hey guys!
i know ive been a total slacker this whole time, so im not even gonna try an make it up. but here meg and i are in cusco and its not as hot as we thought it would be! we were in puerto varas from the 2nd until the 6th and we went horseback riding and kinda jsut chilled around the tiny town. its kind of like a touristy ski town. its cute, but small, so we were ready to head out of there and really start our trip here in peru. we finally got here yesterday after about 24 hours of traveling..yuck! and we walked around a bit and also went to the perutreks place. im going to hike the inca trail and meg got a spot on the lares trail, so we shoul dhave some great pictures after that! the bad thing about cusco so far is that nobody really takes credit cards and the atms wont let you punch in an amount to take out, so you have to settle for less than you could get! its just a bummer because we have limited atm withdrawels! oh well. anyways, we went out to eat last night at a pretty gringo restaurant, jacks, and had great food and then went to a bar and hung out there before heading back to the hostel. today we're off to see where we can travel to!
chao!
Saturday, August 8, 2009
Thursday, April 9, 2009
Chiloé
Well I just got back from a trip to the south of Chile with Katie Barkstrom, Jon Bacon, and Adoum Namde...my three best gringo friends!
Basically, it was unbelievably breathtaking. Gorgeous, really. It rained everyday but the last night, which was super nice. We stayed in cabañas--we paid about $60 for four people and had our own little house with a kitchen, bathroom, and two bedrooms which was fantastic.
We rented a car (manual, so basically Bacon drove the whole time with me sprinkled in there at the end cause nobody else knows how to drive it) and that was a blessing to have, really. Had we not had the car I think the trip would have be a lot different and it certainly would have involved a lot more bus rides, so I'm thankful we could rent one!
A traditional dish in Chiloé (an island with many surrounding tiny islands) is called curanto. Here's how it's done: they heat stones on a fire until they're red-hot and then put them in a hole in the ground. Then they take big leaves and cover the stones with them (if you can imagine this, its like a big, natural stove or pot in the ground). Then they put it the meat and fish and vegetables and cover it all with more leaves and red-hot stones and let it cook for about an hour or so. I didn't try it, obviously, since I don't like fish, but the boys tried it and said it was kind of amazing.
We basically spent the whole trip in small cities, just cruising around and checking out some stuff...we went to Dalcahue, which has a market every Sunday selling traditional clothes, etc., generally all made of alpaca wool. I bought some things and wished I could have bought more, but decided to cap my purchases at a reasonable level (look at me, all responsible and grown up :) ).
So all in all, it was a cheap trip and super fun...I say it was a success!
Basically, it was unbelievably breathtaking. Gorgeous, really. It rained everyday but the last night, which was super nice. We stayed in cabañas--we paid about $60 for four people and had our own little house with a kitchen, bathroom, and two bedrooms which was fantastic.
We rented a car (manual, so basically Bacon drove the whole time with me sprinkled in there at the end cause nobody else knows how to drive it) and that was a blessing to have, really. Had we not had the car I think the trip would have be a lot different and it certainly would have involved a lot more bus rides, so I'm thankful we could rent one!
A traditional dish in Chiloé (an island with many surrounding tiny islands) is called curanto. Here's how it's done: they heat stones on a fire until they're red-hot and then put them in a hole in the ground. Then they take big leaves and cover the stones with them (if you can imagine this, its like a big, natural stove or pot in the ground). Then they put it the meat and fish and vegetables and cover it all with more leaves and red-hot stones and let it cook for about an hour or so. I didn't try it, obviously, since I don't like fish, but the boys tried it and said it was kind of amazing.
We basically spent the whole trip in small cities, just cruising around and checking out some stuff...we went to Dalcahue, which has a market every Sunday selling traditional clothes, etc., generally all made of alpaca wool. I bought some things and wished I could have bought more, but decided to cap my purchases at a reasonable level (look at me, all responsible and grown up :) ).
So all in all, it was a cheap trip and super fun...I say it was a success!
Friday, March 6, 2009
Buenos Aires and such.
