I am going to give you a little insight into the Catholic University here in Santiago. I am taking Chilean Geography at this school, in their San Joaquin Campus.
(A side note about campuses) All of the universities here, do not have one campus like almost all universities in the United States. Instead they are dispersed around town. Each campus usually has a focus. For example, the architecture program is all in one campus. This makes sense because the students go to college knowing what exactly they are going to do. Students who become part of the Architecture Faculty are going to do things related to Architecture and therefore (primarily) only take classes on this subject, meaning they stay in their respective campus. They do not value the 'well rounded' or 'liberal arts' mentality like the United States does.
The Catholic University is private and tends to have mostly upper class students who can afford to pay the considerably higher tuition costs. I personally like this university the best because it is very traditional and things are particularly well organized. The students here were also the most friendly out of all of the classes I visited (apart from the students in my IFSA program).
Unlike Minnesota, our class doors swing right out to the 'quad'. The buildings do not hold hallways with classrooms, most, if not all, have classrooms that are pretty much part of the out doors. Which will make sense when it gets warmer here, but currently it creates a pretty chilly learning environment.
The libraries at this university are particularly nice, probably due to the higher tuition, but I have found myself spending most of my study time here. I will have to take a picture of the campus that I spend most of my time at because it is gorgeous. On a clear day you can see the modern, steeple looking thing that is attached to their chapel and behind the entire campus are the Andes mountains. It really is spectacular, when the pollution isn't too bad. ;)
I think the reason I like this university the most is because it really does feel a lot like Saint Thomas and home. (Minus the mountains of course.) The professors seem down to earth, easy to talk to, and the students are very nice as well.
Thursday, July 31, 2008
Universidad de Diego Portales
One of the Universities I can pick classes from is Diego Portales University. It is a small private college in the heart of Santiago. It has many different specialties including health, economics, political science, geography, engineering, literature, education, architecture, art, law, history, etc. This university also has a requirement for its students to take classes included in the formacion general, or General Formation. This formation includes classes from many areas and serves as an opportunity to broaden their horizons and take classes in other areas that will help them understand their area better... think liberal arts education in the United States.
These general formation classes are usually easier, feature more group work, and serve more as introduction courses. This interested me, so I was recommended to go to International Economic Relations by Carmen Gloria one of the academic advisers COPA-IFSA (my program) has on staff.
The class is taught by a chief deputy in the Chilean Foreign Ministry, which is really neat. He has a lot of experience considering he has also been a diplomat and ambassador for Chile over his extensive career. He has a specialized, post graduate degree which is focused on the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) which is extremely fascinating to me, because our Model United Nations group has been to conferences where we have represented countries on UNCTAD.
I am hoping to get this class to count as my Country and Area Studies in Economics class at St. Thomas. The approval has not gone through yet, so I am hoping. If not, it will still be an interesting class and I can take Economics of China when I get back to UST, which is a good alternative. You may be saying to yourself, International Economic Relations doesn't really sound like a Chilean Economics class, but the syllabus indicates that we are studying the Chilean economy through the lens of its economic relations with other countries. My group must research the relationship between Chile and Japan and give a 25 minute presentation on the topic and lead the class discussion for that day. We also have to submit a paper at the end of the class that goes over our research. The only other grade we have in this class is our final exam. So its only a little work, but I think I can handle it. I really like when we only have one exam because it means I can work on my spanish the entire time I am here and then hopefully do very well on the mostly essay tests. Right now, tests would be difficult because my grammar, especially on the spot, would be pretty difficult to understand. In a couple months, it will be different, but, its gonna take some time. :)
Diego Portales, like the other universities here in Chile have many campuses, but different from the other universities in Santiago, its campuses are all situation in the same general vicinity. Which is nice. They also have the best cafeteria specials from my understanding... which is more important then you know!
This is my second favorite school, just because I like its buildings and its environment. The students are interesting because it seems like most of the students are non-traditional. This could be because I am taking this class in the evening, but it does lend a very different environment to the classroom, which I have enjoyed so far.
These general formation classes are usually easier, feature more group work, and serve more as introduction courses. This interested me, so I was recommended to go to International Economic Relations by Carmen Gloria one of the academic advisers COPA-IFSA (my program) has on staff.
The class is taught by a chief deputy in the Chilean Foreign Ministry, which is really neat. He has a lot of experience considering he has also been a diplomat and ambassador for Chile over his extensive career. He has a specialized, post graduate degree which is focused on the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) which is extremely fascinating to me, because our Model United Nations group has been to conferences where we have represented countries on UNCTAD.
I am hoping to get this class to count as my Country and Area Studies in Economics class at St. Thomas. The approval has not gone through yet, so I am hoping. If not, it will still be an interesting class and I can take Economics of China when I get back to UST, which is a good alternative. You may be saying to yourself, International Economic Relations doesn't really sound like a Chilean Economics class, but the syllabus indicates that we are studying the Chilean economy through the lens of its economic relations with other countries. My group must research the relationship between Chile and Japan and give a 25 minute presentation on the topic and lead the class discussion for that day. We also have to submit a paper at the end of the class that goes over our research. The only other grade we have in this class is our final exam. So its only a little work, but I think I can handle it. I really like when we only have one exam because it means I can work on my spanish the entire time I am here and then hopefully do very well on the mostly essay tests. Right now, tests would be difficult because my grammar, especially on the spot, would be pretty difficult to understand. In a couple months, it will be different, but, its gonna take some time. :)
Diego Portales, like the other universities here in Chile have many campuses, but different from the other universities in Santiago, its campuses are all situation in the same general vicinity. Which is nice. They also have the best cafeteria specials from my understanding... which is more important then you know!
This is my second favorite school, just because I like its buildings and its environment. The students are interesting because it seems like most of the students are non-traditional. This could be because I am taking this class in the evening, but it does lend a very different environment to the classroom, which I have enjoyed so far.
Visiting the Policia de Investigaciones
Even if you don't know spanish, you probably can deduct the title of this blog. Vising the Investigative Police. Basically, Chile has three types of military forces: the carabineros (what you are use to as state police), the policia de investigaciones (what you are use to as the FBI), and their military force which is mostly made up of navy and airforce members, which makes sense for the geographic size and shape of Chile.
Our IFSA group visited the national headquarters of the policia de investigaciones because we needed to register our visa within 30 days of arriving in Chile. The process was a long one. Many of my friends from california and they compared the line, or waiting room, to the California DMV. I was amazed because the Minnesota DMV is slow but not that slow. I am learning here that Minnesota though is in general one of the best states when it comes to everything.... that is what my friend sam says. He grew up in California but now goes to Carelton in Northfield.
So, basically, we sat in line and got our visas checked and then we got a nice white card that we were told needed to be presented to a different agency which we would have to do on our own to get our national id card. I have gotten this completed and now I officially have a chilean foreign national id card. Actually, this made me much more willing to support a national id law... still not sure about how I feel about this political topic, but everyone in Chile has this id and its used for everything and I don't think people get discriminated with it, but maybe I need to ask.
After visiting the Chilean FBI, I had the day off. I can't remember what I did which probably means that I didn't do anything that exciting.
Our IFSA group visited the national headquarters of the policia de investigaciones because we needed to register our visa within 30 days of arriving in Chile. The process was a long one. Many of my friends from california and they compared the line, or waiting room, to the California DMV. I was amazed because the Minnesota DMV is slow but not that slow. I am learning here that Minnesota though is in general one of the best states when it comes to everything.... that is what my friend sam says. He grew up in California but now goes to Carelton in Northfield.
So, basically, we sat in line and got our visas checked and then we got a nice white card that we were told needed to be presented to a different agency which we would have to do on our own to get our national id card. I have gotten this completed and now I officially have a chilean foreign national id card. Actually, this made me much more willing to support a national id law... still not sure about how I feel about this political topic, but everyone in Chile has this id and its used for everything and I don't think people get discriminated with it, but maybe I need to ask.
After visiting the Chilean FBI, I had the day off. I can't remember what I did which probably means that I didn't do anything that exciting.
Church in Santiago
On the first Sunday I spent with my host family, I told them that I would love to go to Church with them. Church, started at 11:30am and we needed to leave at 11am. So, I was up early and was ready to leave, but the rest of my family wasn't. It was interesting because I really wanted to go to church. We ended up leaving around 12pm and getting there a little before 12:30. The church was singing very contemporary music and it was packed. Many people had their hands in the air and behind the altar a band made up of two vocalists, a guitarist, and a keyboard made the music for worship. It was different for me, who is use to a pipe organ.
The pastor, who is originally from the United Kingdom, gave a little prayer after the music has stopped and then, he left. Before he left he and his wife introduced themselves to me because they knew I was from the United States. They welcomed me to the church and told me to come to the youth events and to the youth service at night. It was weird for me to have a pastor open up a church service and then leave. Pastors, like everywhere (my church in the United States is currently looking for a pastor) are hard to come by, so here this pastor ministers many congregations and workers who just have a passion for the Lord write sermons and lead the rest of the church services. Sometimes, the pastor does run the service, he recently gave the sermon on sex and how it should be saved for marriage.
It was very awkward for me at times during the service because I come from a very traditional, conservative brand of religion. During church in Santiago, sometimes groups will form and have little prayer circles, or will yell out Alleluia! Which is great, just something I am not use to. Not to mention everything in spanish makes for an interesting service, where sometimes you feel lost (with the language) and found (with the power of Christ) all at the same time. At times in the service you are suppose to hug the people next to you, which is somewhat like Peace Be With you in the LCMS chruch, but much more contact. For example husbands and wives often kiss, very deeply during this part of the service.
Overall it was a great experience and the people really did open up to me like a family, which was a wonderful feeling. They even sang worship songs by Michael W. Smith, which made it more easy for me to follow along.
I never even said what type of church this is. The church is Anglican and the more liberal kind, not like that of the formal Church of England that I attended during holy week this spring in London. You can definitely tell the people in this church have a love for God.
At the same time, from what I did understand in the two sermons I have heard, it seems much more like a feel good church then what I like. I like churches where they challenge you to live better and help you become humble in the sight of God. I didn't get the feeling of challenge in these services. Also, I miss communion, which they do not have during the services that have contemporary music. They have a traditional service that my family does not go to earlier in the morning. Also something that I have found I really enjoy about my church is the very direct confession of sins that we have at the beginning. When I attend churches that do not have that part at the beginning where you say as a group... "I have sinned against you by my thoughts, words, and deeds..." I don't feel the sin being lifted off my shoulders... even though I know it is... I have a spiritual moment when those words are said and the pastor tells me that my sins are forgiven. Its very special, important, and personal.
To be fair, there are times when Pastor Dan at my church would not have this part in the service and its something that bothered me then too. I really enjoy that very direct confrontation I have with my sinful nature and with my God and the feeling of forgiveness afterwords. I hope this is not something that I alone experience, I am sure that others have to experience as well.
The pastor, who is originally from the United Kingdom, gave a little prayer after the music has stopped and then, he left. Before he left he and his wife introduced themselves to me because they knew I was from the United States. They welcomed me to the church and told me to come to the youth events and to the youth service at night. It was weird for me to have a pastor open up a church service and then leave. Pastors, like everywhere (my church in the United States is currently looking for a pastor) are hard to come by, so here this pastor ministers many congregations and workers who just have a passion for the Lord write sermons and lead the rest of the church services. Sometimes, the pastor does run the service, he recently gave the sermon on sex and how it should be saved for marriage.
It was very awkward for me at times during the service because I come from a very traditional, conservative brand of religion. During church in Santiago, sometimes groups will form and have little prayer circles, or will yell out Alleluia! Which is great, just something I am not use to. Not to mention everything in spanish makes for an interesting service, where sometimes you feel lost (with the language) and found (with the power of Christ) all at the same time. At times in the service you are suppose to hug the people next to you, which is somewhat like Peace Be With you in the LCMS chruch, but much more contact. For example husbands and wives often kiss, very deeply during this part of the service.
Overall it was a great experience and the people really did open up to me like a family, which was a wonderful feeling. They even sang worship songs by Michael W. Smith, which made it more easy for me to follow along.
I never even said what type of church this is. The church is Anglican and the more liberal kind, not like that of the formal Church of England that I attended during holy week this spring in London. You can definitely tell the people in this church have a love for God.
At the same time, from what I did understand in the two sermons I have heard, it seems much more like a feel good church then what I like. I like churches where they challenge you to live better and help you become humble in the sight of God. I didn't get the feeling of challenge in these services. Also, I miss communion, which they do not have during the services that have contemporary music. They have a traditional service that my family does not go to earlier in the morning. Also something that I have found I really enjoy about my church is the very direct confession of sins that we have at the beginning. When I attend churches that do not have that part at the beginning where you say as a group... "I have sinned against you by my thoughts, words, and deeds..." I don't feel the sin being lifted off my shoulders... even though I know it is... I have a spiritual moment when those words are said and the pastor tells me that my sins are forgiven. Its very special, important, and personal.
To be fair, there are times when Pastor Dan at my church would not have this part in the service and its something that bothered me then too. I really enjoy that very direct confrontation I have with my sinful nature and with my God and the feeling of forgiveness afterwords. I hope this is not something that I alone experience, I am sure that others have to experience as well.
La Universidad de Chile
This will be a description of the Universidad de Chile or one of the largest and most prestigious public universities in Santiago.
The University of Chile, like the other universities I can attend, has many different campuses. The one closest to the COPA-IFSA office (where my program is headquartered) is the Architecture/Urban Studies and Economics and Businesss. This university is more comparable to the University of Minnesota. It is very large and has had many very important people graduate from there. These important people include most of Chile's post-dictatorship Presidents, including Ms. Machelle Bachelet, the current President, and first woman president of Chile.
This orientation session I attended was the best. They took us on a bus tour of the campuses and also fed us Dunkin' Donuts and sodas... what a way to welcome American students! Now, I am remembering though, that was the only thing I really remember from the orientation session. The presentation itself was quite boring. One librarian talked for an hour about the libraries like we had never seen a library before in our lives. We also got a lecture about how this University was world renowned and not like our universities in the 'sticks'. I was quite offended, especially because my university has much nicer facilities then his does. I mean, I am from the most developed and powerful country on earth, please don't dismiss my country, my mind, my abilities, and my educational system.
There was one class that I was interested in at this university, and I attended one class period. It was the republic and the community: democracy in crisis, which if in English would have been perfect and amazing, but in Spanish, not so much. The readings included Hannah Ardent, which I really enjoyed reading her work: On Revolution at the Yale Summer School program in 2003, but again in Spanish, it would have been to difficult.
The lecture at this class was also very different from the Catholic University because the professor stood on a very large podium that was almost 5 feet off of the ground. It made him look like he was a great ruler or something, which is very different from anything I have ever experienced at St. Thomas or at any university here in Chile. I personally really don't like it. I really like it when you and the professor are on the same level, it makes for a better learning environment I think. This made me feel very lucky and happy that I decided to go to St. Thomas where this environment is much more prevalent compared to the U of M (which I believe is a very good school by the way).
The students here are very different from Catholic University students as well. They are more the "common" students with not so much money, but definitely educated and intelligent. They asked very insightful questions --- actually better then the students at the Catholic University. They were also forced to answer questions that the professor asked them out of the blue and most of them had very good answers. It was actually quite impressive.
I ended up not taking this course, because of its difficulty, but I enjoyed visiting it and experiencing what the public university setting was like here in Chile. It definitely was different.
The University of Chile, like the other universities I can attend, has many different campuses. The one closest to the COPA-IFSA office (where my program is headquartered) is the Architecture/Urban Studies and Economics and Businesss. This university is more comparable to the University of Minnesota. It is very large and has had many very important people graduate from there. These important people include most of Chile's post-dictatorship Presidents, including Ms. Machelle Bachelet, the current President, and first woman president of Chile.
This orientation session I attended was the best. They took us on a bus tour of the campuses and also fed us Dunkin' Donuts and sodas... what a way to welcome American students! Now, I am remembering though, that was the only thing I really remember from the orientation session. The presentation itself was quite boring. One librarian talked for an hour about the libraries like we had never seen a library before in our lives. We also got a lecture about how this University was world renowned and not like our universities in the 'sticks'. I was quite offended, especially because my university has much nicer facilities then his does. I mean, I am from the most developed and powerful country on earth, please don't dismiss my country, my mind, my abilities, and my educational system.
There was one class that I was interested in at this university, and I attended one class period. It was the republic and the community: democracy in crisis, which if in English would have been perfect and amazing, but in Spanish, not so much. The readings included Hannah Ardent, which I really enjoyed reading her work: On Revolution at the Yale Summer School program in 2003, but again in Spanish, it would have been to difficult.
