Thinking in spanglish. I´ll know I´m fluent the day I dream in spanish and understand myself finally.

For those of you who still faithfully check in on this blog every now and then, well, thank you. Your dedication is appreciated. The more I experience on this trip, the less I feel like I can portray an accurate experience of this so-called wanderlust life. There are sentiments and sensations that naturally become lost in translation between living and the story-telling I´m attempting with this blog. Photos seem to be the easiest and most interesting method to explain where I am and what I´m doing these days but I would still like to believe that there is something spectacular to behold in a story well-told. Hence, continue to believe in me, check in every now and then and perhaps I´ll make something better of this silly little blog yet.



Thus far, Andrea and I have lived in Buenos Aires longer than we have lived in any other city since begining this voyage. I feel like I belong here to a certain extent... for example, I´m as addicted to matè as any other decent Porteño, will drink my copa de Malbec at lunch, am begining to slur es´s and ll´s and draw out y´s so as to disguise my foriegness to this city. It´s a delicate accent to acquire. Neglecting awareness of inflection and attention to emphasis, my speech turns into a sloppy mess and my poor, confused tounge falls limp... think of that fat lip feeling you have after a novacain-happy trip to the dentist. Yes, spitty, icky, and generally numb feeling. I think if I could pick up any accent I´d shoot for Colombian. This year Perú won first place for best spanish spoken throughout all Latin America (my understanding is that Spain usually wins this award) yet everyone in South America raves about how beautifully Colombians speak, clean and eloquent... though they´d be quick to remind you how their dialect is still more remarkable regardless. Never the less, I remain determined to stumble over the "me sh-amos" and "a-ja-cuchos" in hopes of perhaps one day successfully fooling a cabi (haha!). The grand irony here is that after my 5 months in Chile, none of this will matter anyway. My Mexican grandmother should feel some relief right about now.

This entry has taken me several hours (spaced out mind you, dont worry I dont sit in front of a computer all day long). Most of it was spat out in some awkward form of spanglish, indicative of the confusion mounting in my fingers translating from my brain.

Anyway, I´ll be back again and sooner.
All my love until then.

Buenos Aires in photos

Liza finally arrived! We devour chocolate cakes together. She´s a beast.

Ana, Andrea, and Liza touring the cemetary in Recoleta. Evita (Eva Perón) and Porteño aristocracy rest in peace here.

(More cemetary)

Well, I´d call this a pretty incredible tree. What say you?

Just a taste of La Boca...

This man makes faces in spoons.

Downtown BA.

Interactive Museum Adventure

Andrea finds a more practical solution to our vagabond lifestyle.

Not only am I learning castellano, but I am also learning how to be a better dinosaur in BA.

Alright alright, I promise a real update soon.

La Bella Buenos Aires

Life is tranquil in Buenos Aires.  We've been to Milongas to watch tango dancing, introduced Tio Coco to Manu Chao live in concert, visited museums for the art scenes, street markets, and the color-filled neighborhood of "Boca".  Today we received a private tour of the Botanical Gardens from a friend of Tio Coco's, Mariano, who is a professor here in BA.  Weather has been as fickle as in Texas, warm and sunny by afternoon but by twilight the wind begins to chill and come night fall you need a jacket.  Every other day it seems to rain a good thunderstorm rain, conducive for renting movies and being a homebody.  I feel less like a tourist here and more like a Porteña... though I have yet to acquire the Argentine accent.  It's nice to blend in for once and make a home-away-from-home.

Mariano (left) with Tio Coco (right) in one of the greenhouses.

This link is for your amusement, apropos of nothing.  Just a beautiful song Tio Coco showed us on youtube. The lyrics are from a poem written by Jose Goytisolo, I believe (please correct me if I'm wrong):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C7Zsb0Y8Tpg

This link is another beautiful song by the amazing Spanish singer, songwriter, and poet, Joaquin Sabina:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_tX7Ffg2Ass

Andrea and I are trying to buy tickets for his concert in BA this January.  Funny story... Apparently one of our friends in Lima went out one night to meet some friends for drinks after work.  He arrives, orders a beer at the bar, and notices a slight commotion across the room.  Over in the corner there's a wildly looking man, obviously drunk, hammering away on a piano and belting out folk songs.  Our curious friend, of course, stands up and crosses the room to take a look at the night's entertainment.
Just so happens it was the infamous Joaquin Sabina, enjoying his evening like any other regular joe.  Or so the story goes.

Miss you all, love you tons.

Machu Picchu, trek in photos

Machu Picchu, the might of the Incas.  Located 72.5 miles northwest of Cusco by railroad.  Elevated 2,432.75 meters above sea level.

