Some Good Things Must Come to an End

The saying usually goes, "All good things must come to an end", but I'm pretty sure that saying is completely ridiculous. I mean yes, Seinfeld isn't taping anymore seasons, but are sunsets, banana splits, and PJ pants going anywhere? I don't think so (to be said in annoyingly high, sing-songy voice). 

But yes, in this case, it's true - my wonderful South American adventure has come to an end. I had a safe, smooth flight home, and I can't even explain to you how amazing it felt to walk into Dulles Airport and understand everything everyone was saying. I practically ran up to the immigration desk and said, "Oh my God, this is so great. I'm going to understand everything you say!" The guy looked at me and was like, "Uh, are you bringing any drugs into the country?"

And while being back has been a bit disorienting - rediscovering my wardrobe (although that's a big word for such a sad selection), driving again (don't worry, I'm still a potential NASCAR recruit), and wondering how the hell gas prices dropped so drastically!...it's also like everything's just as I left it. I've hung out with a bunch of friends and family, and you just pick up right where you left off - the true sign of real friendship. 

So I guess this will be my last "Viaje a Sudamerica" blog entry :(. I've had so much fun writing this and sharing my experiences with all of you, and thank you for following along. Really! It means a lot to me. I actually had such a good time with this blog, my first, that I'm planning to start a new one. Check it out:

www.itsscrumdidilyumptious.com

I wish you all a very Merry Christmas filled with peace, joy, and much love!

Cheers, 

Cara

Don`t Worry, Be Happy

It`s December 12 today, which means I`ll be home in one week!

During this trip I have met some great people, whom I truly hope to maintain friendships with in the future, and I`ve completely enjoyed being a part of the Matiz family here in Colombia (although God knows my liver hasn`t!). But I must say that I really miss all my family and friends back in VA and beyond, and can`t wait to return and see everyone. 

I went away on this trip for several reasons: 1) I´ve always had a desire to travel and experience other cultures (don`t think I don`t already have a growing list of future destinations! :)), 2) I´ve always been attracted to latin culture (the music, colors, dancing, food, spirit...it really suits me), and 3) I needed change in my life. 

Oh, and I got change! In one month I went from stressed-out legal publisher living in Charlottesville, confused about love and unsure what to do with my life to...free-as-a-bird unemployed 27 year-old, living at home and unsure what to do with my life. Do you see the common thread? :)

The good thing about quitting my job and moving home was that I got the ¨clean slate¨ I so desperately needed.  But as anyone that`s ever been shopping with me knows, I can be extremely overwhelmed and indecisive when there are too many options - which is exactly what a clean slate presents! ¨Where do I want to live? What do I want to do?¨ I didn`t have a clue. 

But after this trip everything`s all good because I still don`t have a clue! :) But the difference is that I`m more okay with that now. Before I left, I felt like I had to make big moves to be happy - move away from Charlottesville/VA/the east coast to a ¨better¨ place. Make a sacrifice to get that ¨perfect¨ job. And I`m not sure when or how, but this trip made me realize that`s not necessarily the case. 

From the places I visited and people I met, I learned a very valuable lesson that I already knew, but couldn`t accept before...that happiness isn`t a result of circumstance, but of attitude. I met people that worked their entire lives only to live in mud huts and barely support their families...but played volleyball with a piece of string and deflated ball and laughed and had a blast! Yes, it`s good to strive for growth and advancement, but it`s more important to pause a bit and enjoy what you`ve already got...however little or great that is. 

I know I know. You are wondering where I`m going with this, and I`m sorry I sound like a pep talk tape you listen to in your car. The point of this little ditty is that now that I`ve been outside of my world for a bit, I`ve realized that I already have everything I need to be happy. Yes, there are a million places to live and jobs to do (and let`s not forget about men to date! :)), and it`s going to be interesting to see where my path leads me, but my focus when I get home isn`t going to be on those things (as it was before). I`m just looking forward to enjoying my family, friends, and life (and the rest will fall into place). That is very much the Colombian spirit here - celebrate everything and anything! I like that. :)

The Colombian Way

Since I last wrote, I've continued to enjoy my time here in Colombia with the Matiz clan. In fact, the little piece of Nana in me thinks maybe I'm having ¨too much fun.¨ 

If the last 2 months of my travels could be described as ¨a rugged yet rewarding adventure¨, my time here in Bogota would have to be ¨a fun, excessive vacation filled with pampering.¨ 

***FUN***

Last Thursday my cousin Veronica had her first solo art exhibition at a gallery downtown (check out her sculptures and paintings here). I have to say we did work VERY hard during the days preceding the event, and if you should be tempted to ask me to help you wrap something in bubblewrap...don't! I will scream and pull your hair out. :)

The event was a great success. The gallery looked fantastic, there was a very good showing, and she sold at least 10 pieces (the sculptures were very popular). It was also a very nice party with tons of wine, beer, and delicious hors dourves (p.s. that word is a bad spellers worst nightmare).  The Matiz family definitely has the hook ups. They have an aunt who owns a HUGE chain of restaurants here called Crepes & Waffles. There are 53 locations in Bogota alone, and they are planning on opening 2 new stores. I ate there a couple days ago. The menu is all encompassing and Miguel wasn't exaggerating when he said that you could eat there everyday for 3 months and never repeat a dish. It's delicious (i.e. I finished off my meal with a crepe filled with Nutella, bananas and strawberries with ice cream...ahhh). Soooo, Crepes & Waffles catered the event with really yummy crepes and mini pitas. As for beer...well, they have an uncle who owns Bogota Beer Company (a microbrew and restaurant), so that covers that. I'm not sure about the origin of the wine, but apparently my uncle Miguel is involved in the distribution of that somehow. So this family definitely has food and beverage covered!

After the show we drank more wine and danced around the gallery (my selection of Madonna's ¨Nobody's Perfect¨ was quickly vetoed). Then we went out and kept dancing until 6am. Let's just say that Friday was mostly a sleeping day. :) I mean, we needed at least one to recover before renting a mini-bus and heading north to Chai, home of the infamous Andres Carne de Res restaurant. I have never seen anything like it in terms of size, decor, and action. I mean, when you walk in they give you a strawberry and a shot of whiskey (ugh), and it only gets weirder from there. There were thousands of people there, all enjoying gigantic portions of meat, potatoes, and in our case...mojitos. The mojitos were so big that it took me an hour and half to drink it. Just in time to hit the dance floor. So we danced until we got hungry again and then bought soup and empanadas across the street - an Andres Carne de Res tradition. 

***EXCESSIVE***

If my description of ¨fun¨ wasn't ¨excessive¨ enough, let me just tell you that I have never ate and drank more in my life! I did a little kilo to pound conversion and found out a couple days ago that when I get home I'll be spending a lifetime at Lifetime to get back to a recognizable size. But I'm going to fall back on the old "you only live once¨ saying right now. What? We do! :) hehe

***PAMPERED***

Ok, let me describe a day in the life of Cara Unterkofler right now. I wake up whenever I want (10am would be considered ¨early¨). I get online (I have Sebastian's Mac all to myself) and check my email and go on Facebook to see what's new. When I get a little hungry I walk into the kitchen where Carmen is waiting to serve breakfast. I sit down and tell her in my awesome spanish what I would  like to eat, which is cereal (I heart cereal) with fresh fruit, a juice made of fruits I don't know but taste good, and a cafe con mucho leche (I didn't even drink coffee until I got here, but I didn't know how to say ¨no thank you¨ in a polite enough way...so now I drink coffee! :)). And if I wanted...I could have my breakfast brought into my room on a tray. I have never exercised this option, but if I was here long term, I could see cheesy eggs and toast in bed, in my future. 

When I return to my room, the blinds are open, the bed is made, and my dirty clothes are gone. I sit in my room and write in my journal, mess around online, and watch movies until my cousin wakes up or someone comes to get me. Then we go to The Club and work out, shower, have some lunch, return to the steam room for a couple hours (get a massage if you want), shower, and go home. When we return home we'll snack on empanadas and chocolate until either we go out to dinner or Carmen serves up a delicious meal (she is from the coast, so there's always lots of coconut rice, plantains, and stewed chicken or meat...or both!). And we'll wonder downstairs where another cousin of mine lives with her family and drink wine and eat more. I go to bed around midnight...wake up to find my bathroom was cleaned the day before and all my clothes have been folded and put into my drawers...and start all over! 

And it's difficult for me sometimes to ¨let¨ someone clean up my dishes or make my bed, because my mindset is, ¨I should just do this so that Carmen won`t have to.¨ But the fact of the matter is that is her job, and that`s how things work here. And while it is only a privilege the upper class have, I can see that unlike at home, no one is fighting over who's going to clean the dishes, no one is overly stressed because they have to run a bunch of errands in rush hour traffic after a long day of work. No, they have hired help and drivers that do that stuff for them. So they get to spend more time with their families and friends...and more time enjoying life. I don't know. I'm not prepared to draw up any conclusions, but it's very different. 

What I can say for certain is that for me to truly enjoy life's pleasures, I need to feel like I've earned it. I'm having the most amazing vacation here (it's incredible), but I couldn't live like this forever (i.e. not have a job and eat and drink all day). I'm actually looking forward to getting home and ¨getting to work¨. I`m not exactly certain what that will entail yet, but I know that after kicking my ass a little bit, a beer is going to taste twice as nice. 

