Three weeks on the road!

Hey Everyone,

I´m thinking about building my blog stamina once again...  you may have noticed that it´s been over a year that I`ve posted anything.  Lindsey and I are on the road traveling for a few weeks, so I´m going to try to maybe post once or twice to give you all a taste of what South America is like through the eyes of a white-girl, wannabe Colombiana.  :)

We arrived in Santiago, Chile on Tuesay morning and will spend the next three weeks in this part of Chile, the southern part of the continent known has Patagonia, and Buenos Aires, Argentina.  Santiago feels very metropolitan and much more ¨calm¨ than Colombia.  We left Santiago this morning for just 2 days in Mendoza, Argentina.  It´s a town in the desert know for the best wine in Argentina.  We crossed the Andes before getting to the desert and stood outside in the SNOW while crossing the border.  So strange!
After a bike tour through the vineyards tomorrow, we´ll jump back on a bus to spend a weekend in Santiago.

I promise to be back...  maybe i´ll even post photos at some point.  :)

So in case you didn't hear the teachers of COJOWA screaming from the rooftops a couple of weeks ago, we had a surprise vacation announced for this past week.  There is little more than you can do to make a staff of foreign teachers happier than to announce a surprise week off of work.  Within minutes of hearing the news, I was looking for flights out of dodge.  Lindsey, Linda, Julie and I spent the past week in the department of Santander, Colombia exploring the areas in and surrounding San Gil and Bucaramanga.  Activities included whitewater rafting, rappeling down waterfalls, and paragliding in San Gil.  Bucaramanga surprised us with a fun market, amazing salsa dancing, and Colombian bowling (bolos criollo).  Bolos criollo means throwing lead balls at yellow sticks while at a significant distance...while drinking beer, of course.  It was incredible.  More than any single activity though, I just loved getting out, exploring, seeing new landscapes, staying in hostels, and doing all that traveling involves...   

-meeting people in hostels from all over the world.

-sharing crazy experiences.

-staying in a place just long enough to figure it out, find the drugstore, favorite restaurants, and not need a map.

-walking through markets.

-wandering down streets just to see what's there.

-playing card games in the hostel.

-not checking my email for days.

-having everything I need in my backpack.

-not working.

-doing things you only do on vacation like paragliding!

-taking pictures.

-arriving somewhere new at night and being surprised in the morning at what you see out the window.

-talking to people on buses.

Don't get me wrong, I love that I am living in a foreign country right now, but I love what it means to leave and see something new.  It's good to be home too, and nothing makes home feel like home than coming back to it.  I like Cartagena and exploring a new place makes me remember how much of Cartagena I have left to explore.  :)

My favorite student stories yet

I've enjoyed my students so much this year.  I actually do often think about my old students, and really do miss them.  Whenever I want to illustrate something that I want my class to do or not do, I often say something like... "My third graders last year where really good at..."  or "My third graders last year always forgot to..."  It's funny because they all feel like they really know my old students and talk about them like they're best buds.  So, anyway, my class last year loved that Dynamite song that was (is?) really popular... you know, "I wanna celebrate and live my life sayin' aay-oh..." and they would just sing it randomly together while they were working.  On Thursday, my second graders, while working on a science project just started singing it...the SAME song!  It made me really happy...  :)

My other story involves two students...  we'll call them Maria and Juanito.  Maria is a smart, feisty chica.  Juanito is a super spazzy, not always with-it chico.  They sit next to each other.  I look over at their table to see Maria standing with her hands on her hips glaring at Juanito.  I said to Maria, "You look very angry.  Is something wrong?"  She says while giving Juanito the death glare, "He keeps calling me his girlfriend!"  I look at Juanito and ask him, "Well, is she your girlfriend, Juanito?"  He bats his eyelashes at me and looks down at his desk.  Then I say, "Well, it looks like Maria is pretty angry about you saying that.  Do you think you should continue?"  And he looks at Maria, looks at me, and says "But, Mees Meechelle, is that she is so linda..." (linda=beautiful)  His english is still very much coming along.  Maria just stands there hands on hips ready to breath fire.  I about died laughing on the inside, and may have let it out a little...

Happy weekend, everyone!

A different kind of home

Hi friends,

I told you I wouldn't be good at keeping up a blog, but I persist.  :)
I'm now approaching the month mark of being in Cartagena.  Each week there is something else that makes it feel just a little more like home.  I'll explain a few of seemingly insignificant "events" that have made our apartment and life in general feel like a place I'll be for awhile...

1- Soft lighting!
When Lindsey and I moved in, our apartment was FULL of those horrible florescent-like energy-saving lightbulbs.  There are few things in life that I hate more than harsh lighting.  I've been on a constant search for soft lightbulbs (luz caliente) that fit all of our sockets.  We've finally arrived a good place, and I don't dread nighttime when I have to turn the lights on.  Ah, home.  :)

2- Work
I finished my first full week with students.  I love, love, love them.  I finally got "that" class, which doesn't mean the "special" one like it did the last 5 years of teaching.  They're good, sweet, and hard-working and their accents make me smile.  I love being called Miss (which actually comes out as "Meeees...").  I realize that I'm still in the honeymoon stage and that things change, but it's fun.  My alarm clocks (yes, I set two) do sound at 5:30, so vacation is long gone...  Home.

3- Cooking
We have some spices in the cupboard, condiments in the fridge, and a semi-fully stocked kitchen.  I like to cook and I like more to cook for others.  I've gotten to do both.

