After two weeks of being back in the states, my travels through South America already feel like a blur. I have been taking my free time to reflect on the last five months of my life and think about what I have learned from traveling and now appreciate after being gone for so long.
The first thing my mom discovered the day I returned home was lice in my now extremely long hair. I needed a hair cut to help make the process of removing the lice easier, but of course no hair salon would cut my hair. My head had been itchy for the past couple months, but I thought that I mainly had dry skin due to the water and that my skin had been very dry the entire time I had been gone. But no, I had lice. Most likely I had gotten it from one of the hostels I had stayed in. Of course, my mom. dad, and brother all had to help me remove every louse from my hair and wash everything in my suitcase. Even if I had realized I had lice in Argentina, I don’t think anyone would have taken the time to single handedly pick each individual nit from my hair. I am very lucky to have a family who cares enough to do such a task.
I have seen a few friends since I have been back. It’s hard sharing some of the stories I think are funny with them and my because they have no way of fully understand each situation if they haven’t been to Argentina. They say most people experience a kind of reverse culture shock coming back to the U.S. after being in a foreign country for so long. I don’t know if it’s so much culture shock that I have because I don’t feel that I suffered from it too terribly while I was in Argentina. I think my sleep pattern has definitely been significantly affected. I was used to staying out until 7 in the morning then waking up at 11 or 12. Especially being at home where I do not have a whole lot to do during the day, it is very hard trying to wake myself up before 11 or go to bed before 2.
I visited a friend from Cofc this past weekend in Oxford, Ohio where Miami University is located. We went to a bar to see a band and of course got carded and X’s on our hands for being under 21. I got so used to being able to go into any bar or club without an id or being able to order a glass of wine at dinner if I wanted it, it’s going to be aggravating that I can’t even walk into a bar under 21 once I am back in Charleston. We also went to a Mexican restaurant, I was able to actually speak Spanish to the waiter now. I was pretty excited.
In general, it has been weird coming back and not ordering in Spanish in restaurants anymore or just not hearing the language at all. I find myself saying certain words in Spanish all the time like bueno, gracias, lindo, and claro. (Probably some of the most used words by the Americans in Argentina). I have been attempting to teach my family a little bit since I have been home. They’re learning…
What I gained from Argentina…
Patience! Accepting the fact that going to the post office will be at least 1 and a half hours. For example, getting a number, waiting for them to call my name, showing my passport, and then receiving a number like 565,321. Then going to another room and having to listen to that number over a loud speaker with hundreds of other people talking. In Spanish this number is quinientos sesenta y cinco mil tres cientos veinte y uno. This number is read extremely fast and some times read in this way or read by individual digits and very difficult to understand over the only sometimes functional loud speaker. After thinking I might have heard my number, I go to another room where I tell them I heard my number and the 15 people sorting through packages take another 20 minutes to search for my package. Then having to take the enormous package on the subway crammed in with hundreds of other people on an extremely hot day.
Developing patience forced me to have to relax more than usual. The semester before I left for Argentina, I was always worried about school, SIFE, or the thousand other things I had on my mind. Being immersed in a more relaxed lifestyle where people aren’t always in a hurry to have something done or be busy all the time helped me calm down and truly live in the moment. I home hoping to stay this way when I return to Charleston in a few weeks.
Overall, I feel like my Spanish improved immensely. I notice myself randomly thinking of words in Spanish and trying to think in Spanish every now in then. I think I became much wiser with traveling and learning how to really plan trips on my own and that I will probably never take a 40 hour bus ride ever again!.
After having several hours of free time, I had lots of time to think about my life and what I want to accomplish in the future. I feel like now I really know who I am and how to not let other people get in the way of something I want to do. I really enjoyed some of the things I did on my own in Buenos Aires. Whenever I did not feel like waiting for someone to go do something, I would just go on my own and find somewhere in the city to explore. It gave me a sense of independence that I could find my way around that huge city without getting lost or even feel afraid.
Things I forgot to mention that I think were funny about Argentina…
People smoking in the University of Belgrano underneath the no smoking sign
Justo a Tiempo, the ridiculous game show I watched with Virginia and Vicente. One of the games in the show consisted of the contestants sitting in movie theater seats that moved violently while they had to keep popcorn bowls on their head. Whoever kept the most amount of popcorn in their bowl and the end won. Also, Homer Simpson would randomly appear and dance throughout the show.
The transvestites on TV. in the clubs and also in the park at night. There is a huge park in Palermo where all the transvestite prostitutes go at night to get picked up by clients. Charlie took Lizzy and I there after our tour of the city and there was literally a huge line of cars checking them out. We actually were told that a lot of straight men go there to pick them up…
The one man band on the subway one day. He had an amp, microphone, and electric guitar on the subway!! It was like a live concert. A guy in a business suit even got up and took over and played a song and sang.
Buenos Aires is probably one of the few places that you will get pooped on by a pigeon and step in dog poop in the same day.
On my last day in Buenos Aires I attempted to try on jeans. I assumed a 27 would fit since the jeans I was wearing were a 26. They were way too small and the girl working at the store offered to bring me another size and asked me the size I had tried on. I told her a 27 and she laughed at me and said that was the biggest size they had! (A 27 is a size 4 U.S.) How are normal people supposed to find clothes in that city?
A way of hitting on someone is asking them if they’re pregnant.
There are many more that will have to be composed into a novel later in my life.
The future…
I recently was elected president of SIFE for the upcoming year. I am hoping to stay in contact with a similar organization my friends are members of in Argentina and do a project with Argentine students.
The summer Olympics are in Brazil in 2016. I hope to have paid of some debt and have some extra cash to return to South America by then. Brazil is one of the many places I wasn’t able to go to. Jared, Lizzy, Rachael, and I hope to travel there together in 2016
I am hoping to find an internship for this coming summer in a Spanish speaking country, ideally Costa Rica or Spain.
I am really looking forward to spending the next year and a half in Charleston and cannot wait to see my friends when I return in a couple of weeks.
One day I would like to write a book about my travels, but I think I need to focus on graduating from college first.
The present…
Today is my mom’s 50th birthday. Happy Birthday Mom! I love you and am so happy to be home with you again. I wish everyone a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! I thank all of you who have been following my blog and hope you have enjoyed it. : )
Tuesday, December 22, 2009
Monday, December 7, 2009
Final Days!
Its been awhile since I have written. I havent had the desire to be online as much lately, just trying to enjoy my last days in the city!
The last time I wrote was Thanksgiving. It was weird spending Thanksgiving without the family and only talking to the entire extended family through Skype. That night I went to dinner at an American restaurant called Kansas. We ate on Argentine time, which ended up being around midnight. The food was good, but not the same as home. I had a good time though with Allison, my friend Barbara, and then we saw some other guys there from ISA who sat with us and had drinks while we ate. I had plans to go out after but was so full and tired from dinner that we all decided just to go home and go to bed.
The last week seems like a blur to me! I spent most of last weekend doing my Christmas shopping in Recoleta and San Telmo. I got some great gifts for my family and friends that I cannot wait to give them. On Monday night, I got a call from Franco (Liz's Argentine boyfriend) at 7:00 to come to his house at 8:30 for a surprise going away party he was having for Liz. Apparently he had texted me earlier in the day but I didnt get it. Anyways...the party was really nice. His two other sisters, brother, and mom were there with their boyfriends/girlfriends. We had a great dinner. Liz was really surprised and happy about the party.
Liz left on Tuesday and it was really sad to see her leave. It was really weird because once she left I was pretty much the only one of my American friends left. I felt kinda sad but like being on my own to explore and do things I couldn't always do with a group of people.
On Wednesday Brenda and I went to MicroCentro again and had lunch at the smoothie bar, Pura Vida. We then went to a mall called Galeria Pacifica which is absolutely beautiful and very upscale. There is an art center called el Centro Cultural de Borges. There wasnt much there but a small art exhibit because the main exhibit wasnt opening until the following day. The center also has a lot of plays and tango shows which arent playing until after I leave. One thing I would have liked to do more of was see more shows while I was here. Those kinds of things are difficult on a college student budget though.
