Life with the Lopezes

The further I get away from home, the more I feel like home is everywhere.

As promised, Catherina and Alexis met with me yesterday to show me their Santiago. I will get into more detail about our day together later in this post, but in the interest of continuity, I´d like first to tell you a little about my solo exploration of Santiago which happened the day before yesterday. But before I do anything, I just wanted to thank you, Catherina and Alexis for a truly wonderful day of joy and laughter with your family. I have never experienced the kind of hospitality your family has shown me from a total stranger before and it was both staggering and inspiring.

On my first whole day in Santiago, I decided to brave the subway system having been told it was the cheapest and easiest mode of transportation in the city. There is also a comprehensive bus system in Santiago, but I decided to avoid it. Like in any city, I am always a little apprehensive before I step on its subway system. The image always flashes in my head of me standing in some far away burrough of the city with a bewildered look on my face.

But the fear was unwarranted...

Once I had the subway system figured out, I felt like I had the keys to the city and Santiago was opened up to me. My first stop was to the Plaza de Armas and Mercado Central. These are basically just the city centers but always promise to be somewhat interesting. They are also the heart of the city and visiting them is a nice way to get a feel for the place you are in.

It is said that Chile is the first South American country to earn status as a first world country. I have not been to many South American countries, but it is not hard to believe this to be true. The infrastructure in my experience has been excellent. I could easily see myself living happily in Chile if I could speak Spanish. The type of shopping that is here seems suggest the people also have a lot of disposable income. I met a Chilean fellow on the bus ride down from San Pedro who did imply that to some degree, this is more perception than reality and there is a hidden poorer face of Chile, but even if this is the case, Chile is still a hop skip and a jump ahead of much of the world in terms of liveability.

Santiago´s Plaza de Armas had its share of shopping and cathedrals like most do. One feature I did enjoy that was unique to this Plaza de Armas was an outdoor art gallery. The gallery here in Santiago was much better than others I´ve seen in my travels. The art featured here was less "factory art" than I´ve seen. The artists here all had their own voice.

I did meet one artist who had painted something that I liked very much. It was an unfinished painting of musicians who I recognized immediately as Charlie Parker and Miles Davis in one of their Blue Note sessions. He needed a day to finish and laquer the painting and I had made arrangements to meet with him to purchase the finished painting. Unfortunately, I was not able to make it to our arranged meeting time. I searched the plaza for him hoping to see him today, but he was not there. Such is life...

While wandering the Plaza, I stumbled on a group of buskers in the Subway like none I´ve ever seen and I enjoyed their music very much. The group was called Son de la Calle and it consisted of a hand drummer/lead singer, a sax player, guitar player, and an upright bass player. All of the players sang back up. The singer had an authenticity that I both admired and envied. His voice was totally unique, and it was perfect. No other voice could possibly have passed through that throat, past those teeth... No other voice could have risen from this man´s body and emanated from his weathered and suntanned face. This man could not have possibly existed anywhere other than where he was. He might as well have been carved from the stone upon which he sat. Just perfectly real, natural, and authentic... like a wild cactus in the desert.

Needless to say, I bought a C.D. and donated a few pesos more. Here were men who truly deserved to continue to play for a living.

Sunday came and I called spoke to Alexis just before noon. Alexis offered to pick me up at my hostel. Their home was not far from where I was staying. Our first stop was their beautiful home. They live in a large apartment in the middle of the city across the street from Santiago´s Metropolitan Park (like NY´s Central Park). Alexis and Catherina have a web technology company together that they run out of their home. Their office resembles that bridge of the Nebuchanezzar of the Matrix with their super computer and mulitple LCD screens arranged side by side.

Alexis is a renaissance man of sorts. He is successful in his field, but his interests do not stop there. He took me on a guided tour of his insect samples; on the side, he is an entymologist. His walls were covered with hundreds of samples of local insect species, some of which he collected and cataloged himself.

