Today we did a touristy adventure. We went on a walking tour of the Recoleta neighborhood. We walked in a church. I am tired of churches. I am tired of gold leaf. I am tired of religious art work. Then we went into the cementary. MORE DEAD THINGS! It was at least a nice and not as creepy cemetary. We saw where Eva Peron, Evita is burried. There are huge tombes for many people. Sarah and I began being inconsiderate and choosing which ones we wanted to be burried in and why.
Then we went to an Argentina version of IKEA. That was a lot of fun. But I couldn´t justify buying candle holders that I could find at home. So I didn´t. I wanted to though.
Next we went to a giant flower sculpture called the Floralis Generica. It is a giant metal sculpture that opens its petals in the daytime, and supposedly closes them at night. It was huge. Pretty nifty sculpture.
Then we walked accross the street and went to an art museum called Museo National De Bellas Artes. It had so many famous painters in the museum. I was in shock at some of them. Especially since the museum let you take some pctures. It was fantastic. I really liked some of the paintings. I also liked that I have seen original famous works.
For dinner we went to our friends Anna and Nobertos house. We met this couple in the Galapagos. They made us empanadas. It was a lot of fun. We struggled through some of the conversations but managed t get by pretty well. When we left, they had given us a key to their apartment in Uruguay. We leave tomorrow.
05/06/2008
Monday, May 26, 2008
Buenos Aires Day 1
Today we arrived in Argentina. We were at the airport and getting ready to leave. We were bombarded by taxis, as usual, Sarah flipped out and went back inside. We know that we always get screwed over on our first taxi ride in a new place. She realized that and we went back outside and proceeded to get ripped off again. We were taken to our hostel and had to share a dorm with a girl from France. Tomorrow we might get a private room.
We decided to go shopping today. We are in Argentina, so it is time to look for some quality leather goods. We went down a main shopping street and mostly did window shopping. It was a pretty relaxed day.
At night we went back to the hostel and drank in the bar. It was a grand ol time. When I finally came to bed, both Sarah and the French girl were sleeping. Durring the night I was awaken by the French girl screaming and about to suffocate Sarah who was snoring. I am use to Sarah snoring and listen to my Ipod at night, but htis girl was not. I honestly tought she was going to have a break down and suffocate Sarah by morning.
05/05/2008
We decided to go shopping today. We are in Argentina, so it is time to look for some quality leather goods. We went down a main shopping street and mostly did window shopping. It was a pretty relaxed day.
At night we went back to the hostel and drank in the bar. It was a grand ol time. When I finally came to bed, both Sarah and the French girl were sleeping. Durring the night I was awaken by the French girl screaming and about to suffocate Sarah who was snoring. I am use to Sarah snoring and listen to my Ipod at night, but htis girl was not. I honestly tought she was going to have a break down and suffocate Sarah by morning.
05/05/2008
Santiago Day 14
I arrived in Santiago really early in the morning. Had a creepy old man cab driver who kept telling me how pretty I was. I was no in the mood. I spent most of the day at the internet cafe trying to get papers organized with people at home. I am attempting to apply for a job from a different continent. This takes organization. At night Ali, Sarah and I hd bad pizza and beer and watched Blades of Glory. Tomorrow we are off to Buenos Aires!
05/04/2008
05/04/2008
Pucon Day 5
Today is rest day. We have done a lot in the last few days. It has been a blast. I love Pucon. We have a night bus tonight back to Santiago. We decided to walk through town, look at the lakes, read and relax. I even tried to give myelf a pedicure. Despite the torn up heels. I bought some postcards in town and called my mom to reassure her that I was still alive. At night it was time to catch our buses. Sarah was on a different bus since she had switched her ticket and not gone to the coast. She is very excited to be leaving Pucon because she has a massive school girl rush on German. Its a little fun to watch. But on to the bus and when we wake up we will be back in Santiago.