4- Down time
I've had more time to sit and relax and have the space to do it.  We got some softer pillows for our couch and converted our extra bedroom into a sitting room of sorts.  If you come visit, you can sleep there (there's a bed), but I call it the "skype-room" for now.  I even rearranged our living room (Mom, you should be proud) and set up our tv/dvd player.  I could stay here for awhile...


But then there are things that make me realize that I'm in a different place...

1- Showers
I don't really love to take time to shower that often in the states...  if I'm not dirty or greasy, I don't shower.  That is out of the question here.  I'm am ALWAYS either sweaty, greasy, or wet.  I even sometimes shower twice in a day (gasp!).  It's ridiculous.

2- Beer
I don't really like beer in the states...  Here, it's everywhere.  It's cheap and cold and everywhere.  I drink way more beer than I ever thought I would and even enjoy it.  That's not to say that the beer actually tastes any better...  the opposite might be true.  We even did happy hour sitting on the wall around the old city drinking beer....  And there's no nursing a beer either.  It goes from cold, to cool, to lukewarm, do downright steamy in 5 minutes flat.  Different.

3- Prep time
A lot of it...like 2-3 hours a day.  If I'm not a good teacher this year, there's no hope for me.


There's a bit of an update!  I love that it's Saturday today.  I have some serious plans to catch up on rest, with maybe a little work thrown in.  I love to hear from you....  comment, email, or skype.  I'm on skype often in the evenings, so sign in once in awhile.  My username is michelle.burkle.

Un abrazo.

One week down

Hello friends,
We've got one week down and many more to go.  :)  I feel like I've said this a million times, but it feels like I've been here for months.  Cartagena feels just a little bit more like home everyday.  The first few days definitely felt like I was on vacation and I should be counting down the days until I would need to get back on an airplane and go back to the "real" world.
I mean, really, the real world couldn't be living on the Caribbean, right?!  I hope the day never comes that I look out my new living room window and don't appreciate the view.
Could the real world really mean that a staff retreat is going to an island for a weekend?  The majority of last week was spent finding an apartment, getting settled, going to the grocery store and mall, and beginning the process of finding my favorite places to eat.  Friday we left for an island called Barú where Playa Blanca is located (if you're familiar with the area...) for a staff "retreat".  I put retreat in quotation marks because the staff retreat I've known in the past consists of endless hours in a windowless room around a conference table.  This place was gorgeous!  Most time was spent in a beachy hut sort of thing sharing about our lives, thoughts, feelings, expectations, fears... you name it.  =)  We ended the weekend with a flashmob of some rewritten Black Eyed Peas dedicated to our director and principals for SUCH a warm welcome.  Check it out at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M1zmrR-aV4E if you feel so inclined.
I would write more, but I'm am SO tired.  This moving this is exhausting.

My New Home

The recurring thought going through my head since arriving in Cartagena yesterday afternoon is "I can't believe I'm LIVING here...".  Sure, I knew that it might take some adjusting and knew that it would take some time for it all to sink in that this is my new home, but it might take longer than expected.  I mean, seriously, this place is gorgeous.  And, sure, I've been here before...I should know exactly what I'm getting into, but I look around at the sand, waves, water, palm trees, beautiful buildings and wonder where the heck I am...  Don't worry, I'm not complaining, it's just a little ridiculous.

Today was the first full day in the city and was spent doing mostly logistical things like blood work, insurance, cell phones, and a city bus tour.  This evening we had dinner (hello, coconut rice and giant avocados!) around the rooftop pool on top of our director's apartment building.  I'll try to attach a picture of the view.  The fact that it gets dark here at 6:30 made 8:00 feel like 11:30, so it will be easy to turn in early.
Tomorrow is a day full of apartment searching and hopefully choosing...  the hotel is super comfortable with hot showers (I'll miss those...), but I'm very much looking forward to some space to make my own.  Can't wait to share those pictures when I have them to share!

Abrazos,
Michelle

It's finally time!

It's time!  The end of July is finally here when I get to actually board that plane heading south.  The days and months since the UNI fair in February crept by at times and flew by at other times.  It was a wonderful summer of spending quality time with people that I love, and I look forward to telling you all about what it looks like and feels like to LIVE in Colombia.

If you know me, you know that Colombia is one of my favorite places.  It has succeeded in winning me over both times that I've been there, and I apparently just can't get enough.  A handful of experiences creates long lists of expectations, so I also hope to share with you as those expectations are met, exceeded, fallen short of, blown out of the water, and completely torn to shreds.
As I sit here writing this just having finished fitting my life into 4 bags and thinking about the things I've chosen to pack into those bags, here are a few things that I am expecting...

1.  I packed 4 swimsuits...  I fully expect some quality beach/pool/sun time.

2.  I packed 1 pair of jeans and 1 sweater...  stay away winter.

3.  I packed many pairs of sandals...  I expect many cheap pedicures.

4.  I packed a bag full of ENGLISH children's books...  I can't wait to meet my new little, English-learning kiddos.

5.  I packed a tent, sleeping bag, and sleeping mat...  I expect and hope that I meet cool people who love to camp!

Trust me, I packed so much more than that, I fully expect that I've forgotten and overlooked something...

