I've been feeling a bit run down since arriving back to the States. I've also developed this odd rash on my stomach (I know, gross right?) and I'm a tad bit worried about it. I'm pretty sure it's not Dengue Fever, but still. A wee bit worrisome. My boyfriend thinks I'm a hypochondriac, but he's not really one to talk.
Tomorrow morning we leave for California. Jeff's brother is getting married this time. Last time it was his sister. His family loves weddings apparently. Kidding, it's nice that we get to see them twice in a month since they live all the way out in the state that just voted for Prop 8 (otherwise known as California).
As long as I don't die of dengue fever, malaria, or typhoid fever, I'll be sure to update this weekend and give a bit more in-depth and interesting commentary on the goings on of election week. Because, I realize, that you're all DYING to hear my point of view on the whole thing. Just dying.
xoxo.
Wednesday, November 5, 2008
Tuesday, October 28, 2008
Monday, October 27, 2008
Still in the aeropuerto
We´re on hour 9 of the Lima airport. It´s been super fun. We´ve accomplished a lot since we got here at 9 this morning. We solved world hunger, figured out how to stop the Darfurian genocide, and cured cancer. I know, I know, it sounds unbelievable that we did all that in less than a day, but what can I say? Sarah and I are brilliant, brilliant people.
Seriously though, you´d think that an airport in a town of over 9 million people would have a bit more to offer than this one does. Not to complain or anything, because I´m sure that they have their reasons, and it´s likely that the majority of those 9 million people can´t actually afford to take a flight at the airport. But still. Okay, yes, I´m being incredibly American and probably a bit naive right now, but honestly. I´m bored.
Speaking of being American, a thought occured to me today. Although we haven´t experienced too much negativity about the fact that we´re from Los Estados Unitos since arriving here, there have been certain instances were I think people were less than thrilled to hear that we were American. Plus, I of course projected my own trepidation about my nationality on to other people, particularly two girls who I chatted with on the train to Aquas Calientes, who turned out to be from Vancouver. When I had to tell them I was from the US, I got really embarrassed. Which is just sad. I shouldn´t be embarrassed to let people know where I´m from. Anyway, my point.
I think the American idiot stereotype is a cyclical thing, which is probably obvious. We go out in to the world, and encounter people who have these preconceived notions about who or what america/ns are and what we do, and because of these ideas, they react in a certain way when they learn that someone is from the United States. In turn, people from the US react to those reactions negatively, thus reinforcing the negative ideas that others have about us. Etc.
Cycles are hard to break. All cycles. I learned this watching The Wire. Just kidding... about the Wire comment, not about the cycles.
God I´m bored.
I guess I could take this opportunity to get a massage in the middle of the airport, but for some reason that just doesn´t sound appealing to me. Plus, I figured out that the Enya music actually isn´t playing over the airport loudspeakers - it´s coming from the massage place that´s just outside the door of this internet cafe. They´ve had the same album on repeat for about 5 hours as far as I can tell. Then again, all Enya sounds really similar, so maybe I´m wrong about that.
Okay, I´m getting off of here for real this time. We only have 30-ish minutes before we can check in to our flight (woo!), so time is actually moving. Slowly, but it´s moving.
xoxo
Seriously though, you´d think that an airport in a town of over 9 million people would have a bit more to offer than this one does. Not to complain or anything, because I´m sure that they have their reasons, and it´s likely that the majority of those 9 million people can´t actually afford to take a flight at the airport. But still. Okay, yes, I´m being incredibly American and probably a bit naive right now, but honestly. I´m bored.
Speaking of being American, a thought occured to me today. Although we haven´t experienced too much negativity about the fact that we´re from Los Estados Unitos since arriving here, there have been certain instances were I think people were less than thrilled to hear that we were American. Plus, I of course projected my own trepidation about my nationality on to other people, particularly two girls who I chatted with on the train to Aquas Calientes, who turned out to be from Vancouver. When I had to tell them I was from the US, I got really embarrassed. Which is just sad. I shouldn´t be embarrassed to let people know where I´m from. Anyway, my point.
I think the American idiot stereotype is a cyclical thing, which is probably obvious. We go out in to the world, and encounter people who have these preconceived notions about who or what america/ns are and what we do, and because of these ideas, they react in a certain way when they learn that someone is from the United States. In turn, people from the US react to those reactions negatively, thus reinforcing the negative ideas that others have about us. Etc.
Cycles are hard to break. All cycles. I learned this watching The Wire. Just kidding... about the Wire comment, not about the cycles.
God I´m bored.
I guess I could take this opportunity to get a massage in the middle of the airport, but for some reason that just doesn´t sound appealing to me. Plus, I figured out that the Enya music actually isn´t playing over the airport loudspeakers - it´s coming from the massage place that´s just outside the door of this internet cafe. They´ve had the same album on repeat for about 5 hours as far as I can tell. Then again, all Enya sounds really similar, so maybe I´m wrong about that.
Okay, I´m getting off of here for real this time. We only have 30-ish minutes before we can check in to our flight (woo!), so time is actually moving. Slowly, but it´s moving.
xoxo
P.S.