05/03/2008
05/03/2008
Pucon Day 4
Today I was woken up early by German. He told me it was a good day for a volcano climb. However the other people didn´t use him as a guide and I had to go with another tour in town. I was a little bummbed about that since I had heard so many great things about him. I was so tired from the night before but I stumbled up, packed my backpack. i have no idea what to bring. I had my water bottle and a little bit of breakfast. 2 bananas. Sarah was going to go to the coast today, but freaked out and changed her ticket. I took some m&ms and what I htought were chips in my bag as a snack and went with German to get my gear. On the way to the shop we heard that there was a different volcano in Chile errupting. Strange. glad it wasn´t mine.
I got to the shop and ws suited with some gear and was ready to go. I have no idea what I should bring and I though the gear they gave me was odd. The pants were a little snug, they said they fit. Oh well. We piled into the van and headed to the volcano.
Once we got there we were sent up a chairlift which cut off about 2 hours of climb time. It was so hot walking up. I was not wearing appropriate clother. I was wearing my pj pants that kept sliding up and down. We walked up for about a half and hour and took a small break. Then we walked up about another hour and took another break to put on our crampons. (Special spikes to help walk on ice and snow). The crampons made me fall behind. First, I rarely wear shoes. Anyone who knows me knows hat I usually wear flip flops. I am now wearing 10 pound boots and they have 3 pund spikes attached. Plus the boots are digging into my heels, I think I feel blood. So I go slow. We get to the part of the volcano where I can see the top.
By this time about 5 people have dropped out. I am at the back of the group. We are to take off our crampons and climb up lava rocks. No problem. Well, apparently it is. One of the guides comes over to me and tells me its not safe and I am slow and should sit and wait for everyone to go to the top and come back down. NO FREAKIN WAY! I climbed my big ass up 3/4 of this dumb volano I will get my big slow ass to the top. He was not thrilled and told me about 3 more times that it was unsafe and some people are just not fit enough to do this type of activity. SCREW HIM! I was going ot the top. I finally made it. Slow and steady...thats me. I climbed my way to the top and looked inside the crater of the active volcano Villarica.
I am exhausted. My shirt is drenched with sweat, my pants are sliding around and I am out of water and have no food. I was really prepared. Well its time to go down. I was not going to be the last one down this mountain if it killed me. So I was at the front of the line and ready to go. Going down was kinda fun. There were parts where we were able to slide on the snow and had to use our ice axe to stop us. It was interesting. Helped. I would rather slide than walk down. Plus falling in snow doesn´t hurt. We continued down the mountain and then came to the rocks. One of the nicer guides gave me his ski poles to help steady my way down the rocky parts. It helped a lot. I made it down and was not the last one. UNFIT...No...just slow...trying to enjoy the view. LOL.
My feet are killing me. i thought of taking off the boots and going barefoot.they are so heavy I can barely walk in them. Once I took them off, I had to put on my trainers to walk back to the hostel. So far I have been hiking for 8 hours up and down a volcano. 6 hours up and 2 hours down. Now I have to walk back ot my hoste. No major injuries. Sarah was glad to see. But, once I tok of my socks, I was missing about an inch of skin on ech of my heels. It was not pretty. But a price to pay to show people that if you put your mind to something, you can acheive it.
Despite the blow to my self esteem by my guide I think today was a great day! My feet hurt and I am a little tired, but, I climbed a volcano.
05/02/2008
I got to the shop and ws suited with some gear and was ready to go. I have no idea what I should bring and I though the gear they gave me was odd. The pants were a little snug, they said they fit. Oh well. We piled into the van and headed to the volcano.
