So I suppose I better finish this up for all you faithful readers. I'll pick up where I left off:
Day 2:
Today we woke up and after a wonderful breakfast of bread and coffee we headed off into the Bolivian desert. During this part of the trip we stopped at a few different lakes and were able to look at flamingos. YES, they were pink. This was our longest day of driving and we didn't leave the jeep much. We passed through various Bolivian desert villages that looked abandoned. That night we arrived at what looked like the Ritz compared to the night before. The beds had blankets and there were even showers (they were COLD though). I decided to go for a walk before dinner and started to ambitiously make my way up the mountain behind the hostal. I quickly remembered that we were still at 15.000 ft and had to slow the pace a bit. From the hostal we were able to see the salt flat that we would drive on the next day.
Day 3.
On day 3 we spent most of the day on the salt flat . It was AMAZING! It looked like ice but after some taste testing we decided it was really salt! We stopped at a salt hotel in the middle of the flat and got to look around. Everything was made of salt...it was really interesting to see the different layers. Once we arrived in Uyni, Bolivia we said bye to our guide and headed to a pizza place to eat. I could've stayed on teh street and watched the business of the town for hours. All the women dress traditionally and I felt like I was in a different world compared to Chile. I was supposed to leave that afternoon to head back to CHile but due to rain , the tourist company put me up in a hotel. It was nice to have my own room and go to bed at a decent time. I rode back to Chile with two French girls. Trying to cross the border was quite entertaining. We spent about 2 hours on the Bolivian side because the customs people were eating lunch. once we got across we weren't able to go to the Chilean side and waited in front of the border (aka a line drawn by a stick in the sand) for the next jeep to come pick us up. Once we got to Calama I set off to find a hostal. EVERYTHING was packed and after about an hour of looking I finally settled for a cheap (not as cheap as a hostal) hotel. Eventhough it was more expensive, I really enjoyed my first shower in 7 days as well as the comfy beds. That evening I walked to the mall and ate TONS of salad at a buffet. It was great to have something besides cookies and bread. For the next day and a half I walked around and explored the town. I left the next morning for Santiago , landed by 11, and was in Vina by 1. Everything went smoothly.
AND NOW, I'm home. 2 of my friends drove me to the airport on the 14th. The flight went smoothly and I landed in Dallas around 9. WHAT A RUDE AWAKENING! I was suddenly surrounded by loud americans in cow boy hats. haha. Its been a challenging transition, but it is good to be home. I've been working a ton and trying to get used to suburbia again.
This experience was AMAZING. Sure I had some ups and downs, but I really grew and learned as a person. Thanks for all your comments and your time spent reading this! I am going to try and upload LOTS of pics for everyone to see! CHAO for now....
Monday, 20 August 2007
Wednesday, 11 July 2007
Bolivia: Mountain HIGH
I started writing this on the 7th...hope you enjoy!
7-7-07
So I´m sitting here under 4 blankets, my sleeping bag, wearing 6 layers,my down vest, my wool hat, and my scarf- in the middle of the Bolivian desert. It´s been an adventure up to this poinit-I will start at the beginning.
Day 1:
AFter 1.5 hours of sleep, I threw all the warm stuff I own into my pack and headed for the bus station to meet megan. From there we went to Santiago to catch our flight to Calama. In the airport I got my 3rd cup of real coffee in 6 months...mmmm. Megan and I sat at Starbucks and promptly fell asleep-oops. Megan woke up and realized our flight was in 5 min so we sprinted to the gate and WHAT LUCK it was delayed an hour. So around 6 we headed up north to Calama...a small mining city in the middle of the desert. We got off the plane and learned it was 14 dollars to go to San Pedro by private bus, or we could take a taxi into town and take a public bus for much much less. The taxi driver promised us we´d be there on time , well as luck has it , we weren´t and the next one was at 10pm. SO we decided to walk around an eat to kill time. When we finally got to San Pedro it was 12:30 and we were dropped off in a middle of a dirt field. hmmmmm. Soj we started to walk looking for a place to stay....or in reality just looking for the town in general. At midnight this supposedly touristy town was dead. There were no lights, all the adobe buildings were closed and we felt like we were in a ghost town. Everywhere we looked was booked and we were on the verge of sleeping in the plaza when some random guy on a bike approached us. THis is how the conversation went:
BIKER DUDE (BD): You need a place to stay?
ME: YES! do you have room?
BD: Well I know of this place outside of town
ME: Ok, how much?