Hasta pronto, amigos.  :)

Beach, heat, salt water... I´ve arrived. :)

Something about being next to large bodies of salt water is healthy... I´m not sure why that´s so incredibly true. It does nothing for my consistency in blogging, so I´ll be brief. We took a bus from Medellín to Cartagena, spent a few days in Cartagena, and we´re now in Taganga. Medellín was comfortable and relaxed; Cartagena is totally and completely culturally different. It is loud and vibrant. Everything about it is pushy, but it´s gorgeous. The soft lights illuminate the city and make it magical. We took a boat to a beach with amazing water and sand, and couldn´t nearly stay as long as we wanted before jumping back on the boat. Starving for good beach time, we´ve made it to Taganga where we have a perfectly lovely room with a balcony and hammock overlooking the beach. Time slowed down and it´s as if days of the week no longer exist....love it! I finished my scuba diving certification yesterday after 2 days and 4 dives. I´m already looking forward to the next time I get to go under...

Today will promise some time laying and reading on the beach and tomorrow we leave to La Guajira, which is the northern and easternmost peninsula of Colombia that extends toward Venezuela. It´s rumored to be virtually untouched desert and coastline that rivals most landscapes in South America. Since it´s more difficult to get to, we´ll go with a tour agency and 5 other travelers--one, Candice, who did the scuba course with me.

I promise more detail in my next post! :)

Hasta la próxima.

Well, it feels like I´ve started a new chapter in the trip since my last post. A new country could be part of that, as could time with Myriam´s family, and a new travel companion! We arrived in Medellín last Friday morning, spent the weekend in Medellín, and few days in the coffee zone, and are back in Medellín for a very brief stint before we finally make it to the coast. :)
I have loved spending time in Medellín, and have found it to be the most liveable cities we´ve been in so far. I enjoy playing this game with myself of where it would be most fun to live...ha. It´s a bigger city of around 2 million people; it feels modern and clean; public transportation is easy; and the people have been so friendly and warm. People from Medellín will tell you that they really are happier than others in the world...it might be true. It surely helped to be spending time with my friend and coworker, Myriam and her family. She grew up in Medellín and now lives and works in the twin cities. Her family has been a breath of fresh air after weeks of spending time in hostels and with other travelers. They have been welcoming, hospitable, and more.

One highlight was visiting a farm that Myriam and her brother have bought and are slowly developing outside of the city. They are steadily wiping out the weeds and brush on the farm to plant so many amazing and (exotic) plants to eventually sell....avocados, bananas, coffee, passion fruit, oranges, guayaba, limones... It´s a gorgeous area and it was fun to see the excitement and potential they felt in it all. And oh how I would enjoy some of those trees in our front yard. Wouldn´t that be incredible?!

We also spent a couple of days in Salento, which is a small town 6 hours south of Medellín with easy access to Cocora (a nature reserve) and several coffee farms that you can tour. We decided to enjoy Cocora by way of a horse ride...fun, but I´ve had my fill of horses for the year. The coffee farm tour was sweet...a small farm where we learned plenty about how coffee goes from seed to grocery store.

Ali and I have one more day in Medellín, and we´ll get on an overnight bus this evening for Cartagena. It´s time to repack...jeans and long sleeved shirts on the bottom, tank tops and skirts on the top!

Chava

It´s clear that we´re in another country. It´s amazing how much a border can change life... food, language (accent, words, formality...), landscape, facial features, height, prices. I do like Colombia a great deal, so it´s fun to be here again. There´s plenty to tell since the last post, but I´ll stick to one tidbit...

Chava

We´re currently in Villa de Leyva, which is a small get-away town north of Bogotá, Colombia. It´s gorgeous! I really could handle summering here every year :) Yesterday while sitting on a bench near the city´s center, a large, chubby, black dog came to sit next to me and try to make friends. His tail wagged and it was like I was an old friend he hadn´t seen in years. Understand that there are stray dogs everywhere, and they generally look for food and flinch away you get too close. They´re not loyal creatures. This black dog, on the other hand, is the most loyal dog I´ve ever met. He faithfully followed Erin and I through the town of Villa de Leyva all day yesterday...into stores, through the line at the supermarket, sitting next to us on the church´s stairs, and he even sat in the doorway of the restaurant where we ate dinner making others walk around him. When we left to horse back ride for a couple hours he quickly found us upon our return. Each time that we manage to lose him, he finds us again with tail wagging. When we finally retired to our hostel last night, he followed us all the way to the entrance while we had to keep him from coming in with our feet. Saddest scene ever... He is no ordinary stray dog. We never gave him food and haven´t even pet him. I keep calling it a he, but we´ve decided that she´s a she...her name is Chava. If you ever come to Villa de Leyva, look for her, but don´t get too close. It´s bound to end in a painful separation...


We´re off to Medellin this evening where we will meet up with friend Myriam who´s in Medellin for the summer and Ali who will fly in Friday evening!

Chao.

North we roam

After spending a few days in Otavalo, Ecuador, we´ve come to the north and are starting our adventures Colombian style. Otavalo was one of the nicest places in Ecuador I´ve seen so far. It´s clear that there´s a lot of money in Otavalo because of the huge market that plays itself out each weekend. We decided to peruse the market on a Friday before it was insanely overwhelming on Saturday...it had amazing, quality stuff! Still in Otavalo on Saturday, however, it was incredible to see how much it grew. Literally the entire town turned into a market with vendors down almost every street stretching from the city´s center to across the Panamerican highway where the animal market buzzed. You could buy anything from oranges to toothpaste to woven rugs to a pig or chicken to take home...