Thursday was probably one of the most interesting days I have spent in Buenos Aires. The taxista (cab driver), Charlie who drives for ISA drove Lizzy, Emily, and I to the airport before going to Peru and told us he would take us around one day to show us parts of the city we probably would never see on our own. Thursday he drove Lizzy (Griffin's roommate) and I through the provinces surrounding Buenos Aires.
Charlie had amazing stories to tell us. He was originally born in Scotland. After his father died when he was 10, his mother bought boat tickets for him and his 9 other brothers and sisters to go to the U.S. The boat stopped in Argentina, they got off to see BSAS and ended up staying for the rest of their lives. He grew up in Argentina, and when he was 18 he went back to Scotland and joined the Royal British Marines and fought in the Vietnam War. After his time in the war, he played professional rugby in South Africa and Argentina for several years when he said he was tired of showering several times a day. He is now married to an Argentine woman, has two daughters, teaches English, and does city tours for fun.
Throughout the entire day, Charlie drove us through the outer provinces of Buenos Aires. He took us to his boat club in Martinez where he keeps his sail boat, and we met the chef of the restaurant at the club who has traveled all around the world and now prepares Argentine dishes but with a flare of all the different countries she had been to. We didn’t get to eat but the food looked delicious. We also drove through beautiful residential neighborhoods of San Isidro, Olivos, and several others. It was great to see things I wouldn’t have seen on my own before I left. Charlie was also extremely funny and told us some amazing stories.
One of the most touching of his stories was about his time in the Vietnam War. For just under a year, he was stationed in Thailand. He lived in a small village where he lived at a house that he paid less than 60 USD a month and received two meals along with his living. The house he rented actually had previously belonged to the parents of two young teenage girls but had died and now the home belonged to the government. The girls who lived in the house offered all of their services to Charlie. One night, he said the girls tried to bathe him and offered him more services than what would be considered the norm. Charlie was so disgusted but was told by a local that that was normal in their village. It turns out the girls had been raped several times by any man on the street, and they were just 13 years old. Charlie lived with the girls, treated them with respect, and taught them English. At the end of his 11 months, because he had saved so much money he was able to buy the house for just $3000. He gave the house to the girls and opened a bank account for the two girls to get an education. He also threatened all the men in the village that if they ever laid a hand on either of the girls again, he would kill them. Charlie said that now the girls both have a college education and are married with children. This was just one of the incredible stories Charlie told us!
After a full day of seeing the city, we went to a parilla and had really good meat and appetizers for only $25 for the three of us. That night, we went to Club Niceto that I had planned to go to on Thanksgiving. It was so much fun. It was a gay club with some pretty ridiculous transvestites but had some really awesome break dancers mid way through the night. They were so entertaining, like some stuff I had seen at dance competitions in high school. They also interacted with the crowd and had people come up on stage and do flips over them while they were laying down. I had a great time!
Friday was my last meal with Virginia and Vicente, which although I will miss them I am glad to no longer have to eat Virginia’s food. I also enlarged a picture of Machu Picchu for them and framed it. They loved it because they were never able to go to Machu Picchu. That night, I went out dancing for Brenda’s friend Lao’s birthday. The club played a great mix of music that was really fun to dance to.
On Saturday I said goodbye to Jessica who was leaving that night to go back to California. It was really sad saying goodbye to her and all my friends from the west coast. It will be hard to visit each other. But one of the coolest things about study abroad is that I have met people all over the U.S., Argentina, Europe, and Australia. I hope to see them all again some day. Later in the day I moved out of Virginia and Vicente’s to stay in Griffin’s with Emily (who is no longer able to stay with her host family) for the last two nights. It was really sad! Virginia and I both cried. I guess I wasn’t expecting her to be upset because I figured she was used to having students come and go for 13 years. I must have made more of an impression than I thought. I’m really going to miss my host family!
Yesterday, Emily, Lizzy’s friend Tim, and I went to a barrio called Barracas which is an artsy up and coming part of the city. An artist painted murals on all the houses on this one street. They streets were also lined with colored tiles. It was really neat and I got lots of really cool pictures. Afterwards, we walked to San Telmo where I got a few last minute gifts and also met up with Francisco and two of his friends. We walked around and had coffee and he helped me pick out new sunglasses because sadly I somehow lost my antique ones I had bought in midst of my stressful trip back to Buenos Aires from Chile. It was sad to say goodbye to Francisco because it will be even more difficult to see him if he moves back to Panama.
Last night was Emily’s 21st birthday at midnight, which is about all I can say without making my parents worry. We went to a club called Amerika which was really fun, and don’t worry Mom and Dad we all took care of Emily. I will be making my flight back to the U.S. tonight at 11. That’s all I have for now! Its going to be hard to leave her and say goodbye to Brenda and everyone at ISA today, but I am looking forward to a month relaxing at home with the family and then returning to Charleston in January.
It has been a life changing journey throughout South America, and I am so glad I had the opportunity to travel with so little responsibility. The next time I return here, it will most likely only be for a short vacation and possibly to work. But who knows what can happen in a year and a half. I should have some more to write about in the airport tonight and upon my arrival in the States. That’s all for now!
The last time I wrote was Thanksgiving. It was weird spending Thanksgiving without the family and only talking to the entire extended family through Skype. That night I went to dinner at an American restaurant called Kansas. We ate on Argentine time, which ended up being around midnight. The food was good, but not the same as home. I had a good time though with Allison, my friend Barbara, and then we saw some other guys there from ISA who sat with us and had drinks while we ate. I had plans to go out after but was so full and tired from dinner that we all decided just to go home and go to bed.
The last week seems like a blur to me! I spent most of last weekend doing my Christmas shopping in Recoleta and San Telmo. I got some great gifts for my family and friends that I cannot wait to give them. On Monday night, I got a call from Franco (Liz's Argentine boyfriend) at 7:00 to come to his house at 8:30 for a surprise going away party he was having for Liz. Apparently he had texted me earlier in the day but I didnt get it. Anyways...the party was really nice. His two other sisters, brother, and mom were there with their boyfriends/girlfriends. We had a great dinner. Liz was really surprised and happy about the party.
Liz left on Tuesday and it was really sad to see her leave. It was really weird because once she left I was pretty much the only one of my American friends left. I felt kinda sad but like being on my own to explore and do things I couldn't always do with a group of people.
On Wednesday Brenda and I went to MicroCentro again and had lunch at the smoothie bar, Pura Vida. We then went to a mall called Galeria Pacifica which is absolutely beautiful and very upscale. There is an art center called el Centro Cultural de Borges. There wasnt much there but a small art exhibit because the main exhibit wasnt opening until the following day. The center also has a lot of plays and tango shows which arent playing until after I leave. One thing I would have liked to do more of was see more shows while I was here. Those kinds of things are difficult on a college student budget though.
Thursday was probably one of the most interesting days I have spent in Buenos Aires. The taxista (cab driver), Charlie who drives for ISA drove Lizzy, Emily, and I to the airport before going to Peru and told us he would take us around one day to show us parts of the city we probably would never see on our own. Thursday he drove Lizzy (Griffin's roommate) and I through the provinces surrounding Buenos Aires.
Charlie had amazing stories to tell us. He was originally born in Scotland. After his father died when he was 10, his mother bought boat tickets for him and his 9 other brothers and sisters to go to the U.S. The boat stopped in Argentina, they got off to see BSAS and ended up staying for the rest of their lives. He grew up in Argentina, and when he was 18 he went back to Scotland and joined the Royal British Marines and fought in the Vietnam War. After his time in the war, he played professional rugby in South Africa and Argentina for several years when he said he was tired of showering several times a day. He is now married to an Argentine woman, has two daughters, teaches English, and does city tours for fun.