BD: However much you want to pay
ME: (a bit suspicious at this point) are you sure this is a hostal?
BD: yeah, its just some place i know...
So we continued walking out of town to the boonies where there were no lights and lots of run down buildings. I started to get nervous but eventually we got there and it ended up being a pretty sweet place. It consisted of rooms and tents...nothing fancy, but atleast it was a bed to sleep in. I woke up early and walked out to the bathroom to be met by a HUGE volcano right in front of me. I walked to the kitchen to make some tea and started talking ot one of the guys there. His name was Louis and he´d been living there for the past 5 months. He offered me a raw shell fish...a clam of some sort...as an early morning snack...i took it to be polite figuring that would be it. He was like a kid in a candy shop as he watched me slurp it down and quickly refiled my hands with yet another shell. mmmmm nothing like an early morning snack of raw fish. What an interesting guy
After luch we went on a tour to death valley and valle de luna. It was pretty in its own way...no vegitation but awesome rock formations. We walked on a sand dune to see the sun set, so pretty. That night we had a barbque wiht the guys that were staying at the hostal. It was SO fun! We met some guys from france, peru, and argentina. All of them hippies who played the drums for a living. Later in the night we had a HUGE drum circle...everyone playing idfferent instruments, definalty an experience.
7-9-07
This morning we woke up and started for Bolivia. We all started off in big vans and headed to the border. AFter we crossed we headed to the bolivian border (about an hour ride). In about 45 min we were at 4, 300 m...or over 14.000 ft. WOW. So we´re headed on a nice paved road for Bolivia when suddenly the driver turns off onto a dirt "road" (not sure if it can even be considered that)...and points to the paved road saying "thats the road ot argentina, here´s the road to bolivia!". I thought he was joking, he wasn´t. So we headed in the middle of a dirt desert surrounded by volcanos to the "border" (aka a adobe shack with a desk). At about 11 we arrived at a refujio to eat breakfast and to switch into the jeeps. At this point i put on all my clothes and tried to stay warm.
The first stop was teh green lagoon- it looked just like it sounds. Then we headed to the hot springs. Now i´m not sure i mentioned how cold it was, but there was NO Way i was going into the springs. Well when push came to shove I decided to get in. I was without a swim suit or a towl so had to improvise with my t shirt...luckily everyone there was european if you know what i mean. It was SO NICE to get in, surrounded by volcanos, in the middle of Bolivia, CRAZINESS! We then headed to the gyeisers where were AMAZING and at 5,000m! They looked like boiling concrete, crazy! Jose, our guide said that every year one or two tourists fall in and turn into hard boiled eggs...haha.
After the gyesers we headed to the red lagoon to stay the night. We unpacked and had lunch made by a Bolivian family. THis place was in the middle of the deseret with NOTHING but a few adobe buildings. Bolivia is so different than Chile, the women still dress traditionally, and its still a 3rd world country. Megan and I walked to a lookout point, and i got stuck in teh mud :(. The altitude was CRAZY! I slept maybe an hour that night and was sick to my stomach the rest of the time..WHEW never been that high in my life!
Ok, my hands are tired...I write more later!
7-7-07
So I´m sitting here under 4 blankets, my sleeping bag, wearing 6 layers,my down vest, my wool hat, and my scarf- in the middle of the Bolivian desert. It´s been an adventure up to this poinit-I will start at the beginning.
Day 1:
AFter 1.5 hours of sleep, I threw all the warm stuff I own into my pack and headed for the bus station to meet megan. From there we went to Santiago to catch our flight to Calama. In the airport I got my 3rd cup of real coffee in 6 months...mmmm. Megan and I sat at Starbucks and promptly fell asleep-oops. Megan woke up and realized our flight was in 5 min so we sprinted to the gate and WHAT LUCK it was delayed an hour. So around 6 we headed up north to Calama...a small mining city in the middle of the desert. We got off the plane and learned it was 14 dollars to go to San Pedro by private bus, or we could take a taxi into town and take a public bus for much much less. The taxi driver promised us we´d be there on time , well as luck has it , we weren´t and the next one was at 10pm. SO we decided to walk around an eat to kill time. When we finally got to San Pedro it was 12:30 and we were dropped off in a middle of a dirt field. hmmmmm. Soj we started to walk looking for a place to stay....or in reality just looking for the town in general. At midnight this supposedly touristy town was dead. There were no lights, all the adobe buildings were closed and we felt like we were in a ghost town. Everywhere we looked was booked and we were on the verge of sleeping in the plaza when some random guy on a bike approached us. THis is how the conversation went:
BIKER DUDE (BD): You need a place to stay?
