By the time I left Colombia I was really glad to go. I have had an amazing time travelling through Central and South America over the last 5 months but it really was time to go.
On my way from my good mate's house in Bogota Colombia to the airport, I was sitting in a cab having a series of massive flashbacks from my trip and it was like a silent movie flashing before my eyes. Its hard for me to describe now but all the amazing things I did and saw and felt and experienced and tasted just ran through my mind in about 5 minutes and gave me the most intense emotional rush. Just thinking about it now makes my stomach go funny.
I thought about the first time Jodie and I took the subway in Santiago, Chile. We knew how to ask "How much?" in Spanish but couldnt understand the response so would just hand our purse to the chick in the ticket booth while she shook her head and took out the correct (?) change
We met Chris from New Orleans in Valporaiso and he saved us from being scammed at the bus station. I still feel indebted to him and wont forget him.
Studying Spanish in Bariloche, Argentina and the penny dropping quicker than I though. Meeting Jim and Eion and doing my homework with Jim in the hostel.
Everything in Buenos Aires. People that would change my life. Santi, Maxy, Nikki, Leila... it became The Festival of the Like Minded Souls and would reduce me to a crying mess when it was time to leave.
Iguassu Falls made me realise how insignificant I really am.
Christ the Redeemer made me realise how immense the power of religion really is. The music of Brazil, my mates from Switzerland and Germany, Marco and Magnus. The 4 of us were an unlikely team that spent an amazing week together. Best quote came from Magnus during a 2am dip in the pool one 35 degree night. He was pissing me off in some form so I swam over to get him and he screamed in his thick Bavarian accent "Oh no! Big Skippy is coming to kill me!" The night we ate a seafood barbeque in Ilhe Grande Brazil with our feet in the sand.
Peru. The joke that was Cusco and the majesty of Machu Pichu. My last night with Jim and Eion when Eion sang "Scarborogh Fair" to me. Mountain biking through the Andes listening to Aussie hardcore on the I-Pod.
I thought Bolivia wanted to kill me and I wanted it to. In a feverish state of delerium I spent a week in a hostel bunk bed surrounded by half of England's Gap Year participants and a sweet Aussie bloke that checked on me daily. Who knew we would meet again in Colombia? Get me the fuck out of here POR FAVOR.
Mexico sees the formation of the Three Amigas: me, Jodie and Nikki. Back together again we tore it up all over Mexico, Belize and Guatemala. It was birthday season and we celebrated the best way we knew how a million miles from home.
In Belize I saw another side of life. One minute I am drinking rum punch on a yacht and the next I am at my friend's house where he has no running water, a bucket for a toilet and two rooms infested with mossies for a home. We ate delicious fish stew and watched Dreamgirls.
Hola Guatemala, what a dramatic country you are! The landscape changes around each corner so hang on to your bag and Trust in the Chicken Bus! New friends emerge as do I...the Crocodile comes into my life and I pray that he will never leave.
What follows in Central America is different to the rest of my travels. I have learnt things about myself that at 32 I thought were obselete. I navigated my way around a new language, a handful of countries and a new relationship. It was sometimes trying, always colourful, eternally memorable.
What happens next remains a question mark but I will continue the journey now and upon my return home.
Special thanks goes to all the amazing people I met while travelling. You know who you are. I wish I could tattoo my memories all over my body to give them an image for the outside to see.
I also want to thank Granny Tate who watched out for me the whole time, protected me and kept me safe while my backpacking colleagues were robbed, bitten by dogs, had scorpions in the hostel room, bed bugs in their bunk, encounters with Colombian Guerrillas and Brazilian ladyboys. Thanks Gran!
Alright kids, signing off for the last time but to my devoted 7 readers, you can check out the new blog that will give you an insight into my adventures in the United States here www.bageltalk.blogspot.com
Thursday, October 2, 2008
Monday, September 8, 2008
Fuck I am bored
I am waiting for a plane.
It leaves in 5 hours.
There is nothing to do in Panama City except go to giant malls, eat in the food court and buy shit you dont need.
The Crocodile and I have been sitting in the gutter outside the hostel, drinking a 60c beer, watching the clock until we can go to the airport. He is downloading songs off the internet and dancing for me in the street.
This is the downside of travelling. The waiting around, taking some crap bus somewhere known as ¨Fuckland¨, getting to another crap place and 12 hours later arriving at your destination tired, irritable, hungry and sweaty. Its taking cold showers for 3 months straight, getting an intestine infection from eating street food and being eaten by mosquitos. There are many things to complain about on the road.
But you know what?
Beats working!
Happy Birthday Sal. Today my beautiful sister is the ripe old age of 25. I wish I was there to celebrate with you Tatey. Actually, I wish you were here to celebrate with ME!!!
More to come when we hit Colombia.
Vamos!
It leaves in 5 hours.
There is nothing to do in Panama City except go to giant malls, eat in the food court and buy shit you dont need.
The Crocodile and I have been sitting in the gutter outside the hostel, drinking a 60c beer, watching the clock until we can go to the airport. He is downloading songs off the internet and dancing for me in the street.
This is the downside of travelling. The waiting around, taking some crap bus somewhere known as ¨Fuckland¨, getting to another crap place and 12 hours later arriving at your destination tired, irritable, hungry and sweaty. Its taking cold showers for 3 months straight, getting an intestine infection from eating street food and being eaten by mosquitos. There are many things to complain about on the road.
But you know what?
Beats working!
Happy Birthday Sal. Today my beautiful sister is the ripe old age of 25. I wish I was there to celebrate with you Tatey. Actually, I wish you were here to celebrate with ME!!!
More to come when we hit Colombia.
Vamos!
Monday, September 1, 2008
LATE TATE UPDATE
Wow, just realised its been a month since I wrote last! This is a good thing - means I am having way too much fun to reflect on my journey. It also means a slow and expensive internet connection.
So the summary of the last month is as follows:
I have been in 4 countries in the last 5 weeks including Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua and Costa Rica. Tomorrow I am going to Panama and am heading south to Columbia and then back to Argentina. This is totally the wrong way ie. I should be going to Europe. But the head is not in control anymore people (was it ever?) ...
In the last 5 weeks I have learnt many things:
1. I am not a scuba diver. The end of the Breathing Underwater story is that I went diving, could do everything except enjoy being underwater. Think of being in a coffin and being burried alive. Thats how I felt diving. Nope, no mas, not for me...
2. How to ride a motorbike. Yay! Lots of fun, even if it was only in a paddock.
3. How to drive a 4WD off road in a foreign country. Another awesome experience!
4. That seeing whales in the wild is one of the most breathtaking experiences ever.
5. Costa Ricans are easily the friendliest of the Central American people
6. That I miss my mates and my family back home, but I dont miss home.
7. How much I admire my new friends that I have met while travelling. Shout outs to Chris in New Orleans who is waiting for Hurrican Gustav to hit. If you want to read something really interesting then check his blog www.ridingitout.blogspot.com Also, big love to El as to he continues his journey...
and a million tiny things that no one will find interesting!
Have lots more to write about but this place is fucking expensive and there is a crazy guy abusing his girlfriend in Spanish on Skype!!!!
So the summary of the last month is as follows:
I have been in 4 countries in the last 5 weeks including Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua and Costa Rica. Tomorrow I am going to Panama and am heading south to Columbia and then back to Argentina. This is totally the wrong way ie. I should be going to Europe. But the head is not in control anymore people (was it ever?) ...
In the last 5 weeks I have learnt many things:
1. I am not a scuba diver. The end of the Breathing Underwater story is that I went diving, could do everything except enjoy being underwater. Think of being in a coffin and being burried alive. Thats how I felt diving. Nope, no mas, not for me...
2. How to ride a motorbike. Yay! Lots of fun, even if it was only in a paddock.
3. How to drive a 4WD off road in a foreign country. Another awesome experience!
4. That seeing whales in the wild is one of the most breathtaking experiences ever.
5. Costa Ricans are easily the friendliest of the Central American people
6. That I miss my mates and my family back home, but I dont miss home.
7. How much I admire my new friends that I have met while travelling. Shout outs to Chris in New Orleans who is waiting for Hurrican Gustav to hit. If you want to read something really interesting then check his blog www.ridingitout.blogspot.com Also, big love to El as to he continues his journey...
and a million tiny things that no one will find interesting!
Have lots more to write about but this place is fucking expensive and there is a crazy guy abusing his girlfriend in Spanish on Skype!!!!
Tuesday, August 12, 2008
Breathing Underwater
is what I am about to do for the first time in one hour when I hit the water for my Open Water Dive Course! I am in Utila, Honduras at the moment, another idyllic island paradise with crystal clear water, white sand and a laid back pace...I have always wanted to dive but have always been too scared, so now the reality is upon me that I am doing it!
I hit Honduras with a bang a few days ago. We made the trip from Guatemala across the border, stopping for food at a street side buffet where I ate beans and rice, eggs and tortillas. I dont know if it was that or just a virus but 6 hours later I was driving the porcelain bus in my hotel room, violently throwing up with extreeeeme stomach cramps. I love the human body. It really has a beautiful way of telling you the truth about whats going on inside...I am recovered but it took a couple of days. But now I am here and I am feeling good again, although its farking hot and humid and does nothing for my hair.
I should write more now but I have to go get ready to dive! Wish me luck...
I hit Honduras with a bang a few days ago. We made the trip from Guatemala across the border, stopping for food at a street side buffet where I ate beans and rice, eggs and tortillas. I dont know if it was that or just a virus but 6 hours later I was driving the porcelain bus in my hotel room, violently throwing up with extreeeeme stomach cramps. I love the human body. It really has a beautiful way of telling you the truth about whats going on inside...I am recovered but it took a couple of days. But now I am here and I am feeling good again, although its farking hot and humid and does nothing for my hair.
I should write more now but I have to go get ready to dive! Wish me luck...
Friday, August 1, 2008
I feel the Earth. Move. Under my Feet.
Actually, when there was a tremor in Antigua 2 nights ago I didnt feel a thing because it was 3 am and I was asleep.
But the next day, my teacher had a lengthy conversation with me in Spanish about the Earthquake that hit Guatemala in 1976. It registered at 7.5 on the richter scale and when it hit, 25 000 people died in their sleep as their houses fell down around their ears. The rest of the people ran out into the street to hear every dog in the area howling and going nuts, while in the sky, stars were falling through the sky one after the other after the other...everyone ran to the market to see if the other people were ok. The ones that were OK helped the ones that werent, bringing them blankets, making them food and generally providing aid to anyone that needed it. For 2 months, people were too scared to return to their houses as their were big aftershocks every couple of days, so they all set up camp in the streets, making make shift tents, bringing guitars and drums out to play to keep the spirits of the people up and making frijoles and rice for anyone that needed food. No one looted, no one took a thing from anyone´s house although the doors were left wide open and the walls had holes in them.