One of the most fascinating parts of Otavalo for me was the strong indigenous presence. Ecuador has a large indigenous population in general, but you often find these Quechwa (also Quichua or Kichwa) in more isolated areas of the country and infrequently in cities. Otavalo is certainly the exception where even the mayor is indigenous. The beautiful artisan work has certainly brought attention and money to Otavalo, and has paid off. The streets are beautifully tiled, hot water is plentiful in even cheap hostels, hollister and abercerombie dominate the clothes stores, and a hybrid car we saw didn´t at all look out of place. There are even timed crosswalks with little green animated men telling you when to cross and how long you have. The fact that these ¨luxuries¨ seemed out of character in an indigenous town shows how at the fringe other indigenous people are in Ecuador.

Oh, and I can´t leave the topic of Otavalo without mentioning our daring culinary experience. Cuy (guinea pig..yes, the pet) is a speciality in Ecuador. Erin and I were determined to try some before heading to Colombia. After asking around, we discovered that we were only kilometers from a small town that claims the name for the world capitol of Cuy. Chalturas is a small town full of cuy restaurants (even the president comes here to eat it!) and even boasts a picture of a deep fried cuy on it´s city´s sign. I´ve quickly discovered while in South America that my American nature comes out when asked to eat meat off of a bone. I just don´t like it. I also prefer not to see the head or paws of whatever I´m going to eat... Cuy, however, is not at all American. It comes completely intact with each part of the body on YOUR plate: head, ears, eyes, mouth, feet, little claws... When able to ignore those things staring me in the face, the meat was okay...mediocre at best. And then you realize that there´s still that head sitting there. Our new friend, Lorena (Ecuadorian), joined us and I saw how an Ecuadorian would really eat cuy...each and every piece. I, however, deep deep down, am American. I just couldn´t do it. I left a probably embarrassing amount of meat on those bones.

After a 25ish hour journey north, we are now in Bogotá to begin our Colombian leg of the journey.

Hasta luego!

Ascend, Descend, Repeat

The past weeks have been full of plenty of ups and downs...literally.

Volcán Cotopaxi is the highest active volcano in the world. The number of volcanos just in Ecuador is really quite insane. There was one point when we could see three from the same spot. Few are active, but they are everywhere. We wanted to experience Cotopaxi in one form or another, so we succumbed to paying a guide to lead the way... Many travelers we´ve met along the way aspired to summit the snowy volcano to the very top to be able to boast in looking over its crater´s edge. We, however, are not ready for that... Instead our overly flirtatious guide, Alex, brought us as far as we could get without putting on special equipment to climb in the ice and snow. One of our first spots out of town on the way up the volcano was at this little lake that we had to walk along to acclimatize ourselves to the altitude. We laughed at the silliness of this leisurely walk. I mean, seriously, the altitude couldn´t be that bad. We were in Quito for 3 days afterall. Ha.

We got back into the van and drove up a curvy road to a parking lot. Alex casually told us that we would take a little walk up to the refuge where the insane(!) summiters rest before their summits. This is when I discovered the beast that is altitude. I thankfully didn´t get sick (unlike some...), but did have to stop frequently on the way up the switchback trail to fill my lungs which felt about half the size of what they do back in Minnesota. Incredible. We were at about 5,800 meters for those you that might understand the implications of altitude. Alex was patient with our pace, but was sure that we knew he wasn´t quite as easy on men. One more reason I´m glad to be female... We got to the refuge and climbed a little further to the point where the glacier began...so hard! I shouldn´t forget to say how beautiful it was along the way! I mean, really incredible! The red volcanic rock against the snow was amazing.

The way back down to the van was lovely... :)

We rested one more night in Latacunga, and headed to Baños the next morning. Baños was described to us by several people as really turisty, but worth the trip anyway. The best way I can describe it is as a small town that feels like a beach town wihout actually being on the coast. It´s super laid back, slow paced, and it always feels acceptable to just sit around and enjoy. :) The first day, we did pretty much just that plus hung out in some outdoor hot baths with waters heated from the nearby volcano (I said they´re everywhere...). The next day we rented some bikes...never agree to rent bikes before actually riding on them...and road them about 30 km along a rode where we passed by a series of waterfalls and trails. AND some incredible empanadas... if you´re ever in Baños, let me know. I´ll direct you to the most delicious empanadas ever. :)

So exhuasted at the end of an eventful bike ride, we went to bed early and woke up at an ungodly hour to enjoy the thermal baths again before the rush of tourists. Just lovely... :) And, in time to catch a canyoning trip, which is essentially rappleing, but down waterfalls. Again, we walked UP and further UP to the top of waterfalls and rappeled down 5 different cascades. Despite wearing these ridiculous yellow jackets, the weather was beautiful, jumping down waterfalls turns out to be a blast, and our french company was really fun.

We got back in time to eat lunch at the market (I love meals at markets...) and catch a bus north to Otavalo--a town near Colombia´s border that is known for it´s markets. So, here I sit in front of Otavalo´s main plaza full of vendors selling the most beautiful handmade things I´ve seen traveling in South America. Apparently the market grows to twice its size tomorrow (Saturday) morning...insane!

We plan to see what else there is to see in northern Ecuador for the next couple of days and head to Colombia Sunday or early next week!

Thanks for following along with me. :)
Hasta la próxima!

Michelle

Different faces of Ecuador

Hello friends,

I love how traveling somehow makes time completely slow down. It was surprising to me today when I realized that today was only our fourth day in South America...it feels like so much longer. In those two days, we´ve seen two completely different faces of Ecuador...

