and the Valle de la Luna. Excellent scenery and lots trekking at a lower altitude.
Then, my friend Caira arrived. Following our delicious dinner (guess where?!) we decided we definitely wanted to go out. However, my long excursion and her day of traveling to San Pedro left us too weak to do anything. We decided to take a nice siesta and then rally at 11:45 at night to then go out. Bars in San Pedro close earlier and we were determined to at least make last call! What an experience that turned out to be! We went to the bar and after last call, all the locals and tourists went off the beaten path and started a bonfire where we hung out and chatted till it was time to go home.
Thursday.
Katie and her family went to the geysers which I wasn't prepared for (the temperature was -15 degrees Celsius!), so Caira and I hung out in San Pedro and spent the day taking silly pictures and catching up on our vacation adventures.
After dinner, before we hit the bars Caira, Katie and I took it to the streets for some dancing, drinking and singing-filled merriment (but not too loud, we aren't THAT ridiculous). Think "So You Think You Can Dance" but better because one person recorded (yes, this is on video somewhere) one person sang, and one person did their dance. I think it was a 3-way tie, but my Bill Cosby dance killed. Then back to the bars, but only for a little bit.
Friday.
Ladies and gentlemen, I found my new sport: SANDBOARDING!!! It's super fun, exerts lots of energy so it's super strenuous, and if you fall, you fall into soft sand so injuries are hard to come by and if you know me, I get injured. A LOT.
In the morning we had our lesson followed by a few runs on the "bunny slope" and then on to the bigger runs. But Lauren, sandboarding doesn't sound like it's such a physically challenging sport? It isn't, but it's not like skiing at a resort, there are no ski lifts, so you have to hike up the sand dunes... OOOOOOOHHHHHHHHHH! yea, I definitely earned whatever delicious meal I ate afterwards.
Following sandboarding, Caira and I hung out with our instructor, Jorge and we had a delicious lunch accompanied by a well deserved cerveza. Back to the hostel for our siesta and then we headed just to the outside of town for our astronomy tour. If anyone gets a chance to visit the southern hemisphere, make sure you can go to a clear area because there are so many more stars down here.... it's incredible. Just as nyc's sky is flooded with city lights, Santiago is flooded with pollution. Stars are hard to come by. When you are finally able to see them down here, it's amazing! We had a great experience on the tour with a ridiculously funny french astronomer who has been living in Chile for years as a guide.
Back to SPDA for dinner where Caira and I were too exhausted and it was too late to start a siesta, so sadly we called it a night.
Saturday I woke up super early to head back to Santiago...
Here are some pictures:
http://www.new.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2296782&l=e5549&id=907196
http://www.new.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2297131&l=d1dd2&id=907196
Coming up, the final leg of my vacation: Buenos Aires with Mom and Earle!
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2296780&l=d6741&id=907196
SAN PEDRO DE ATACAMA
Monday.
Coincidentally, I was on the same flight as another volunteer and her family. I hung out with them for the first few days. We walked around San Pedro, and when I say walked around, I mean we walked up and down the one main street there. And we planned our first few days in the desert.
Tuesday.
I woke up very early on Tuesday to go on a tour of the lagunas in and around the salar de atacama. The first stop was Chaxa, the lagoon inhabited by flamingos. There were tons of them and right after they wake up they fly from one part of the lagoon to the other so we got there in time for that. The scenery was incredible and the water was so still you could see perfect reflections in them. Next, we went to another lagoon, Laguna Miscanti. This was at an altitude of 4,200 meters, and I was definitely feeling it. We were walking on a flat area and my heart was pounding! After the tour of the lagoons, we went to a few small towns in the area and ate some lunch. Once we arrived back in SPDA, I took a very long siesta and then another delicious meal at the best restaurant in SPDA, Todo Natural.
Wednesday.
Back to Todo Natural for breakfast. I am a creature of habit, what can I say? Then Katie's family and I went on another tour to the Valle de la Muerte and the Valle de la Luna. Excellent scenery and lots trekking at a lower altitude.
Then, my friend Caira arrived. Following our delicious dinner (guess where?!) we decided we definitely wanted to go out. However, my long excursion and her day of traveling to San Pedro left us too weak to do anything. We decided to take a nice siesta and then rally at 11:45 at night to then go out. Bars in San Pedro close earlier and we were determined to at least make last call! What an experience that turned out to be! We went to the bar and after last call, all the locals and tourists went off the beaten path and started a bonfire where we hung out and chatted till it was time to go home.
Thursday.
Katie and her family went to the geysers which I wasn't prepared for (the temperature was -15 degrees Celsius!), so Caira and I hung out in San Pedro and spent the day taking silly pictures and catching up on our vacation adventures.
After dinner, before we hit the bars Caira, Katie and I took it to the streets for some dancing, drinking and singing-filled merriment (but not too loud, we aren't THAT ridiculous). Think "So You Think You Can Dance" but better because one person recorded (yes, this is on video somewhere) one person sang, and one person did their dance. I think it was a 3-way tie, but my Bill Cosby dance killed. Then back to the bars, but only for a little bit.
Friday.
Ladies and gentlemen, I found my new sport: SANDBOARDING!!! It's super fun, exerts lots of energy so it's super strenuous, and if you fall, you fall into soft sand so injuries are hard to come by and if you know me, I get injured. A LOT.
In the morning we had our lesson followed by a few runs on the "bunny slope" and then on to the bigger runs. But Lauren, sandboarding doesn't sound like it's such a physically challenging sport? It isn't, but it's not like skiing at a resort, there are no ski lifts, so you have to hike up the sand dunes... OOOOOOOHHHHHHHHHH! yea, I definitely earned whatever delicious meal I ate afterwards.
Following sandboarding, Caira and I hung out with our instructor, Jorge and we had a delicious lunch accompanied by a well deserved cerveza. Back to the hostel for our siesta and then we headed just to the outside of town for our astronomy tour. If anyone gets a chance to visit the southern hemisphere, make sure you can go to a clear area because there are so many more stars down here.... it's incredible. Just as nyc's sky is flooded with city lights, Santiago is flooded with pollution. Stars are hard to come by. When you are finally able to see them down here, it's amazing! We had a great experience on the tour with a ridiculously funny french astronomer who has been living in Chile for years as a guide.