The lecture at this class was also very different from the Catholic University because the professor stood on a very large podium that was almost 5 feet off of the ground. It made him look like he was a great ruler or something, which is very different from anything I have ever experienced at St. Thomas or at any university here in Chile. I personally really don't like it. I really like it when you and the professor are on the same level, it makes for a better learning environment I think. This made me feel very lucky and happy that I decided to go to St. Thomas where this environment is much more prevalent compared to the U of M (which I believe is a very good school by the way).
The students here are very different from Catholic University students as well. They are more the "common" students with not so much money, but definitely educated and intelligent. They asked very insightful questions --- actually better then the students at the Catholic University. They were also forced to answer questions that the professor asked them out of the blue and most of them had very good answers. It was actually quite impressive.
I ended up not taking this course, because of its difficulty, but I enjoyed visiting it and experiencing what the public university setting was like here in Chile. It definitely was different.
Comment on the US Presidential Race
A recent poll found that Sen. John McCain has gained in polling numbers in three battle ground states, Pennsylvania, Florida, and Ohio. While this may be troubling for you, you must look carefully at the poll.
The poll was conducted by contacting "likely voters". While in most cases, this means that the poll is more credible, I tend to disagree in this election year.
Sen. Barack Obama has shown the ability to motivate young and uninterested voters to attend their polling places in the Democratic Primary. It is absurd to expect these unlikely voters to sit at home in November. This poll, most likely, did not take into account these voters.
While I claim to be no expert. I think that the media needs to be more clear on what it is reporting to the American people. If Sen. McCain takes the lead in a few important states, this gives the media reason to make this race more exciting then if Sen. Obama himself is winning big in every state. The more the media can keep any race at 50-50, the more viewers and money they can generate.
This blog is not politically motivated, well I am trying not to be, but I am most disgusted with the media, as I normally am, in this presidential election. The media has given much more air time to Sen. Obama, and they have not pushed Sen. Obama to say yes to Sen. McCain's call for town hall forums on important topics.
I support Sen. Obama for president, however, more then that, I want a free, fair, and open discussion about the issues that face our country. I don't think either candidate has all the right answers, I never do, but by discussing these important issues, Americans can become more educated on the topics, and can make better decisions in November, which is the most important objective.
I want the media to ask Sen. Obama the tough questions because we have seen what the media can do when they fail to ask the tough questions when we look at the past eight years. While I, and few of my friends, were being labeled unpatriotic for not supporting the Iraq War, the media raked in huge profits as they showed the "shock and awe" of the power of the US military. Who was asking the tough questions when the war started? It wasn't the media. Now that it is popular to be against the war, many Americans want to pull our troops out immediately, creating a political vacuum which will ensure our failed objective of a stable, democratic, peaceful government in Iraq. This idea maybe popular, but the media needs to ask the candidates these questions and have them defend their positions. The best forum, I believe, for this discussion is through nationally televised town hall debates.
The main objective of this post is to remind people to look deeper then the front page of the paper or the headlines on CNN. Misleading headlines like, McCain pulls ahead in three battleground states might just get you. Look deeper, ask the tough questions, and expect more from your media and your candidates.
The poll was conducted by contacting "likely voters". While in most cases, this means that the poll is more credible, I tend to disagree in this election year.
Sen. Barack Obama has shown the ability to motivate young and uninterested voters to attend their polling places in the Democratic Primary. It is absurd to expect these unlikely voters to sit at home in November. This poll, most likely, did not take into account these voters.
While I claim to be no expert. I think that the media needs to be more clear on what it is reporting to the American people. If Sen. McCain takes the lead in a few important states, this gives the media reason to make this race more exciting then if Sen. Obama himself is winning big in every state. The more the media can keep any race at 50-50, the more viewers and money they can generate.
This blog is not politically motivated, well I am trying not to be, but I am most disgusted with the media, as I normally am, in this presidential election. The media has given much more air time to Sen. Obama, and they have not pushed Sen. Obama to say yes to Sen. McCain's call for town hall forums on important topics.
I support Sen. Obama for president, however, more then that, I want a free, fair, and open discussion about the issues that face our country. I don't think either candidate has all the right answers, I never do, but by discussing these important issues, Americans can become more educated on the topics, and can make better decisions in November, which is the most important objective.
I want the media to ask Sen. Obama the tough questions because we have seen what the media can do when they fail to ask the tough questions when we look at the past eight years. While I, and few of my friends, were being labeled unpatriotic for not supporting the Iraq War, the media raked in huge profits as they showed the "shock and awe" of the power of the US military. Who was asking the tough questions when the war started? It wasn't the media. Now that it is popular to be against the war, many Americans want to pull our troops out immediately, creating a political vacuum which will ensure our failed objective of a stable, democratic, peaceful government in Iraq. This idea maybe popular, but the media needs to ask the candidates these questions and have them defend their positions. The best forum, I believe, for this discussion is through nationally televised town hall debates.
The main objective of this post is to remind people to look deeper then the front page of the paper or the headlines on CNN. Misleading headlines like, McCain pulls ahead in three battleground states might just get you. Look deeper, ask the tough questions, and expect more from your media and your candidates.
Monday, July 28, 2008
1st Spanish Lesson
I am writing this for people who want to learn a little bit of Spanish. If you decide to visit a Spanish speaking country, you will enjoy more respect and less hassle if you learn a few phrases. I will add more as the semester goes on.
Greetings!
Buenos Dias - Good Morning! (Can be used all morning until 12, noon.)
Buenas Tardes - Good Afternoon! (Used mostly in the afternoon, 12 - sun goes down.)
Buenas Noches - Good Night! (Used mostly for going to bed, or in the late night hours.)
Hola - Hello (Used to greet someone, but to answer the phone they say Hallo.)
Hasta Luego - Catch ya later! (Used with good friends.)
Chow! - See ya! (Used with people you know.)
Adios! - Good bye! (Used with everyone.)
--- In Progress ----
Greetings!
Buenos Dias - Good Morning! (Can be used all morning until 12, noon.)
Buenas Tardes - Good Afternoon! (Used mostly in the afternoon, 12 - sun goes down.)
Buenas Noches - Good Night! (Used mostly for going to bed, or in the late night hours.)
Hola - Hello (Used to greet someone, but to answer the phone they say Hallo.)
Hasta Luego - Catch ya later! (Used with good friends.)
Chow! - See ya! (Used with people you know.)
Adios! - Good bye! (Used with everyone.)
--- In Progress ----
Sunday, July 27, 2008
Moving in with My Family
Well on Saturday, I moved in with my family and it was an interesting experience to say the least.
I got to get all of my stuff unpacked, which was probably the nicest feeling of all. I have a closet where I can put all my clothes, a dresser for things I can organize, a desk for my books, and a night stand. I put my pictures up of my Remington, my friends, family, and Carrie as well. It always makes me feel a little closer to the people I love with their pictures staring at me. (That sounds awkward, but really it is a nice thing.) I will have to put up pictures of my room and the house so you can see it.
I have an interesting "chandelier" in my room that has beads and features different shades of blue... it is really quite... interesting is the best word. My favorite part of the entire room is the map of the world that is on the world. I adore maps. This last year, I spent $100 (way to much) for a huge poster sized map of the world that is very detailed. I hung it up in my room at college right by my bed. It was fun to stare up on the wall and see places in the world that I wished to learn more about or visit. If you are ever looking for a gift for me and you don't know what to get books and maps of any sort are great bets. I love them both. Someday, I hope that I can be the owner of a huge globe, just because the fascinate me so much. (Well that was quite a tangent... sorry about that.)
My family invited their friends over for a BBQ, which I was very excited about. I thought that it was going to be for lunch, but it didn't. Instead in the afternoon we went to the mall to pick up new shirts and pants for my host dad, who was starting a new job on Monday. It was neat to see the malls here in Chile. To be totally honest they are much like our malls in the United States, but with palm trees, and better ice cream stores. While Jaime was trying to find a pair of pants and shoes, I was going crazy looking at the amazing tie collection that they had. The ties were a bargain $14 bucks for 2 and for good brands. I almost bought two, and I may even go back... especially since I have plans to go to some cool events here in Santiago (more on that later), but we will see.
After the mall, probably around 8 or 9, we went to the grocery store. We probably spent about an hour in the grocery store, leaving around 10pm?? Not really sure, but we picked up the meat for the BBQ. We got back to the house and the family's friends came over a little later. Just like in the United States the men went out side to shoot the shit while the meat was cooking on the BBQ, while the women clucked like hens inside. :)
It was interesting, I kept going back and forth between the two, eventually talking about politics with the guys and trying the meat as it cooked. It was interesting to see the similarities however between the way they acted and the way my family would act if we had friends over for a BBQ. It was the exact same.
By the time had come to eat, it was 2am... not something I am use too. We ate dinner, which was absolutely wonderful by the way, but I was so exhausted that when the meal had ended and they started offering me drinks, I had to decline and go to bed. My host parents ended up staying up until the wee hours of the morning, probably explaining why we were late for church the next morning (read more about this in the Church in Santiago blog above).
The first night in the bed was fine, but very cold. The house here doesn't have heat, so the blankets are all you have, Most of the time the blankets work fine, but you have to position yourself just correctly enough so that you can have your entire body covered. I also pulled out my sleeping bag that I brought all the way from the United States (which was a huge pain) and I am so glad that I have it here now because it really helps in the cold nights! It was a good investment. Next I need a sleeping bag that weighs less and can be scrunched up into a very small container for backpacking.... now my sleeping bag takes up a lot of space in my bag. Does anyone know where a good one of these would be and for a good price? Just wondering.
Well, the first night was good overall. I ended up waking up around 8am, but my family slept very late, so I chilled in my room playing solitaire. Good for reasoning probably, I should be doing logic games and sudoku's to help prepare me for the LSAT huh? Read more about that adventure in future blogs! :)
I got to get all of my stuff unpacked, which was probably the nicest feeling of all. I have a closet where I can put all my clothes, a dresser for things I can organize, a desk for my books, and a night stand. I put my pictures up of my Remington, my friends, family, and Carrie as well. It always makes me feel a little closer to the people I love with their pictures staring at me. (That sounds awkward, but really it is a nice thing.) I will have to put up pictures of my room and the house so you can see it.
I have an interesting "chandelier" in my room that has beads and features different shades of blue... it is really quite... interesting is the best word. My favorite part of the entire room is the map of the world that is on the world. I adore maps. This last year, I spent $100 (way to much) for a huge poster sized map of the world that is very detailed. I hung it up in my room at college right by my bed. It was fun to stare up on the wall and see places in the world that I wished to learn more about or visit. If you are ever looking for a gift for me and you don't know what to get books and maps of any sort are great bets. I love them both. Someday, I hope that I can be the owner of a huge globe, just because the fascinate me so much. (Well that was quite a tangent... sorry about that.)
My family invited their friends over for a BBQ, which I was very excited about. I thought that it was going to be for lunch, but it didn't. Instead in the afternoon we went to the mall to pick up new shirts and pants for my host dad, who was starting a new job on Monday. It was neat to see the malls here in Chile. To be totally honest they are much like our malls in the United States, but with palm trees, and better ice cream stores. While Jaime was trying to find a pair of pants and shoes, I was going crazy looking at the amazing tie collection that they had. The ties were a bargain $14 bucks for 2 and for good brands. I almost bought two, and I may even go back... especially since I have plans to go to some cool events here in Santiago (more on that later), but we will see.
After the mall, probably around 8 or 9, we went to the grocery store. We probably spent about an hour in the grocery store, leaving around 10pm?? Not really sure, but we picked up the meat for the BBQ. We got back to the house and the family's friends came over a little later. Just like in the United States the men went out side to shoot the shit while the meat was cooking on the BBQ, while the women clucked like hens inside. :)
It was interesting, I kept going back and forth between the two, eventually talking about politics with the guys and trying the meat as it cooked. It was interesting to see the similarities however between the way they acted and the way my family would act if we had friends over for a BBQ. It was the exact same.
By the time had come to eat, it was 2am... not something I am use too. We ate dinner, which was absolutely wonderful by the way, but I was so exhausted that when the meal had ended and they started offering me drinks, I had to decline and go to bed. My host parents ended up staying up until the wee hours of the morning, probably explaining why we were late for church the next morning (read more about this in the Church in Santiago blog above).
The first night in the bed was fine, but very cold. The house here doesn't have heat, so the blankets are all you have, Most of the time the blankets work fine, but you have to position yourself just correctly enough so that you can have your entire body covered. I also pulled out my sleeping bag that I brought all the way from the United States (which was a huge pain) and I am so glad that I have it here now because it really helps in the cold nights! It was a good investment. Next I need a sleeping bag that weighs less and can be scrunched up into a very small container for backpacking.... now my sleeping bag takes up a lot of space in my bag. Does anyone know where a good one of these would be and for a good price? Just wondering.
Well, the first night was good overall. I ended up waking up around 8am, but my family slept very late, so I chilled in my room playing solitaire. Good for reasoning probably, I should be doing logic games and sudoku's to help prepare me for the LSAT huh? Read more about that adventure in future blogs! :)
Friday, July 25, 2008
Orientation 3
I woke up at the hotel and got ready for the day. breakfast was from 8 to 9:30 and I got down there at 9:30 and got a little something in me. The breakfast was the same everyday, which I really liked because it was so GOOD!
After breakfast we had a session about our host families and how we should act around them. They said that we need to keep our rooms neat and tidy, which is hard for me--- but an important skill to have. They also told us to be very kind to our nana's because they work so hard.
After this session we had a break. It seems like we were always having breaks and at every break there were cookies, tea, coffee, and juice. I was NEVER hungry at the orientation because there was food everywhere.
We then all attended a session that introduced us to the classes, schedules, and academics of our host universities. This was very interesting and presented the first real challenges we would all have to face --- registering for classes. What is so difficult about registering for classes is that you have a period to shop around for the classes you want to take. In other words, for the first few weeks of class you attend different classes and pick the ones you want to take. Yale does this by the way... my dream school. This is fairly easy when you have a good idea of what you want to take and only one group of classes to choose from, but we have THREE different class lists to choose from, all on different schedules, and all with different attendance policies. If you want to attend a class at Catolica, you better start going from the beginning because attendance is a very important part of your grade and you cannot pass if you do not attend a certain percentage or more classes. It was quite an eye opening experience.
University academics are very different here in Chile compared to the United States. A student first picks his or her area of specialization and then attends university to take classes only in that specialization. For instance, I would probably go into the school of the humanities and study only political science and public policy classes. Of course, sometimes the courses leech over into others, for example economics is taught in political science, and some political science is taught in economics, however you only take classes with the people who are in your specialization. If you specialize in political science and you need to take economics, you will still only take the classes with the students from political science. This means that the class that you enter with is the class you are with for your entire duration of university. So, if you hate the kids sitting next you in class, you better start looking for a new university.
We, get thrown into this mix by taking varying classes form many different specializations which supposedly doesn't help with the trying to meet Chileans problem we tend to have.
After this we had another break, and then we all got together for our second excursion in Santiago. Like the day before, we all were given a small slip of paper telling us our objective. My groups objective was to go to a "Red House" museum on the plaza de armas and explore it. To be totally honest, I was kind of in a bad mood this day. I was not in the mood to go to a museum, I just wanted to hang out and chill. We got to the museum and to be totally honest, it blew. The only thing that was cool was the small model, figurine, shadow boxes that were set up. They looked very realistic and it was quite impressive, but the rest, wasn't that exciting. The museum is based in a house that serves as the symbol of Chilean independence and the museum focuses on the development of Santiago as a city. Ok, it was more interesting then I am giving it credit for, but it still isn't something that I would recommend on a must see in Santiago list.
After the museum we were all pretty hungry, so we grabbed an empenada, at a stand down the street. We took them to the square where we sat on a bench and watched the people, birds, and the city go by. Backing up for a second, on the walk from the stand on the street to the plaza, I saw one of the most revolting things I have ever seen in my entire life. As we walked passed the cathedral, I saw a homeless man peeing into a trash can that was sitting next to the cathedral. It was quite the site to see.
Changing subjects, after eating, we walked through the Cathedral. After the cathedral one of the girls in our group thought we really needed to go to the library to research more about our museum so that our presentation to the rest of the group was the best. (Ok, side note, I could care less if our presentation is the best of the group! It isn't graded, it is only for fun, and all they want is the gist so if they want to see it they can. I think that this girl was crazy.) But off the library we went. We got to the library, which ended up really being the national achieves, and we ended up just chilling.
After hanging out in the national achieves, we decided we needed ice cream so we walked back to the plaza de aramas to get ice cream. We sat by this famous statue in the plaza de aramas really close to the painters in the square. The painters were really cool to watch. One person was sketching people's portraits and other artists were painting on canvas using pictures, I assume people gave them. It was really cool.
After chilling on the plaza some more we jumped onto the metro and got back to the hotel where we prepared our presentation. Our presentation went off well, I mean, we weren't the best... maybe going to the library would have helped. :) But, the people go the gist and that is what really mattered.