Quito is the capital city of Ecuador. It´s a city built into and around the mountains of the north central part of the country. Every street is narrow and no block is actually square. It reminds me a little bit of a bigger version of Guanajuato--where I studied abroad in Mexico. The basilica is a huge gothic church that sticks out among everything in the middle of the old town... it´s strange church for Latin America, but the best part was climbing the clock towers of the church to see the city. I have definitely seen my fair share of churches in Latin America, and don´t often jump at the chance to go in one more, but it was sweet.

It was a tough decision to visit the Mitad del Mundo (middle of the earth)... some say it´s cheesy, other´s say it´s worth the 1.5 hour trip out of the city. Part of the joy in such excursions is the bus ride to get there...the challenge of figuring out the buses and what you observe along the way is awesome...
It turned out to be so worth it only for the quirky museum outside of the actual monument marking where the equator passes. Did you know you can balance an egg on a nail ONLY in the middle of the earth?? We laughed a lot at the wierdness of it all...

After Quito was enough, we ventured into the Andes to see what else Ecuador had to show us. For those of you who followed last year or were with me last year :), it was strikingly similar to southern Peru... cold, beautiful, different from anything in the states, and full of alpaca and llama gloves, scarves, and ridiculous hats. :)

Again, the bus ride practically made the whole thing worth it. The Andes are SO beautiful. There´s this loop that you can hike and/or truck around through small towns that takes 2 or so days. We only did a part of the loop for lack of time and equipment, but here´s what we did do...

1. Took a bus to the first village of Zumbahua where we missed the end of a supposedly amazing highland market. We made it just in time to visit some stalls, but mostly see the leftovers of the day´s festivities. There were so many animal bones on the plaza floor, I cannot even begin to tell you... people here love to eat things off of the bone. It´s one cultural difference that´s eternally difficult for me to embrace. :)

2. We hopped into the bed of a truck with our new Polish friend Sebastian, and rode to the next town...Quilotoa. Quilotoa is one street along the crater of Volcano Quilotoa. Inside the crater is a gorgeous green lake. It´s obviously an inactive volcano. The town was essentially created for backpackers, so we found a hostel, settled in, and took some pictures. After buying a hat (it´s cold!) and scarf and taking more pictures, we went inside to warm up with tea and a warm dinner prepared by the hostel owner. Without much else to do on a cold night in Quilotoa Ecuador, we broke out the cards.

3. We woke up early to eat another warm breakfast and have time to hike down the crater to the languna. So beautiful...great leisurely walk down, and killer walk back up. The altitude plus, you know, not being in shape, makes for a hard climb. :)

4. Made it back up in time to catch a bus back to the bigger city of Latacunga where we will stay tonight and catch a jeep tomorrow morning that will take us up Volcano Cotopaxi...the highest volcano in Ecuador. Ooh, and we even saw the president of Ecuador briefly getting into his helicopter along the bus ride! Rumor has it that there´s also a festival in Latacunga this evening... and who can pass up a good festival?

That was plenty long...thanks for sticking with me.

Hasta la proxima,
Michelle

Journey to Quito

We knew it would be a long journey from Minneapolis to Quito, and it did indeed live up to our expectations. My first experience on the megabus, as it´s known, was preceded by stories of fire, chronic lateness, and obnoxious phone talkers. There was no fire and no truly annoying cell phone chatters, but there was indeed lateness... We were JUST on time for our 10:30 ride, and when the bus finally pulled up at 12:22, we were certainly ready to abandon our corner to board the bus and begin the journey to South America. The rest was fairly seamless with just one delay in Miami putting us in Quito at 1:00 AM. While late night arrivals aren´t always fun, the silver lining is waking up in a brand new place to explore and learn...

More on Quito to come. :)

Survived the Amazon

Hey friends,



We´re coming to a close...4 days left. Most of the last of our journey has been transportation, but not without adventure. From Iquitos, which is the biggest city in the world not reachable by road, we took a three day boat ride down the Amazon and some other rivers to a town called Yurimaguas. The trip was unbelievable. It was really so much to put into words, but I´ll try to paint a picture for you...



First imagine a 3 floor cargo boat called Eduardo VIII. The first floor is all cargo...who knows what it all was. The second floor is for passengers. At one point it was just a big flat, open air room with a few poles. By 3 pm (boat left at 6.30), it was full of hammocks strung from the ceiling with people everywhere. The third floor is ¨tourist class¨ (ha!), which at 3 pm had far fewer people than below) but essentially looked the same but smaller with more natural light. We had bought hammocks earlier in the day at the market and staked out our space on the third floor. We spread ourselves apart and naively thought that we´d remain so. The guy who I thought would be my next door neighbor actually ended up three hammocks away from me...we were close. A taste of what we saw and experienced in the next 72 hours:

