We left Daymán early yesterday morning, before the sun came up. We weren’t exactly sure where to catch the bus and couldn’t quite understand what the guy at the front desk was telling us. He seemed to be speaking in some sort of ancient dialect of an unkown origin. Whatever it was, it wasn’t English. Seeing the look of uncertainty in our eyes, the desk clerk decided to show us the way to our bus stop. It was a full five minutes away by foot, our travel method of choice. There was a fierce storm approaching, but it was clear sailing at the start of our journey. Wanting to be cordial, I tried to make a little small talk with our guide. Contrary to what you might believe, this isn’t easy between two people who don’t speak the same language. He did tell me though, that storms in this area weren’t necessarily all that common, but were muy fuerte.
As we approached our still unseen destination, the storm was close to overtaking us. I sensed that the bus stop would be readily visible once we rounded the next corner and tried to indicate to our guide that we could make it on our own the rest of the way. A stubborn guide from the old school, he insisted on seeing our safe passage all the way. As the first drops of rain started to fall, so too did the thunder raise its deafening roar. We had reached to safety of our surprisingly sheltered waiting point for our next leg of the trip to Colonia del Sacramento. Stefani and I were safe from monster in the sky, but I couldn’t say for sure what lay ahead for our mighty guide. As he faded out of view on his return voyage, the first pellets of hail began to fall. Godspeed, fearless leader.
About fifteen minutes later we were settled in for what we had been told by our travel agent would be a six hour bus ride from Salto to Colonia. After about a three and half hour nap, I awoke looking forward to passing the rest of the time reading and, as we had successfully weathered the storm, viewing the countryside from our porthole. If it hadn’t been for the occasional palm tree or cactus, I wouldn’t have been able to tell the difference between this section of Uruguay and the land I’d seen so many times before on drives along the back-roads of central Indiana. Nothing but trees and farmland. After a few more stops in small towns, we were informed that this trip was actually eight hours instead of six. That was eight hours to start the day without food. No me gusta.
We finally made it to Colonia and checked in at our hotel. It’s a very nice hotel by backpacker standards and expensive by those same standards. Colonia del Sacramento is a port town set up back around 1680 as a means to smuggle British goods into the Spanish colonies here. Much of the Barrio Historical has been preserved and restored to resemble its old self. It’s a charming area with cobblestone streets and old-style street lamps lighting the way. It’s easy to imagine the streets filled with pirates and shifty-eyed smugglers mingling with street vendors and street walkers alike. It’s a different time now, though, and they were void of those characters during our tenure there and for the most part, empty altogether. Many charming restaurants and bars line the old streets and beckoned our call. We chose the Blanca y Negra, a little place promising great food and live jazz. Upon surveying the menu and discussing our options with the waiter, it became clear what our next move would be. We had to politely excuse ourselves and step across the street to the pizzeria that fell within our budget. It was a great meal, complete with drinks and we even had money left over for lunch the next day. A day that would be filled with wandering the streets once populated by the smugglers of the 17th century.
Tuesday, April 29, 2008
Sunday, April 27, 2008
Hail and Museums and Mate
Chris and I spent our last day in Dayman not going to the thermal pools. Yesterday, after going to one set of pools, I tripped on the post at the end of our bed (which was a hollow metal cylinder that hadn’t been filed down) and cut my shin open. We decided that open wounds in warm public water probably wasn’t advisable and that ended our adventure in the thermal pools. So today we took the public bus 9km into Salto to see some museums.
We had a good lunch of a mixed salad and pizza and water and cake for about $12 total, which was nice because Uruguay has been pretty expensive. We went to a History of Man (and kind of a History of Man in Uruguay) Museum and then we went briefly into an art museum that was in an old restored home. We wanted to stay there longer (it looked like they had some good stuff) but needed to catch the bus and beat a huge black storm cloud that was coming on us quickly. The bus came just in time and the ride back had a lot of lightning and hail and crazy amounts of rain. It was a very Midwestern storm. We had to run through the rain to the hotel, got soaked, but our cameras are still in working condition. Yay.
Tomorrow (early!) we take a 6 hour bus ride to Colonia to look at some old buildings, I think it will be better than it sounds.
And before we leave Uruguay (and Paraguay and Argentina) I need to tell you about the maté obsession. Maté is a type of tea that everyone drinks. When the Spaniards showed up to South America, the native people drank this tea. They thought it was from an herb (so it’s called Yerba Maté) but it’s actually made from part of a tree. Everyone fell in love with it, and they drink it all day, everyday. But to drink it, you don’t just get a little tea bag of maté, it requires a lot more. There is a cup that resembles a hollowed out gourd where all of the dried up leaves are packed into the cup. There is a straw with a filter at the bottom of it that looks like a hollowed out spoon with holes in the bottom. You pour hot water into the cup, and sip the tea through the straw with the holes, to filter out all of the leaves. So to have the maté experience, you need to carry around your gourd filled with dried leaves and the special straw, a full sized thermos of hot water (the Paraguayans have theirs cold), and shoulder bag to carry extra maté leaves and your cup and thermos when not in use. All day we see people with a big thermos tucked under their arms, the gourd thing in their hands, the big leather bag slung over their shoulders and then their required handbag/briefcase/books/backpack/child that everyone needs to carry. It really seems like a lot of work and I think there should be an easier way to do this, but no one asked me. So that’s maté, I’d be upset if I forgot to cover it.
We had a good lunch of a mixed salad and pizza and water and cake for about $12 total, which was nice because Uruguay has been pretty expensive. We went to a History of Man (and kind of a History of Man in Uruguay) Museum and then we went briefly into an art museum that was in an old restored home. We wanted to stay there longer (it looked like they had some good stuff) but needed to catch the bus and beat a huge black storm cloud that was coming on us quickly. The bus came just in time and the ride back had a lot of lightning and hail and crazy amounts of rain. It was a very Midwestern storm. We had to run through the rain to the hotel, got soaked, but our cameras are still in working condition. Yay.
Tomorrow (early!) we take a 6 hour bus ride to Colonia to look at some old buildings, I think it will be better than it sounds.
And before we leave Uruguay (and Paraguay and Argentina) I need to tell you about the maté obsession. Maté is a type of tea that everyone drinks. When the Spaniards showed up to South America, the native people drank this tea. They thought it was from an herb (so it’s called Yerba Maté) but it’s actually made from part of a tree. Everyone fell in love with it, and they drink it all day, everyday. But to drink it, you don’t just get a little tea bag of maté, it requires a lot more. There is a cup that resembles a hollowed out gourd where all of the dried up leaves are packed into the cup. There is a straw with a filter at the bottom of it that looks like a hollowed out spoon with holes in the bottom. You pour hot water into the cup, and sip the tea through the straw with the holes, to filter out all of the leaves. So to have the maté experience, you need to carry around your gourd filled with dried leaves and the special straw, a full sized thermos of hot water (the Paraguayans have theirs cold), and shoulder bag to carry extra maté leaves and your cup and thermos when not in use. All day we see people with a big thermos tucked under their arms, the gourd thing in their hands, the big leather bag slung over their shoulders and then their required handbag/briefcase/books/backpack/child that everyone needs to carry. It really seems like a lot of work and I think there should be an easier way to do this, but no one asked me. So that’s maté, I’d be upset if I forgot to cover it.
