Tuesday, February 9, 2010

Mendoza

Some Mendoza grapes on the vine. Tried them-delish!
I met up with my travel buddy Kellye Kuh in Mendoza, Argentina yesterday. We are traveling through Argentina and Brazil together. I took a gorgeous 6 hour bus ride from Santiago on Monday morning to Mendoza. Along the way I saw Mount Aconcagua- the highest mountain in the Americas! Upon arrival, I just walked around the city, shopped and lounged by the pool. It is soooooooooooo hot here. Such a shock from Peru, and North America. I ended up giving away/throwing away quite a bit of cold weather clothing.

Today Kellye and I did a biking wine tour to the vineyards around Mendoza where the world famous Argentinian malbecs are produced. We had such a blast!

Wine from our tasing at the Alta Vista winery.

Kellye and me at the vineyard.

What a gorgeous vineyard view!
We are about to leave our hostel in Mendoza and hop on the 15 hour bus ride to Buenos Aires. Thank goodness for Ambien. In BA we plan to hang out and meet up with Britt Cambas, our other travel partner. We are also going to a Beyonce concert. WooHoo!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!



THE SAINTS WON THE SUPBERBOWL

Who dat say they gone beat dem Saints!!

NEW ORLEANS SAINTS. SUPERBOWL XLV WINNERS!
Watched the game in Santiago and managed to teach an entire bar of Chileans the ¨Who Dat¨ chant.


Santiago and Valparaiso with Maria

So I flew into Santiago from Arica, Chile and visited my friend from summer camp Maria Bingemann. She lives in Santiago these days and works for the Chilean ski resort Ski Portillo. I was also her first official visitor! We hung out in Santiago for a night, then headed to Valparaiso for the weekend. We spent Sunday night in Santiago as well.


View of the port from our hostel
We went out on Saturday night to a club called the ¨Hueveo¨aka egg. It was pretty fun. The band Cafe Con Leche played.

Me and Maria dancing at the club.

Wednesday, February 3, 2010

Made it to Chile

After the craziest 24 hours of my life I am here! I took an 10 hour overnight bus from Puno to Tacna on a road that the Lonely Planet suggested travelers not take. But, it was quicker than the other option and it seemed like a lot of people were doing it as well. However, I was the only gringo in sight from the time I got on the bus in Puno to the border crossing (after the bus) into Chile.

Needless to say, all went well and I made it safely. But there were some times on the bus where I frantically started praying as we sped through turn after turn in the dark. Once the bus arrived in Tacna, Peru I took a collectivo taxi across the border. That was the most fun! I squeezed into a 2001 Ford Taurus collectivo taxi with 6 other people. Of course, I got the worst seat in the car...the front middle. And the cherry on the top...the driver drove 140 km/hr the whole way there!

Once across the border, I heade to my hostel a short walk from the beach here. They also upgraded me to my own room and bathroom. A real treat. The weather was gorgeous here and I spent the whole day at the beach. Such a welcome change from the cold and wet weather in Peru.

Not only is the weather different, but so is the quality of life. Chile seems much more European, is cleaner and more developed. Houses, stores and cars are also nicer. Crazy what a big difference a few miles across a border can make.

All is good except a French couple in my hostel that is sitting next to me at the computers right now won´t stop making out.

The beach 5 mins from my hostel
People love McD´s all over the world. The main pedestrian street in Arica.

Lake Titicaca

So after lots of stressing I decided that it would be safe for me to head to Puno (the town at Lake Titicaca on the Peruvian side). I took a bus called the Inka Express. It´s a tourist bus, so we stopped at several sites and towns along the way. I met a nice guy who just graduated from U. Florida who was traveling alone as well. We decided to stick together in Puno and it made the trip much nicer to have a friend around.

Puno was unexciting for the most part. Visiting the islands around Lake Titicaca is the main attraction. We did a 2 day 1 night tour of the islands. First we stopped at the floating Uros islands, where people live on islands that they make and have been making for hundreds of years. After that, it was onto Amantani island 2 hours away. We stayed overnight with a family here and experienced the real island life. They lived the same way generations before them have. They have some solar power, but eat little to no meat and all farm for their income. My Amantani ¨dad¨ had never been anywhere except the island and Puno! The next day included a visit to Taquile island.

The Uros

The view from my family´s home on Amantani Island

Our family dressed us up in traditional clothes.

A little girl on Taquile Island.

Me on Taquile Island


Tuesday was the feast of the the Virgin de la Candelaria in Puno, this is the town´s patron saint. Check out the pics below.


