Overheard while drinking in Quito

from an American we met named Richard:

¨so I´m watching the State of the Union with a bunch of Germans and they start giving me shit about our country and our role in Iraq. I told them there is a big difference between the leadership of a country and the people. We´re good people. We have families. But what I was thinking and what I really wanted to say was, ¨wait a minute, what about the Holocaust man? What the f--- was that?¨


But the anti-American sentiments of course linger. Having started traveling only since the summer of 2003, right after the Iraq war started, I´ve never heard firsthand what people think of the US when we´re not at war with Iraq...

Up Next: Peru

We have a lot to get caught up on. While Ecuador was my favorite country so far, it had the worst Internet access of the bunch (ever used Gmail with the ¨basic HTML¨ interface?).

We´re currently in a hostel in Lima, Peru. We´ll be in Peru for about 10 days if we don´t change our ticket to spend more than 3 days in Santiago, Chile. We originally had left so much time for Peru to try to do the 4 day Macchu Picchu trek, but it turns out it will probably be too hard to get on that list and we´ll do just one day there (after a 22-hour busride. By the way, new rule- if buses are cheap enough, we´re buying the seats in front of us so the people can´t recline).

Sick

Sorry for the lapse in posting...I was doing so well there for a while. I actually have come down with a bit of a traveler´s bug and haven´t been feeling too hot since Monday. Thankfully when I first started feeling sick we were still in Loja, Ecuador at Ryan´s friend´s house. Rodrigo´s wife, Vanessa, took great care of me and made me homeade chicken soup (I definitely need to learn how to make some because it made all the difference) and some tea called horchata (no, not the rice water from Mexico) made of herbs and flowers. Almost all of Vanessa´s family lives on the same street and she happens to have an aunt that is a doctor. She was nice enough to come over and check me out and give me medicine. She called all day to check on me...gotta love the Ecuadorian hospitality. I´m still not feeling too great, but will hopefully be better in a day or so.
I´ll post more from our time in Ecuador later. It's definitely my favorite country thus far. . this is probsabbly due to the wonderful people there. Our last night in Loja we went to orchestra rehearsal. Music is huge in Loja and the biggest university there is dedicated solely to the arts. Vanessa´s dad is the founder and conductor of the town's orchestra. Vanessa and Rodrigo both play in the orchestra (it´s actually how they met) and Vanessa´s brother also plays with them. Vanessa´s dad introduced Ryan and me as economists from the United States (titles like this are big there) and bode us the warmest wishes that Loja had given us a warm welcome and that we felt at home there. It was really touching. The orchestra was wonderful. After that we had to rush back to Rodrigo and Vanessa´s to eat dinner before our bus left. They sent us off with a lot of small gifts and I was truly sad to leave there.

Alright, that's all for now. Pictures to follow later...be excited because Ecuador was even more beautiful than Costa Rica.

Quito, Ecuador

Well we are now in Quito, Ecuador and I absolutely LOVE it here. People here are very nice and we are in an area filled with more hostels than you can possibly imagine.

Our hostel is an old two story house that has been converted. It´s buzzing with people all the time from ALL over the world..Spain, New Zealand, Holland etc. It´s nice that everyone seems pretty committed to trying to stick to speaking spanish as much as possible.

This morning I made some Argentinian friends. The girl of the bunch, Cynthia, happens to live in Belgrano..where I will be going to school. Score! She promises to meet up with me and show me around. Arriving with a friend already there will be wonderful.

Well we´re off to a salsa class! I´ll post more later.

Finally caught up...Colombia

As Ryan said, I really haven´t felt unsafe or in danger in Colombia. I actually really like it here. Our hotel looks out over a gorgeous plaza and there are always people out and about walking around. Everyone is usually dressed up here...men in suits and women in suits or at least wearing heels. Ryan and I have received many strange looks for wearing our Rainbows down the street.

Here are a few very random pictures from here...