Alexis also has a keen interest in robotics which I´m sure his boys Roberto, Ricardo and Octavio have no problem with. I played with the boys in Alexis´s office with a robot for a little while until Alexis walked in with instructions for the boys to unhand the equipment; "it´s not a toy," he said.

In fact, the robot, despite being manufactured by Lego, was a quite sophisticated example of robotics. Alexis, showed me its sensors which operated on sonar and the software that he used to program the robot.

Soon, Catherina entered the office to greet me in her friendly, easygoing way. We chatted about friends, family, her travels to Seattle and other places, the friends she had made internationally in her travels. She showed me pictures from her Facebook profile of her Seattle visit. When we got to her photos of her visit to the Seattle aquarium, she showed me what I found to be a very clever thing she did: she tagged her photos of the fish to her friends. Specifically, she had shown me a fish she had tagged to link to her friend from India. I suggested that since her friend was Indian, and probably believed in reincarnation, the fish could actually have been him, just in a past life. Catherina and Alexis both had a hearty laugh and it was in this moment that I knew I was in good company. As the day passed, I felt a bit like the U.S. American boy in Bernardo Bertolucci´s The Dreamers; lonely in a foreign country, grateful to have been taken in by a local family, wide-eyed, envious, wanting nothing more than to be adopted into this wonderful family.

And adopt me, they did. For a day, I was a Lopez. I truly felt that I was like a brother or a cousin. Although they had known me only for a day, they treated me like one of their own, or like an old friend. It wasn´t only Catherina and Alexis who welcomed me into their lives. The boys and their oldest, a girl, Sophie, also welcomed me with open arms. I had flashes of my own nieces and nephews while playing with the kids. They were so fearless. There was no feeling out period for them; they reached out to play with me almost instantaneously like I was one of their relatives.

We headed off to a Chinese restaurant in their area, the Lung Fung, where I snapped the picture above. It is said to be the nicest Chinese restaurant in the area. Alexis explained that the Chinese actually have about a century of history in Chile since there were Chinese brought in a slaves in the 1800´s to build infrastructure, not unlike the railroad workers of the early United States. He explained the Chinese community of Chile has been there for generations, but they remain very isolated from the rest of Chilean society; despite the majority of the local Chinese being native born Chileans, their first language is still Chinese and they still speak Spanish with a Chinese accent.

Chinese food by way of Chile is much like Chinese food found in the States. The typical plates are there: Sweet and Sour meat, Mongolian Beef. Dinner is served family style where the courses are brought out on one plate to be shared by all in the family. If there is anything that is different, I would say the sweet dishes have less sugar in my estimation.

From there, the Lopezes took me to a couple of must see parks in Santiago.

Ste. Lucia Park:

Japanese Garden:

Metropolitan Park:

The sites were wonderful and I was grateful to have had a chance to visit them, but in truth, what I relished the most from my time with Catherina and Alexis´s family was something else.

I have spent my time in S. America looking for authentic experiences, and what they gave me could not have been more authentic. They gave me the real South America. The real S. America to me was sitting in the office of Chilean professionals talking. It was sharing food with the Lopezes in a Chinese restaurant in the city listening to Catherina tell me stories of the birth of her children. It was flipping through a poem book that her children had contributed their writing and art to that was published by their public school where they are educated. It was joining in on a chorus of laughter with the family when someone said something funny. It was sitting with Catherina and Alexis late in the evening and watching the season premiere of True Blood on HBO eating Chinese food leftover from lunch. It was, if only for a moment, being a member of this beautiful Chilean family.

The further I get away from home, the more I realize that home is everywhere.

Photos from Celeste´s School, Manos Unidas!

I received photos from our visit to Celeste´s school, Manos Unidas (http://www.manosunidasperu.net/)! It is funny, it was only about 2 weeks ago, but it seems like a really long time ago...

1. After touring the school, Albert and I are invited to sit in on a cooking lesson with the students.

2. I broke out the walkie talkies for them to play with. They really seemed to enjoy them quite a bit. Celeste agreed that they would be a good learning tool for the students, so the walkie talkies now belong to them... Celeste, if you are reading this, I will be giving them to your mother to bring down with her in August. :)

3. Albert appears to be saying something important here, but I´m not sure what.

4. Celeste joins us for a group photo.

Thanks again, Celeste, for this wonderful experience. This day will surely be one that Albert and I remember forever. :)

Is It Chile In Here?

