Adventures in Argentina

Lions and Tigers and Bears Elephants...oh my!

2007-06-27T18:31:00.000-07:00

So I know I have a lot of catching up to do with this blog and I will get on it when I get home on Sat...but I had to post what I did today. AMAZING!!!!!

Dale dale Boca!

2007-06-20T19:55:00.000-07:00

Tonight Boca is playing and you definitely don't need to be anywhere near a TV or a radio to know the score...every time there is a goal this city BLOWS up. I mean this quite literally as the yelling and honking is one-upped by fireworks...FIREWORKS...from rooftops. People sure do love their futbol here.

Tomorrow is my last day of school aka be expecting some lovely posts FULL of pictures of the falls.

Just hit me..

2007-06-13T00:16:00.000-07:00

So tonight during the taxi ride home from eating tacos at CBC with Kira it really hit me...I leave this place in 18 days. I started my list of "Qué Necesito Hacer antes de que Me Voy" list today. One of my Mark's girls laughed when I used "tipo" today as a true Argentine. Kira and I were at our retarded best. I gave a cup of coffee to the man who waves at me every day on the corner of Armenia and El Salvador. Had my daily totally average conversation with my wonderful licuado maker at school. I passed my favorie beautiful french looking building that splits two streets...you know the one. Buenos Aires and I started out with kind of a rocky relationship, but with time I really fell head over heels for this place. My heart hurts.

Vanessa 21 at midnight!

2007-06-04T12:30:00.001-07:00

Hey everyone Ryan here. In Buenos Aires with Vanessa and she's turning 21 at midnight. Anyway 21 isn't a huge deal here plus it's a school night and all, but we're having a mini power hour at her place. Basically that means pizza and beer.

Anyway you can call during our mini-power hour and wish her happy birthday. It's made it easy via the wonders of Skype. You just call 520-829-1109 (it's just a local call for you!) Try to call between 8 and 9 Arizona time tonight. That's midnight to one here.

And then you all owe her a shot back in AZ at the end of June.

Best,
Ryan

Note to my MILLIONS of readers...haha

2007-05-25T21:25:00.000-07:00

The different colored words in my posts can be clicked on to find out more information about some of the words or places I've included in my blog. This was quite the huge update that I just managed to pull off so I hope you all enjoy!!

Maracanã

2007-05-25T11:24:00.000-07:00

This is the Estadio Maracanã aka the site of Ryan's near demise.
This really made me laugh

The favelas really are everywhere. This one looks over the stadium. You can't see it very well in this picture, but the government contructed a very large road through the favela that winds through the favela and looks incredibly out of place.

Well hello, Jesus

2007-05-25T11:17:00.000-07:00

My aunt asked that I take at least one picture of the the Christ the Redeemer. Here you go! We were up close and personal with the big guy (talk about an understatement as he's 125 ft tall and weighs 1000 tons). It makes me laugh to compare this Jesus to the one that is the star of Argentina's Tierra Santa (see my previous post). I

Helicopter, Helicopter Over My Head

2007-05-25T11:12:00.000-07:00

My ever wonderful boyfriend made it possible for me to take a breathtaking tour of the city...in the sky.
Our helicoptoro

Las islas

Buzios

2007-05-25T11:07:00.000-07:00

Of course I managed to go to Brazil during not so fabulous weather, but we decided to go somewhere for a little beach and vacation time anways. We hopped a bus from Rio to Buzios for a couple of great days of luxury. We managed to find a hotel with a southwestern theme...two kids from AZ in Brazil, what are the chances?

Lil downtown Buzios...VERY cute

Us on the dock downtown

Ryan's Birthday Party- Part 2

2007-05-25T10:59:00.000-07:00

Haha, there wasn't a cake so we had to get creative. That is definitely a banana with a rolled up piece of paper stuck in the top. Everyone sang happy birthday at the top of their lungs out in the hall...none of the neighbors even complained...only in Brazil.

Las chicas bailando

They definitely know how to shake it!

Julia was VERY into the boxing game on the Wii.

Breno and Grace

Ryan's Birthday Party- Part 1

2007-05-24T16:52:00.001-07:00

The wonderful Fatima was happy to allow Ryan to have a birthday party in the house a couple days after his birthday. We spent all afternoon rearranging the living room and getting the Wii (a big hit with Ryan's brazilian friends) set up. When Fatima came home from work she joined right on in with the festivities...very much like Ryan's actual mama, Karen.
Julia, Fatima, and the two of us...a lovely little family for the week.
Julia and Fatima...the Brazilian Gilmore Girls

Grace - one of Ryan's fellow Fulbrighters

It's pretty much required for all Brazilian boys to play the guitar or some other instrument. It's very nice in this kind of atmosphere because they entertain themselves AND provide entertainment...can't beat that!
Isabel dancing with a chip haha

Ryan's English Class

2007-05-24T16:42:00.001-07:00

Ryan has been volunteering as an english teacher with The Two Bros Foundation in Rocinha. His birthday happened to fall on a class day and his students really pulled through with an in-class celebration. They came equipped with presents, food, drinks, cakes and didn't even forget the candles.

Happy Birthday to you! After this, Ryan cut the cake and gave me the first piece...this was followed by clapping and "ehhh Ryan!" I wasn't aware, but apparently who you give the first piece of cake to is very symbolic in Brazilian culture.

Given the day, we decided to include party and birthday vocabulary in class and since I was there we also decided to teach dating/relationship vocab. It was really a great experience and I was able to return the next week as well. The students are really great and range from 16-38 years old. Most of them work with tourists in some manner and want to expand their vocab and work on their accents to help with their jobs. By helping with the foundation's myspace page, I have managed to find some way to keep doing a little something to help out.

Rocinha y las favelas

2007-05-24T15:56:00.000-07:00

Ryan has been teaching English twice a week in Rocinha, the favela just on the other side of the mountain from his beautiful middle class neighborhood of Leblón. After a lecture about how dangerous it is from Fatima, I was able to head out there with Ryan the night of his bday.
This is what I guess one would call the entrance to the favela. There are rows of places where knock off items are sold and street vendors sell food before you actually enter the favela.