Back to SPDA for dinner where Caira and I were too exhausted and it was too late to start a siesta, so sadly we called it a night.
Saturday I woke up super early to head back to Santiago...
Here are some pictures:
http://www.new.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2296782&l=e5549&id=907196
http://www.new.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2297131&l=d1dd2&id=907196
Coming up, the final leg of my vacation: Buenos Aires with Mom and Earle!
Vacacion Parte II - Isla de Pascua
Welcome to the second installment of my month long vacation!
This week, I went to Easter Island, a Polynesian Island located 5 hours west of Chile. It is also known as Isla de Pascua in Spanish, and Rapa Nui the native language to the islanders. It's known for the mysterious statues located all around the island called moai. That's about all the education you are gonna get from me on the subject. Read more about it on wiki if you want to get more information. Below is the day by day breakdown of my Easter Island adventure.
Saturday.
I arrived in EI and met a 2 chilean girls from Vaparaiso and hung out with them for a bit. We headed over the moai closest to town to take a look around. I went back there to catch the same moai for a sunset view.
Sunday.
In the morning, I went to the museum on EI to get a better understanding of what I was seeing, the history, Rapa Nui culture, theories from archaeologists, etc...
In the afternoon, I set my sights on hiking up the largest volcano on the island, Rano Kau. However, the hikers path wasn't marked as clearly as I hoped. By the time I passed 4 or 5 forks in the path and realized I wasn't where I was supposed to be it started to rain. I decided to head back down and try again some other time. Of course, then it started to pour and I got a blister from wearing wet socks (this information becomes pertinent later, I promise)
Monday.
I rent a jeep with the 2 Valpo. girls, Paola and Gabi. They happen to have a friend, Andres, also from Valpo, who lives on the island. The 4 of us drive around the island to see all of the moai and caves. We go to the first cave (or cueva) Te Pahu. My left knee still hurts from my fall while skiing the weekend before, and my right foot has a blister. The ground in the cave was damp so I was constantly looking down because I can't handle any more feet or leg injuries. After all, I have 3 more weeks of traveling to get through! So, what do you think happens? You guessed it.... I look down and without realizing it, the ceiling in the cave got really low and I bashed my head and screamed "hay sangre! hay sangre!" (there's blood, there's blood!) but after the initial shock and realizing there is no permanent damage, we move on.... to the next cave. I have absolutely no interest in going into another cave, but I was told that Dos Ventanas (2 windows) is incredible and a bit hard to find. Since we had a resident with us, I shouldn't skip it. Dos Ventanas lived up to its expectations. It's a very small cave that opens up to the ocean with 2 separate openings. (pics in the link below)
Then we go to the rest of the standing moai and head to the beach at Anakena for sunset. Andres, not native to the island, lives in an apartment near the family of his boss who are native to EI, and another guy, Laser, also a Rapa Nui native. We have dinner at their house and drink some wine and have a great evening with some locals.
Tuesday.
Laser, Andres, the 2 Valpo girls and I decide to go fishing. Let me clarify, Andres and Laser do most of the fishing, the 2 other girls and myself go along for the scenery. We went around most of the island and they caught 14 fish! In the evening we went back to their house and had a big fish dinner! It was delicious and really fun. After cooking the fish on a giant try, the whole family and the 2 guys and 2 girls stood around the tray full of fish with forks in hand and just stood around picking at all the fish. There were no plates, no chairs, just fish and beer. Then we stood around the fire for a bit and chatted (I mostly listened as my spanish is still a work in progress).
Wednesday.
I finally went back up to the Rano Kau Volcano (in a car, not hiking). It rained most of the day and I was tired from the previous few days in the sun and staying up late with the people I met, so I just hung out. I met some people from New York and hung out with them. We had a delicious dinner at a japanese restaurant on the island with the funniest chef ever. He has this little restaurant and he is the only person that works there. He cooks, cleans... the whole thing. He even has the small tiny kitchen open so you can watch and chat with him as he cooks.
Thursday.
Another backpacker told me about this amazing French tour guide that lives on the island. I hadn't yet gone on a guided tour and felt that I still had more that I wanted to learn that I couldn't get from the museum. I also didn't want to go on a standard tour with a whole bunch of people to the places around the island I had already been to. I met Christophe, and with the other New Yorkers that I met the day before, we went on a 1/2 day hike up the Poike Volcano. None of us had gone there and we would have never found the cool places on the volcano without him. Poike is the place were the moai originated. What may be considered one of the first moai is there. It's much smaller than the others around the island, it's white instead of black, and it isn't propped up on the ahu (alter) as most others are. The crater of the volcano was filled with a eucalyptus forrest, and down the cliff on the side of the volcano is a cave with some petroglyphs. Christophe was an excellent guide for the day. He used to live in Tahiti and came to EI for the surfing. He visited a number of times, and decided that he loved the island so much that he wanted to move there. He has now lived there for a year and while he isn't native to the island, he was definitely knowledgeable and passionate about everything relating to Easter Island.
After the hike, we went back to Anakena for some lunch and relaxation. Then, back to the japanese restaurant for a terrific last meal before I left the island.
Friday.
Woke up ridiculously early to catch the sunrise back at Ahu Tongariki and then to the airport to return to Santiago.
For those not that technically savy, there are 3 albums and yes, you have to look at all of them:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2296759&l=59328&id=907196
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2296770&l=eaa93&id=907196
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2296776&l=10045&id=907196
Next up.... San Pedro de Atacama!
This week, I went to Easter Island, a Polynesian Island located 5 hours west of Chile. It is also known as Isla de Pascua in Spanish, and Rapa Nui the native language to the islanders. It's known for the mysterious statues located all around the island called moai. That's about all the education you are gonna get from me on the subject. Read more about it on wiki if you want to get more information. Below is the day by day breakdown of my Easter Island adventure.
Saturday.
I arrived in EI and met a 2 chilean girls from Vaparaiso and hung out with them for a bit. We headed over the moai closest to town to take a look around. I went back there to catch the same moai for a sunset view.