Cocoon III or El Hombre de Mimbroso
We’ve been in Uruguay for about a week now and so far it has been great. We were going to be in Bolivia at this time, but I found out that their president was a pedophile and a fecalphiliac. We really didn’t want to go there after we found out about this. So, we changed our flight and came to Uruguay instead. We spent some time in Montevideo and then bought some tour packages from a travel agent to see the rest of the country before we head to Buenos Aires on our way to Peru.
Our first stop on the prepaid tour package was Punta del Este. This is the French Riviera of Uruguay where everyone goes in January and February. This time of year, though, it is a ghost town. It is also a lot cheaper this time of year. We really enjoyed our time there, but only had the hotel for two nights and had to return to Montevideo so we could catch a bus to Salto.
Well, almost Salto. We are actually in Dayman, which is just south of Salto. This is a town where there are hot springs that you can swim in or just relax in. These springs make the town a sort of tourist attraction in the middle of nowhere. There is something unsettling about this town. It is small and ominously quiet. It is filled with old people that wander around in their bathrobes. Everyone seems to know each other and they all appear to be hiding something. I feel like either I’m about to witness the long overdue filming of Cocoon III or that I have found my way onto the set of the South American version of The Wicker Man (El Hombre de Mimbroso). On our first night here, we went out to get some dinner and there was a large group of senior citizens dancing around in a circle on the other side of our hotel complex. They were wearing crazy masks and singing, chanting and clapping. It was obviously some sort of pagan ritual where they most likely sacrificed a child in an effort to steal its youth. There are very few children around here other than the ones that seem to be passing through with their tourist parents. It is likely that the sacrificial children used in the youth preservation ceremony are conceived in some other ritual and then raised on the outskirts of this town for the sole purpose of perpetuating the life of the elders here. None of this is found in our guidebooks, but what other explanation could there be?
Beyond the creepiness of the whole place, this town has very little going for it other than Acuamania. Acuamania is a water park that is closed until September. There are no ATMs and one and a half convenient stores. There are lots of “hotels” that kind of seem to form a sort of trailer park atmosphere with plenty of “Artesan” booths set up that all sell the same crappy stuff for the most part. I have seen some interesting items like a stack of Buffalo Bills Superbowl T-shirts that looked old enough to be authentic, but clearly weren’t. There are also several restaurants to choose from, but they all serve the same thing: Milanesas (breaded chicken, pork or beef sandwich), pizza ( with ham or without), ravioli, meat.
Tomorrow we are off to Colonia. Hopefully that will be a more interesting town.
Our first stop on the prepaid tour package was Punta del Este. This is the French Riviera of Uruguay where everyone goes in January and February. This time of year, though, it is a ghost town. It is also a lot cheaper this time of year. We really enjoyed our time there, but only had the hotel for two nights and had to return to Montevideo so we could catch a bus to Salto.
Well, almost Salto. We are actually in Dayman, which is just south of Salto. This is a town where there are hot springs that you can swim in or just relax in. These springs make the town a sort of tourist attraction in the middle of nowhere. There is something unsettling about this town. It is small and ominously quiet. It is filled with old people that wander around in their bathrobes. Everyone seems to know each other and they all appear to be hiding something. I feel like either I’m about to witness the long overdue filming of Cocoon III or that I have found my way onto the set of the South American version of The Wicker Man (El Hombre de Mimbroso). On our first night here, we went out to get some dinner and there was a large group of senior citizens dancing around in a circle on the other side of our hotel complex. They were wearing crazy masks and singing, chanting and clapping. It was obviously some sort of pagan ritual where they most likely sacrificed a child in an effort to steal its youth. There are very few children around here other than the ones that seem to be passing through with their tourist parents. It is likely that the sacrificial children used in the youth preservation ceremony are conceived in some other ritual and then raised on the outskirts of this town for the sole purpose of perpetuating the life of the elders here. None of this is found in our guidebooks, but what other explanation could there be?
Beyond the creepiness of the whole place, this town has very little going for it other than Acuamania. Acuamania is a water park that is closed until September. There are no ATMs and one and a half convenient stores. There are lots of “hotels” that kind of seem to form a sort of trailer park atmosphere with plenty of “Artesan” booths set up that all sell the same crappy stuff for the most part. I have seen some interesting items like a stack of Buffalo Bills Superbowl T-shirts that looked old enough to be authentic, but clearly weren’t. There are also several restaurants to choose from, but they all serve the same thing: Milanesas (breaded chicken, pork or beef sandwich), pizza ( with ham or without), ravioli, meat.
Tomorrow we are off to Colonia. Hopefully that will be a more interesting town.
Wednesday, April 23, 2008
Beaches and Thermal Springs and Colonial Cities... oh my!
Chris and I are still trucking along through Uruguay. I must say I am very impressed with both of the ‘guays… Uru and Para. Uruguay is a small country of only 3 million people and its clean and seems pretty safe and the people are nice. There are a lot of cattle ranches, it’s green, and the coast line is pretty with sand dunes and forests. Currently, we’re in Punta Del Este.
Punta is the beach resort to end all beach resorts in Uruguay. This is where the pretty and rich people from Argentina (and some from Brazil) come to have their summer holidays. This place is packed and expensive in the summer months (January and February) and then clears out for the rest of the year. There are loads of empty hotels and restaurants and shops that are currently shut down, it’s a little weird. But the weather is still fine and we’re in shorts and pretty much have the place to ourselves.
In Montevideo, we went to a travel agent who booked our hotel and bus tickets here. He also booked the same thing for a town called Salto in the western part of the country that has thermal pools. After that, we’re going back down south to a town called Colonia that is a good restored colonial city. Our bus tickets and hotels (we have a total of seven nights in all of these places) cost $288 each. That’s over our budget, but I don’t know what hasn’t been over our budget in the trip. We are staying in places nicer than we normally get, so that’s good. Plus, we can stock up on tiny bars of soap and shampoos so we don’t have to buy more for awhile… it’s the little things.
Tomorrow we return to Montevideo and head to Salto early Friday morning. We have another appointment with a travel agent to try and book some flights while we’re in Peru to get to Macchu Picchu. And maybe the Nazca Lines, we’ll see.
So yeah, yay Uruguay. While at dinner last night, we met some old Polish guy that was here, possibly on the run. At least that’s what we think he was explaining through broken English/Spanish. Uruguay is not that big on extradition.