This is the view from the top of Rocinha overlooking the city. You can't really see it, but at the bottom of the picture there is a country club with a pool and tennis court etc...the disparity and inequality that this picture symbolizes is just so hard to wrap your mind around.

A picture of Rocinha at night from the bridge that crosses over the freeway to where the illegal buses back to Leblón wait.

A shot of a favela from up in the helicopter on my last day in Rio.

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Riding on the back of a motorcycle taxi clinging on to the sides of a random Brazilian trying to speak to me in portuguese... Weaving between cars and dodging people...Catching a wiff of street bbq and then the pungent smell of the open sewer...Samba music drifting down from a dance studio over the noise of honking and motorcycles...This was my introduction to Rocinha. Ryan and I rode motorcycle taxis up to the top of the mountain that Rocinha covers to take the second picture from above. I don't really know what I was expecting of the favela, but I found that I was on sensory overload. The energy there is vibrant and people are out on the streets chatting and happy. I find that it's hard to put that experience into words, but it was wonderful and I would say on the top ten list of things I have done in my life. Looking at Ryan on the motorcycle buzzing ahead of mine, I was very thankful to have this adventurous person in my life who has really helped make my world a bigger, more diverse place.
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I found myself rather frustrated when talking to middle class Brazilians about Rocinha. We had dinner at Ryan's professor's house and the topic came up with his daughter, Julia. The first thing is that they are always shocked that you have ventured into the favela...and even more shocked when they find out you entered unescorted and at night. The second thing, and what really makes me angry, is that they are very quick to bring up the fact that Rocinha is a fairly well off favela and that there is worse out there. One thing sited, for example, is the fact that many people in Rocinha have cell phones (my first thought was off the images I have seen of farmers in Africa with cell phones or the old ladies who sell calls on their cell phones in small towns in developing countries). This way of thinking is hard for me to understand, but I don't judge it. When something is in your backyard, almost literally as the favelas continue to expand and creep closer to middle class areas, it's easy to become accustomed to it.
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One favela that was particulary interesting was on the way to the bus station. I thougt it was very interesting that this particular favela seemed to be constructed completely out of matching red brick -- unusual as most of the favelas are haphazardly constructed out of various, multicolored materials. When I looked to the other side of the road I saw the framework of what must have been a huge warehouse at some point with a few of the same bricks scattered here and there...talk about recycling and innovation...practically a whole favela from one warehouse.

Happy Birthday Boyfriend/First Whole Day in Rio

2007-05-24T15:47:00.000-07:00

The only present Ryan really got from me this year was...ME! Thankfully midterms ended right before his birthday and I could hop on a 3 hour flight up to Rio de Janeiro to spend it with him.
Breakfast in bed from me and cake in bed from the wonderful Fatima (his house mama)...talk about a rough way to start your birthday.

My first trip to the suco (juice) stand. This one is açai, but pretty much every single day after this I ordered a watermelon suco. AMAZING.
A praia (the beach)

A favela with a view of the beach

This city never fails to surprise me...

2007-05-24T15:43:00.000-07:00

One night my friend Tristan and I ventured out to eat some Arabic food and I ended up getting more than I expected from this grand city...

When we got to Sarki's (a very popular arabic restaurant here), the wait was really long so Tristan said he wanted to show me something. We walked down the residential streets of Villacrespo to this HUGE old door with a man standing in front of it. I couldn't seem to get a good picture, but this is what was behind the door. A speakeasy type bar called 878 (it's street address).
Only in BsAs can you get such HUGE portions of food and drink lots of wine and then say, "wow that's it" when the check comes.
When we were heading back towards the home side of the city, we passed what seemed to be just an empty restaurant or something. Tristan said we should go in. We did and in the back was this scene of people dancing away. An older gentleman came over and asked me if I knew how to dance...er, No. "Es facil" he said and pulled me out onto the floor. It was really fun being swept around the floor and just closing my eyes and doing whatever he signaled me to do. Just say "yes," right?

Fancy par-tay

2007-05-24T15:34:00.000-07:00

Kira and Augusto invited me to their friends' birthday party...quite the nice change from the only going out option being the boliches. The friends were another american girl/argentine guy couple...there are quite a number of them here.
Quite the lovely loft in an old warehouse by a set of train tracks in BsAs.

Aren't they so precious??
Augusto had had his eye on this lion since we first walked in the door. It just took a few drinks to get him on it.
...and to get me on it. He scooped me up and plopped me on it. This is my pouty protesting what is happening to me face.

Cinco de Mayo

2007-05-24T14:26:00.000-07:00

Quite the group of gringos (and a Cordobés) coming together to make Cinco de Mayo happen at Grant's house in Buenos Aires.

This isn't nearly all of the food we had...some of it was still in the works. I miss Mexican food SO much living here and this was absolute HEAVEN.

First plate. After this we proceeded to eat A LOT more. I am actually quite surprised that I didn't feel sick after.

MMMMMMMMMMM...

Playing a little air guitar while making kebobs.

Observation and Random Thoughts

2007-05-03T14:01:00.000-07:00

- DO YOU UNDERSTAND ME NOW?! Why is it that people (ahem, Americans) seem to think that if they just talk louder to someone who speaks another language that they will suddenly understand them? NO ENTIENDO ESO PARA NADA (I was talking louder, did you understand me?). Again, the ugly american is alive and kickin'. I just came back to my computer after intervening in a ridiculous episode of two American girls asking WHERE TO FIND AN ATM...TO PUT MY CARD IN AND GET MONEY. The sad thing for the rest of us who try hard is that everyone looks to us for answers. This happened in my favorite café, Marks, and all of the servers looked to me -- that American who speaks castellano and is always here -- to explain why these girls were tan estupidas.