I´m back. Sorry for the blackout there. I haven´t been anywhere with a fast enough connection to upload video to my blog.

Pictured above is a photo of me with some new friends I made along the way. This is us at lunch in San Pedro de Atacama, Chile. Immediately to my right in this photo (camera left) is Armelle, an acquisitions lawyer from Paris. Armelle is a year or two younger than me and this is also her first time backpacking solo.

I was seated next to Armelle on the bus after I left Arequipa, Peru and heading to San Pedro. My original plan was to stop in Tacna, Peru, a border town, and staying the night, as the bus trip from the border to San Pedro was a very long 13 hrs, and I didn´t think I wanted to do the whole trip in one day as it would have been a total of about 20 hours of riding the bus. In Arequipa, I both purchased my bus ticket to Tacna and secured a hostel. Armelle was asleep for most of that first trip; my only contact with her was prodding her lightly when they brought our snack around. She did not awake until much later when we were all forced exit the bus to have our fruit inspected. My bananas were spared.

For the rest of the trip, we chatted it up talking backpacking, our home cities and politics mainly. Armelle is a wonderfully open person who does not seem to observe any barriers between herself an others; exactly opposite from me and I appreciated it very much. She reminded me a lot of my dear friend, Christine Lugo, in that way. Armelle´s openness drew me in and before I knew it, my plans had changed; I would now be securing a colectivo (a car for 5 people) with her and a French couple she had met on the bus and we would be crossing the border together into Arica, Chile, where we would stay for the night before heading to San Pedro de Atacama, Chile. Arica, she told me, promised to be a more comfortable and entertaining city where we could see sights and relax on beaches.

Crossing the border was quite an experience; quick but nerve wracking. When we arrived in Arica, we followed the French couple to a hotel that they were booked at in hopes we would be able to secure a pair of rooms for ourselves. Alas, they were all booked, but the owner of the hostel was kind enough to walk us to another hostel where we were each able to secure private rooms with a shared bathroom. Perfecto.

We were not able to secure a bus until the next night at 10:00 PM, so that gave us a full day to enjoy Arica. It was July 20th.

Arica didn´t quite live up to Armelle´s expectations. Like Albert, she seems to always have an agenda of sites to see on a given day. I joined her for one: a church built by noneother than Gustave Eiffel of Eiffel Tower fame (and the Statue of Liberty).

As you can see, it isn´t anything to write home about (which is ironic since I am in a way, writing home about it).

I think at some point during our bus conversation, I expressed my utter disdain for hiking, because she assumed I would not want to join her for a hike, so we made arrangements to meet up for dinner before heading off to the bus station to catch our San Pedro bus.

Unbeknownst to her, she joined me for my birthday dinner that night. We had a pair of "un Completos;" formally recommended by The Lonely Planet.

Aside from a scare involving losing my immigration paper (whew! found it!), the 13 hr bus trip was a piece of cake since it was overnight and I slept through it for the most part.

This is where we met up with the others in the photo. Furthest to the right (camera left) is another girl from France. I forget her name! But she was very interesting. I don´t think I can name a continent that she had not visited except Antarctica. Between her and Armelle is Beth. She is a med school student in Philly. We had a heart to heart about Philly Cheesesteaks. The two blonde girls on the right are, get this.... from Seattle! Audrey, second from the left (camera right) is actually a recent UW graduate and lives about 10 blocks from me in the U-District. I thought I recognized her and she thought she recognized me. It was all very odd... fly thousands of miles South and I meet someone who is basically my neighbor. I´m sure I will see her around town at some point and we will have a laugh.

San Pedro is a town that is at the center of several wonderful sites that include geysers and salt flats, but unfortunately, my time here was limited as I need to get to Buenos Aires. I know that I have a couple more weeks here, but let me tell you, transportation is so unreliable here in S. America that I cannot risk missing my plane by staying too long in one spot.