Here, I feel way more connected to nature and Pacha Mama than ever before (Mother Earth). I have climbed a live volcano, swum in hot waterfalls and with sharks and manterrays in crystal clear ocean, taken boat rides through the jungle, climbed ancient ruins and seen amazing sunsets and sunrises. While all this happening, I realise I am in the hands of nature and have no choice but to ask Pacha to protect me and watch out for me. Sounds a bit hessian I know, but she is alive and well and when humanity wants to fuck around, she always has the last say...
I only hope that in the case of something like the Quake of 76 happening in our own country we could stick together as a community and not rob and kill each other as it was in New Orleans when Hurricane Katrina hit...
In other more positive news, today I read my first fairy tale in Spanish. It was called ¨Recitos de Oro y los tres oros.¨ You probably know it as Goldilocks and the three bears. Yew!!!!
But the next day, my teacher had a lengthy conversation with me in Spanish about the Earthquake that hit Guatemala in 1976. It registered at 7.5 on the richter scale and when it hit, 25 000 people died in their sleep as their houses fell down around their ears. The rest of the people ran out into the street to hear every dog in the area howling and going nuts, while in the sky, stars were falling through the sky one after the other after the other...everyone ran to the market to see if the other people were ok. The ones that were OK helped the ones that werent, bringing them blankets, making them food and generally providing aid to anyone that needed it. For 2 months, people were too scared to return to their houses as their were big aftershocks every couple of days, so they all set up camp in the streets, making make shift tents, bringing guitars and drums out to play to keep the spirits of the people up and making frijoles and rice for anyone that needed food. No one looted, no one took a thing from anyone´s house although the doors were left wide open and the walls had holes in them.
Here, I feel way more connected to nature and Pacha Mama than ever before (Mother Earth). I have climbed a live volcano, swum in hot waterfalls and with sharks and manterrays in crystal clear ocean, taken boat rides through the jungle, climbed ancient ruins and seen amazing sunsets and sunrises. While all this happening, I realise I am in the hands of nature and have no choice but to ask Pacha to protect me and watch out for me. Sounds a bit hessian I know, but she is alive and well and when humanity wants to fuck around, she always has the last say...
I only hope that in the case of something like the Quake of 76 happening in our own country we could stick together as a community and not rob and kill each other as it was in New Orleans when Hurricane Katrina hit...
In other more positive news, today I read my first fairy tale in Spanish. It was called ¨Recitos de Oro y los tres oros.¨ You probably know it as Goldilocks and the three bears. Yew!!!!
Thursday, July 31, 2008
The Greenest Lights
Its a great day.
My friend Moran has come back to Antigua to take me to Semuc Champey this weekend.
I got my tax return from my accountant and it seems I wont be coming home right away.
My cold is improving rapidly.
I am having full conversations with people in Spanish.
Life is good!
I miss my little bro. If you´re reading this say "ho!"
My friend Moran has come back to Antigua to take me to Semuc Champey this weekend.
I got my tax return from my accountant and it seems I wont be coming home right away.
My cold is improving rapidly.
I am having full conversations with people in Spanish.
Life is good!
I miss my little bro. If you´re reading this say "ho!"
Tuesday, July 29, 2008
Positve Mental Attitude
Nothing really to say right now, just a few things that made me smile in the last couple of days:
- Being able to hold full conversations in spanish despite still sounding like a child
- Waking up and looking out the window to see the volcano
- Sunsets over the volcano
- Falling asleep to the sound of reggae
- Reuniting with Luis
- Missing new friends after only meeting them once
- Charging my Ipod
- Having dreams about mums house in Newcastle. I can be there without having to be there!
- Joel El Bombero coming back from Semuc Champey
I have 5 more days of school left and then I am off again. To where, I have no idea. One part of me thinks I will go to Honduras to see the Copan Ruins and then to dive in the Bay Islands. The other part of me wants to see some more of Guatemala. I will stay open and be prepared to see the signs telling me which way to go.
BTW, in Antigua, its too hot for teeshirts but too cold for singlets. What then, I ask you, is the answer!!!!!!!!?!?!?!
Saturday, July 26, 2008
The curse of introspection
The best thing about travelling alone is that you have to be more outgoing in order to meet people. You talk to people more than usual, you go to places with complete strangers, you look after people´s stuff for them, you share food, its all very communal and cool. But when thats all done and dusted and there is only you, you start thinking....
I think thinking too much about yourself and your life is one of the greatest burdens we can create for ourselves. It achieves nothing, it wastes valuable braincells and it creates a feeling of inertia that is completely disempowering. Since travelling by myself I have been thinking way too much about everything and coming up with nothing. So I have been writing in my journal lots, smashing some stuff out in the blog, continuing to write bad poetry and above all, am trying to live in the moment, enjoy my beautiful surroundings in Antigua and the people that I have in my life.
Already I have a little family here in Antigua. Its nice to know the people around you and to be able to speak with them in spanish. I have been having great conversations with Jeremy who is 6 and is the hostel owners son. I guess because my spanish is equivelent to that of a 6 year old we are quite compatible. He tells me about school, his teacher, his girlfriend and sometimes I have no idea what the hell he is talking about but he is so damn cute I just nod and say si si si!!! So I am well taken care of, am feeling tranquilo and am using my brain for the first time in months it seems...
In a week it will be time to move on. To where, I dont know...how I am getting there, no idea...the question mark remains but with the sense of anticipation that good things await!
More later...
I think thinking too much about yourself and your life is one of the greatest burdens we can create for ourselves. It achieves nothing, it wastes valuable braincells and it creates a feeling of inertia that is completely disempowering. Since travelling by myself I have been thinking way too much about everything and coming up with nothing. So I have been writing in my journal lots, smashing some stuff out in the blog, continuing to write bad poetry and above all, am trying to live in the moment, enjoy my beautiful surroundings in Antigua and the people that I have in my life.
Already I have a little family here in Antigua. Its nice to know the people around you and to be able to speak with them in spanish. I have been having great conversations with Jeremy who is 6 and is the hostel owners son. I guess because my spanish is equivelent to that of a 6 year old we are quite compatible. He tells me about school, his teacher, his girlfriend and sometimes I have no idea what the hell he is talking about but he is so damn cute I just nod and say si si si!!! So I am well taken care of, am feeling tranquilo and am using my brain for the first time in months it seems...
In a week it will be time to move on. To where, I dont know...how I am getting there, no idea...the question mark remains but with the sense of anticipation that good things await!
More later...
Tuesday, July 22, 2008
Doesnt matter if you´re black or white...
Alot has happened since my last post...its been almost three weeks and things really have changed!
So backtracking a bit..
After my awesome birthday party, we went to Rio Dulce, a small town on the river about 7 hours from Antigua in Guatemala. We only spent a day and a night there but in that time went to an amazing waterfall that consisted of 12 meters of cascading hot water into a cold rock pool. Amazing!
From Rio Dulce we took a serene and beautiful boat trip to the small town of Livingstone, home of the Garifuna people and my new friends Luis, Steven, Stewart etc from the band. A tiny place, it was so friendly, had great food and music, more beautiful waterfalls, beaches and good vibes...loved it!
I was keen to cross the border and get into Belize. I knew basically nothing about Belize before this trip except it is the only place in Central America that has English as its first langauage. It was weird to suddenly be understood again after 4 months of bad Spanglish and hand gestures to get us by.
We hit Belize City and were met with friendly faces and helpful people. One in particular was really nice to me as soon as we arrived, helped me to find a cheap beer and gave me some tips on where to go on the island of Caye Caulker, our destination. Kenroy Elijioh turned out to be one of those rare people that I like to label Friends For Life.
Caye Caulker is a gorgeous tropical island 45 minutes from Belize City on boat. It has white sand for streets and is surrounded by sparkling blue water. Great seafood, great snorkelling, yumy coconut rum drinks, and some of the worst racism we have encountered on our trip so far.
Here, when a white girl hangs out with a black guy it means two things. The black guy is with the girl because she is rich and the white girl is with the guy for sex (sorry if my dad is reading this). But thats the stereotype and no amount of One People mentality is going to change it. I spent a lot of time with Kenroy in the time we were there: walking around town, eating fish burgers, watching TV with him, going to the club, it was awesome. But I was so aware of the stares we got, the comments in Creole that the guys made about us (blah blah White Girl blah blah), the looks from the neighbours when I would go to his house....I talked with the girls about it and made the point that I would never refer to the guys on the island as Black Boy so what was the difference? The worst case of it was at the club when we were all dancing, me and Jodie, Kenroy and his friends when one of the guys he knew wanted to dance with Jodie. She declined politely because she was having fun doing her own thing. His mates blew up and started dissing her, talking about her in Creole. A little later one of the guys asked me when she was leaving the island because they dont want people "like her" to be there. To that I say such double standards my friend, how are we ever going to repair the wrong doings of our ancestors if its 2008 and we are still thinking in terms of colours???
By the time we left I was glad to go. I know my skin is white and I am privileged in many ways because of it. I take things for granted that other people have to worry about...I dont get stopped on the street and asked for ID by the police, I dont get frisked when I walk into nightclubs, just some of the things I have seen happen here.
But racism seems so fucking antiquated a concept...its up there with the abortion debate...is it really an issue anymore?
I guess until we have equality, it is.
So backtracking a bit..
After my awesome birthday party, we went to Rio Dulce, a small town on the river about 7 hours from Antigua in Guatemala. We only spent a day and a night there but in that time went to an amazing waterfall that consisted of 12 meters of cascading hot water into a cold rock pool. Amazing!
From Rio Dulce we took a serene and beautiful boat trip to the small town of Livingstone, home of the Garifuna people and my new friends Luis, Steven, Stewart etc from the band. A tiny place, it was so friendly, had great food and music, more beautiful waterfalls, beaches and good vibes...loved it!
I was keen to cross the border and get into Belize. I knew basically nothing about Belize before this trip except it is the only place in Central America that has English as its first langauage. It was weird to suddenly be understood again after 4 months of bad Spanglish and hand gestures to get us by.
We hit Belize City and were met with friendly faces and helpful people. One in particular was really nice to me as soon as we arrived, helped me to find a cheap beer and gave me some tips on where to go on the island of Caye Caulker, our destination. Kenroy Elijioh turned out to be one of those rare people that I like to label Friends For Life.
Caye Caulker is a gorgeous tropical island 45 minutes from Belize City on boat. It has white sand for streets and is surrounded by sparkling blue water. Great seafood, great snorkelling, yumy coconut rum drinks, and some of the worst racism we have encountered on our trip so far.
