Pictures! Yeah!

Yesterday I came home to a package sitting on my bed and after tearing it open I found my parent's digital camera! Now I can continue my picture blogging. So since I checked in last I have picked up a ton of classes and am super busy down here. I had to lay it all out in Google calender to make sure that nothing was overlapping and that it all worked out. Check it out. click on the picture and you can see how busy I am. A lot of running around town.




Sandvik is a Swedish company that produces mining equipment. I have been teaching classes their every morning so that their employees are better equipped to communicate with their other global branches. It takes me an hour to get to their campus outside of Santiago....meaning I have to get up super early to start class at 8AM!



Here is another picture taken from In Business, the institute that I have been teaching through. We have had rain for the last few days which has cleaned the air in the city a considerable amount. I an actually see the mountains now!


This week I'll take my camera to class and take pictures of my students and my daily commute. I think you will all get a kick out of it.

Check out this last picture. Is that any way to treat the Colorado flag? I found a bunch of Colorado flags sewn together to make a blanket to cover vegies in the huge market.

22 hours on a bus

I'm home. Writing from the comfort of my room. Check out the map above (You can click on it to make it bigger). I just crossed the lower part of the continent of South America on a bus. Here is how it all went down.

I was enjoying the city of Mendoza, Argentina a ton. Like I posted earlier the city is filled with street that are lined with little shops, cafes and bookstores. Check it out. Here are some pictures of the city's plazas and streets.


I grabbed a coffee and watched Jazz outside. I was seriously on a high. I couldn't have enjoyed myself any more then I was. I found a casino on the way back to my hostel and won some money playing poker. This is the front of the Park Hyatt Hotel and Casino. The good thing about the weekend is I won enough money to pay for most of my trip.



I went to bed and had a good nights sleep at The Alamo Hostel a few blocks away from the Casino. Here is a picture of my room looking out to the patio. Here is where everything turned.



Do you see the glass door going out to the patio? I left my backpack next to that door while I went to brush my teeth and when I came back it was gone...along with my iPod, passport and the rest of my clothes. There were two people sleeping in the room while I was gone. I went frantic when I noticed everything was gone. I started looking in other peoples rooms and started warning people. The receptionist at the front desk wasn't surprised and I think was in on the whole thing. She told me that she was busy helping people in the hostel and didn't see anyone come or go. I locked up what I still had, a borrowed camera, my toiletries, and my sweatshirt, and ran to the police station.

I filed a report and went straight to the bus station to jump on a bus to Buenos Aires. I paid for my bus trip and my hotel room with the earnings from the casino. I showed up first thing on Monday morning to the Embassy. While I was describing what happened the lady at the embassy says that they see it happen every day and that there is an organized crime ring there in the town that pays off the police and the judges in the town to look the other way. Within two hours I had my "Emergency Passport" which is good for one year.

I went downtown bought a new set of clothes...cause I hadn't changed in two days. I dont think my dad's turn your underwear and socks inside out trick was going to work for me this time...they were pretty smelly. After 22 hours on a bus I was back in Santiago de Chile. The pictures at the end of the post are of the Andes Mountain Range and the signs coming into Chile. I start work tomorrow evening. Looking back on the whole thing...it was stressfully but at least I have the story and the lesson I learned from the whole thing. Lesson learned: traveling is a lot easier when you when big at a casino.

I'm a US citizen again!

I went to the embassy and they processed my new passport in a matter hours. As soon as I get back to Santiago I will post pics of my last few days.

Stuck in Argentina.

I had to go to Mendoza, Argentina to renew my tourist visa. The plan was to take a long weekend and be back in Santiago Sunday night. I feel like I've been on a rollercoster. The trip from Santiago to Mendoza should only take 6 hours on a bus. Our trip took 13. I got into Mendoza later then expected so the hostel I had reservations at gave away my bed. I found another one that was way crapper...but what are you going to do at three in the morning. I slept in and awoke to explore the city. What I found blew me away. Imagine Fort Collins with a Latin/European flare. This city's downtown streets are lined with cafes and bars that are filled with live music and people enjoying the crisp fall morning.

I ended up drinking a coffee and watching a Latin Jazz band play. I have pictures but I'm using the computer at the Best Western Inn so I cant upload them. I had and best day browsing the city's shops, poking into book stores, waking and people watching in the city's plazas. On the way home I discovered a Casino and thought I would take my chance at some cards. I guess lady luck was by my side (for the time being) and I won around 225USD playing Texas Hold 'em poker. I went to bed on a high.

The next morning, still on a high, I woke up early to take advantage of the free breakfast offered by the hostel. Jumped out of bed at 8 in the morning and got my stuff to take a shower. I put some of my stuff on my bed....my wallet, camera and keys under my jacket. The rest of my stuff I left in my backpack. I took a quick shower and when I returned my pack was stolen. The staff at the hostel seemed pretty unsurprised and I defiantly think they had some part to play in it. Stunned, I had to walk to the police station to make a report of what was stolen. They took my iPod, clothes, a credit card, phone charger...and worst of all...my passport. I tried to enjoy the rest of my day in Mendoza...because there was nothing else I could do. I bought a backpack and a bus ticket to Buenos Aires, the capital, where the US Embassy is located. I'm now writing you all from the computer in the Best Western Inn in BA. The embassy doesn't open till tomorrow morning. Wish me luck.