It is sort of like a resort town in that it is built for turistas. The ¨locals" travel in from outlying areas mainly for business. Still, the town is very cute: a dusty little town of restaurants, purveyors of tours, and hostels that are more like summer camp cabins. There were roads that lead to the surrounding sites; some near, some far. There were tour agencies that offered jeep trips to the sites, walking tours, bike tours and even horseback tours.

We tried to book tours for that day to see some sites, but unfortunately, there was a freak windstorm and all activities were cancelled for that day. We had lunch in the afternoon where I took the above photo and I did explore the town in the afternoon despite the windstorm. We all met up again that night for dinner at a great little restaurant.

Dinner with the girls was a blast! We chatted, ate, watched the fire all to a soundtrack of late 90´s hip hop and pop music. I had mentioned to Beth that I intend to learn the tango in Argentina. She, having lived in Argentina for a few months at one point in her life took it upon herself to give me an introductory lesson on the tango with her fingers. I taught the Seattle girls how to conjugate Obama´s name: "Yo Obama... Tu Obamas... Nosotros Obamanos..." All in all, a very fun evening with some very fun girls.

I didn´t end up booking a tour while in San Pedro, but I did walk out the next day to an amazing archaeological site called Pukara de Quitor, a fort built in the 12th Century.

I hiked up to the top of the fort and really let it sink in. I am fascinated by old things and this really fit the bill. I walked in and out of the rooms and imagined them occupied and in use in the 12th century. From the top, I surveyed the land around me. Since it wasn´t a famous site like Machu Picchu, I was one of very few visitors and it was nice.

As I made my way back to San Pedro from the site, a nice man stopped his Jeep and offered me a ride back to town. In the back were his two adorable sons. The man´s name was Alexis and he is a Chilean businessman who was himself a visitor to San Pedro.

He was happy to hear that I was from Seattle as his wife, Catalina, had recently returned from a business trip to Seattle and he was sure she would love to meet me. He invited me to join his family for lunch and I was honored and happy to accept.

We discussed our careers, world politics, my travels, crazy Seattlites... Lunch was very nice. I learned that they are from Santiago where I was at the time headed next (I am there now). They gave me their phone number and offered to meet me while I was in Santiago on Sunday. I am really looking forward to that! They are such a beautiful family and it is my great fortune that they have offered to show me Santiago. I´m sure it will be an experience to remember.

I arrived in Santiago earlier today. The bus ride was 24 hours but it was a piece of cake. The buses are so comfortable. Thank you everyone for continuing to follow my blog. It is almost like I have all of you with me and it is really great. And don´t leave the blog without first leaving a comment!

Love, Don

A Historic Anniversary...

The wheel. The Renaissance Era. The American Revolution. History is defined by events that carry humanity forward in its search for purpose and a higher calling.

Today marks a significant anniversary in this process, for it marks the 31st anniversary of the day I was born.

Congratulations, humankind, on your marvelous achievement.

Colca Canyons

Okay, it´s official. I hate tours.

But before I get too much into that, I finally found more street food. Oddly, street food, which is generally common in developing countries is relatively scarce in Peru. I´ll take it where I can get it. This stand was outside of my favorite internet cafe in Arequipa.

I remember hearing on Bizarre Foods w Andrew Zimmern or No Reservations w Anthony Bourdain that street food is characteristically cheap and easy to make, and is always in the form of comfort food. This is a prime example. Ramen noodles, fried rice, a piece of fried chicken, all covered in ketchup and mustard. All in all, not bad, but I wouldn´t make this at home. My doctor would kill me!

Well, since I last blogged, I went to and returned from the Colca Canyons tour. Like I said before, I am really starting to hate tours. They have a way of getting in between you and connecting with that which you have come to experience. Unfortunately, in many cases, they are your only option if you want to see something without having to secure your own Jeep, insurance, international license, etc. So I will quit moaning. I would say I would not do another tour before the end of my adventure, but that would be silly talk. Larger cities can be enjoyed without interference of a tour guide and that will be enough for me for now. Next time I travel abroad, I will be more prepared with an international language (and some knowledge of the local language).