Throughout the entire day, Charlie drove us through the outer provinces of Buenos Aires. He took us to his boat club in Martinez where he keeps his sail boat, and we met the chef of the restaurant at the club who has traveled all around the world and now prepares Argentine dishes but with a flare of all the different countries she had been to. We didn’t get to eat but the food looked delicious. We also drove through beautiful residential neighborhoods of San Isidro, Olivos, and several others. It was great to see things I wouldn’t have seen on my own before I left. Charlie was also extremely funny and told us some amazing stories.
One of the most touching of his stories was about his time in the Vietnam War. For just under a year, he was stationed in Thailand. He lived in a small village where he lived at a house that he paid less than 60 USD a month and received two meals along with his living. The house he rented actually had previously belonged to the parents of two young teenage girls but had died and now the home belonged to the government. The girls who lived in the house offered all of their services to Charlie. One night, he said the girls tried to bathe him and offered him more services than what would be considered the norm. Charlie was so disgusted but was told by a local that that was normal in their village. It turns out the girls had been raped several times by any man on the street, and they were just 13 years old. Charlie lived with the girls, treated them with respect, and taught them English. At the end of his 11 months, because he had saved so much money he was able to buy the house for just $3000. He gave the house to the girls and opened a bank account for the two girls to get an education. He also threatened all the men in the village that if they ever laid a hand on either of the girls again, he would kill them. Charlie said that now the girls both have a college education and are married with children. This was just one of the incredible stories Charlie told us!
After a full day of seeing the city, we went to a parilla and had really good meat and appetizers for only $25 for the three of us. That night, we went to Club Niceto that I had planned to go to on Thanksgiving. It was so much fun. It was a gay club with some pretty ridiculous transvestites but had some really awesome break dancers mid way through the night. They were so entertaining, like some stuff I had seen at dance competitions in high school. They also interacted with the crowd and had people come up on stage and do flips over them while they were laying down. I had a great time!
Friday was my last meal with Virginia and Vicente, which although I will miss them I am glad to no longer have to eat Virginia’s food. I also enlarged a picture of Machu Picchu for them and framed it. They loved it because they were never able to go to Machu Picchu. That night, I went out dancing for Brenda’s friend Lao’s birthday. The club played a great mix of music that was really fun to dance to.
On Saturday I said goodbye to Jessica who was leaving that night to go back to California. It was really sad saying goodbye to her and all my friends from the west coast. It will be hard to visit each other. But one of the coolest things about study abroad is that I have met people all over the U.S., Argentina, Europe, and Australia. I hope to see them all again some day. Later in the day I moved out of Virginia and Vicente’s to stay in Griffin’s with Emily (who is no longer able to stay with her host family) for the last two nights. It was really sad! Virginia and I both cried. I guess I wasn’t expecting her to be upset because I figured she was used to having students come and go for 13 years. I must have made more of an impression than I thought. I’m really going to miss my host family!
Yesterday, Emily, Lizzy’s friend Tim, and I went to a barrio called Barracas which is an artsy up and coming part of the city. An artist painted murals on all the houses on this one street. They streets were also lined with colored tiles. It was really neat and I got lots of really cool pictures. Afterwards, we walked to San Telmo where I got a few last minute gifts and also met up with Francisco and two of his friends. We walked around and had coffee and he helped me pick out new sunglasses because sadly I somehow lost my antique ones I had bought in midst of my stressful trip back to Buenos Aires from Chile. It was sad to say goodbye to Francisco because it will be even more difficult to see him if he moves back to Panama.
Last night was Emily’s 21st birthday at midnight, which is about all I can say without making my parents worry. We went to a club called Amerika which was really fun, and don’t worry Mom and Dad we all took care of Emily. I will be making my flight back to the U.S. tonight at 11. That’s all I have for now! Its going to be hard to leave her and say goodbye to Brenda and everyone at ISA today, but I am looking forward to a month relaxing at home with the family and then returning to Charleston in January.
It has been a life changing journey throughout South America, and I am so glad I had the opportunity to travel with so little responsibility. The next time I return here, it will most likely only be for a short vacation and possibly to work. But who knows what can happen in a year and a half. I should have some more to write about in the airport tonight and upon my arrival in the States. That’s all for now!
Thursday, November 26, 2009
Happy Thanksgiving
Today is the first Thanksgiving that I have ever been able to wear a tank top and flip flops. Usually I am in the freezing cold in Ohio. Today is a beautiful hot and humid day in Buenos Aires. Its weird not being home with the family for the first time in 20 years,but it helps knowing I will be seeing them in less than two weeks! Tonight, I am going to a restaurant called Kansas, which is a renowned restaurant for American cuisine. They have a Thanksgiving dinner that I am going to with Allison, my friend Barbara, and possible a few other people that are still here from my program. Afterwards, Lizzy, some other people, and I are going to Club Niceto which actually has a drag show tonight. Everyone I have talked to thats been there said its a blast, so it should be a good time.
Its funny because Argentines seem to really like transvestites. Virginia always watches this talk show which is kind of like Jerry Springer but usually includes a transvestite talking about his/her problems and then other women arguing about someone who stole their boyfriend or husband. Its pretty dramatic, but Virginia loves it. Its funny because when ever she gets up to answer the phone (which is nightly because the phone is guaranteed to ring at least once during dinner) when we are watching the ¨tranny show¨ (as me and Liz call it) Vicente changes the channel to soccer. When Virginia comes back from talking about something equally dramatic on the phone, she usually starts arguing with Vicente to change the channel back to her show. Its pretty funny to watch them argue over it.
I think one of the reasons why transvestites are so popular here is because plastic surgery is very cheap and good. Usually if you see a transvestite on the street you often times cant tell he/she is a man. I talked with my tutor Paula today about why people like transvestites on t.v. today and she just laughed. I think its something I just really wont ever understand about Argentina.
After returning from Chile on Friday, I have just been relaxing and seeing parts of the city I havent seen yet. For the first time, Brenda and I had a conversation entirely in Spanish (which is usually more like Spanglish) which was good because I am finally noticing a huge different in my speaking. Paula even told me yesterday when I went for tutoring that I was speaking perfectly with only a few mistakes. That was good to hear, and I feel like I have accomplished my goal for coming here.
I hope all is well with everyone in the states and that you all have a wonderful and safe Thanksgiving weekend!
Its funny because Argentines seem to really like transvestites. Virginia always watches this talk show which is kind of like Jerry Springer but usually includes a transvestite talking about his/her problems and then other women arguing about someone who stole their boyfriend or husband. Its pretty dramatic, but Virginia loves it. Its funny because when ever she gets up to answer the phone (which is nightly because the phone is guaranteed to ring at least once during dinner) when we are watching the ¨tranny show¨ (as me and Liz call it) Vicente changes the channel to soccer. When Virginia comes back from talking about something equally dramatic on the phone, she usually starts arguing with Vicente to change the channel back to her show. Its pretty funny to watch them argue over it.
I think one of the reasons why transvestites are so popular here is because plastic surgery is very cheap and good. Usually if you see a transvestite on the street you often times cant tell he/she is a man. I talked with my tutor Paula today about why people like transvestites on t.v. today and she just laughed. I think its something I just really wont ever understand about Argentina.
After returning from Chile on Friday, I have just been relaxing and seeing parts of the city I havent seen yet. For the first time, Brenda and I had a conversation entirely in Spanish (which is usually more like Spanglish) which was good because I am finally noticing a huge different in my speaking. Paula even told me yesterday when I went for tutoring that I was speaking perfectly with only a few mistakes. That was good to hear, and I feel like I have accomplished my goal for coming here.
I hope all is well with everyone in the states and that you all have a wonderful and safe Thanksgiving weekend!