Once we got there we were sent up a chairlift which cut off about 2 hours of climb time. It was so hot walking up. I was not wearing appropriate clother. I was wearing my pj pants that kept sliding up and down. We walked up for about a half and hour and took a small break. Then we walked up about another hour and took another break to put on our crampons. (Special spikes to help walk on ice and snow). The crampons made me fall behind. First, I rarely wear shoes. Anyone who knows me knows hat I usually wear flip flops. I am now wearing 10 pound boots and they have 3 pund spikes attached. Plus the boots are digging into my heels, I think I feel blood. So I go slow. We get to the part of the volcano where I can see the top.
By this time about 5 people have dropped out. I am at the back of the group. We are to take off our crampons and climb up lava rocks. No problem. Well, apparently it is. One of the guides comes over to me and tells me its not safe and I am slow and should sit and wait for everyone to go to the top and come back down. NO FREAKIN WAY! I climbed my big ass up 3/4 of this dumb volano I will get my big slow ass to the top. He was not thrilled and told me about 3 more times that it was unsafe and some people are just not fit enough to do this type of activity. SCREW HIM! I was going ot the top. I finally made it. Slow and steady...thats me. I climbed my way to the top and looked inside the crater of the active volcano Villarica.
I am exhausted. My shirt is drenched with sweat, my pants are sliding around and I am out of water and have no food. I was really prepared. Well its time to go down. I was not going to be the last one down this mountain if it killed me. So I was at the front of the line and ready to go. Going down was kinda fun. There were parts where we were able to slide on the snow and had to use our ice axe to stop us. It was interesting. Helped. I would rather slide than walk down. Plus falling in snow doesn´t hurt. We continued down the mountain and then came to the rocks. One of the nicer guides gave me his ski poles to help steady my way down the rocky parts. It helped a lot. I made it down and was not the last one. UNFIT...No...just slow...trying to enjoy the view. LOL.
My feet are killing me. i thought of taking off the boots and going barefoot.they are so heavy I can barely walk in them. Once I took them off, I had to put on my trainers to walk back to the hostel. So far I have been hiking for 8 hours up and down a volcano. 6 hours up and 2 hours down. Now I have to walk back ot my hoste. No major injuries. Sarah was glad to see. But, once I tok of my socks, I was missing about an inch of skin on ech of my heels. It was not pretty. But a price to pay to show people that if you put your mind to something, you can acheive it.
Despite the blow to my self esteem by my guide I think today was a great day! My feet hurt and I am a little tired, but, I climbed a volcano.
05/02/2008
Pucon Day 3
Today I tried to climb the volcano. It was a no go. Apparently it was too cloudy and German (Hermon) doesn´t let anyone climb when its not safe. Good thing. German also owns the hostel. He is so nice. He had come into our room late last night to let us know that we needed to lock the door. There was really heavy wind and he was affraid that the door would blow open. He tried to wake us up very gently and we didn´t seem botheres. It was really funny. There was a man in our room at some strange ohour in the morning and he was warning us. We were not phased. We should have been, but we weren´t. We got up and locked the door and went straight back to sleep.
In the morning we had a late start. I am bummbed out that I can´t go to the volcano. ALi invited me and Sarah on a bike ride with him to look at some waterfalls. It was a long ride and I didn´t want to be xhausted tomorrow if it was a better day and I could climb. So I had to say no.
I decided to go on a canopy tour with Kate and Tyler instead. I have never done this before and I was terrified! We had little instruction, all that was in spanish. All I remember is that if you start spinning its ad and you could die. Well I started spinning. I was freaking out. We had to run inbetween the zip lines and it was all anxiety provoking and I just wanted it to be over. Well all the guys made fun of me but I didn´t die. I went tandom on a long zip. 1 kilometer long. It was amazing but if I ever do it again, I want it to be so I understand the instuctions.
Back at the hostel that night we all went to the hot springs. They were outdoors in the middle of the forrest. I have never seen so many stars so clearly in my life. it was beautiful. We were all there and had a blast. Especially when this other Canadian girl decided to hit on Ali. This chick was extremely slutty and didn´t seem to have a problem wiht it. It was very amusing for the rest of us because Ali didn´t know what to do and at one point hid his head into a rock to get away from her. We all had a ton of laughs at her and his expense. It was so much fun. Then on the way back, a very long drive. We had some beers and apparently Ali and I fell asleep in the car. We were awaken when we got back to the hostel. It was a great night.