Chris and I are getting better at our Spanish and can piece together conversations with people much better. We try and study Spanish a bit each day, and that seems to be going OK. I also tried to run for the first time in months yesterday and only made it for twenty minutes. I’m so sore it takes two hands to sit on the toilet seat. Good times.
Punta is the beach resort to end all beach resorts in Uruguay. This is where the pretty and rich people from Argentina (and some from Brazil) come to have their summer holidays. This place is packed and expensive in the summer months (January and February) and then clears out for the rest of the year. There are loads of empty hotels and restaurants and shops that are currently shut down, it’s a little weird. But the weather is still fine and we’re in shorts and pretty much have the place to ourselves.
In Montevideo, we went to a travel agent who booked our hotel and bus tickets here. He also booked the same thing for a town called Salto in the western part of the country that has thermal pools. After that, we’re going back down south to a town called Colonia that is a good restored colonial city. Our bus tickets and hotels (we have a total of seven nights in all of these places) cost $288 each. That’s over our budget, but I don’t know what hasn’t been over our budget in the trip. We are staying in places nicer than we normally get, so that’s good. Plus, we can stock up on tiny bars of soap and shampoos so we don’t have to buy more for awhile… it’s the little things.
Tomorrow we return to Montevideo and head to Salto early Friday morning. We have another appointment with a travel agent to try and book some flights while we’re in Peru to get to Macchu Picchu. And maybe the Nazca Lines, we’ll see.
So yeah, yay Uruguay. While at dinner last night, we met some old Polish guy that was here, possibly on the run. At least that’s what we think he was explaining through broken English/Spanish. Uruguay is not that big on extradition.
Chris and I are getting better at our Spanish and can piece together conversations with people much better. We try and study Spanish a bit each day, and that seems to be going OK. I also tried to run for the first time in months yesterday and only made it for twenty minutes. I’m so sore it takes two hands to sit on the toilet seat. Good times.
Sunday, April 20, 2008
Uruguay: So Hot, It's Smokin'
Chris and I arrived to Montevideo yesterday morning on time and ready to go. Actually, we were pretty tired because our flight left Asuncion at 5:40AM. We flew TAM airlines again and were again greeted with hot free food, free drinks, and pretty stewardesses. If you ever need to fly local carriers near Brazil, I’d go with TAM.
We had a stopover in Buenos Aires and were greeted with some heinous smoke. Farmers were setting fires to clear fields and the flames got out of control on Friday and totally messed up most of Buenos Aires. We were feeling very smug that we missed the smoke but in the afternoon, the winds shifted and Montevideo got nailed. So we spent most of yesterday hiding indoors from the smoke.
Montevideo seems like an OK place. We are in the downtown area and it’s a little rundown in some spots, but nothing horrible. The town is close to the ocean and we hope to take a bus to some of the beach resorts later in the week.
We have some time to kill before we fly out of Buenos Aires for Peru on May 3rd so we’re just seeing what comes up. This blog would be longer but we’re at a café and I need to stuff my face with a waffle with dulce de leche (basically sugary/buttery carmel warmed up).
We had a stopover in Buenos Aires and were greeted with some heinous smoke. Farmers were setting fires to clear fields and the flames got out of control on Friday and totally messed up most of Buenos Aires. We were feeling very smug that we missed the smoke but in the afternoon, the winds shifted and Montevideo got nailed. So we spent most of yesterday hiding indoors from the smoke.
Montevideo seems like an OK place. We are in the downtown area and it’s a little rundown in some spots, but nothing horrible. The town is close to the ocean and we hope to take a bus to some of the beach resorts later in the week.
We have some time to kill before we fly out of Buenos Aires for Peru on May 3rd so we’re just seeing what comes up. This blog would be longer but we’re at a café and I need to stuff my face with a waffle with dulce de leche (basically sugary/buttery carmel warmed up).
Thursday, April 17, 2008
Waterfalls and Arms Smugglers
On Monday night (around midnight) Chris and I took a bus into Brazil to the town of Foz do Iguazu. It’s at the border of Paraguay, Brazil, and Argentina and the site of Iguazu Falls, which, according to our guide book, are the most impressive waterfalls in South America. Our bus was an overnight six hour trip with fully reclining seats. This would have provided for great sleeping, but a giant fat guy in front of me snored the entire time. I wanted to smack him.
To get into Brazil, first you have to cross a bridge at the end of a town in Paraguay called Ciudad del Este. Apparently, this is the spot for all sorts of illegal smuggling into Brazil. Stolen/illegal items pass down through Bolivia into Paraguay and over this bridge (it’s called the Friendship Bridge) into Brazil where they are distributed into Brazil and shipped to the USA. Bootleg DVDs, arms, drugs, electronics, and money make the trek over this bridge everyday with the border cops not paying much attention. Before we went, Seth showed us an article about Ciudad del Este, and it’s a good read, you can find it here.
We got to Ciudad del Este around 6am and because we were on a bus, we had to stop and go through customs (normally they waive you through). And I must say it was an interesting border stop. Chris and I had to run across six lanes of high speed traffic to get over to the office, and then run back. I always feel like I’m in the midst of an advanced level of Frogger whenever I have to cross the street in South America, but this took it to a whole new super advanced level. We only stayed at Iguazu for that one day, and took the bus back at 6pm. On the way back at the border, there was no Frogger challenge (we were on the right side of the street) but the bus decided to pull way up past the border check office. I have never clutched my passport tighter, and Chris and I kind of ran/walk past taxi drivers offering rides, past the main market for smuggling that was shut down for the evening, and past random guys selling random junk/food. It was very interesting.
As for Iguazu Falls they were very impressive and it was cool to see. We saw them through the Brazilian side and the Argentine view is supposedly better, but I still thought it was cool. You only need about an hour or two in the park, and then we decided to go to a Bird Zoo/Sanctuary place across the street. We had heard from an Australian couple that it was a good stop to make, and I’m glad we did. Besides the awful noisy Argentine tour group that was behind us for a good portion of the park (I swear, when traveling, the Argentine motto is “Scream and Throw Food At It Until It Notices You, No Matter How Long This Takes) it was very cool. We saw toucans and monkeys and giant snakes and dive bombing parrots.
There was one aviary (where you and the birds are together in a giant cage) with a ton of Macaws (giant parrots). Before we went in, we saw some of the awful Argentines getting dive bombed, the birds screaming, and one woman screaming with two parrots on her back. There are signs before you enter saying ‘Enter at Your Own Risk’ and ‘Remove All Jewelry and Watches’. I don’t think this exhibit is allowed in the USA. Anyway, we went in with the intent of getting some good parrot pictures. We were the only ones in there and the parrots got very quiet and started watching us. Then, one started screaming, and the others followed with beating their wings and screaming in unison. Then, they began to take flight and Chris and I put our heads down and ran out the exit. Not very brave, but those things have talons and giant wing spans and are scary in groups. You can see all pictures
(in case you’re too lazy to scroll down to Brazil on our Photos page).