Here, when a white girl hangs out with a black guy it means two things. The black guy is with the girl because she is rich and the white girl is with the guy for sex (sorry if my dad is reading this). But thats the stereotype and no amount of One People mentality is going to change it. I spent a lot of time with Kenroy in the time we were there: walking around town, eating fish burgers, watching TV with him, going to the club, it was awesome. But I was so aware of the stares we got, the comments in Creole that the guys made about us (blah blah White Girl blah blah), the looks from the neighbours when I would go to his house....I talked with the girls about it and made the point that I would never refer to the guys on the island as Black Boy so what was the difference? The worst case of it was at the club when we were all dancing, me and Jodie, Kenroy and his friends when one of the guys he knew wanted to dance with Jodie. She declined politely because she was having fun doing her own thing. His mates blew up and started dissing her, talking about her in Creole. A little later one of the guys asked me when she was leaving the island because they dont want people "like her" to be there. To that I say such double standards my friend, how are we ever going to repair the wrong doings of our ancestors if its 2008 and we are still thinking in terms of colours???
By the time we left I was glad to go. I know my skin is white and I am privileged in many ways because of it. I take things for granted that other people have to worry about...I dont get stopped on the street and asked for ID by the police, I dont get frisked when I walk into nightclubs, just some of the things I have seen happen here.
But racism seems so fucking antiquated a concept...its up there with the abortion debate...is it really an issue anymore?
I guess until we have equality, it is.
Friday, July 11, 2008
Birthday Wrap Up
In the events industry, we live by two things. The Run Schedule and the Wrap Up. Despite being out of my job for almost 8 months now, I cant help but think that sometimes these two tools are vital to most activities and events.
I turned 32 the other day and have to say, despite being as old as the hills, I had the best birthday I think of my life and experienced a feeling of contentment and inner peace that I havent felt in a long time.
It started on the eve of my birthday. The girls were tired and went to bed early so I sat at the bar in the hostel drinking a tequila sunrise and writing in my journal. It was a quiet night at Los Amigos with only a few people chilling out in conversation, some nice laid back tunes and just a generally cool vibe. I spent a couple of hours writing and reflecting then sat and talked with Tops for a couple of hours about his own journey to Antigua. Before opening the bar and restaurant in the hostel, he had been going through a tough time - his girlfriend of 6 years had broken up with him so he hit the booze and drugs and did his darndest to self destruct when, coming home from a party in Guatemala City one night off chops, he was mugged and assaulted to within an inch of his life. He lost his job, looked like the Elephant Man from his injuries and realised that when he needed his friends, there were none to be found..So he packed his backpack and jumped on the chicken bus to Antigua. It was there he found Macanace, the Rasta Chef extraordinaire, who had nothing but a bag and a broken guitar found in some rubbish. Together 2 lost souls came together and created one of the best bars and restaurants in Antigua. So the night before my birthday I realised I had made yet another great and special friend....what a gift!
The day of my birthday started with a bowl of cornflakes with my two girls, a visit from Luis and Stewart, and lots of love sent to me from Beautiful People Worldwide! So much love, it was amazing to think that only 3 months ago I didnt know half these people...I was then given instructions to get lost for a while so the girls could construct the party. So I went frock shopping and bought myself a bright blue dress the colour of the Guatemalan flag!
And so, the fiesta.
The party started with a huge table of party snacks. One thing they dont do here is snack platters. No dips and chips, cheese and biccies or anything like it. But, Jodie found a deli and went nuts on the food, even finding brie! Unheard of! So Nikki, Jodie, Johnny, Ari, Nina, Tops and Macanace joined us for great food and pink champagne, beautiful gift giving and generally spreading the love. I was given beautiful earrings, a necklace made of Jade, a GUATEMALA bracelet, a bottle of Argentinean red wine, a joint and condom, of which both went missing by the end of the night! HA!
After snack platters we hit the cubre libres and got the tunes going until my new crew from Livingstone turned up. This is the band I wrote about in a previous post, who quickly became my new friends despite my bad spanish. Luis, Stewart, Steven, Jessica and Juan rocked up and within minutes had the bongos and maraccas out to sing me Happy Birthday and a bunch of other tunes. It was such a beautiful gesture and I felt honoured to have these guys at the party in my life, even if only briefly. We jammed some more, drank some more, then hit the club for some Salsa and Reggaton. It was an awesome night and one of my most memorable on my trip!
So 32 and here I am in one of the most beautiful countries I have seen so far on my travels. The rest of my life seems to be just one big question mark at the moment but nothing about that scares me...its just another sign of opportunity...
I turned 32 the other day and have to say, despite being as old as the hills, I had the best birthday I think of my life and experienced a feeling of contentment and inner peace that I havent felt in a long time.
It started on the eve of my birthday. The girls were tired and went to bed early so I sat at the bar in the hostel drinking a tequila sunrise and writing in my journal. It was a quiet night at Los Amigos with only a few people chilling out in conversation, some nice laid back tunes and just a generally cool vibe. I spent a couple of hours writing and reflecting then sat and talked with Tops for a couple of hours about his own journey to Antigua. Before opening the bar and restaurant in the hostel, he had been going through a tough time - his girlfriend of 6 years had broken up with him so he hit the booze and drugs and did his darndest to self destruct when, coming home from a party in Guatemala City one night off chops, he was mugged and assaulted to within an inch of his life. He lost his job, looked like the Elephant Man from his injuries and realised that when he needed his friends, there were none to be found..So he packed his backpack and jumped on the chicken bus to Antigua. It was there he found Macanace, the Rasta Chef extraordinaire, who had nothing but a bag and a broken guitar found in some rubbish. Together 2 lost souls came together and created one of the best bars and restaurants in Antigua. So the night before my birthday I realised I had made yet another great and special friend....what a gift!
The day of my birthday started with a bowl of cornflakes with my two girls, a visit from Luis and Stewart, and lots of love sent to me from Beautiful People Worldwide! So much love, it was amazing to think that only 3 months ago I didnt know half these people...I was then given instructions to get lost for a while so the girls could construct the party. So I went frock shopping and bought myself a bright blue dress the colour of the Guatemalan flag!
And so, the fiesta.
The party started with a huge table of party snacks. One thing they dont do here is snack platters. No dips and chips, cheese and biccies or anything like it. But, Jodie found a deli and went nuts on the food, even finding brie! Unheard of! So Nikki, Jodie, Johnny, Ari, Nina, Tops and Macanace joined us for great food and pink champagne, beautiful gift giving and generally spreading the love. I was given beautiful earrings, a necklace made of Jade, a GUATEMALA bracelet, a bottle of Argentinean red wine, a joint and condom, of which both went missing by the end of the night! HA!
After snack platters we hit the cubre libres and got the tunes going until my new crew from Livingstone turned up. This is the band I wrote about in a previous post, who quickly became my new friends despite my bad spanish. Luis, Stewart, Steven, Jessica and Juan rocked up and within minutes had the bongos and maraccas out to sing me Happy Birthday and a bunch of other tunes. It was such a beautiful gesture and I felt honoured to have these guys at the party in my life, even if only briefly. We jammed some more, drank some more, then hit the club for some Salsa and Reggaton. It was an awesome night and one of my most memorable on my trip!
So 32 and here I am in one of the most beautiful countries I have seen so far on my travels. The rest of my life seems to be just one big question mark at the moment but nothing about that scares me...its just another sign of opportunity...
Monday, July 7, 2008
I have an idea that some men are born out of their due place.
Accident has cast them amid certain surroundings, but they have always a nostalgia for a home they know not. They are strangers in their birthplace and the leafy lanes they have known from childhood or the populous streets in which they have played, remain but a place of passage. They may spend their whole lives aliens among their kindred and remain aloof among the only scenes they have ever known .
Perhaps it is this sense of strangeness that sends men far and wide in the search for something permanent to which they may attach themselves. Perhaps some deep rooted atavism urges the wanderer back to lands which his ancestors left in the dim beginnings of history.
Sometimes a man hits upon a place which he mysteriously feels that he belongs. Here is the home he sought and he will settle amid scenes that he has never seen before, among men he has never known , as though they were familiar to him from his birth, here at last he finds rest.
Saturday, July 5, 2008
Punta!
Had a great night last which was one of those rare unique experiences I was complaining about not having a couple of posts ago.
Macanaca and I went to a club called El Pelicano last night, a teeny bar in the backstreets of Antigua. His friends band was playing and he asked me to come check it out with him. All he could tell me was it was Garifuna music which meant nothing to me but turned out to be AWESOME.
The Garifuna people are Guatemalans of Afro descent who live on the Carribean coast of Guatemala. They speak Spanish and a Mayan language called Kekchi and are just beautiful people. The band was made up of two drummers, a guy who played the shells both as a percussion instrument and to blow into like a trumpet, two singers and three hot lady punta dancers, all dressed in traditional get up, rocking it hard. I was initially really conscious of being the only white girl there but I was welcomed with open arms, was given a free shot of some crazy cherry booze and the punta chicks got me up on the floor and showed me how to shake it. Wicked fun! And I now have a total groupie crush on the drummer hahahaha!!!
So I am going back tonight.
Ha!
Macanaca and I went to a club called El Pelicano last night, a teeny bar in the backstreets of Antigua. His friends band was playing and he asked me to come check it out with him. All he could tell me was it was Garifuna music which meant nothing to me but turned out to be AWESOME.
The Garifuna people are Guatemalans of Afro descent who live on the Carribean coast of Guatemala. They speak Spanish and a Mayan language called Kekchi and are just beautiful people. The band was made up of two drummers, a guy who played the shells both as a percussion instrument and to blow into like a trumpet, two singers and three hot lady punta dancers, all dressed in traditional get up, rocking it hard. I was initially really conscious of being the only white girl there but I was welcomed with open arms, was given a free shot of some crazy cherry booze and the punta chicks got me up on the floor and showed me how to shake it. Wicked fun! And I now have a total groupie crush on the drummer hahahaha!!!
So I am going back tonight.
Ha!
Friday, July 4, 2008
All aboard the chicken bus!
We have been in Antigua Guatemala for a few days now and already it feels like home. After 11 hours on 5 chicken buses from San Cristobal to the side of a highway near Antigua, we made it into the town and met Pablo. Pablo took us to a great hostel, helped me to enrol in a good Spanish school and generally was a top bloke. Some people want to rip you off and some just want to help you...so we had a nice introduction to Antigua.
Antigua is a dramatically beautiful town surrounded by volcanoes, mountains and villages. The town is gorgeous, a bit too pretty but with enough traditional character to make it interesting. My spanish school is gorgeous and I have been spending my afternoons in the garden with my teacher, trying to get my brain to work again. But she is telling me I have potential so we will see!