Eat, Drink & Be Merry...Check!

Hola! Greetings from Bogota, Colombia!

 I don't have any profound thoughts or historical summaries to share with you (I know...thank God, right?), but I thought I would let everyone know that I've arrived in Colombia safely and am having a wonderful time here with the Matiz family. 

I've spent the last several days here with mi tio, Miguel, and mi prima, Veronica. And it is so weird because while I met them for the very first time on Saturday afternoon (I can't even believe that), it's like we've known each other forever. Miguel is so much like my dad it's scary (they are first cousins). The amount of food and drink they can consume is one of a kind, and Miguel makes the same ridiculous statements and funny expressions that I'm only accustomed to seeing at home. It's very comforting. haha

And Veronica and I are also very similar...I mean, besides the fact that she's an artist that looks like a supermodel. We clicked instantly and have many of the same tastes and interests. And speaking of tastes...I have NEVER eaten so much food in my life! There are so many delicious Colombian foods to try, and I've been doing my damnedest to work my way down the list: empanadas with fresh squeezed lime and salsa, ajiaco (chicken soup with potatoes, corn, avocado and cream), tamales de pipian (yellow potato tamales with chicken wrapped and steamed in banana leaves and then drizzled in peanut sauce), lula juice (a bitter fruit), oblea con arequipa (two huge thin waffers with a dulce de leche like sweet caramel in the middle), hot chocolate with cheese melted in the bottom, chorizo (and every kind of sausage you can imagine), and for lunch today I had Sancocho soup (with chicken, pork, yuca, sweet and regular plantains, corn, and rice). And I can't forget to mention my favorite - Refajo. It's a mixer of light beer and a sweet soda called Colombiana. Yum and so refreshing! 

And in between meals I've consumed more chocolate that most kids do on Easter. Have you ever seen one of those GIANT Toblerone chocolate sticks? Yea, we polished one of those off in a day! I'm gonna have so many cavities when I get home, which is really unfortunate seeing that I don't have any dental insurance anymore. Cool! The highlights of unemployment!

But other than eating, I have done quite a bit here since I arrived. On Saturday we went to the club, where I got a massage and spent 2.5 hours rotating in and out of the steam room (ahhh). Later that night we had a little fondu and wine dinner with some of Veronica's friends and went out to a club. Yesterday we spent the entire day touring the city and visiting different sites and museums (am I the only one that didn't know who Botero was?). And last night we drank wine and ate cheese and grapes while we decorated the Christmas tree and listened to carols. I enjoyed that tremendously and it made me excited about getting back home and enjoying a fire and egg nog with my family. 

Today we spent the entire day preparing for Veronica's first art exhibition (Thursday is the big day). It's being held at a gallery here in town and is a very big deal. Today we moved paintings and sculptures from one part of the house to the other to take photos for the gallery website and then we had to wrap every piece (all 29 of them) with bubble wrap. You should have seen the size of this roll. It was bigger than me...which for the reasons I've described above, is quite impressive. :)

So now we are waiting for Miguel to get home from work and we'll mozy down to the pub for some drinks and eats. 

Did I mention that my life is hard? TENGO MUCHO SURETE! That is certain. 

Leaving the Nest

I knew this day would come, but now that it's arrived it's a very strange feeling. I've been traveling with the Intrepid group for 2 months (many of the folks for the entire time). Together we've experienced other cultures, seen amazing sights, survived insane bus rides, toasted many beers, commiserated about stomach issues, and...most importantly, escaped the reality of life. But now it's time for many of us to part ways. 

We celebrated our last day in Santiago by making a visit to the largest Chilean wine producer - Concha y Toro vineyard. You may recognize one of their popular and moderately priced wine labels, Casillero del Diablo (The Devil`s Cellar). The label received it's name from a story that the owner made up many years ago to prevent thieves from pilfering his finest wines. He spread a rumor that the devil lived in one of the cellars. The story spread, the cellar became a legend, and not another bottle of wine went missing. And so the name stuck. 

We did the tour and tasting (btw, I was amazed to learn that even thought they export over 20 million cases of wine a year, they still hand pick all their grapes!) and then ended the afternoon with a glass of Sauvignon Blanc and a cheese plate in the sun....ahhhh. We then went back and enjoyed a couple more glasses of wine in the hostel courtyard before heading out to our last supper at a restaurant themed after one of my favorite movies - Como Agua Para Chocolate (Like Water for Chocolate). If you have not seen that movie, you should rent it! The atmosphere of the place was very fanciful and the dishes were extravagant and delicious. I had a mini cauldron of linguini in a spicy seafood sauce that was to die for. And because I like consistency...I also had several glasses of wine. :)

The following day was a new beginning. I said my good-byes. Of course I had to write a couple cards and give out flowers and chocolates to the folks I'd been traveling with for awhile. Some people in our group REALLY looked out for me during this trip, and I wanted to make sure they knew how grateful I was for their generosity and friendship (good people...). But the day was all a bit of a rush (as I also squeezed in a visit to the Frida & Diego art exhibit), and before you knew it the group leader started his kick off meeting for the next leg of the trip, and my friend Braden and I were standing in the hotel lobby waiting for a cab to take us to the bus terminal. 

***

The morning my mom dropped me off at the airport to come on this trip, I had the closest thing to a panic attack that I've ever experienced. There I was about to get on a plane and go to a country I didn't know...and thanks to my great planning I didn't even have a hotel reservation in Quito! As we put our bags into the cab in Santiago I had a similar feeling come over me, but it wasn't fear. I just realized that at that moment I was starting a new chapter (one closer and closer to me having to face reality again). But I was ok with that. It's time to move on. And...I've still got 3 more weeks until I really need to figure out what I'm going to do with myself. :) Back to you Bob...

***

Because of our flight schedules, Braden and I both had a couple days to kill before flying out of Santiago. So we booked a hostel, bought some bus tickets, and took off for Valparaiso and Vina del Mar (two coastal cities right next to each other). It was so weird making our own arrangements after having a tour leader do everything for us for so long. We really had no idea how everything was going to turn out, but it went perfectly. 

Although, I will tell you that I was truly scared out of my mind when we arrived in Valparaiso at 10:30pm and the cab drops us off on a street corner and tells us that the hostel is down a windy, dark alley. To get an idea of where we were we asked where the beach was and he said, ¨There aren't really any beaches here". So there we were at the beginning of our "beach chill out trip" standing in the middle of the street with all our belongings and wondering if we were going to get mugged/killed before we actually found the hostel. Not a good feeling! Luckily a neighbor popped their head out and showed us that the hostel was in fact down the alley. 

Once we got into The Yellow House hostel everything was fine and Martin and his wife Lissett were the sweetest most helpful people we'd met at a hostel. Martin is an Aussie who came to Valparaiso for work, but stayed after falling in love with his spanish teacher. A cute and common story I'm sure. 

We had no real plans, but our days ended up being filled with fun and relaxation. We walked around Valparaiso (the hills are so steep that you have to take little wooden carts up and down to get anywhere), visited one of Pablo Neruda's houses (wow, that guy was out there!), ate TONS of seafood, took a boat ride around the harbour, went to the movies and saw "Body of Lies" (which should be called "Pile of Crap". I didn't like it and it makes Americans look like friggn' morons), went to the beach in Vina del Mar, ate a TON of mexican food (finally I had a real mexican meal!), and finished off the second day meeting Lissett's 5 baby bulldog puppies. 

As I write this, I feel like I'm describing some romantic vacation, but it couldn't have been any more opposite. Braden and I have become great friends and our conversations are usually centered around his love life (he's newly engaged) and what we both want to do when we grow up. The whole trip was great fun and a perfect segue into the next portion of my trip - Bogota!

Forgetfulness is Full of Memories

This is the english translation of a short poem written across a wall in the ¨Park for Peace¨ in Santiago - a site that once acted as a concentration camp during Pinochet's rule over Chile, and one stop on our very unique Human Rights Tour through the city. 

I have to admit that before our tour, I was completely unaware of who Pinochet was or Chile's recent struggles as a country. But after our 5-hour tour around Santiago, visiting La Moneda Presidential Palace, the cemetery, and the Park for Peace, I feel like I gained an understanding of why Pinochet is such an extremely controversial character in Chilean history. 

The short version, for those that aren't about to click on the link above, is that in 1970 Salvador Allende, a member of the Socialist Party, was elected as the 29th President of Chile. As he began implementing socialist programs, he was met with wide resistance (partly due to the radical changes he was trying to make AND the fact that only 36% of the people actually voted for him). As a result, Chile went into an economic crisis with inflation and unemployment increasing dramatically. Things got so out of control that on Sept 11, 1973 a military Junta (the Chilean military heads of the army, airforce, etc) attacked the Presidential Palace by bombing it using planes. During the attack Allende took control of the radio airwaves and made this speech before taking his own life (using an AK-47 rifle he received as a gift from Fidel Castro). It ends with:

¨Workers of my country, I have faith in Chile and its destiny. Other men will overcome this dark and bitter moment when treason seeks to prevail. Go forward knowing that, sooner rather than later, the great avenues will open again and free men will walk through them to construct a better society.