-The easy out generation. I stumbled into a conversation about marriage today when leaving school. The consensus was that everyone wanted the benefits of marriage, but without the lifelong commitment. One girl actually said, "I want to be able to have the benefits of a couple, but in case the road gets rough I want to be able to walk away." I understand not being forced to stay in a marriage for an eternity if you are truly unhappy, but walking away just because things are hard seems so lazy. What ever happened to, "if it's not worth fighting for, it's not worth keeping?" I raised this point and I was automatically the "romantic" and the "unrealistic." Why is everyone so critical of those on the other side of the fence? If you want to get married, someone thinks you're crazy and love sick. If you don't want to get married, someone thinks you have trust issues. Shut up everyone and leave everyone to what makes them happy. I wish nothing but the best for my friends who are getting married and I give nothing but support to my friends who never want to get married in their life.

-On being happy. The recent death of my friend has really had me thinking. Though I am rather sad, there was something I realized when thinking about Alex and the sad fact that she died so young...that girl had no regrets. Alex loved volleyball so she played in college. When she graduated, Alex wanted to coach and train and help develop younger girls' passion for the game. In order to coach, Alex needed to be a teacher...english it was. Alex wanted to get more into the fitness side of sports and fitness modeling...off to California where she successfully began modeling, training others, and competing in fitness competitions. Alex wasn't scared of the uphill fight to get what she wanted. She embraced it and tried to share her experiences to help others. At this point in my life when I'm deciding what's really important to me and what things I actually want to do for me I hope I an always muster up the strength to follow my heart.

-Right place at the right time. As I am here by myself in another country thinking about life and the balancing act that it can be, life seems to throw the right people in my path at the right time (of course I talk to everyone who crosses my path so it's a little easier to let such people in or recognize them when they arrive). On Monday, I met a 22 year old named Tristan in Mark's. We shared my mac computer charger as there was only one plug available. Yesterday we happened to be here at the same time again and decided to go out to dinner. We talked about inspirations and how we ended up where we are and where we think we're going. Our conversation eventually led to the topic of a talk he once gave to fellow students...his "Just say 'yes'" talk. To sum it up...when an opportunity comes up to invite people you just met out for drinks, to join a friend on a random road trip, or to take an internship in something you don't know a whole lot about just say yes. Ryan has taught me a lot about that in the time that I have been with him. I have taken a bus to Belize for fun and I started writing for the school paper because Ryan said, "Vanessa, why not?" Looking back, there hasn't been any one of those times that I have regretted or that didn't become something important to me. SO...I've decided that "just say 'yes'" will be my mantra for the two months I have left here.

Rest in Peace Meekcoms

2007-04-30T18:41:00.000-07:00

Today I found out that a friend passed away in a very sad plane crash. I'm not going to recount the tragedy, but you can find it here. All I can say is that at least they were able to meet the new member of their family and at least they were together, may they rest in peace.

I was supposed to see Alex before I came down here...we got too busy. Now of course I really regret not MAKING the time to make it happen. She had just moved back to AZ.

I wanted to take a sec to jot down some of my memories of Alex:
-Yelling, "Meekoms!" down the hall at school and remembering she was supposed to be a teacher and an "adult figure." BAH!
-Her teasing me in the weight room about my "perky buns" and how she needed to get in gear to get hers back to "vball status" and she SURE did!
-She would always pop my hip back into place before games senior year when I went gimp status.
-Pulling me aside for pep talks when I felt like the worst setter in the world...and giving me a slap on the butt and a huge smile as I walked away rolling my eyes at her.
-Her stupid, disgusting joke about "the eyesh! the eyesh!"
-Some of the funniest memories are from when she came with us as our coach to club vball tournaments. In Texas she cooly reacted with, "Hey Jimminy" to a huge cricket that had landed on her shoulder and after that she chased a possum down the street.
-The best was the car ride back from California with Alex, Jenny, and Gena. Talk about the fastest drive EVER...that's what happens when you're cracking up the entire time.
-She took like a week to write us vball girls a poem to read at our vball banquet...it was nerdy and made fun of us but it really meant a lot.
To know Alex was to know serious laughter and fun. She will be missed. I can't even put into words what it will be like to go visit vball camp and not make fun of her sweet nikes that match her top or how she could look so hot while teaching a bunch of whiney kids to play.

Everyone please stay safe.

Still workin' on Amanda's checklist: San Telmo Fair

2007-04-30T10:36:00.000-07:00

Thankfully for me, my friend Amanda has decided to get motivated and make a list of all of the things she needs to see in Buenos Aires before leaving (in two weeks, boooo). This adventure, and that of the classy Tierra Santa, can now be scratched off. (San Telmo's fair, while it has lovely trinkets and antiques, is also a bit of a freakshow much like Tierra Santa).

Getting blown away by an imaginary wind while standing still...

You can't tell, but the one of the bottom was shorter than me and the guy on top was HUGE.

I hope when I am this age I am this in love. These two heard the tango music and had to put down their things to stop and dance together.

These two were the sweetest pair ever. We talked with them for a while and they gave us a deal on a bracelet for Amanda. They were just such warm people. The gave us each a kiss on the cheek and told us to take care of ourselves. The old man asked me to invite him to Arizona so he could see a real cowboy.

Finishing off the day with a beer. (We didn't take a shot of how we REALLY finished off the day right after this...with ice cream).

Asado del Campo y Amigos Argentinos

2007-04-30T10:35:00.002-07:00

Since Buenos Aires is the center of the universe here in Argentina, it has all of the universities worth going to so there are a lot of students here from the campos outside of BsAs. Lucky for me, my roomies know these types and took me along to an asado (BBQ) that they were having (on the roof of their apartment of course).

El chef, LA CARNE, y yo

Todos sitting around the "table." The "table" as it was called was an unhinged dorr supported by two beer crates...CLASSY!!!!! Note the picadas and the wine...very Argentine.

Mi Kira y yo.

El Gaucho de la casa y yo

You know "you fly I buy" this was kind of "you cook we clean." Augusto was trying to give me a lesson on dishwashing, psh.

DANCE! Nothin' left for me to do but DANCE!