After our presentations we got on a bus and headed to a restaurant named DONA TINA. At the restaurant we could choose what we wanted, but they first served us some absolutely amazing appetizers, which were little empenadas. (I think I have written about these in another blog, if some of my loyal readers don't know what empenadas are, I'll describe them again, leave me a comment to tell me. Thanks!) For dinner, I had some of the most amazing meat I have ever had in my life. For desert, I had something that I really didn't quite care for. It could have been much better, but you couldn't have beat the meat anyway. It was a wonderful dinner.
After dinner, we returned and I went to my room, where I promptly fell asleep.
After breakfast we had a session about our host families and how we should act around them. They said that we need to keep our rooms neat and tidy, which is hard for me--- but an important skill to have. They also told us to be very kind to our nana's because they work so hard.
After this session we had a break. It seems like we were always having breaks and at every break there were cookies, tea, coffee, and juice. I was NEVER hungry at the orientation because there was food everywhere.
We then all attended a session that introduced us to the classes, schedules, and academics of our host universities. This was very interesting and presented the first real challenges we would all have to face --- registering for classes. What is so difficult about registering for classes is that you have a period to shop around for the classes you want to take. In other words, for the first few weeks of class you attend different classes and pick the ones you want to take. Yale does this by the way... my dream school. This is fairly easy when you have a good idea of what you want to take and only one group of classes to choose from, but we have THREE different class lists to choose from, all on different schedules, and all with different attendance policies. If you want to attend a class at Catolica, you better start going from the beginning because attendance is a very important part of your grade and you cannot pass if you do not attend a certain percentage or more classes. It was quite an eye opening experience.
University academics are very different here in Chile compared to the United States. A student first picks his or her area of specialization and then attends university to take classes only in that specialization. For instance, I would probably go into the school of the humanities and study only political science and public policy classes. Of course, sometimes the courses leech over into others, for example economics is taught in political science, and some political science is taught in economics, however you only take classes with the people who are in your specialization. If you specialize in political science and you need to take economics, you will still only take the classes with the students from political science. This means that the class that you enter with is the class you are with for your entire duration of university. So, if you hate the kids sitting next you in class, you better start looking for a new university.
We, get thrown into this mix by taking varying classes form many different specializations which supposedly doesn't help with the trying to meet Chileans problem we tend to have.
After this we had another break, and then we all got together for our second excursion in Santiago. Like the day before, we all were given a small slip of paper telling us our objective. My groups objective was to go to a "Red House" museum on the plaza de armas and explore it. To be totally honest, I was kind of in a bad mood this day. I was not in the mood to go to a museum, I just wanted to hang out and chill. We got to the museum and to be totally honest, it blew. The only thing that was cool was the small model, figurine, shadow boxes that were set up. They looked very realistic and it was quite impressive, but the rest, wasn't that exciting. The museum is based in a house that serves as the symbol of Chilean independence and the museum focuses on the development of Santiago as a city. Ok, it was more interesting then I am giving it credit for, but it still isn't something that I would recommend on a must see in Santiago list.
After the museum we were all pretty hungry, so we grabbed an empenada, at a stand down the street. We took them to the square where we sat on a bench and watched the people, birds, and the city go by. Backing up for a second, on the walk from the stand on the street to the plaza, I saw one of the most revolting things I have ever seen in my entire life. As we walked passed the cathedral, I saw a homeless man peeing into a trash can that was sitting next to the cathedral. It was quite the site to see.
Changing subjects, after eating, we walked through the Cathedral. After the cathedral one of the girls in our group thought we really needed to go to the library to research more about our museum so that our presentation to the rest of the group was the best. (Ok, side note, I could care less if our presentation is the best of the group! It isn't graded, it is only for fun, and all they want is the gist so if they want to see it they can. I think that this girl was crazy.) But off the library we went. We got to the library, which ended up really being the national achieves, and we ended up just chilling.
After hanging out in the national achieves, we decided we needed ice cream so we walked back to the plaza de aramas to get ice cream. We sat by this famous statue in the plaza de aramas really close to the painters in the square. The painters were really cool to watch. One person was sketching people's portraits and other artists were painting on canvas using pictures, I assume people gave them. It was really cool.
After chilling on the plaza some more we jumped onto the metro and got back to the hotel where we prepared our presentation. Our presentation went off well, I mean, we weren't the best... maybe going to the library would have helped. :) But, the people go the gist and that is what really mattered.
After our presentations we got on a bus and headed to a restaurant named DONA TINA. At the restaurant we could choose what we wanted, but they first served us some absolutely amazing appetizers, which were little empenadas. (I think I have written about these in another blog, if some of my loyal readers don't know what empenadas are, I'll describe them again, leave me a comment to tell me. Thanks!) For dinner, I had some of the most amazing meat I have ever had in my life. For desert, I had something that I really didn't quite care for. It could have been much better, but you couldn't have beat the meat anyway. It was a wonderful dinner.
After dinner, we returned and I went to my room, where I promptly fell asleep.
Orientation 2 --- Mi Familia
Orientation day 2 started really early... well it seemed really early. The alarm went off for Terrance and I around 7am, because we wanted to get up and eat breakfast which was scheduled from 8 until 9. Needless to say, we ended up at breakfast very early. We forgot that South Americans are notorious for not following schedules and showing up very tardy. So, we got a really nice breakfast in. It included sandwiches which consisted of toasted bread with butter, some cheese and ham, a bowl of cereal, fresh fruit, and yogurt. It was very good and quite filling.
After breakfast we took the much dreaded written Spanish placement exam. Let's just say that I have to really work on my Spanish. :) It has been a little more then a year since I last took Spanish 300 with Alex (my friend from school). Many of the items on the test were items that I new I had studied, but many of the principles I had forgotten. I basically need a refresher course on everything. After the written exam we spent a few minutes with our professors in an oral exam. They asked you a few questions that were more based on comprehension and verb conjugation... well that is what I deducted from the topics they asked me to discuss. I must say that I think my speaking though, has gotten better and many people that I have talked to say that my Spanish is clear. Again, I need to work on the grammar but with time this will come. I have a book entitled, Mastering Spanish Grammar, which I spend about an hour a day on, and I also have been spending some time with a new book I purchased before I left the states entitled 2000+ Spanish verbs which helps you master verb conjugation.
After this we had a session that taught us the basics of security in Santiago. It was really interesting. They said that the thieves in Santiago are world renowned, but I think all thieves, in every country are world renowned. Most security was about backpacks, which can easily be opened by passersby or taken from the floor or other areas.
In the afternoon, we were given an activity to do in Providencia, a sector of Santiago. My group was given the task to learn how many cellular phone companies Chile has and what type of pre-paid plans they have for foreign students. Our group first decided to go get lunch. We stopped at this little Bistro looking place where we had a sandwich and a soda pop. After we found out that Chile has three cellular phone providers. Movistar (Movahstar), Claro (Clahro), and Entel (Entell). They all had pretty similar price structures, etc, but this task took much longer then I expected and I really wasn't that please. I was upset that we had to spend so much time researching while others got more time to explore. Now, looking back it was fine, but still. :)
We got back to the hotel and we presented our information to the group. The other groups did the same. After the presentations we all got some time to prepare for the biggest event of the day... dinner with our families!
I went up and put some gel in my hair to make myself look decent. I went down stairs around 8pm and the woman who had arranged all of our host families was asking us our names and pairing us up with all of the families that were there. My family wasn't there yet, so I sat on the couch waiting for them to come. Suddenly the woman came up to me and said that my family was here to pick me up. I went over and an old man came up to me and gave me a hug. I am sure that I had a very strange look on my face because this man did not look like anything I had seen in the picture Butler had sent me. I asked the woman if this was right and she said that my host mom had sent her dad to come and pick me up. While this was strange to me, I decided to go along with it.
As we were walking out of the hotel, the man said to me, "You were very skinny in your picture, and you had big hair, what happened?" I looked at him and clearly said, "Something is wrong." We walked back into the hotel and he immediately recognized Sam, a student at Carelton in Northfield. Sam is much skinnier then I am and he has a "fro" like do with his hair--- nothing like me. The woman had paired me with someone else.
I sat back on the couch and in a few minutes my real family showed up. It was nice to see them in person. They looked exactly like they had in the picture. Their son was not with them, so I asked them where he was and they said that he was with his grandparents.
I was very hungry at this point because all I had eaten was a sandwich for lunch around 1pm. We were driving along and I talked with Jaime and Muriel, my host parents. We were driving for what seemed like forever, when we showed up at a Chinese Restaurant. I thought that this was where we were going to eat. We went in and immediately walked to the back room where there was a space heater, television, and a couch. There Jaime (their son, now I will call him Jaimito (or little Jaime)), was playing a game on the playstation 2 and his grandparents were sitting on the couch. I gave them both a firm handshake and a hug and we stayed there for a little while hanging out. Finally, Muriel suggested that she was very hungry, so we got back in the car to go to their home. Jaimito of course came with us.
We got to their home, which was quaint, but very nice. They gave me a tour of the home which includes a kitchen, dining room, living room, two bathrooms, and a bedroom. It also has another small bedroom attached to it for the Nana (more about the Nana later). They showed me my room which I liked. It has tiled floors (which get cold at night, but that is okay) a single bed, a desk, a nightstand, a dresser, and a nice sized closet with shelving. The thing I liked most about my room was that there was a map of the world on the wall. I love maps and it made me feel very at home.
After this I was thinking, okay we left to go eat, now where is the food. Which I felt bad for, but it was going on 10 o'clock and there was no sign of food. That is when Muriel said that Jaime and I should go to the grocery store for food. I was thinking, wow, we haven't even bought the food yet, and it is 10 o'clock? Crazy. Jaime, Jaimito and I went to the grocery store, which was not to far from the house and we bought a few things. One of the things included ice cream. Jaimito, was very crazy in the store. He played with the soccer balls in the isles and ran up the down escalator thing at the grocery store. He has a lot of energy, something I am not use to.
We got back to the house and they told me to sit down at the table in the dining room. It seems that the entire time the Nana, which I will now explain, was cooking the food.
In Chile, many families, actually most families, have a nana which comes either once every other week, every week, every day, or lives with the family. My Chilean family has a nana who lives in the room I was talking about earlier that is connected to the house. Her name is Pamela. She is a student here in Santiago who is currently studying Tourism. She is from the south of Chile, where she has told me she hopes to return to work in tourism one day. Nana's have a lot of work to do and basically serve as a servant of sorts to the family. They wash the clothes, dishes, cook most of the food, serve the food, take care of the kids, take the kids to and from school, clean the house, make the beds, etc. It is quite the job and I am always trying to be very respectful and thankful of everything Pamela does for me.
For dinner we ended up having a very nice conversation and some really good food. The meal included chicken, potatoes, and "salad". Salad is different here in Chile then it is in the United States. Salad is any vegetable that is included with the mail. For example, two dishes of tomatoes and cucumbers are considered "salad" in Chile.
It was getting close to 11:30 now and they decided that I needed to go back to the hotel. This was only a short lived stay. They said that the COPA program made it very clear that I needed to be back to the hotel at 12. We sped through the night and we arrived only a few minutes late.
I felt so excited after this meeting with my family. They were so nice and loving. I went to sleep around 1:30am. I knew the next morning was going to come early.
After breakfast we took the much dreaded written Spanish placement exam. Let's just say that I have to really work on my Spanish. :) It has been a little more then a year since I last took Spanish 300 with Alex (my friend from school). Many of the items on the test were items that I new I had studied, but many of the principles I had forgotten. I basically need a refresher course on everything. After the written exam we spent a few minutes with our professors in an oral exam. They asked you a few questions that were more based on comprehension and verb conjugation... well that is what I deducted from the topics they asked me to discuss. I must say that I think my speaking though, has gotten better and many people that I have talked to say that my Spanish is clear. Again, I need to work on the grammar but with time this will come. I have a book entitled, Mastering Spanish Grammar, which I spend about an hour a day on, and I also have been spending some time with a new book I purchased before I left the states entitled 2000+ Spanish verbs which helps you master verb conjugation.
After this we had a session that taught us the basics of security in Santiago. It was really interesting. They said that the thieves in Santiago are world renowned, but I think all thieves, in every country are world renowned. Most security was about backpacks, which can easily be opened by passersby or taken from the floor or other areas.
In the afternoon, we were given an activity to do in Providencia, a sector of Santiago. My group was given the task to learn how many cellular phone companies Chile has and what type of pre-paid plans they have for foreign students. Our group first decided to go get lunch. We stopped at this little Bistro looking place where we had a sandwich and a soda pop. After we found out that Chile has three cellular phone providers. Movistar (Movahstar), Claro (Clahro), and Entel (Entell). They all had pretty similar price structures, etc, but this task took much longer then I expected and I really wasn't that please. I was upset that we had to spend so much time researching while others got more time to explore. Now, looking back it was fine, but still. :)
We got back to the hotel and we presented our information to the group. The other groups did the same. After the presentations we all got some time to prepare for the biggest event of the day... dinner with our families!
I went up and put some gel in my hair to make myself look decent. I went down stairs around 8pm and the woman who had arranged all of our host families was asking us our names and pairing us up with all of the families that were there. My family wasn't there yet, so I sat on the couch waiting for them to come. Suddenly the woman came up to me and said that my family was here to pick me up. I went over and an old man came up to me and gave me a hug. I am sure that I had a very strange look on my face because this man did not look like anything I had seen in the picture Butler had sent me. I asked the woman if this was right and she said that my host mom had sent her dad to come and pick me up. While this was strange to me, I decided to go along with it.
As we were walking out of the hotel, the man said to me, "You were very skinny in your picture, and you had big hair, what happened?" I looked at him and clearly said, "Something is wrong." We walked back into the hotel and he immediately recognized Sam, a student at Carelton in Northfield. Sam is much skinnier then I am and he has a "fro" like do with his hair--- nothing like me. The woman had paired me with someone else.
I sat back on the couch and in a few minutes my real family showed up. It was nice to see them in person. They looked exactly like they had in the picture. Their son was not with them, so I asked them where he was and they said that he was with his grandparents.
I was very hungry at this point because all I had eaten was a sandwich for lunch around 1pm. We were driving along and I talked with Jaime and Muriel, my host parents. We were driving for what seemed like forever, when we showed up at a Chinese Restaurant. I thought that this was where we were going to eat. We went in and immediately walked to the back room where there was a space heater, television, and a couch. There Jaime (their son, now I will call him Jaimito (or little Jaime)), was playing a game on the playstation 2 and his grandparents were sitting on the couch. I gave them both a firm handshake and a hug and we stayed there for a little while hanging out. Finally, Muriel suggested that she was very hungry, so we got back in the car to go to their home. Jaimito of course came with us.
We got to their home, which was quaint, but very nice. They gave me a tour of the home which includes a kitchen, dining room, living room, two bathrooms, and a bedroom. It also has another small bedroom attached to it for the Nana (more about the Nana later). They showed me my room which I liked. It has tiled floors (which get cold at night, but that is okay) a single bed, a desk, a nightstand, a dresser, and a nice sized closet with shelving. The thing I liked most about my room was that there was a map of the world on the wall. I love maps and it made me feel very at home.
After this I was thinking, okay we left to go eat, now where is the food. Which I felt bad for, but it was going on 10 o'clock and there was no sign of food. That is when Muriel said that Jaime and I should go to the grocery store for food. I was thinking, wow, we haven't even bought the food yet, and it is 10 o'clock? Crazy. Jaime, Jaimito and I went to the grocery store, which was not to far from the house and we bought a few things. One of the things included ice cream. Jaimito, was very crazy in the store. He played with the soccer balls in the isles and ran up the down escalator thing at the grocery store. He has a lot of energy, something I am not use to.
We got back to the house and they told me to sit down at the table in the dining room. It seems that the entire time the Nana, which I will now explain, was cooking the food.
In Chile, many families, actually most families, have a nana which comes either once every other week, every week, every day, or lives with the family. My Chilean family has a nana who lives in the room I was talking about earlier that is connected to the house. Her name is Pamela. She is a student here in Santiago who is currently studying Tourism. She is from the south of Chile, where she has told me she hopes to return to work in tourism one day. Nana's have a lot of work to do and basically serve as a servant of sorts to the family. They wash the clothes, dishes, cook most of the food, serve the food, take care of the kids, take the kids to and from school, clean the house, make the beds, etc. It is quite the job and I am always trying to be very respectful and thankful of everything Pamela does for me.
For dinner we ended up having a very nice conversation and some really good food. The meal included chicken, potatoes, and "salad". Salad is different here in Chile then it is in the United States. Salad is any vegetable that is included with the mail. For example, two dishes of tomatoes and cucumbers are considered "salad" in Chile.
It was getting close to 11:30 now and they decided that I needed to go back to the hotel. This was only a short lived stay. They said that the COPA program made it very clear that I needed to be back to the hotel at 12. We sped through the night and we arrived only a few minutes late.