• A soccer team of 20 ten year olds from Colombia and their chaperones...they were so cute, had their hammocks strung so close together, moved constantly, and did warm ups on the upper deck that sounded like thunder...
• Another soccer team of 20 20 something year-old guys and one of their girl friends on their way to a huge soccer tournament in Yurimaguas. They were so curious about us, asked a ton of questions, made annoying animal noises, fell in love with my iPod, and were overall an endearing group.
• Two flaming chefs who smiled a lot and attracted more than their fair share of attention :)
• A lady who brought her cake aboard to sell piece by piece along the ride...I ate a couple.
• 250ish other passengers!
• Parrots, monkeys, turtles, a baby alligator. Everytime we stopped a port, people got on selling all of the above. The parrots were my favorite. They were sold for 1 sol or about thirty cents. For the last two days of the trip one was perched on a hammock that I would frequently pass by as it squawked in my face.
• A tank on the top of the ship that would overflow once in awhile and send a river of water down the side of the boat, under an old man, and straight into his potato sack of belongings. Everytime he had to get all nervous and move his bags...sad story, really.
• A stop at one port where we stood at the back of the ship and watched pink river dolphins jumping and thousands of fish eating our mango peels and pits as we threw them in the water.
• Unbelievable sunsets over the trees and water with beautiful white birds flying across it.
• Some people with huge hammocks that could have fit them plus and elephant and then Breanna and I (me likely being the tallest person aboard) with hammocks that fit like a peel around a banana.
• Teaching two university students how to play go fish...ha :)
• A family with mom, dad, and 4 kids. Dad would sleep all day on the hammock while mom and kids would sit/sleep under the hammock on a tarp. The kids were so well behaved and two of the sisters were always picking lice out of one another´s hair...sad.
• Combined bathrooms/showers with a spigget above the toilet that acted as a shower...better than no shower at all, I guess.
• Stops at ports that weren´t ports at all. Docks don´t exist, so they´d just run this huge boat into the dirt until it stopped, put down a plank and start the loading and unloading process.
• A boat almost the size of our boat that pulled alongside one evening attached itself to ours with a tire for a few minutes while a group of people jumped from our ship to theirs...they wanted to go the other direction. Layover Amazon style...hm.

Hard to say whether or not that paints an accurate picture, but take from it what you will. It really was 3 days of relaxation and constant stimulation. I could have stayed another 3 days without batting an eye.

We´re down to three more full days of South America. Tomorrow we take a 28 hour bus ride back to Lima where we fly home from Thursday night. We actually bought a movie today to give to the bus driver to put in to hopefully avoid watching any more peruvian music videos or jackie chan movies...

Leticia

On Friday morning, Breanna and I took at super early flight from Bogota to Leticia--a town on the Amazon and on the border of Peru, Brazil, and Colombia. Highlights:

• Motorcycles...they are everywhere. There are almost no acutal cars in the city. When we got off of our plane, we walked out the door with backpacks on and hopped on the back of two motorcycles. So much fun. Everyone in the town drives them and when they`re waiting at stoplights it always looks like a really exciting race is starting.
• Hotel...unlike any hotel so far. It was actually more like staying with a host family. We were one of very few people staying there and Francisco (the ¨dad¨) really acted like a Dad. He would just walk into our room to do things like turn the fan on or replace the air freshener, and always brought us new things to try or see like fruits from the region. Cute. And, he preferred way of watching tv was lounging in a hammock in the dining room. Hilarious :)
• Sunset over the Amazon...I just like sunsets and love that I´ve been able to appreciate them so much here.
• ¨Market¨. Francisco told us that there was a cool market 6 km out of town. We got some motos to take us and they brought us to a house with one table with some stuff on it and another box with more stuff in it...not a market. So, we hopped back on the motos. The ride was cool enough as is, and then it rained. Not like a pouring down cold rain, but a warm soft rain that was so amazing on a motorcycle.
• Park... we sat in the town´s park for most of the afternoon and mostly just watched people and then a military band came to play music in this little ampitheatre thing. It was fun to just watch, but then it got better when two soldiers asked us to dance. So, we got up and danced with 2 colombian soldiers in the middle of all of these families on a lovely Saturday afternoon...fun.
• Brazil... we got to go to Brazil. No border crossing craziness necessary. The town was called Tabatinga and was really just a dusty town with not too much more than a port to the Amazon river. But, it was Brazil! We could just walk from Leticia... I enjoyed the fact that I could go and that I could be around Portuguese, which I want to learn more and more everyday. Such a fun challenge.

We left Leticia Sunday morning on a 12 hour long boat ride down the amazon to Iquitos, Peru. It was the most comfortable boat ride ever that felt downright posh. Some may say that I have lower standards than ever before...I wouldn´t disagree :) They even gave us two meals and water. The tv entertainment: mexican mariachi music videos, salsa music videos, a jackie chan movie, and american 80s music videos to top it all off.

So, we`re in iquitos and heading out on a two day jungle tour tomorrow. I´m hoping for monkeys, dolphins, bullfrogs, and pirahnas.

Colombia...a summary :)

(Okay, this is a long post. So, if you like to scan rather than read, go to the bold...it's my favorite part :))

Before we got to Colombia everyone informed us of the country´s motto... El unico riesgo es que te quieras quedar (The only risk is that you will want to stay...). SO TRUE! I haven´t figured out what it is quite yet, but there is something about being here that makes you want to stay. Don´t worry, I´ll be back in the states come August 14th, but I will also be coming back to Colombia someday. Breanna and I arrived to Bogota this morning and have a flight early tomorrow morning to Leticia--a town on the border of Colombia, Peru, and Brazil. From Leticia, we´ll take a boat down the Amazon River through northern Peru to the jungle city of Iquitos. Here´s hoping that boats are actually leaving this weekend that that we aren´t stuck in Leticia. Ha. Here are some highlights/reflections on Colombia so far:

Border:
We were all a little on edge about the Ecuador-Colombia border crossing and Colombia in general. Everyone told us it was fine, but let´s face it: it´s got a reputation for bad stuff. The border crossing was so easy and without event.