Long live Chile! Long live the people! Long live the workers!

These are my last words, and I am certain that my sacrifice will not be in vain, I am certain that, at the very least, it will be a moral lesson that will punish felony, cowardice, and treason.¨

And if you think that is dramatic...that was only the start of a very complicated 16-year rule by Pinochet, characterized by a  mix of miraculous economic reform and devastating human rights violations. That's what makes Pinochet such a controversial character - his ¨administration¨ did wonders for Chile's economy and international relations (the CIA apparently assisted with the bombing and takeover of Allende), but at the expense of 5,000 people that were either executed or ¨disappeared¨ because of their communistic views. The Wiki site says 3,000, but we clearly saw all the names on a huge marble wall, where people still take flowers, cards, and pictures to morn the loss of their loved ones. And while only 5,000 died or disappeared, it is estimated that 20,000 people were affected (those killed/captured/tortured, and their immediate families).

The crazy part, as with all stories like this, is that for years and years the citizens of Chile really weren't aware of what was going on. The government kept everything so hush hush that unless you knew someone that had been affected, all you saw was how wonderfully the country was running. And even if you had suspicions, you couldn't prove anything. People in surrounding countries actually knew more about what was really going on in Chile because they were hearing stories from those that were in exile. 

However, people eventually learned of the violence, and in a 1980 referendum, Pinochet was voted out of power by over 50% of the population. Since, Chile has continued to grow and be successful (which is amazing considering it's only natural resource is copper, where as Peru and Bolivia are full of gold, silver and other minerals but haven't been able to really capitalize on them). But the people have also been left to cope with the pain and suffering that occurred during Pinochet's era. There are still mothers left wondering if their children fled to another country or are in fact dead. And while Allende's 3-year term looks like a complete failure on paper, many people look to him as a hero - someone who wanted the best for Chile and all its citizens. 

OK, so I feel like I just wrote a book report, and I really hope I haven't bored you to tears with political history. I just found the whole thing so interesting that I wanted to share it with you. I mean, how is it that these things happen? The world is a crazy place...

'Cause We Are Living in a Material World...

Hi Everyone! It's been very hard for me to get to a computer, so I've been writing entries in my journal and plan to share them with you now. So my apologies for bombarding you with thoughts. :)

First, let me just say that Chile has continued to impress. I thought San Pedro de Atacama was cool (a little hippie desert town), but when we arrived in La Serena, I thought it was equally chill in other ways (a huge colonial city on the beach, complete with Japanese gardens). We only had 1.5 days in La Serena, but we really made the most of it. The first afternoon I spent shopping for a new camera. Yes...I didn't want to admit it publicly, but I am a moron and lost my camera and all my pictures from Bolivia that I hadn't backed up yet. I was devastated, but managed to get photos from friends, etc. so it will be alright. 

So I got my new camera and then went out for a delicious dinner on the beach (white wine with tomato and pesto crusted swordfish on a seafood risoto - so yum!). Afterward it was strong cocktails and a bit of dancing to songs that we wanted hear about 7 years ago. 

The next day me and a couple folks took a tour of the Elqui Valley, a very beautiful Pisco grape and fruit growing region. We visited a dam (which sounds boring, but was actually really cool), a Pisco distillery, and the small towns of Vicuna and Pisco Elqui. It was an extremely relaxing but long day, which we finished off with a visit to the Mamalluca Municipal Observatory. 

From 9-11pm we watched the sky transform into an dazzling (hehe, I wanted to use that word) collection of constellations, galaxies, and star clusters. This region in Chile has one of the best atmospheres in the world for astronomical observation, and so it's no surprise that the world's most powerful telescope resides there. We could see Venus and Jupiter very clearly with the naked eye, and we viewed other clusters through the telescope. It is so weird that we could look at a star through the telescope, but know that it is 20 light years away...so it could have exploded 10 years ago and we wouldn't know for another 10 years! 

So what about all this made me title this entry after Madonna's ¨Material World¨? (Possible Interesting Fact: Madonna is performing in Santiago this week, and we almost went to a Cyndi Lauper concert, but the tickets were too expensive. ) Well, I experienced an interesting phenomenon that I wanted to share. While Chile has been so wonderful because it offers comforts that I've missed, like toilets that flush and food you can eat without fear, it also made me realize that the more you CAN have...the more you WANT. 

I've been traveling for 2 months with a couple outfits, 4 pair of granny panties (yes, that detail is important to make this point :)), and 3 pair of shoes (all of which smell like a monkey's butt). I haven't used conditioner or dried my hair once, and EVERY time we went ¨out¨ I sported the same $20 black Old Navy cotton dress (which never once saw a washing machine). 

I tell you these things not to completely gross you out, although I'll admit that that part is kind of fun (hehe), but to show that while I was really ¨limited¨ in terms of the material things I had to work with on my trip, everyone was in the same boat, and more importantly - that's all I really NEEDED. But as soon as I walked into Ripley's Department Store in La Serena, I was overwhelmed with clothes and shoes and bags and make-up and perfumes and...the desire to have it all. Seeing everyone in the store and on the streets looking stylish and desirable, only made me feel really ugly and inadequate. I managed to escape with only my new camera, a $6 top, and a sample spray of my perfume (ahhh, it was so nice to smell it), but my head was spinning and I was completely aware that while I wish I wasn't...in a small way - ¨I am a material girl.¨

Chile & Hot

Hello All! Greetings from my new favorite town - San Pedro de Atacama! It`s great to be here relaxing after our 2.5 days on the Salt Flats of Uyuni.

The Salt Flats are amazing! They were once ocean floor, but years and years ago 2 tectonic plates collided, creating the Andes range, and trapping the ocean water in a lake. The lake eventually evaporated, forming the largest salt flat in the world. As per our guide, there are 64 billion tons of salt on the plains, which they use to produce salt for consumption as well as bricks for building. The very basic hotels we stayed in (limited power and running water) were made of salt!

Because of the unique landscape, there were opportunties to take lots of funny ¨perspective¨ pictures (see link above) - people sitting on people`s heads, people walking out of pringles cans, and my favorite...me eating my friend Ken on a spoon. :)

In between hours of being packed in Toyota Landcruisers, we made stops at lots of cool sites - Fish Island (where huge cacti grow), crazy rock formations, a red lake filled with thousands of flamingos, a green lake, geysers, natural hot springs. The scenery was absolutely gorgeous and very worth the dusty days of beating sun, no showers, and cold nights. When we woke up the last morning it was 12 degrees below zero! I could not feel my toes in the car (which I shouldn`t even have to say, but did not have heat :))

It was a wonderful adventure that led us across the border to San Pedro de Atacama, Chile. Where the weather (and the men :)) are pretty darn hot. And Chile is a whole new world. As soon as we crossed the border, it was like time traveling. The buses were clean, there were seatbelts!, the drivers stop at stop signs (that NEVER happens in Ecuador, Peru or Bolivia - you`d get rearended!), the food quality is amazing...

It`s been the perfect spot for us to chill out. Two nights ago, we watched the Chile v Spain futbol game at a pub (they lost 3-0). The pitchers were flowing and soon our ¨low key night¨ turned into a crazy party at a secret house outside of town. The cops broke it up at 5am. There are actually laws here that all bars must close and no alcohol can be served after midnight. Oops :)

Yesterday we all struggled to recover from our fun. We went on a tour to the Valley of the Moon, which again was filled with fantastic landscapes. It really does look like the moon! We finished up the tour climbing to the top of a dune and watching the sunset cast red and purple colors across the mountain range. And it was great fun racing my friend Braden down the dune back to the bus (I won, just for the record :)). When we got back to the hotel, our guide had prepared a BBQ with lots of veggies, chorizo, and steaks for Braden`s birthday. It was really nice and very official with streamers, ballons, hats, masks, and Barbie napkins (an inside joke). We finished off the night with mojitos at a cool bar down the street that has an open roof and bonfires, where our guide played electronic music (cook AND DJ!).

Life is sweet!

The Devil´s Miner

Hello All! I would be sleeping right now, but this awesome head cold I picked up from the orphange in Sucre has made breathing...and therefore sleeping, nearly impossible. Soooooo, why not fill you in on what I´ve been up to the last couple days?

Well, from Cochabamba, we took an overnight bus to Sucre. After my last overnight bus experience (the one where I thought I was going to die!), I decided to follow the crowd and take something to help me sleep. There are 2 doctors on this trip with plenty of drugs, so I hit them up for a simple antihistamine. I forgot how sensitive I am to Benadryl and the like...I was so drugged up the whole night, and pretty much the entire next day.

So Sucre was a blur of really pretty buildings (they call it the ¨White City¨), museums (I`m not even going to go into them...I think I`m finally museumed out), drinking and dancing at the Joyride Cafe, the chocolate factory tour (yum!), and finally a trip to a local orphange.