2007-04-30T10:35:00.001-07:00

We went out for a night on the town here in Buenos Aires and wound up in the most RANDOM bar full of RANDOM Argentines dancing to weird music. They definitely had like memorized dances that they were all doing together...I felt like we were in 7th grade or something. Finally, the music changed to songs we could dance to and we had a great time.

My girls. Ms. Lily and Ms. Aline.

If you can't tell, dancing makes me REALLY happy. This is without a drop of alcohol, lol.

Aline dancin' all up on me...we have officially americanized her.

Part of el grupo. Leann (Florida), Mati (Germany), Lily, me

Still REALLY happy to be alive and dancin'. I get it from my mama.

Tierra Santa... HALLELUJAH!

2007-04-30T10:30:00.000-07:00

So this is by far the WEIRDEST place I have been to in my travels. This lovely place we call Jesus Land is located in Belgrano, Buenos Aires. If you have ever been to the rennaisance festival, it's kind of like that...except about the life and times of Jesus. If it seems nuts..that's because it is.

You can't see us too well, but that's me, amanda and jess.

The glorious entrance to glorious Tierra Santa.

Me and my homie shepherd.

This is the resurrection of Jesus...he's HUGE.

If this just isn't enough here is a lovely video we took of the resurrection and Jess' sweet dance she added to it.

Home is where the heart is...

2007-04-30T10:27:00.001-07:00

My heart will always be in Arizona, but now that I have a wonderfully cozy place to live it's easier to call this place home for a while. Thanks to Craigslist, I came into contact with a 22 year old design student from New Hampshire (who has lived here for four years) and her boyfriend from Cordoba who happened to have a spacious room in their apartment for rent.

Que Cute! Augusto y Kira.

I feel like this truly captures Augusto's personality.

I knew I would love my new home when I heard weird noises coming from the living room my third night there...I walked out to find the two of them playing Star Wars. Augusto with a bamboo stick and Kira with her yardstick (she is a rather talented diseñadora in my book)

This is Vigo, the fourth roomie. He's a wonderful cuddler and talks a lot. It's nice to have a critter around again.

Florida

2007-04-28T12:18:00.000-07:00

A couple of weeks ago, Ryan's new employer was kind enough to fly us both up to Florida for their annual retreat. From kayaking, pool time, a massage at the spa to the last dinner party at a wildlife preserve where we were able to feed a giraffe this retreat was pretty much amazing. The people that we met definitely made the retreat. I'm not exactly sure what I was expecting, but people were very interesting and VERY fun. We had a blast and I hope I get to tag along as an SO to more of these things.

Uruguay 5- Beauty and The Poverty

2007-04-21T20:22:00.000-07:00

One of many monuments throughout Montevideo.

This poor guy was all of about 8 years old and shivering as he slept. He did not ask for money and he did not get in anyone's way. He was just trying to sleep and stay warm. I have another picture of his brother who was 12 and looking through garbage cans collecting bottles to exchange. He didn't ask anything of me either, but simply gave me a weak, embarrassed smile.It's very easy to become desensitized to images like this and it is very frustrating to me when people simply overlook children and people like this boy. So many people are quick to brush begger children off as the money is "just going to go to their drunken parents" or will be wasted on something else. But if there is one thing I ask, at least in the case of children, is that people stop and at least acknowledge that the only thing that you kept you out of his/her shoes is luck. It was simply luck of the draw that at age 8 I worried about what my Barbie would wear instead of worrying about waking up to go juggle in the street in front of red lights and hope that people would give me some change. Though merely writing about this brings me to tears, I am not so naive to think that giving change will really help anything. I am all for thoughtful and sustainable development that will slowly change what life is for kids like this around the world.

One of the beautiful walking streets in Montevideo.

Five minutes away from the picture above. A family of four lives here.

This is by far my favorite picture of all the ones I have taken (though the one of the little old lady in Guatemala is a close second). This was the happiest little girl I've ever seen. Her parents were very friendly and very proud of their small restaurant in one of the poor areas of Montevideo near the port.

Uruguay 4- Felices Pascuas

2007-04-21T20:14:00.000-07:00

Aline and I decided to drag ourselves out of bed to go to church on Easter sunday. Aline was so sweet and had bought chocolate bunnies that she left on our pillows to make up for the fact that we wouldn't be getting easter baskets or anything.

This street just screamed out for a picture on the way to church. It's like the Latin American version of the scene in Anne of Green Gables when they are going down the road in horse and carriage through the arch of blossoming cherry trees (I think only my family can truly appreciate my love for Anne of Green Gables...hint if anyone can't think of something to get me for my bday I would LOVE the dvd set lol).

This is one of those churches that you just can't help but feel something in. Regardless of how reglious--or not--you may be, you at least feel moved by all of the history in those walls.

This pair reminded me of me and my grandpa. Everyone who knows me knows how much I love old people...this guy might take the cake. He was so sweet and gave me a HUGE hug, kiss on the cheek and "que te vaya con la paz de Dios" during church. He was really tickled by the fact that I wanted to take a picture and had to take of his sweater and have his granddaughter fix his hair.

El Padre. He gave each person a hug and a kiss on the cheek as we left church. Can you imagine Father Hoorman doing that? haha

Uruguay 3- Amigos y Clericó

2007-04-21T20:07:00.000-07:00

Aline, Alessandra "La Colombiana," Lily, Me. Trouble right here. Our poor waiter had a handful with this table. La Colombiana and I got into a very interesting and very long conversation about the time she spent volunteering in the north of her own country in a medical clinic. She told the usual tale of supply shortages, people coming from four hours away by land and boat with a grave wound or disease, getting lice and doing every day to day thing with bottled water, and the feeling of helplessness. She is studying medicine and will definitely be one of those people in this world who saves and helps so many without any recognition.

We also called her "La Maestra" for her mastery of getting the perfect drink to juice chunk ratio in every glass from the pitcher of Clericó.

YUM!

Me and my Egyptian queen. She got a tad bit brown from the time on the beach.

This was Aline's wonderful joke: "What is this? A dead Italian!" haha Maybe you had to be there for it to be truly funny.