All motorcyclists and their passengers wear this brightly colored vests here

Peeps asked if they have magic coffee here...that glass right there was filled with VERY magical and VERY strong layers of coffee. (Ryan was doing an impersonation when I took the picture)

So Ryan talks about the buses in Latin America all the time, but I only now realize just how many of them there are in the city. At any given time, there may be 10 buses on one street between two stoplights. This picture doesn´t do it justice.

That´s right folks...Dunkin Donuts has named one of its delights the Vanessa

And finally, Happy State of the Union!!! This is on the wall of a cafe here and I couldn´t help but take a picture as I was laughing.

Horses, mud, canopy, and more mud

Our last adventure in La Fortuna, Costa Rica was the best one by far! We rode horses again up a different mountain that had a set of 9 different cables of varying heights (170 feet up at the highest) and speeds. Though I´ll admit that I was nervous while our guide, Raul, went over all the basics, this was honestly one of the coolest things I have ever done in my life. You really can´t explain what it´s like so I´ll let the pictures try...


Harnessed up! (These are our ¨harnets¨ as pronounced by our Colombian guide, Raul)

I think this picture does the best at showing just how high up we were. That is our guide swinging through the air towards us.

Look at me go!

Ryan´s turn. This was one of the longest stretches, about a half mile.

On the way in Raul told me to let my horse go and I did. Flying on horseback through fields and across little streams is definitely one of the most amazing things a person can do (well canopying is now very up there on my list).

Two Swedes, a South African, and a Canadian

While in La Fortuna we made four friends at the place we were staying. The two girls, Sarah and Hannah, are two Swedish gals traveling a bit after 4 months of work on a cruise ship. Tim is the poor South African boy that complained about how expensive beer was in Costa Rica compared to back home. Richard is the brotherly Canadian who is always excited to include everyone and make sure everyone is happy and having a good time.
I don´t have pictures of our night at the hot springs at Baldi resort, but we had a blast. Our second adventure together, going to see the volcano, was a total bust as the volcano was covered in clouds and we basically just sat on the ground eating chips with the worst salsa ever and drinking Imperial.
We taught each other really important words from our languages (fifaan) and ripped on the classic stereotypes. Globalization at its best.


On the way to the Baldi hot springs.

At the terribly disappointing volcano

Being classy in the cold complaining about the hidden volcano

This was our super upscale going away dinner at this outdoor taco and basic food type place. You know you´re at a 4 star establishment when you walk around the corner to the supermarket to buy your own alcoholic beverages and the plates are from Dominoes. (This one is the South African by the way)

...las Cataratas

And here are pictures from the waterfall itself. We met a girl there from Hawaii and she said this waterfall was actually much more beautiful from those back at home.


At the top of the mountain before we started our trek down...

One of the bridges to the waterfall. Please take note of what Ryan´s wearing...he´s a fashionista!

The baby catarata that only forms after it has rained quite a bit...we were lucky to see it.

The main catarata. This photo does not come close to conveying the actual size and power of this beautiful thing.

I swear Ryan isn´t unhappy to be next to me, it was just pretty chilly in there!

Riding in Tennis Shoes y las Cataratas

So I did something I swore I would never do...I rode a horse wearing tennis shoes. I decided the chance to go riding in Costa Rica outweighed the fact that I was doing it in tennis shoes (haha, Nina I bet you´re laughing right now). The owner of the place we were staying at also owns horses and a few cows and organized a couple horses and a guide to take us to a waterfall that was nearby and very active due to the recent rains. Ryan hadn´t really ridden before so it was fun to be there and watch him bounce around when his hourse tried to race mine. I of course ended up with the fiesty horse.

I have so many pictures, and I know that´s what you´re all mostly interested in, so below you´ll find the pictures of us with the horses and the next post will have the pictures of the cataratas (waterfalls).








This is our guide, Marcos, with the horses. He makes this trek -hour ride and a hike down to and up from the waterfall- every day, two times a day.