Friday, January 29, 2010

last week in Cusco! Goodbye

So, thank goodness the rains have abated and things are getting back to normal. My friends stuck at Machu Picchu were airlifted out today and I am headed out to Puno/Lake Titicaca tomorrow. This week was somewhat tumultuous because of the weather. Turns out there is absolutely no way I can get to Machu Picchu. I had a small break down when I figured this out because I´ve come all the way to South America and can´t see the number 1 tourist destination on the continent. After a day or two I accepted this and decided I´ll return next year and do the Inca trail to Machu Picchu with Alixe or Teddy (sis and bro). I was able to take a Cusco city tour and tour the Sacred Valley where many Inca ruins are located. Part of the Sacred Valley is closed off because of the rains...in Pisac an entire bridge collapsed because of the high water!
Saqsayhuaman ruins above Cusco city. This was an Inca fortress. It is HUGE! This pic is only a small portion.
Me at Q´enquo ruins outside of Cusco. They used to sacrifice people in there!
Tatiana, me and Jordanna at Tambomachay. This was an Inca sacred water worship site.

A view of Cusco city from Saqsayhuaman.

Today was also the last day with my girls at the orphanage. I was surprisingly sad to leave them. This last week I have gotten close to several of the girls. But I know that they are in good hands, and there is a steady flow of volunteers who come to help them. I brought them a cake as a little goodbye present for them and they gave me a handmade purse. It will be such a great way to remember my experience.
The cake maker managed to misspell every word on this cake.


The girls and me with the cake I brought.

These girls are UT fans! Hook ´Em!

Besides volunteering and touring, I´ve managed to squeeze some partying in as well. I´m sure most of you aren´t surprised! I was out this week and recognized a guy. I wasn´t sure from where. We started chatting and turns out he is from New Orleans and went to Saint Martin´s my year. We were both totally pumped about the fact that THE SAINTS ARE GOING TO THE SUPERBOWL!!!!

Samantha and I at Club Inka Team last night.

Wednesday, January 27, 2010

Machu Picchu train situation photos

Here are some pics from my failed trip to Machu Picchu. Thankfully we did not make it. There are still over 1,000 stranded tourists who are running out of money for food and water!

This is when we left the train and headed to the bus.
This is the bus we got on to get us to Ollyantaytambo. Unfortunately, we didn´t make it much farther past Ollyantaytambo before another landslide.


Sunday, January 24, 2010

My Schedule

so here is my tentative schedule for the rest of the trip-

Jan. 30- Bus to Puno and Lake Titicaca
Feb. 4- Bus and plane to Santiago, weekend in Valparaiso
Feb. 8- Mendoza
Feb. 10- Buenos Aires
Feb. 13- Rio and Carnaval!
Feb. 20- Iguazu Falls in Brazil and Argentina
Feb. 24- Florianapolis
Feb. 26- Fly to NOLA

Machu Picchu that wasn´t...

Sooo because of all the rain there were a TON of mudslides making my journey to Aguas Calientes (the town below Machu Picchu) impossible. I arrived at the Cusco train station at 7am, finally got on the train, then was moved to a bus to avoid mudslides on the track, then back to the train. But another sudden mudslide cancelled the whole expedition and we headed back to Cusco, arriving at 10pm. Long day.

Fortunately, I have some extra time here and was able to change my ticket to Wednesday. Keep your fingers crossed I can make it!

Pics are coming soon. It was a tourist nightmare.

Friday, January 22, 2010

First week in Cusco

So I have wrapped up my first work week in Cusco. I am staying in a family house with other volunteers and it is great. The location is definitely rustic compared to American standards, but I feel safe and the home is spotless and cozy. My roommate is from Austin- what a small world! The food is pretty good as well. Like my college dorm there are some nights where its good and others where it´s not. Thankfully everything is sooo cheap here and I can head to a cute restaurant for a delicious $5 meal whenever I feel like it.

Me and some of my friends from the house at a Bar in San Blas.




I began my volunteer work this week and I´m enjoying it. It was the impetus for the entire trip, so I am really trying to get a lot out of it. I started off in a home for disabled children. Some live there because their families cannot afford to care for them, but many were abandoned as babies. I was told this is more common in indigenous groups living in the jungle, who reject children born with disabilities. It really represents a rift between the American culture of total inclusion and the more judgemental one that exists in parts of the world. But, I would not associate this will all of Peru. There are wheelchair friendly sidewalks (when there are sidewalks!) and I have seen people in the city with disabled children. On my first day the children received used toys that another volunteer brought from home. They were such a treat for the kids. Below is a pic with me and one of the girls named Luz who wouldn´t put her new babydoll down. She was adorable!
Me with Luz and her new doll.
I only worked at the clinic for 1 day and began work at an orphanage for girls aged 8-20ish. The orhphanage is run by Catholic nuns and tries to be self-sustaining. They grow their own food and the girls knit sweaters and make pottery which they sell. I helped out with the knitting, although I have to say I´m not very good. I think that the girls thought i was disabled at first. It took me a good hour to figure it out. I like the orphanage more than the home because I can communicate with the older girls, even in rudimentary Spanish. I ask them about their lives and they tell me about theirs. To most Americans and Europeans their standard of living is low- they wear the same clothes for a week, have head lice (yes, i freaked about this at first), have to work with their hands and have no parents. But, they are well cared for and appear pretty oblivious to what they don´t have.