Sunday.
In the morning, I went to the museum on EI to get a better understanding of what I was seeing, the history, Rapa Nui culture, theories from archaeologists, etc...
In the afternoon, I set my sights on hiking up the largest volcano on the island, Rano Kau. However, the hikers path wasn't marked as clearly as I hoped. By the time I passed 4 or 5 forks in the path and realized I wasn't where I was supposed to be it started to rain. I decided to head back down and try again some other time. Of course, then it started to pour and I got a blister from wearing wet socks (this information becomes pertinent later, I promise)
Monday.
I rent a jeep with the 2 Valpo. girls, Paola and Gabi. They happen to have a friend, Andres, also from Valpo, who lives on the island. The 4 of us drive around the island to see all of the moai and caves. We go to the first cave (or cueva) Te Pahu. My left knee still hurts from my fall while skiing the weekend before, and my right foot has a blister. The ground in the cave was damp so I was constantly looking down because I can't handle any more feet or leg injuries. After all, I have 3 more weeks of traveling to get through! So, what do you think happens? You guessed it.... I look down and without realizing it, the ceiling in the cave got really low and I bashed my head and screamed "hay sangre! hay sangre!" (there's blood, there's blood!) but after the initial shock and realizing there is no permanent damage, we move on.... to the next cave. I have absolutely no interest in going into another cave, but I was told that Dos Ventanas (2 windows) is incredible and a bit hard to find. Since we had a resident with us, I shouldn't skip it. Dos Ventanas lived up to its expectations. It's a very small cave that opens up to the ocean with 2 separate openings. (pics in the link below)
Then we go to the rest of the standing moai and head to the beach at Anakena for sunset. Andres, not native to the island, lives in an apartment near the family of his boss who are native to EI, and another guy, Laser, also a Rapa Nui native. We have dinner at their house and drink some wine and have a great evening with some locals.
Tuesday.
Laser, Andres, the 2 Valpo girls and I decide to go fishing. Let me clarify, Andres and Laser do most of the fishing, the 2 other girls and myself go along for the scenery. We went around most of the island and they caught 14 fish! In the evening we went back to their house and had a big fish dinner! It was delicious and really fun. After cooking the fish on a giant try, the whole family and the 2 guys and 2 girls stood around the tray full of fish with forks in hand and just stood around picking at all the fish. There were no plates, no chairs, just fish and beer. Then we stood around the fire for a bit and chatted (I mostly listened as my spanish is still a work in progress).
Wednesday.
I finally went back up to the Rano Kau Volcano (in a car, not hiking). It rained most of the day and I was tired from the previous few days in the sun and staying up late with the people I met, so I just hung out. I met some people from New York and hung out with them. We had a delicious dinner at a japanese restaurant on the island with the funniest chef ever. He has this little restaurant and he is the only person that works there. He cooks, cleans... the whole thing. He even has the small tiny kitchen open so you can watch and chat with him as he cooks.
Thursday.
Another backpacker told me about this amazing French tour guide that lives on the island. I hadn't yet gone on a guided tour and felt that I still had more that I wanted to learn that I couldn't get from the museum. I also didn't want to go on a standard tour with a whole bunch of people to the places around the island I had already been to. I met Christophe, and with the other New Yorkers that I met the day before, we went on a 1/2 day hike up the Poike Volcano. None of us had gone there and we would have never found the cool places on the volcano without him. Poike is the place were the moai originated. What may be considered one of the first moai is there. It's much smaller than the others around the island, it's white instead of black, and it isn't propped up on the ahu (alter) as most others are. The crater of the volcano was filled with a eucalyptus forrest, and down the cliff on the side of the volcano is a cave with some petroglyphs. Christophe was an excellent guide for the day. He used to live in Tahiti and came to EI for the surfing. He visited a number of times, and decided that he loved the island so much that he wanted to move there. He has now lived there for a year and while he isn't native to the island, he was definitely knowledgeable and passionate about everything relating to Easter Island.
After the hike, we went back to Anakena for some lunch and relaxation. Then, back to the japanese restaurant for a terrific last meal before I left the island.
Friday.
Woke up ridiculously early to catch the sunrise back at Ahu Tongariki and then to the airport to return to Santiago.
For those not that technically savy, there are 3 albums and yes, you have to look at all of them:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2296759&l=59328&id=907196
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2296770&l=eaa93&id=907196
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2296776&l=10045&id=907196
Next up.... San Pedro de Atacama!
Monday, July 14, 2008
Vacación! Part I
I am officially on vacation for an entire month. Has anyone in their whole life ever had a month off? It's a very strange feeling. It started off with a few parties and some relaxation. Then, I hit the slopes. Yesterday, I went skiing with some friends in the Andes at a ski resort called El Colorado. Skiing here is a little different than in the states. There are absolutely no trees on the slopes. Its basically a bald, naken mountain with some wooden barricades to provide some outlines.
Talk a look at the pics...(mostly scenery pics, but very pretty)
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2289424&l=230ef&id=907196
If you don't already know the story about the cat, allow me to explain. I am scared of cats, they frighten me. I can't handle them. One sunny day, I opened the door and before I left the house for class, I closed it. I came home late that night, and I hear a noise coming from my room. I think that perhaps, I left the door open and the noise is coming from outside. As I walk closer to my room, I realize, the noise is coming from inside the house. I keep hearing this purring, and I see the glassy eyes of some ugly stray cat that's chillin' under the TV stand in my room! "Vas, vas!" I yell... (that's "go, go!" in spanish). That didn't work. I call a friend, she says, it's a stray cat, it's probably hungry, put out some food. So I go for the first thing I find: some bread. Clearly, my knowledge of cats is lacking, because in the moment of fear, I didn't think... hmmm. what would cats want to eat? I am thinking, "get this disease infested rodent out of my room!" The cat wasn't into the bread that I was putting out for it, so it ran further into the house. At this point, my heart is pounding, and I am FREAKING OUT. There is a cat inside the house! So, I wake Gerty up, explain the fear of cats, and then she saves the day by getting rid of it. That is the story of the stray cat that tried to have a little sleep over party in my room.