One thing that is nice about tours is that they pick you up where you are staying usually. My tour bus arrived bright and early at 8:45am having already picked up most of the other patrons. It was about 4 hours to Colca Canyons, but we made stops along the way to look at interesting stuff.

Our first stop was to have some Coca tea and to see some very strange natural rock formations. I stood an marvelled at the formations seen behind me in this photograph for nearly the entire time I was there. Suffice it to say, I didn´t drink my tea.

This area of Peru, Colca Canyons and Arequipa is pretty breathtaking when you have a little silence and are able to really take it all in. Where I stood in this photo, I was surrounded by these fantastic rock formations, active volcanoes, and miles of desert. It was surreal.

There was a cute baby alpaca at one of our stops. I was tempted to take a photo with it, but not wanting to get infected with some kind of bacteria, I decided to just take some video of a fellow traveller holding it. Despite being a potential carrier of infectious disease, the baby alpaca was very cute.

The trip was an overnighter. The drive there was beautiful and we stayed in a cabin at Chivay, the base camp for the Colca Canyon tour. We had dinner together at a Peruvian pizza shack. I was invited to join the a very nice Peruvian family who were touring their own country. We were treated to some live traditional Peruvian entertainment.

The next day, we continued our tour of the canyon. The climax of the tour was a visit to ¨Cruz de Condor," as stated in Wikipedia, "the pass where condors soar gracefully on the rising thermals occurring as the air warms." Seeing wild condor up close and personal was pretty cool; I did enjoy this quite a bit.

Today, I am off to purchase a ticket to San Pedro de Atacama in Chile. After that, I may just head straight to Buenos Aires. From what I hear, BA is a place that I want to give myself at least a week to enjoy. Thanks again for reading and the comments!

Arequipa, Peru´s Jewel... as in the singer, Jewel.

So I left Puno early this morning. It was a six hour trip to my next stop Arequipa. Stupid me, I didn´t eat breakfast, but not to worry because:

The carne asada was actually really good and I haven´t gotten sick, so all in all, I´d say a pretty good buy.

By the way, for Corie, as I write this, "Boys Don´t Cry" is playing at the internet cafe. Robert Smith would be so proud!

Let me just say, you haven´t seen Peru until you have driven through it cross country on a bus. South America is at its most beautiful away from the city. Seeing it from a bus is kind of like Google Earth, only real! So far, this trip, I´ve been reading books looking for new natural wonders to see, but I realize now all of South America is a natural wonder.

So now I am in Arequipa. Originally just a stopover to Colca Canyons, Arequipa has proven to be the most interesting and beautiful city I´ve been to in Peru. The city is basically in the middle of the desert. I had heard about how sophisticated the city was, so as we made our approach, a feeling of dread came over me because, at its outskirts, Arequipa is miserable. There were parts of the city that I would swear were ghost towns except for the occasional evidence of life, like a clothesline, or a person. "How could anyone live here" I asked myself.

But oddly, at the center of this wasteland is the heart of Arequipa: a truly cosmopolitan city that rivals the most famous and historical cities. I have not yet been to Venice or Paris, but I imagine it to be much like this. The transition from the third world to the cosmopolitan as I made my way to the center of the city was startling. It´s as if all of the wealth of the city was focused into these 25 city blocks.

But Arequipa is not a ruse. The city is built around structures that were built in the 16th century, two centuries before the U.S. was born. The design of the city is clearly meant to mimic the architecture of the churches and monastaries, but it is done well and doesn´t feel forced. Sure, it is a glorified outdoor mall, but you know what? I don´t care; it´s beautiful.

I´ll be going to Colca Canyons tomorrow, but will return to Arequipa Thursday. I think I may stay for a few days and try to check out some of the historical buildings.