Well, Mom and Dare came to visit. We basically went straight to Buenos Aires and stayed there for 5 days. The hotel decoration was horrendous, but the city's architecture was wonderful. It has a lot of European influence, so the buildings were like those in France and Italy. It was pretty nice there and the weather was decent. Dare had caiparihnas everywhere and Mom stuck to the pisco sours. (The first or second night they were here, before we went to BA, we went to a restaurant called Mestizo and had pisco sours before our meal that were delicious. Pisco sour is basically the national Chilean drink. So Mom fell in love with those there and drank them for the rest of the time she was here). We ate at a couple great places and even tried our luck at La Cabrera, one of the famous steakhouses there. The food was good, but we were disgusted by the meal for a couple of reasons: first, we weren't seated until about 11 pm. While you wait they give you cheap champagne and sausage. When we ordered, we all ordered half portions, Dare with chicken, and Mom and me with steak. When we got our food we realized that we could have ordered one half portion to split between the three of us. What was unfortunate was the amount of food wasted; after the customers finish eating, they throw away the leftovers, even if its a chicken breast or something that hasn't been touched. Sad, really.
We also took a day to go to an Estancia. It's basically a ranch. They had a show for us after lunch with tango dancers, so Mom, Dare, and I took a couple of bottles of beer and headed outside to escape the hokey-ness. After that, there was a horse show, which was really neat. First they grouped the horses by color and had them run around in groups. In each group there was a lead horse with a bell around his neck. After that, they put little metal pins (hanging) and the gauchos ran the horses and had to put a pencil through the metal hoop. All three of us were singled out: Mom and I both got these metal hoop pin things and two kisses on the cheek, and Dare and I rode on the back of a horse with one of the cowboys. Interesting to say the least...I think Dare's tailbone might still be sore.
When we got back to Santiago, we all (with my three roommates and my 3 gringo friends) had dinner and drinks at Cafe el Patio. It's a vegetarian place with a great atmosphere and pretty good pizza (of which we had 5!). After dinner Mom and Dare went back to the hotel and the rest of us hung out at my apartment. It was great to see my friends again and be able to hang out and not have to wake up early for class the next morning.
So since then I haven't been doing much because the students have been gone. They're starting to come back now, so I'm picking up a few more badly needed classes and waiting for my translation money to come in so I can pay rent! The only news is that Adoum moved from an apartment near me to a house not too far away. It's a pretty sweet house-7 people live there, Americans, French, Chileans, Germans maybe too? It has a humongous patio out back thats fantastic to eat in and chill in. I slept there last night and was amazed and shocked at how quiet it was there. In my apartment the noise from the busy street comes in through the window and wakes me up in the early mornings. I'm jealous of his solitude!
Tonight we are going to La Piojera, a dive bar in Santiago, pretty close to where Katie Barkstrom lives. There they serve their traditional drinks, Terremotos (spanish for Earthquakes) which are comprised of wine and pineapple ice cream. Needless to say, after 2 of these the night starts getting a little hazey. But we will be chill there so that we won't be hungover tomorrow. Tomorrow we are going to a barbeque at the house of one of Paposo's friends to drink, swim, and eat. We have to take a train there! I'm stoked! It's gonna be AWESOME. First train ride in South America!
vamos a ver...
We also took a day to go to an Estancia. It's basically a ranch. They had a show for us after lunch with tango dancers, so Mom, Dare, and I took a couple of bottles of beer and headed outside to escape the hokey-ness. After that, there was a horse show, which was really neat. First they grouped the horses by color and had them run around in groups. In each group there was a lead horse with a bell around his neck. After that, they put little metal pins (hanging) and the gauchos ran the horses and had to put a pencil through the metal hoop. All three of us were singled out: Mom and I both got these metal hoop pin things and two kisses on the cheek, and Dare and I rode on the back of a horse with one of the cowboys. Interesting to say the least...I think Dare's tailbone might still be sore.
When we got back to Santiago, we all (with my three roommates and my 3 gringo friends) had dinner and drinks at Cafe el Patio. It's a vegetarian place with a great atmosphere and pretty good pizza (of which we had 5!). After dinner Mom and Dare went back to the hotel and the rest of us hung out at my apartment. It was great to see my friends again and be able to hang out and not have to wake up early for class the next morning.
So since then I haven't been doing much because the students have been gone. They're starting to come back now, so I'm picking up a few more badly needed classes and waiting for my translation money to come in so I can pay rent! The only news is that Adoum moved from an apartment near me to a house not too far away. It's a pretty sweet house-7 people live there, Americans, French, Chileans, Germans maybe too? It has a humongous patio out back thats fantastic to eat in and chill in. I slept there last night and was amazed and shocked at how quiet it was there. In my apartment the noise from the busy street comes in through the window and wakes me up in the early mornings. I'm jealous of his solitude!