Oh, and I meant to add this to the last entry. I MISS MY JANET and MY SISTER.
Okay, that's all.
xoxo
Okay, that's all.
xoxo
Argh, and other stories
Well, the first time I wrote this entry, the Argh stood for the fact that I will likely be missing the Phillies win the World Series tonight, since I'll be on a plane home. This time around, the Argh stands for the entry that this computer just lost, which took me 20 minutes to type. Argh argh argh.
I'll try to rewrite the best that I can. We're in the Lima Airport, waiting for our flight that's in a little less than 12 hours. Yes, 12 hours. The airport is just FULL of exciting things to do. Okay, that's a lie, it's not. It's a typical, boring, silly airport. They're playing Enya in the hallways right now. Why do the people who choose music in airports always have the worst taste in the world? The Atlanta airport music person apparently hasn't listened to music since about 1994, since every time I'm in it (which is quite often) I swear I hear songs that I haven't heard since I was in 8th grade.
Speaking of songs that I haven't heard since middle school. The first day of the trek, we were picked up in a tour van, and drove for about 3 1/2 hours (with a stop for breakfast in this Peruvian rural market that was incredibly interesting and somewhat unsanitary by my prudish American standards - i.e. there were women chopping the heads off cows (no joke) and skinning them out in the open with dirty dogs roaming around whenever they pleased...but whatever, at least these people are connected to their food, which is more than I can say for most Americans and their supermarkets full of food that was frozen and shipped 8+ hours).
During the drive, the drivers and the tour guide (Alfredo - he was awesome and I totally have a crush on him) put in a CD of their music. At first, the CD was playing some Peruvian rock music, which was totally cool and pretty much what I would expect to hear in Peru. However, after about an hour of that, they switched the disc, and suddenly we were listening to Extreme "More Than Words," and about six Guns N' Roses songs. Alfredo was super excited when I informed him that GNR is releasing Chinese Democracy in the next couple months, at long last. It was hilarious - I never expected to be driving through the rural Peruvian countryside listening to Extreme.
We stopped at a hot spring, which was really peaceful & quite interesting since it was frequented only by Peruvians. We were the only tourists there, and we got a lot of stares. Once we started on our trek, about an hour later, our muscles were nice and relaxed, which was a REALLY good thing, since we walked in total about 15+ miles, which included hiking up and up and up a mountain, until we hit the top and saw the most beautiful glacier ever. We were literally standing at the bottom of it.
Although I'd still like to do the Incan Trail, the Lares Trek was really cool - we got the chance to see so many things that most don't see when they visit Peru. We hiked through rural, rural, RURAL villages at the peaks of mountians - communities that have retained the traditional Andean culture, who still work on the land or with animals (herds of llama, alpaca, and sheep were a common sight by the end). We passed little children with cheeks ruddy from exposure, some of whom had likely never been our of their small village. It was also interesting to see how as we traveled down the mountain again, the closer we got to the bottom the less traditional the culture became. Once we reached the bottom - a little town near Ollaytaytambo - we saw tourists, Peruvians dressed in jeans, and cars. In the mountains, there were no roads - people walks miles and miles to get to their nearest neighbor, or ... don't. Kids who live about three miles uphill from the school in the valley walk down and back fro class every day. It was unbelievable - so different from anything that I've ever seen (even in Belize, Costa Rica, etc) that it almost didn't seem real to a certain extent.
I'll post pictures tomorrow once I'm home and out of the aeropuerto.
Next, California! (But first, home and lots and lots of hot showers and sleep.)
I'll try to rewrite the best that I can. We're in the Lima Airport, waiting for our flight that's in a little less than 12 hours. Yes, 12 hours. The airport is just FULL of exciting things to do. Okay, that's a lie, it's not. It's a typical, boring, silly airport. They're playing Enya in the hallways right now. Why do the people who choose music in airports always have the worst taste in the world? The Atlanta airport music person apparently hasn't listened to music since about 1994, since every time I'm in it (which is quite often) I swear I hear songs that I haven't heard since I was in 8th grade.
Speaking of songs that I haven't heard since middle school. The first day of the trek, we were picked up in a tour van, and drove for about 3 1/2 hours (with a stop for breakfast in this Peruvian rural market that was incredibly interesting and somewhat unsanitary by my prudish American standards - i.e. there were women chopping the heads off cows (no joke) and skinning them out in the open with dirty dogs roaming around whenever they pleased...but whatever, at least these people are connected to their food, which is more than I can say for most Americans and their supermarkets full of food that was frozen and shipped 8+ hours).
During the drive, the drivers and the tour guide (Alfredo - he was awesome and I totally have a crush on him) put in a CD of their music. At first, the CD was playing some Peruvian rock music, which was totally cool and pretty much what I would expect to hear in Peru. However, after about an hour of that, they switched the disc, and suddenly we were listening to Extreme "More Than Words," and about six Guns N' Roses songs. Alfredo was super excited when I informed him that GNR is releasing Chinese Democracy in the next couple months, at long last. It was hilarious - I never expected to be driving through the rural Peruvian countryside listening to Extreme.