Uruguay 2- Punta del Este

2007-04-21T19:49:00.000-07:00

I thought Rocky Point was really building up...this place is covered in condos like this. It makes for an interesting--though not prefered--sight contrasting with the beach.

Skyline on the river side.

Beach side. That's me sitting on the thumb of a HUGE stone hand that comes up out of the sand. It's quite impressive.

I really don't think an explanation is necessary here.

Interesting thing they have in Punta del Este for additional outdoor/indoor seating. Small establishments that just out into the street for people to sit in. I won't lie, I worried that a car would hit one.

Uruguay 1- Traveling, Partners in Crime and a Sweet Hostel

2007-04-20T18:28:00.000-07:00

"Oh, oh Buquebus!" This is the high class boat that takes you from Buenos Aires, Argentina to Colonia, Uruguay. The immigration process with this type of travel is hilarious. In immigration you walk up to a single desk with a divider in the middle and two people sitting at it. The man took my passport and stamped me out of Argentina, "have a good trip please give her your passport." I handed my passport to the lady RIGHT NEXT TO HIM she stamped my passport and said, "Welcome to Uruguay."

Partners in Crime: Lily Lotfy from the east coast and Ms. Aline ("The German" who we got to crack a smile). Lily and I worked our hardest that weekend to Americanize here and I think we did a pretty good job lol.

Rooftop of the most amazing hostel EVER...Red Hostel.

Doing what we do best...NOTHING. Er, I mean finding things to do in Uruguay in the guidebook haha.

Conquering...I mean traveling the world

2007-04-20T18:21:00.000-07:00

I found this and thought it was really cool! My map is looking a little lopsided though...I hope to fix that in the years to come.

A day in the life...

2007-04-03T11:46:00.000-07:00

In the morning I wake up, check my email, have a cup of joe and chat with this fool:

While we look out from the balcony at this:

I go to school from 1-3pm and on the way back get dropped off in Plaza Serrano to have a bite to eat and use my laptop. For the average price of a Starbucks (about 4 bucks) I can have a water, a sandwich, and a coffee. At Bar Abierto is where I do my blogging:

While blogging, I am kept company by this little fella:

At night I hang out with these rejects (Ignacio the Porteno digs us gringos):

After a few drinks I do really awesome things like this:

Then I get home at about 4 on an early night (late nights the avg person gets home at about 8/9 am) and hit the sack.

The future's lookin' bright!

2007-04-03T11:40:00.000-07:00

This lovely foto was taken in La Boca...a tourist area in the old port that is now surrounded by very poor barrios. There are three blocks within this area that were revamped specifically for tourists...bright colored shops, restaurants, and lots of tango dancers.

Ryan and I have a lovely future ahead of us do we not?! haha

POGS...

2007-04-01T19:30:00.000-07:00

Anyone around my age (or the parents who had to buy the damn things) will appreciate this. We definitely just had a full conversation in Buenos Aires about pogs. We talked about our coolest slammers and which pogs were the hardest to get a hold of.

Jess: ¨And if you bet your slammer...ooooh that´s bad.¨ Haha, amazing.

This is why it is nice to be around fellow gringos in a foreign country.

The ACC

2007-04-01T12:42:00.000-07:00

I ran across this picture today of Ryan and me with Arizona Corporation Commissioner Kris Mayes at her swearing in. It got me thinking, yet again, about how important the job as a commissioner is and how much they affect the daily lives of EVERY Arizonan. Don't feel bad if you have NO idea what I'm talking about...the only way I came to know more about this government body was by working as an intern for Kris last summer.

Among the many things the commissioners do, they regulate the electric, water, and waste managament utilities of our state. This means that when you turn your lights on, the commission has helped regulate how much you pay for the electricity you're using.

Another important fact that most people don't know is that the commissioners are VOTED in aka you have the power to deicide who is in this powerful, yet overlooked position.

This is the ACC website.

Walk like an Egyptian...Talk like a Porteno

2007-04-01T12:18:00.000-07:00

Porteno- someone from Buenos Aires
joda- fiesta; party
boliche- club
chopp- beer on tap
porron- beer in a small bottle (not to be confused with the 3/4 liter beers you can order here)
re- REALLY; ie. she speaks Spanish re bien
che- amigo; used alllll the time while talking like "dude"
boludo- like fool; can be used with friends or literally as "that fool"
quilombo- a big disaster
incha pelotas- ball buster
buen lomo- nice rack/butt; note that lomo here is a cut of meat you can order
buena onda- "es de buena onda;" a nice person/has a good way about them
como andas?- what's up? how's it going?
este tipo- this guy/this person
caficio- pimp
chamuyo- pronounced "shamu-sho;" flirt; spit game

Interesting experiences in BsAs...Random thoughts

2007-04-01T11:50:00.000-07:00

Even though I speak the language quite well and I blend in here, there are daily experiences that remind me that I am a foreigner and that this place is quite different from home.

Note: I'm writing this in a bar/cafe while drinking a beer at 4 in the afternoon on a Sunday. The place is totally full and everyone is having their snack to tide them over until dinner at 10 or 11. My companion here...a kitty curled up for his afternoon nap. Only in Buenos Aires.

-One of my favorite things here is riding the bus. I ride the bus to and from school, to friends' houses, to bars...you name it (I swear I am going to find little bus tickets in my pockets and purses for years to come). In one bus ride you past parks, wealthy residential areas, run down areas by the train tracks, businesses...everything that is Buenos Aires. You also are bound to get caught in the traffic here. Where cars make up their own lanes and squeeze between trucks and buses and anything goes. On the way home from school one day, our bus driver decided he was fed up with waiting in traffic and flipped a U in the middle of a busy 4 lane street. He basically made up his own route for that afternoon to bypass traffic.

-Some of our professors (the same ones who pound it into our heads that the US is the oppressor of Latin America) have taken to calling us by our countries rather than our names. the only time it's cute and almost funny is when it comes from our ANCIENT, white haired Political Economy professor.