Saturday, November 21, 2009
Vina del Mar
The past five days in Chile were wonderful after the several stressful and long bus rides through Peru. Last Saturday was a beautiful day. After having a nice breakfast in the hostel, Lizzy, Emily, and I went to the beach all day and laid in the sun. Later that day, we decided we needed to go for a run after sitting on a bus and being lazy on the beach for the past two days. Vina del Mar is a beautiful place to run. There is a nice running path on a boardwalk along the beach. The city looks very much like San Diego and is very Americanized in general. It is also much more expensive than Argentina. Saturday night, the cook in our hostel made us an amazing seafood dinner. She made trout stuffed with tomato, mussels with melted cheese, salad (actually with lettuce unlike most of the salads I've ordered in BA), rice,bread, and wine. It was probably the best meal I have had in South America. That night, we just hung out in the hostel. THe workers were really funny and we also made friends with some other people in our hostel.
Sunday was also a beautiful day. Although we were pretty sunburned from the day before, we decided to go to a different part of the beach. There were some street vendors along the way. They had some neat things, but I think I have found better things for cheaper in Buenos Aires. After another nice day at the beach, we decided to save money and cook at the hostel instead of going out to dinner. We made some pasta which turned out to be really good considering it was hard to find all the ingredients we needed. That night we hung out in the hostel again and met some guys who were visiting from Cordoba.
Monday, we were a little too burnt to lay on the beach all day, so we decided to go to Con Con to find the sealions that one of the workers at the hostel told us we would see if we went there. It was about 30 minutes on a bus to get there. And when we got there, we of course could not find the sealions. We walked up the coastline looking for them but werent too successful. We found a sushi restaurant and had a pretty good cheap meal. After that, we decided to quit our search for the sealions and went back to the hostel. We complained at the hostel and the man told us that he didnt actually know for sure that there were sealions in Con Con. I'm pretty sure it was just the offseason for them.
Tuesday was a rainy day, so we decided to take the metro to Valparaiso which is only about 20 minutes away. There wasnt a whole lot to do there. It seemed more residential kind of like Belgrano where I live in BA. Most of the houses are up in the hills and you can take what is called an ascensor (a car that takes you up the hills) up the hill. The houses were all very colorful and there was a lot of artwork on the streets. There was also a really pretty view of the ocean and the rest of the city. We walked around taking pictures for a few hours and then went back to Vina. That night we stayed in the hostel and played cards with some people in the hostel and had a fun time.
Wednesday, Lizzy and Emily left for Santiago before going to back to BA to meet their parents. I had planned on staying for two-three more days, but then we realized how expensive our hostel ended up being. IT turns out they charged a tax if you pay in Chilean pesos, which made the bill significantly more . They didnt accept credit card and there was no where to get U.S. dollars. It didnt really make sense to me that there would be a tax on Chilean money but not on USD. So, I decided to make Wednesday my last day in Chile. It was cold and rainy again on Wednesday. I went back to Valparaiso with an Australian guy that I met in the hostel and two other girls from the states who were also studying in BA. We had lunch at a cute seafood place on top of one of the hills and then just came back to Vina. The Australian and I walked on the beach for a bit, but it was almost too cold and windy for that. That night we met some new people who were traveling through South America. I played an Argentine card game called Truco (trick) with an American guy who had just gotten to Chile from BA and two Irish guys who are traveling all over the world pretty much. The game was fun but kind of confusing. I ended up winning..I think by luck. Afterwards, we all had sandwiches at a small place nearby and then went back to the hostal before going out to a small bar/boliche called Cafe Journal. I had a really good time talking to one of the Irish guys named Connor. He has a really interesting job. He majored in electrical engineering in college and then got interested in graphic design. He now works all over the world with different start up companies. He said he absolutely loves what he does and told me as long as I always do what I love I will be happy and successful. I hope to be as successful as he is someday.
The next morning I had to catch my bus from Vina to Mendoza that would then continue on to BA later that night. After being on the bus for about two hours we were stopped in traffic because an oil truck had crashed and was blocking the road. We did not move for SIX HOURS! Of course I had become highly tolerable to miserable long busrides, so I wasnt too surprised. It reminded me of when I was going to Bariloche and we didnt move for four hours when there were teachers striking in the middle of the highway. So after six hours, the bus started moving again and we reached the border of Argentina and Chile which was backed up due to all the traffic that hadnt moved for six hours. Coincidentally I saw Lizzy and Emily who were also stuck on their bus from Santiago and we agreed to meet in Mendoza because we were all going to miss our connecting bus that was on our original itinerary. Three hours later, I arrived in Mendoza to find Lizzy and Emily sitting on the floor of the bus station and told me the next bus wasnt until 7 am (it was midnight at the time). I did not want to sleep in the bus station, but it wasnt worth it to spent less than a night in a hostel. Fortunately, we were able to get on another bus at 1 a.m. that got as back to BA at 2 the next day. After a long journey back, we were so happy to be back in BA. It was actually the first time returning to BA after traveling that the weather was nice.
Last night, I had coffee with Brenda and for the first time we spoke entirely in Spanish which was good because usually we talking half in Spanish and half in English. It was nice to have dinner with Virginia and her grandkids after not having a meal for a couple days. However, it was not the most appetizing meal. It consisted of what LIz later told me were leftover egg rolls, milanesa (breaded steak), reheated vegetables, and salad. It wasnt the best, but i had a good time talking about my travels with them, showing them pictures, and watching this ridiculous game show called Justo a Tiempo.
Today Lizzy and I went to Micro Centro, which is in the downtown area (business district) and had lunch at the California Burrito company. We then walked around San Telmo and found some neat art galleries and then went to the Natural History Museum which was located in a beautiful park. San Telmo is probably one of my favorite places in the city. All the apartments and buildings are very beautiful and historic looking. I would have liked to live there if it was a safer place to be at night. Tonight, I am going to meet Francisco at a party for one of his friends and then going out with Lizzy and some of our friends who are still in the city at Pacha. It should be a fun night. Only two more weeks for me to see and do all the things I havent done yet!
Saturday, November 14, 2009
Machu Picchu, Puno-Lake Titicaca, and the crazy adventure from Peru to Chile
Hey there. This is going to be a long entry due to my lack of time on the computer. Brace yourselves, this is a good one.
So I dont even know where to begin. I just arrived in Chile after forty hours on two different buses from Peru. I am going to go backwards and tell you first about the last week in Peru at Machu Picchu.
The last time I wrote, I was in Cusco which is an adorable town. We woke up early last Sunday morning to catch the three hour train to Aguas Calientes which is just down the hill from Machu Picchu. We spent the day at the hot springs which was more like a few semi warm kind of dirty pools. We laid out in the sun most of the time while strange Peruvian men took pictures of us, which we didnt realize until about two hours later. I really hope we dont end up on the internet. We then decided to leave after being attached by ridiculous amounts of mosquitos that left huge bleeding welts all over our arms and legs. As we were walking back from the hot springs, we got bombarded by restaurant hosts trying to get us to eat at their restaurant, one who tried to kiss me, which was just strange. We decided to go to a Peruvian restaurant. The food was good, but not exactly what we expected.
The next morning we woke up at 3:30 to begin our hike up the mountain to Machu Picchu. It was about an hour and a half up the hill. It was tough due to the altitude, lack of sleep,a nd the fact that the past 4 months in Buenos AIres practically killed our lung capacity and exercise ability. We finally reached the top to get in line to make sure we got tickets to the highest part of Machu Picchu called Waynapicchu which they only allow 400 people to enter per day. We finally got to enter the park and greeted by one of the locals as the Spice Girls like local celebrities. It is almost impossible to describe Machu Picchu. It is a city that was built by the Incans thousands of years ago on the side of a mountain and it is pretty much unknown as to how they did it. The view was absolutely incredible. I have tons of pictures that I will post when I get back to the states. Around 730 we went on a tour with a group and learned about the Incans and the city. Supposedly the king of the Incan tribe had 400 children. So basically his only job was making babies for the majority of his life. We learned about how they were able to predict the future and I think seasons as well. I cant exactly remember due to all the craziness that has happened over the last week. Around 10 am we started our hike up to Waynapicchu. It was a crazy/difficult hike up a mountain with a ton of other tourists. I understand why they only allow 400 people to climb per day because the mountain is steep and the stairs up are also very narrow. I bet people have been hurt maybe even killed in the past. We finally got to the top and were able to see an aerial view of Machu Picchu which is in the shape of some sort of eagle like bird. i cannot remember the name. It was so incredible pictures and words dont even do it justice. I am so lucky that I was able to see one of the Wonders of the World at such a young age.