The trip to the orphange was really nice. There were about 15-20 kids, ages 4-14, most being very young. We chatted with them, played some games like musical chairs, danced to music, and just goofed around. They were all really sweet, and I think everyone had a good time. They were absolutely obsessed with our cameras, as most of them have never seen one (apart from tourist visits). They loved seeing themselves on the playback, and were so excited when one couple in our group brought a photo printer. They took pictures of all the kids and made a big poster for the room. It was a really nice thing to leave behind, in addition to the notebooks, pencils, paints, and other learning tools we donated to the school...and something the kids could appreciate. We usually think of orphanges as sad places, but I have to say that I saw a LOT of smiles that day. It was uplifting.

I wish I could say the same about the mining situation here in Potosi. Before taking the mining tour yesterday morning, we had the chance to see the video The Devil`s Miner. It is a documentary about 2 young brothers, ages 12 and 14, that are forced to work in the mines to support themselves and their single mother. Over the years, the mines here in Potosi have claimed the lives of about 8 million people. Now, less and less people die each year (maybe 30 or 40), but that`s because the mines have been severely depleted, making it very hard to make a decent living off the existing minerals.

The most interesting part of the video and tour for me was learning about their mining god, ¨Tio¨. Many of them believe in God and go to church, but in the mines they fear and respect Tio, and worship him to ensure they get good minerals and that accidents don`t take their lives (note: I don`t know the dudes in the picture above, but it gives you a good idea of what Tio looks like). What`s so interesting is the origin of Tio. When the Spanish came and forced the people to extract all the silver from the mines under horrible conditions, the people rebelled. In response, the Spanish invented a devil god and told the people that if they didn´t mine as the god wished, he would kill them. I´m paraphrasing this a bit, but I think you get the point :). They would have called him ¨Dio¨, which means ¨God¨ in spanish, but the Quecha language of the natives didn´t have a ¨D¨, so the changed it to ¨Tio¨, which means ¨uncle¨ in spanish.

The reason I thought this was all so interesting is because the people here in the mines know this story, and thus understand that the Spanish made up this God. And yet...they are so afraid of the death that surrounds them (whether it be accidents or the breathing problems that usually kill them before age 40), that they very religiously worship Tio, offering him coca leaves, alcohol, and cigarettes on a usual basis, and always on Fridays (during a ceremony where they drink 96% alcohol! Whew. I tried a mini-sip and it nearly knocked me over!).

Over my time here in South America, I´ve seen many many traditions and beliefs such as Tio. It`s not only fascinating to learn about, but makes you look at our own religions, traditions and beliefs in a whole new light...

And now I´m off to the Salt Flats in Uyuni! We´ll be out in the middle of a salt desert for 4 days, so try not to miss me too much, and I´ll catch you on the flip side! xoxo, Cara

A Piece of Home In Cochabamba

As I was planning my big South American Adventure, I came to learn about lots of friends that people have in Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia and Chile. In fact, my dad works with someone from Cochabamba, Bolivia (one of my destinations), and so it was arranged that I would give his brother a call when I arrived. I thought this meant dinner or maybe an insider`s tour of the city.

I had no idea!...

First, there was a huge miscommunication between the hostel owner`s and the guy I was supposed to meet. When he called the hotel asking about ¨a group of Americans¨ soon to arrive, they told him that there were no groups coming (a protection measure for us). When he continued to call and later stop by, they called the police and had someone patrolling the grounds!! Finally, he mentioned me by name and the matter was cleared up. So I met Andre, who very thoughtfully greeted me with a welcome balloon and a bolivian greeting card. He told me that a small reception was being arranged and that, if I could make it, he would pick me and 2 friends up at 4pm.

Wow! A reception? This was already way more than I expected!

We arrived at Tito and Daisy`s house at around 4:30pm. They had a great place, where double doors in the kitchen opened up to a tiled patio area with a huge outdoor bar and open grill. And boy did Tito know how to make drinks! I`m fairly certain that within the hour, me, Alicia, and Buff (my two Aussie friends that came along) had had a Taquina beer, a liqour drink with limes from the trees in the backyard (something like a mild tequilla), and a cup of Chicha (a strong traditional drink made from corn).

And as the drinks flowed, so did the amount of people that came in. By 6:30pm, we had met just about everyone in Tito and Daisy`s family - their 3 kids, sisters, grandparents, friends, grandchildren, neighbors! It was great. It was the first time in a long time that we had been around family like that...and they were lovely.

I worked on my spanish, trying very hard to understand Daisy´s fathers words of wisdom on love, and Tatiana, their 21 year old daughter, practiced speaking english with us. But there would be little talking as we devoured an amazingly delicious meal of grilled meat, chorizo, roasted yuca, salad, cheesy rice, and a spicey salsa to top it all off. And I won´t even mention the 2 pieces of cake I ate (it was Daisy`s bday the next day), because I`m on a ¨low sweets diet¨. Oops. Guess I shouldn´t have taken that Para Ti chocolate factory tour today. What can I say? I´m all about buying products to support the local economy. ;)

And after all the food and drinks, we had plenty of fuel for some traditional bolivian dancing!! We were so inspired, we picked up a CD of a famous bolivian music group from a street vender the next day - Kjarkas (I have no idea if these uTube clips are any good).

So it was a beautiful day and one of the most ¨real life experiences¨ (Intrepid Travel`s tag line) I`ve had on my trip so far!

Other Cochabamba experiences included taking a cable car up to the highest statue of Christ in the world (Stands almost 40 meters tall), and watching the new 007 movie, Quantum of Solace, in a proper movie theatre with popcorn and a coke (did I mention I was on a diet? :)) Salud! Cara

San Pedro Prison - A Reality Show

I was once with a group of people from work when the conversation turned to the show Prison Break. I very seriously asked, ¨Is it a reality show?¨ and everyone laughed at me...and continued to do so for about 2 years! :) Come on! People marry strangers and eat bull balls for money on TV. Why is the nation watching people try to escape from jail so inconceivable?!

What`s more unbelievable is the reality of San Pedro Prison, located in the center of La Paz, Bolivia (note: The link above will take you to some photos and excerpts from a BBC story, but everyone`s got a different story...it`s prison!).

First off, the tour we took was arranged and guided by inmates. There are no police officers or guards inside the walls of the prison - the prisoners regulate themselves. Our tour was guided by an ¨english speaking¨ man from Argentina, who was in for several months for buying cocaine from a cop in the streets (most of the people in the prison are there for more serious drug trafficing offences). In addition, we were accompanied by ¨The Chief¨, the head of prison security, and four trusted inmates that acted as bodyguards.

The title Head of Prison Security might sound reassuring, but what that translates to in jail lingo is ¨the murderer that`s been in for 15 years, has another 15 to serve, and is so quick with a knife that the other prisoners do what he says¨. That might sound a bit dramatic, but that`s the truth of it. I asked during the tour why the prisoners don´t attack the tourists and the answer was something like, ¨Cheif, can you show them your knife?¨...basically, if they touched us, he would most defintiely stab them. We all paid 250 bolivianos to enter (not including tips), so he is definitely interested in keeping up the tourism business.

¨OMG!¨ you might be saying. ¨That sounds so dangerous!¨ You would think that until you see the hundreds of wives and children that live there too! Yes, there are children running around the prison laughing and playing...There are people playing volleyball and soccer (all for bets - never just for fun), washing clothes, selling food, and doing drugs. We didn´t see a lot of drugs because our guide told the tour leader to skip that part, but doing a couple lines of Bolivia`s finest cocaine is apparently very doable in San Pedro. In fact, the inmate-guided tours have just started up again after several years of being shut down because foreigners were ordering cocaine carry-out and even spending the night (uh, no thanks).

¨How do they get the drugs in?¨ might be your next question. The answer is - they don´t. They produce it within the jail. So lots of people are on drugs and can go a little crazy. And when they act up, they get thrown in a small corridor by their peers for anywhere from 1 day to 1 year. And if you do something really offensive...you will be ¨taken care of¨. It´s an eye for an eye kind of system.

I thought the tour was interesting. It was a little weird knowing that you were walking through a prison and that anything could happen. A couple times we got into cramped spaces with lots of inmates around (they were all lining up to collect their one provided meal for the day - noodles with sauce). And it was a little creepy at the end when the guide told us that the men in the kitchen are usually there as punishment for crimes like rape and child abuse. Of course they are the only ones that were encouraging pictures and being really nice.

I think I liked the tour because it`s such an intriguing study of sociology. Society determines that people are liabilities and lock them up...and then all the criminals, crazies, and ¨entrepreneurs¨create their own little society with rules as to what is right and wrong. All and all, I have to say that from what I saw, and from talking to one of the bodyguards, San Pedro seems like a fairly ¨good¨ prison to be in, but people still die every month and I would never want to be there and have to prove myself everyday. For more information about what life might be like there, check out the book Marching Powder: A True Story of Friendship, Cocaine, and South America's Strangest Jail, by Rusty Young. The book is the story of Thomas McFadden, a young British man, who was caught smuggling cocaine out of Bolivia and spent time in San Pedro. I`m going to read it when I get back. Book club anyone? :)

Pieces of Info With Little Importance

Hello Everyone! I wanted to let you know that I have tried my hardest to get photos online so you can see all the places I´m talking about. Some of my friends here have been semi-successful, although they said it takes 2.5 hours to load anywhere from 50-200 pics. I have about 2,000...and I definitely don´t have that kind of patience!!