After that, we had a nice cheap lunch outside the National Park and spent the remainder of the day speaking our bad broken Spanish to a group of people that actually speak Portuguese. Our bus ride back into Paraguay was on a bus without reclining seats and lots of stops and noisy people with noisy cell phones. We arrived in Asuncion before midnight and slept for about 10 hours when we reached Seth’s house. We also have some Paraguay shots, which you can see here.
Yesterday, Chris and I had our day of beauty and went to the fancy salon down the street from Seth’s house. We both had hour long massages ($7 each, I swear) and haircuts with shampoos and blow dries. When you get your hair shampooed here, it turns into another full on head and scalp and face massage. For everything, including the massages, we paid $50 for both of us. It was so nice and cheap that I’m going back today for a facial and a pedicure.
On Saturday morning we head to Montevideo and need to figure out where we will be staying and what to do and all that stuff. And that’s us!
To get into Brazil, first you have to cross a bridge at the end of a town in Paraguay called Ciudad del Este. Apparently, this is the spot for all sorts of illegal smuggling into Brazil. Stolen/illegal items pass down through Bolivia into Paraguay and over this bridge (it’s called the Friendship Bridge) into Brazil where they are distributed into Brazil and shipped to the USA. Bootleg DVDs, arms, drugs, electronics, and money make the trek over this bridge everyday with the border cops not paying much attention. Before we went, Seth showed us an article about Ciudad del Este, and it’s a good read, you can find it here.
We got to Ciudad del Este around 6am and because we were on a bus, we had to stop and go through customs (normally they waive you through). And I must say it was an interesting border stop. Chris and I had to run across six lanes of high speed traffic to get over to the office, and then run back. I always feel like I’m in the midst of an advanced level of Frogger whenever I have to cross the street in South America, but this took it to a whole new super advanced level. We only stayed at Iguazu for that one day, and took the bus back at 6pm. On the way back at the border, there was no Frogger challenge (we were on the right side of the street) but the bus decided to pull way up past the border check office. I have never clutched my passport tighter, and Chris and I kind of ran/walk past taxi drivers offering rides, past the main market for smuggling that was shut down for the evening, and past random guys selling random junk/food. It was very interesting.
As for Iguazu Falls they were very impressive and it was cool to see. We saw them through the Brazilian side and the Argentine view is supposedly better, but I still thought it was cool. You only need about an hour or two in the park, and then we decided to go to a Bird Zoo/Sanctuary place across the street. We had heard from an Australian couple that it was a good stop to make, and I’m glad we did. Besides the awful noisy Argentine tour group that was behind us for a good portion of the park (I swear, when traveling, the Argentine motto is “Scream and Throw Food At It Until It Notices You, No Matter How Long This Takes) it was very cool. We saw toucans and monkeys and giant snakes and dive bombing parrots.
There was one aviary (where you and the birds are together in a giant cage) with a ton of Macaws (giant parrots). Before we went in, we saw some of the awful Argentines getting dive bombed, the birds screaming, and one woman screaming with two parrots on her back. There are signs before you enter saying ‘Enter at Your Own Risk’ and ‘Remove All Jewelry and Watches’. I don’t think this exhibit is allowed in the USA. Anyway, we went in with the intent of getting some good parrot pictures. We were the only ones in there and the parrots got very quiet and started watching us. Then, one started screaming, and the others followed with beating their wings and screaming in unison. Then, they began to take flight and Chris and I put our heads down and ran out the exit. Not very brave, but those things have talons and giant wing spans and are scary in groups. You can see all pictures
 |
| Iguazu |
After that, we had a nice cheap lunch outside the National Park and spent the remainder of the day speaking our bad broken Spanish to a group of people that actually speak Portuguese. Our bus ride back into Paraguay was on a bus without reclining seats and lots of stops and noisy people with noisy cell phones. We arrived in Asuncion before midnight and slept for about 10 hours when we reached Seth’s house. We also have some Paraguay shots, which you can see here.
Yesterday, Chris and I had our day of beauty and went to the fancy salon down the street from Seth’s house. We both had hour long massages ($7 each, I swear) and haircuts with shampoos and blow dries. When you get your hair shampooed here, it turns into another full on head and scalp and face massage. For everything, including the massages, we paid $50 for both of us. It was so nice and cheap that I’m going back today for a facial and a pedicure.
On Saturday morning we head to Montevideo and need to figure out where we will be staying and what to do and all that stuff. And that’s us!
Monday, April 14, 2008
Bolivia. Boo. Hiss.
Chris and I booked a ticket last Friday to fly out this Friday to Santa Cruz, Bolivia. We had about one month to kill in the country before my best friend Liz met up with us in La Paz. We discovered last month that as of December 2007, all US citizens need a visa to enter Bolivia. We figured it wouldn’t be a big deal and took a taxi to the Bolivian Consulate today in Asuncion.
We arrived with our application form, proof of a yellow fever vaccination, proof of a hotel reservation, proof of a returning flight to the US (out of Brazil), $100 in cash (each), and bank statements to prove that we had sufficient funds to travel. And all of this nonsense was not good enough. We were told we needed to have proof of a flight or bus out of Bolivia (which we usually don’t get until the day before we leave a place), a complete written itinerary, and we needed to go to INTERPOL and get a printout that proves there are no warrants out for our arrest anywhere in the world. We were also told this application could take ten days to process, even though the Bolivian Consulate website states 24 hours.
Sooooooo frustrating. And it’s 100 million times more frustrating when you speak and understand the language on the same level of a three year old. Apparently Bolivia hates the US with some extra passion right now and they are making it really hard for Americans to get in, because they just don’t want us there. My friend Seth that works in Asuncion at the US embassy was cautious to come with us to the Bolivian Embassy because he thought they’d get paranoid and think he was sending spies into their country. He was afraid we might get tailed and spied on when we went to Bolivia, that our rooms would get searched while we were out. Combine with the State Department website mentioning things like kidnapping by strangulation and shallow graves containing some Austrian tourists and we decided that Bolivia can shove it. So this American is giving the Bolivian Consulate a solid two thumbs down and one solid middle finger. On top of us canceling our plans to Bolivia, now Liz and her travel buddy Matt have to do the same thing, and they’ll have to meet us in Lima, Peru.
After the consulate mess, we had to return to the travel agent and book a different flight out of Paraguay. Their elections are happening this Sunday and there are some fears of things getting a little crazy and borders getting shut down, so we have to go ASAP. Thankfully, we booked through a Brazilian airline called TAM that allows you to change flights and apply the money you paid for the original flight to your new ticket. We flew TAM from Chile to Paraguay and they gave us a hot meal, free booze, and six matching, very cute stewardesses. I appreciate it when they all have cute matching hair and outfits and aren’t fat and old and haggard like the majority of the flight attendants I find on US carriers.