I got a chance to explore the town a bit, and it is more than just its old buildings. I happened upon a little antique shop and was drawn in by the Spanish Colonial style paintings on the wall. The owner alleged that some of the art was in fact reproduction, but that some was authentic and as old as 8 centuries. I tend to be skeptical of such claims, but this shop felt a little different to me; like something out of a movie... yes a movie. Gremlins!

Anyway, That is all for now. Tomorrow it is off to Colca Canyons... :)

Love, Don

Inside Joke Between Albert and Me

This is for Albert specifically. This played at the McDonalds at Plaza de Armas on the night you left for Lima. Too too funny.

edit: This applies to Corie and KP too, come to think of it. I guess Sixpence is destined to be the butt of jokes for me and most of my friends.

Lake Titicaca and Its Islands

Thanks for the comments everyone! I get a little homesick every now and then and reading the comments really helps with that. :)

So the last few days have been interesting. First, I´ll tell you about Lake Titicaca and the islands of Amantani and Tequile.
Lake Titicaca was beautiful. A veritable paradise for water sports enthusiasts. It boasts the distinction of being the highest navigable body of water and several thousand feet above sea level. Still, pristine; as beautiful as I´d dreamed it would be.

Naturally, Titicaca was near the top of the list of places I wanted to see. Albert had gotten wind of an opportunity for outsiders to stay with families on the islands of Amantani and Tequile, both located in the middle of the lake. Being an Anthropology major, I am always looking for new authentic experiences from other cultures, so this really appealed to me. Since this was going to be my first outing on my own, I decided to play it safe and booked a tour with a travel agency.

The tour promised three meals, and two days and one night in Amantani. On the way to Amantani, there was a stop at a man-made island made out of a type of shoot that is native to the area. The second day included a stop by Tequile, the other inhabited island in Lake Titicaca.

My bus departed at 10:00 PM on 07/11 and I arrived in Puno at 4:00 AM. They agency allowed us to rest at their office which was furnished like a house until the boat was scheduled to leave at 7:30am; this would mark the start of our tour. Basically, I got no sleep before starting the tour.

At some point, I decided it would be a good idea to start taking pictures of all of those involved with the tours, for a couple of reasons.

1. So I could remember their faces if I lost them
2. So I could hold them accountable if someone tried to pull a fast one on me
3. To include in my blog. :)

Meet Alvaro, the coordinator... the Lucius Fox of my tour. Alvaro met me bright and early at 4 AM and made sure I got to my boat on time. A very sweet man; he also got me a deal on my hostel; $10.00 U.S. for my room which includes cable tv, free internet, hot water... He also booked a Bolivia bus ticket for me ($15.00 U.S.). Suffice it to say, a good man to know when you are a foreigner in Puno.

It hasn´t always been easy to coordinate with him since he speaks very little English, but he has come through for me every step of the way. There were moments when I thought I was going to be taken on a ride, but I have been able to count on him, and in a place like this, that means a lot.

Alvaro showed me to the boat and I headed off for our first stop on the tour: Uros, the man made island.

I think it was right around this moment that I knew I was not going to enjoy the tour. It all seemed very Epcot Center to me and not at all authentic. To tell you a bit more about the island, this method of living is a tradition that these people have carried on for 4 centuries. It truly is impressive, but the presentation was all very.... ugh.. The people of the island were very kind, and I knew their very existence probably counted a lot on the money they made off of tourists, so I donated some money to them, but couldn´t bring myself to buy any of the wares they were peddling to the tourists. They were kind enough to let me explore their island beyond the roped off area, and what I found there I thought was more interesting.

We left for Amantani after spending about 45 minutes on Uros. Now being abroad, I´ve become very obsessive compulsive about checking my bags and my pockets often; you never know. On the way to Amantani, I checked my pockets and found that my keys were not there. I started pulling my things out of my bag to see if I had stuck them in the pockets of one of my other pants or jackets. I pulled my jacket out of my bag and set it on the ground of the boat I was on. All of a sudden... "thwoop, rattle-rattle-rattle, pffff." My jacket was sucked in to the turbines of the engine and caused it to stall. *cold sweat* At that moment, I realized that I had put my Bose In-Ear Headphones and my iPod Nano with all of my music for this trip in the breast pocket.