I just spent the whole the morning going to multiple internet shops and either I couldn´t get the Active X Control thingy working, or the memory on the machine wasn´t big enough for me to pull up my pictures. I guess it´s just not meant to be right now. So I promise I will publish them as soon as I can, and hopefully if that´s not until Dec you´ll still want to see them! :) You know I love my pictures!

So I think I`m going to give up on this quest. The rest of my day will consist of:

- A little shopping ($1 = 7 Bolivianos = Niiiice!)
- A visit to the Art Museum
- Maybe some more Dumbo`s ice cream (I had 2 yesterday...I seriously think I`ve gained 10 lbs. All I do is eat Twix and Pringles here. It`s disgusting.)
- Mailing stuff home
- Trying a Saltena (the Bolivian version of an empanada)
- Meeting my new tour leader and group members (7 of us will still be together and there could be up to 11 new peeps joining)

Since this blog entry is completely useless, I´ll go ahead and bore you with a dream that I thought was pretty funny. So you know how my last tour leader was ¨awesome¨? Well, subconsciously I must be really scared about our next leader (also a guy from Peru) because the last thing I remember dreaming is our current tour leader introducing the new one. It was all dramatic and he was announcing it like it was a gameshow....¨And you`re new guide is...Antonioooooo Rastaaaaafarii! The guide bursts through a door with huge dreads, a sparkly headband, and sunglasses, and starts playing air drums. I was like, ¨Oh Shit...here we go again!¨ And then I woke up.

Worthless news ends here. Sorry, now you have to go back to work. hehe :)

Volleyball on the Shores of Lake Titicaca

When I visited Lake Titicaca I expected to see the famous floating islands, the fisherman, the totora reed growing abundantly throughout the water. What I didn´t expect was dressing up in native dance costume, getting funky on the dance floor with my host mom, and playing volleyball with a bunch of women farmers on the beach.

It really is all the little surprises that have made this trip such a memorable one. While the lake is massive and a beautiful deep blue, I found that the floating island communities and people that live there are so commercialized, that it takes away from the experience. You´re probably thinking, ¨Umm, Cara (tap tap), they are commercialized because of tourists like you!¨ I know...and I´ve thought more than once how ironic/sad/whatever the word is, it is that we travel around the world to see people that have preserved their unique cultures, but are suffering from great poverty...and tourism gives them the opportunity to make money, but only at the expense of the culture we paid to see! Congratulations if you´re still with me. I almost lost myself with that run-on sentence. :)

But the homestay in Llachon (a peninsula on Lake Titicaca) was really enjoyable and refreshing. We arrived in the village from Puno just as the sun was setting on the lake (ahhh, so nice). It was pretty funny because all the people in the town were walking home on the roads drunk from a long day of celebrating El Dia de Los Muertos - a holiday where the community goes to the cemetery and brings their deceased loved ones gifts of flowers, food...and lots of drinks to go around! I kind of like that tradition.

When we arrived, Virginia and I were lead to our house, which was about a 10 minute walk through dirt fields. Adela and Simion (our host family) had a really simple home, but the cutest courtyard with flowers, and the room we stayed in was very comfortable. We insisted on cooking dinner with Adela and the girls (Marielena and Marilus), which was quinua soup, and rice and veggies. Just enough to give us the fuel we´d need for our group dance. I will have to get pictures up asap, because you will die laughing when you see what I was sporting. Uh, classic! Unfortunately, we had to dance to radio music because the band was too toasted to show up. haha. It was a good time, and nice to just laugh and dance...even if I had no idea what steps I was supposed to be doing...and then my hands started to sweat profusely because I thought it was a good idea to wear my fleece jacket under my 300% wool outfit. :)

After a restful sleep we woke up and played an impromptu volleyball game with Marielena, Eliana and Fredy. It was during this game that I learned all kids cheat when playing games and that in Peru, apparently you play to 25. We then regrouped with the rest of our group and their host families, and planted a small crop of broad beans. And before we headed off to the floating islands, of course it was time for one last game of beach volleyball. All the women diving and laughing in their long wool skirts was a sight to see!

New President...New Country

I woke up this morning and turned on the BBC News to discover America has officially elected Barack Obama as our new President. I know that everyone feels differently about this, and I´m not here to get all political. But I´ll tell you that being out of the country during this election, surrounded by all non-Americans, has been an eye-opening experience.

In short...we´re not very popular. I know that my groupmates don´t mean anything personal, but almost every comment about ¨America¨ is negative. I´m sure there´s been more, but the only positive thing I can recall right now is someone saying they can´t wait to get to the states so they can order a big salad and not worry about the lettuce being clean. That is so sad...and often frustrating for me.

However, I found it interesting that everyone was extremely involved in the US Election... reading the news online and asking me lots of questions (now they really think we´re a bunch of morons, sorry guys!)...and every single person was hoping that Barack Obama would win. They all kept saying, ¨I wish the rest of the world could vote, so the right person will win¨. So while I think that both candidates could have brought positive change one way or another (I mean, we can really only go up from here), I feel very positive that with Obama as President we are opening up lots of doors around the world that were previously closed (even if those doors were only minds). Now of course there is a huge challenge ahead and lots of questions to be answered, but I know one thing, and that´s that we have people around the world proud of us, rooting for us, and backing us up...and at least that´s something.

So that´s the ¨New President¨ part of my entry. The ¨New Country¨ part is that I´ve arrived safely in Bolivia! We had to leave Peru a day early due to a country-wide strike (something about the electric company wanting to control the water, which farmers use for free now...and would presumably have to pay for if the change goes through). Today was my first full day in La Paz. I just wandered around with some friends for about 8 hours. Tomorrow I plan to explore some of the museums and art galleries. I´m here for 4 whole days and look forward to meeting my new group leader and group members this Friday night. Until then, we´ll be hanging out, eating great food (had the best Indian last night and some killer gelato this afternoon) and saying good-bye´s. I´ll miss some of my new friends!

El Camino Inca to Machu Picchu

Hi Everyone! Did you miss me? :) I would have written earlier, but I was in an internet cafe next to an Irish girl having skype issues with her boyfriend and I thought I was going to go mental! But I´m in a nice spot now...so let´s do this! I have so much to tell you!

Yesterday morning the porters woke us up in our tents at 4am. It was dark and wet, from raining all night. I had completely given up on not being disgusting, and had opted to sleep in my outfit for the day...which was a LOT like my outfit from the day before :) Yummy!

Typically we would get ¨tea in tent¨, but we needed to get breakfast and hit the trail early to beat the crowds. The last day of hiking was relatively easy, the only real problem was that I thought if I took one more step downwards my calves were going to explode! But the goal was in sight, so we hiked an hour to the Sun Gate (check out the view here), and then another hour or so down to Machu Picchu.

I have to tell you that when we first arrived I definitely wasn´t ¨basking in it`s wonder¨, as I had previously predicted on my travel itineary. In fact, there was so much cloud cover, that in our ¨postcard-view group shot¨ you can´t see anything but 11 people that look they smell with a white backdrop. Sweet dude!! Then my spirit was further sucked out of my body as I waited in the line for the bathroom for 30 mins! I was like, ¨WTF? I hiked 4 days in the beating sun and pouring rain to get to a glorified Kings Dominion - lots of buses and awkward-looking people with fanny packs, buying water for 5 times the reasonable price!¨

But by the time our trail guide had taken us around the grounds and helped us understand what life may have been like in the time of the Incas, the clouds had completely cleared. Which meant one thing...I needed to walk all the way back up to the view point to get the ¨real deal¨ view I so desperately needed (see here). So I wheezed myself back up to the top, turned around, and then...then I was blown away. I took a bunch of photos with my friends and once they went to catch the bus I just sat there for 20 mins staring. I didn´t want to leave. I wanted to keep enjoying that brief moment of complete contentment and peace - letting go of all that´s happened in the past and not worrying about anything that might happen in the future. It´s funny how a place or a song or a sunset can do that. And for an over-thinking, crazy person like myself, this is a rare and wonderful occurence! Ahhhh....