05/01/2008
In the morning we had a late start. I am bummbed out that I can´t go to the volcano. ALi invited me and Sarah on a bike ride with him to look at some waterfalls. It was a long ride and I didn´t want to be xhausted tomorrow if it was a better day and I could climb. So I had to say no.
I decided to go on a canopy tour with Kate and Tyler instead. I have never done this before and I was terrified! We had little instruction, all that was in spanish. All I remember is that if you start spinning its ad and you could die. Well I started spinning. I was freaking out. We had to run inbetween the zip lines and it was all anxiety provoking and I just wanted it to be over. Well all the guys made fun of me but I didn´t die. I went tandom on a long zip. 1 kilometer long. It was amazing but if I ever do it again, I want it to be so I understand the instuctions.
Back at the hostel that night we all went to the hot springs. They were outdoors in the middle of the forrest. I have never seen so many stars so clearly in my life. it was beautiful. We were all there and had a blast. Especially when this other Canadian girl decided to hit on Ali. This chick was extremely slutty and didn´t seem to have a problem wiht it. It was very amusing for the rest of us because Ali didn´t know what to do and at one point hid his head into a rock to get away from her. We all had a ton of laughs at her and his expense. It was so much fun. Then on the way back, a very long drive. We had some beers and apparently Ali and I fell asleep in the car. We were awaken when we got back to the hostel. It was a great night.
05/01/2008
Pucon Day 2
I am so excited! Today is rafting day! We all got in the van and went to the river. The guide said the river was low but we should still have fun. We arrived at the input for the raft and were given our wet suits. Everyone looks sexy in a wet suit. The girls on one side of the van and the boys on the other, we managed to squeeze in. We then recieved our safety instructions and were off!
In the river we had our raft full of Kate and Tyler in front, Sarah and Ali in the middle, me in the back in a row by myself (figures) and then our guide in the very back. We also had a safety kyack following us incase one of us falls out. Good to know he´s there. We were given all of our instuctions and camands and then were let loose on the river.
Our guide gave us commands, in spanish and we mostly followed them. He then decided to test our ability to follow directions. Apparently, he purpoefuly rammed our raft up against the rock trying to make it flip and yelled a command for all of us to get onto the left side of the boat. Well... we don´t follow directions verry well. Kate and Tyler jumped the wrong way...out of the boat. Sarah didn´t hear the instructions and fell out carrying Alis paddle with her. I heard the directions too lae. By the time I processed which way I had to jump it was too late and the raft was vertical. By default, I jumped but fell out of the boat. I was a little concerned when I was the only one being carried downstream and had to be rescued by our kyack. Me and him got to do the sexy pose. Woo Hoo. Well, we all survived and were pulled back into the raft. We got a lecture on not paying attention and had to go over all the commands again.
Later on down the river we decided to play. Our guide had us stand on the side of the raft and run around th edge. We all did so. Well Ali didn´t get the chance. We forced Sarah to do it. As she was running around the kyack thought it was funny, which it was to bump into the raft, knocking Sarah into the water. I tried to save her by pulling her back into the boat. When I grabbed her life jacket to pull he in, I got a quick kick in the rear and went flying over her head. Thank you to our guide I had to be saved again instead of doing the saving. When we both got back into the boat Ali freaked sarah out telling her not to move and to stay calm. Sarah had forgoten her waterproof bag with camera in it was still around her neck. Her bg was no longer water proof.