Anyway, we thought about flying to the north of Brazil and sitting on some lovely tropical beaches for a bit, but to get there and get to Peru in time for Macchu Picchu and my Liz, would mean thousands of dollars that we don’t have. So on Saturday at 5:40AM (!!!) we are flying to Montevideo, Uruguay. From there, after we get done looking around Uruguay, we will take a ferry over to Buenos Aires, Argentina. On May 3, we will fly to Lima, Peru from Buenos Aires. After reading that paragraph, you might need an atlas for reference.
We’ve already done Buenos Aires and this whole thing is a total headache, but we’re too broke to do anything else. My advice to anyone traveling through South America for an extended time is to either be really really fluent in Spanish or have a ton of money to just throw at any inconvenience; having neither is a real letdown.
Tonight, Chris and I take an overnight bus into Brazil to visit Iguazu Falls. We’ll only spend the day and then head back to Asuncion. I must say that I’ve really enjoyed Paraguay, even though I’ve really only seen Seth’s house, a mall, and some bars and restaurants. The people here are really nice and helpful and patient with two people that can’t speak Spanish well. This is a place that no one visits (unless you have a large shipment of bootleg DVDs or cocaine to move into Brazil) and there aren’t many tourist sites, but the food’s good and it’s pretty easy to get around.
Anyway, check back in a couple of days for some giant waterfall pictures.
We arrived with our application form, proof of a yellow fever vaccination, proof of a hotel reservation, proof of a returning flight to the US (out of Brazil), $100 in cash (each), and bank statements to prove that we had sufficient funds to travel. And all of this nonsense was not good enough. We were told we needed to have proof of a flight or bus out of Bolivia (which we usually don’t get until the day before we leave a place), a complete written itinerary, and we needed to go to INTERPOL and get a printout that proves there are no warrants out for our arrest anywhere in the world. We were also told this application could take ten days to process, even though the Bolivian Consulate website states 24 hours.
Sooooooo frustrating. And it’s 100 million times more frustrating when you speak and understand the language on the same level of a three year old. Apparently Bolivia hates the US with some extra passion right now and they are making it really hard for Americans to get in, because they just don’t want us there. My friend Seth that works in Asuncion at the US embassy was cautious to come with us to the Bolivian Embassy because he thought they’d get paranoid and think he was sending spies into their country. He was afraid we might get tailed and spied on when we went to Bolivia, that our rooms would get searched while we were out. Combine with the State Department website mentioning things like kidnapping by strangulation and shallow graves containing some Austrian tourists and we decided that Bolivia can shove it. So this American is giving the Bolivian Consulate a solid two thumbs down and one solid middle finger. On top of us canceling our plans to Bolivia, now Liz and her travel buddy Matt have to do the same thing, and they’ll have to meet us in Lima, Peru.
After the consulate mess, we had to return to the travel agent and book a different flight out of Paraguay. Their elections are happening this Sunday and there are some fears of things getting a little crazy and borders getting shut down, so we have to go ASAP. Thankfully, we booked through a Brazilian airline called TAM that allows you to change flights and apply the money you paid for the original flight to your new ticket. We flew TAM from Chile to Paraguay and they gave us a hot meal, free booze, and six matching, very cute stewardesses. I appreciate it when they all have cute matching hair and outfits and aren’t fat and old and haggard like the majority of the flight attendants I find on US carriers.
Anyway, we thought about flying to the north of Brazil and sitting on some lovely tropical beaches for a bit, but to get there and get to Peru in time for Macchu Picchu and my Liz, would mean thousands of dollars that we don’t have. So on Saturday at 5:40AM (!!!) we are flying to Montevideo, Uruguay. From there, after we get done looking around Uruguay, we will take a ferry over to Buenos Aires, Argentina. On May 3, we will fly to Lima, Peru from Buenos Aires. After reading that paragraph, you might need an atlas for reference.
We’ve already done Buenos Aires and this whole thing is a total headache, but we’re too broke to do anything else. My advice to anyone traveling through South America for an extended time is to either be really really fluent in Spanish or have a ton of money to just throw at any inconvenience; having neither is a real letdown.
Tonight, Chris and I take an overnight bus into Brazil to visit Iguazu Falls. We’ll only spend the day and then head back to Asuncion. I must say that I’ve really enjoyed Paraguay, even though I’ve really only seen Seth’s house, a mall, and some bars and restaurants. The people here are really nice and helpful and patient with two people that can’t speak Spanish well. This is a place that no one visits (unless you have a large shipment of bootleg DVDs or cocaine to move into Brazil) and there aren’t many tourist sites, but the food’s good and it’s pretty easy to get around.
Anyway, check back in a couple of days for some giant waterfall pictures.
Saturday, April 12, 2008
The Road to Bolivia is Paved With Red Tape
It’s been really great here in Asuncion, but soon we will be moving on. Tuesday we are taking a five hour bus ride that leaves at midnight to Iguazu Falls. We’ll spend the day there and then take the bus back to Asuncion and arrive around 11:30 that night. Then, on Friday the 18th, we will fly to Santa Cruz Bolivia. We probably would have stayed through the weekend, but Seth informed us that he couldn’t possibly tolerate another weekend with us.
Actually, there is an election on the 20th and for the first time in a long time the Colorado party might actually lose. This could lead to events unforeseen such as the closing of Paraguayan borders if the people take to the streets to protest the opposition. Or, if the Colorado party wins again, there is actually enough support for the opposition that they might take to the streets. Somehow, I don’t think that a stolen election and recounts are handled as calmly here as they are in the US. So anyway, in case the borders get shut down or the place goes into riot mode after the election, we are going to skip town before all of that goes down. While it would be interesting to witness, we don’t want to be stuck here for an indefinite amount of time.
As of about four months ago, Bolivia is requiring US citizens to obtain a visa to enter Bolivia. It sucks that we have to pay another $100 bucks that we weren’t planning on, but it seems fair enough considering the fact that the US makes Bolivians pay to come to the USA. What seems odd about the whole thing are all of the hoops you have to jump through to get the visa. There is the typical application to fill out and passport photo. Then we have to show proof of a place to stay, proof of financial ability to support ourselves while in the country and proof of continuing on out of the country. Do they really think that a couple of American tourists are going to show up in Bolivia to live on the streets and become a drain on their society, suckling at the Bolivian welfare teet? We do have a hostel reserved for when we arrive and I can print out a copy of my bank statement, but we don’t have plans yet for how to get out of Bolivia. We are hoping that showing our flight info out of Rio in July will be enough. If not, I guess my dreams of becoming a coke dealer on the streets of La Paz will have to be put on hold while I figure out another way to sneak in and take jobs away from the locals by working for less wages at jobs nobody wants anyways. I’m sure they are just copying similar requirements from the US visa process, but the whole thing seems a bit unnecessary to me. Hopefully they won’t scrutinize our application too much and will just be happy to have some more tourists spending money there.