Now let´s rewind a little. I skipped to ¨the good part¨ because Machu Picchu is the part we all know. But I must say that the Inca Trail and journey to get there was just as beautiful, fun, and rewarding. Some of my groupmates might argue with me on that one, but I do come from the philosophy of ¨no pain, no gain¨. I´m a jock...If I don´t believe that, then I´m pretty much an idiot for all the hellish things I´ve done to myself over the years. :)

So a little about El Camino Inca...As I said before it´s a 4 day hike, with Day 2 being the most challenging by far! In total we hiked about 28 miles, reaching the highest point in the middle of Day 2 (Dead Woman´s Pass) at an elevation of 4,200 meters or 13,776 ft. We started at 8,502 ft, so it was quite the hike upward. (Random note: I´m the only person in my group that´s not on the metric system, so I never really know how much anything weighs or what temperature it is. I know, I could easily learn the conversions, but I´m lazy and really don´t care! :P)

I have to say that I underestimated the physical challenge of the hike, but we stopped many times to catch our breath along the way, and the lunches and dinners were so amazing (I can´t stress that point enough) that it gave you extra motivation to get to the next campsite. So about this camping and eating...You may be wondering, ¨Are there sites already set up with restuarants. etc?¨ NO! For the 11 hikers in our group, we had 2 guides, 2 chefs, and 16 porters that accompanied us through the Andes. And what did they bring? Well, all our clothes, sleeping bags, and air mattressess (up to 12 lbs per person)...all the tents we slept in...the tents we ate in, the tables we ate on, the chairs we sat on, the cooking tent, food for 3.5 days, a stove, an oven, the list goes on. The point I´m trying to make here is that the porters - farmers, age 21-57, from nearby cities that do this to make about $50 US dollars plus tips, ARE AMAZING! They woke up early to make breakfast, and once we ate, they cleaned up the entire site and then passed us on the way to the next one. They would beat us there by 1-2 hours and have the entire site set up with lunch prepared. And once we were done stuffing ourselves beyond belief with fresh veggies, rice, soup, quinua bread, stuffed chicked with spinach and cheese, stir-frys, curried chicken, beaf, lemon cake, crepes, poached pears in red wine, tea, hot chocolate...I can´t even begin to list all the wonderful food we ate over the 3 days, they would do it all over again for evening tea and snacks...and then dinner! They worked so hard that the last night when we did introductions and I tried to thank them in my broken Quecha and Spanish, I almost started to cry. I´m sure that´s no surprise for anyone that´s seen me speak publically before (God I´m annoyingly sensitive!), but it was really sad to see how hard the people outside the cities have to work, and at the same time, so inspiring to see all that they could accomplish...and with the biggest smiles you´ve ever seen.

I feel like this entry could go on forever...and I know you all have lives and work, but the scenery is definitely worth mention (I´m sparing you the bit on the toilet situation, which was very colorful to say the least. And apparently the older I get the smaller my bladder becomes, so I had a lot of fun crawling out of my tent and using the natural bathrooms in the middle of the night with my headtorch on!). Oh yea, I was sparing you that part...The scenery was different than what I had imagined, and extremely diverse. We started on a dirt path lined with cacti and rocks, which turned into stone steps and bush covered mountains. Once we got to the other side of Dead Woman´s Pass we were in hardcore rainforest, walking through rain under canopies of lush greens, and walking down stone steps with water trickling around your feet. On Day 3 and 4 most of the trail was original and was like a cobblestone path with stone steps. It was all so breath-taking. I took 300 photos in the 3.5 days (and that was only because I was being conservative because I lost one of my camera batteries). I think the most beautiful vista was when we arrived at the camp after our tough Day 2 around 5:30pm. We were getting organized in our tents as the sun began to set behind snow-capped mountains in the distance. So gorgeous...

So yea, I´m kind of puttering out here. I knew this would be a hard entry to write because there is SO much to tell, but the bottom line is that I had a WONDERFUL time and am almost certain that the Inca Trail and Machu Picchu will in fact be the highlight of my trip. A guy that couldn´t go on the trek because he fell ill asked me if I´d do it again. I hesitated before answering yes because at the time I was running on hardly any sleep and couldn´t feel my body, but my answer one day later (with 3 hours sleep and a hangover, mind you...happy halloween! haha) is a very enthusiastic YES!

Gotta Have Faith Faith Faith

Ok everyone...To avoid extreme depression for all my readers, I wanted to take advantage of these couple mins I have during our bus stop to let you know that I just got news that I can hike the Inca Trail tomorrow! Wow, that was a test! I tried to be so cool and calm, but finally after lunch I walked up to the tour leader and said in my most grave voice, ¨Ok, I´ve been really patient...¨ I was about to lay into him and he said, ¨Your in. I just got a call from the office, and your in!¨ Ahhhh, what a relief! I would have been upset if I couldn´t get really wet, cold, and sore with everyone else. ;) Sounds crazy, but I´m really looking forward to it! I´ll let you know how it goes...

The Only Thing That´s Certain in South America...

is that NOTHING is certain! I know we´ve all heard this before...but SA really takes this concept to a whole new level.

First, it won´t surprise you that our bus ride from Arequipa to Cusco was riddled with peasant strikes, closed highways, snow, gravel mountain backroads, and 12 hours without stopping for food, water, or a proper bathroom. I mean, wouldn´t this be a boring blog if I told you that at one point I wasn´t wearing a silver foil-looking emergency wrap around my legs and my travel pillow around my neck for warmth because the temperature dropped 40 degrees and I was wearing shorts and sandals? That´s what I thought...

But we got to Cusco, when we weren´t sure that was going to be possible...so that´s all that matters. And what a beautiful city - once the home of the Incan Empire, where Incan and Spanish Colonial architecture meet to create stunning buildings, cathedrals, and quaint cobble-stone streets. One day was definitely not enough time to explore, and I look forward to returning next weekend after Machu Picchu to get a more in-depth look.

So about Machu Picchu...as you all know this was the big highlight of the trip for me. Since I booked this trip, I´ve been so excited to hike the 4-day Inca Trail, and experience the reward of arriving at Machu Picchu. So you can only imagine my shock when our guide arrived tonight to brief the group on the trek and my name was the only one missing off the Inca Trail permit list (which if you´re not on with the correct passport number, you aren´t going to be allowed on the trail. period). I remained calm throughout the breifing, but as he was talking about all the walking, meals, and camping, my mind couldn´t stop thinking... ¨What the hell! Why does this shit always happen to me? Ok, Cara, stay calm maybe they can work this out? This sucks! Where the hell is our guide anyway? Are you kidding me! I got that email from the travel agency that everyting was booked!¨...and on and on like that for about 25 mins.

So apparently there has been a miscommunication between Intrepid and the Peruvian Gov´t which may or may not result in me not being able to hike the Inca Trail with the group. The thought of this is devastating, but if there´s one lesson I´ve learned here, it´s that nothing is certain, not everything is fair, you can only control so much, and...yes, it´s true...life goes on. Now don´t think I didn´t cry when my tour leader took me outside and apologized for ¨the central office ruining the best part of my trip¨ (until then I was holding myself together nicely, but he kind of shattered my hope :)). And there´s still a little hope...I hope! :) The company is going to look into it and I´ll know tomorrow morning if something can be worked out. If I can´t go with the group, there is another trail I can take that doesn´t require a permit, and it´s lucky that there happens to be another couple doing that one. Otherwise, I would just have been screwed and have to wait in Cusco while everyone did the hike. So ¨say a little prayer for me...¨ (stupid jingle to accompany).

What can you do?

Good News & Bad News (Condor & The Cuy)

Editor´s Note: I woke up at 3:15am this morning and realized that I wrote ¨tale bone¨ instead of ¨tailbone¨ in my last entry. No, my friend´s bum is not a storyteller, but yes, apparently my subconscious is a better speller than I am! :)

(Return to Text)

The Good News...I am very pleased to report that I did in fact see the Andean Condor this afternoon in the Colca Canyon. The Canyon is gorgeous! We drove south for about an hour passing all sorts of picturesque agricultural and cattle farms, and of course...immense mountains. I took a ton of photos, and hopefully some of them will do the canyon justice. To give you an idea of size, the Colca Canyon is at least twice as deep as the Grand Canyon, and very different in climate and looks. Someone in my group tried to tell me that the Grand Canyon isn´t even a canyon, but technically a gorge. Whatever. I think people just make things up to get pissed at Americans sometimes...

So we arrived at the Cruz del Condor viewing spot, which is apparentely the best place to spot them. I posted up on a stone wall (wow, that sounds a LOT grosser than I meant it to! :)) and waited for 1 hour and 23 mins before I gave up (yes, I timed it on my watch...I´m a huge loser, if you didn´t already know that). My nose is actually a little chapped right now because it was so cold up at that altitude and I sat sniffling the whole time. However, we went on a little trek along the edge of the canyon and to our surprise a Condor flew by us not once, not twice, but about 10 times. It was so cool and so beautiful!! It´s moments like that when I wish I had a bigger/better camera, but mine´s been treating me well thus far. I think I´ve taken about 900 pictures to date. The Andean Condor is the largest flying land bird in the Western Hemisphere and can grow to have a wing span of 3 meters, be 1 meter in height, and weigh 12 kilos. In pictures, it looks like a turkey on roids, but in the air, it was very sweet looking.

The Bad News...Last night when I thought my guide was joking about selecting our guinea pig to eat...yea, he wasn´t! We had a nice meal with a local family - vegtable soup, potatoes, queso, alpaca, and cuy! I tried it because I feel like I should get the local experience, but it was so hard to see the little guy beforehand. Braden went into the pen and picked it out, and then everyone ran away while the mother of the house broke it´s neck (which apparently took a couple tries), boiled it for a minute, and then skinned it. I´m glad I can say I sampled, but I won´t be ordering cuy again in Peru!

So we´re back in Arequipa for the night and headed to Cusco tomorrow. Another 11 hour bus ride awaits! But hopefully they will play some cool movies and right now I´m keeping myself busy by translating a book in Spanish that I bought at at vegetarian joint in Mancora. Progress is...ummm, slow. :) Only 3 more days ´til the Inca Trail! No puedo esperar!