-There exists a great divide between the gringos studying abroad here...those who speak Spanish above a third grade level and those who don't/don't even try. We have been going to deal with our student visas in large groups of exchange students and we are split down the middle in this way. Those who actively try to speak spanish are ashamed to be around the loud, mostly American, english speakers who refuse to speak Spanish. It is very apparent that the American "well people speak English everywhere" attitude is alive and kickin'.

-Let's talk fashion. I thought that Buenos Aires, being the Paris of South America, would wow me with it's style...not so much. The every day joes seem to be holding up the punk trend that the States is just starting to get over. Everyone rocks Chucks and with EVERYTHING...hi tops with skirts or tights is commonplace. People here rock denim on denim like it's there job. The mullet has taken on MANY variations here. Some a little more business in the front...others way more party in the back. Don't get me started on the female mullet. I will have to take some pictures of lovely specimens for you guys.

-High rises here are the norm rather than the exception. There is a little house I can see from one my classroom windows that is a brick litle cottage thing with a cute yard. What's so special about this? It's stuck between two HUGE sky rise apartments. This has become quite the battle in BsAs and houses and residential areas are taken over by looming sky scrapers. One thing that is helping the sky rises win is the fact that most robberies occur in the normal homes. Sad as the houses here are super cute.

I swear I'm alive...

2007-04-01T09:53:00.000-07:00

I'm really sorry that I have done such a bad job of keeping this thing up to date since I've arrived in Argentina. For now, click HERE for pictures with little blurbs from the good ol BsAs.

2007-03-20T18:26:00.000-07:00

Sorry we haven't put anything on the blog in a long time. I'm actually going to revert to writing over at my supposed blog, which hadn't really existed yet. The address is:

ryanrio.blogspot.com

Concha y Toro

2007-02-17T11:54:00.000-08:00

Us on the beautiful Concha y Toro grounds

I'm pretty sure Ryan had more fun eating the grapes than drinking the wine. Aren't they beautiful??

Wine, anyone?

Us eating some wonderful cheese plates and doing A LOT of wine sampling haha. Mom and Dad, your gift below is what you see here in my three glasses. I loved the Merlot.

Gift for Mom and Pops...you can drink the white right away but you have to save the reds for a whole year.

Chile

2007-02-17T11:24:00.000-08:00

So since I fell behind quite horribly...I'm just going to start posting pictures from different places with captions.

A big fruit market in the north of Chile. We missed our flight back to Lima in Peru because of fog. This meant that we ended up missing our connection to Santiago. Our solution: we were already in souther Peru so we took a bus ride to the border, a taxi across the border and hopped a plane to Santiago.

One of the first things we did in Santiago was hit up one of Ryan's favorite old haunts...the Chinese food place he used to eat at daily. We at our food with some Watts juice just to keep up tradition.

Santiago has a pretty amazing subway system...Ryan of course had to ride the new lines that they added while he was away.

Martini?

This is a dog -- Poncho--Ryan fell in love with lol

Argen-i-ma-tina

2007-02-17T10:53:00.000-08:00

Sorry for falling off the face of the earth there for awhile! I needed to get settled in here in BsAs.

Ryan left on the 15th and I have moved into an apartment here. I'm living by myself and at first it was a bit scary...but I'm ok with it now. I live in hoppin´Palermo. I live in the Soho part where the streets are lined with trees and there are restaurants and shops everywhere. Accessories and shoes here are amazing...talk about temptation!!

The other night Jacque (my main friend here who is from New Mexico) and I went out to dinner at this place with great steak. We sat between three different tables of guys. We definitely got hit on by the old guys next to us who even asked us for our numbers and emails (classy) and offered us personal tours around the city BAHAHA. The best were these two guys next to us that were very friendly and were talking to us about Argentina. They seriously ordered like one of everything on the menu and shared it...this allowed us to ask what the different cuts of meat were etc. EVERY time we asked they would say ¨pruebalo!¨ (try it!). At first we politely declined and then they finally just started plopping stuff on our plates and making us try it. It was a fun experience and we definitely got a lesson about food lol.

Last night I went to my first tango lesson. It was a lot of fun, but I still like salsa a lot better (I hope that an english speaking Argie doesn't read this...they'll hunt me down and hang me). After the lesson, we went out with one of the instructors to a bar that had a live tango band. It was AMAZING.

Interesting things about Argentina:
-people wait for the bus in nice orderly lines that sometimes get so long they wrap around the corners of streets
-there is NO change in this city. If you don't give someone EXACT change they ask if you have anything ¨mas sencillo¨ and then guilt trip you while they scrounge up change.
-Tango is it. People from all walks of life and all ages will squish into a scorching hot bar to get to watch a live tango band.
-They have a store here called ¨Easy¨ that is like Wal-Mart on steriods
-EVERYONE does the kiss on the cheek.
-Starbucks has nothing on the Havana coffee shops that are everywhere here

Me eating my first Argie steak

Arequipa

2007-02-09T10:36:00.000-08:00

Hey everyone we´re in Arequipa right now. We head back to Lima and then to Santiago tonight. Unfortunately the plane lands at 2:25 AM. We´re staying at the same place I stayed at during my semester in Santiago, so they remembered me and are cool with us getting there so late.

I didn´t expect to be so excited for getting back to Santiago. But now I am. I know exactly how to get around and what to do, so it will be fun to do so much in such a short time. I can´t wait to see how it has changed, especially regarding their bus system.

Transmilenio

2007-02-06T11:22:00.000-08:00

As someone interested in transportation, but especially in bus transportation, I was quite excited to finally be able to get to Bogota, Colombia a couple weeks ago. The city´s segregated bus system Transmilenio is one of the better success stories in recent urban transportation projects.

The idea is this- the city had been trying to figure out the plans for a subway system for 30 years, but obstacles such as finances kept the plans blocked. Subway systems are great, but they are massively expensive. Very few in the world cover their costs, and nearly all require subsidies. Instead cities such as Curitiba, Brazil realized that they have a great answer at a fraction of the bus - urban busways.