We had been moving around a bit before then so its nice to be in one place again for a while to meet some people, make some friends, feel comfortable with the place. The bar at the hostel is called El Chillout and is run by two locals, Tops and Macanaca, who make great vego food and serve cheap drinks. I wake up every morning to Nina Simone and the smell of fresh coffee...ahhhh! They both helped us to celebrate Jodies birthday which was complete with firecrackers in the street! It was a wicked night and up there as one of the most memorable.
Its my birthday in a few days. I will be 32.
Fark!!!!!
Antigua is a dramatically beautiful town surrounded by volcanoes, mountains and villages. The town is gorgeous, a bit too pretty but with enough traditional character to make it interesting. My spanish school is gorgeous and I have been spending my afternoons in the garden with my teacher, trying to get my brain to work again. But she is telling me I have potential so we will see!
We had been moving around a bit before then so its nice to be in one place again for a while to meet some people, make some friends, feel comfortable with the place. The bar at the hostel is called El Chillout and is run by two locals, Tops and Macanaca, who make great vego food and serve cheap drinks. I wake up every morning to Nina Simone and the smell of fresh coffee...ahhhh! They both helped us to celebrate Jodies birthday which was complete with firecrackers in the street! It was a wicked night and up there as one of the most memorable.
Its my birthday in a few days. I will be 32.
Fark!!!!!
Monday, June 30, 2008
San Cristobal
When I was a kid, my Gran used to call me Christobel. She had a nickname for all of us kids and I liked mine...it sounded so damn sweet, sweeter than I ever was as a child a think.
So I am taking it as no coincidence that we are in a small colonial town in Mexico called San Cristobal. Its in the mountains in the heart of Mayan territory, where ancient culture has mashed up with modernity to make a nice enough town, tourist ready as it may be. There is not alot to do in the town so today we took a trip out to a small village outside of the town called San Juan Chamula.
The only thing to do in Chamula is to go to the Church. There is a market place that sells plenty of good food, jewellery, tapestries etc but the church is the main attraction. I love churches. I love the buildings, the stained glass, the tortured statues of Jesus, the heavy carved wood and their sombre quiet atmosphere. Always thought the worst thing about them was filling them with people and a priest and a bunch of bullshit rhetoric known as religious sermons. But churches I love.
This one was probably the most beautiful church I have ever seen. Its facade was covered in flowers and streamers and it was painted with bright colours. After we bought a ticket to enter (!) we went inside to see it filled with table after table of candles, glowing the most beautiful ambient light. Its walls were fillled with statues of Saints and local people worshipped their god, speaking in a low chant to Whoever. I noticed that in addition to the candles that they burnt in worship, were bottles of soft drink like Coke and Fanta, and found out that they drink this during prayer to cleanse themselves of evil. That and the addition of tour groups walking amongst the worshippers spoiled an incredibly beautiful place for me and I got out. I actually then felt like a complete voyeaur (spelling, sorry G) and wanted to get out of the village as soon as possible.
One of the things about undertaking a trip like this is sometimes I find sightseeing one of the most underwhelming experiences. Everythings been seen, everythings been done and everyone has been there before you. So the only thing unique for me are experiences with people, wether they be other travellers, local people, the shopkeepers, the beggers, the children, the friends you make for life...the rest is commercialised shit and a reflection of how far embedded into capitalism our world really is. When we were in Bolivia on Isla de Sol on Lake Titicaca, one of the girls we were travelling with asked a little girl in gorgeous traditional dress if she could take her photo. The girl, all of about 3 years old said ¨Yes but you have to pay´. She knew that she had what someone else wanted and she had become a comodity, even at her young age, in a place so remote and spookily isolated.
All I know is that when I finish this trip the things I will cherish will be the moments with the people I have met and fallen in love with. There are thousands of them. They cant be captured in any way except in my memory.
PS. Although this is a semi depressing post, I am sitting in the cosiest cafe ever. There is the smell of freshly brewed coffee, a guy singing and playing the most beautiful guitar in the background, Nikki is next to me and we are going to Antigua tomorrow.
I am so happy right now! And I am thinking of you, hoping that wherever you are, you are too...
So I am taking it as no coincidence that we are in a small colonial town in Mexico called San Cristobal. Its in the mountains in the heart of Mayan territory, where ancient culture has mashed up with modernity to make a nice enough town, tourist ready as it may be. There is not alot to do in the town so today we took a trip out to a small village outside of the town called San Juan Chamula.
The only thing to do in Chamula is to go to the Church. There is a market place that sells plenty of good food, jewellery, tapestries etc but the church is the main attraction. I love churches. I love the buildings, the stained glass, the tortured statues of Jesus, the heavy carved wood and their sombre quiet atmosphere. Always thought the worst thing about them was filling them with people and a priest and a bunch of bullshit rhetoric known as religious sermons. But churches I love.
This one was probably the most beautiful church I have ever seen. Its facade was covered in flowers and streamers and it was painted with bright colours. After we bought a ticket to enter (!) we went inside to see it filled with table after table of candles, glowing the most beautiful ambient light. Its walls were fillled with statues of Saints and local people worshipped their god, speaking in a low chant to Whoever. I noticed that in addition to the candles that they burnt in worship, were bottles of soft drink like Coke and Fanta, and found out that they drink this during prayer to cleanse themselves of evil. That and the addition of tour groups walking amongst the worshippers spoiled an incredibly beautiful place for me and I got out. I actually then felt like a complete voyeaur (spelling, sorry G) and wanted to get out of the village as soon as possible.
One of the things about undertaking a trip like this is sometimes I find sightseeing one of the most underwhelming experiences. Everythings been seen, everythings been done and everyone has been there before you. So the only thing unique for me are experiences with people, wether they be other travellers, local people, the shopkeepers, the beggers, the children, the friends you make for life...the rest is commercialised shit and a reflection of how far embedded into capitalism our world really is. When we were in Bolivia on Isla de Sol on Lake Titicaca, one of the girls we were travelling with asked a little girl in gorgeous traditional dress if she could take her photo. The girl, all of about 3 years old said ¨Yes but you have to pay´. She knew that she had what someone else wanted and she had become a comodity, even at her young age, in a place so remote and spookily isolated.
All I know is that when I finish this trip the things I will cherish will be the moments with the people I have met and fallen in love with. There are thousands of them. They cant be captured in any way except in my memory.
PS. Although this is a semi depressing post, I am sitting in the cosiest cafe ever. There is the smell of freshly brewed coffee, a guy singing and playing the most beautiful guitar in the background, Nikki is next to me and we are going to Antigua tomorrow.
I am so happy right now! And I am thinking of you, hoping that wherever you are, you are too...
Dream Reading
We have been in Mexico for a few days now and my dreams have come back to me in full force. It seems that whenever we hit a new place my subconcious is out of control although on the surface I am calm, chilled, happy and almost without a worry in the world. And I know its boring to share dreams but its something I have done all my life and I have found some comfort in learning how to analyse them and make even the smallest amount of sense out of them.
In the dream I was in a house, on a cliff, overlooking an amazing beach. The walls were glass from floor to ceiling and I was standing there watching the huge waves breaking onto the shore. They were huge, really powerful waves, coming from nowhere, and then BOOM, smashing into the sound. I stood there, almost in a trance, watching and waiting until I saw it - a huge killer whale came from within a wave, surging upwards through the crest of the wave, then as the wave broke, it breached through the top and did a backwards dive into the ocean behind it. I was in disbelief that I saw it - and almost thought I had imagined it. Then it happened again and this time it was with more power than before. I was in the room with a faceless guy and I yelled for him to come check this out! He came over to the window and we waited until we saw the whale again. Some time passed and nothing else happened....we watched and waited....and nothing. Then someone ran from the beach up to the house and yelled out to us that a huge killer whale had beached itself on the sand and was dying and we had to come and help. I felt a huge sense of loss and panic for I knew the whale was going to die. And then I woke up.
According to dream analysis, water in dreams symbolises the emotions and the state of the water reflects the state of your emotions. So in the dream the ocean was calm and serene but with huge powerful waves that were almost scary in how strong they were. In the waves was this whale, a mystical and magical creature that to me represents something within my emotions that can immerge without warning, but that has the ability to sabotage itself within a moment. And the feeling that I had when the whale had beached itself was just sickening, like I knew it all along...
So there´s a little bit of self indulgent rambling for ya. I wrote this mainly to document the dream because it was freaky! Make of it what you will dear readers....
In the dream I was in a house, on a cliff, overlooking an amazing beach. The walls were glass from floor to ceiling and I was standing there watching the huge waves breaking onto the shore. They were huge, really powerful waves, coming from nowhere, and then BOOM, smashing into the sound. I stood there, almost in a trance, watching and waiting until I saw it - a huge killer whale came from within a wave, surging upwards through the crest of the wave, then as the wave broke, it breached through the top and did a backwards dive into the ocean behind it. I was in disbelief that I saw it - and almost thought I had imagined it. Then it happened again and this time it was with more power than before. I was in the room with a faceless guy and I yelled for him to come check this out! He came over to the window and we waited until we saw the whale again. Some time passed and nothing else happened....we watched and waited....and nothing. Then someone ran from the beach up to the house and yelled out to us that a huge killer whale had beached itself on the sand and was dying and we had to come and help. I felt a huge sense of loss and panic for I knew the whale was going to die. And then I woke up.
According to dream analysis, water in dreams symbolises the emotions and the state of the water reflects the state of your emotions. So in the dream the ocean was calm and serene but with huge powerful waves that were almost scary in how strong they were. In the waves was this whale, a mystical and magical creature that to me represents something within my emotions that can immerge without warning, but that has the ability to sabotage itself within a moment. And the feeling that I had when the whale had beached itself was just sickening, like I knew it all along...
So there´s a little bit of self indulgent rambling for ya. I wrote this mainly to document the dream because it was freaky! Make of it what you will dear readers....
Thursday, June 26, 2008
Hellllooooo Central America!
So we have been in Mexico for three days and so far so good!
We started off by reuniting with our good mate Nikki from Brighton, who we met first in Chile, then in Argentina and now in Mexico. Its great to be back together! Our introduction to Mexico was via Mexico City, a massive city which we barely saw. But we did meet 2 hot Dutchmen and managed to have some cold beers and good conversation with before we took off...
We have a rough itinerary planned - a loop through Mexico, Guatemala and Belize, following some recommendations from our Irish brothers Jim and Eoin. Its fucking hot and humid like you wouldnt believe - there is steam instead of air. We are getting curious looks from the locals but not in an intimidating way which is cool.
I managed to make a full recovery from my bout of tonsilitis and am back on the good food, lots of fruit and vegetarian burritos. Are these good for you? I dont care! Thing is I am back in the saddle and ready to throw myself into travelling again..think I just needed a break...