After hiking back down Waynapicchu, which was pretty scary because I have a fear of steep stairs going down sometimes and also pretty bad knees that were already worn out, we decided to take the bus back down the mountain to our hostel. Unfortunately I arrived back at the hostel to an unfortunate email from my roommate in Charleston. One of our roommates from last summer past away last Saturday. He wasnt one of my closest friends, but I was definitely looking forward to seeing him when I got back to Charleston,a nd we had a lot of fun together last summer. It really made me appreciate my friends and family in my life and all the I have been able to do at such a young age. It made me sad that my friend will never be able to see what I have seen in South America over the past five months. My condolences go out to his family and friends.
The next morning, after a good nights rest the Spice Girls and I decided to do what we thought was going to be a ¨tranquilo¨(relaxing) hike up a recommended hill by the girl at our hostel called Punta Cuasi. All started out well until we came to a ladder, followed by several other ladders. At one point we were literally rock climbing without equipment. This would have definitely been a liability in the states. After about two hours, lots of water, and several breaks later we made it to the top of the ¨hill.¨ It was definitely ¨vale la pena¨(worth it). We were able to see Machu Picchu from another aerial view as well as Waynapicchu. It was a really hot beautiful day and we just laid at the top of the hill for awhile and chatted about our adventure. The climb back down wasnt too bad however my knees were pretty much done for. We ran into some other people from the states who had clearly showered and probably about 50. They werent even close and asked how it was. We told them there was quite a bit of climbing involved. I dont know if the made it to the top...most likely not. We were pretty dirty and sweaty afterwards.
After our hike/climb we stopped back at the hostel to shower and then made our way back to the train station to get back to Cusco. Once arriving in Cusco, our cab driver that brought us there two days eariler was supposed to pick us up to take us to the bus terminal so we could get to Puno (where we were going to Lake Titicaca), and claro he was not there. After waiting for twenty minutes, and anxious security guards trying to get us to leave we found another cab driver to take us to the bus terminal. We arrived at the bus terminal around 9:30 and wow did we look foreign. We were the only gringos among several Peruvians. We managed to purchase tickets to Puno for only 20 soles (about 6USD) a piece for a 9 hour bus ride. Of course this couldnt go perfectly. we get on the bus and a man was sitting in what was supposed to be Liz´s seat. After debating with the bus company Liz had to sit by herself at the front when the man refused to move because he bought his ticket first. Shortly after, I observed another woman from the U.S. get on the bus causing a scene because her huge backpacking bookbag would not fit under her feet in her seat. (Claro!) I politely made a suggestion that she could take of the sleeping bag that was attached and put that under her feet and then put her backpack above. She very rudely said ¨I appreciate that, but this bag stays with me¨ When the woman from the bus company told her she had to put it down below the bus, she was rude to her too. She must have been robbed, which I understand because I have been robbed as well but there is no reason to be rude to other people because of it. She later stormed down to the bottom of the bus and yelled at the bus drivers until she got a bigger seat to keep her bag. She is the kind of person that give people from the U.S. a bad name!
Anyways...After a long and miserable bus ride, Liz, Emily, Lizzy, and I (the Spice Girls) arrived in Puno at 5:30 am. We had previously seen our friends from ISA at our hostel in Aguas Calientes and were going to stay at the same hostel they were staying at with our tour group. We got to the hostel which was acutally a hotel that wanted to charge us $55 for two rooms with two people each. We were going to do it and charge it to a credit card out of pure exhaustion, but claro they didnt accept credit card in this ¨hotel¨. So we walked at 6 am to another hostel in a city we did not know. We actually found a way better hostel/hotel that was only 70 soles (25USD) per night for a four bed room with its own bathroom. We collapsed into bed shortly after arrival and slept a few hours. After waking up in a daze, we made our way through the town and had breakfast at a small restaurant. We then went to the port to buy tickets to see the floating islands of Lake Titicaca. The only one were able to see was Uros that day for 15 soles each (5 USD). We took a half hour boat ride to the island of Uros. We met the current president who I belive rotates yearly and he explained the isalnds to us. The floathing islands are built of this strawlike plant which they can also eat a part of. It is actually very dangerous to cook on the island considering it is basically made of highly flammable straw. So the ten families who lived on that particular part of the island were very careful when cooking. After learninga bout the island, the locals insisted that we each pay 5 soles to go to another part of the island by boat. We basically had no choice so we went. All we did was walk around for about 5 minutes while people tried to sell us stuff, and when I went to the bathroom I was greeted by a hen and a toilet with no seat or toilet paper and then was asked to pay 1 sole for using the facility. (It is very common to have to pay for toilet paper or the restroom in general throughout South America. Public restrooms are not as common except for restaurants and clubs) After another day of pure exhaustion we managed to walk to the bus terminal to purchase tickets for the next day where Liz was going back to Cusco to fly back to BA, and LIzzy, Emily, and I were continuing on to Tacna(Peru) to then get a taxi over the border to Arica, Chile where we would take another bus from there to Vina del Mar. Now this is where the adventure begins. Lizzy, Emily,a nd I just received a facebook message from Liz´s experience back to Cusco. Here is here story.
Liz:
Sooo, to tell you all about my day today: wait around the terminal until 7:50 for my 7:30 bus, finally the driver comes, when he goes to put my bag underneath the bus guess what rips...of course! the ONCE shoulder strap, que bueno! But, the wierdest thing was that there was already a bunch of misc. boxes and crap where all the bags should go, then I get to my seat and its full of locals..like straight off the moving reed islands and farms...I am literally the only gringa, rubia, tourist! So the bus finally gets on its way, about 30 minuts in we make a stop in some random town so the bus driver can get some snacks, fine by me but for 40 minutes?? The stop and go went on like this the entire 9 hours...mind you i said 9 not the 7 its supposed to be. People kept getting on and off and bags of shoes and backpacks and blankets kept being passed around like it was Navidad. The worst is yet to come...While stopped in some no-mans land town vendors would come on the bus, with either live chickens or cooked, the coked came in a not-so-spill proof plastic bag reaking like indian food in a diaper (speaking of indian food, Lizzy I heard of an amazing indian restaurant in BA you should take your parents to, its called Mumbai on Honduras st.) so of course the señora sitting next to me cant resists the tasty smell of this chicken and buys 3 bags of them, and of course the bags drip all over my and my iPod while the transaction was being mad...claro! So I decided to go straight to the airport after the bus ride from hell to try to switch my flight to an earlier day, I wasnt able to but everything worked out, guess which three awesome ISA people are staying st the SoCo conmigo...Aaron, tatiana and Stephanie! wooohoooo. Not all is bad, at least I know people here and tonight we went to this BOMB restaurant. I ate Beef hearts kebab it was actually amazingly good, Im full and this hostel is the shit, lots of fun people to chat with and have some fun girls sharing my room, theres even a cinco here! his name is Tigre...hes sooo cute h god. I hope your bus ride was better than mine and that Chile is absolutely amazing!! I know it will be, give me a call whenveer you{re back in BA, I cant wait to see you girls!