We are flying to Bolivia, which is nice. I would not be looking forward to a long bus ride to get there even though I’m sure we will have more of those after we get to Bolivia. We have to fly because it is just too dangerous to travel there by land from Paraguay. The western half of Paraguay, an area known as the Chaco, is ruled by drug traffickers and militant groups. I guess the odds are pretty good that we wouldn’t make it through there in one piece, so we’ll just fly over it. We’ll run into similar situations going from Ecuador to Colombia and possibly in areas of Peru, which means more flights and less bus rides.
Actually, there is an election on the 20th and for the first time in a long time the Colorado party might actually lose. This could lead to events unforeseen such as the closing of Paraguayan borders if the people take to the streets to protest the opposition. Or, if the Colorado party wins again, there is actually enough support for the opposition that they might take to the streets. Somehow, I don’t think that a stolen election and recounts are handled as calmly here as they are in the US. So anyway, in case the borders get shut down or the place goes into riot mode after the election, we are going to skip town before all of that goes down. While it would be interesting to witness, we don’t want to be stuck here for an indefinite amount of time.
As of about four months ago, Bolivia is requiring US citizens to obtain a visa to enter Bolivia. It sucks that we have to pay another $100 bucks that we weren’t planning on, but it seems fair enough considering the fact that the US makes Bolivians pay to come to the USA. What seems odd about the whole thing are all of the hoops you have to jump through to get the visa. There is the typical application to fill out and passport photo. Then we have to show proof of a place to stay, proof of financial ability to support ourselves while in the country and proof of continuing on out of the country. Do they really think that a couple of American tourists are going to show up in Bolivia to live on the streets and become a drain on their society, suckling at the Bolivian welfare teet? We do have a hostel reserved for when we arrive and I can print out a copy of my bank statement, but we don’t have plans yet for how to get out of Bolivia. We are hoping that showing our flight info out of Rio in July will be enough. If not, I guess my dreams of becoming a coke dealer on the streets of La Paz will have to be put on hold while I figure out another way to sneak in and take jobs away from the locals by working for less wages at jobs nobody wants anyways. I’m sure they are just copying similar requirements from the US visa process, but the whole thing seems a bit unnecessary to me. Hopefully they won’t scrutinize our application too much and will just be happy to have some more tourists spending money there.
We are flying to Bolivia, which is nice. I would not be looking forward to a long bus ride to get there even though I’m sure we will have more of those after we get to Bolivia. We have to fly because it is just too dangerous to travel there by land from Paraguay. The western half of Paraguay, an area known as the Chaco, is ruled by drug traffickers and militant groups. I guess the odds are pretty good that we wouldn’t make it through there in one piece, so we’ll just fly over it. We’ll run into similar situations going from Ecuador to Colombia and possibly in areas of Peru, which means more flights and less bus rides.
Thursday, April 10, 2008
Viva El Paraguay or Give Me Back My Wine Key
We arrived in Paraguay yesterday and the last 24 hours have been more than I could have hoped for. Seth lives in a presidential palace compared to what we are used to on this trip. Actually, it’s a presidential palace compared to what I’m used to after living in Hawaii for 4 years. We now have air conditioning, a real kitchen, a nice house, a swimming pool and all of the amenities I had come to take for granted in the US. We can even flush the toilet paper down the drain here. The bed doesn't slope in the middle or have a spring sticking into our backs. And the shower has a steady stream of water that stays the same temperature throughtout the whole shower. On top of all of this, we get chauffeured around by someone who already knows all of the places to go. Thank you, Seth.
I plan to spend a good portion of my time here doing as little as possible beyond the scope of lying in the hammock by the pool and trying to avoid contracting dengue fever. There have been recent reports in Asuncion of some people contracting this disease, which I’ve heard causes the people who survive it to wish they hadn’t. I’m sure worrying about this is as unnecessary as worrying about contracting West Nile disease in the States. It happens, but the odds are slim. Besides, it’s probably too hot here even for the bugs to work in the daytime. And that is precisely when I will be letting my guard down as I lie by the pool inside the fortified compound that is Seth’s estate.
I’ll also be practicing my Spanish as much as I can. The two weeks of Spanish school definitely helped, but obviously I have a long way to go. I am able to talk to other people and somewhat get my point across, but their reply may as well be in Chinese, or any other language besides English for that matter. When people speak to me in Spanish they almost always receive the standard response of ‘Qué?’ or ‘como?’ Now, if they don’t know me yet, they might think that I didn’t hear them and repeat their question, statement, exclamation or command. This in turn, will result in my reply of qué or como, or possibly no entiendo, if I have given up. By now they have noticed my pale skin, blue eyes, American clothes and accent and have likely figured out that there is no point in attempting further communication with me. They will either use their best judgment and make a decision, or bring in someone else that speaks English. The latter is usually not an available option. This can achieve varying results ranging from angry customers waiting in line behind me to receiving something not quite resembling the item I had tried to ask for to both parties shrugging their shoulders and walking away without a clear resolution.
I don’t know if I will ever be able to understand anyone else speaking Spanish, but hopefully I can learn enough to say what I need to completely enough that there will be no need for questions from the second party. If not, I can always point at what I want until I get it and plead ignorance when I do something wrong. This usually works except at the airport (my wine key was confiscated going through security in Santiago). It was made out of plastic and more harmless than the ball point pen in my bag or the lighter that they didn’t seem to care about, but no amount of ‘no entiendos’ or puzzled looks on my part could save my wine key.
I plan to spend a good portion of my time here doing as little as possible beyond the scope of lying in the hammock by the pool and trying to avoid contracting dengue fever. There have been recent reports in Asuncion of some people contracting this disease, which I’ve heard causes the people who survive it to wish they hadn’t. I’m sure worrying about this is as unnecessary as worrying about contracting West Nile disease in the States. It happens, but the odds are slim. Besides, it’s probably too hot here even for the bugs to work in the daytime. And that is precisely when I will be letting my guard down as I lie by the pool inside the fortified compound that is Seth’s estate.
I’ll also be practicing my Spanish as much as I can. The two weeks of Spanish school definitely helped, but obviously I have a long way to go. I am able to talk to other people and somewhat get my point across, but their reply may as well be in Chinese, or any other language besides English for that matter. When people speak to me in Spanish they almost always receive the standard response of ‘Qué?’ or ‘como?’ Now, if they don’t know me yet, they might think that I didn’t hear them and repeat their question, statement, exclamation or command. This in turn, will result in my reply of qué or como, or possibly no entiendo, if I have given up. By now they have noticed my pale skin, blue eyes, American clothes and accent and have likely figured out that there is no point in attempting further communication with me. They will either use their best judgment and make a decision, or bring in someone else that speaks English. The latter is usually not an available option. This can achieve varying results ranging from angry customers waiting in line behind me to receiving something not quite resembling the item I had tried to ask for to both parties shrugging their shoulders and walking away without a clear resolution.