This is a boring post!
xxx
We started off by reuniting with our good mate Nikki from Brighton, who we met first in Chile, then in Argentina and now in Mexico. Its great to be back together! Our introduction to Mexico was via Mexico City, a massive city which we barely saw. But we did meet 2 hot Dutchmen and managed to have some cold beers and good conversation with before we took off...
We have a rough itinerary planned - a loop through Mexico, Guatemala and Belize, following some recommendations from our Irish brothers Jim and Eoin. Its fucking hot and humid like you wouldnt believe - there is steam instead of air. We are getting curious looks from the locals but not in an intimidating way which is cool.
I managed to make a full recovery from my bout of tonsilitis and am back on the good food, lots of fruit and vegetarian burritos. Are these good for you? I dont care! Thing is I am back in the saddle and ready to throw myself into travelling again..think I just needed a break...
This is a boring post!
xxx
Sunday, June 22, 2008
The Return to Llama
I never realised how happy I would be to arrive in Lima. Up there as one of the more forgettable cities in South America, I didnt think I would be overjoyed to get back. But after 27 hours on the bus and getting ripped off 20 Sols by a dodgy cab driver, we arrived at the Red Psycho Llama to see half the people we met there the first time. It was great to see Jimmy from Manchester, Aviv from Israel and the super friendly local staff. Good times!!!
Long bus rides leave you frazzled and dazed. After that long in one spot you dont know if you are hungry, tired, restless, energetic, thirsty, relieved or angry. You are mostly stinky and dehydrated. On my bus trip I came up with a fresh top ten list. Just call me Christy Lettermen.
Top 10 things you actually did on a 24 bus ride
1. After putting off going to toilet for 5 hours, get the nerve to brave the rank banos, squat above the seat then fall off and head butt the door when the driver takes a corner
2. Watch incredible sunsets over magnificent Peruvian mountain ranges
3. At the border crossing, walk from Bolivia into Peru then check your passport, realise that Bolivia has stamped you as exiting in 2018 and have to walk back to get restamped
4. Plan the set list for your bands imagined reunion
5. Eat the rice around the wrinkly chicken in the free dinner
6. Jump for joy when you get the chance to get out at the servo for a leg stretch, then try to ask the guy next to you in Spanish where the bus is going and is it coming back to get us when the bus drives away
7. Get back on the bus and resolve to never get off again at servos
8. Eat an entire packet of Oreos and then feel like vomiting except the banos are so gross its not an option
9. Read the first four pages of 100 Years of Solitude again
10. Imagine yourself in Mexico in 24 hours
And thats the current sich my friends. I am tired and my body hurts but I am about to watch the football with my new old Llama crew and awake refreshed and ready to roll.
Long bus rides leave you frazzled and dazed. After that long in one spot you dont know if you are hungry, tired, restless, energetic, thirsty, relieved or angry. You are mostly stinky and dehydrated. On my bus trip I came up with a fresh top ten list. Just call me Christy Lettermen.
Top 10 things you actually did on a 24 bus ride
1. After putting off going to toilet for 5 hours, get the nerve to brave the rank banos, squat above the seat then fall off and head butt the door when the driver takes a corner
2. Watch incredible sunsets over magnificent Peruvian mountain ranges
3. At the border crossing, walk from Bolivia into Peru then check your passport, realise that Bolivia has stamped you as exiting in 2018 and have to walk back to get restamped
4. Plan the set list for your bands imagined reunion
5. Eat the rice around the wrinkly chicken in the free dinner
6. Jump for joy when you get the chance to get out at the servo for a leg stretch, then try to ask the guy next to you in Spanish where the bus is going and is it coming back to get us when the bus drives away
7. Get back on the bus and resolve to never get off again at servos
8. Eat an entire packet of Oreos and then feel like vomiting except the banos are so gross its not an option
9. Read the first four pages of 100 Years of Solitude again
10. Imagine yourself in Mexico in 24 hours
And thats the current sich my friends. I am tired and my body hurts but I am about to watch the football with my new old Llama crew and awake refreshed and ready to roll.
Friday, June 20, 2008
Top Ten Things to Do on a 24 Hour Bus Trip
in no particular order..
1. Make new playlists on your Ipods around Themes and Genres. ie. Love Jams, Hip Hop, Angry Music, Dance in your seat, Stay Awake so you dont miss the stop, Go to Sleep you are delerious
2. Try to write in your journal but it can end up as scribble depending on the road
3. Daydream about anything and everything
4. Breathe on the window and write si si si! in the condensation
5. Plait bits of your hair
6. Read the Lonely Planet again
7. Try to read "100 Years of Solitude" but decide you are too dumb
8. Write bad poetry, like really bad
9. Eat Lays or equivelent snack food
10. Try to sleep but unless youre riding cama you have no chance
1. Make new playlists on your Ipods around Themes and Genres. ie. Love Jams, Hip Hop, Angry Music, Dance in your seat, Stay Awake so you dont miss the stop, Go to Sleep you are delerious
2. Try to write in your journal but it can end up as scribble depending on the road
3. Daydream about anything and everything
4. Breathe on the window and write si si si! in the condensation
5. Plait bits of your hair
6. Read the Lonely Planet again
7. Try to read "100 Years of Solitude" but decide you are too dumb
8. Write bad poetry, like really bad
9. Eat Lays or equivelent snack food
10. Try to sleep but unless youre riding cama you have no chance
Leaving La Paz
When I first arrived in La Paz I actually can say that I hated it. I called it "a wretched god forsaken hell hole". Now that we are leaving tomorrow, I am almost in love with the place. Thats an exageration but you know what I mean...
La Paz contains the rankest smells my nostrils have ever encountered. In one block, you can get whiff of piss, barbecued off meat, shoe polish, diesel, dog shit, ciggies and more piss. Near the bus station is especially wrong. A simple task like going to get a bus ticket leaves you dry reaching and covering your mouth with your sleeve. Truly foul.
Doesnt help that I have spent my time in the city being sick with tonsilitis. After three days of being delerious in my bunk, sweating the house down and listening to my Ipod not knowing if it was day or night, the Doc came to visit me and told me in a Spanglish that I had pustules on my tonsils. Yummy! So he gave me some drugs and I am almost completely fixed.
But when I eventually got out of bed and started talking to people in the hostel, I realised I was surrounded by other sick travellers. Most had stomach bugs from the food - the usual complaint of vomitting and diaroeah (how do you spell that word?!?!) One guy had an intestinal parasite that he caught in the jungle. Get this. The parasite lays eggs which get into food, you eat the food and the eggs get into your throat which gives you a sore throat. Then a couple of days later the lavae lodge in your lungs so you get a chest infection. And THEN, the little sucker is born in your stomach, eats all your food and gives you horrendous vomitting, diaraoahe (thats obviously wrong spelling) and stomach cramps. This poor guy had his little friend for over ten days!!! I am not joking!!!
Anyway, I have missed out on seeing Bolivia and I cant say that I would be back in a hurry. But today when I was cruising around the Witches Markets, I thought how much I really dig the place. The Witches Markets are especially cool. Its just one street with a lot of old ladies (witches?) selling weird stuff like dried llama foetuses, coca leaves, amulets, potions, candles and other stuff that we travellers would have no idea about. But if I lived here I would make friends with a witch and get her to teach me everything I know.
Tomorrow we get back into our backpacks and onto the bus for 24 hours to go to Lima. After one night of sleep and passionfruit pisco sours we will be in Mexico. To think we are already leaving South America after three months is hard to contemplate. But I have already decided to come back, with my goal being to get back to Argentina. I left my heart in Buenos Aires and need to go get it.
I am more homesick for BA than for Sydney, hands down. I miss everything about it. I miss drinking mate with Santi and Maxi, medialunas for breakfast, dulce de leche, Quilmes beer, San Telmo, Plaza de Mayor, football, the flag and just cruising around the city. I miss empanadas, old waiters in bow ties, the carteneros hard at work, the architecture, the kids, tango music, the list goes on and on...
So the next part of my journey will involve Mexico, Guatemala, Belize, hopefully the rest of Central America and a series of bus rides from hell to take me from the top of South America back to Buenos Aires. Things could change of course, but for now, thats the plan... and I really need to go back to study Spanish. I am getting better at Spanish all the time but feel like I am getting dumber and dumber by the day!!!
La Paz contains the rankest smells my nostrils have ever encountered. In one block, you can get whiff of piss, barbecued off meat, shoe polish, diesel, dog shit, ciggies and more piss. Near the bus station is especially wrong. A simple task like going to get a bus ticket leaves you dry reaching and covering your mouth with your sleeve. Truly foul.
Doesnt help that I have spent my time in the city being sick with tonsilitis. After three days of being delerious in my bunk, sweating the house down and listening to my Ipod not knowing if it was day or night, the Doc came to visit me and told me in a Spanglish that I had pustules on my tonsils. Yummy! So he gave me some drugs and I am almost completely fixed.
But when I eventually got out of bed and started talking to people in the hostel, I realised I was surrounded by other sick travellers. Most had stomach bugs from the food - the usual complaint of vomitting and diaroeah (how do you spell that word?!?!) One guy had an intestinal parasite that he caught in the jungle. Get this. The parasite lays eggs which get into food, you eat the food and the eggs get into your throat which gives you a sore throat. Then a couple of days later the lavae lodge in your lungs so you get a chest infection. And THEN, the little sucker is born in your stomach, eats all your food and gives you horrendous vomitting, diaraoahe (thats obviously wrong spelling) and stomach cramps. This poor guy had his little friend for over ten days!!! I am not joking!!!
Anyway, I have missed out on seeing Bolivia and I cant say that I would be back in a hurry. But today when I was cruising around the Witches Markets, I thought how much I really dig the place. The Witches Markets are especially cool. Its just one street with a lot of old ladies (witches?) selling weird stuff like dried llama foetuses, coca leaves, amulets, potions, candles and other stuff that we travellers would have no idea about. But if I lived here I would make friends with a witch and get her to teach me everything I know.
Tomorrow we get back into our backpacks and onto the bus for 24 hours to go to Lima. After one night of sleep and passionfruit pisco sours we will be in Mexico. To think we are already leaving South America after three months is hard to contemplate. But I have already decided to come back, with my goal being to get back to Argentina. I left my heart in Buenos Aires and need to go get it.
I am more homesick for BA than for Sydney, hands down. I miss everything about it. I miss drinking mate with Santi and Maxi, medialunas for breakfast, dulce de leche, Quilmes beer, San Telmo, Plaza de Mayor, football, the flag and just cruising around the city. I miss empanadas, old waiters in bow ties, the carteneros hard at work, the architecture, the kids, tango music, the list goes on and on...
So the next part of my journey will involve Mexico, Guatemala, Belize, hopefully the rest of Central America and a series of bus rides from hell to take me from the top of South America back to Buenos Aires. Things could change of course, but for now, thats the plan... and I really need to go back to study Spanish. I am getting better at Spanish all the time but feel like I am getting dumber and dumber by the day!!!