Back to my vacation.... The rest of the week, I will be in Santiago... going to the museums I didn't go to already, wineries, etc.... Then, on Saturday, I fly to Easter Island for a week! My final week of vacation will be with Mom and Earle in Buenos Aires!
Will update soon with more vacation adventures, injuries, etc....
Besitos!
Lauren
Tuesday, June 24, 2008
Pictures from La Serena....
Forgot to include this in the last post...
The blog can't hold too many pictures, so here is a link to all of them if you would like to look.
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2261615&l=8e0f3&id=907196
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2261610&l=e5a47&id=907196
Lauren
The blog can't hold too many pictures, so here is a link to all of them if you would like to look.
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2261615&l=8e0f3&id=907196
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2261610&l=e5a47&id=907196
Lauren
Monday, June 23, 2008
La Serena y mas
Sorry for the lack of updates….
What’s been happening since the start of school?
I am getting better at teaching little by little. I am learning how to keep my composure when my students come to class completely unprepared. No textbook, no notebook, no pen, and they have figurative tape over their mouth.
I went to La Serena, which is about 6 or so hours north of Santiago with my friend Marisa. We took an overnight bus to the town - think the red eye, but not as nice. Sadly, I didn’t pack enough sleeping pills so I didn’t get enough sleep as planned. However, I survived. The first day we drove to Punto Curros which was this super tiny town surrounded by the desert. I think they realized how neutral their surroundings are because all of the homes were painted in very bright colors. From there, we took a speedboat around Isla Damas and another island. There were 2 dozen dolphins swimming around the boat in groups of 3 to 5. It was incredible. We also saw Humboldt penguins, sea otters, sea lions, pelicans, oh my! (See attached pictures). When we returned to shore we had the first of my many mariscos empanadas. I am having major seafood withdrawal. I know… isn’t the entire west side of the country adjacent to the PACIFIC OCEAN? Why yes, it is. But, Chileans make more money by exporting seafood to the states. They don’t keep much of it around here. You damn Americans. Plus, unless their food is shaped in a hot dog, they aren’t really interested. I don’t think seafood could hold that shape well. Ew, gross…. Seafood isn’t really part of the Chilean diet so unless you are in a coastal town, you wont see much seafood around. Its quite sad for a girl like me.
Back to La Serena….we have dinner, have a drink in Coquimbo the neighboring town to La Serena and head to bed. On Sunday, we headed out to Valle de Elqui. VE as it shall be known, is quite beautiful. In the last 7 years or so, they built a dam to help with the water supplies (as dams are usually used for) and the view from the dam was spectacular. We made a whole bunch of stops on the way to the end, including a stop in Vicuna, the hometown of famous poet, Gabriela Mistral. We had lunch in the town of Villaseca, population 200. They are famous for the restaurant that only uses solar panel ovens. Our journey continued through tons of pisco and wine vineyards to Pisco Elqui, another cute little town. Pisco Elqui is where all pisco is bottled. We did a little tasting, had a nice tour of the distillery and headed to Monte Grande where Gabriela Mistral went to school.
Back to La Serena for my 3rd and final marisco empanada in 2 days. It might be fried, but it’s delicious. We went to the beach, missed the sunset by seconds but we were both still happy to be able to check out the beach. Definitely will go back up there in the spring. Sadly, it was a Sunday night so all the bars were closed. So, we had a nice dinner watched some Chilean futbol and called it a night. Dinner by the way, was reineta, a delicious type of fish, covered in a cream sauce topped with shrimp and muscles…..DELICIOUS!!! What could be better than that?
Since La Serena, I have not done too much traveling. I’ve mostly stayed in Santiago, meeting people and making this city feel like a home. I joined a running group that is organized by Adidas, occasionally, I go to synagogue, and I hang out with my gringo and Chilean friends after classes and on the weekends.
I actually starting writing this blog and took a very long time to post… so now I am approaching the end of the semester. Finals are at the end of next week and then I have lots of free time! I plan on traveling for a bit with my friend, doing some skiing in los Andes, which is supposed to be spectacular and then meeting up with Dad and Margot in Lima, Peru, then Mom and Earle in Buenos Aires, Argentina.
I watched the qualifiers for the World Cup. Chile beat Venezuela last week. Viva Chile! I feel like that’s part of the cultural assimilation… watching soccer.
Abrazos and besitos! (hugs and kisses)
Lauren
Monday, March 24, 2008
... and Gerty makes 5
So sorry for the big gap between posts. I know you were all waiting quite impatiently.
Mi madre chilano, Gerty.
I think I have hit my capacity... I have 4 parents, plus a Chilean mom, Gerty. Gerty is 61, born and raised in Chile by 2 German parents. She speaks fluent German, Spanish, and English... good for our relationship, bad for my spanish. She is very cool and when she does decide to cook, it's a pretty good meal. When she doesn't cook, she makes sure to always have ingredients for palta and queso sandwiches on pan integral (that's avocado and cheese sandwiches on whole wheat bread)....what could be bad about that? She lived in NJ for about 10 years and with Dad's brief stint in Hackensack, we have a lot to bond over.
Pictures of my room are below. This is my bedroom, closet, and my private patio area. (Mom, Margot, I make my bed everyday! Yes, I'm serious. No, I don't know why I won't do that when I am at home, that is just the way it is.)
This is the front of the house.
DuocUC
I am officially a teacher. Here is how it works: Universidad de Chile is one of the top 3 schools in the country. DuocUC is the middle tier trade-like school that they run. This is where I teach. They have several locations in Santiago and each specializes in a few trades. No two schools are alike. I teach in Providencia where there is an electrical and mechanical engineering school, and a school of health. 80% of my classes are made up of men. I have 4 all male classes (2 with a female or two) and then one all girls class. I like to think I am their hot exotic teacher from the states, but who knows. I could also be their dumb teacher from the states who doesn't understand a lick of what they are saying when they are talking in front of me about things that should be behind my back.
How it's going so far....