I felt so excited after this meeting with my family. They were so nice and loving. I went to sleep around 1:30am. I knew the next morning was going to come early.
Orientation 1
I got up early in the morning to get ready for the day I would start orientation. I checked out of the hotel around 8am and I needed to be at my other hotel for orientation at 9am. I hauled all of my bags out to the curb where I hailed a taxi. At first the taxi had no idea where I was going. He started talking to other taxis at the stop lights and finally someone knew where my hotel was, so off we went to the hotel.
On the way the Taxi driver and I talked about.... you guessed it politics. He informed me that Chile will have municipal elections during my semester abroad. It will be a neat experience to see what campaigns in Chile are like to compare them to the long, drawn out ones that we have in the US.
The taxi driver dropped me off at my hotel and inside I found a guy who was also waiting for the orientation. A few minutes later two other guys and a girl showed up. We were suppose to meet at 9am, but the hotel staff informed us that there were some problems with the airplane and the rest of the group was going to be late. They invited us to eat the breakfast that they had prepared for us. It was quite nice, much like the eastern European breakfasts I had in January of 2007 for my j-term in eastern Europe.
We chilled out in the hotel until they staff said our rooms were ready. I shared a room with Terrance, a student at Columbia University who lives around Chicago. Our room was huge and very nice! The hotel was four stars. I don't know if it was COPA's (Cooperating Programs in the Americas, the program I am studying with) idea to try and ease us in to the Chilean culture, but the hotel was very nice. The rooms were $180 a night, so that gives you an idea of how this hotel was.
After the entire group got to the hotel, we sat down and ate lunch. And what a lunch it was. It was absolutely wonderful and the food was excellent.
Lunch passed, and we had our first session where we were introduced to the program, the students, the staff, and a little about Santiago. In my program there are students from all over the US. The colleges represented include: Carelton, Macalester, University of Virginia, Emory, Northwestern, Wellsley,Gustavus, Columbia, Bates, and Amherst.
It is interesting to note the times that we ate meals in Chile. Breakfast was around 8-9am everyday, lunch was usually served around 1:30pm, and dinner was served around 8pm. These times all were a little later then we tend to eat in the US, so when food came around, we were all very hungry.
We ate dinner this night at 8pm. Again, the food was so very good and the dessert was great. The dessert was a play off of tres leches or three milks. Actually, Johanna, the bakery chef at St. Thomas' North Campus in St. Paul made something like this for the students last year. (A side note, when I worked at the Cafeteria on campus, my favorite part of the day was talking to Johanna. Whether it was 7am or noon, Johanna always had a good story to tell and a new amazing treat for me to try. I highly suggest becoming friends with Johanna if you work in the Cafeteria because she is fun and has really good sweets!)
Most of the day was spent relaxing and reading our really long handbook. I must say that the handbook was written in a way that made it really enjoyable to read. Also, it had a lot of really important information in it that I found very interesting.
I ended up going to bed probably around 11 or so. It had been a long day and the bed was so nice and comfortable that I snuggled right in.
On the way the Taxi driver and I talked about.... you guessed it politics. He informed me that Chile will have municipal elections during my semester abroad. It will be a neat experience to see what campaigns in Chile are like to compare them to the long, drawn out ones that we have in the US.
The taxi driver dropped me off at my hotel and inside I found a guy who was also waiting for the orientation. A few minutes later two other guys and a girl showed up. We were suppose to meet at 9am, but the hotel staff informed us that there were some problems with the airplane and the rest of the group was going to be late. They invited us to eat the breakfast that they had prepared for us. It was quite nice, much like the eastern European breakfasts I had in January of 2007 for my j-term in eastern Europe.
We chilled out in the hotel until they staff said our rooms were ready. I shared a room with Terrance, a student at Columbia University who lives around Chicago. Our room was huge and very nice! The hotel was four stars. I don't know if it was COPA's (Cooperating Programs in the Americas, the program I am studying with) idea to try and ease us in to the Chilean culture, but the hotel was very nice. The rooms were $180 a night, so that gives you an idea of how this hotel was.
After the entire group got to the hotel, we sat down and ate lunch. And what a lunch it was. It was absolutely wonderful and the food was excellent.
Lunch passed, and we had our first session where we were introduced to the program, the students, the staff, and a little about Santiago. In my program there are students from all over the US. The colleges represented include: Carelton, Macalester, University of Virginia, Emory, Northwestern, Wellsley,Gustavus, Columbia, Bates, and Amherst.
It is interesting to note the times that we ate meals in Chile. Breakfast was around 8-9am everyday, lunch was usually served around 1:30pm, and dinner was served around 8pm. These times all were a little later then we tend to eat in the US, so when food came around, we were all very hungry.
We ate dinner this night at 8pm. Again, the food was so very good and the dessert was great. The dessert was a play off of tres leches or three milks. Actually, Johanna, the bakery chef at St. Thomas' North Campus in St. Paul made something like this for the students last year. (A side note, when I worked at the Cafeteria on campus, my favorite part of the day was talking to Johanna. Whether it was 7am or noon, Johanna always had a good story to tell and a new amazing treat for me to try. I highly suggest becoming friends with Johanna if you work in the Cafeteria because she is fun and has really good sweets!)
Most of the day was spent relaxing and reading our really long handbook. I must say that the handbook was written in a way that made it really enjoyable to read. Also, it had a lot of really important information in it that I found very interesting.
I ended up going to bed probably around 11 or so. It had been a long day and the bed was so nice and comfortable that I snuggled right in.
Santiago --- Walking Tour
I woke up much later than expected, around 9am. I woke up and went to the common room in the hostel where there was free breakfast. I breakfast included toast, cereal, milk, and tea. What more could you ask for. This was the first hostel I stayed in that fed you, which made me very excited.
While I was eating breakfast I met a girl from the United States. She had just arrived in Santiago from the States for a new job with the Chilean government. She was going to work with the students in Calama, Chile, a city very close to San Pedro de Atacama, where I had visited early. She explained to me that as Chile expands its influence and economy, English is beginning to be a more and more important language for trade and other items. The Chilean government asked her to come to Chile for a year to help teach students English. She is getting paid a meager wage, but enough to live on. Her housing, room, and board are all included. She has also had quite a life. She has just up and left her home often to travel the world. She is quite independent. I asked her what she was doing for the day, and she said that she was going to do a walking tour of Santiago, which is included in the South America on a Shoestring book that we both had. I actually had been thinking about doing that as well, so we decided that it was better to go and complete the walking tour together.
We both went to take showers and get ready for the day and we left the hostel probably around 11 or 12. We took the metro, a subway like train that provides a lot of the transportation to the city of Santiago. To use the transit system in Santiago, you must buy a Bip! Card, which holds a value that slowly deducts as you use the mass transit. The card costs about $2000 pesos, which is about $4 dollars. Strangely enough the symbol for pesos in Chile is also the symbol for US dollars. You can tell the price difference because the Chilean price is obviously much higher.
After we bought our Bip! card we were off to the beginning of the walking tour at the Santa Lucia metro stop. We first visited the Biblioteca National, or National Library. The building serves mostly as the National Archives of Chile. It really wasn't that interesting. It was a cool building and all, but there really wasn't much to see.
After the library, we walked up to Cerro Santa Lucia. This is a park in the heart of the city that was built on a hill that actually is more like a mountain. It was very pretty, there were lots of fountains, statues, and plants to look at. The top had a decent view of Santiago and the surrounding mountains.
Let me take a moment to discuss the pollution and the mountains in Santiago. It is truly magnificent to wake up to the Andes Mountain range literally surrounding your city as a natural protection. The sad part is that the view is smudged by the crazy amount of pollution commuters, buses, and basic daily life makes in Santiago. Santiago, like other great cities of the world, including Mexico City, is situated literally in a bowl of the Andes Mountains. This has provided natural protection for Chile's capital, but today it poses a serious ecological and health risk to its residence. Winds cannot reach the metropolitan area of Santiago to push away the air pollution, thus you are left with an ungodly amount of smog, which actually has decreased in recent years according to many of the locals. This decrease can primarily be attributed to the cities aggressive efforts to change mass transit in Santiago to be more ecologically friendly. I was actually told to take a picture of the mountains if I ever saw them because it was so rare, however, I have seen the mountains everyday I have been here.
Going back to the walking tour, this park, Cerro Santa Lucia, is quite the park. It is beautiful yes, but also because of the amount of PDA, public displays of affection, you see by the youngsters in the park. Chile tends to be a very conservative country in the grand scheme of things. This is odd because in the short time I have been here I have seen signs that say PORNO,advertising for a play, see youngsters making out, or gays holding hands. Much more liberal then old New Prague or Urbana in the states. The story on the PDA is this conservatism. Parents don't allow their children to bring their boyfriend or girlfriend home to chill, sleep over, or make out on the couch... so where do they go... the streets. I don't know which is worse. Literally, you can see some touching that can't be considered rated G, PG-13 or R.
After the park, we walked to the Plaza de Armas, as I said before, every city in South America has one. This plaza was recently restored and it was very nice. There were many benches and palm trees to relax the day away. There were also lots of painters who would paint your picture or take a picture that you have and paint it on canvas, for relatively cheap. It was very cool. The Plaza also was home to the Cathedral, which was quite impressive. The thing that I found most impressive was that at the back of the church you can see the nativity scene for Christmas time. This nativity scene is entirely carved out of wood and was extremely impressive.
After the plaza, we walked to see the Ex-Congreso National, which was the former home to the Chilean Congress before Pinochet's dictatorship. It is closed to the public and basically is a very nice looking old building. I have read online that on special occasions it is open for tours, so perhaps in the future, I will get to go inside. Across from the Ex-Congreso, you can see the Tribunales de Justicia or the law courts. Chile has a court system and most, if not all of the courts are based in this building.
After this area of the city, we continued to the Palacio de la Moneda. This is the Presidential Palace of Chile. La Moneda means mint and this building use to coin the Chilean currency. It first became the home of the President in 1845. It did not stay the presidential palace forever. When Pinochet took power the palace was hit by a bomb and the burning building served as a historic symbol for the take over of the neo-liberal regime. The Chilean President at the time Allende supposedly killed himself in the palace before the military took power.
Again, I am going to digress, to truly understand Chile, you must understand its Politics. Like most countries, except for the United States, politics is a vital pastime. Everyone enjoys to talk about politics and everyone has an opinion. Like the US however, either you are on the right or you are on the left. The symbols of the sides are not elephants and donkeys, but instead Pinochet and Allende. If you talk to someone who leans to the right, Pinochet is a hero and Allende is the enemy. If you talk to someone who leans to the left, Pinochet is the enemy and Allende is the hero. I actually, think that this is too complicated to explain in this post, so I am going to write another post specifically on the politics of Chile, don't worry it will probably be miles long. I am currently reading a book called Politics in Chile and everyone I meet, I talk about politics with them, so I will try to have unbiased, resourceful, and interesting comments about it.
The palace was very, very, very fun for a political science nerd like me. As we were looking at the palace, up pulls a few different cars with flags flying from them. We got closer and it was really neat to see these motorcades come into the palace. We talked to the guards who informed up of what was going on. The guard said that many ambassadors from many nations were coming to sign a free trade agreement, however when I later looked up on the Presidential website the activities of the President, it said that she was actually giving the credentials to the ambassadors of various countries on that day. The guards, did not know what what going on, another reason to do your homework and not trust random strangers. It was really cool, and we walked along side the Palace only to find a military marching band. It was very neat. To see this, they also marched into the palace, I assume for the credentials ceremony. This ceremony is very important for ambassadors of other countries and tends to be very ritualistic.
After the palace, we were decided that it was time to start heading back to the hostel. We stopped at the grocery store and picked up supplies for dinner. We bought spaghetti, sauce, cheese, and a couple bottles of wine. We took the metro back to the hostel. We basically, just chilled out with many of the people in the hostel, most from the UK, and later we made dinner and drank the wine. It was a really good time. I ended up going to bed fairly early because I needed to get up for my orientation the next day.
While I was eating breakfast I met a girl from the United States. She had just arrived in Santiago from the States for a new job with the Chilean government. She was going to work with the students in Calama, Chile, a city very close to San Pedro de Atacama, where I had visited early. She explained to me that as Chile expands its influence and economy, English is beginning to be a more and more important language for trade and other items. The Chilean government asked her to come to Chile for a year to help teach students English. She is getting paid a meager wage, but enough to live on. Her housing, room, and board are all included. She has also had quite a life. She has just up and left her home often to travel the world. She is quite independent. I asked her what she was doing for the day, and she said that she was going to do a walking tour of Santiago, which is included in the South America on a Shoestring book that we both had. I actually had been thinking about doing that as well, so we decided that it was better to go and complete the walking tour together.
We both went to take showers and get ready for the day and we left the hostel probably around 11 or 12. We took the metro, a subway like train that provides a lot of the transportation to the city of Santiago. To use the transit system in Santiago, you must buy a Bip! Card, which holds a value that slowly deducts as you use the mass transit. The card costs about $2000 pesos, which is about $4 dollars. Strangely enough the symbol for pesos in Chile is also the symbol for US dollars. You can tell the price difference because the Chilean price is obviously much higher.
After we bought our Bip! card we were off to the beginning of the walking tour at the Santa Lucia metro stop. We first visited the Biblioteca National, or National Library. The building serves mostly as the National Archives of Chile. It really wasn't that interesting. It was a cool building and all, but there really wasn't much to see.
After the library, we walked up to Cerro Santa Lucia. This is a park in the heart of the city that was built on a hill that actually is more like a mountain. It was very pretty, there were lots of fountains, statues, and plants to look at. The top had a decent view of Santiago and the surrounding mountains.
Let me take a moment to discuss the pollution and the mountains in Santiago. It is truly magnificent to wake up to the Andes Mountain range literally surrounding your city as a natural protection. The sad part is that the view is smudged by the crazy amount of pollution commuters, buses, and basic daily life makes in Santiago. Santiago, like other great cities of the world, including Mexico City, is situated literally in a bowl of the Andes Mountains. This has provided natural protection for Chile's capital, but today it poses a serious ecological and health risk to its residence. Winds cannot reach the metropolitan area of Santiago to push away the air pollution, thus you are left with an ungodly amount of smog, which actually has decreased in recent years according to many of the locals. This decrease can primarily be attributed to the cities aggressive efforts to change mass transit in Santiago to be more ecologically friendly. I was actually told to take a picture of the mountains if I ever saw them because it was so rare, however, I have seen the mountains everyday I have been here.
Going back to the walking tour, this park, Cerro Santa Lucia, is quite the park. It is beautiful yes, but also because of the amount of PDA, public displays of affection, you see by the youngsters in the park. Chile tends to be a very conservative country in the grand scheme of things. This is odd because in the short time I have been here I have seen signs that say PORNO,advertising for a play, see youngsters making out, or gays holding hands. Much more liberal then old New Prague or Urbana in the states. The story on the PDA is this conservatism. Parents don't allow their children to bring their boyfriend or girlfriend home to chill, sleep over, or make out on the couch... so where do they go... the streets. I don't know which is worse. Literally, you can see some touching that can't be considered rated G, PG-13 or R.
After the park, we walked to the Plaza de Armas, as I said before, every city in South America has one. This plaza was recently restored and it was very nice. There were many benches and palm trees to relax the day away. There were also lots of painters who would paint your picture or take a picture that you have and paint it on canvas, for relatively cheap. It was very cool. The Plaza also was home to the Cathedral, which was quite impressive. The thing that I found most impressive was that at the back of the church you can see the nativity scene for Christmas time. This nativity scene is entirely carved out of wood and was extremely impressive.
After the plaza, we walked to see the Ex-Congreso National, which was the former home to the Chilean Congress before Pinochet's dictatorship. It is closed to the public and basically is a very nice looking old building. I have read online that on special occasions it is open for tours, so perhaps in the future, I will get to go inside. Across from the Ex-Congreso, you can see the Tribunales de Justicia or the law courts. Chile has a court system and most, if not all of the courts are based in this building.
After this area of the city, we continued to the Palacio de la Moneda. This is the Presidential Palace of Chile. La Moneda means mint and this building use to coin the Chilean currency. It first became the home of the President in 1845. It did not stay the presidential palace forever. When Pinochet took power the palace was hit by a bomb and the burning building served as a historic symbol for the take over of the neo-liberal regime. The Chilean President at the time Allende supposedly killed himself in the palace before the military took power.
Again, I am going to digress, to truly understand Chile, you must understand its Politics. Like most countries, except for the United States, politics is a vital pastime. Everyone enjoys to talk about politics and everyone has an opinion. Like the US however, either you are on the right or you are on the left. The symbols of the sides are not elephants and donkeys, but instead Pinochet and Allende. If you talk to someone who leans to the right, Pinochet is a hero and Allende is the enemy. If you talk to someone who leans to the left, Pinochet is the enemy and Allende is the hero. I actually, think that this is too complicated to explain in this post, so I am going to write another post specifically on the politics of Chile, don't worry it will probably be miles long. I am currently reading a book called Politics in Chile and everyone I meet, I talk about politics with them, so I will try to have unbiased, resourceful, and interesting comments about it.