Sunday, June 15, 2008
On Hostel Life
One of the biggest influences in your life while travelling is hostel life. It can make you or break you. It can be better than home or your worst nightmare. It can have cold showers, stale bread for breakfast, rude staff and bed bugs. Or it can be so much fun you think you could live there.
Some of the incidents that have occured in hostels that remain most memorable for me are:
*Last night I woke up in the middle of the night to a guy vomitting in bed on the top bunk, like fully throwing up all over himself. So I put him in the recovery position and ran out to get some guys to help me sort him out. They dragged him out of bed, threw him in the shower then made him another bed and tucked him back in. Some people are too young to travel I swear. And most of these kids are funded by their parents!
*Shagging in a mixed dorm. Happened to us 3 nights in a row. People going at it with 10 other bodies in the room. Even after we screamed at them to get out they still went at it. Gross.
*Sleep walking, sleep talking...had a guy piss on my backpack in the middle of the night when he was sleepwalking. I was sound asleep and didnt know about it til the morning. Same with sleep talking in German. Creepy.
Thats pretty much the worst of it. Mind you we have had some amazing hostel experiences including:
*Organising Nikki´s birthday party on the rooftop of Hostel Estoril in Buenos Aires. A massive success!
*Pool party in Rio at 2am. It was boiling hot so we jumped in the pool and they opened the bar! Nice!
*Hot showers in La Paz. Unheard of!
By the way, I am currently in La Paz, Bolivia, and I have the flu which sucks. But i am hitting the vitamins and have found a health food cafe called 100% Natural which serves amazing food for about $1. So I am taking it easy until we get the hell out of here and get to Mexico.
Underlay underlay!!!!
Some of the incidents that have occured in hostels that remain most memorable for me are:
*Last night I woke up in the middle of the night to a guy vomitting in bed on the top bunk, like fully throwing up all over himself. So I put him in the recovery position and ran out to get some guys to help me sort him out. They dragged him out of bed, threw him in the shower then made him another bed and tucked him back in. Some people are too young to travel I swear. And most of these kids are funded by their parents!
*Shagging in a mixed dorm. Happened to us 3 nights in a row. People going at it with 10 other bodies in the room. Even after we screamed at them to get out they still went at it. Gross.
*Sleep walking, sleep talking...had a guy piss on my backpack in the middle of the night when he was sleepwalking. I was sound asleep and didnt know about it til the morning. Same with sleep talking in German. Creepy.
Thats pretty much the worst of it. Mind you we have had some amazing hostel experiences including:
*Organising Nikki´s birthday party on the rooftop of Hostel Estoril in Buenos Aires. A massive success!
*Pool party in Rio at 2am. It was boiling hot so we jumped in the pool and they opened the bar! Nice!
*Hot showers in La Paz. Unheard of!
By the way, I am currently in La Paz, Bolivia, and I have the flu which sucks. But i am hitting the vitamins and have found a health food cafe called 100% Natural which serves amazing food for about $1. So I am taking it easy until we get the hell out of here and get to Mexico.
Underlay underlay!!!!
Thursday, June 5, 2008
Woohoo we are in Peru!
and its fucking FRIO (cold)!
We arrived in Cusco a couple of days ago which is the town closest to Macchu Pichu. Basically its an ancient little town infested by tourists all gearing up to go to Macchu Pichu, us included. We are staying in a hostel that is pretty cool to look at - its a 450 year old monestary and is now one of the most successful hostels in South America. It has a huge bar, all meals and its very own coke dealer who visits the bar every happy hour and sells cocaine to all the kids. I would love to know how many young gringos go home with a coke habit after using cocaine that sells for 2 US dollars a gram!!!! Jodie and I are complete nanas at this place but its probably a good thing to get some early nights before we do our 4 days jungle trek to Macchu Pichu this weekend. Si si si people, you hear right, I am going to haul my ass up a series of mountains to see this beautiful wonder of the world...wish me luck!
We arrived in Cusco a couple of days ago which is the town closest to Macchu Pichu. Basically its an ancient little town infested by tourists all gearing up to go to Macchu Pichu, us included. We are staying in a hostel that is pretty cool to look at - its a 450 year old monestary and is now one of the most successful hostels in South America. It has a huge bar, all meals and its very own coke dealer who visits the bar every happy hour and sells cocaine to all the kids. I would love to know how many young gringos go home with a coke habit after using cocaine that sells for 2 US dollars a gram!!!! Jodie and I are complete nanas at this place but its probably a good thing to get some early nights before we do our 4 days jungle trek to Macchu Pichu this weekend. Si si si people, you hear right, I am going to haul my ass up a series of mountains to see this beautiful wonder of the world...wish me luck!
Sunday, June 1, 2008
There is an alien in my stomach...
but its ok as we are learning to live with each other. I remember when I arrived a girl I met who had been travelling for 9 months said "All my insides hurt". At the time I thought that was an awful admission but now I realise its just part of the journey. You eat so much shit food, food from cheap cafes, food from bus stations, food from street vendors and after a while food is nothing more than sustenance, with flavour, taste or goodness of no importance. Having said that I have eaten some AMAZING food but you only appreciate that when you have the alien doing somersaults in your guts then exploding out of your ass like an Olympic diver. Sorry but thats just how it is...
Another interesting thing about travelling is how generally I cant stand Australians on the road. I have met heaps of them and am friendly enough to them but overall I dont want to hang out with them, go out with them or be anywhere near them. While I consider myself to be a fairly proud Australian, I cringe when I hear their broad accents, their bad Spanish, their loud laughs or when I see their excessive drinking and their western arrogance. Behind every Australian traveller, me included, is a quiet smugness that we get to go home to clean air, drinkable water, a good job, a nice house, our mates and our family. While we love our adventures on the road, some of us are still wincing when we see poverty and hunger, we hurt when we see kids addicted to crack, when we see disabled people lying in their own shit in the street. We are comforted by the fact that people in OUR country dont have to live like that, that there are services for these poor souls and we are just better off...but whats the point of travelling the world if you just continue to think with that "for we are young and free" attitude? When a street kid in lapa sat next to me, moved closer and then put her head in my lap and fell asleep I didnt feel ok about being an Australian back packer, with my cheap beer in hand. I felt helpless, hopeless and disempowered. And no amount of money or freedom could change that. I let her sleep until a mad woman came up to me and screamed at me in Portuguese so we moved on....
The cogs are starting to turn again people...I think I will write more often...
Another interesting thing about travelling is how generally I cant stand Australians on the road. I have met heaps of them and am friendly enough to them but overall I dont want to hang out with them, go out with them or be anywhere near them. While I consider myself to be a fairly proud Australian, I cringe when I hear their broad accents, their bad Spanish, their loud laughs or when I see their excessive drinking and their western arrogance. Behind every Australian traveller, me included, is a quiet smugness that we get to go home to clean air, drinkable water, a good job, a nice house, our mates and our family. While we love our adventures on the road, some of us are still wincing when we see poverty and hunger, we hurt when we see kids addicted to crack, when we see disabled people lying in their own shit in the street. We are comforted by the fact that people in OUR country dont have to live like that, that there are services for these poor souls and we are just better off...but whats the point of travelling the world if you just continue to think with that "for we are young and free" attitude? When a street kid in lapa sat next to me, moved closer and then put her head in my lap and fell asleep I didnt feel ok about being an Australian back packer, with my cheap beer in hand. I felt helpless, hopeless and disempowered. And no amount of money or freedom could change that. I let her sleep until a mad woman came up to me and screamed at me in Portuguese so we moved on....
The cogs are starting to turn again people...I think I will write more often...
Friday, May 30, 2008
Reflections in Rio
Well firstly, sorry to my 4 readers about being offline for a while...I looked back at my last post which was while I was still in Buenos Aires which was weeks ago!
We ended up staying 3 weeks in BA in total and changed our flights twice so we could stay longer. It was worth it. We met the most awesome bunch of people and just got into a groove of living the life of los portenos! The main thing that happened to me there was that I made 2 beautiful new friends - Santiago and Maxi who I think have changed me forever. In fact, the thought of living without them is completely depressing and something I dont even want to think about. Santi taught me a lot about Argentina, about the psyche of the people and why they are the way they are. We were good for each other in that we provoked a lot of thoughts in each other which maybe we hadnt thought about in some time...sounds a bit heavy and intense? Damn straight it was! And although there was no action or romance between the two of us, when we had to say goodbye I cried all the to Iguassu Falls which was 2 hours away...we are forming such intense friendships with some of our fellow travellers that sometimes I dont want to meet anyone else so I dont have to say goodbye to them!!!
So after visiting Iguassu Falls or as I like to call them "A shitload of water", we arrived in Rio de Janiero! Woohoo! It was by far the most magnificent city I have been to and the richest in culture, music and overall vibe. We stayed in Ipanema for a few days being touristic scum, tanning on the beach, drinking fresh coconuts and generally enjoying the safety of this rich neighborhood. We did a lot of sight seeing and some of the things we did were so awe inspiring I cant even put it into words. Most of them made me scream "I have dreamed of this moment!!!" they were that good...
Once we found our feet in Rio we moved to Santa Teresa, a more local and poor barrio of the city. Santa Teresa is also right next to Lapa which was a wicked little neighborhood, full of great food, drinks, music, hotties and the Friday night street party. We got to experience one of the cities best samba clubs as well as just taking in the street culture which in itself was awesome...despite everything I have heard about travelling in Rio and Brazil and ho dangerous it is, I found the Cariocas to be such beautiful, friendly and open people ever!!! They are always smiling and laughing and enjoying life, embracing new people and getting the most out of life!
We are now enjoying the last few days of sunshine and beaches on Ilhe Grande, a gorgeous island 2 hours from Rio before we go to Sao Paulo so we can fly to Lima Peru!
This is where the real South America will really reveal itself...
We ended up staying 3 weeks in BA in total and changed our flights twice so we could stay longer. It was worth it. We met the most awesome bunch of people and just got into a groove of living the life of los portenos! The main thing that happened to me there was that I made 2 beautiful new friends - Santiago and Maxi who I think have changed me forever. In fact, the thought of living without them is completely depressing and something I dont even want to think about. Santi taught me a lot about Argentina, about the psyche of the people and why they are the way they are. We were good for each other in that we provoked a lot of thoughts in each other which maybe we hadnt thought about in some time...sounds a bit heavy and intense? Damn straight it was! And although there was no action or romance between the two of us, when we had to say goodbye I cried all the to Iguassu Falls which was 2 hours away...we are forming such intense friendships with some of our fellow travellers that sometimes I dont want to meet anyone else so I dont have to say goodbye to them!!!