I have 2 basic classes and 3 intermediate classes. The basic class is challenging in that no one understands ANYTHING that I am saying. But, last week I did an activity for pronouncing all the letters in the alphabet (yes, it is different enough that it requires going over) and saying our numbers that was a big hit. The Basic class text book isn't so bad and I can get some ideas for activities and we already have the quiz schedule. This makes planning for the basic class easier than the intermediate. How much they are absorbing with my teaching style.... that's another story we will learn more about after the first quiz.
Intermediate is easier because I can have more of a conversation with those students which is really fun. Some of my students love to chat, even if we aren't talking about anything of value, just having them speaking in English is great practice for them and it still feels like a class because I will correct them as we digress.
The difficulty in intermediate is two-fold. 1. While some intermediate students speak very good english, there are still some who cannot put a sentence together. This makes preparing for a class with such a wide range of skills tough. 2. The "text book" for intermediate looks much more like a Princeton Review book for the SATs. How do you take a workbook meant for individual use and integrate it into a class for an entire semester! This is something that will be further explained to me later. For now, I just review the material from last year with those students.
My schedule.
I have Mondays off, and I teach Tuesdays and Thursdays, 4-5:30 and 7-8:30. Wednesdays and Fridays, 4-5:30, 5:30-7, 7-8:30. It's late, but I never have a class before 4 and I never have to be traveling during rush hour. My schedule is pretty sweet.
Those are the logistics of home and work life.... now onto the fun stuff. Not all of you would consider this fun though. Let's call it social life.
Friday night I went to synagogue! It was a little weird at first. In the states, I only go to services for high holidays and that's about it. While I can read hebrew, I have no idea what I am saying. To go to a service where half is in hebrew as it should be and half is in Spanish which is completely foreign, is pretty amusing. I was sitting cracking up at myself. I had no idea what was happening. I did however, understand what page we were supposed to be on, so I was able to follow along a little.
Then I met a nice couple my age at the end of the service and they introduced me to another couple who happened to be the daughter and son-in-law of the rabbi. They all spoke english so I told them about myself, what I was doing, etc.... They immediately invited me to the rabbi's home for shabbat dinner. I was so excited!! I have never felt more jewish in my life! Sadly, since I never do Shabbas dinner, the songs you sing at the dinner table were even more foreign. Never heard of them even once. So, I just hummed along a little. The rabbi asked if I went to synagogue at home, and I blushed and said no, but I planned to go to Saturday morning services while I am in Santiago. My schedule doesn't allow me to attend on Fridays, but I had this past Friday off for Easter. He understood the predicament and was happy to hear I plan to attend somewhat regularly.
Saturday and Sunday I spent the day in Valparaiso. There are two volunteers working there, so they know their way around. What a gorgeous city! It's on the water and built up on the hills, and it has beautiful architecture and everything is painted brightly. I forgot my camera, but since it's so close and easy to get to, I plan on going with some frequency.
Other than that, last weekend all the volunteers met for an asado (thats a BBQ) in one of the parks. Yesterday was Easter so I came home from Valparaiso and one of Gerty's daughters was her with her kids celebrating.
That's it for now. Will update more frequently.
Buenas Noches!
Lauren
Mi madre chilano, Gerty.
I think I have hit my capacity... I have 4 parents, plus a Chilean mom, Gerty. Gerty is 61, born and raised in Chile by 2 German parents. She speaks fluent German, Spanish, and English... good for our relationship, bad for my spanish. She is very cool and when she does decide to cook, it's a pretty good meal. When she doesn't cook, she makes sure to always have ingredients for palta and queso sandwiches on pan integral (that's avocado and cheese sandwiches on whole wheat bread)....what could be bad about that? She lived in NJ for about 10 years and with Dad's brief stint in Hackensack, we have a lot to bond over.
Pictures of my room are below. This is my bedroom, closet, and my private patio area. (Mom, Margot, I make my bed everyday! Yes, I'm serious. No, I don't know why I won't do that when I am at home, that is just the way it is.)
This is the front of the house.
DuocUC
I am officially a teacher. Here is how it works: Universidad de Chile is one of the top 3 schools in the country. DuocUC is the middle tier trade-like school that they run. This is where I teach. They have several locations in Santiago and each specializes in a few trades. No two schools are alike. I teach in Providencia where there is an electrical and mechanical engineering school, and a school of health. 80% of my classes are made up of men. I have 4 all male classes (2 with a female or two) and then one all girls class. I like to think I am their hot exotic teacher from the states, but who knows. I could also be their dumb teacher from the states who doesn't understand a lick of what they are saying when they are talking in front of me about things that should be behind my back.
How it's going so far....
I have 2 basic classes and 3 intermediate classes. The basic class is challenging in that no one understands ANYTHING that I am saying. But, last week I did an activity for pronouncing all the letters in the alphabet (yes, it is different enough that it requires going over) and saying our numbers that was a big hit. The Basic class text book isn't so bad and I can get some ideas for activities and we already have the quiz schedule. This makes planning for the basic class easier than the intermediate. How much they are absorbing with my teaching style.... that's another story we will learn more about after the first quiz.
Intermediate is easier because I can have more of a conversation with those students which is really fun. Some of my students love to chat, even if we aren't talking about anything of value, just having them speaking in English is great practice for them and it still feels like a class because I will correct them as we digress.
The difficulty in intermediate is two-fold. 1. While some intermediate students speak very good english, there are still some who cannot put a sentence together. This makes preparing for a class with such a wide range of skills tough. 2. The "text book" for intermediate looks much more like a Princeton Review book for the SATs. How do you take a workbook meant for individual use and integrate it into a class for an entire semester! This is something that will be further explained to me later. For now, I just review the material from last year with those students.
My schedule.
I have Mondays off, and I teach Tuesdays and Thursdays, 4-5:30 and 7-8:30. Wednesdays and Fridays, 4-5:30, 5:30-7, 7-8:30. It's late, but I never have a class before 4 and I never have to be traveling during rush hour. My schedule is pretty sweet.
Those are the logistics of home and work life.... now onto the fun stuff. Not all of you would consider this fun though. Let's call it social life.