We stopped at a hot spring, which was really peaceful & quite interesting since it was frequented only by Peruvians. We were the only tourists there, and we got a lot of stares. Once we started on our trek, about an hour later, our muscles were nice and relaxed, which was a REALLY good thing, since we walked in total about 15+ miles, which included hiking up and up and up a mountain, until we hit the top and saw the most beautiful glacier ever. We were literally standing at the bottom of it.
Although I'd still like to do the Incan Trail, the Lares Trek was really cool - we got the chance to see so many things that most don't see when they visit Peru. We hiked through rural, rural, RURAL villages at the peaks of mountians - communities that have retained the traditional Andean culture, who still work on the land or with animals (herds of llama, alpaca, and sheep were a common sight by the end). We passed little children with cheeks ruddy from exposure, some of whom had likely never been our of their small village. It was also interesting to see how as we traveled down the mountain again, the closer we got to the bottom the less traditional the culture became. Once we reached the bottom - a little town near Ollaytaytambo - we saw tourists, Peruvians dressed in jeans, and cars. In the mountains, there were no roads - people walks miles and miles to get to their nearest neighbor, or ... don't. Kids who live about three miles uphill from the school in the valley walk down and back fro class every day. It was unbelievable - so different from anything that I've ever seen (even in Belize, Costa Rica, etc) that it almost didn't seem real to a certain extent.
I'll post pictures tomorrow once I'm home and out of the aeropuerto.
Next, California! (But first, home and lots and lots of hot showers and sleep.)
Saturday, October 25, 2008
The trek is done, long live the trek
We just finished our trek through the Andes. It was beautiful, but smelly. I have never been so excited to shower in my entire life. No joke.
I took about a million photos, so I´ll post them soon. I have to admit that I´m excited to get home......mostly because this trip has been great, but completely exhausting, in part because one of my travel companions has been less than wonderful to travel with. I didnt know him before we took this vacation (I had met him once), and I suppose I learned a good lesson from this: if you´re going to take a trip that involves strenous activity and a lot of time together, you should DEFINITELY be sure that the people that you´re traveling with are good companions. Sadly, he is not. I feel sort of bad for him actually - he seems like a really unhappy person and it shows in his constant negativity about everything. It´s odd, and sort of funny - he´s the most paranoid, negative, hypocondriacical (which probably isn´t a word) person that I´ve ever met and he´s from Europe. I mean, stereotypically I think people would expect someone like that to be from middle America or something.
Anyway, enough complaining. It´s just been hard to have to be with him constantly for a week. However, the trek was gorgeous, our tour guide was hilarious (he kept asking me question after question about my boyfriend), and we camped in really beautiful places.
Tomorrow - Manchu Picchu in the morning, Cuzco in the evening, then back to Lima and then HOME!
Sigh. Traveling is great, but tiring. Plus, I miss my boyfriend. Yes, I am a geek.
I took about a million photos, so I´ll post them soon. I have to admit that I´m excited to get home......mostly because this trip has been great, but completely exhausting, in part because one of my travel companions has been less than wonderful to travel with. I didnt know him before we took this vacation (I had met him once), and I suppose I learned a good lesson from this: if you´re going to take a trip that involves strenous activity and a lot of time together, you should DEFINITELY be sure that the people that you´re traveling with are good companions. Sadly, he is not. I feel sort of bad for him actually - he seems like a really unhappy person and it shows in his constant negativity about everything. It´s odd, and sort of funny - he´s the most paranoid, negative, hypocondriacical (which probably isn´t a word) person that I´ve ever met and he´s from Europe. I mean, stereotypically I think people would expect someone like that to be from middle America or something.
Anyway, enough complaining. It´s just been hard to have to be with him constantly for a week. However, the trek was gorgeous, our tour guide was hilarious (he kept asking me question after question about my boyfriend), and we camped in really beautiful places.
Tomorrow - Manchu Picchu in the morning, Cuzco in the evening, then back to Lima and then HOME!
Sigh. Traveling is great, but tiring. Plus, I miss my boyfriend. Yes, I am a geek.
Wednesday, October 22, 2008
Peru is beautiful
Since the internet costs a pretty penny, I don´t have much time to write. We leave tomorrow on the trek. I think we´re all a bit nervous about it, but we have our orientation in just a few minutes, so that should ease our worries. I´ll post pictures once I can get them up on to a computer. Peru is absolutely beautiful... Cusco is surprisingly large, although we´ve mainly been traveling in the tourist section of the city I think. Every other person asks you if you´d like a massage. We have yet to take them up on the offer.
Traveling here has reminded me of one very important thing ... the need to learn another language. Today a woman tried to speak to me, and when she realized that I dont speak much Spanish at all, she immediately assumed (correctly) that I was from Los Estados Unidos. Such a sad comment on our country.
More later.
xoxo
Traveling here has reminded me of one very important thing ... the need to learn another language. Today a woman tried to speak to me, and when she realized that I dont speak much Spanish at all, she immediately assumed (correctly) that I was from Los Estados Unidos. Such a sad comment on our country.
More later.
xoxo
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