Only about 500 Incas lived atop Machu Picchu.  Within just 100 years, their civilization had conquered the territory that now includes most of Ecuador, Peru, Bolivia, and northern Chile.  Had the Spanish conquistadors not killed them off, it's likely they would have pushed as far east as Brazil within a matter of years.  They were a highly advanced civilization... especially evident in their architecture.  It's astounding to visit these ruins because there is quite a noticeable difference between what was obviously originally constructed by the Incas and what has been restored.

Our trekking group consisted of a motley yet fantastic crew of Italians, Spaniards, Australians, Britains, and Canadians.  We defeated swarms of sandflies, crossed the Urumba river Indian Jones style in a metal crate, hiked to the highest peak at Waynu Picchu, and petted a llama.

Incapas we are no more.  Inca blood pumps through our veins.  :D
And this is how our story goes...

Mountain biked from Peruvian highways above cloud level down into subtropical jungle pueblitos just after a hefty rainstorm.

Hiked narrow, practically vertical Incan foot trails to the peak of many a mountain.  This is a view of the Urumba River which we eventually...

Crossed via the afore mentioned metal crate contraption.  Below us is a raging river.  If I figure out how to post the video of the ride, I will add it on later tonight.

Then we hiked some easier roads and passed a variety of waterfalls, like this one.  A REALLY big waterfall.  La pachamama (essentially, mother nature) being fierce.

Walking the railway from the town of Hydroelectric to Aguascalientes.

 
We smushed sol coins on the tracks.  Also, as the caboose of the train passed, we saw through the windows a group of Argentinians we had befriended days before in a taxi ride from Cusco.  Small world out here sometimes.

After three days of tirelessly marching up mountain slopes, across jungle terrain, in blazing heat and through torrential downpours, we finally (FINALLY!) arrived...

MACHU PICCHU!!!!!

And then I fell off the mountain.

Just kidding.  Andrea actually pushed me off.

:)

We hiked Waynu Picchu, the tallest mountain peak in the area directly next to Machu Picchu.

The view of Machu Picchu (all of the grey patch atop the ridge) from Waynu Picchu.  The zig-zag line on the slope is the road for buses.  There is a slightly less zig-zaggy one that pedestrians follow.  You may think us wimps for taking the bus but I'd like to see your happy butt climbing this beast at 4 AM after having accomplished the same trek Andrea and I survived.

This is the path that curved down the back side of Waynu Picchu which a little Peruvian boy assured us would take the same amount of time as the main staircase back down to Machu Picchu... he was out of his mind...

This ladder was not fixed at any angle despite how the photo makes it appear.  There were many more to follow along this route...

After 2 unanticipated hours of additional hiking through the entire Machu Picchu reserve, we arrived at the summit for one last view and were greeted by this cuddly fellow.

All in all it made for an incredible experience.

From Buenos Aires, with love

Two countries down already, two more to conquer.  After a three day long adventure traveling via bus from Lima to Buenos Aires, we finally arrived last Tuesday.  Surprisingly the ride itself was less painful than anticipated... well as painless as a 3-day 3-night stint in a coach bus could prove to be.  We've traversed the Atacama Desert.  We survived the Peru-Chile and Chile-Argentina boarder crossings.  We even managed to feed ourselves for 3 days with only 25 soles split two ways... roughly the equivalent of 8 US dollars.

All in all, a grand experience.
And thank goodness were in BA now.

Here are some photos Andrea's taken in the meantime.  

Plaza de Armas at night in Lima, Peru.

A view in Cusco, Peru.

Rose garden (sigh) at Qorikancha in Cusco, Peru.

The infamous 12-angle stone.  Inca power!

Plaza de Armas in Cusco, Peru.  It's rumored that if you sleep here, you will acquire super-power energies... so the crazy hippy tourists sleeping on the benches... well, they're still crazy hippy tourists... with SUPER POWERS!
Also, I only ever want to live in cities with plazas from now on.  Get on it already, US.

Also, Happy belated Thanksgiving everyone.  I'm thankful to have family and friends as amazing as y'all, who continue to send me love and support from the upside-down hemisphere.  :)

I love you all, miss y'all tons.

Yes, STILL in Lima.

Well, perhaps needless to say, Andrea and I have plunged into a mad love affair with this city, hence my extended absense from the wonderful world of internet blogging. It´s really very itimidating trying to update after such an extended absense; tendencies to ramble are at peak levels currently. So, you know, bear with me.

Lima runs from the coastline along the Pacific Ocean into the foothills of the Andes. It´s smattered with remenants of neoclassical, baroque, and colonial architecture, antiquated cathedrals with catacombs, and the most glorious plazas I´ve ever encountered. They also have the cows on parade (Houstonians should remember this). Bodegas offer the richest assortments of fresh fruit juices (safe and sanitary... not like the street vendors), empanadas, camotes fritas (sweet potato fries), and ´menus´para almorzar (the cheap way to eat like a king for lunch... soup or salad plus a main plate for just 5 soles, which is less than $2). Avocados are as big as your face here, too. No joke.