Cuy in Colca Canyon

Hello hello, and welcome my new blog friends! I get so excited whenever someone new signs up as a follower. It makes me feel so popluar! :)

So first, I´d like to say that I´m just happy to be here writing to you today. The overnight bus ride from Lima to Arequipa was, how do I say this nicely...fucking scary! (Pardon my Japanese, as Colin once said when he was little). You would have laughed if you could have seen my face. I don´t even do roller coasters because I´m such a control freak, so from midnight to 5am (when the road finally improved) I basically cursed the driver under my breath and prayed the Our Father...I´m not kidding. Let me paint a picture for you...the bus is pitch black...I´m in the isle seat in the second row (on the right, for those of you that are really visually oriented). This prime location is just close enough to the front that I can hear the latin music the driver is blasting in his cabin, and can see the blinding headlights of every truck, before they blow past us and shake the bus. And I could handle that! What I couldn´t handle was the speed inwhich the driver insisted on taking 45 degree turns right and left as we charged full speed down mountains. There was a turn every 30 seconds, accompanied by more g-force than your typical dangerous fair ride.

The only positive thing that may have come out of the experience is the ab workout I got from trying to stay in my seat, and the first 3/4 of the movie August Rush (that came on during breakfast). I have to admit, I liked it! I´m a hopeless romantic, come on, let a scared girl have her fun! Best part of this story: everyone else was asleep on the bus, except my friend who bruised his tale bone the day before and a couple girls that got sick. Sorry for the elaborate recount, but I had to make sure that at least someone would get a chuckle out of my suffering.

So...we arrived in Arequipa at 9am in the morning. It was so nice to be in a beautiful city where the poverty didn´t depress you and make you feel unsafe. I spent the morning eating and running errands with my friend Natasha, and then we checked out the Santa Catalina Monastery. The monastery was founded in 1579 by Doña María de GuzmánSaint, and named
after Catherine of Siena (note: my confirmation name is Catherine after this very saint). They have a really nice website, which you can check out if you´re interested, but some of the things I found interesting during the tour were that the nuns came to the monastery as early as 6 years old, and had to decide after 4 years if they were going to dedicate their lives to the monastery or return home. The decision, however, was usually not theirs, but their family´s - and in that time it was very prestigious to have a nun or priest in the clan. But don´t feel too badly for the sisters. They were from the richest families and came to the convent with their servants and expensive china. At one time there were as many as 500 women living on the grounds (175 of which were nuns). Today, the monastery is home to 24 nuns. The grounds are beautiful with bold blue, white and orange walls, and bright red flowers.

At night I tried Alpaca meat for the first time...niiiiice! And tonight, we are going to prepare and have dinner with a local family, where I´ll be eating ¨cuy¨, which is the spanish word for Guinea Pig. Yeah! I just hope they´re dead when we get there. Our guide mentioned something about ¨you can pick yours out...¨. Um, there will be no selecting my meal if it´s playing with it´s friends when I arrive! Please just do the dirty work for me and I´ll pretend it´s chicken!

Last thing worth mentioning is the trip we took today from Arequipa to the city of Chivay/Colca Canyon (about 4 hours away). We climbed to an elevation of 4,900 meters (which is over 16,000 ft or about half way up Mt Everst). We had to keep really hydrated and chew on coca leaves and drink coca tea to help regulate our bodies and resist altitude sickness (which can be really hard on the head and stomach!). The tea wasn´t bad with mint and sugar, but chewing the leaves with a bit of ash to activate the juices was ummmm, not something I´d do for fun otherwise. :) In addition to our lightheadedness, as we climbed the mountains we had great vistas of the volcanoes and mountains, and drive through a national reserve where we saw lama, alpaca, guanaco, and vicuna (all part of the lama family). Tomorrow we will go further south into the canyon, and hopefully I´ll be able to report a Andean Condor or Puma sighting! Keep your fingers crossed for us! :)

Fast Forward

Greetings All from Nazca, Peru! It´s only been a couple days since I last wrote, but so much has happened that I´m dedicating this entry to telling you all the stuff we´ve been up to. We´ve been on the move ever since we left Mancora, and have been traveling down the coastline. So all of the scenery in Peru, thus far, has been complete desert or ocean...which is the opposite of the huge Andean Mtns I pictured in my head. Of course, Peru has that too, we just haven´t gotten there yet!

So what have we been up to along the coast? Well, unfortunately, it´s been a bit of a whirlwind of touristy activities. It´s good, because you´re seeing sights and such, but it´s not fun when you find yourself in the amazing country of Peru...eating shitty Italian food...and listening to a group of old men play Guantanamera on wind pipes. That´s when you feel like a huge gringa that´s getting taken for a ride. :)

Ok, so Sunday I visited the Museo del Oro (which had a huge collection of pre-Incan and Incan artifacts...very interesting!) and afterwards, had the best Ceviche ever as my last meal with my great hosts in Lima. I then met back up with the group for our bus ride to Pisco - a town that unfortunately has been reduced to rubble after a terrible earthquake in 2006. Literally, our hostel was the only standing structure on the block. It was creepy and the town felt hollow and unsafe.

We woke up and took a ride to the Islas Ballestas, also known as the Galapagos of Peru (or the poor man´s Galapagos) It was actually pretty neat. We packed way more people into one boat than you ever thought would be possible (yes, that´s a hot trend here!) and took a rather frigid 20 min cruise out to the islands. But once we arrived, it was really neat to see all the birds (there were tons!!!), seals, and penguins. I took lots of pictures, which later I´ll probably look at and think ¨why the hell do I have 50 pictures of birds?¨ but hey!

We stopped in HuacaChina for lunch and optional sand-boarding. I walked around and jumped in the pool, figuring I can roll around in the sand for free :) (Funny story: In Mancora I was on the beach alone and apparently couldn´t reach the middle of my back with sunscreen...so I had a big burnt strip on the middle of my back, which is now pealing, and looking awesome!). Ok...so then we were off to Nazca, where we arrived and enjoyed a ¨really great meal and authentic local bands¨ (see paragraph 2 for non-BS version) .

Yea, that was all just 2 days...

So today I went to a tower in the middle of the desert where I could see two Nazca lines - ¨the tree¨ and ¨the hands¨. It was cool to see them with my own eyes, but I didn´t regret not paying $70 US dollars to fly over them this morning at 6am. I figure I can eat off that money for 4 days (oh eating...my very favorite thing to do!). In the afternoon, we took another ride out to the middle of nowhere (BTW, when I say middle of nowhere. I mean think the movie Seven, during the ending scene when the crazy guy takes the cops out to the desert to open the box...yeah, that, but without power lines or paved roads). Ok, so where was I?...Oh yes, we arrived at an ancient cemetery of the Chincha people. We saw original mummified bodies and graves, and it was actually quite interesting. Although I do find the sight of human skulls with full sets of hair a little disturbing...and very rasta at the same time! ;)

So you think I´m done...Oh no, don´t be so impatient. Obviously we haven´t done enough, so we visited a local potter, who still creates pottery according to ancient tradition...and then visited a sight where we saw people mining gold. I´d go into these things further, but there´s just too much to say and not enough time. But overall, I have to say that the poverty can be really sad. You think that mining in deathly conditions for almost no money is old news, but there are hundreds of people putting their lives on the line to survive everyday...and I thought putting in expense reports was annoying!

So now, we´re about to go catch our first overnight bus (I don´t know how scared to be right now), which leaves at 11pm and arrives tomorrow morning in Arequipa at 10am.

I´m sorry this entry is more of a laundry list then a collection of interesting thoughts, but I wanted to keep you up to date on things and I´ll write more thought provoking material later, I promise!

Until then...

Is It Where You Are Or Who You're With That Matters?

This has been the tough question for me this week. The first two weeks of my trip in Ecuador were all so brand new and smooth, that I didn't have time to miss anything or anyone...deeply. But this first week in Peru has been more challenging for several reasons, which has me longing for that feeling of security and comfort that comes with "home".

Comfort...this has been lacking for the most part. When I signed up for this trip, I knew it was going to be more like "camping" then "vacation", but it's proven to be a real challenge. Our bus trips have been long and arduous...and the last couple...music-less :). I didn't even get to update you on our bus ride from Mancora to Trujillo. We left at 2:45pm and were supposed to arrive in Trujillo at around 11pm. Ummmm, not when the Panamerican Highway is flooded and thousands of buses, cars, and trucks are trying to make up alternative routes in the middle of the desert, in the middle of the night! I'd describe the scene, but I only heard about it because my contacts became so dry after several hours that I to take them off and go blind until we finally arrived at the terminal at 4:30am only to jump in taxis and get lost in a strange city because the drivers were following a taxi that wasn't with our group! Oh, and then the hostel we were staying at was different than the one listed on our itinerary...so we were just sitting in the middle of the road at 5am with no idea where we were or where we were supposed to be. That touches on "security", which I'll elaborate on shortly.

It also doesn't help that our new Peruvian tour leader is not as helpful as the last. He has good intentions, but it's a big group, and I find that sometimes he only makes things more confusing...not good, especially since we are under his "care" for more days than any other leader. An example of the frustration would be when a guy in our group had $500 stolen from his room at the hostel (a repairman fixed his toilet and stole his money while he was sitting right outside the room!) and our guide comforts him by saying, "You have insurance right? Yes, these things happen in Peru."