Tonight we are going to La Piojera, a dive bar in Santiago, pretty close to where Katie Barkstrom lives. There they serve their traditional drinks, Terremotos (spanish for Earthquakes) which are comprised of wine and pineapple ice cream. Needless to say, after 2 of these the night starts getting a little hazey. But we will be chill there so that we won't be hungover tomorrow. Tomorrow we are going to a barbeque at the house of one of Paposo's friends to drink, swim, and eat. We have to take a train there! I'm stoked! It's gonna be AWESOME. First train ride in South America!
vamos a ver...
Thursday, February 5, 2009
Super B!
So for Super Bowl Sunday, we all gathered at Adoum's apartment to watch the Super Bowl. My roommate, Leo, was on a computer at some point and updated his facebook status to "Leo estoy viendo el fucking Super Balls". Barkstrom discovered this later when she went home and got online. What had happened was that during the Super Bowl, Leo had asked us what it was called, making a cupping motion with his hands, and we were like "bowl", and he said "no" so we said "balls" and he nodded. HA.
Wednesday, February 4, 2009
El matromonio
So the wedding was a lot of fun. The girl getting married, one of my bosses, Margaret, called me friday morning and when i picked up, she told me she sort of had an impolite question to ask me...and then asked me if i would be interested in going to her wedding. someone had cancelled, and she thought of me, so invited me. it started at 8 in cajon del maipo (it takes like an hour to get there) so i met at Marie's house at 5 30 and we left at 6. (marie is another one of my bosses, sort of...). anyway, so we went there and the hotel was designed as a tree basically. it was really pretty. ill put up pictures soon, but there was a tree in the center of the backyard and over it they had put a white tent. so the ceremony was in the backyard to one side of the huge tree. it was a civil ceremony, so there was a civil officiant there...it was crazy. he said their id numbers and everything and then went on to describe what a marriage should be like. so different from the u.s., but pretty nonetheless. they both had one person up there to witness for them and then they gave their vows, margaret's in english, victor's in spanish. so then was the dinner and the toasts. the toasts were all in spanish and english, since there were people there who didnt speak spanish (margarets parents) and people who didnt speak english (all the chileans there basically). margaret's sister translated for everyone.
dinner was really good too...for appetizers, the women got thick pieces of salmon with soy sauce on a bed of lettuce, and the men got some sort of thick soup with mariscos in it, in a bowl made of like pastry thin slips of breadlike things. for the entree, the women got two pieces of turkey with a really good gravy on top, and the men got a big steak and a side of like potato soup, but with big chuncks of potato. it was really delicious. then there was a dessert buffet. after that commenced the dancing, which was great.
so i ended up catching a ride home that night around 4 30 or 4 45. i think margaret went to bed around 5 30, so by chilean standards this was an early party. they usually stay up partying until like 8 or 9 am. crazy!
gearing up for mom and dare's visit...
dinner was really good too...for appetizers, the women got thick pieces of salmon with soy sauce on a bed of lettuce, and the men got some sort of thick soup with mariscos in it, in a bowl made of like pastry thin slips of breadlike things. for the entree, the women got two pieces of turkey with a really good gravy on top, and the men got a big steak and a side of like potato soup, but with big chuncks of potato. it was really delicious. then there was a dessert buffet. after that commenced the dancing, which was great.
so i ended up catching a ride home that night around 4 30 or 4 45. i think margaret went to bed around 5 30, so by chilean standards this was an early party. they usually stay up partying until like 8 or 9 am. crazy!
gearing up for mom and dare's visit...
Friday, January 30, 2009
que extraño
i just got invited to a wedding tonight! im so excited. its gonna be awesome. its my boss's wedding (margaret gilbert), and i went to her bachelorette party a few weeks ago...super fun. so weird though because leo, one of my housemates is also going to a wedding tonight in the same place, cajon del maipo, a suburb of santiago sorta. its like plano, distance wise. so we might be going to the same wedding......vamos a ver....
Thursday, January 29, 2009
umm...what?
I saw two women watering the dirt today.
I saw a woman wearing a winter coat. It's summer here.
I saw a woman curling her eyelashes with a spoon in the bus. Mind you, it's physical exercise to even remain in one place...
I saw a girl wearing brass-knuckle earrings.
I saw a woman wearing a winter coat. It's summer here.
I saw a woman curling her eyelashes with a spoon in the bus. Mind you, it's physical exercise to even remain in one place...
I saw a girl wearing brass-knuckle earrings.
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