So after visiting Iguassu Falls or as I like to call them "A shitload of water", we arrived in Rio de Janiero! Woohoo! It was by far the most magnificent city I have been to and the richest in culture, music and overall vibe. We stayed in Ipanema for a few days being touristic scum, tanning on the beach, drinking fresh coconuts and generally enjoying the safety of this rich neighborhood. We did a lot of sight seeing and some of the things we did were so awe inspiring I cant even put it into words. Most of them made me scream "I have dreamed of this moment!!!" they were that good...
Once we found our feet in Rio we moved to Santa Teresa, a more local and poor barrio of the city. Santa Teresa is also right next to Lapa which was a wicked little neighborhood, full of great food, drinks, music, hotties and the Friday night street party. We got to experience one of the cities best samba clubs as well as just taking in the street culture which in itself was awesome...despite everything I have heard about travelling in Rio and Brazil and ho dangerous it is, I found the Cariocas to be such beautiful, friendly and open people ever!!! They are always smiling and laughing and enjoying life, embracing new people and getting the most out of life!
We are now enjoying the last few days of sunshine and beaches on Ilhe Grande, a gorgeous island 2 hours from Rio before we go to Sao Paulo so we can fly to Lima Peru!
This is where the real South America will really reveal itself...
Tuesday, April 29, 2008
¨Every day´s a school day...
is a saying that I have picked up from my good friend Oein from Ireland. And its so true...
We have been in Buenos Aires for over a week now and already feel completely at home here. The hostel is gorgeous and the staff have all become like our family already. We have met up with our new bestie Nikki from Brighton who we have become so close with already. Along with Robin from Holland, we are just another crew of like minded people happy to have found each other..
BA is an incredible city, the 8th largest in the world. Its all things a big city should be: dirty, polluted, busy and bustling but with another undercurrent of a dark history and a struggle that continues each day.
One of the first things you notice is the rubbish. Each night, all the restaurants and shops put their rubbish onto the street to be collected which is when an entire populace of scavengers come out. They rip open the bags and rifle through the trash to find anything recyclable or that can be traded for cash, a beer bottle for example can get you 2 pesos (75cAUS). I have seen entire families riffling through rubbish at 3am, a little baby asleep in his mothers arms as she throws junk onto the street. The worst thing is that they then leave it everywhere and rubbish lays all over the street until the morning. Its heartbreaking to see this industry at work but I am sure its barely the worst of the poverty we will see...
Today we did a historical walking tour of the city which was extremely educational. I learnt more about Argentina´s history in a few hours than I would in months of living here. We went to see where Eva Peron´s body was embalmed for three years before being kidnapped and moved all over the city. I didnt really know anything about Evita before this so it was amazing to hear all about her influence in Argentina. The old man from the museum was talking to us in Spanish about Eva and the guides translated for us but he kept really looking at me in the eyes while he spoke and I could feel the emotion he had for Eva and the people she fought for. It was totally moving and I was in tears by the end! We also learnt alot about the Dirty War in which thousands of Argentines ¨disappeared¨ and were tortured and murdered before their bodies were thrown into the river. Dark times in Argentina´s history but one I could relate to with the recent resurgence of the Stolen Generation issues around Kevin 07´s apology. I have told quite a few Argentines about the apology which they have thought was amazing and a great first step in the healing of the past wrong doings of a nation...
Its not all sadness however. We have been ripping it up in the clubs, enjoying frozen mojitos in bars and huge steak dinners which have been the best ever (the pasta has been great too!) I got addicted to empanadas briefly which are baked pastries, filled with deliciousness like queso y cebolla (cheese and onion) or verdura (spinach). So cheap and tasty but so so bad for you! I think I will be a ten tonne tessy by the time I return... the food interests me more and more. Not so much the food but the culture around the food. Bread and jam for breakfast, bread with salt sprinkled on not butter, salad with boiled egg, pizza with ten times the cheese you would usually expect, more empanadas, NO fresh vegies, NO asian food and NO spicy food!!! Bland!!!! Aaarrggh!!! And the men, dont even get me started...I have had no love from the local men, i think because they are all 5 foot and skinny and I am like an amazonian next to them. They are loving Jodie however so when we go out i am like her body guard hahaha! They do have amazing dreamy brown eyes however..
We are here for another week and then go to Iguassu Falls followed by Rio. As much as I am loving the South American cities, I am desparate to get to Peru, Bolivia and Columbia which are by all accounts the real diamonds of South America.
Until next time...
We have been in Buenos Aires for over a week now and already feel completely at home here. The hostel is gorgeous and the staff have all become like our family already. We have met up with our new bestie Nikki from Brighton who we have become so close with already. Along with Robin from Holland, we are just another crew of like minded people happy to have found each other..
BA is an incredible city, the 8th largest in the world. Its all things a big city should be: dirty, polluted, busy and bustling but with another undercurrent of a dark history and a struggle that continues each day.
One of the first things you notice is the rubbish. Each night, all the restaurants and shops put their rubbish onto the street to be collected which is when an entire populace of scavengers come out. They rip open the bags and rifle through the trash to find anything recyclable or that can be traded for cash, a beer bottle for example can get you 2 pesos (75cAUS). I have seen entire families riffling through rubbish at 3am, a little baby asleep in his mothers arms as she throws junk onto the street. The worst thing is that they then leave it everywhere and rubbish lays all over the street until the morning. Its heartbreaking to see this industry at work but I am sure its barely the worst of the poverty we will see...
Today we did a historical walking tour of the city which was extremely educational. I learnt more about Argentina´s history in a few hours than I would in months of living here. We went to see where Eva Peron´s body was embalmed for three years before being kidnapped and moved all over the city. I didnt really know anything about Evita before this so it was amazing to hear all about her influence in Argentina. The old man from the museum was talking to us in Spanish about Eva and the guides translated for us but he kept really looking at me in the eyes while he spoke and I could feel the emotion he had for Eva and the people she fought for. It was totally moving and I was in tears by the end! We also learnt alot about the Dirty War in which thousands of Argentines ¨disappeared¨ and were tortured and murdered before their bodies were thrown into the river. Dark times in Argentina´s history but one I could relate to with the recent resurgence of the Stolen Generation issues around Kevin 07´s apology. I have told quite a few Argentines about the apology which they have thought was amazing and a great first step in the healing of the past wrong doings of a nation...
Its not all sadness however. We have been ripping it up in the clubs, enjoying frozen mojitos in bars and huge steak dinners which have been the best ever (the pasta has been great too!) I got addicted to empanadas briefly which are baked pastries, filled with deliciousness like queso y cebolla (cheese and onion) or verdura (spinach). So cheap and tasty but so so bad for you! I think I will be a ten tonne tessy by the time I return... the food interests me more and more. Not so much the food but the culture around the food. Bread and jam for breakfast, bread with salt sprinkled on not butter, salad with boiled egg, pizza with ten times the cheese you would usually expect, more empanadas, NO fresh vegies, NO asian food and NO spicy food!!! Bland!!!! Aaarrggh!!! And the men, dont even get me started...I have had no love from the local men, i think because they are all 5 foot and skinny and I am like an amazonian next to them. They are loving Jodie however so when we go out i am like her body guard hahaha! They do have amazing dreamy brown eyes however..
We are here for another week and then go to Iguassu Falls followed by Rio. As much as I am loving the South American cities, I am desparate to get to Peru, Bolivia and Columbia which are by all accounts the real diamonds of South America.
Until next time...
Sunday, April 20, 2008
Bye Bye Barry Barry Lochi!!
So we have been here 9 days and once again, have grown very attached to the beautiful town of Barilcohe Argentina. Much like a ski town, Bariloche sits on a gorgeous lake and is surrounded by majestic mountains which in winter have amazing ski slopes for snow bunny fun. We have done a one week spanish course which was good for us to not only learn the language but to have some structure in our day. I have learnt a little more but still have a long way to go! We also met a great group of people, especially Amy and our Irish roomies, Oien and Jim, our brothers and best mates in Bariloche. I have also had a great time hanging out with the elusive and overly affectionate Cameron who has been travelling for 6 years!! So it can be done!
Yesterday we took the road trip from hell. Jodie and I with our roomies hired a car and set off for the Siete Lago trip / the Seven Lakes route. After a harrowing drive through the city while Jim adjusted to the left hand side drive, we set off out of town for the 4 hour scenic route. Even with the map we managed to get ridiculously lost, avoiding ALL seven lakes and found ourselves in San Marten which we were told was easily a nine hour round trip. San Marten was gorgeous though and we captured some beautiful pictures of sunset. We then took the wrong road back to Bariloche and the four of us sat in dead silence as Jim drove for 2 hours on a dirt road that wound down into the depths of dense forrest with NOTHING and NOONE around us. I could just see the headlines FOUR TOURISTS FOUND FROZEN IN HIRE CAR. Nevertheless, we eventually made it back to Bariloche at 10pm and all our mates were waiting for us with beers and pizza! Woohoo! Never been so excited in my life. We then told everyone what happened and laughed our heads off at the retardedness of what we had done. Ha, all in a day in the life of a backpacker I guess...
So tonight is our last night here and we are going out for a delicious dinner to celebrate. Once again, we face the sadness of saying goodbye to our new friends as we go our separate ways on our journeys. Its hard but a small price to pay for having found such great people who in time you will meet again.
Tomorrow night we fly to Buenos Aires and I am so pumped for it. We have heard that stories though that they eat dinner at midnight and dont go out til 2 or 3am. How are two old nanas from Sydney going to cope with this extrrreeeeeme party culture. I'll let you know next entry.
Ciao for now chicos!
Yesterday we took the road trip from hell. Jodie and I with our roomies hired a car and set off for the Siete Lago trip / the Seven Lakes route. After a harrowing drive through the city while Jim adjusted to the left hand side drive, we set off out of town for the 4 hour scenic route. Even with the map we managed to get ridiculously lost, avoiding ALL seven lakes and found ourselves in San Marten which we were told was easily a nine hour round trip. San Marten was gorgeous though and we captured some beautiful pictures of sunset. We then took the wrong road back to Bariloche and the four of us sat in dead silence as Jim drove for 2 hours on a dirt road that wound down into the depths of dense forrest with NOTHING and NOONE around us. I could just see the headlines FOUR TOURISTS FOUND FROZEN IN HIRE CAR. Nevertheless, we eventually made it back to Bariloche at 10pm and all our mates were waiting for us with beers and pizza! Woohoo! Never been so excited in my life. We then told everyone what happened and laughed our heads off at the retardedness of what we had done. Ha, all in a day in the life of a backpacker I guess...
So tonight is our last night here and we are going out for a delicious dinner to celebrate. Once again, we face the sadness of saying goodbye to our new friends as we go our separate ways on our journeys. Its hard but a small price to pay for having found such great people who in time you will meet again.