We were all back in the boat. There was a rule that if anyone fell out we owed the guide a beer. Well he is up to 6 at the moment. But the kyack and the guide switched places. And the guide was now in the kyack and fell out. We were all square on the cerveza rule. We al managed to stay in the boat for the rest of the journey. We came to a point where we had to get out of the raft and go around this intense rapid. It would be painful if we went through. I believe it was a class 6 and above. So we walked on the bank to a ledge where we had to apparently jump off. I don´t jump off ledges into strong flowing rivers. I was the last one to jump and tried to negotiate and do the geometry to assure that I wouldn´t die. I finally jumped and survived.
We all made it safely. At the end of the trip we were allowed to float the rest of the way in the water. We jump in, minus Ali and float down the river. At this point the river was really cold. We got out and changed and had snacks and pisco sours waiting for us. There was a professional photographer who took some pictures of us on the trip down so we were able to see the photos. It was so much fun.
Later at the hostel that night we had dinner and wine and sat around laughing. Then we listened to Kate and Tyler have a fight about how long to hang a dead elk in the garage before the meat is ready. We were all very amused. It was such a fun day! Hopefully tomorrow I will get to climb the volcano.
04/30/2008
In the river we had our raft full of Kate and Tyler in front, Sarah and Ali in the middle, me in the back in a row by myself (figures) and then our guide in the very back. We also had a safety kyack following us incase one of us falls out. Good to know he´s there. We were given all of our instuctions and camands and then were let loose on the river.
Our guide gave us commands, in spanish and we mostly followed them. He then decided to test our ability to follow directions. Apparently, he purpoefuly rammed our raft up against the rock trying to make it flip and yelled a command for all of us to get onto the left side of the boat. Well... we don´t follow directions verry well. Kate and Tyler jumped the wrong way...out of the boat. Sarah didn´t hear the instructions and fell out carrying Alis paddle with her. I heard the directions too lae. By the time I processed which way I had to jump it was too late and the raft was vertical. By default, I jumped but fell out of the boat. I was a little concerned when I was the only one being carried downstream and had to be rescued by our kyack. Me and him got to do the sexy pose. Woo Hoo. Well, we all survived and were pulled back into the raft. We got a lecture on not paying attention and had to go over all the commands again.
Later on down the river we decided to play. Our guide had us stand on the side of the raft and run around th edge. We all did so. Well Ali didn´t get the chance. We forced Sarah to do it. As she was running around the kyack thought it was funny, which it was to bump into the raft, knocking Sarah into the water. I tried to save her by pulling her back into the boat. When I grabbed her life jacket to pull he in, I got a quick kick in the rear and went flying over her head. Thank you to our guide I had to be saved again instead of doing the saving. When we both got back into the boat Ali freaked sarah out telling her not to move and to stay calm. Sarah had forgoten her waterproof bag with camera in it was still around her neck. Her bg was no longer water proof.
We were all back in the boat. There was a rule that if anyone fell out we owed the guide a beer. Well he is up to 6 at the moment. But the kyack and the guide switched places. And the guide was now in the kyack and fell out. We were all square on the cerveza rule. We al managed to stay in the boat for the rest of the journey. We came to a point where we had to get out of the raft and go around this intense rapid. It would be painful if we went through. I believe it was a class 6 and above. So we walked on the bank to a ledge where we had to apparently jump off. I don´t jump off ledges into strong flowing rivers. I was the last one to jump and tried to negotiate and do the geometry to assure that I wouldn´t die. I finally jumped and survived.
We all made it safely. At the end of the trip we were allowed to float the rest of the way in the water. We jump in, minus Ali and float down the river. At this point the river was really cold. We got out and changed and had snacks and pisco sours waiting for us. There was a professional photographer who took some pictures of us on the trip down so we were able to see the photos. It was so much fun.
Later at the hostel that night we had dinner and wine and sat around laughing. Then we listened to Kate and Tyler have a fight about how long to hang a dead elk in the garage before the meat is ready. We were all very amused. It was such a fun day! Hopefully tomorrow I will get to climb the volcano.
04/30/2008
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