Cali:
We spent our first week in Cali. We had so much fun relaxing, walking around the city, and just taking everything in. The zoo was impressive...it was clean and interactive and not sad at all, which is often the case in Latin America. We also took a day to drive out to a smaller town in the jungle where we tubed down a river, swam, saw some impressive landscapes, and got to experience another face of the country/region. Cali also prides itself on being the salsa capital of the world. Whether that´s accurate or not, I´m not sure, but we enjoyed some dancing too :)

Cartagena:
We managed to tear ourselves away from Cali and get on a 24 bus ride north to the Caribbean coast. According to the lady next to me on the bus from Cali, Cartagena is the 36th most spectacular city in the world. It strikes me as a humorous thing to know or to boast...I laughed on the inside. It was a sweet city nonetheless...it has an old city enclosed by a wall that goes along the coast. The streets in the old city are all gorgeous, the lighting is soft, there are horses and buggies all over...it´s got a magical feeling to it. The highlight was probably being there for their independence day and seeing the concerts and festivities that went along with it. We spend some time on the beach in Cartagena, but they weren´t the best beaches. We knew we could find better. So...

Taganga:
Arguably the best part of the trip so far...that means a lot. Just a 5 hour bus ride from Cartagena, we ended up in this small beach town known mostly for scuba diving. The beach is central with just the right amount of people; the water is warm, calm, and blue; you can walk everywhere (no taxis...sigh); the people are so warm and welcoming; and we met up with friends we´d met earlier in the trip. Overall, just wonderful. I learned how to scuba dive too, which was incredible. I didn´t have time to get certified (it´s like a 4 day commitment), but a mini-course of 5 hours was enough to get me hooked. There are some coral reefs that were so cool to explore. Anyone interested in a trip to Honduras or Australia to really learn? Or I´d be open to going back to Taganga...let me know :)

Medellin:
We almost all cried leaving Taganga, but wanted to see Medellin also. It was a pretty and modern city that we probably didn´t do justice, but here´s my favorite story from Medellin:

The 3 of us are sitting in the city center on the stairs watching the world pass us by (this is a common passtime for us...). A boy walks up to us with a piece of paper that he asks to translate. He has a letter that a girl wrote to him in English that he needed help translating. We translate the love letter and start talking with him. Here is his story: His name is Andrew and he´s 16 years old. He goes to school during the day and sells candy and cigarrettes in the street in the afternoon/evening. His mother died a month ago, his older brother has disappeared, so he lives alone with his 4 year old brother who he takes care of with the help of a friend. This is why we meet him as he´s selling candy out of a box. We chat for a long time on the stairs, and Miriam mentions that she wants to buy Cuban cigars for her dad. Andrew says that he knows where she can buy them, so they walk off together to get them. He asks Breanna and I to watch his box of candy in the meantime. So imagine this: the only two white girls in sight are sitting on the stairs dowtown Medellin with a box of candy on my lap. There are tons of people around. Soon enough, people are walking up to us and buying candy and cigarettes...keep in mind we don´t know the prices of anything, so have to take everyone´s word for it. I was practically peeing my pants laughing while frantically trying to remember everything we sold to be able to tell Andrew and pay him any extra in case people cheated us. Amazing. After 10-15 minutes Andrew and Miriam come back cigars in hand...the look on Andrew´s face was priceless when he saw his new American friends surrounded by people wanting to buy stuff...he said we sold more than normal :) I think we attracted a bit of attention. We continued to sell sitting on the stairs for awhile and Andrew really wanted to take us on the metro and on the cable car to see views of the city. So, we got on the metro with him for a mini-tour of the city. We separated with a hug a few pictures. He was one of the sweetest and kindest of all of people we´ve met so far, and definitely made an impression on me. Just amazing.

So, that leaves us here in Bogota...I´m not anticipating too much excitement (it´s cold and rainy right now), but the strangest things always happen at the strangest times...

Flying home two weeks from today! Time flew by...see you soon!

Ecuador and... COLOMBIA!

Ecuador was quick, but we should be back. After spending just a night in Guayaquil (not much for tourists), we headed to Montanita. Montanita was another beach town with a lot of tourists, but still really small. Unfortunately, it was cloudy the whole time we were there, but we managed to meet some fun people and enjoy being on the coast... We escaped Montanita for a day to Salinas, which is a beach town just an hour from Montanita more for Ecuadorian vacationers. There we enjoyed the sun that hid itself in Montanita, ate the best ceviche I've had so far, and rode on of those banana deals that was pulled behind a boat (and got a big 'ol bruise to prove it...).

From Montanita, we bused it back through to Guayaquil and straight north to Quito. If I were to move to anyu city we've been to, Quito would be it. I loved how it was built into the mountains. It seems like you can always go higher. We did a lot of wandering and played our new favorite game of jump in a random city bus, take it as far as we want, and get back. We picked a really good bus and got way up into the hills to get an amazing view of the city. We got to the market for lunch day 2 and caught a horrible movie at the theatre at night. In case you're wondering, don't bother seeing Women.

On Sunday, we headed further north from Quito to the Colombian border. We started the trip thinking that we would never have time for Colombia, but changed plans after so many people we've met (peruvians, ecuadorians, colombians, other travelers...) have RAVED (I mean seriously gushed) about how amazing Colombia is. It means a bigger commitment to spending time on buses, but it should be worth it. We're in Cali right now, which is supposedly the salsa capital of the world! The plan is to make it to Medellin and Cartagena (on the caribbean).

If you're still checking this, thanks for your commitment...hasta luego!