The concept is that by using double or triple articulated buses, the buses can handle capacities similar to subway systems. And they can overcome one of the biggest problems of most buses - that they take longer than simply driving a car - by just giving them their own lane. When done properly as in Bogota, they can dramatically increase transportation capacity and benefit the entire city at a relatively low cost.

Now I see why all the transportation experts I worked with at the World Bank often call Bogota a model of a successful project (and it was a World Bank project, as was Transantiago, a related project in Santiago that is being inaugurated on Saturday).

Interestingly, when we rode it, we asked a few local college students what they thought. They said they didn´t like it. Why? Because it was always crowded. But that is just why it is a success.

Couple Costa Rica Pics

2007-02-06T11:08:00.000-08:00

Vanessa can drink in Latin America! Us at a bar with our friends Anthony and Isabella whom we met on Tabacco Caye in Belize.
Interesting Store Name. Vanessa bought a shirt.

Quite the day in Aguas Calientes

2007-02-04T13:48:00.000-08:00

So after the gorgeous 4 hour train ride (Ryan slept through most of it though I was able to wake him up to see the crazy rapids of the huge river here), we´re here in Aguas Calientes with the rest of the gringos going to Machu Picchu.

From an internet cafe midafternoon, I spotted a sign that said Mexican Food. I really should have known better, but I was really excited. Ryan and went there and ordered a quesadilla with chicken and a chicken enchilada. Talk about a knife to the heart when the waitress brought out two burrito looking things filled with EXACTLY the same chicken and vegetables in red sauce mix. She tried to explain that they were different (though they tasted and looked EXACTLY the same, ok), but even so we were a little hung up on the fact that we ordered two DIFFERENT things and received the same things on our plates -- regardless of what it was. The chef then came out and explained that they were very different things (mine had avocado on top..this obviously makes an enchilada) and the explanation for Ryan´s was that ´algunas personas les gusta la quesadilla sin queso´ (some people like quesadillas without cheese). We couldn´t help but laugh at this as QUESO means cheese and what we ordered was a QUESadilla. Talk about lost in translation or false advertisement on their part. We talked to the waitress after and explained that they need to change the food or change the menu for other tourists who would not have been as nice as we were...she said it happens all the time and people walk out and she was glad that we spoke spanish and someone finally told the chef.

After getting an 80 dollar room overlooking the raging river for 40 dollars, we decided to head to the market (Peru is seriously the coolest place to buy neat gifts and souvenirs). Here, we then caused another commotion when I attempted to buy a necklace for this awesome pendant I bought. After a starting price of 40 soles, Ryan and I talked a lady down to 20 soles. We still weren´t willing to give in as another vendor had the exact same thing and was willing to sell it for 15. Ryan and I are jerks and never take the 2nd, 3rd, or 4th price really and we started to walk away. The lady then gave in and said we could have it for 10 soles...I bought it. Apparently this was against the colluding rules of the market as the other vendor thought we bought it for 8 soles and started freaking out and telling every other vendor in the market. As we were leaving, the lady that sold us the necklace asked me to tell some other ladies in spanish that I hadn´t bought it for ten. She should have just told me to say 15 because I said 10 and then had to back track to cover for her. It was kind of funny to get a clear indication of how those markets work, but I felt bad for the lady.

It´s about Super Bowl time and we found a place to watch it...I just really wish I could have mountains of american chips and dip to go with it. Peruvian food is super bland and it makes me sad...not that chips and dip is some culinary masterpiece, but I´m just sayin.

Cuzco

2007-02-03T17:29:00.000-08:00

Vanessa and I are leaving on a train at 6 in the morning tomorrow to get to Macchu Picchu. I´ve been looking forward to going there for a long time and it´s almost here.

We´re in the nearest big city, Cuzco. It´s a very cool colonial town with narrow stone streets. Where we´re staying it is quite dense, possibly because the main market is just around the corner. It makes it more fun to just walk around and see everyone and their hustle and bustle.

Interesting tourist gift: a chessboard with Spaniards vs. Incas instead of black and white. Better yet, some of the boards use gold for the Incas and silver for the Spaniards. Thought that was clever.

A bit of randomness from Cusco, Peru

2007-02-03T15:05:00.000-08:00

Still no pictures, sorry. The computers in Peru seem to suck worse than those in rural Ecuador.

The Grocery Store
Almost everyone that knows me at all knows that I hate going to the grocery store. Well, going to a grocery store in another country makes the experience a bit of an adventure and you find yourself laughing when you realize how brand dependent you really are. I wanted to make tuna salad and eat it with saltine crackers...a few problems: 1)there are a MILLION kinds of tuna, but of course known of them have the friendly little whale on them that you know and trust and almost all of them come with aceite y sal (oil and salt). I ended up paying extra for the ONE type I found that came in water. 2)Pickles or relish. I made friends with an Argentino also attempting to shop and we searched everywhere for pepinos. The closest we got was a cucumber. He and I had a good laugh at how stupid we felt about lamenting over which kind of coffee and crackers to buy. 3)Mayo. There are officially 5 different types/flavors of mayo one can buy...I literally mean actual difference in the mayo and not the brand. Needless to say, shopping turned out to be really funny.

Indian Store
I ducked into this little shop on the way back from the grocery store and I thought of Mom and Auntie. It was a store that only sold Indian influenced clothing and jewelry owned and run by Peruvians. There was a Baliwood movie on in the back of the store and everything. I wanted to take a picture, but I had left my camera in the hostal.

Cocaine
There is a bar that is part of the hostal we´re staying at and there was a party here last night. It was a lot of fun and everyone danced a ton. My friend of one day,Molly from Colorado, accidentally punched me in the eye when she got too animated telling a story. I got a free beer out of it as I needed something to make sure the eye didn´t swell. Haha. Beyond dancing and fun, there was also a lot of cocaine at the party. Drugs are totally against the rules here, but every time I went into the bathroom there were like 8 huges lines of cocaine ready to go and plenty of people (more natives than foreigners actually) ready to take em. People were eager is offer it up to others, but no one was like seeking people out to do lines (I obviously declined..just in case anyone wasn´t sure).Coke is so cheap here that it´s definitely not a middle class drug like it usually is in the states. It was an interesting experience.