ME: YES! do you have room?
BD: Well I know of this place outside of town
ME: Ok, how much?
BD: However much you want to pay
ME: (a bit suspicious at this point) are you sure this is a hostal?
BD: yeah, its just some place i know...
So we continued walking out of town to the boonies where there were no lights and lots of run down buildings. I started to get nervous but eventually we got there and it ended up being a pretty sweet place. It consisted of rooms and tents...nothing fancy, but atleast it was a bed to sleep in. I woke up early and walked out to the bathroom to be met by a HUGE volcano right in front of me. I walked to the kitchen to make some tea and started talking ot one of the guys there. His name was Louis and he´d been living there for the past 5 months. He offered me a raw shell fish...a clam of some sort...as an early morning snack...i took it to be polite figuring that would be it. He was like a kid in a candy shop as he watched me slurp it down and quickly refiled my hands with yet another shell. mmmmm nothing like an early morning snack of raw fish. What an interesting guy
After luch we went on a tour to death valley and valle de luna. It was pretty in its own way...no vegitation but awesome rock formations. We walked on a sand dune to see the sun set, so pretty. That night we had a barbque wiht the guys that were staying at the hostal. It was SO fun! We met some guys from france, peru, and argentina. All of them hippies who played the drums for a living. Later in the night we had a HUGE drum circle...everyone playing idfferent instruments, definalty an experience.
7-9-07
This morning we woke up and started for Bolivia. We all started off in big vans and headed to the border. AFter we crossed we headed to the bolivian border (about an hour ride). In about 45 min we were at 4, 300 m...or over 14.000 ft. WOW. So we´re headed on a nice paved road for Bolivia when suddenly the driver turns off onto a dirt "road" (not sure if it can even be considered that)...and points to the paved road saying "thats the road ot argentina, here´s the road to bolivia!". I thought he was joking, he wasn´t. So we headed in the middle of a dirt desert surrounded by volcanos to the "border" (aka a adobe shack with a desk). At about 11 we arrived at a refujio to eat breakfast and to switch into the jeeps. At this point i put on all my clothes and tried to stay warm.
The first stop was teh green lagoon- it looked just like it sounds. Then we headed to the hot springs. Now i´m not sure i mentioned how cold it was, but there was NO Way i was going into the springs. Well when push came to shove I decided to get in. I was without a swim suit or a towl so had to improvise with my t shirt...luckily everyone there was european if you know what i mean. It was SO NICE to get in, surrounded by volcanos, in the middle of Bolivia, CRAZINESS! We then headed to the gyeisers where were AMAZING and at 5,000m! They looked like boiling concrete, crazy! Jose, our guide said that every year one or two tourists fall in and turn into hard boiled eggs...haha.
After the gyesers we headed to the red lagoon to stay the night. We unpacked and had lunch made by a Bolivian family. THis place was in the middle of the deseret with NOTHING but a few adobe buildings. Bolivia is so different than Chile, the women still dress traditionally, and its still a 3rd world country. Megan and I walked to a lookout point, and i got stuck in teh mud :(. The altitude was CRAZY! I slept maybe an hour that night and was sick to my stomach the rest of the time..WHEW never been that high in my life!
Ok, my hands are tired...I write more later!
Friday, 29 June 2007
Ohhhh Chile how I'll Miss You
The 14th is approaching too fast and today I felt especially nostalgic. It's going to be a hard transition but I'm going to make the best of it. I'm going to recap below...