Costa Rican Countryside and the Love of my Life

(So some entries are just bound to be out of order because I can´t always upload pictures)

So I definitely thought I was sick of bus rides...that was until we took the bus from San Jose, Costa Rica to La Fortuna, Costa Rica. The drive was through these amazingly lush valleys with streams flowing and what must be the happiest cows -they definitely were the fattest- in the world grazing everywhere. It was on this drive that I really fell in love with Costa Rica.





There´s another little, furry reason that I absolutely loved Costa Rica and felt so happy there...his name is Bobby. Bobby is actually the puppy of our hotel owner´s daughter. Ryan and I just called him puppy and we basically pretended he was ours for like 4 days...I taught him how to fetch and we gave him a bath. He followed me around everywhere and obviously helped me feel a little more at home (if anyone knows my actual home in Phoenix, you know why this is).




How could you not LOVE that face!?

Colombia

Arrived in Bogota, Colombia today. Had to ask ourselves the question repeatedly, "are you afraid?" Colombia certainly has a bad reputation. Kidnappings, drug cartels, violence.

After one day, I can only say I haven't felt it at all.

Actually Bogota reminds me very much of another place- Santiago, Chile.

The streets look similar. The buses are about as common. There is a tall mountain ringing one side of the city with a Jesus statue (a Latin American staple), and you can go up the mountain for a full view of the city.

We did so today, including dinner at a restaurant at the top. Interesting experience - reading a menu at a fairly nice restaurant with lots of French names and not knowing when you're looking at a Spanish word you should know and when you're looking at a French word you shouldn't know.

5 reasons to travel with your girlfriend

Hey everyone Ryan here. Vanessa´s been doing everything so far, but I´d like to make the occasional post as well.

1. Beats the heck out of traveling by yourself.

2. Automatic dinner date whenever you want. I would say dance partner but to Vanessa´s sobs I haven´t had the courage to do so yet.

3. Easier to meet people when traveling with an attractive girl. Girls are less likely to think you´re hitting on them, guys simply like being in the company of females.

4. Splitting a room means you get a nicer place that often ends up being cheaper than per person places.

5. Vanessa is great to travel with.

Costa Rica - Part 1

We arrived in Costa Rica on Tuesday the 16th. As fate would have it, we had met a young Costa Rican couple, Anthony and Isabel, on the little island in Belize. Anthony was kind enough to invite us to stay with his family just outside of San Jose for a night. We actually arrived before Anthony and Isa and were surprised to find his mom, Chlo, and one of his brothers waiting on the corner near their house for us (this was after we gave the taxi driver a piece of paper with some obscure directions on it since there are no street names in Central Valley, Costa Rica). Chlo doted over us and fed us way too much food while we were there..it was a nice break from hotels and hostels. Tuesday night Isa and Anthony took us out to the bars and taught us really important slang (haha, yea right) and showed us a great time. Isa doesn´t speak much english so we taught her important sayings like ¨party foul¨ and other choice phrases. We left Wednesday afternoon, Isa gave me a necklace and a nickname, Vane (va-né: what most Costa Ricans nickname Vanessas), as parting gifts and Anthony´s mom welcomed us back any time.

On the way out of town, Ryan and I went to a coffee plantation in Heredia called Cafe Britt. The tour was totally offbeat and theatrical...you can imagine I had a great time as I have not been drinking nearly as much coffee as usual.

Cafe Britt Coffee Plantation

Ryan wearing the sweet prize he got for being the best man in a fake wedding ceremony that was part of our tour (haha, don´t ask)

I´m definitely my mother´s daughter!

The wackiest tour guides on the face of the earth!

I really don´t think we could explain to anyone just how crazy our tour/presentation was. This is Marie Antoinette and Louis deciding whether or not they like coffee. It was history with a comedic twist.

At Cafe Britt we met two English friends, Bridget and Angus (haha, mom I thought of you and laughed when he told me his name), that helped us make our way back to the buses to get to San Jose to the main bus station (I´m pretty sure I will have had my fill of bus rides when our trip is over).