Tomorrow night we fly to Buenos Aires and I am so pumped for it. We have heard that stories though that they eat dinner at midnight and dont go out til 2 or 3am. How are two old nanas from Sydney going to cope with this extrrreeeeeme party culture. I'll let you know next entry.
Ciao for now chicos!
Thursday, April 10, 2008
Lessons in Valpariso
So we have been in Valpo Chile for close to 5 days now, almost a full week in Chile! I am in love with this town. Its completely gorgeous, kind of looks like Richie Valenz is going to jump out at any time. It is on the coast, a harbour town like Newcastle but full of bohemians. We got off the bus at the bus station and as soon as you get off the bus, there are people everywhere trying to get you to go with them to hostels, taxis etc. We met the lovely Chris from Chicago, a fluent spanish speaker who took us on the bus to a hostel run by a family, Eduardo and his mum. The house is in the old part of town and is really cool. As soon as we got here we formed a little gang with some other great travellers. Together we have been doing everything together, walking around town, getting some food, going out at night. Eduardo has taken us to some great little local bars, a salsa club, and last night we went to see Chris play a gig at a funky student type bar called El Pajarito (The Little Bird). So we have been lucky to see the other side of town as well as the touristy stuff...
One of the downfalls of being a tourist is that there are so many theifs and today we met our first...
The hostel has been packed to the brim with people and this morning I opened the door for a few girls who came to check in. There was a guy with them asking about accom but everyone was busy with other guests. He was a Chileno guy, very well dressed and polite. Problem was when I went to take a shower he locked himslef in our room and grabbed Jodies camera from her bag. The boys chased himout but didnt catch him. We have become so comfy in the hostel, which is the family home of Eduardo and his mum, we have been very relaxed about our stuff and not locking the door. Nothing else happened or was taken but it was pretty fucked for Jodie to lose her camera. So then the police came over and took us to the police station where Chris translated our statement so Jodie could get a police report. He is our hero!!! The police were very nice and even dropped us home. I felt so bad because I let this little fucker into the house but he was a true con man. It was a good learning experience for me and we are both fine. They say you can basically kiss your camera goodbye in South America and it seems this is true because Barry (the lovely Irishman) had his passport, mobile and wallet on the bed but they took his piece of shit broken camera instead!!!!
Anyway it was good to have this experience straight up because now our senses are more acute and we are more aware of this kind of stuff. I am not freaked out about it because it seems its just a part of life here as everyone is so poor. They look at us and see dollar signs simple as that...
We leave for Bariloche Argentina on Saturday where we are studying Spanish for a week. I am really excited about this but I am already sad to leave Chile!!
Favourite Chilean beer: Escudo
Favourite Chilean food: Seafood empanada
Favourite Football team: ColoColo
Favourite saying: Si claro (yeah right)
Favourite way to travel: Escolar, a wooden box type thing that pulls you up the hill, a bit like a really dodgy version of the Scenic Railway
Favourite Chilean met so far: Titi, the housekeeper at the hostel who scared the thief off by shrieking in him in spanish then called Chris and Eduardo to go and get him. Then we managed to communicate with her that one camera had been stolen and how it all happened.
One of the downfalls of being a tourist is that there are so many theifs and today we met our first...
The hostel has been packed to the brim with people and this morning I opened the door for a few girls who came to check in. There was a guy with them asking about accom but everyone was busy with other guests. He was a Chileno guy, very well dressed and polite. Problem was when I went to take a shower he locked himslef in our room and grabbed Jodies camera from her bag. The boys chased himout but didnt catch him. We have become so comfy in the hostel, which is the family home of Eduardo and his mum, we have been very relaxed about our stuff and not locking the door. Nothing else happened or was taken but it was pretty fucked for Jodie to lose her camera. So then the police came over and took us to the police station where Chris translated our statement so Jodie could get a police report. He is our hero!!! The police were very nice and even dropped us home. I felt so bad because I let this little fucker into the house but he was a true con man. It was a good learning experience for me and we are both fine. They say you can basically kiss your camera goodbye in South America and it seems this is true because Barry (the lovely Irishman) had his passport, mobile and wallet on the bed but they took his piece of shit broken camera instead!!!!
Anyway it was good to have this experience straight up because now our senses are more acute and we are more aware of this kind of stuff. I am not freaked out about it because it seems its just a part of life here as everyone is so poor. They look at us and see dollar signs simple as that...
We leave for Bariloche Argentina on Saturday where we are studying Spanish for a week. I am really excited about this but I am already sad to leave Chile!!
Favourite Chilean beer: Escudo
Favourite Chilean food: Seafood empanada
Favourite Football team: ColoColo
Favourite saying: Si claro (yeah right)
Favourite way to travel: Escolar, a wooden box type thing that pulls you up the hill, a bit like a really dodgy version of the Scenic Railway
Favourite Chilean met so far: Titi, the housekeeper at the hostel who scared the thief off by shrieking in him in spanish then called Chris and Eduardo to go and get him. Then we managed to communicate with her that one camera had been stolen and how it all happened.
Sunday, April 6, 2008
Day 2 Santiago
So we arrived in Santiago yesterday. After an uncomfortable plane trip and scary incident of a man collapsing and me having to yell out for hosties, we got a taxi to the hostel. On the way through Santiago we just sat there in silence, taking it all in. As with most airports, we travelled through a really poor neighborhood to get into the city and it was amazing to see how these people live. It comes as no surprise that there is a perception that of crime in Latin America when tourists have so much money they they openly flaunt without even knowing it.
So we met the charming and vivacious Darcy from New York at the Hostel and instantly hit it off. She is an incredible 23 year old who has been travelling South America for 6 months alone. We were both overwhelmed by our new surroundings and the lack of language so Darcy was an amazing orientation to the city. We walked to dinner to a cool part of town called Barrio de Belle Vista and while getting lost, watched Darcy approach complete strangers in the most confident and friendly of fashion, even getting us an escort by two cute park cleaners on pushies who wanted to walk with us to make sure we were safe. We also met the Mayor of a small town in Argentina! We eventually made it and had a great night together, eating, drinking and talking. A friend for life already made...
Today we felt much more confident and walked back to Bella Vista for a look in the day, went to the Zoo which was full of families. The children and babies here are SO CUTE it is just unbelievable. Big brown eyes and brown hair and speaking spanish in little squeaky voices. Ohhhhhhh! We then headed further downtown, had lunch, looked around and rode the subway back. We know about 15 words of Spanish which is more than yesterday and are picking it up. We still have no idea what people are saying to us but can at least tell them that!
Now back at the hostel for siesta, chilling out, working out what we will do tonight. Tomorrow we are heading and hour and a half away to Valparaiso, a bohemian beach town that is meant to be very cool.
Your spanish lesson for the day:
Donde esta el baño por favor? Where is the bathroom please
Soltare = single as in, I am ...
So we met the charming and vivacious Darcy from New York at the Hostel and instantly hit it off. She is an incredible 23 year old who has been travelling South America for 6 months alone. We were both overwhelmed by our new surroundings and the lack of language so Darcy was an amazing orientation to the city. We walked to dinner to a cool part of town called Barrio de Belle Vista and while getting lost, watched Darcy approach complete strangers in the most confident and friendly of fashion, even getting us an escort by two cute park cleaners on pushies who wanted to walk with us to make sure we were safe. We also met the Mayor of a small town in Argentina! We eventually made it and had a great night together, eating, drinking and talking. A friend for life already made...
Today we felt much more confident and walked back to Bella Vista for a look in the day, went to the Zoo which was full of families. The children and babies here are SO CUTE it is just unbelievable. Big brown eyes and brown hair and speaking spanish in little squeaky voices. Ohhhhhhh! We then headed further downtown, had lunch, looked around and rode the subway back. We know about 15 words of Spanish which is more than yesterday and are picking it up. We still have no idea what people are saying to us but can at least tell them that!
Now back at the hostel for siesta, chilling out, working out what we will do tonight. Tomorrow we are heading and hour and a half away to Valparaiso, a bohemian beach town that is meant to be very cool.
Your spanish lesson for the day:
Donde esta el baño por favor? Where is the bathroom please
Soltare = single as in, I am ...
Wednesday, February 13, 2008
The Countdown is on!
Back to the world of blogging! I love it!
My last blog Salad Days ended with a countdown so it is only fitting that this one begins with one.
I am heading overseas in approximately 7 weeks and there is a shit load of stuff to do. On the list is set up some sort of online thing that I can record my trip and also have my mates take a look at when they are bored. Fuck Facebook, this is the real deal and is a medium I have always felt comfortable with.
While we are on the subject of Crackbook, the reason I am so anti is that as much as I love technology, I am actually an old school kind of girl and "online social networking" is ruining people's ability and even need to communicate with each other. If you want to give me a poke, well do it properly! The people in my hood don't even say hello to each other in the street so how come they are all 'poking' each other online?
Anyway, so lots to do before I go and once I do, I want to record it all. Nothing worse than receiving group "Wish you were here!" emails from your mate in Uzbekistan who is having a raging good time while you are at work, slogging away at the same old stuff, drinking Nescafe and watching the clock until you can leave.
So if you care to log on every now and again to stay up to date with Tate, please do.
Plus, this will give me something to do late at night when I am watching David Letterman and listening to the bats outside doing - whatever it is that bats do in trees...
Today is Valentines Day. If you could have anyone in the world as your Valentine today, who would it be?
For me its a tough contest between Jonas Armstrong and K-Rudd.
Remember: Love is a verb. Love is a doing word.
My last blog Salad Days ended with a countdown so it is only fitting that this one begins with one.
I am heading overseas in approximately 7 weeks and there is a shit load of stuff to do. On the list is set up some sort of online thing that I can record my trip and also have my mates take a look at when they are bored. Fuck Facebook, this is the real deal and is a medium I have always felt comfortable with.
While we are on the subject of Crackbook, the reason I am so anti is that as much as I love technology, I am actually an old school kind of girl and "online social networking" is ruining people's ability and even need to communicate with each other. If you want to give me a poke, well do it properly! The people in my hood don't even say hello to each other in the street so how come they are all 'poking' each other online?
Anyway, so lots to do before I go and once I do, I want to record it all. Nothing worse than receiving group "Wish you were here!" emails from your mate in Uzbekistan who is having a raging good time while you are at work, slogging away at the same old stuff, drinking Nescafe and watching the clock until you can leave.
So if you care to log on every now and again to stay up to date with Tate, please do.
Plus, this will give me something to do late at night when I am watching David Letterman and listening to the bats outside doing - whatever it is that bats do in trees...
Today is Valentines Day. If you could have anyone in the world as your Valentine today, who would it be?
For me its a tough contest between Jonas Armstrong and K-Rudd.
Remember: Love is a verb. Love is a doing word.
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