Off tomorrow at 6:15am for the Inca Trail.

Making Change

2007-02-02T16:01:00.000-08:00

Vanessa and I are now officially annoyed at the frequency of time that people don´t have change for even reasonably sized bills. For instance, is giving a 5 when it costs 3 too much to ask? Yet again and again people we end up paying want as close to exact change as possible. I noticed this previously in Chile, but for some reason it seems worse in some of these other countries we´ve been to.

A few hypotheses:

a) the high possibility of theft requires keeping as little change on hand as possible

b) in the US we decry month-to-month budgeters, but in developing countries it is often day-to-day, so they have to begin with an empty drawer each day.

c) They are working with such tight funds that keeping a series of reserves on hand for change is a costly endeavor equivalent to lending money to nobody.

d) a cultural effect. If everyone doesn´t want to change large bills, then people don´t want to accept them for fear they won´t be able to spend them. This cycle of course would perpetuate itself.

e) storeowners want to make you buy more things form their store.

I believe all of these play a role at varying times. I wonder if there´s a pattern that richer countries have less and less of this problem.

Interesting Tidbit of the Day

2007-02-01T15:03:00.000-08:00

In our hostel there´s a wall of infamy, including a bunch of embarassing things people have done at the hostel (bringing home ugly girls, being a drunk-ass during the World Cup, etc). There´s one wanted person poster for a guy including his mugshot. The interesting part? It had lots of characteristics listed. They have many more than in the US, including skin color. But the best part: they have a space for nose. His- straight. I guess some people have to face the embarrassment of seeing nose-slanted on their wanted poster.

Or maybe it´s to deter crime.

Waves

2007-02-01T14:34:00.000-08:00

We just went to the beach and were in by far the biggest wavs of our lives. Where? Lima, Peru.

Yep, not everyone knows Lima is a coastal city. Most of the beaches are very dirty, and there are dead crabs everywhere (which isn´t that gross in itself until you start wondering why they all died). We found a nice beach by trying to sneak into a country club, which has a better than usual private beach. We weren´t successful, but sat on the fringes for a while. Vanessa befriended a middle aged lady who was pretty friendly and made fun of the exclusivity of the country club. When I have time I´ll try to post about how exclusivity is different in developing countries v the US.

Anyway the waves were seriously huge. You couldn´t even bodysurf them beacause you would get flipped around a couple of times. Good stuff.

Overheard while drinking in Quito

2007-01-31T18:11:00.000-08:00

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

2007-01-31T18:06:00.000-08:00

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

2007-01-31T08:20:00.000-08:00

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

2007-01-25T12:23:00.000-08:00

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

2007-01-24T07:56:00.000-08:00

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

2007-01-24T07:24:00.000-08:00

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

2007-01-24T07:02:00.000-08:00

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

2007-01-23T12:38:00.000-08:00

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

2007-01-23T12:04:00.000-08:00

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

2007-01-22T18:36:00.002-08:00

(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

2007-01-22T18:35:00.000-08:00

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

2007-01-22T13:27:00.000-08:00

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

2007-01-18T12:03:00.000-08:00

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

2007-01-18T11:35:00.000-08:00

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...

2007-01-17T18:30:00.000-08:00

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...

2007-01-15T12:05:00.001-08:00

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

2007-01-12T11:30:00.000-08:00

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

2007-01-11T15:57:00.000-08:00

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.

Changes

2007-01-10T14:45:00.000-08:00

So a couple changes...

We were supposed to go on a trip to Volcan Pacaya today -- a volcano that has recently gone active again-- and when our shuttle was an hour late we decided to change our plans completely. We are getting a bus to Guatemala City, then up to Flores to the Tikal ruins, AND THEN a short bus ride after that to Belize. If you can fit one more country in...why not? I blame a German, Hanno, that we met today who absolutely loved Belize and wouldn't shut up about it haha. We will be hanging out on the beach a bit and taking a ferry to this cool island before coming back here to have dinner with our friends and then catch our plane to Costa Rica. We're taking tons of pictures and saw some awesome stuff today..I'll post them later as the computers in this hostel are ancient.

P.S.
riding scooters around Antigua this morning was absolutely hilarious and a great experience. Ryan was a bit too big for his scooter and it made for some funny moments.

2007-01-09T17:18:00.000-08:00

So after waiting forever in LAX to just check our bags (you'll see why below) we got on the airplane...Ryan passed out almost immediately and I got to listen to the lovely yipping of a lap dog behind us for four hours. AMAZING. We were picked up from the airport by family friends this morning who were kind enough to drive us from "Guate" to Antigua (about 45 mins), took us to breakfast, and got us settled in. Today was pretty uneventful...napped and walked around.

We have decided to go to rent scooters tomorrow and drive around Antigua (it's a city of a lot of character and a very small feel). We are also planning a trip to Pacayo --a currently active volcano, Lake Atitlan, and Lake Tikal -- to see the Maya ruins.

-About the average amount of luggage PER FAMILY...can you say ridiculous?

-Descending into Guatemala

-Antigua

-In a pub...Professor Reiley this picture's for you!

-Mas de Antigua

-And this one is for Peeps

Leaving on a jet plane...

2007-01-03T22:07:00.000-08:00

So I thought that buying my plane tickets and being done with school would help me come to the realization that I really am leaving for six months ...nope. Finally, while packing tonight, it hit me that I will be living out of a backpack for over a month and that I have my very own apartment waiting for me in Buenos Aires, Argentina.

The itinerary:

Guatemala Jan 8- Jan 16
Costa Rica Jan 16- Jan 22
Colombia & Ecuador Jan 22- Jan 31
Peru Jan 31- Feb 9
Chile Feb 10- Feb 13
From here it’s on to Argentina where Ryan will leave me and head off for Brazil.

I’ll be posting pictures and entries on this blog. Please feel free to leave me comments on here or send emails to my gmail account.