The palace was very, very, very fun for a political science nerd like me. As we were looking at the palace, up pulls a few different cars with flags flying from them. We got closer and it was really neat to see these motorcades come into the palace. We talked to the guards who informed up of what was going on. The guard said that many ambassadors from many nations were coming to sign a free trade agreement, however when I later looked up on the Presidential website the activities of the President, it said that she was actually giving the credentials to the ambassadors of various countries on that day. The guards, did not know what what going on, another reason to do your homework and not trust random strangers. It was really cool, and we walked along side the Palace only to find a military marching band. It was very neat. To see this, they also marched into the palace, I assume for the credentials ceremony. This ceremony is very important for ambassadors of other countries and tends to be very ritualistic.
After the palace, we were decided that it was time to start heading back to the hostel. We stopped at the grocery store and picked up supplies for dinner. We bought spaghetti, sauce, cheese, and a couple bottles of wine. We took the metro back to the hostel. We basically, just chilled out with many of the people in the hostel, most from the UK, and later we made dinner and drank the wine. It was a really good time. I ended up going to bed fairly early because I needed to get up for my orientation the next day.
Bus to Santiago
I woke up around 7am from the steward on the bus who was shaking me to give me my breakfast. It was quite meager. It consisted of some juice box, which in general I do not like much, so I offered mine to an older couple sitting close by, and a oatmeal raisin cookie, which I quickly devoured. There really wasn't much to this day. It was a lot of reading on the bus and watching the scenery. It was neat because for most of the trip the Andes Mountains were on my left and the cliffs down to the crashing waves of the Pacific were on my right. Quite the contrast.
Around 3 or 4 we arrived at a rest stop, where we could get out and purchase a cheap meal provided by the bus company. Cheap it was, but actually, it was quite good. It included chicken, rice, jello, a soda, salad, and bread. What more could you ask for. I also treated myself to some chocolate at the stop. I felt I deserved it after almost 20 hours on the bus.
We arrived at the Santiago bus station around 6pm. The sun had already gone down and it looked a little suspicious, so I took a taxi to my hostel. I am glad I did because it ended up taking almost 20-30 minutes in the taxi to get to my hostel. When I arrived, I found a great hostel. They welcomed me, showed me my bed, and informed me that it was free pisco sour night. Weee! After a 23 hour bus ride I was ready for a drink. This hostel had many people from the UK staying there, which I always find really fun. I chilled and talked with them for a couple hours and had some pisco sour. I eventually decided to go to bed. It had been a long enough day.
Around 3 or 4 we arrived at a rest stop, where we could get out and purchase a cheap meal provided by the bus company. Cheap it was, but actually, it was quite good. It included chicken, rice, jello, a soda, salad, and bread. What more could you ask for. I also treated myself to some chocolate at the stop. I felt I deserved it after almost 20 hours on the bus.
We arrived at the Santiago bus station around 6pm. The sun had already gone down and it looked a little suspicious, so I took a taxi to my hostel. I am glad I did because it ended up taking almost 20-30 minutes in the taxi to get to my hostel. When I arrived, I found a great hostel. They welcomed me, showed me my bed, and informed me that it was free pisco sour night. Weee! After a 23 hour bus ride I was ready for a drink. This hostel had many people from the UK staying there, which I always find really fun. I chilled and talked with them for a couple hours and had some pisco sour. I eventually decided to go to bed. It had been a long enough day.
San Pedro de Atacama 3
So, in my last post, I told you that I was up, kind of late talking with the guys about women and my tour to the Geysers de Tito was a very early wake up call. So, I ended up being very tired in the morning. We were suppose to leave at 4am, so I set my alarm for 3:40, much to early. I woke up and got ready for the day. I waited with a worker at the hostel, but no one came. I waited until about 5am, but eventually I decided to go back to bed. I was actually alright with this because I was extremely tired. As soon as I returned to bed, I heard a bus pull up and I was quite upset, because I was just getting back to sleep. The hostel owner came into my room and woke me up, and in a few minutes, I was off to the geysers. We arrived at the geysers just before sunrise. We could see all of the steam rising from the ground. It really was a cool sight to see. This geyser field represented 10% of the worlds geysers, which I felt was quite the accomplishment.
I have never been to Yellowstone National Park, but I assume that its geysers are more impressive, because these were quite small. The one thing that I believe was different and exciting was that there were no barriers between the tourists and the geysers. If you wanted to you could walk right into them, which was not recomended. It was really cool though to see these natural wonders go to work. You could hear the gurgling of the water and see the steam come from the ground.
As we were walking around the geysers, all of a sudden the sun burst from behind the mountains and it was quite the sight. I have forgotten to talk about how cold it was. The tour guide said that it was about a 0 degrees Celsius or freezing at 32 degrees Fahrenheit, which made it extremely cold. But the sun was a welcomed sight as you could feel its heat immediately on your face. It really was great.
After we toured the geysers, we went to another part of the geyser field where the water literally ran into a pond where people could go swimming. Many people were stripping of their clothes, in the very cold temperatures and going for a dive. I decided not to, mainly because I was worried about the temperature after I returned from the swim. Most of the people there, said it was a really cool experience though. I happened to run into the tour guide from the valley of the moon and also the Dutch couple I met during the tour. It was neat to see them again and they urged me to get into the water, but I declined.... and I am glad that I did, because it was so cold.
After this we drove on a bus throughout the highlands checking out many of the animals, flora, and fauna, of the area. It was very neat. We eventually arrived at a small town were we could get out and stretch our legs. Literally this town was in the middle of no where. Only 80 people lived their and they mainly thrived off tourism and farming. A local farmer was cooking up fresh llama meat, and I tried some and found it very good. A local weaver was selling hats, sweaters, and blankets. I didn't buy anything, but took a good look at the handiwork because it was quite impressive. I also tried to buy a homemade empanada, which is basically a fried pocket of bread that is filled with meat, cheese and anything else you can think of. They are very good, as I tried some in Peru, however, the line was too long and I never got one... which is probably very good because I really didn't need the calories.
After the town we returned to San Pedro, where everyone got dropped off. I went back to my hostel, took a shower, and gathered all of my stuff to get ready to leave. My bus wasn't scheduled to leave until almost 8 in the evening and it was noon, so I had plenty of time to spare. I walked around town some more, ate a good lunch, and spent some time reading and checking up on the computer. Around 7 I got my stuff from the luggage storage room at the hostel and walked to the bus stop. I got on the bus and I was off to Santiago. I really fell asleep almost immediately. San Pedro wore me out because there was so much stuff to do in such a short period of time. It was great though.
I have never been to Yellowstone National Park, but I assume that its geysers are more impressive, because these were quite small. The one thing that I believe was different and exciting was that there were no barriers between the tourists and the geysers. If you wanted to you could walk right into them, which was not recomended. It was really cool though to see these natural wonders go to work. You could hear the gurgling of the water and see the steam come from the ground.
As we were walking around the geysers, all of a sudden the sun burst from behind the mountains and it was quite the sight. I have forgotten to talk about how cold it was. The tour guide said that it was about a 0 degrees Celsius or freezing at 32 degrees Fahrenheit, which made it extremely cold. But the sun was a welcomed sight as you could feel its heat immediately on your face. It really was great.
After we toured the geysers, we went to another part of the geyser field where the water literally ran into a pond where people could go swimming. Many people were stripping of their clothes, in the very cold temperatures and going for a dive. I decided not to, mainly because I was worried about the temperature after I returned from the swim. Most of the people there, said it was a really cool experience though. I happened to run into the tour guide from the valley of the moon and also the Dutch couple I met during the tour. It was neat to see them again and they urged me to get into the water, but I declined.... and I am glad that I did, because it was so cold.
After this we drove on a bus throughout the highlands checking out many of the animals, flora, and fauna, of the area. It was very neat. We eventually arrived at a small town were we could get out and stretch our legs. Literally this town was in the middle of no where. Only 80 people lived their and they mainly thrived off tourism and farming. A local farmer was cooking up fresh llama meat, and I tried some and found it very good. A local weaver was selling hats, sweaters, and blankets. I didn't buy anything, but took a good look at the handiwork because it was quite impressive. I also tried to buy a homemade empanada, which is basically a fried pocket of bread that is filled with meat, cheese and anything else you can think of. They are very good, as I tried some in Peru, however, the line was too long and I never got one... which is probably very good because I really didn't need the calories.
After the town we returned to San Pedro, where everyone got dropped off. I went back to my hostel, took a shower, and gathered all of my stuff to get ready to leave. My bus wasn't scheduled to leave until almost 8 in the evening and it was noon, so I had plenty of time to spare. I walked around town some more, ate a good lunch, and spent some time reading and checking up on the computer. Around 7 I got my stuff from the luggage storage room at the hostel and walked to the bus stop. I got on the bus and I was off to Santiago. I really fell asleep almost immediately. San Pedro wore me out because there was so much stuff to do in such a short period of time. It was great though.
Sunday, July 20, 2008
San Pedro de Atacama 2
I woke up around 7:30 and got ready for my next tour which was suppose to leave around 8am. The tour was to the Altiplano Lakes. It was a really interesting tour.
We started out by going to an oasis in the desert. It had many different trees with different fruits. It also had the largest clumps of pompous grass that I had ever seen. I am sure that my dad, who is always trying to get pompous grass growing in our backyard would have been extremely jealous. It was really interesting to see what a difference a little bit of water in a stream can make in the desert. The area literally only had a little stream of run off water from the mountain, but this little stream allowed a lot of flora and fauna to grow in this oasis. In the oasis, we also saw some drawings from ancient peoples on the rocks. It was quite interesting and hard to see at first, but after taking a picture of the rocks and studying them for a little while, I could make them out. I will have to put the pictures up on this blog.
After the oasis, we headed to the Chilean National Reserve for Flamingos. This is located in the salt flats. This was one of the most interesting parts of the trip. We saw an entire flat covered with salt rocks, literally all salt. It was very interesting and unlike anything I had ever seen before in my life. The geological formation is created when water seeps into the ground from snow melting on top of the mountains. The water goes into the ground and eventually settles into the flats where it mixes with the ground and pushes upward forming salt rocks in the flats. It was absolutely amazing. While at this site we also had the opportunity to observe three types of Flamingos. These birds are some of the most awkward and odd shaped birds I have ever seen. At the same time their pink bodies were absolutely stunning. As we sat and observed the flamingos, we were told about the flamingo nests, which are built in the middle of the 'lakes' because it protects the eggs from fox and other animals who may want to eat the eggs. Flamingos are very romantic birds. Flamingos pick a mate for life and never change. When one flamingo dies, its mate soon follows because the mate essentially commits suicide by not eating. That is really love even after death us do part. Flamingos can also be gay. A woman on this trip told me that a couple of Flamingos were brought to a zoo in her home country of Germany and they were both males. They ended up being mates for life. Supposedly they tried and tried to have an egg, but they couldn't, so the Zoo designed a wooden egg and gave it to the flamingos and they have been happy ever since. Crazy huh? Maybe people need to take a lesson from the flamingos in both acceptance, understanding, love, and devotion. During our tour, we saw flamingos fly above us a couple of times. It really was a neat experience.
After the salt flats we drove to the Altiplano lakes. On the way we stopped at a very small town to make reservations for lunch at a little cafe. We arrived at the lakes and it was really nice. These lakes were beautiful, but I actually ended up being quite disappointed. All we really did was look and take pictures at the lakes which were, as I said absolutely beautiful, but that was it.
After the lakes, we returned to the town to eat lunch. We had some really good soup, chicken, and potatoes. It was really a good meal.
After the meal we went to a town south of San Pedro de Atacama, that was named Temuco. It was a very small town. It had three tourist attractions. The church, the church bell tower both built in the 1700's before the signing of the Declaration of Independence, and a llama that was in a small pen so tourists could pet it. Quite the little town.
We returned to San Pedro de Atacama, and I needed to get money from an ATM. What a hassle this was going to be. I went to both ATMs in town, and both were out of cash. I needed cash for the entrance fees for my tours the next day. So, I found two Chileans, who were in the same predicament. We talked for a while and we decided, that what I could do, was go to get a couple drinks and food with them, and then I could pay with my credit card and they would pay me in cash. It was a good idea and the girls were very nice and helped me with my Spanish, so that is what we did. We went and I got 2x1 Pisco Sour drinks, a pretty good deal. It ended up working out that I had money, two friends, good conversations, and good memories by the end of the night.
After having a couple drinks with these girls, I went back to the hostal to go to bed, but instead, I found three guys, one Chilean, one Dutch, and one American chilling in the dorm room. We started talking about things, mostly they talked about women problems they had and they offered to let me have a beer with them. So, I said sure, they poured me a small glass --- which was fine with me, and I listened to their complaints for a little longer, before I realized that listening to sap stories about women wasn't my thing, so I retired for the night.
We started out by going to an oasis in the desert. It had many different trees with different fruits. It also had the largest clumps of pompous grass that I had ever seen. I am sure that my dad, who is always trying to get pompous grass growing in our backyard would have been extremely jealous. It was really interesting to see what a difference a little bit of water in a stream can make in the desert. The area literally only had a little stream of run off water from the mountain, but this little stream allowed a lot of flora and fauna to grow in this oasis. In the oasis, we also saw some drawings from ancient peoples on the rocks. It was quite interesting and hard to see at first, but after taking a picture of the rocks and studying them for a little while, I could make them out. I will have to put the pictures up on this blog.
After the oasis, we headed to the Chilean National Reserve for Flamingos. This is located in the salt flats. This was one of the most interesting parts of the trip. We saw an entire flat covered with salt rocks, literally all salt. It was very interesting and unlike anything I had ever seen before in my life. The geological formation is created when water seeps into the ground from snow melting on top of the mountains. The water goes into the ground and eventually settles into the flats where it mixes with the ground and pushes upward forming salt rocks in the flats. It was absolutely amazing. While at this site we also had the opportunity to observe three types of Flamingos. These birds are some of the most awkward and odd shaped birds I have ever seen. At the same time their pink bodies were absolutely stunning. As we sat and observed the flamingos, we were told about the flamingo nests, which are built in the middle of the 'lakes' because it protects the eggs from fox and other animals who may want to eat the eggs. Flamingos are very romantic birds. Flamingos pick a mate for life and never change. When one flamingo dies, its mate soon follows because the mate essentially commits suicide by not eating. That is really love even after death us do part. Flamingos can also be gay. A woman on this trip told me that a couple of Flamingos were brought to a zoo in her home country of Germany and they were both males. They ended up being mates for life. Supposedly they tried and tried to have an egg, but they couldn't, so the Zoo designed a wooden egg and gave it to the flamingos and they have been happy ever since. Crazy huh? Maybe people need to take a lesson from the flamingos in both acceptance, understanding, love, and devotion. During our tour, we saw flamingos fly above us a couple of times. It really was a neat experience.
After the salt flats we drove to the Altiplano lakes. On the way we stopped at a very small town to make reservations for lunch at a little cafe. We arrived at the lakes and it was really nice. These lakes were beautiful, but I actually ended up being quite disappointed. All we really did was look and take pictures at the lakes which were, as I said absolutely beautiful, but that was it.
After the lakes, we returned to the town to eat lunch. We had some really good soup, chicken, and potatoes. It was really a good meal.
After the meal we went to a town south of San Pedro de Atacama, that was named Temuco. It was a very small town. It had three tourist attractions. The church, the church bell tower both built in the 1700's before the signing of the Declaration of Independence, and a llama that was in a small pen so tourists could pet it. Quite the little town.
We returned to San Pedro de Atacama, and I needed to get money from an ATM. What a hassle this was going to be. I went to both ATMs in town, and both were out of cash. I needed cash for the entrance fees for my tours the next day. So, I found two Chileans, who were in the same predicament. We talked for a while and we decided, that what I could do, was go to get a couple drinks and food with them, and then I could pay with my credit card and they would pay me in cash. It was a good idea and the girls were very nice and helped me with my Spanish, so that is what we did. We went and I got 2x1 Pisco Sour drinks, a pretty good deal. It ended up working out that I had money, two friends, good conversations, and good memories by the end of the night.
After having a couple drinks with these girls, I went back to the hostal to go to bed, but instead, I found three guys, one Chilean, one Dutch, and one American chilling in the dorm room. We started talking about things, mostly they talked about women problems they had and they offered to let me have a beer with them. So, I said sure, they poured me a small glass --- which was fine with me, and I listened to their complaints for a little longer, before I realized that listening to sap stories about women wasn't my thing, so I retired for the night.