The girls.


Me with all of the girls today at our knitting table.

As far as Cusco goes, it is a beautiful city. There are a TON of churches and the building tops are red. I feel like I´m in Rome or Sienna! It is the rainy season here so it rains at least twice a day, but it´s not too bad. It reminds me of New Orleans in the summer...except it´s cold here!

The Plaza des Armas (central Plaza)

I walked around the artsy quarter, San Blas, two days ago and fell in love. It is a steep walk up narrow roads surrounded by Inca walls and is just above the main plaza. If I return to Cusco later in life, this is definitely where I will stay. There is also a bakery run by girls from the orphanage where I work. It´s called Buen Pastor and is muy bueno.


A view of Cusco from San Blas.

Wednesday, January 20, 2010

Lima Pics


Long awaited. Here they are!
The Lover´s Park in Lima near the beach. Note the lovers kissing in the statue. There were also tons of real lovers there making out all over.


My friend friend Peri and I in the Fountain Park at night.

This is the center plaza in Lima. It had a fountain that the government fills with Pisco on holidays! Note the Spanish Colonial architecture.













Nazca Lines

I finally made it to Nazca! The bus ride was 7 hours each way but definitely worth it. Check them out.


This is me in the plane before the ride (I can´t figure out how to turn the pic around).
This is one of the images the lines create. If you look closely you can see a monkey.




Friday, January 15, 2010

I´m here!

so I landed in Lima, Peru yesterday finally. I took a tour of Lima this AM. Saw some churches, catacombs, city squares and the beautiful beach! then I ate some ceviche which was delicious.

My hostel appears OK. I´m sharing a room with 7 other girls and it´s very rudimentary but we have hot showers and the location is great. I did see some ladies of the night around my hotel street corner but I think that´s everywhere here.

I also met a super nice French girl, Peri, here and we have been hanging out. She will be at Machu Picchu when I am and we plan to meet up again. She went with me on the tour this morning as well. It´s great to have company, and I can practice my French.

Tomorrow I am supposed to see the Nazca lines. There is some kind of bus strike (of course...) so that may not work out. But there is a ton of other stuff to do around Lima if it doesn´t work.

I´m too frazzled to upload photos now but I PROMISE to have some up next week.

Adios! (btw I´m realizing how bad my Spanish actually is....)

Wednesday, January 13, 2010

Las Vegas/LA/National Champioship

To celebrate graduation and the Longhorns' road to the National Championship my college friends and I hopped a plane to Vegas. Then we roadtripped to Los Angeles.

It was my first trip to Vegas so I saw all the obligatory sights, gambled, saw a show and of course- checked out the club scene. I have to say, I LOVE Vegas -- as a group of 6 young females almost everything was free! Here are some highlights:

We saw the "Thunder from Down Under" show which was a total blast. It's a PG-13 rated male review featuring guys from Australia....although, Nat swore she heard some fake accents in the group!

I was called up on stage and won a free calendar -- regift anyone?

Below is a pic at Excalibur where we saw the show.





































Here are some snapshots of the clubs:

All the gals at Prive.
Below: Nat, Courtney and Lauren at our "VIP Table". Now how bad can that be?














We even met some Alabama boys! Thankfully we were all able to put our football differences aside and shoot some craps.

THE ROADTRIP
This may have been the hilight of the trip. 6 girls+1 Mom+1 Dad+rented Minivan= no space=insanity
Words can't describe so I'll just post some photos. Video footage sbould be available soon!


Note: Lauren's seat was an ice chest.


LOS ANGELES/NATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP


Tailgating in the Mini.

Although, we lost it was a blast!!



Tuesday, January 12, 2010

A White Christmas in New York!

My friend Britt and I headed to NYC the weekend before Christmas to enjoy the city. Side note: Britt is also traveling with me through parts of Argentina and Brazil!

Boy was it a snowy weekend! The experience was a good test of my winter weather readiness and I think I did OK. Here is a photo of Central Park blanketed in snow from 5th avenue. Britt is pictured.
The weather didn't stop the fun though. The night of the blizzard we went to Jackie Beat's Alcoholiday in Chelsea. Jackie Beat is a drag queen who performs comedy sing alongs all over the U.S. This show was holiday themed and included hilarious/off-color twists on classic and modern Christmas music. More information about her can be found at www.jackiebeatrules.com. You can also find clips on YouTube. (parents: beware)

Britt and I met up with a group of my UT friends for the show.
Jackie Beat with (from top right) Me, Alex, Sarah,
(bottom left) Britt and Allie.