So if you think Liz´s experience on the bus was bad. Now here is the response Lizzy sent to Liz´s message
Lizzy:
Welllllllll, where did we leave you? Oh yes, Puno. So we get on the bus, which is basically deserted for the first hour of our voyage. Then, we start to get BOMBARDED by indigenous Peruvians and their big ass bags of produce and god knows what else....dead bodies maybe? We made at least 15 different stops during only the first 10 hour bus ride to Tacna. At every stop, Peruvians crowded their way into the aisles, pushing each other to get to their bags of raw dripping produce. Our bus driver almost got in three wrecks while also threatening the lives of many indigenous persons. Additionally, there was the man that got on the bus and talked for almost an hour about music and being single before prodceeding to wake Emily up, ask her if she had a boyfriend, and then throw candy at her. All the while, Peruvians were yelling ¨PELICULAS!¨and giving the man money. Oh, we almost forgot the three times police officers and customs officials with machine guns got on the bus and started looking through everyone´s shit/jacking some people´s stuff. They were nice to us, but the Peruvians were not happy about their presence. This was all on the SHORT 10 hour bus ride to Tacna (still in Peru).We arrive in Tacna, take a cab to another terminal to get into another cab with a Peruvian couple whose only luggage was 2 huge packages of toilet paper (apparently crossing the border for toilet paper is a common thing to do in South America?). The cab driver takes our passports, we freak out, then he drives us into the desert before we get to the border, where Elise doesn´t have her entrance/exit pass from Peru (the thing we got at the airport). She runs back to the car and finds it in a random envelope, meanwhile Emily and I are staring at each other wide eyed wondering how life will be in Peru if Elise isn´t allowed to leave. We get out of Peru and have to run to the cab with all of our luggage as our taxi driver yells for us to move ¨rapido!¨ We get to Chile and have to go through customs in the middle of the desert where Emily almost gets lost. Finally we get to the Arica bus terminal where we only owe the man who got us through all of this 18 soles a piece (about 6 dollars mind you!).We are expecting a 24 hours max full cama bus ride to Vina del Mar, before we find out that every bus company´s schedule is leaving at 11:00 PM Thursday and arriving at 7:00 AM SATURDAY MORNING!!! Count them, that equals 42 hours on a bus in total. Thank you, South America. Oh, forgot to mention, that´s SEMI-CAMA!!!! Then Emily and I think we´re taking out 100 US dollars from the ATM, but it turns out we took out 100,000 Chilean Pesos (about 200 US dollars) which means both of us probably overdrew our accounts, que bueno. We try to mentally prepare for the 30 hours facing us, little did we know there would be Chilean men hissing at us every time we went to the bathroom, a mom cooing at her baby, a creepy man leaning over our seats with sunglasses on staring at us the entire time, the flagellant Chilean man sitting next to Emily, the boxed snack we got for both lunch AND dinner consisting of pineapple juice, crackers, and a cookie BOTH times, American movies dubbed in Spanish (all about war and very depressing), AND being woken up at 6:00 AM the FIRST morning in the middle of the desert to take everybody´s luggage OFF of the bus and be searched again by Chilean customs officials who we´re pretty sure again had machine guns. Elise went to the bathroom at one of the stops and had to pay for a toliet with no seat. Que bueno.All in all, a grand adventure. We made it to Chile, and our hostel where 2 of us will have to share a bed tonight considering the entire thing is occupied by a Chilean dance team consisting of 7 year old glittered, curled girls and their crazy dance moms burniong us with curling irons to get breakfast seats for their precious little daughters.
So yes, this is our experience so far. I actually think I am going to spend a few extra days here i Chile to relax after Emily and Lizzy go back to BA to meet their families. By the way: The seven year old dancers remind of my days in competition dance where all the moms went crazy trying to get their daughters hair and makeup perfect to compete on stage.I totally felt for those poor girls getting their hair pulled and sprayed and getting yelled at to have more ënergia¨ (energy).
After a long journery, it shoud be agreat week. We are going to just lay at the beach. The sun is out and the water is beautiful. That´s all for now!
So I dont even know where to begin. I just arrived in Chile after forty hours on two different buses from Peru. I am going to go backwards and tell you first about the last week in Peru at Machu Picchu.
The last time I wrote, I was in Cusco which is an adorable town. We woke up early last Sunday morning to catch the three hour train to Aguas Calientes which is just down the hill from Machu Picchu. We spent the day at the hot springs which was more like a few semi warm kind of dirty pools. We laid out in the sun most of the time while strange Peruvian men took pictures of us, which we didnt realize until about two hours later. I really hope we dont end up on the internet. We then decided to leave after being attached by ridiculous amounts of mosquitos that left huge bleeding welts all over our arms and legs. As we were walking back from the hot springs, we got bombarded by restaurant hosts trying to get us to eat at their restaurant, one who tried to kiss me, which was just strange. We decided to go to a Peruvian restaurant. The food was good, but not exactly what we expected.
The next morning we woke up at 3:30 to begin our hike up the mountain to Machu Picchu. It was about an hour and a half up the hill. It was tough due to the altitude, lack of sleep,a nd the fact that the past 4 months in Buenos AIres practically killed our lung capacity and exercise ability. We finally reached the top to get in line to make sure we got tickets to the highest part of Machu Picchu called Waynapicchu which they only allow 400 people to enter per day. We finally got to enter the park and greeted by one of the locals as the Spice Girls like local celebrities. It is almost impossible to describe Machu Picchu. It is a city that was built by the Incans thousands of years ago on the side of a mountain and it is pretty much unknown as to how they did it. The view was absolutely incredible. I have tons of pictures that I will post when I get back to the states. Around 730 we went on a tour with a group and learned about the Incans and the city. Supposedly the king of the Incan tribe had 400 children. So basically his only job was making babies for the majority of his life. We learned about how they were able to predict the future and I think seasons as well. I cant exactly remember due to all the craziness that has happened over the last week. Around 10 am we started our hike up to Waynapicchu. It was a crazy/difficult hike up a mountain with a ton of other tourists. I understand why they only allow 400 people to climb per day because the mountain is steep and the stairs up are also very narrow. I bet people have been hurt maybe even killed in the past. We finally got to the top and were able to see an aerial view of Machu Picchu which is in the shape of some sort of eagle like bird. i cannot remember the name. It was so incredible pictures and words dont even do it justice. I am so lucky that I was able to see one of the Wonders of the World at such a young age.
After hiking back down Waynapicchu, which was pretty scary because I have a fear of steep stairs going down sometimes and also pretty bad knees that were already worn out, we decided to take the bus back down the mountain to our hostel. Unfortunately I arrived back at the hostel to an unfortunate email from my roommate in Charleston. One of our roommates from last summer past away last Saturday. He wasnt one of my closest friends, but I was definitely looking forward to seeing him when I got back to Charleston,a nd we had a lot of fun together last summer. It really made me appreciate my friends and family in my life and all the I have been able to do at such a young age. It made me sad that my friend will never be able to see what I have seen in South America over the past five months. My condolences go out to his family and friends.
The next morning, after a good nights rest the Spice Girls and I decided to do what we thought was going to be a ¨tranquilo¨(relaxing) hike up a recommended hill by the girl at our hostel called Punta Cuasi. All started out well until we came to a ladder, followed by several other ladders. At one point we were literally rock climbing without equipment. This would have definitely been a liability in the states. After about two hours, lots of water, and several breaks later we made it to the top of the ¨hill.¨ It was definitely ¨vale la pena¨(worth it). We were able to see Machu Picchu from another aerial view as well as Waynapicchu. It was a really hot beautiful day and we just laid at the top of the hill for awhile and chatted about our adventure. The climb back down wasnt too bad however my knees were pretty much done for. We ran into some other people from the states who had clearly showered and probably about 50. They werent even close and asked how it was. We told them there was quite a bit of climbing involved. I dont know if the made it to the top...most likely not. We were pretty dirty and sweaty afterwards.