Friday night I went to synagogue! It was a little weird at first. In the states, I only go to services for high holidays and that's about it. While I can read hebrew, I have no idea what I am saying. To go to a service where half is in hebrew as it should be and half is in Spanish which is completely foreign, is pretty amusing. I was sitting cracking up at myself. I had no idea what was happening. I did however, understand what page we were supposed to be on, so I was able to follow along a little.
Then I met a nice couple my age at the end of the service and they introduced me to another couple who happened to be the daughter and son-in-law of the rabbi. They all spoke english so I told them about myself, what I was doing, etc.... They immediately invited me to the rabbi's home for shabbat dinner. I was so excited!! I have never felt more jewish in my life! Sadly, since I never do Shabbas dinner, the songs you sing at the dinner table were even more foreign. Never heard of them even once. So, I just hummed along a little. The rabbi asked if I went to synagogue at home, and I blushed and said no, but I planned to go to Saturday morning services while I am in Santiago. My schedule doesn't allow me to attend on Fridays, but I had this past Friday off for Easter. He understood the predicament and was happy to hear I plan to attend somewhat regularly.
Saturday and Sunday I spent the day in Valparaiso. There are two volunteers working there, so they know their way around. What a gorgeous city! It's on the water and built up on the hills, and it has beautiful architecture and everything is painted brightly. I forgot my camera, but since it's so close and easy to get to, I plan on going with some frequency.
Other than that, last weekend all the volunteers met for an asado (thats a BBQ) in one of the parks. Yesterday was Easter so I came home from Valparaiso and one of Gerty's daughters was her with her kids celebrating.
That's it for now. Will update more frequently.
Buenas Noches!
Lauren
Sunday, March 2, 2008
One more week living in limbo
This past week was more training, more culture, more orientation stuff. We went on a historical tour with a fomer member of MIR, which translates to Revolutionary Leftist Movement. Basically, they are communists. Our guide, Andre, was in training with the MIR prior to the military coup in 1973 so he was an incredible guide. We went to the Cementerio General which as you guessed, is a cemetery. However, it was a really incredible cemetery. It is MASSIVE and there are tons and tons of mausoleums. They also have recorded all the names of those that disappeared or died during the military regime from 1973 to 1990. I know it sounds odd, but it's sort of a cool place to walk around.
We then went to Villa Grimaldi which was the detention and torture complex that was used by the new government's police, DINA. It's amazing what they have done there. It is now called La Parque por la Paz, Park of Peace. They have a small scale version of what the complex once looked like in the DINA's hay day. From there, you can walk around the complex and see what has been put in each area's place to represent what had happened there. The city takes a lot of pride in this park, they even have a canopied area for cultural events! It sounds odd, but they believe in bringing life to this complex and the more people that come and learn, the more education there is so that something like this never happens again. I put the website below for anyone who is bored at work and curious: http://www.villagrimaldi.cl/eng/index_eng.htm
For those curious about the social scene: well, I've met my first Chilean crush. His name is Franco and he's a Carabinero (he's a cop). He's super cute, but doesn't speak slowly enough for me. He has 2 brothers who both have interests in two of my friends so we all have a good time together. Franco and I are going to try communicating via email because I need time to translate what he says.
Aside from culture and boys, I decided to take my first day trip outside of Santiago with some other volunteers. For those in nyc, get ready to be jealous. I went to a town just south of Valparaiso called Algarrobo. It's a cute little beach town and we had a fabulous time. Every single person got a little burnt, but that's the Chilean sun for you!
Today, I went to the Pablo Neruda museum. Neruda was a famous Chilean poet and he had three wives. He and his third wife shared a beautiful piece of property and that is where 1 of the 3 Neruda museums is. They had incredible artwork, including a Diego Rivera painting and other pieces that he brought back from Asia, Italia, and a few other places. It's definitely a cool place to check out. Unfortunately, I went with 4 volunteers who all speak much better spanish than I do. So we had a tour in Spanish - I tried to follow and my friends would translate the important stuff.
Finally, I hit Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes because it's right next to the hostel and it's free on Sundays. Love that free art!!! I didn't have too much time, but I went with one other volunteer to see an exhibit on Norwegian architecture and a photography exhibit which was awesome. Lots of great photographs including one of Rockefeller Plaza. I got a little home sick for a second when I saw Saks 5th Ave in the background! Aside from the loads of booby shots, there were some beautiful pictures. I'm so glad my friend who came with me could speak spanish. Sometimes the title of a picture really provokes thought and the lack of understanding would have changed my interpretation. Yet, another key reason why I have to learn spanish quickly!
And then I went to the Parque Forestal which is right behind the museum. It's where all the hippies go on Sunday, it's like a circus! It's really crazy... they sell lots of crappy stuff, there are big drum circles, people juggling, people practicing on a tight rope, people playing Capoeira (yes, it's playing, not doing). All sorts of nutty cool stuff.
What's on the agenda for this week? There are other volunteers who are coming to teach at the same university system. We all meet this week in Santiago for our university training (as opposed to our WorldTeach training) and then everyone goes to their sights across Chile on Friday. I'm looking forward to meeting other volunteers and getting a better feel for the university directly from the staff.
And in 5 days, I get to move in with Gerty, my host mom!! As most of you know, I've been living out of a suitcase since January 28, so I'm really really ready to actually unpack and call Santiago my home. I will update you all next week from Lo Barnachea, the suburb of Santiago where I will be living!
Chao!
Lauren
We then went to Villa Grimaldi which was the detention and torture complex that was used by the new government's police, DINA. It's amazing what they have done there. It is now called La Parque por la Paz, Park of Peace. They have a small scale version of what the complex once looked like in the DINA's hay day. From there, you can walk around the complex and see what has been put in each area's place to represent what had happened there. The city takes a lot of pride in this park, they even have a canopied area for cultural events! It sounds odd, but they believe in bringing life to this complex and the more people that come and learn, the more education there is so that something like this never happens again. I put the website below for anyone who is bored at work and curious: http://www.villagrimaldi.cl/eng/index_eng.htm
For those curious about the social scene: well, I've met my first Chilean crush. His name is Franco and he's a Carabinero (he's a cop). He's super cute, but doesn't speak slowly enough for me. He has 2 brothers who both have interests in two of my friends so we all have a good time together. Franco and I are going to try communicating via email because I need time to translate what he says.