And, yes, I have tried the cuy... as in guinea pig... and it is incredible. Texture of duck with the flavor of turky, quite surprising really. It even came with a little paw attached though I did request that the head be left off. You pass enough of those on the street everyday that its not such an "experience" anymore, its just annoying because it takes up space on your plate. I´m not concerned about my omnivore ways- I already plucked, skinned, and fried my own chicken on the Neverland farm (beak and claws included).

I´m working on putting up the newest photos and video I have from this city as well as our trip to Cusco and the infamous Machu Picchu. Unfortunately my camera has broken and I cannot take anymore photos as of right now until I either find someone to fix it or buy a new camera... kind of a bummer.

Oh yeah. Machu Picchu. :)
The running joke in Cusco is that the Spanish invasion took this land from the power of "Inca" to "Incapas"... which means the incapable. Really, in comparrison with any remanent of the Incan civilization, everything else here pales in comparrison.
Another interesting tidbit I found out is that the ruins of the Incan Empire at Machu Picchu are sinking due to excessive human traffic on the mountain (consider, approximately 5,000 people are let into the reserve every day). Apparently it´s already increased to nearly a centimeter a month (but, hey, it´s a tall mountain right?). Needless to say, the Peruvian government is preparing to close off the reserve in order to restore and restabilize the ruins.

Our trek started off with a day of mountain biking through the backroads between Cusco and Santa Maria. The group began above cloud level and wound down until we were submerged in subtropical heat and humidity... not to mention swarms of nasty, evil sandflies (remember that one picture of my legs from the farm... ick). The following days we hiked for approximately 7 hours each day, working our way through the small pueblos between Cusco and Aguas Calientes which is the tourist trap city situated at the foot of Machu Picchu. The first day of hiking from Santa Maria to Santa Teresa as well as the last day at the actual site of Machu Picchu makes you realize that probably the reason the Spaniards erradicated the Incas once they found them was becuase they were so pissed off at how impossible the paths are to trek... Andrea and I nearly died. Then you stop and think about how the Incan messangers ran these paths everyday and realize that the joke "from Inca to incapas" isn´t so funny anymore now that you´re a qualifier in the latter of the categories...
The first hiking day was all jungle and mountain... which really means narrow and steap. The second day flattened out a bit and we got to follow the train tracks. The third day was Machu Picchu itself.

I´m actually running late though to wake up Andrea and go to a museum so, for now, I´ll leave this to be continued (eep! sorry!)

Miss you all. I send my love.

Arriba, Abajo, Al Centro, Adentro! Cheers to Lima!!

Lima is for lovers.

No offense to Ecuador but I couldn´t have gotten to Peru soon enough.

Contrary to much of the advice Andrea and I received, we decided to leave Ecuador behind and head for Lima. Most of our plans for Ecuador had spiraled out of control and, to top it off, university students had begun rallying in every major city to protest President Correa´s new education laws. Major streets and highways were closed off as students marched in protest and police blockades of the students were inciting violence in some places.

I´m glad we went to Ecuador, I´m pleased with my experiences on the Neverland farm (where Andrea and I survived our first Earthquake, a tarantula in our room, and a mountain fire evacuation that turned out to be nothing much at all), and I will never forget the kindness of the Valenzuela family for taking Andrea and I in when everything was falling apart... but there is something about Lima that captivates me in a way Ecuador never did.

The peruvian coastline is blinding in the afternoon sun. Mountainous sand dunes cascade into the ocean. Lima´s traffic is wretched and all day long swarms of people crowd the sidewalks so much so that you often find yourself forced into the streets dodging buses and taxis. But there is a vibrance to this city that resonates in the jubilance of the people. I am in love with the colors, the architecture, the climate, the music, the food. We´ve taken a tour of the catacombs of the Catedral San Fransisco, celebrated ¨Semana de Lima¨ with live music and dancing in the Plaza de Armas, and toured the city´s bus routes on our way to and from Miraflores and the boardwalk. Last night our new friends from the hostel took us clubbing for Halloween (oh the eighties music...) and we partied with the best of Peru haha!

Tomorrow we head south to a beachtown that is most popular for sandboarding in the dunes. Then we will travel to Cusco for Machu Picchu and a trip into the Amazon. Hopefully we will return to Lima before leaving for Argentina. I really do love this city.

More updates soon. Until then, all my love.

We quit the fica, built a table, and found the waterfall.

My sincerest apologies for not updating... things have been a bit hectic as of late. We are currently making plans to head to Peru to see Machu Picchu and the Amazon. I promise a full update as soon as the planning chaos subsides... here are some photos from the farm in the meantime.

All my love.