It´s been awhile...

Hey Everyone,

I've been seriously slacking on the blog front, but all is well. Here are some highlights since the last--after we FINALLY got to Cuzco:

• MACHU PICCHU! It was amazing...more than I expected. We took the road less traveled to get there which involved bus, car, mini-bus, walking, and a train...phew. The views along the way were unbelievable. Once we got to machu picchu we climbed Huayna Picchu which looks down over the ancient city. It felt like a vertical climb, but the view from the top was more than worth it.
• We FLEW back to Lima from Cuzco which was also worth the extra cash...no more road blocks, strikes for us...so satisfying to fly over all of it and the andes.
• Overnight ride from Lima to Mancora, where we stayed 3 days. Mancora is a beach town which was hyped up to us all along as a touristy trap (I was picturing puerto vallarta). In reality it was more of a dusty surfing/fishing town that was a perfect place to spend a few days. Hammocks, ceviche, dancing on the beach, sun and warmth, sandals...divine.
• We're now in Guayaquil, Ecuador. We've been here 15 hours, but I´ve loving a new country and finding all of the new cultural ins and outs. So far, I´m shocked at how different it feels from Peru. We won´t be in Guayaquil long, and will be heading to another beach town soon.

Hasta la proxima...

Cuzco or Bust

Hey friends,



Last time you heard from me we were waiting in Arequipa for word on when roads to Cuzco (Machu Picchu) would open up. Here is a summary on our adventure to Cuzco (keep in mind that we´ve arrived safely)...



First some background information: People throughout the southern part of Peru have banded together to fight for rights and against things the government is doing. I´ve heard a number of reasons they´re fighting...the most common of which is protecting their land from government takeover. Anyway, their way of negotiating with the government is blocking all roads to Cuzco (main destination of most tourists). I support their efforts, but sucks for us. Seriously. So certain towns between Arequipa and Cuzco and between Arequipa and Puno block roads with logs, boulders, glass, etc. If a bus dares to pass, the town people gather around the blockade and slingshot rocks at it. So, we wait until the town and the government come to some kind of agreement and they open the roads.



After waiting 5 or 6 days in Arequipa we woke up early Thursday morning to head to the bus station upon hearing the night before that roads might open up the next day. We got there around 6:30 and asked several companies if they were bringing people to Cuzco. Most said no, and one said they were bringing people to Sicuani (a smaller town on the way) where you would then catch a combi (minibus) to Cuzco. It was a daytime bus, so we said sure...let´s give it a shot. They told us 10 hours ´til Cuzco. 38 hours, we pulled into the Cuzco bus terminal. Here´s what happened:

8:30 AM- leave from Arequipa on bus. The idea is that we get to Sicuani by 3:30

3:30 PM- get to Juliaca where the roads are blocked. We wait around for an hour or so and they let us through. Their deal was that they let four vehicles through per hour. We made it through...no problem. Keep on trucking to Sicuani.

4:15 PM- Get to a second road block in Ayaviri. They tell us that they may open it up tonight or they may not...probably not.

4:30 PM- Bus is still there. Options: 1. sit and hope it opens and potentially sleep in the bus or 2. walk into Ayaviri, look for a hostel, and hope to get a bus they next day.

4:45 PM- Went with option 2...grabbed our packs, and walked maybe a mile into this town with a little girl and a señora that told me about Jesus the whole way in :)

5:30 PM- Found a hostel that cost 6 dollars for a room for four of us! Crazy cheap. We got what we paid for...beds that were so sunken in the middle that they practically touched the floor, no windows, and no water in the morning. Ha.

6:30 PM- Walked around town looking for dinner. Since the whole town was on strike, finding a restaurant was difficult. We found one...the meal cost like 70 cents and was soup, rice, meat, and coffee. Dirt cheap and tasty enough.

7:30 PM- back to hostel, fell asleep at 8:00...LONG day...

FRIDAY
8:30 AM- wake up and proceed on a wild goose chase throughout this town searching for answers about when A bus MIGHT leave. We eventually find our same bus from last night at a different location waiting for the block to open...they said it would at noon.

9:30 AM- Quickly get our packs, some food, and take a guy with a bike takes me and another girl we met along the way up to the bus...i thought he might die of a heart attack on the way.

10:30 AM- Arrive at bus to wait for the block to open. We walk up to see the process...probably 500 people standing around with logs, rocks, and glass in the road. Lots of men and women standing in a circle discussing what they will do. They decide to open it and march back to the town.

12:00 PM- BUS LEAVES Ayaviri!

12:15 PM- Bus drives by a man on the side of the road fallen off a motorcycle. Bus stops to help the man and bring him on the bus. He apparently had an accident, the person he hit took his motorcycle and left him on the side of the road hurt...our good samaritan bus drivers took him in and took care of him.

1:00 PM- Hit another road block in Santa Rosa--bigger than before...tons of people.

4:00 PM- Santa Rosa opens the block and we get through. Amen, Hallelujah. Feeling optimistic that we´ll someday make it to Cuzco...still not sure it´ll be today.

6:00- Make it to Sicuani...one more town down. They switch us buses and we´re off to Cuzco.

10:00- Pull into Cuzco...it feels like the promised land by now. Awesome.

38 hours later, we made it! It was exhausting and a little stressful, but so fascinating. Others we´ve talked to had to walk up to 30 km during the whole thing...turns out we got lucky. Seeing everything we saw was priceless.

Another long post...I´ll try not to make this a habit :)