Luckily, we were able to get the jacket out and the engine started up again just fine. The electronics were not so lucky and I will be without music for the rest of this trip. Actually, I have some music on my iPhone, but just some original stuff I am working on with my friend, Marko. I also have Barack Obama´s "The Audacity of Hope," so I guess this will give me a chance to relisten to it. :)

The rest of the tour was fairly uneventful. I got the meals with the local family as promised. I have pictures and vids, but I don´t want to waste the time posting them. I´ll put them up on youtube when I get back. There was a hike which I skipped because I didn´t want to do it simply to see some more ruins that couldn´t have possibly compared to Machu Picchu anyway.

Tequile was nice. We had a nice lunch prepared for us by a local family with a very nice view of Lake Titicaca. Truth be told, I was happy to return to Puno last night.

My plan was to push on to Bolivia today, but I found out that my Lonely Planet guide which indicated there was no Visa fee charged was printed in 2007, and there was a law passed in 2008 requiring Visa for U.S. citizens to enter Bolivia. I will not be paying the $135.00 Visa charge and will instead pass through Chile to Argentina. It´s a shame as I really wanted to see the Salar de Uyuni which is a salt flat in Bolivia and allegedly quite the sight to see. 80% of this flat lies in Bolivia. Luckily, 20% of it lies in Chile, so I will get to see a portion of it, albeit not the best part. Still, I´m sure it will be quite nice.

Oddly, I had one of my most authentic South American experiences today in Puno, simply running errands. It´s hard being in a foreign country and not speaking the local language, but I have adapted well I think. After I returned to my hostel, I decided since I was not going to be heading to Bolivia, I would take care of some important things, like fixing my suspenders which were falling apart at the seams, getting nail clippers to aleve the pressure on an ingrown nail I have on my toe (yuck, I know...), and to do laundry. Where does one go to find the tools needed to accomplish these tasks in a country where there are no superstores like Fred Meyer? Not an easy task to solve.

Not speaking the native language and not having an English to Spanish dictionary but having chores that desperately needed to be done, a memory flashed in my head of an experience I once had playing Cranium with friends. The challenge was that I had to draw something blindfolded for my partner to guess. The word to guess was "stickshift"; I think we won the challenge in something like 15 seconds. It occurred to me that I may not be able to talk to people, but I can draw exactly what I need to say with relative ease.

At the front desk, I scrawled images of a pair of tweezers, nail clippers, and a needle and thread. I opened up a rudimentary map for the concierge who looked at my drawing and then circled the market on the map explaining to me that I could purchase those items there. I walked outside and waiting for me (or anyone else who needed to get around) was a bike taxi. I showed him the map and asked "cuanto cuesta." "Un sol" he replied. That´s about $0.30 U.S. So off I went.

When I got off the taxi, I found myself in a shopping center where I counted a total of zero other foreigners. I must admit, I got a little excited. I was able to communicate well enough to find all of the items on my shopping list as well as a card reader which I purchased so that I didn´t have to keep burning CD´s to post vids to my blog. This all sounds easier than it actually is. I purchased a little notebook too so I could continue doing this drawing to communicate thing as it is working very well for me.

At the market, I had my first Andrew Zimmern moment:

So that´s my adventure so far, in a nutshell. I am having a blast! Since Bolivia has fallen through, I have decided to stay in Peru just a little longer since there are some canyons I´d like to see before I head into Chile. I did book a tour again. I think the problem with the last tour is that I was going to see a people. Tours can´t be that bad for natural wonders or sites like Machu Picchu, so I think this should be fine. Anyway, the sites in my opinion are just an excuse to move around. The real adventure for me is everything that happens in between.

Love, Don.

Greetings from South America!