I don’t know if I will ever be able to understand anyone else speaking Spanish, but hopefully I can learn enough to say what I need to completely enough that there will be no need for questions from the second party. If not, I can always point at what I want until I get it and plead ignorance when I do something wrong. This usually works except at the airport (my wine key was confiscated going through security in Santiago). It was made out of plastic and more harmless than the ball point pen in my bag or the lighter that they didn’t seem to care about, but no amount of ‘no entiendos’ or puzzled looks on my part could save my wine key.
Wednesday, April 9, 2008
Paraguay Bound
This weekend Chris and I took a bus to the coast and spent three nights in Viña del Mar. In the summer months (January and February) the place is boomin’ and we caught it on an off time. Our hostel/hotel was pretty close to the beach and we spent a lot of time wandering around. It was too cold to go to the beach and the water was too cold to even touch, so we had a lot of time to walk. I think in the summer months, the water is pretty cold too (probably a lot like northern to southern California).
Viña del Mar itself is a little run down and kind of dirty. I’ve never been to Atlantic City so I don’t know if I can compare it to that, but I have been to Cocoa Beach, Florida, and I got that same vibe; the kind of place that used to be ritzy and then got a little trashy. But since I’m in Chile, ritzy and trashy take whole different meanings and from what I’ve heard, everyone still has lots of love for Viña del Mar.
We arrived on Saturday after a two hour bus ride through some wineries. The next day we used the local bus system to take us to a small fishing village called Horcon. All of the fisherman line their boats up on the small harbor and use horses to pull the boats back in. It was Sunday so we missed the horses, but we did have a pretty good seafood lunch with shellfish soup, fried white fish, potato salad, and tomatoes and onions for around $3 each. After that, we wanted to take another bus to a town called Concon that’s closer to Viña, but we missed our bus stop, our Spanish is too crap to argue, and ended up back in Viña del Mar.
On Monday, we took the train into Valparaiso. Valparaiso and Viña del Mar basically run into each other but Valparaiso is a much larger town. It has the most important harbor on the entire west coast of South America. It also has the illustrious history of getting raided by pirates a bunch and destroyed by several large earthquakes. After Chile won their independence, Valparaiso got super popular with America and we used it as a major trading port. But then we started using steam ships and used the towns that produced coal, we built the transcontinental railroad and then the Panama Canal, and after that, America stopped loving Valparaiso. A few giant earthquakes completely leveled the place and it got poor and dirty and sketchy.
Presently, Valparaiso is the official cultural center of Chile (don’t ask me why) and UNESCO declared it a world heritage site. Along the hills that line the bay, there are huge collections of brightly painted shacks, stores, mansions, and homes all jumbled together on cobbled stoned streets and narrow alleyways. You can take little trains (ascencors) up the hills and wander through the neighborhoods. Apparently at night, everything gets a bit dangerous, hence Chris and me staying in Viña del Mar.
Today, we took the bus back to Santiago and tomorrow fly to Asuncion, Paraguay. From what I’ve heard, going to Paraguay is like going to the US to visit Kansas, while places like Rio and Buenos Aires are the Disneyland’s and New York City’s of the bunch. So why Paraguay? Well, my friend Seth from college lives there and works at the US embassy. He has enticed us with the promise of a free place to stay with a pool. He probably also has a bathroom with toilet paper and I won’t have to wear sandals while in the shower (this is a big deal down here). I plan on taking a vacation from my vacation. My feet are disgusting and in need of some serious TLC by someone willing to give them a pedicure, I need a haircut, and I need to get caught up on TV and movie watching. Plus it’s so nice to be in a place where someone knows what’s up. We won’t have to spend the time finding a place to eat or a place to do laundry, all of the scouting has been done. And I like the off the beaten path places (the Nebraskas of the world) because the people are usually a lot nicer.
Seth also has a new immunization card for me that states I have been vaccinated for yellow fever. When my backpack was stolen in Buenos Aires, I lost my immunization card and I can’t enter Bolivia or Brazil without it. My doctor mailed a new one to my parents and they sent it to Seth’s fancy APO address at the embassy.
So it’s off to Paraguay. We’re even flying and not taking a 45 hour bus ride. I feel so fancy.
Viña del Mar itself is a little run down and kind of dirty. I’ve never been to Atlantic City so I don’t know if I can compare it to that, but I have been to Cocoa Beach, Florida, and I got that same vibe; the kind of place that used to be ritzy and then got a little trashy. But since I’m in Chile, ritzy and trashy take whole different meanings and from what I’ve heard, everyone still has lots of love for Viña del Mar.
We arrived on Saturday after a two hour bus ride through some wineries. The next day we used the local bus system to take us to a small fishing village called Horcon. All of the fisherman line their boats up on the small harbor and use horses to pull the boats back in. It was Sunday so we missed the horses, but we did have a pretty good seafood lunch with shellfish soup, fried white fish, potato salad, and tomatoes and onions for around $3 each. After that, we wanted to take another bus to a town called Concon that’s closer to Viña, but we missed our bus stop, our Spanish is too crap to argue, and ended up back in Viña del Mar.
On Monday, we took the train into Valparaiso. Valparaiso and Viña del Mar basically run into each other but Valparaiso is a much larger town. It has the most important harbor on the entire west coast of South America. It also has the illustrious history of getting raided by pirates a bunch and destroyed by several large earthquakes. After Chile won their independence, Valparaiso got super popular with America and we used it as a major trading port. But then we started using steam ships and used the towns that produced coal, we built the transcontinental railroad and then the Panama Canal, and after that, America stopped loving Valparaiso. A few giant earthquakes completely leveled the place and it got poor and dirty and sketchy.
Presently, Valparaiso is the official cultural center of Chile (don’t ask me why) and UNESCO declared it a world heritage site. Along the hills that line the bay, there are huge collections of brightly painted shacks, stores, mansions, and homes all jumbled together on cobbled stoned streets and narrow alleyways. You can take little trains (ascencors) up the hills and wander through the neighborhoods. Apparently at night, everything gets a bit dangerous, hence Chris and me staying in Viña del Mar.
Today, we took the bus back to Santiago and tomorrow fly to Asuncion, Paraguay. From what I’ve heard, going to Paraguay is like going to the US to visit Kansas, while places like Rio and Buenos Aires are the Disneyland’s and New York City’s of the bunch. So why Paraguay? Well, my friend Seth from college lives there and works at the US embassy. He has enticed us with the promise of a free place to stay with a pool. He probably also has a bathroom with toilet paper and I won’t have to wear sandals while in the shower (this is a big deal down here). I plan on taking a vacation from my vacation. My feet are disgusting and in need of some serious TLC by someone willing to give them a pedicure, I need a haircut, and I need to get caught up on TV and movie watching. Plus it’s so nice to be in a place where someone knows what’s up. We won’t have to spend the time finding a place to eat or a place to do laundry, all of the scouting has been done. And I like the off the beaten path places (the Nebraskas of the world) because the people are usually a lot nicer.