Aside from culture and boys, I decided to take my first day trip outside of Santiago with some other volunteers. For those in nyc, get ready to be jealous. I went to a town just south of Valparaiso called Algarrobo. It's a cute little beach town and we had a fabulous time. Every single person got a little burnt, but that's the Chilean sun for you!
Today, I went to the Pablo Neruda museum. Neruda was a famous Chilean poet and he had three wives. He and his third wife shared a beautiful piece of property and that is where 1 of the 3 Neruda museums is. They had incredible artwork, including a Diego Rivera painting and other pieces that he brought back from Asia, Italia, and a few other places. It's definitely a cool place to check out. Unfortunately, I went with 4 volunteers who all speak much better spanish than I do. So we had a tour in Spanish - I tried to follow and my friends would translate the important stuff.
Finally, I hit Museo Nacional de Bellas Artes because it's right next to the hostel and it's free on Sundays. Love that free art!!! I didn't have too much time, but I went with one other volunteer to see an exhibit on Norwegian architecture and a photography exhibit which was awesome. Lots of great photographs including one of Rockefeller Plaza. I got a little home sick for a second when I saw Saks 5th Ave in the background! Aside from the loads of booby shots, there were some beautiful pictures. I'm so glad my friend who came with me could speak spanish. Sometimes the title of a picture really provokes thought and the lack of understanding would have changed my interpretation. Yet, another key reason why I have to learn spanish quickly!
And then I went to the Parque Forestal which is right behind the museum. It's where all the hippies go on Sunday, it's like a circus! It's really crazy... they sell lots of crappy stuff, there are big drum circles, people juggling, people practicing on a tight rope, people playing Capoeira (yes, it's playing, not doing). All sorts of nutty cool stuff.
What's on the agenda for this week? There are other volunteers who are coming to teach at the same university system. We all meet this week in Santiago for our university training (as opposed to our WorldTeach training) and then everyone goes to their sights across Chile on Friday. I'm looking forward to meeting other volunteers and getting a better feel for the university directly from the staff.
And in 5 days, I get to move in with Gerty, my host mom!! As most of you know, I've been living out of a suitcase since January 28, so I'm really really ready to actually unpack and call Santiago my home. I will update you all next week from Lo Barnachea, the suburb of Santiago where I will be living!
Chao!
Lauren
Monday, February 18, 2008
First Half of Orientation
Buenos Tardes!!!
I just hit the mid-point for orientation. We have learned more about the culture, we are learning teaching methods, taking Spanish classes, learning about multiple intelligences and how to teach to all of them, learning about tenses and grammar and how to teach them, etc.... Does anyone really want to hear about the orientation in any greater detail?
The rest of the stuff....
We had a scavenger hunt as a morning activity last week which was cool, except my "hunt" was to an area that I have already explored. Other volunteers went to cool spots, so I will certainly follow their paths. I saw the Parque O'Higgins which is Santiago's Central Park. Very pretty, had the paddle boats too. Even have a little rinky dink amusement park called "Fantasilandia". I'm not really into them, but the name is so funny, it might be worth it just to go.
The weather here is hot, sunny, and just gorgeous. Last Saturday afternoo
n I walked around a bit and then came back to the hostel to lay out. We have a nice roof so a bunch of us just hung out there for the rest of the afternoon.
Two of the volunteers in the group had birthdays last weekend, so we all went out to celebrate. We started at a nicer bar called Catedral (pictured to the right) and had bottles of wine and pisco sours. A bunch of us then went out to a discoteque in Vitacura (a barrio of Santiago) and drank and danced until about 4 am. Needless to say, Sunday was rather uneventful. (Note.... comunas are the equivalent of suburbs and barrios are the equivalent of neighborhoods in the city).
This past week, we did some lesson planning training and then we had the opportunity to go to the Instituto Chileno Norteamericano to teach 1/2 of an english class in pairs. Sean, one of the other WorldTeach volunteers, and I taught a beginner class. We did some cool activities. Some were effective, some were not, but all good experiences! It was great to get some class time mid-orientation and we really liked the students for the two days we worked with them. It gave us a sense for how long an activity we plan actually takes in real time with non-english speakers. And we were able to get our first time teaching nerves out of our systems in a controlled environment before we went up in front of our own classes. All in all, it was great.
I'm just getting over a cold, so no crazy stories for last night... but no worries! I'm sure I'll have one by tomorrow morning!
Chao!
Lauren
I just hit the mid-point for orientation. We have learned more about the culture, we are learning teaching methods, taking Spanish classes, learning about multiple intelligences and how to teach to all of them, learning about tenses and grammar and how to teach them, etc.... Does anyone really want to hear about the orientation in any greater detail?
The rest of the stuff....
We had a scavenger hunt as a morning activity last week which was cool, except my "hunt" was to an area that I have already explored. Other volunteers went to cool spots, so I will certainly follow their paths. I saw the Parque O'Higgins which is Santiago's Central Park. Very pretty, had the paddle boats too. Even have a little rinky dink amusement park called "Fantasilandia". I'm not really into them, but the name is so funny, it might be worth it just to go.
The weather here is hot, sunny, and just gorgeous. Last Saturday afternoo
n I walked around a bit and then came back to the hostel to lay out. We have a nice roof so a bunch of us just hung out there for the rest of the afternoon.Two of the volunteers in the group had birthdays last weekend, so we all went out to celebrate. We started at a nicer bar called Catedral (pictured to the right) and had bottles of wine and pisco sours. A bunch of us then went out to a discoteque in Vitacura (a barrio of Santiago) and drank and danced until about 4 am. Needless to say, Sunday was rather uneventful. (Note.... comunas are the equivalent of suburbs and barrios are the equivalent of neighborhoods in the city).
This past week, we did some lesson planning training and then we had the opportunity to go to the Instituto Chileno Norteamericano to teach 1/2 of an english class in pairs. Sean, one of the other WorldTeach volunteers, and I taught a beginner class. We did some cool activities. Some were effective, some were not, but all good experiences! It was great to get some class time mid-orientation and we really liked the students for the two days we worked with them. It gave us a sense for how long an activity we plan actually takes in real time with non-english speakers. And we were able to get our first time teaching nerves out of our systems in a controlled environment before we went up in front of our own classes. All in all, it was great.
