Trecking North (Huge Update)

So I´ve finished teaching in Chile and I have started my travels North. I would have updated earlier but I haven´t come across a computer that I could upload my pictures and take the time to update. Luckily I´m staying at a hostel in Puno, Peru that has a computer that lets me upload pics. without paying extra.

I found a post on craigslist looking for travel agents in San Jose, Costa Rica. I applied and after three interviews I got the job. I fly out of Lima, Peru so before my flight I'm touring Peru.

I took a 24! hour bus ride from Santiago, Chile up North to Iquique, Chile. I paid a little extra for a cama "bed" on the bus and it was a suprisingly smooth trip. The first pictues are of my hostel in Iquique. It was right next to the beach and really chill. I spent a day and a half there to kick it and relax then I caught a 6 hour bus to Arica, Chile. Its on the border of Chile and Peru. I didnt waste any time there. Its not much of a city...probably more of a little border town. I took a collectivo (a shared taxi) from Arica to Tacna, Peru. Tacna also isnt much to look at or anything to do so I spent a day there and headed to Arequipa, Peru.


This was the view from Arica, Chile to Tacna, Peru. Kinda felt like I was in the middle east.



Up to this time I had been flying solo. It was cool cause you can kinda just do what you want and not have to take a partner or a group into consideration. Well i met two guys on the bus from Tacna to Arequipa who were both traveling South America alone and we all headed for the same hostel. Being that we were all in the same boat we all kinda naturally just started hanging out and exploring the city together.

Arequipa is the second largest city in Peru and its nicknamed The White City because most of its important buildings are built out of a white volcanic rock.





Our bare boned hostel was just a block away from the Plaza de Armas which is the center of the city. This made it really easy to explore the city from a centeral location. Above are two pictures of the cathedrials that border the plaza. The following are of the Plaza de Armas. We had coffee on a terrace resturant on the plaza and afterwards they let us climb to their roof for come birds eye view pics.







Arequipa has warm weather year round and we were enjoying the sun in shorts and sandals.
I have probably put on 10 pounds just eating in this city. I feel like thats all I have been doing non stop. Our favorite place to eat was at the centeral market. The following pic are taken there. You can find food, fresh fruit juices, fruit and veg., and a ton more there.










We were walking around the market when an old guy started calling us over. He just motioned for us to go into the room next to him. We look in and they are in the process of butchering bulls! Intrigued, we had to snap some pictures. We have found the people here a lot more welcoming than Chile. They are always game to just stop what they are doing and chat. Even the taxi drivers try to strat discussions when you get into their taxis.










I'm writing from Puno, Peru. Its on the boarder of Lake Titicaka. The plan is to explore around here for a day or two and then either head off to Cuzco, Peru and hike up to the Incan ruians of Machu Piccu or I might meet up with the guys I met to go fishing off the coast. I'll keep you updated. It might be another long while till I find a computer worth of throwing up an update.

20 Days left and counting.

I have 20 days left in Chile before I pack up shop and start my trek north. The plan is to cross the Andies into Argentina and head north through Bolivia and into Peru. It will be an interesting trek to say the least. I'm going to try and do it as cheap as possible which I'm sure will make for some interesting stories. I have to pay $135 to get into Bolivia, my bus fare and around 100 bucks to get into the ruins of Machu Picchu. Those expenses are ontop of finding a place to sleep and eat everyday.





I'm trying to take advantage of the time I have left here in Chile. Last weekend I went out with some good friends of mine. In the picture above is Faye (left) and Muriel. Faye is from an island off of England and Muriel is from France. We jumped on a bus to Vina Del Mar, Chile. Its only an hour and a half out of Santiago but man is it a different world. Santiago is just another boring city. It has the feeling of LA without all of the perks. People are busy and rude. You go to the coast and its a different story. Vina is clean and is known as the get away for the elete of Santiago. We spent the weekend enjoying the incredible (warm) weather, playing in the casino (lady luck must have been busy because she sure wasn't with me) and walking the beach.

The tide was up and we had fun watching the huge waves and dodging the overspray splashing over the rocks.


As you can see from the pictures Vina is an upscale cosastal city a lot like San Diego. We jumped on a bus which took us around a point to the town of Valparaiso. Its the sister town to Vina but it has a completely different feel. It is built on the side of a hill and it has a lot more charicter. The people of Valpo don't have as much money and its apparent in the town. Its covered in grafitti and has a more latin or south American feel to it.


I recently took over a new English class that was taught by another American who was heading back home. The office I teach in is in the most upscale part of Santiago and the only grafitti that I have seen has been the the really well done pieces. I'll leave you with some eye candy. *notice how in this part of town you dont see trash or anything in this part of time.