San Pedro de Atacama 1
I got into town in the late morning. There are no taxis in San Pedro only your two feet, so I started hoofing it to find a place to stay. It was hard to find a place to stay because this town is full of tourists. I finally found a place which cost about 16 dollars a night, which is a lot for someone on a budget, but I was afraid that I would not find a place. It was a dorm style hostal with six people in a room. It was comfortable, but a little tight.
After I got settled, I went to look around town and to book tours out in the desert. I found a place which offered me three tours over three days for 70 dollars, which I thought was a pretty good deal. The three tours included a trip to Valle de Luna, valley of the moon, Laguna Altiplanicas, Altiplanic Lagoons, and Geysers del Tatio, Tatio Geysers.
After booking the tours, I went out to explore the village. I found a really nice resaurant that had pasta for fairly cheap and I had lunch there. It was quite good for both the budget and my stomach.
After the lunch, I explored the local church and the town some more. The tour for Valle de Luna left at three in the afternoon. The views were spectacular. We saw the valley of the Moon which really did look like the moon, then we saw the Valley of Death. This valley was named valley of death because literally nothing can live there. After this we went back to the valley of the moon where we saw salt mines and the three marys, which are rock formations which supposedly look like the three marys from catholic tradition, but it really was not that clear. The salt mines were great. After a hot day in the sun, you could hear the salt rocks expanding in the coolness of the evening. It was really quite odd. After the salt mines we went to the great dune, a huge pile of sand. We climbed up and watched the sunset over the mountains and the valley. It was truly spectacular to see the colors change across the horizon. From the top of the dune, we could see a rock formation which was called the ampitheater, because it looked like an ampitheater. Our guide said that legend has it that Pink Floyd would play there someday. I doubt it.
After the visit we returned to San Pedro, but on our way, we could see the moon just peak above the horizon opposite the sun. It was truly fantastic. I do not know if you have ever seen people watch a solar eclipse either in person or on tv, but typically everyone gets very excited as the sun passes passed the moon and when it breaks free from behind it, people start clapping and yelling. This is what it was like when the moon peaked above the ridge. It was spectacular.
Another important note for this journey are the people I met on the tour. I met a couple from Holland and it just so happens that they love America, Americans, and politics. What an amazing match. The man works as a debate coach for political candidates all over Europe. He works with the Christian Democrat Party in Holland, which sponsors Christian Democrat Parties in newly formed or developing democracies in Eastern Europe. It was really interesting to hear about his work. His friend, he told me, works as the highest advisor to the Dutch Prime Minister. He said that if I came to the Netherlands, he would put together a three week program for me about debate techniques, Dutch politics, and he would try and introduce me to many people and places in the Hauge --- the dutch center of politics, as well as the center for the International Court of Justice. What a great opportunity.
We also talked, on the trip, about American politics, my goals, etc. We talked about the state of the world and suprising to both of us, we saw the world in a very positive light. We discussed the role of positive thinking, goal making, and creating your life. It was really interesting. He gave me some really good advice about creating the life that I want. After the tour they offered to take me to dinner. They took me out to a really nice restaurant where they ordered a great bottle of Chilean Syrah wine. I had a lasagna, without mean, type dish that was excellent and fresh.
During dinner we discussed wine, politics, Belgium, ballet, orchestra, and tennis. It was great. After dinner they asked me how old I was and I told them twenty. They were amazed at how young I was. It was so nice to meet them and talk with them. I hope that someday soon I can take them up on their offer to visit Amsterdam and Holland.
After dinner, I returned to my hostal to go to sleep.
After I got settled, I went to look around town and to book tours out in the desert. I found a place which offered me three tours over three days for 70 dollars, which I thought was a pretty good deal. The three tours included a trip to Valle de Luna, valley of the moon, Laguna Altiplanicas, Altiplanic Lagoons, and Geysers del Tatio, Tatio Geysers.
After booking the tours, I went out to explore the village. I found a really nice resaurant that had pasta for fairly cheap and I had lunch there. It was quite good for both the budget and my stomach.
After the lunch, I explored the local church and the town some more. The tour for Valle de Luna left at three in the afternoon. The views were spectacular. We saw the valley of the Moon which really did look like the moon, then we saw the Valley of Death. This valley was named valley of death because literally nothing can live there. After this we went back to the valley of the moon where we saw salt mines and the three marys, which are rock formations which supposedly look like the three marys from catholic tradition, but it really was not that clear. The salt mines were great. After a hot day in the sun, you could hear the salt rocks expanding in the coolness of the evening. It was really quite odd. After the salt mines we went to the great dune, a huge pile of sand. We climbed up and watched the sunset over the mountains and the valley. It was truly spectacular to see the colors change across the horizon. From the top of the dune, we could see a rock formation which was called the ampitheater, because it looked like an ampitheater. Our guide said that legend has it that Pink Floyd would play there someday. I doubt it.
After the visit we returned to San Pedro, but on our way, we could see the moon just peak above the horizon opposite the sun. It was truly fantastic. I do not know if you have ever seen people watch a solar eclipse either in person or on tv, but typically everyone gets very excited as the sun passes passed the moon and when it breaks free from behind it, people start clapping and yelling. This is what it was like when the moon peaked above the ridge. It was spectacular.
Another important note for this journey are the people I met on the tour. I met a couple from Holland and it just so happens that they love America, Americans, and politics. What an amazing match. The man works as a debate coach for political candidates all over Europe. He works with the Christian Democrat Party in Holland, which sponsors Christian Democrat Parties in newly formed or developing democracies in Eastern Europe. It was really interesting to hear about his work. His friend, he told me, works as the highest advisor to the Dutch Prime Minister. He said that if I came to the Netherlands, he would put together a three week program for me about debate techniques, Dutch politics, and he would try and introduce me to many people and places in the Hauge --- the dutch center of politics, as well as the center for the International Court of Justice. What a great opportunity.
We also talked, on the trip, about American politics, my goals, etc. We talked about the state of the world and suprising to both of us, we saw the world in a very positive light. We discussed the role of positive thinking, goal making, and creating your life. It was really interesting. He gave me some really good advice about creating the life that I want. After the tour they offered to take me to dinner. They took me out to a really nice restaurant where they ordered a great bottle of Chilean Syrah wine. I had a lasagna, without mean, type dish that was excellent and fresh.
During dinner we discussed wine, politics, Belgium, ballet, orchestra, and tennis. It was great. After dinner they asked me how old I was and I told them twenty. They were amazed at how young I was. It was so nice to meet them and talk with them. I hope that someday soon I can take them up on their offer to visit Amsterdam and Holland.
After dinner, I returned to my hostal to go to sleep.
Thursday, July 17, 2008
Border Crossings --- Good Bye Peru!
I got to Tacna, Peru, just north of the Peruvian-Chilean border today around 7am. I then caught a taxi to the international bus terminal, where I got into another taxi with three other people in it. The taxi driver helped us cross the border, which was a lot easier then I expected it would be. Then the taxi driver took us to the bus station in Arica, Chile. Before left the bus terminal I bought my night bus ticket for Calama, Chile. I also left my bags at a secure baggage area in the bus terminal and now I am out exploring Arica, Chile. Arica, is an interesting town. It is situated on the Pacific coast and it has everything that a larger city would have. Pedestrian malls, shopping centers, cultural areas, etc. It was really fun to explore. I even ended up getting some really good ice cream on the pedestrian mall. I strolled up and down the coast watching the waves on the Pacific. The waves were really, really big. Something about the weather and the seasons made these time the best time for waves and surfing on the northern coast of Chile, so lots of surfers were out and about. In Arica, there is a catholic church which was designed and built by Eiffel, the guy who designed and built the Eiffel Tower in Paris, entirely out of cast iron --- except the doors which were wood. Arica, like every city in South America had a large square as well. It had a really nice fountain in it which changed every few minutes. I spent most of my day sitting on a bench reading a book and enjoying the wonderfully warm sun. It was really quite relaxing. As the sun went down, I found a pizza place and had a really nice pizza. After the pizza I caught a taxi out to the bus station where I waited for my bus to Calama. I met a girl who is studying medicine in Argentina. She was on her way back from visiting her family in Peru during a school break. She showed me pictures of Arequipa, her home town, and we talked a lot about South America. When I went to get on the bus, I checked my bags, and for the first time in the entire trip, my bags were searched. It was very strange because I was not use to strangers going through my bags asking me lots of questions. They wanted to know where I was going, where I was coming from, why I had so many books, why I had so many bags, why I had a laptop, where I was from, etc. It was quite the process. They quite literally took everything out of my bag and inspected it. I felt quite violated, but secure --- I guess.
Lake Tititaca
I got picked up from my hostal around 6:45am and we went down to the port where the boat was waiting to take us out to the islands of Lake Tititaca. Again we had a mixture of people on the boat. Some people were from Australia, the UK, Brazil, Germany, Belgium, and the US. It was fun to hang out with the people. I spent most of my time with the people from the UK and the US. It was really neat to meet them.
Our boat went very slowly out into the lake and about a half hour after we left we arrived at the Uros Islands. These islands are ´floating´ islands that the native people build. The island we visited was the flamingo island. They take reed roots and cut them up in squares and tie them together. Afterwards they cut reeds from the water and place them on top of the reed squares. This creates a boyant island that they literally live on. They even cut sections off of the islands if the people who live on those sections are bad. Quite the way to solve problems. Sometimes, I think that would be nice in the USA.
After a demonstration by the President of the island, they passed around the reeds and we were told that they eat the white ends of the reeds. I assume that they are full of fiber, something I have been told is important in my diet by my mother. I tried it and really it wasn´t that bad. After the demonstration we could explore the island. I bought two gourd bird figurines which are pretty cool. They look like the birds that they eat on the island.
Afterwards, I paid 10 soles to take a ride on a traditional reed boat. Before we left on the boat ride, the women of the village sang us a couple of songs. One was a traditional Uros song, and one was their rendition of twinkle twinkle little star. It wasn´t quite the melody I was use to, but it was nice. The boat ride was really pretty fun. Then we got back on our motor powered boat to head out to a ´real island´ Isla Taquile. Before we could go out on the main water though, the captain had to stop the boat and clean off the prop from the reeds. It reminded me of when we have to do this up north on the lake. We always call it salad and the prop salad shooter. It was funny to see that they deal with ´salad´ all over the world.
At that island, I had lunch --- a traditional omlet with fried patatos and we saw traditional songs and dances of the people. We also learned about their clothing. Their clothing has a lot of meaning. Single males wear stocking caps that are partially red and partially white. Married men wear all red stocking caps. The women are differentiated by the size of their pompoms on their sawls. The larger the pompoms the longer they have been married. If they aren´t married their pompoms are very small.
After Taquile Island, we got back on the boat and took an excruciatingly slow ride back to port. It easily took over 3.5 hours and the boat just puttsed along. A couple times we had to stop because I think the boat was overheating. Not to pleasant. When I got back to land I picked up my bus ticket from my hostel and I went to the bus station where I caught my 10 hour night bus to Tacna, Peru.
Our boat went very slowly out into the lake and about a half hour after we left we arrived at the Uros Islands. These islands are ´floating´ islands that the native people build. The island we visited was the flamingo island. They take reed roots and cut them up in squares and tie them together. Afterwards they cut reeds from the water and place them on top of the reed squares. This creates a boyant island that they literally live on. They even cut sections off of the islands if the people who live on those sections are bad. Quite the way to solve problems. Sometimes, I think that would be nice in the USA.
After a demonstration by the President of the island, they passed around the reeds and we were told that they eat the white ends of the reeds. I assume that they are full of fiber, something I have been told is important in my diet by my mother. I tried it and really it wasn´t that bad. After the demonstration we could explore the island. I bought two gourd bird figurines which are pretty cool. They look like the birds that they eat on the island.
Afterwards, I paid 10 soles to take a ride on a traditional reed boat. Before we left on the boat ride, the women of the village sang us a couple of songs. One was a traditional Uros song, and one was their rendition of twinkle twinkle little star. It wasn´t quite the melody I was use to, but it was nice. The boat ride was really pretty fun. Then we got back on our motor powered boat to head out to a ´real island´ Isla Taquile. Before we could go out on the main water though, the captain had to stop the boat and clean off the prop from the reeds. It reminded me of when we have to do this up north on the lake. We always call it salad and the prop salad shooter. It was funny to see that they deal with ´salad´ all over the world.
At that island, I had lunch --- a traditional omlet with fried patatos and we saw traditional songs and dances of the people. We also learned about their clothing. Their clothing has a lot of meaning. Single males wear stocking caps that are partially red and partially white. Married men wear all red stocking caps. The women are differentiated by the size of their pompoms on their sawls. The larger the pompoms the longer they have been married. If they aren´t married their pompoms are very small.
After Taquile Island, we got back on the boat and took an excruciatingly slow ride back to port. It easily took over 3.5 hours and the boat just puttsed along. A couple times we had to stop because I think the boat was overheating. Not to pleasant. When I got back to land I picked up my bus ticket from my hostel and I went to the bus station where I caught my 10 hour night bus to Tacna, Peru.
Tuesday, July 15, 2008
Bus to Puno
I got up early this morning and left the hostal before 7am. I couldn´t find the gourd that I had bought the other day, and I think someone may have taken it. I had it down in the common room of the hostal and then it was gone. I was quite pissed. I took a taxi (about 1 dollar) to the bus station where I booked a bus to Puno, Peru on the shores of Lake Tititaca --- the highest navigable lake in the world. I ended up getting the ticket for 25 soles about 10 bucks, really pretty good. It just happened to be that Alex, my friend from the Machu Picchu trek was there and we were on the same bus.
The bus was long about 6-7 hours, but it was nice to get out of the Cusco area where I had been spending quite a few days. I arrived in Puno in the afternoon and I was greeted by many people wanting to give me tours of Lake Tititaca and get me hostals. I said that one woman could help me. She got me a hostal for 25 soles about 10 bucks for the night. The taxi was about a dollar to the hostal and then I paid 40 soles or about 20 dollars for the full day cuise on Lake Tititaca. I also booked a bus from Puno to Tacna, Peru tomorrow night. Tacna is the staging area for crossing the Peruvian-Chilean border, so my adventure in Peru is almost over... I think.
Afterwards, I got unpacked, and looked for the gourd again... still nothing. I then went out to discover Puno. I ran into Alex and his new friend while out and about. We went out for a Pisco Sour, the national drink of Peru, and I had a Chicken Sandwhich. In spanish Pollo is chicken. After we had our drink, I found an internet cafe where I could update my blog and respond to my e-mails. I tried calling home but the computers here in Puno aren´t too good. Really, Puno is pretty much a dump, but its proximity to Lake Tititaca keeps it going. I´m actually really glad that I am only spending one night here. Because of the altitude, it is very cold here. I am excited to get to Tacna on Thursday, where the weather should be warmer again.
Well, I´m going to go back to my hostal and get some rest. I have a big day tomorrow.
Buenos Noches! (Good night!)
The bus was long about 6-7 hours, but it was nice to get out of the Cusco area where I had been spending quite a few days. I arrived in Puno in the afternoon and I was greeted by many people wanting to give me tours of Lake Tititaca and get me hostals. I said that one woman could help me. She got me a hostal for 25 soles about 10 bucks for the night. The taxi was about a dollar to the hostal and then I paid 40 soles or about 20 dollars for the full day cuise on Lake Tititaca. I also booked a bus from Puno to Tacna, Peru tomorrow night. Tacna is the staging area for crossing the Peruvian-Chilean border, so my adventure in Peru is almost over... I think.
Afterwards, I got unpacked, and looked for the gourd again... still nothing. I then went out to discover Puno. I ran into Alex and his new friend while out and about. We went out for a Pisco Sour, the national drink of Peru, and I had a Chicken Sandwhich. In spanish Pollo is chicken. After we had our drink, I found an internet cafe where I could update my blog and respond to my e-mails. I tried calling home but the computers here in Puno aren´t too good. Really, Puno is pretty much a dump, but its proximity to Lake Tititaca keeps it going. I´m actually really glad that I am only spending one night here. Because of the altitude, it is very cold here. I am excited to get to Tacna on Thursday, where the weather should be warmer again.
Well, I´m going to go back to my hostal and get some rest. I have a big day tomorrow.
Buenos Noches! (Good night!)
Monday, July 14, 2008
Day 2 in Cusco
Today, I slept late trying to recover from my trek. Afterwards I got ready for the day and took my laundry to a place to get cleaned. After treking for 5 days your clothes, especially your socks become very, very stinky. Always pack more socks and underwear then you think you need and if you are going treking for a long time wear underarmor underwear, you´ll thank yourself later. Now I´m blogging like crazy so that you can read about my adventures. The plan is that this afternoon I am going to book my bus for Puno for tomorrow. The bus I want to take stops at 5 different sites in Peru on the way.