After our hike/climb we stopped back at the hostel to shower and then made our way back to the train station to get back to Cusco. Once arriving in Cusco, our cab driver that brought us there two days eariler was supposed to pick us up to take us to the bus terminal so we could get to Puno (where we were going to Lake Titicaca), and claro he was not there. After waiting for twenty minutes, and anxious security guards trying to get us to leave we found another cab driver to take us to the bus terminal. We arrived at the bus terminal around 9:30 and wow did we look foreign. We were the only gringos among several Peruvians. We managed to purchase tickets to Puno for only 20 soles (about 6USD) a piece for a 9 hour bus ride. Of course this couldnt go perfectly. we get on the bus and a man was sitting in what was supposed to be Liz´s seat. After debating with the bus company Liz had to sit by herself at the front when the man refused to move because he bought his ticket first. Shortly after, I observed another woman from the U.S. get on the bus causing a scene because her huge backpacking bookbag would not fit under her feet in her seat. (Claro!) I politely made a suggestion that she could take of the sleeping bag that was attached and put that under her feet and then put her backpack above. She very rudely said ¨I appreciate that, but this bag stays with me¨ When the woman from the bus company told her she had to put it down below the bus, she was rude to her too. She must have been robbed, which I understand because I have been robbed as well but there is no reason to be rude to other people because of it. She later stormed down to the bottom of the bus and yelled at the bus drivers until she got a bigger seat to keep her bag. She is the kind of person that give people from the U.S. a bad name!
Anyways...After a long and miserable bus ride, Liz, Emily, Lizzy, and I (the Spice Girls) arrived in Puno at 5:30 am. We had previously seen our friends from ISA at our hostel in Aguas Calientes and were going to stay at the same hostel they were staying at with our tour group. We got to the hostel which was acutally a hotel that wanted to charge us $55 for two rooms with two people each. We were going to do it and charge it to a credit card out of pure exhaustion, but claro they didnt accept credit card in this ¨hotel¨. So we walked at 6 am to another hostel in a city we did not know. We actually found a way better hostel/hotel that was only 70 soles (25USD) per night for a four bed room with its own bathroom. We collapsed into bed shortly after arrival and slept a few hours. After waking up in a daze, we made our way through the town and had breakfast at a small restaurant. We then went to the port to buy tickets to see the floating islands of Lake Titicaca. The only one were able to see was Uros that day for 15 soles each (5 USD). We took a half hour boat ride to the island of Uros. We met the current president who I belive rotates yearly and he explained the isalnds to us. The floathing islands are built of this strawlike plant which they can also eat a part of. It is actually very dangerous to cook on the island considering it is basically made of highly flammable straw. So the ten families who lived on that particular part of the island were very careful when cooking. After learninga bout the island, the locals insisted that we each pay 5 soles to go to another part of the island by boat. We basically had no choice so we went. All we did was walk around for about 5 minutes while people tried to sell us stuff, and when I went to the bathroom I was greeted by a hen and a toilet with no seat or toilet paper and then was asked to pay 1 sole for using the facility. (It is very common to have to pay for toilet paper or the restroom in general throughout South America. Public restrooms are not as common except for restaurants and clubs) After another day of pure exhaustion we managed to walk to the bus terminal to purchase tickets for the next day where Liz was going back to Cusco to fly back to BA, and LIzzy, Emily, and I were continuing on to Tacna(Peru) to then get a taxi over the border to Arica, Chile where we would take another bus from there to Vina del Mar. Now this is where the adventure begins. Lizzy, Emily,a nd I just received a facebook message from Liz´s experience back to Cusco. Here is here story.
Liz:
Sooo, to tell you all about my day today: wait around the terminal until 7:50 for my 7:30 bus, finally the driver comes, when he goes to put my bag underneath the bus guess what rips...of course! the ONCE shoulder strap, que bueno! But, the wierdest thing was that there was already a bunch of misc. boxes and crap where all the bags should go, then I get to my seat and its full of locals..like straight off the moving reed islands and farms...I am literally the only gringa, rubia, tourist! So the bus finally gets on its way, about 30 minuts in we make a stop in some random town so the bus driver can get some snacks, fine by me but for 40 minutes?? The stop and go went on like this the entire 9 hours...mind you i said 9 not the 7 its supposed to be. People kept getting on and off and bags of shoes and backpacks and blankets kept being passed around like it was Navidad. The worst is yet to come...While stopped in some no-mans land town vendors would come on the bus, with either live chickens or cooked, the coked came in a not-so-spill proof plastic bag reaking like indian food in a diaper (speaking of indian food, Lizzy I heard of an amazing indian restaurant in BA you should take your parents to, its called Mumbai on Honduras st.) so of course the señora sitting next to me cant resists the tasty smell of this chicken and buys 3 bags of them, and of course the bags drip all over my and my iPod while the transaction was being mad...claro! So I decided to go straight to the airport after the bus ride from hell to try to switch my flight to an earlier day, I wasnt able to but everything worked out, guess which three awesome ISA people are staying st the SoCo conmigo...Aaron, tatiana and Stephanie! wooohoooo. Not all is bad, at least I know people here and tonight we went to this BOMB restaurant. I ate Beef hearts kebab it was actually amazingly good, Im full and this hostel is the shit, lots of fun people to chat with and have some fun girls sharing my room, theres even a cinco here! his name is Tigre...hes sooo cute h god. I hope your bus ride was better than mine and that Chile is absolutely amazing!! I know it will be, give me a call whenveer you{re back in BA, I cant wait to see you girls!
So if you think Liz´s experience on the bus was bad. Now here is the response Lizzy sent to Liz´s message
Lizzy:
Welllllllll, where did we leave you? Oh yes, Puno. So we get on the bus, which is basically deserted for the first hour of our voyage. Then, we start to get BOMBARDED by indigenous Peruvians and their big ass bags of produce and god knows what else....dead bodies maybe? We made at least 15 different stops during only the first 10 hour bus ride to Tacna. At every stop, Peruvians crowded their way into the aisles, pushing each other to get to their bags of raw dripping produce. Our bus driver almost got in three wrecks while also threatening the lives of many indigenous persons. Additionally, there was the man that got on the bus and talked for almost an hour about music and being single before prodceeding to wake Emily up, ask her if she had a boyfriend, and then throw candy at her. All the while, Peruvians were yelling ¨PELICULAS!¨and giving the man money. Oh, we almost forgot the three times police officers and customs officials with machine guns got on the bus and started looking through everyone´s shit/jacking some people´s stuff. They were nice to us, but the Peruvians were not happy about their presence. This was all on the SHORT 10 hour bus ride to Tacna (still in Peru).We arrive in Tacna, take a cab to another terminal to get into another cab with a Peruvian couple whose only luggage was 2 huge packages of toilet paper (apparently crossing the border for toilet paper is a common thing to do in South America?). The cab driver takes our passports, we freak out, then he drives us into the desert before we get to the border, where Elise doesn´t have her entrance/exit pass from Peru (the thing we got at the airport). She runs back to the car and finds it in a random envelope, meanwhile Emily and I are staring at each other wide eyed wondering how life will be in Peru if Elise isn´t allowed to leave. We get out of Peru and have to run to the cab with all of our luggage as our taxi driver yells for us to move ¨rapido!¨ We get to Chile and have to go through customs in the middle of the desert where Emily almost gets lost. Finally we get to the Arica bus terminal where we only owe the man who got us through all of this 18 soles a piece (about 6 dollars mind you!).We are expecting a 24 hours max full cama bus ride to Vina del Mar, before we find out that every bus company´s schedule is leaving at 11:00 PM Thursday and arriving at 7:00 AM SATURDAY MORNING!!! Count them, that equals 42 hours on a bus in total. Thank you, South America. Oh, forgot to mention, that´s SEMI-CAMA!!!! Then Emily and I think we´re taking out 100 US dollars from the ATM, but it turns out we took out 100,000 Chilean Pesos (about 200 US dollars) which means both of us probably overdrew our accounts, que bueno. We try to mentally prepare for the 30 hours facing us, little did we know there would be Chilean men hissing at us every time we went to the bathroom, a mom cooing at her baby, a creepy man leaning over our seats with sunglasses on staring at us the entire time, the flagellant Chilean man sitting next to Emily, the boxed snack we got for both lunch AND dinner consisting of pineapple juice, crackers, and a cookie BOTH times, American movies dubbed in Spanish (all about war and very depressing), AND being woken up at 6:00 AM the FIRST morning in the middle of the desert to take everybody´s luggage OFF of the bus and be searched again by Chilean customs officials who we´re pretty sure again had machine guns. Elise went to the bathroom at one of the stops and had to pay for a toliet with no seat. Que bueno.All in all, a grand adventure. We made it to Chile, and our hostel where 2 of us will have to share a bed tonight considering the entire thing is occupied by a Chilean dance team consisting of 7 year old glittered, curled girls and their crazy dance moms burniong us with curling irons to get breakfast seats for their precious little daughters.