There is more to life than being alive.

Hey.

Man...what a weekend. I took a bus with a German buddy of mine up north. First we went to this little town on the coast called La Serena. We found a place to crash, threw our things down and headed straight for the casino. Lady luck was with me and I won 300 bucks playing Poker!

Off to a good start.



The next day we took a bus three hours inland to Valle de Elki and stayed in this little mountain town of Pisco de Elki. Its where they grow the grapes for their national drink, Pisco. Man I wish I could have taken you all there. It was like nothing you have ever seen.


First we enter this little town way up in the mountains. We are looking for a place to stay and a lady comes over and tells us how she rents the rooms of her house to tourists and that it will be way more comfortable than staying in a hotel or a hostel. We reluctantly jump in the back of her truck and head up the side of the valley. We go to her place and quickly discover that its a mini paradise. She lives on a large piece of land that is scattered with fruit trees and hammocks to chill in the sun. She also had three friendly big dogs.





The stars up in this canyon are like nothing I've ever seen. They were seriously so bright it seemed like you could reach out and touch them. Unreal.

One of the days we rented mountain bikes and the paid the lady to take us an hour away up another canyon. We road down in half the time it took to make it up. We couldn't have asked for better weather or a better time. It was nice to get out of Santiago and see the countryside of Chile.





On the way home we stopped in a town called Coqimbo. It has this giant cross that towers over a poor town.

Disfrutando vida en Chile

I've been hanging out in the city trying to soak it all in. My morning classes ended so I get to sleep in I usually eat a light breakfast at the hostel then run off to my first class. In between classes I grab a coffee or eat lunch in the nice part of town. Today I had some really good miso soup and sushi. Last week I bought a ticket from Lima, Peru to San Jose, Costa Rica. I'm counting down the days till I get to enjoy warm weather. Until then I'll chill and enjoy Santiago.

Man its COLD down here!

Not too much has happened this month. I've been working a lot and saving money to travel and see South America. Below are a couple pictures of my students and a going away dinner that we made for some friends that left.

The first picture is of a lady named Francisca. When we started class she was getting married and moving to Brazil in three weeks. She wanted to brush up on her already fluent English because she was going to be forced to speak Portuguese in Brazil. She hired me through an institute to give her lessons 3 hours every morning (I had to get up at 6AM to go out to her office outside of the city) for three weeks! I want to see you try to plan a three hour class for a person who can already speak English just fine. So I taught her for two weeks until she decided that she was "too busy" to have class.



The second group of students are from Carrier, the multinational air conditioning company. They are forced to speak English with their counterparts in other countries and the owner hired me to teach the whole office English. I teach the beginners Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. The intermediate and advanced (pictured) classes I teach on Tuesday and Thursday at lunch and after office hours. It has been fun because I have gotten to know everyone in the office.



I am well acquainted with the Santiago public transportation, to say the least, and I have made it a habit to bring a book with me everywhere I go. I read on the subway, on the bus and when I'm waiting for my students to show up. I just finished a book called A Sever Mercy. It wouldn't have been my first choice of a read but it was sent to me from my friend Heather in L.A. and I actually enjoyed it a lot. I recommend it to anyone who is looking for a book that will spark some deep thinking.



I just started a book by C.S. Lewis called The Screwtape letters.



Here is a picture of the Andes mountains that border Santiago. I have a perfect view of the reflection of the sunset against the mountains on my way to my evening classes.



It has been getting colder and colder down here. A few weeks back we had a week and a half of straight rain. After it stopped the moisture brought a bunch of bright green moss all over the city.



The last few pictures are of a dinner we prepared as a going away party for two of the staff leaving for Sweden. Johan and Ursula are a Swedish and Peruvian couple who have been working with us for the last month. Ursula made this super good Peruvian meal for us all.

The full experience

My South American experience wouldn't have been complete without a football match. Right? We were told before the game that Chileans and South Americans were football fanatics but I think we underestimated them. We showed up an hour early to the stadium and left before the game was over because we were told multiple times that it was dangerous going in and out. The video above was taken while the players came out of the locker room and onto the field.

The police were in full riot gear and lined the metro stops before the game and were waiting in full force after the game outside of the stadium. They wouldn't let us take pictures and it would have been stupid of us to pull out an expensive camera while we were out so we had to sneak some pictures. Click on them and check out the militant Chilean police.

Just another day in Santiago

This week students all over the country of Chile took to the streets to protest a governmental bid to privatize all universities in the country. I was warned to stay away from downtown as well as all of the universities in town. Here are some pictures that I grabbed off of the internet showing some of what went down. How come we don't get this fired up in the States about educational reform?