Well, here is my update for the day. I did not get the bus that I wanted and instead I plan on going to the bus station in the morning and booking a bus from Cusco to Puno then. Looking for the bus company though, I found the USA Consulate to Peru in Cusco. It made me feel good to see the Great Seal hanging on a building.
The rest of the day I walked around Cusco. I treated myself to a dinner of fairly American pasta. It was pretty good. I also spent sometime in a square that was filled with artists who were just working on things in the square. I spent quite a bit of time just chilling there watching them.
I was haggled by a woman to buy a gord (sp?) that was etched with a really cool design. I bought it for 25 soles or about 8 dollars. I ended up going back to the hostal rather early. I talked with Ann a woman from the UK. She seemed rather old to be hanging out in a hostal, like late 50´s or early 60´s. She was traveling around the world just by herself. Quite the treker. I also went up to my bedroom early. I played solitare on my laptop until about 11pm and then I went to bed.
Well, here is my update for the day. I did not get the bus that I wanted and instead I plan on going to the bus station in the morning and booking a bus from Cusco to Puno then. Looking for the bus company though, I found the USA Consulate to Peru in Cusco. It made me feel good to see the Great Seal hanging on a building.
The rest of the day I walked around Cusco. I treated myself to a dinner of fairly American pasta. It was pretty good. I also spent sometime in a square that was filled with artists who were just working on things in the square. I spent quite a bit of time just chilling there watching them.
I was haggled by a woman to buy a gord (sp?) that was etched with a really cool design. I bought it for 25 soles or about 8 dollars. I ended up going back to the hostal rather early. I talked with Ann a woman from the UK. She seemed rather old to be hanging out in a hostal, like late 50´s or early 60´s. She was traveling around the world just by herself. Quite the treker. I also went up to my bedroom early. I played solitare on my laptop until about 11pm and then I went to bed.
Machu Picchu
Alex and I got up at 4am for the Machu Picchu day. Alex walked up the mountain and I took the bus... I had had enough walking for awhile. The bus left at 5:20 and Machu Picchu opens at 6am. Most people want to get there early to see the sunrise as did the rest of our group. However, it happened to be that the day we went to Machu Picchu the mountain and ruins were covered in a dense cloud. So, we couldn´t see the sunrise, but it was still pretty amazing. As we sat there the clouds slowly left and we could see more and more of the ruins. It was pretty incredible.
Machu Picchu on Wikipedia
I inserted the above link so that you can read more about Machu Picchu. I highly suggest it.
Machu Picchu is one of the new 7 wonders of the world, along with Petra, the Great Wall of China, the Colessium, Christ the Redeemer Statue, Chichen Iza, and the Taj Mahal. You can also check information on the new 7 wonders of the world at New 7 Wonders. On this site you will find out that the world voted on the new 7 wonders of the world. You will also read that they are starting a competition for the 7 wonders of nature soon. You should definitely vote for your favorite 7 natural wonders. I voted for the Grand Canyon, the Redwood Forest, the Great Barrier Reef, Igazu Falls, the Amazon, Mt. Kilamanjaro, and the Cliffs of Moor.
We took a tour with our guide of Machu Pichu and then we climbed up Machu Picchu Mountain to get some really good views of the ruins. Although this was really hard, the views from above were pretty amazing and worth the climb. Most people want to climb Wana Picchu the mountain everyone sees in the typical picture of Machu Picchu, but I really don´t think the views from this mountain are as nice as Machu Picchu Mountain (I can tell because I looked at Alex´s pictures on his digital camera). For some reason though Wana Picchu is more popular and only 400 people a day can go up to protect it from erosion.
After climbing Machu Picchu mountain and wandering around the ruins, I returned to Aguas Calientes, on the bus. I had lunch with the Irish and the Dutch and then we visited the hot springs in Aguas Calientes. These springs are not near as nice as the springs in Santa Teresa, so I suggest that you cut those from your trip and just go to the ones at Santa Teresa. After the hot springs, we returned to get our train tickets and go to the train station. We took a train from Aguas Calientes to a small town where we got on a bus that took us to the center of Cusco. After this, I walked to my hostal and went to bed.
Machu Picchu on Wikipedia
I inserted the above link so that you can read more about Machu Picchu. I highly suggest it.
Machu Picchu is one of the new 7 wonders of the world, along with Petra, the Great Wall of China, the Colessium, Christ the Redeemer Statue, Chichen Iza, and the Taj Mahal. You can also check information on the new 7 wonders of the world at New 7 Wonders. On this site you will find out that the world voted on the new 7 wonders of the world. You will also read that they are starting a competition for the 7 wonders of nature soon. You should definitely vote for your favorite 7 natural wonders. I voted for the Grand Canyon, the Redwood Forest, the Great Barrier Reef, Igazu Falls, the Amazon, Mt. Kilamanjaro, and the Cliffs of Moor.
We took a tour with our guide of Machu Pichu and then we climbed up Machu Picchu Mountain to get some really good views of the ruins. Although this was really hard, the views from above were pretty amazing and worth the climb. Most people want to climb Wana Picchu the mountain everyone sees in the typical picture of Machu Picchu, but I really don´t think the views from this mountain are as nice as Machu Picchu Mountain (I can tell because I looked at Alex´s pictures on his digital camera). For some reason though Wana Picchu is more popular and only 400 people a day can go up to protect it from erosion.
After climbing Machu Picchu mountain and wandering around the ruins, I returned to Aguas Calientes, on the bus. I had lunch with the Irish and the Dutch and then we visited the hot springs in Aguas Calientes. These springs are not near as nice as the springs in Santa Teresa, so I suggest that you cut those from your trip and just go to the ones at Santa Teresa. After the hot springs, we returned to get our train tickets and go to the train station. We took a train from Aguas Calientes to a small town where we got on a bus that took us to the center of Cusco. After this, I walked to my hostal and went to bed.
Trek Day 4
I woke up in the morning, ate breakfast and we started our trek. We walked along a trail until we reached Hydroelectrica. This city is a check point for Machu Picchu and you must sign in with your passport number to continue. After this check point we reached a small little town and there we ate lunch. After lunch we paid the cooks to bring our bags from this small town to Aguas Calientes (Hot Springs or Hot Waters) where we would spend our last night before Machu Picchu.
We then walked along the train tracks to Aguas Calientes. This would seem very easy because it is flat, but walking along train tracks in Peru is very hard. Each railroad tie is set a little differently and there is hardly any regularity to it. If you don´t walk on the railroad ties, you walk on shell rock which makes it really easy to trip and fall --- especially if you are me. So it took a lot of concentration. Along the walk we could see part of Machu Picchu from the trek. It was pretty exciting and kept you going.
Finally we arrived in Aguas Calientes, the front door to Machu Picchu. We each got placed in our Hostals and I took a much needed hot shower. It was so wonderful. :)
After my shower I went out for a burger with my ´roommate´ Alex. We both felt like we deserved a nice American treat. After that we went to our real dinner that the cooks made for us. After that dinner, it was fish and was not very good, I went out with the Germans for some pizza.
So I had three dinners, which, yes Mom, I know is bad, but I had just walked so much, I deserved it. I returned to the hostal where I found a huge spider on the wall. I picked it up with a towel and tried to throw it out of the window, but it climbed out of the towel and I just threw the entire towel out of the window. You would do the same if you saw the size of this spider. (I am just glad that I did not see any snakes, I hate them much more.)
After I closed the window and assured myself that there weren´t any other creepy crawling things in my room, I went to bed.
We then walked along the train tracks to Aguas Calientes. This would seem very easy because it is flat, but walking along train tracks in Peru is very hard. Each railroad tie is set a little differently and there is hardly any regularity to it. If you don´t walk on the railroad ties, you walk on shell rock which makes it really easy to trip and fall --- especially if you are me. So it took a lot of concentration. Along the walk we could see part of Machu Picchu from the trek. It was pretty exciting and kept you going.
Finally we arrived in Aguas Calientes, the front door to Machu Picchu. We each got placed in our Hostals and I took a much needed hot shower. It was so wonderful. :)
After my shower I went out for a burger with my ´roommate´ Alex. We both felt like we deserved a nice American treat. After that we went to our real dinner that the cooks made for us. After that dinner, it was fish and was not very good, I went out with the Germans for some pizza.
So I had three dinners, which, yes Mom, I know is bad, but I had just walked so much, I deserved it. I returned to the hostal where I found a huge spider on the wall. I picked it up with a towel and tried to throw it out of the window, but it climbed out of the towel and I just threw the entire towel out of the window. You would do the same if you saw the size of this spider. (I am just glad that I did not see any snakes, I hate them much more.)
After I closed the window and assured myself that there weren´t any other creepy crawling things in my room, I went to bed.
Trek Day 3
I woke up in the morning after a really good nights rest and I ate breakfast, again made by the cooks. We then went on our way to trek to our lunch place. The walk was rather short, but beautiful. We walked for 4-5 hours. We reached a place where we ate lunch and then we (cheated) and took a van to our camping site in Santa Maria.
We cheated a little bit so that we could get to our camping site early and visit the hot springs at Santa Maria. After days of treking, it was amazing to spend 2 hours in the hot springs to sooth my muscles. It was really neat. The pools were built into these rocks who literally had hot water flowing out of them. It was SO nice. I highly suggest these hot springs if you ever get the chance to come to Cusco, Peru.
After the hot springs we went back to the campsite where the cooks had made us dinner. We ate dinner and listened to some pretty old 80´s music from the United States. It was kind of a little party. After the ´party´ I went to bed.
We cheated a little bit so that we could get to our camping site early and visit the hot springs at Santa Maria. After days of treking, it was amazing to spend 2 hours in the hot springs to sooth my muscles. It was really neat. The pools were built into these rocks who literally had hot water flowing out of them. It was SO nice. I highly suggest these hot springs if you ever get the chance to come to Cusco, Peru.
After the hot springs we went back to the campsite where the cooks had made us dinner. We ate dinner and listened to some pretty old 80´s music from the United States. It was kind of a little party. After the ´party´ I went to bed.
Trek Day 2
So we skipped the first leg of our Trek because we spent a day in the village, which was fine with me-- we had a lot of walking to do. Before we started the trek we ate a breakfast which was actually pretty small. This day we walked up Salkanty Pass. Salkanty is a very large mountin in Peru and is part of the Andes. It is so steep and rugged that no person has ever climbed to the top. The pass was 4600m or about 15,000 ft. That is pretty high up, actually it is higher up then Mt. Rainer, the tallest mountain in the continental United States. As we climbed it got colder and colder because of the altitude. Also it became harder and harder to breath because the air got thinner and thinner.
You all know that I am not the most athletic person or the most fit person, so this was rather hard for me, but, I did it. I made it up Salkanty pass! It was quite the acomplishment. It took close to 5 hours to get up the mountain and then another 4 or so hours down. In between our cooks made us lunch in a flat portion of the mountain. It was actually really hard to go down as well because it was so steep. The views were quite impressive though. It was interesting to see the changes in climate and vegitation as we came down from the very cold tundra top of the pass to the Cusco rainforest below.
After more than 8 hours of really difficult treking, we reached our campsite, where I ate some popcorn for a snack and skipped dinner for 10 hours of sleep.
You all know that I am not the most athletic person or the most fit person, so this was rather hard for me, but, I did it. I made it up Salkanty pass! It was quite the acomplishment. It took close to 5 hours to get up the mountain and then another 4 or so hours down. In between our cooks made us lunch in a flat portion of the mountain. It was actually really hard to go down as well because it was so steep. The views were quite impressive though. It was interesting to see the changes in climate and vegitation as we came down from the very cold tundra top of the pass to the Cusco rainforest below.
After more than 8 hours of really difficult treking, we reached our campsite, where I ate some popcorn for a snack and skipped dinner for 10 hours of sleep.
Trek Day 1
So, we woke up and the road blocks and strikes were still going on. So, we had a nice breakfast prepared by the cooks and visited with the people we would be spending the next five days with. After breakfast we got the plan from the guide. The plan was to have a local guide give us a tour of local Incan ruins. He also suggested that we could buy a sheep from a local farmer and they would prepare us a special lunch. It cost us each about 10 soles, or 3 dollars and the farmer proceeded to go out to the pasture, grab a sheep, bring it out in front of us, and kill it. It was a little disturbing. They cut its throat and then drained the blood from it as much as possible. Afterwards they broke its hooves and started to gut it. In the middle of killing it though, the farmer had to go sharpen his knife on a rock, so the sheep sat there half dead, half alive waiting for its death. I would qualify that as cruel and unusual punishment.
After the sacraficing of the sheep, we treked up the hill to see some Incan ruins. On the way up we saw many irrigation channels and they absolutely stunned me. Much of Peru get little if any rain during the winter, so farmers rely on the glacier melts and springs to provide water for their crops. They make channels through out their farm land to get the water to the places they need it. It is really quite impressive.
The ruins were also pretty interesting. We were told that the government is helping the village research and rebuild parts of the ruins in the hopes that someday the village could increase their tourism for profit. This is also probably why they would not let us pass on the road blocks. When we got to the top of the ruins there was a big soccer field or pitch and village children had followed us up the hill. A bunch of people from the group ended up playing a soccer match with the village children. It was quite the site to see. It ended up being that this detour was pretty cool.
We returned for lunch --- the sheep if you remember. It was prepared specially in a Peruvian style. The sheep was cut up and hot coals were placed in a hole in the ground. The hole was then covered with tarp and then dirt and the sheep was allowed to cook there. It is supposedly a very good and popular way to cook in Peru. The sheep was very good and the lunch in general was very good. The sheep was a little tough, but it was good.
After lunch we were told that we were just going to chill out for the rest of the day and that we would probably leave around 3am for our next trek site. I took a nap and many people toured the village. This village was really quite interesting. Everyday the farmers would take their cows and animals up the hill to pasture, then return to do other things. In the afternoon, they would go back up the hill to gather their animals to bring them back for the night. The children played all day and we spent a lot of time with them. They loved our flashlights and cameras --- especially when we took their picture and showed them their images on the digital screen. I am pretty sure it was the prime definition of culture shock.
I did not see this, but the Irish and Dutch saw the local women get together to play a soccer match in the village. They got together and played even in their skirts. They told us about this and we talked for a long time about how Western civilization doesn´t really have community anymore. How we don´t go bowling or play sports together. This is something that my family has talked about a lot as well. We go home to our private sanctuary. We work on our backyard to make it ours and special to us. We build fences away from others. Perhaps this is why our communities aren´t as safe. If we trust everyone and know everyone, when someone does something wrong to you they don´t just commit a crime against you personally but a crime against the community. It is just an interesting thought and I think the moral of the story is that we can all try to create better communities by doing things wiht others.
We ate dinner that night in the ´mansion´ that was built by the government in the hopes that it could be used as a hostal when the incan ruins were finished and the village became a tourist site. So, we technically were the first tourists to use the government project. It was pretty neat. After dinner we started a fire, but our van arrived and we were told that we needed to get going to our next campsite or the road blocks may come back tomorrow. We quickly packed our things, said our goodbyes to the children, and got in the van to go.
The road blocks were so impressive. The size of the rocks were just crazy. In some places the rocks were as large as cars because the the farmers had used dynomite to have huge rocks fall on the road.
We arrived at our campsite though and we set up our tent. It was very cold because we had went up in altitude, but we made it though it. Tomorrow we would start the real trek and it was going to be quite the adventure.
After the sacraficing of the sheep, we treked up the hill to see some Incan ruins. On the way up we saw many irrigation channels and they absolutely stunned me. Much of Peru get little if any rain during the winter, so farmers rely on the glacier melts and springs to provide water for their crops. They make channels through out their farm land to get the water to the places they need it. It is really quite impressive.
The ruins were also pretty interesting. We were told that the government is helping the village research and rebuild parts of the ruins in the hopes that someday the village could increase their tourism for profit. This is also probably why they would not let us pass on the road blocks. When we got to the top of the ruins there was a big soccer field or pitch and village children had followed us up the hill. A bunch of people from the group ended up playing a soccer match with the village children. It was quite the site to see. It ended up being that this detour was pretty cool.
We returned for lunch --- the sheep if you remember. It was prepared specially in a Peruvian style. The sheep was cut up and hot coals were placed in a hole in the ground. The hole was then covered with tarp and then dirt and the sheep was allowed to cook there. It is supposedly a very good and popular way to cook in Peru. The sheep was very good and the lunch in general was very good. The sheep was a little tough, but it was good.
After lunch we were told that we were just going to chill out for the rest of the day and that we would probably leave around 3am for our next trek site. I took a nap and many people toured the village. This village was really quite interesting. Everyday the farmers would take their cows and animals up the hill to pasture, then return to do other things. In the afternoon, they would go back up the hill to gather their animals to bring them back for the night. The children played all day and we spent a lot of time with them. They loved our flashlights and cameras --- especially when we took their picture and showed them their images on the digital screen. I am pretty sure it was the prime definition of culture shock.