Back to Guatemala before Costa Rica

Before leaving for Costa Rica, we returned for one night in Guatemala before catching our flight on Tuesday. Due to the fact that we were on an island in the middle of nowhere, we were unable to tell our family friends in Guatemala City whether or not we were coming to dinner Monday night. Being the wonderful people that they are, Lucky --dressed in her best, of course--was waiting for us at the airport when we arrived from Belize.
The whole way to her house (in her He-eme-ce,haha), Lucky complained of how embarrassed she was that she didn´t have a nice dinner prepared for us. We had PIZZA which was LOVELY after three days of good, but different, food on the island. Being the Martha Stewart that she is, our pizza was paired with wine and a fancy salad haha. Below are pictures of their beautiful home and Guatemala City (for some reason the first two want to be sideways).

Little Juan Jo...sitting still for once!

Don Juan Carlos...he kept making us some super margaritas haha

Beautiful flowers being sold by the side of the road. This part of Guatemala City, Zona 10, is nicknamed Zona Viva for all of the things to do there. We had a nice walk there before our flight. At the place we had breakfast, we realized we were surrounded by business men and women...at almost 10am! Es la cultura.

I just found this entertaining...what a beautiful place to ship things from!

Belize otra vez...

Our death trap bus!

Our little island! I loved this little place and the wonderful, crazy islanders that live there!

The view from our cabana´s doorstep. You can´t beat that!


This is what we did all day! Sorry mom...I left that book for Mercedes, the cook, to read after I finished.

Tobacco Caye...

     Blogger is acting up so no pictures this post, but we just got back to Belize City after spending three days on a 4 acre island called Tobacco Caye. This post is just a short we're alive and we're going back to Guatemala for a night before flying out to Costa Rica and staying with some friends we met on the caye.

     I feel like we just left the set of a Malibu rum commercial...playing dominoes with the islanders, walking barefoot all the time, drinking rum, snorkeling (no rum involved for this, don't worry), trying to discern creole...I'll write more later about the adventures!

Belize

Talk about a bus ride! We left Tikal at 5am heading for Belize. It has been raining a lot in Guatemala and the roads were covered in mud. Every truck and bus pulled over and decided not to go on...except ours. Our bus driver decided he wanted to "probarlo" (try it out). We fish-tailed in the mud a few times and he was literally just driving with the drift a few times. We only thought we were going to tip over once, but basically our bus driver must have been a rally driver in a past life and got us through it. (I'll post the picture of us with our muddy bus later).
Rural Belize is absolutely gorgeous. Most of the towns are poor and every school and church is of a different religion. Lush green grass and trees are everywhere and there are a number of different river crossings.
We're now here in Belize City waiting to get on a water taxi to Tobacco Caye...an island where you stay in huts and beach bum it all day. I can't wait! We've befriended a local taxi driver, Samuel, who is dressed in bright colors and is just like the guys from the Malibu rum commercials..."Ey mon!" Belize City is dirty and busy, but it's hoppin' and everyone knows each other and stops to talk on the street.

Below are my two favorite pictures from Antigua that I forgot to post. The little old lady was very shy and unsure...I paid her a quetzale to allow me to take the picture. The dog is the "house dog" at our hostel that I loved.

Tikal- Mayan Ruins

So after a horrible 8 hour bus ride and a semi-sketchy taxi ride, we arrived at Tikal Inn at like 6am. After taking our first shower in like two days, we crashed until about 1pm. We woke up to a rainy day and ventured out to the ruins after lunch. The ruins were absolutely amazing --though the Katamungas (I forget their name exactly--little anteater/raccoon like animals) were at the top of our list. They are creatures of much character and travel in packs. There are a lot of mosquitos here so I'm very thankful for the malaria meds right now.
The ruins...we were able to hit all of the major ruins. The most incredible experience was probably climbing the 90 steps --almost straight up like a ladder, mind you-- to the top of Templo V. The view of the other ruins and of the mist coming up off the forest was out of this world. It was neat to touch the building and walk the ground around them knowing they have stood there for centuries and that a people we will never totally know walked there before us. I had just enough juice in my videocamera left o take a short movie of the view up there.