I'm just getting over a cold, so no crazy stories for last night... but no worries! I'm sure I'll have one by tomorrow morning!
Chao!
Lauren
Sunday, February 10, 2008
I'm in Chile!!!
Hello everyone and welcome to the blog! So sorry for writing my first post so late, I've been really busy and when I'm not busy, I'm exhausted and not funny enou
gh to write a blog.
So let's start from the beginning....
They love mayonnaise! They put globs of it on everything! I think it's more like a 5th food group for them. Sadly for me, I think mayo is repulsive and want to vomit just talking about it. Walking around with friends who want to try the street meat can be painful for me. But, I'm trying to control myself. Another little fact about mayo: if you do not want it, you say "sin mayo" with a soft "a". If you pronounce with a hard "a" you are literally saying, "without I pee". Good thing to remember if you come here, but don't worry, I'll remind you.
Wines!
We tried several on our first night and found one that was a bit more expensive (it was $5 instead of $4) and it was incredible. Terrapura... "pure earth" it's a cab. if you can find it, try it. It's my first of what I hope will be many recommendations.
What I've seen so far.
gh to write a blog.So let's start from the beginning....
I met my fellow volunteers on Wednesday evening in Miami. We had a pre-departure meeting, hung out a bit, did some silly ice-breakers and went to sleep early.
Our journey started at 4:45 am on Thursday as we headed to the airport. For the next 24 hours we got to know each other through three flights, 2 layovers, and a few drinks. All of the people seems really great. There are 20 volunteers, about 6 from California and the rest are scattered. The age range is 20-28 and I'm the only New Yorker!
Our arrival in Chile....
We got to Santiago at 2:30 am on Friday and got through customs very quickly but in typical Chilano fashion, the transportation was a little delayed. We got to the hostel and in our rooms by 5 am!
The weekend...
Friday, Saturday, and Sunday we had informal orientation sessions in the hostel. We were getting to know each other, learning about the Chilano customs and the culture. Basic information like the Chilano version of 911... that kind of stuff.
Little tidbits about Chile...
Our journey started at 4:45 am on Thursday as we headed to the airport. For the next 24 hours we got to know each other through three flights, 2 layovers, and a few drinks. All of the people seems really great. There are 20 volunteers, about 6 from California and the rest are scattered. The age range is 20-28 and I'm the only New Yorker!
Our arrival in Chile....
We got to Santiago at 2:30 am on Friday and got through customs very quickly but in typical Chilano fashion, the transportation was a little delayed. We got to the hostel and in our rooms by 5 am!
The weekend...
Friday, Saturday, and Sunday we had informal orientation sessions in the hostel. We were getting to know each other, learning about the Chilano customs and the culture. Basic information like the Chilano version of 911... that kind of stuff.
Little tidbits about Chile...
One of the most fascinating things I heard on our journey was the rumor that the mullet was in full effect in Chile. I thought that with the outlaw of the mullet in the 80s in the states that countries to follow the trend would have been over it by the 90s. I was wrong. Mullets are plentiful here and as we explored the city over the weekend we saw them everywhere on people of all ages. Even people in advertisements have mullets! Please, do not worry, I will not come back with one. I am just shocked that an entire society thinks it's fashionable. Ok.... I think that we have covered mullets and I hope never to discuss it this much again.
They love mayonnaise! They put globs of it on everything! I think it's more like a 5th food group for them. Sadly for me, I think mayo is repulsive and want to vomit just talking about it. Walking around with friends who want to try the street meat can be painful for me. But, I'm trying to control myself. Another little fact about mayo: if you do not want it, you say "sin mayo" with a soft "a". If you pronounce with a hard "a" you are literally saying, "without I pee". Good thing to remember if you come here, but don't worry, I'll remind you.
Wines!
We tried several on our first night and found one that was a bit more expensive (it was $5 instead of $4) and it was incredible. Terrapura... "pure earth" it's a cab. if you can find it, try it. It's my first of what I hope will be many recommendations.
What I've seen so far.
We are staying in a hostel in the central part of the city which is a great location. We are near the capital (la moneda), la plaza de armas, some cool markets, and el Mus
eo all of which I went to see this past weekend (except for el museo which is free on Sundays so I'm going this weekend). I walked over to the Cerro (hill) Santa Lucia. This is where Santiago was established. It has some amazing views of the Andes and you can see the whole city from there (picture with Cara and James).
I've also been to the Cerro San Cristobal which is where there is a giant statue of the virgin Mary and has even better views of the Andes (picture up top). I walked around Providencia which is a beautiful neighborhood within Santiago and took a ride on the metro and buses.
eo all of which I went to see this past weekend (except for el museo which is free on Sundays so I'm going this weekend). I walked over to the Cerro (hill) Santa Lucia. This is where Santiago was established. It has some amazing views of the Andes and you can see the whole city from there (picture with Cara and James).I've also been to the Cerro San Cristobal which is where there is a giant statue of the virgin Mary and has even better views of the Andes (picture up top). I walked around Providencia which is a beautiful neighborhood within Santiago and took a ride on the metro and buses.
So far this week....
We have now officially started orientation. We went to el universidad where we have our orientation for the next 4 weeks. This happens to be the location where I will be working from so that works out great for me! Today, we watched a film called "Machuca" which is a really incredible film about Chile in '73 prior to the coup and then spoke withe the Harvard University Director of Latin American Studies who further explained the last 30 years of history.
We have now officially started orientation. We went to el universidad where we have our orientation for the next 4 weeks. This happens to be the location where I will be working from so that works out great for me! Today, we watched a film called "Machuca" which is a really incredible film about Chile in '73 prior to the coup and then spoke withe the Harvard University Director of Latin American Studies who further explained the last 30 years of history.
That's it for now.... hope everyone is well.
Chao!
Lauren
P.S. Leb - Thanks for the blog title.
P.S. Leb - Thanks for the blog title.
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