And all these hardships are to be expected...It sounds like I'm complaining, but I'm not (well, a little :)). I think what tops it all off is that when we finally get to our destination, it's not like I go to my room and have peace and privacy, and a hot shower (yeah, hot water is a real treat and scarcity). No, I'm a single (thanks for reminding me :)) and share a room with two other people in hostels where you can't fart without the front desk knowing about it. So I'm never alone, and when I am, now I have to wonder if it's safe (see "A Lesson I Wish I Hadn't Learned"). Ok, now I'm complaining. haha. Let's move on, shall we?

I was going to go into security, but let's get to some good stuff before you all lose interest, write me off as a whiner, and start watching that uTube link that your co-worker just sent you with some line about how it sucks that it's Monday. I'll just say that when I get home I'll really appreciate the feeling of security that I'm not sure I was even aware of before...

But it's not all bad. No, there are diamonds in the rough! Once in Trujillo, we had the opportunity to visit the cities of two pre-Incan cultures. First, we walked around Chan Chan, the largest mud city in the world built by the Chimu people (850 - 1470 AD). We then took a short ride to La Huaca de la Luna (The Moon Temple), which was a religious center for the Moche people (100 - 800 AD). Chan Chan was interesting, but it was in the Moon Temple that I could feel the people that lived there. It was amazing that we could see the original walls, with their decorations...even the pigmentation that they used was still intact. Very cool! The walls were all covered with depictions of their God (The Decapitator). The site we visited is where they sacraficed warriors (by cutting off their heads) in anticipation of El Nino, a phenomenon that they were aware of even then. Very interesting...and to think, all we have to do is go to church on Christmas to stay in good graces! Just kidding...

And the last two days have been wonderful in Lima. The comforts of home that I so missed, I've found at La Casa de Hoshi! Last night I had a wonderful Pisco Sour and chinese meal (Chifa), and today I visited La Plaza Mayor with Mrs. Hoshi, where there was a huge celebration of "Señor de los Milagros". There were people, wearing purple habits, and following a shrine throughout the city. Then we went to the San Francisco Convent and Catacombs. We saw where the monks lived, and then the bones of 25,000 people underneath. At that time, they thought that it was best to bury the dead under the church, so that they would be near the house of God forever. And to top it off, we had more good food - Ceviche de Lenguados y Lomo Saldato.

Now, I'm going to go out with the Hoshi's for a nice dinner. I did bring one black dress that I bought at Old Navy for $20 before my trip. And Mrs. Hoshi found me a sweater and high heals to spruce me up. I'll take a picture, because I might not look this nice for the rest of the trip! haha. Ok, I'm off!...Oh, and I'm still not sure about the original question I posed, but I'm thinking it's more about who you're with then where you are. But maybe you have to leave to figure that out...Unterkofler's: I'm with you in spirit at Ellie's right now! Love to all! xoxo

Hang Ten! :)

Hey Everyone! So after yesterday´s crappy entry about being robbed (still stinks, but I´m over it), I wanted to send you a more uplifting update and let you know that...I surfed for the first time last night! Whoo hoo! It took me about 6 tries to catch a wave and actually stand up (that last part is the hardest!). Most of the times I wiped out and ended up with a lot of salt water in my nose, one time I rode the wave all the way in like a boogie board...and then on my last attempt (I was about to call it quits because it was getting a little late and the wind was making me very cold), I caught a wave and stood up! I rode it all the way to the sand, where my friends were standing and cheering. What a great feeling!!...and a much needed pick me up from the events of the morning.

So now we are just wrapping things up here in Mancora before our big bus ride today to Trujillo.
So I´ll leave you with this little tale...The first morning here, I woke up in my cabana to find what looked like a little terd beside me on the white sheets. I immediately flicked it off and thought, ¨I really hope that isn´t mouse poop or something¨. Seeing as there are probably few mice here, we put together that it must have been the gecco that my roommate spied this morning climbing on the wall. So that means that at some point the other night that lizard was climbing on me in bed and then crapped next to my head. Oh, sweet South America...you´re full of surprises!

A Lesson I Wish I Hadn´t Learned...

I´m more calm now than I was earlier, which means this entry might not be as angry (and therefore entertaining) as it could be...To cut to the chase, I was robbed on the beach this morning during a jog and had my iPod stolen (insert lots of colorful language here). Part of me is angry at the dude for being an f´ing asshole, and part of me is angry with myself for not even realizing I was in danger.

The story...I woke up and decided that I needed a bit of exercise after all our traveling and eating. It was about 9am and so I hit the beach with my running shoes. It was so nice and peaceful. I was about 12 mins out and I thought, ¨You know, I should turn around.¨ What I didn´t know is that the young guy I had just passed was waiting for me on the beach. I knew I was in trouble when I saw that he had put his white T-shirt over his head and was ever so carefully timing his walk towards the water with my speed. When he got closer to the water, I started running up near the top of the beach (there was really nowhere else I could go, I had to pass him one way or another). It all happened very quickly, but I knew I was screwed and he came toward me pointing to his wrist like he wanted the time. I knew he didn´t want the time. SHIT! He ran up to me and pointed at my arm - ¨iPod iPod!¨ I shouted no! and he pulled out a knife. I hardly remember what happened, but I just pulled the iPod off and threw it. I know I should just be grateful that he didn´t hurt me, but I´m still feeling angry, frustrated, and completly violated. Ahhhhhhhh!

I knew this ¨lesson¨ was coming in one way or another, but when it happens it´s still a bitch. So, I went to the police station with my guide and filed a report. They had me looking at pictures on a computer...I couldn´t tell you what he looked like - he had a freakn´T-shirt on his head and he looked like every other really tanned Peruvian in board shorts. They were pretty incompetent and Alberto, our guide, told me that even if they found the guy and the iPod, they would just keep it and sell it for a couple bucks. Makes you appreciate the cops at home a bit more!

So in addition to being really bitter, I haven´t done much but eat a little lunch with the group. I think we´re off to the beach now and one of the guys in offering to help me see if I can get up on a surfboard. I think I´ll just take it easy, try to forget about today, and leave my troubles behind during our 10-12 hour travel day tomorrow. What can you do?.....

Bienvenido a Peru!

Hey Party People!
Greetings from the small beach town of Mancora, Peru. I´m currently sitting in a small internet cafe, a tiny bit more tanned (thank God!), covered in sand, and I can´t feel my forearms or fingers because I just played beach volleyball with some Polish peeps. It´s always funny when the only common language you have is Spanish! haha. But I´m very relaxed and content, which is more than I can say for my last couple days in Ecuador.

Let´s see...where did I leave off? Ah, yes...near death in Banos. So to celebrate life, I went out with Tasha, my roomie from the UK. The town of Banos is so small that the only people out were the guides and other suckers we met rafting. I played pool with our guide, Diego, and lucky for me he was just a little worse than I am...which is really really bad. haha. So after 6 or 7 games we finally called it quits and I claimed victory! Not that I´m competitive at all!! Afterward we went to a place called Leprechaun Bar and danced a little. I really have NO rythm when it comes to Salsa, but merengue is a bit easier...I´ll have to work on that!

So, I don´t know if it´s the altitude or what, but everytime I drink anything it kicks my ass. The next day during our 12 hour bus ride on a rented ¨school bus¨ (kill me!), I felt so terrible. I had a fever and chills and all my muscles and joints ached from the crazy biking, rafting, and galloping around. The seats were honestly smaller than most airplane seats and I thought I was going to die. The only positive thing that came out of the experience is that the folks sitting next to me talked about movies for 4 hours and I made a list of about 40 films to see when I get back. Maybe I´ll post my list so you can check out some Aussie and Kiwi films too!

So my time in Cuenca was mostly spent trying to get my temperature down (whoo hoo!), but I did manage to walk to a really nice little restaurant and have a traditional Ecuadorian meal before I left the country. And the city itself had some beautiful colonial architecture, which I enjoyed taking photos of. But our time there was short and then we were off for 12 MORE hours yesterday on public bus to the border, and then a van (which we crammed ALL our luggage and 20 people in. I really didn´t even think it was possible, but if there is a will there really is a way! That is a lesson I´m learning here in South America). Here it is common to see an entire family of 4 (parents and 2 kids) on a single motorcyle. It´s hilarious and scary at the same time. I also got to use the rope that I randomly brought (as suggested on the onebag.com site). My roommate had been making fun of me for having rope, but it came in handy when all our bags were strapped to the top of the van with one small piece of nylon string! And I used my door stop on the bus to stop a rattling window. Just call me Gringa MacGyver! smile.

So last night and today we spent in Mancora. I spent the entire day at the beach (we´re not going to have many beach days on this trip!) and for lunch had my first true Peruvian Ceviche, which is a dish of raw white fish served with red onions and lime juice (and yam and yuca or corn on the side). The fish is really fresh and the acids from the lime juice cook it slightly. I have been looking forward to having this dish for a long time, and it didn´t disappoint! I also tried the local beer, Pilsen, and to top it all off, had a sip of Pisco Sour..you know, just to warm up to Peru. smile. I likey so far and look forward to more! Maybe I´ll try surfing tomorrow...

Chévere! (= cool)

Cara