Seth also has a new immunization card for me that states I have been vaccinated for yellow fever. When my backpack was stolen in Buenos Aires, I lost my immunization card and I can’t enter Bolivia or Brazil without it. My doctor mailed a new one to my parents and they sent it to Seth’s fancy APO address at the embassy.
So it’s off to Paraguay. We’re even flying and not taking a 45 hour bus ride. I feel so fancy.
Tuesday, April 8, 2008
Will Cheer for Money
In Brazil there are a lot of little kids who beg for money on the street by juggling for the cars stopped at lights during rush hour. They usually use tennis balls and travel in little groups. It’s pretty sad because any money they get usually goes to whomever pushed them on the street to juggle. Some people try and give them little snacks because at least that way they can eat a bit. Anyway, in Chile, they have taken performing in front of cars at rush hour to a whole new level of awesome.
In Santiago, it’s not kids asking for money and performing for the cars, it’s adults. And they don’t simply juggle, these people are above juggling. Here’s a rundown of what I’ve seen performing at rush hour on the streets of Santiago:
· One token juggler. But this guy juggled with several clubs, wore some sort of clown outfit with makeup, and pitched the clubs really high up in air… it took some skill. Also, in the town of Viña Del Mar, I saw guys juggling fire and knives, so that was cool.
· One woman dressed as some sort of robotic doll accompanied by a man dressed as her clown/puppet master. The lady was dressed completely in white, with a white wig, and white face paint and perched on a box on the side of the rode. She sat completely still and then her clown/puppet master would direct her to move around. She moved around like a robot, but I think it was supposed to be like she was a puppet. It was very strange, and I still don’t get it.
· One man with a soccer ball. He would kick it up really high, balance it on his head, dribble it, etc. Chris wondered if he considered himself a professional soccer player because he was technically paid to play soccer.
· One magician. This guy would make ping pong balls appear and disappear in his hands. Even from the side, it still looked believable, and I was impressed.
· One male gymnast. This guy would tumble on the street in front of the cars, and do flips and back handsprings… let’s just hope he always sticks his landings.
· One child karate student. This little girl was actually in a public square performing for a group of people. She just ran through her little karate moves. Chris and I figured her parents made her do it to pay back all the money they spent on karate lessons.
· And the best one of all: Cheerleaders! With outfits! On a continent that doesn’t even have cheerleaders! Anywhere! There was one girl in a cheerleading uniform accompanied by two guys. Every time the cars would line up at the light, they would run out and start pumping up the crowd with kicks and spirit fingers. Then the guys would hoist the girl up in the air, she’d wave at the crowd, she’d do a liberty (for you non-cheerers out there, that’s when you balance on one leg, grab your other leg from behind, and pull your heel towards the back of your head), then she’d do a little twist/flip in the air, the guys would catch her, and they’d run into the cars and collect money. They did this for over an hour. I know this because we watched them from a bar across the street. And it never got boring.
I’m sure there were others that I’m forgetting, but I just got all pumped up thinking about the cheerleaders again. So next time you’re stuck in traffic you should take a moment to be sad that you’re not stuck in traffic in Santiago, where you can be entertained by a woman painted all white pretending to be a robot puppet.
In Santiago, it’s not kids asking for money and performing for the cars, it’s adults. And they don’t simply juggle, these people are above juggling. Here’s a rundown of what I’ve seen performing at rush hour on the streets of Santiago:
· One token juggler. But this guy juggled with several clubs, wore some sort of clown outfit with makeup, and pitched the clubs really high up in air… it took some skill. Also, in the town of Viña Del Mar, I saw guys juggling fire and knives, so that was cool.
· One woman dressed as some sort of robotic doll accompanied by a man dressed as her clown/puppet master. The lady was dressed completely in white, with a white wig, and white face paint and perched on a box on the side of the rode. She sat completely still and then her clown/puppet master would direct her to move around. She moved around like a robot, but I think it was supposed to be like she was a puppet. It was very strange, and I still don’t get it.
· One man with a soccer ball. He would kick it up really high, balance it on his head, dribble it, etc. Chris wondered if he considered himself a professional soccer player because he was technically paid to play soccer.
· One magician. This guy would make ping pong balls appear and disappear in his hands. Even from the side, it still looked believable, and I was impressed.
· One male gymnast. This guy would tumble on the street in front of the cars, and do flips and back handsprings… let’s just hope he always sticks his landings.
· One child karate student. This little girl was actually in a public square performing for a group of people. She just ran through her little karate moves. Chris and I figured her parents made her do it to pay back all the money they spent on karate lessons.
· And the best one of all: Cheerleaders! With outfits! On a continent that doesn’t even have cheerleaders! Anywhere! There was one girl in a cheerleading uniform accompanied by two guys. Every time the cars would line up at the light, they would run out and start pumping up the crowd with kicks and spirit fingers. Then the guys would hoist the girl up in the air, she’d wave at the crowd, she’d do a liberty (for you non-cheerers out there, that’s when you balance on one leg, grab your other leg from behind, and pull your heel towards the back of your head), then she’d do a little twist/flip in the air, the guys would catch her, and they’d run into the cars and collect money. They did this for over an hour. I know this because we watched them from a bar across the street. And it never got boring.
I’m sure there were others that I’m forgetting, but I just got all pumped up thinking about the cheerleaders again. So next time you’re stuck in traffic you should take a moment to be sad that you’re not stuck in traffic in Santiago, where you can be entertained by a woman painted all white pretending to be a robot puppet.
Don't Drink the Water
I just spent two days on the diarrhea train. I would not recommend it. Chris rode it last week and I guess my body felt like it needed to experience it too, either that or Chris poisoned me. Anyway, I was talking to an English girl from our Spanish school last night about getting stomach sickness and traveler’s diarrhea, and her tip was to drink the water everywhere you go, right when you get there. This was definitely the first time I had heard that opinion. She told me that she travels all over the world, and the first thing she does is drink the water, just to get any sickness over with. And this girl has drank some nasty water: from Sri Lanka to India to Guatemala to Mexico. She says that after all of that, she has a really strong stomach, and plus, she sucks her thumb. No joke. She’s 24 and sucks her thumb, and she said that she’s probably stuck all sorts of disgusting stuff into her mouth so that also limits the chances of food poisoning and water poisoning and whatnot. Ew.
For now, I’ll stick with bottled water and Immodium AD.
For now, I’ll stick with bottled water and Immodium AD.
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