So yes, this is our experience so far. I actually think I am going to spend a few extra days here i Chile to relax after Emily and Lizzy go back to BA to meet their families. By the way: The seven year old dancers remind of my days in competition dance where all the moms went crazy trying to get their daughters hair and makeup perfect to compete on stage.I totally felt for those poor girls getting their hair pulled and sprayed and getting yelled at to have more ënergia¨ (energy).
After a long journery, it shoud be agreat week. We are going to just lay at the beach. The sun is out and the water is beautiful. That´s all for now!
Saturday, November 7, 2009
Arrival in Cusco
Hey there,
I am pretty dead from traveling. Lizzy, Emily, and I left from Buenos Aires yesterday after at 3 after celebrating the previous night out with our friends who are leaving to go back to the states this weekend. Our flight left from BA at 6 and then we flew to LIma where we had a twelve hour layover! We attempted to sleep in a freezing cold hallway of the airport and then later on in more comfortable chairs in Starbucks. We then had a flight at 10 am this morning to Cusco where we met Liz. We arrived at our hostel which is absolutely adorable! THe town of Cusco is very quaint and reminds me of a small Greek town where the houses and streets are all built close together and with cobblstone streets. We had lunch at a small restaurant near the hostel where we tried Inca Cola, which is the soda of Peru that tastes kind of like bubble gum to me. We then wondered around the town a little bit and bought some souvenirs for our friends and families to take home. I dont have too much too say. I am pretty exhausted from running on pretty much no sleep. Tomorrow we are taking the Backpackers Train to Aguas Calientes where we are going to go to the hot springs that are outside of Machu Picchu and then the next day do an early hike. i am sure I will have much more to say in the next couple of days. Can´t wait!
I am pretty dead from traveling. Lizzy, Emily, and I left from Buenos Aires yesterday after at 3 after celebrating the previous night out with our friends who are leaving to go back to the states this weekend. Our flight left from BA at 6 and then we flew to LIma where we had a twelve hour layover! We attempted to sleep in a freezing cold hallway of the airport and then later on in more comfortable chairs in Starbucks. We then had a flight at 10 am this morning to Cusco where we met Liz. We arrived at our hostel which is absolutely adorable! THe town of Cusco is very quaint and reminds me of a small Greek town where the houses and streets are all built close together and with cobblstone streets. We had lunch at a small restaurant near the hostel where we tried Inca Cola, which is the soda of Peru that tastes kind of like bubble gum to me. We then wondered around the town a little bit and bought some souvenirs for our friends and families to take home. I dont have too much too say. I am pretty exhausted from running on pretty much no sleep. Tomorrow we are taking the Backpackers Train to Aguas Calientes where we are going to go to the hot springs that are outside of Machu Picchu and then the next day do an early hike. i am sure I will have much more to say in the next couple of days. Can´t wait!
Monday, November 2, 2009
Random Thoughts
So I am waiting at the University of Belgrano right now for my teacher to give my class of 100 people our grades from the exam we just took, and I thought I would reflect on some random things about my time in Argentina. I am longing for efficiency. The inefficiency here is starting to get to me. For example, in order to take final exams every student has to go to the advisors office to get a piece of paper for the teacher to write our final grades on. We also have to bring one of the several copies of our passports we have had to provide at this university for our professor to look at to make sure we are actually legally students here. Today was my Literature I exam. Last week, our professor told us that our exam would be mainly multiple choice with a few quick answer questions and only on the second half of the class after the midterm. When she passed out the exam, the test was all short response questions with questions ab out the first and second half of the class and they were all very vague and difficult to answer. We only had 40 minutes to complete the exam and then she said she would take an hour and a half to grade the exams and then call us in individually to give us our grades on our piece of paper aka hoja de situacion (literally paper of situation). So we all have been waiting for an hour and a half, and she just told us that she needs another hour to finish grading and then we can have our grades, or we have the option to just go to an office tomorrow and pick up our hoja de situacion. Why wouldnt she just tell us that before?! Also, not to mention that she had her assistant guy who happens to do everything with scheduling and random stuff at this school tell us in a hallway full of shouting people. It really doesnt make sense. Since I have already been waiting and do not have much time to do anything productive until dinner I decided to just wait and complain through writing.
Another thing I dont really understand is how they express grades here. When I got my midterm grade for my globalization class, the professor just read everyones grades allowed to the whole class. And for our final he just posted them outside an office. In the states people would sue over student privacy laws. I suppose it isnt a huge deal, but I think grades are everyones personal business. I dont think an entire class should be able to know everyone elses grades.
Also, I keep forgetting to mention the difficulties with getting change back here. When I go to the bank I normally take out 980 pesos (about 250 dollars to avoid several small atm fees). The reason why I take out that amount is so I dont end up with only 100 peso bills because it is really difficult to get change for 100 pesos (about 25USD). I understand that it can be a lot of money at times, but honestly its not! When I was in Bariloche I was renting ski equipment for 35 pesos and paid with a 50 and the man couldnt even give me 15 pesos back! He told me he would have change for me when I came back the next day to return my equipment. And I just thought to myself..Come on, people buy expensive ski stuff here all day, and this man does not have change?! Another issue here is the shortage of coins (centavos). The first week I was here, one of the ISA staff told us it is due to the mafia with holding and selling the coins. Franco told Liz and I it is because the colectivos (buses) which are the only reason you need coins, receive the majority of the coins and for some reason cannot figure out a way to redistribute them. If I return to Argentina, I would like to figure out a way to solve this problem. I really dont think it would be difficult. It is funny cause sometimes stores and kioskos would rather not sell you something than give you change. Sometimes my friends and I have to scavenge around Buenos Aires to find coins. It can get a little ridiculous.
Thats enough complaining for now.
Another thing I dont really understand is how they express grades here. When I got my midterm grade for my globalization class, the professor just read everyones grades allowed to the whole class. And for our final he just posted them outside an office. In the states people would sue over student privacy laws. I suppose it isnt a huge deal, but I think grades are everyones personal business. I dont think an entire class should be able to know everyone elses grades.
Also, I keep forgetting to mention the difficulties with getting change back here. When I go to the bank I normally take out 980 pesos (about 250 dollars to avoid several small atm fees). The reason why I take out that amount is so I dont end up with only 100 peso bills because it is really difficult to get change for 100 pesos (about 25USD). I understand that it can be a lot of money at times, but honestly its not! When I was in Bariloche I was renting ski equipment for 35 pesos and paid with a 50 and the man couldnt even give me 15 pesos back! He told me he would have change for me when I came back the next day to return my equipment. And I just thought to myself..Come on, people buy expensive ski stuff here all day, and this man does not have change?! Another issue here is the shortage of coins (centavos). The first week I was here, one of the ISA staff told us it is due to the mafia with holding and selling the coins. Franco told Liz and I it is because the colectivos (buses) which are the only reason you need coins, receive the majority of the coins and for some reason cannot figure out a way to redistribute them. If I return to Argentina, I would like to figure out a way to solve this problem. I really dont think it would be difficult. It is funny cause sometimes stores and kioskos would rather not sell you something than give you change. Sometimes my friends and I have to scavenge around Buenos Aires to find coins. It can get a little ridiculous.
Thats enough complaining for now.
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