I did not see this, but the Irish and Dutch saw the local women get together to play a soccer match in the village. They got together and played even in their skirts. They told us about this and we talked for a long time about how Western civilization doesn´t really have community anymore. How we don´t go bowling or play sports together. This is something that my family has talked about a lot as well. We go home to our private sanctuary. We work on our backyard to make it ours and special to us. We build fences away from others. Perhaps this is why our communities aren´t as safe. If we trust everyone and know everyone, when someone does something wrong to you they don´t just commit a crime against you personally but a crime against the community. It is just an interesting thought and I think the moral of the story is that we can all try to create better communities by doing things wiht others.
We ate dinner that night in the ´mansion´ that was built by the government in the hopes that it could be used as a hostal when the incan ruins were finished and the village became a tourist site. So, we technically were the first tourists to use the government project. It was pretty neat. After dinner we started a fire, but our van arrived and we were told that we needed to get going to our next campsite or the road blocks may come back tomorrow. We quickly packed our things, said our goodbyes to the children, and got in the van to go.
The road blocks were so impressive. The size of the rocks were just crazy. In some places the rocks were as large as cars because the the farmers had used dynomite to have huge rocks fall on the road.
We arrived at our campsite though and we set up our tent. It was very cold because we had went up in altitude, but we made it though it. Tomorrow we would start the real trek and it was going to be quite the adventure.
Leaving for the Trek
This is a continuation of the Cusco Day 1 post, but that post was getting long and this is quite the story, so I am making it seperate. Please check out the Cusco Day 1 post again, as I added more information.
So, I was picked up by the Agency from my hostal around 9:30 and we drove around and met some other people as well. We then went to a plaza where many more people were waiting to go on our trek. The trek included: Claire and Johnny from Ireland, Alex and Me from the the United States, Sarah and Ronco from the Netherlands, Yanca and Henning from Germany, and a family of 5 from Denmark. It was quite the representation from the developed world.
After a few problems and trying to negotiate prices on sleeping bags and trying to settle some confusions we were off to our first camping site. We were driving along outside of Cusco when suddenly there are massive rocks on the road. These were the road blocks that the Agency was talking about. Come to find out that the protests in Cusco and these protests were related. The native farmers of Peru all own their own land and basically farm for subsistance, or for their own needs. This happened when in their history a leftist government took all the land away from some form of plantations where the native people worked and redistrubted it to the native peoples who could not produce enough to export for profit and they became terribly inefficient. At the time the plantations ran the show they basically used the natives as ´slaves´ but they did get a wage, just a very small one. This land redistribution was liked by the natives. Currently, the Peruvian government is talking about redistributing the land again, but this time away from the natives in the hope that they can become more productive, export more products, and become more wealthy as a country. (I just have to put a plug in, this exactly the economics stuff I study in International Economics and will study in Growth and Development Economics, so this experience, while a little scary was very educational.) The reason they blocked the roads is because everything basically comes to standstill in the country because they use their roads so heavily, also the tourists are the ones who bring the most money to the country, so if you stop the tourists, it gets reactions from many of the government officials and the people of Peru in general.
Going back to the rocks. We would try to take our van and go around the rocks as much as possible. At one point our drivers and guides got out of the van to move rocks from the street. When they did so and we started going through the rock barriers, people came running out of the fields to try and stop our van, but we got away.
At another block there were not only rocks but people standing on the road. Our driver stopped quite aways away from the block and went to negotiate with them. The guides and driver ended up bribing the people to move out of the way with Soles, the local currency, and by lying to them saying that we were a local van with locals in it. The people moved out of the road and clear a path from the rocks, but as we were driving through the natives were yelling... they a locals they lied to us, and the driver hit the gas and we got away.
At another block there was a fire in the middle of the road with a huge tree laying across the road as the fire was engulfing the tree. We drove around the tree on the shoulder of the road.
Somewhere in between all these road blocks we saw a government semi tractor trailor come with a huge bulldozer on it because they were going to remove the rocks from the road. It didn´t help.
At the last block we got to there was a group of women and children who would not let us pass. The driver and guide tried to negotiate with them for probably a half hour, but they refused to let us pass. Instead they said that we could stay in their village for the night and spend the day visiting an Incan ruin that was above their village. A little strange, but that is what we did. We popped our tents in the village and slept the night. We probably arrived at this village at 12:30 or 1am. So the adventure had begun with a bang. I slept in a tent with the American, Alex, who was 21 and spending some time in South America because he took a year off from school to visit the world--- or South America I guess.
It was quite the adventure.
So, I was picked up by the Agency from my hostal around 9:30 and we drove around and met some other people as well. We then went to a plaza where many more people were waiting to go on our trek. The trek included: Claire and Johnny from Ireland, Alex and Me from the the United States, Sarah and Ronco from the Netherlands, Yanca and Henning from Germany, and a family of 5 from Denmark. It was quite the representation from the developed world.
After a few problems and trying to negotiate prices on sleeping bags and trying to settle some confusions we were off to our first camping site. We were driving along outside of Cusco when suddenly there are massive rocks on the road. These were the road blocks that the Agency was talking about. Come to find out that the protests in Cusco and these protests were related. The native farmers of Peru all own their own land and basically farm for subsistance, or for their own needs. This happened when in their history a leftist government took all the land away from some form of plantations where the native people worked and redistrubted it to the native peoples who could not produce enough to export for profit and they became terribly inefficient. At the time the plantations ran the show they basically used the natives as ´slaves´ but they did get a wage, just a very small one. This land redistribution was liked by the natives. Currently, the Peruvian government is talking about redistributing the land again, but this time away from the natives in the hope that they can become more productive, export more products, and become more wealthy as a country. (I just have to put a plug in, this exactly the economics stuff I study in International Economics and will study in Growth and Development Economics, so this experience, while a little scary was very educational.) The reason they blocked the roads is because everything basically comes to standstill in the country because they use their roads so heavily, also the tourists are the ones who bring the most money to the country, so if you stop the tourists, it gets reactions from many of the government officials and the people of Peru in general.
Going back to the rocks. We would try to take our van and go around the rocks as much as possible. At one point our drivers and guides got out of the van to move rocks from the street. When they did so and we started going through the rock barriers, people came running out of the fields to try and stop our van, but we got away.
At another block there were not only rocks but people standing on the road. Our driver stopped quite aways away from the block and went to negotiate with them. The guides and driver ended up bribing the people to move out of the way with Soles, the local currency, and by lying to them saying that we were a local van with locals in it. The people moved out of the road and clear a path from the rocks, but as we were driving through the natives were yelling... they a locals they lied to us, and the driver hit the gas and we got away.
At another block there was a fire in the middle of the road with a huge tree laying across the road as the fire was engulfing the tree. We drove around the tree on the shoulder of the road.
Somewhere in between all these road blocks we saw a government semi tractor trailor come with a huge bulldozer on it because they were going to remove the rocks from the road. It didn´t help.
At the last block we got to there was a group of women and children who would not let us pass. The driver and guide tried to negotiate with them for probably a half hour, but they refused to let us pass. Instead they said that we could stay in their village for the night and spend the day visiting an Incan ruin that was above their village. A little strange, but that is what we did. We popped our tents in the village and slept the night. We probably arrived at this village at 12:30 or 1am. So the adventure had begun with a bang. I slept in a tent with the American, Alex, who was 21 and spending some time in South America because he took a year off from school to visit the world--- or South America I guess.
It was quite the adventure.
Sunday, July 13, 2008
Quick update.
I am back from my trek to Machu Pichu and what an adventure it was. I am safe and can´t wait to write about each day of the trek. For now, I am going to go to bed and try and get some much needed rest. Buenos Noches! (Good night!)
Tuesday, July 8, 2008
Things I didn´t know I loved so much.
This is meant to be a running list of things that I am grateful for in my American life. It isn´t a list of things I don´t like about South America, it is just a list of things that I am blessed to have in the United States. Whenever I need something to be thankful for when I return, I´ll have this list! Maybe it will help you realize as well how lucky we are to live in the most developed, prosperous, and rich country in the world.
1.) Central Heating.
2.) Promptness.
3.) Hot Showers.
4.) Comfortable beds.
5.) 12 hour clocks.
6.) Chipolte.
7.) Blizzards at DQ.
8.) A smoke free home.
9.) The ability to speak like an adult.
10.) The ability to walk to class in less then 10 minutes.
11.) Ability to call people in the US when I want.
12.) Reading in English.
1.) Central Heating.
2.) Promptness.
3.) Hot Showers.
4.) Comfortable beds.
5.) 12 hour clocks.
6.) Chipolte.
7.) Blizzards at DQ.
8.) A smoke free home.
9.) The ability to speak like an adult.
10.) The ability to walk to class in less then 10 minutes.
11.) Ability to call people in the US when I want.
12.) Reading in English.
Day 1 in Cusco
Well, it is almost 7am here and I´m not on my trek to Macchu Pichu. Something must have gone wrong with the tour operator or something. I just hope I get it straightened out because I paid over $300 for this trek. (As you can probably tell I´m more upset then I was over the shower.) I did contact the guy I coordinated the tour through and he is working with me to try and get on a tour tomorrow, which will be nice. I will just have to spend an extra day in Cusco and cut something else from my trip or find away around it.
I think that the thing I am learning the most on this trip is patience, which for anyone who knows me is not my strong point. After a 30 hour bus ride and delay in my trek, I´m either going to be pissed off or go with the flow and I think going with the flow is a better plan.
I did wake up at 4:30am though to go with the hostal owner to try and track down the tour, but it was to no avail. Let me say something about sleeping in Cusco though. This hostal doesn´t have central heat or heat at all. Actually all the windows are open. It gets very cold here during the evening so last night I wore boxers, sweatpants, two t-shirts, a longsleeve shirt and my St. Thomas hoodie. I was under three blankets and I was still shivering. Burrrrrrr. My plan thus has changed, first I´m going to go back to sleep and get some more rest, attempt to take another shower, get in touch with the tour and get in on one for tomorrow and then explore Cusco (the longest populated city in the western hemisphere). Plan B actually sounds pretty good.
I did follow plan B. I actually went back to sleep and then I got ready for the day. After getting cleaned up, I went to explore the city of Cusco. I went to the Plaza de Armas and strolled around. It was very nice. I then took a tour of the Cathedral of Cusco, another Cathedral that John Paul II celebrated mass in. The Cathedral is very old, but not as old as many things in Peru because it has been demolished many times with many earthquakes. You can see many cracks all over the Cathedral from the movement in the Earth. The most impressive thing about the Cathedral is its altar. It is covered in 24k gold. The Cathedral was actually built on top of an Incan temple by the Spanish when they conquered the area. This was a literal way that the Spanish could squash the religious beliefs of the Incan people.
After the Cathedral, I went and walked down a small street that has two Incan walls on both sides. These walls are very old and are considered the oldest in Cusco. After I walked down this street I walked down another street that had many shops and more Incan walls. I walked past a stone in a wall that is very famous. It is a 12 sided stone that fits perfectly into the space it needs to be in. In the pictures that I put up, you will see that the stones are carefully and perfectly shaped to fit together. It is amazing because they were only using small hammers and chisels. There is rarely mortar in between the stones because they are so perfectly cut, that they have little room between them giving them stability. Many locals stand around the 12 sided stone and try to tell you about it, but they only want a tip, or so I read in my Lonely Planet Guide, so I just took a picture and kept walking. I stopped at a small market, where I bought a leather photo album and a traditional Peruvian stocking cap. It is pretty cool and has Alpaca´s on it.
After going down this street, I went back to the Plaza de Armas where I sat down and watched a demonstration parade that was going through town. I have been told numerous times that you are suppose to stay very far away from protests in foriegn countries, so I stayed away and watched from a distance. I had a long conversation about Peruvian politics with a man from Cusco, who was also watching the protests. He said that the people were angry with welfare reforms of the current government. We talked about their last President, who, here, is considered a dictator and has been in jail on fraud and money laundering charges. I was quite pleased that my spanish was good enough to hold this intelligent conversation.
After I had this conversation and the parade went away. I walked around the city for a little while longer and I went to the market. This market is where the city gets almost everything it needs. I saw meat just hanging in the stalls, tons of flowers, woven goods, leather goods, resturants, and more. Some of the most interesting things I saw was the cows mouths and noses which people bought, and were sitting right on the counter. It was really pretty disgusting and totally unsanitary, but that is the way they live.
I went back to the hostal around 4pm because the director of the Agency who was booking my trek was going to meet me to go over the information I needed. After being a half hour late --- typical in South America, she came and she said that we would leave between 10:30 and 11 that night. She said that things had been confusing because there were planned and current strikes all across the country of Peru. She said that they were blocking the roads, but I didn´t really understand what she meant. That is why we were leaving so late at night because the strikes were suppose to be in full force the next day and getting to the start of our trek would be impossible. I was still pretty excited, but I stayed in the hostal to get some rest before the big trek. Later in the evening, I got a call from the Agency director who said that the strikes were getting worse so we were going to leave between 9:30 and 10.
I think that the thing I am learning the most on this trip is patience, which for anyone who knows me is not my strong point. After a 30 hour bus ride and delay in my trek, I´m either going to be pissed off or go with the flow and I think going with the flow is a better plan.
I did wake up at 4:30am though to go with the hostal owner to try and track down the tour, but it was to no avail. Let me say something about sleeping in Cusco though. This hostal doesn´t have central heat or heat at all. Actually all the windows are open. It gets very cold here during the evening so last night I wore boxers, sweatpants, two t-shirts, a longsleeve shirt and my St. Thomas hoodie. I was under three blankets and I was still shivering. Burrrrrrr. My plan thus has changed, first I´m going to go back to sleep and get some more rest, attempt to take another shower, get in touch with the tour and get in on one for tomorrow and then explore Cusco (the longest populated city in the western hemisphere). Plan B actually sounds pretty good.
I did follow plan B. I actually went back to sleep and then I got ready for the day. After getting cleaned up, I went to explore the city of Cusco. I went to the Plaza de Armas and strolled around. It was very nice. I then took a tour of the Cathedral of Cusco, another Cathedral that John Paul II celebrated mass in. The Cathedral is very old, but not as old as many things in Peru because it has been demolished many times with many earthquakes. You can see many cracks all over the Cathedral from the movement in the Earth. The most impressive thing about the Cathedral is its altar. It is covered in 24k gold. The Cathedral was actually built on top of an Incan temple by the Spanish when they conquered the area. This was a literal way that the Spanish could squash the religious beliefs of the Incan people.
After the Cathedral, I went and walked down a small street that has two Incan walls on both sides. These walls are very old and are considered the oldest in Cusco. After I walked down this street I walked down another street that had many shops and more Incan walls. I walked past a stone in a wall that is very famous. It is a 12 sided stone that fits perfectly into the space it needs to be in. In the pictures that I put up, you will see that the stones are carefully and perfectly shaped to fit together. It is amazing because they were only using small hammers and chisels. There is rarely mortar in between the stones because they are so perfectly cut, that they have little room between them giving them stability. Many locals stand around the 12 sided stone and try to tell you about it, but they only want a tip, or so I read in my Lonely Planet Guide, so I just took a picture and kept walking. I stopped at a small market, where I bought a leather photo album and a traditional Peruvian stocking cap. It is pretty cool and has Alpaca´s on it.
After going down this street, I went back to the Plaza de Armas where I sat down and watched a demonstration parade that was going through town. I have been told numerous times that you are suppose to stay very far away from protests in foriegn countries, so I stayed away and watched from a distance. I had a long conversation about Peruvian politics with a man from Cusco, who was also watching the protests. He said that the people were angry with welfare reforms of the current government. We talked about their last President, who, here, is considered a dictator and has been in jail on fraud and money laundering charges. I was quite pleased that my spanish was good enough to hold this intelligent conversation.
After I had this conversation and the parade went away. I walked around the city for a little while longer and I went to the market. This market is where the city gets almost everything it needs. I saw meat just hanging in the stalls, tons of flowers, woven goods, leather goods, resturants, and more. Some of the most interesting things I saw was the cows mouths and noses which people bought, and were sitting right on the counter. It was really pretty disgusting and totally unsanitary, but that is the way they live.
I went back to the hostal around 4pm because the director of the Agency who was booking my trek was going to meet me to go over the information I needed. After being a half hour late --- typical in South America, she came and she said that we would leave between 10:30 and 11 that night. She said that things had been confusing because there were planned and current strikes all across the country of Peru. She said that they were blocking the roads, but I didn´t really understand what she meant. That is why we were leaving so late at night because the strikes were suppose to be in full force the next day and getting to the start of our trek would be impossible. I was still pretty excited, but I stayed in the hostal to get some rest before the big trek. Later in the evening, I got a call from the Agency director who said that the strikes were getting worse so we were going to leave between 9:30 and 10.
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