Well, I´m in South America and have pictures and videos I´d like to share with everyone, so I figure it´s a good time to start a blog! Just to get this out of the way, if you see UFC 100, please do not comment on the fight results as I intend to watch it when I get back and do not want any spoilers. ;)

So, most of you should know by now that I decided to take a 10 day trip to Peru with my best friend, Albert. Our original plan was to start in Cuzco and Macchu Pichu and work our way back to Lima on the 15th where we would catch our flight home. As luck would have it, there was a transportation strike in Peru that put the kibosh on our plan. We got to see MP, but given our short schedule and the unreliable bus availability due to the strike, we had to do away with the rest of our plan.

Since I am not beholden to a job right now, I decided to extend my trip from the 10 days to a month and now I will be flying out of Buenos Aires. Albert will be returning to work as scheduled, so I will be solo. On the way to catch my flight home on 08/04, I will be traveling through Bolivia and Argentina and may stop by Paraguay or Chile on the way.

We have spent all of our time in Peru up to this point, mostly in Cuzco. We were fortunate to have an American contact in Cuzco through my friend from Safeco; her name is Celeste Marion. Let me tell you... after meeting her, I can safely say I have not done enough with my life; she is quite an impressive person; not yet 30, Celeste is the founder of Manos Unidas, a school in Cuzco for children with disabilities.

http://www.manosunidasperu.net/

On our first day in Peru, she was gracious enough to meet with us in Peru and give us the insider´s scoop on Cuzco. Today, she welcomed us into her school to meet some of the children and staff. It was a really special experience. In Peru, children who face challenges like the children of Manos Unidas Peru do are typically marginalized and neglected. Celeste´s school to my knowledge is the first of its kind in Peru; a haven for these children where they can receive an education that understands their learning abilities and provides an environment where they are treated with dignity.

Please visit her website and sponsor a teacher. Here is a truly great cause that can really benefit from your donations. I am sure to do so myself.

Our trip also took us to Machu Picchu, a 15th century fortress built by the Incas but lost in history until it was discovered again in 1911. The site is accessible by train or by bus. Since we waited until the last minute to book our tour, our options were limited, so our trip consisted of a 6 hour bus ride up to a train station where we boarded a train that took us to Agua Caliente (named for their hot springs), the base camp for the trip up to the archaeological site.

Our bus driver, Sergio... Let me tell you about this man. A man of few words (and it wasn´t because of a language barrier. Most of the travellers were spanish speakers but few knew what was going on at any given time), but this man... this man could drive a space shuttle through a doorway and not cause a scratch. He was a steely-eyed dynamo of a bus driver. I was terrified most of the time given that we were in a bus filled with 13 travellers and a driver and navigating roads that were on mountainsides, thousands of feet up and with no kind of protection keeping us from driving off the side of the mountain. The roads were also covered with rubble from the side of the mountain. I felt like at any time, the combination of his speed and the rubble would cause us to careen off the side of the mountain. By the time we were on our ride home though, I was ready to trust this man with my first born. If I were ever to become a touring musician, I would find this man and would beg him to drive our bus...

Besides my constant refrain of ¨Machu, Machu Picchu/ I wanna see / a Machu Picchu,¨ Machu Picchu was a mind blowing and soulful experience. Just being up in the mountains overlooking this mammoth of a fortress built by the hands of men with access to limited technology... I had an out of body experience. Actually, that was more likely because I was exausted from the hike up and the thin mountain air. But it was great!

I will post more video of Machu Picchu on youtube when I get home.

So... remember that transportation strike I mentioned? Well, it was in full force on Wednesday, the 7th of July, the day we were scheduled to return to Cuzco. Now, it didn´t exactly mean that we were stranded, but it did mean that we had to walk the train leg of the trip with our 120 lb packs on our back. Albert, the speed demon finished the trip in 2hours and 20 minutes approximately. I finished it in just about 3 hours. It was miserable but you know what? I´m glad I did it.

Anyway, I´m up to about S./9.00 (soles) in internet charges (which equals about $3.00, but hey, I am unemployed and backpacking so get off my back!), so I must wrap up. Tonight, I go to Puno and an island on Lake Titicaca called Tequile; google it. More to come, I promise. Please stay tuned!

Love, Don