Things I'll Miss
1. The city lights and smells
2. The street dogs
3. The men selling ice cream on the street corners
4. Cheap cookies and fruit
5. Sleeping in (yes, i've finally learned how)
6. Avocado at least once a day
7. Watching all the teen boppers in their school uniforms with their mullet hair
8. The ocean
9. The amazing people I have met here
10. Walking around JUMBO
11. The vibrant night life
12. The people and their willingness to help
13. Mc Donalds soft serve ice cream (yes, its better here)
14. The crazy colectivo drivers
15. Riding on a Micro, standing and trying not to lose my balance
Favorite Memories
1. Torres del Paine..."Goodnight American SWeethearts"
2. Making shakshuka and apple crisp with amazing friends
3. Tall Itay and Short Itay (our friends from Israel)
4. Watching Grey's on Monday afternoons
5. Running a 5k in Santiago
6. Walking around the hills in Valpo (the good parts and the bad parts)
7. The border crossing on my way to Mendoza
8. Being proposed to by 4 16yr olds while teaching english
9. Working at the Colegio with a 3rd grade class
10. DAncing SALSA
11. CAmping on the beach in Horcon
12. Salamanca...the amazing food, views, and people
13. Climbing a volcano
14. Making breakfast pizza with Chileans
Things I've Learned
1. Its ok to tip people performing on the streets....its how they make a living
2. Always wear your backpack on the front
3. Be patient, go with the flow
4. The three greatest things in life: Friends, Food, Dancing
5. Sometimes you need to forget about the work you have...it will get done...and live in the moment, spending your time experiencing the culture, learning about life, and building relationships
6. 6 inches of fries topped with meat and egg will not kill you
7. Walking is one of the best ways to get to know a place
8. Treasure every moment and do what makes you happy rather than what you think others want you to do (although it is important to consider)
9. It's ok to sit around at the table for 3 hours talking
10. Talk to people, learn about them and their stories
11. Don't think you have plenty of time to "do it later" ... if you want to do something, learn something, experience something , do it now.
ok, enough of this sappy Blog....just some thoughts before I make the trip home. HOWDY to the family in NY....wish i could be there this week!!
Things I'll Miss
1. The city lights and smells
2. The street dogs
3. The men selling ice cream on the street corners
4. Cheap cookies and fruit
5. Sleeping in (yes, i've finally learned how)
6. Avocado at least once a day
7. Watching all the teen boppers in their school uniforms with their mullet hair
8. The ocean
9. The amazing people I have met here
10. Walking around JUMBO
11. The vibrant night life
12. The people and their willingness to help
13. Mc Donalds soft serve ice cream (yes, its better here)
14. The crazy colectivo drivers
15. Riding on a Micro, standing and trying not to lose my balance
Favorite Memories
1. Torres del Paine..."Goodnight American SWeethearts"
2. Making shakshuka and apple crisp with amazing friends
3. Tall Itay and Short Itay (our friends from Israel)
4. Watching Grey's on Monday afternoons
5. Running a 5k in Santiago
6. Walking around the hills in Valpo (the good parts and the bad parts)
7. The border crossing on my way to Mendoza
8. Being proposed to by 4 16yr olds while teaching english
9. Working at the Colegio with a 3rd grade class
10. DAncing SALSA
11. CAmping on the beach in Horcon
12. Salamanca...the amazing food, views, and people
13. Climbing a volcano
14. Making breakfast pizza with Chileans
Things I've Learned
1. Its ok to tip people performing on the streets....its how they make a living
2. Always wear your backpack on the front
3. Be patient, go with the flow
4. The three greatest things in life: Friends, Food, Dancing
5. Sometimes you need to forget about the work you have...it will get done...and live in the moment, spending your time experiencing the culture, learning about life, and building relationships
6. 6 inches of fries topped with meat and egg will not kill you
7. Walking is one of the best ways to get to know a place
8. Treasure every moment and do what makes you happy rather than what you think others want you to do (although it is important to consider)
9. It's ok to sit around at the table for 3 hours talking
10. Talk to people, learn about them and their stories
11. Don't think you have plenty of time to "do it later" ... if you want to do something, learn something, experience something , do it now.
ok, enough of this sappy Blog....just some thoughts before I make the trip home. HOWDY to the family in NY....wish i could be there this week!!
Thursday, 28 June 2007
Salamanca Amazingness
Hey everyone! Wow, time is flying by here, and i'm starting to feel panicked with all the things i want to do still!! This past weekend was a good one. On Friday I got up early and went on an all day field trip with a 3rd grade class that i've been going to weekly. The field trip was for my social geography class, a class that places groups of students in different public schools to do projects with a class throughout the semester. It was so much fun to spend the day with kids.
First we went to the University and gave them a tour and did science experiments. We then took a bus to another building and played games and had lunch. The kids loved it and it was so good to see them happy. THey all come from a very poor neighborhood in valpo. A number of them didn't have coats and a few of the girls didn't have stockings to wear under their skirts (mind you its about 40 degrees here). I've attached some pictures of the kids below. I'm goign to miss them. After the field trip I hopped on a bus to Salamanca to meet Erin, Maren, DAve, and Ale, the Chilean brother of Erin. It was a 6 hour ride and I sat next to this nice man that was from Salamanca. We talked the whole time about EVERYTHING. He has lived in numerous towns in Chile and has decided to retire in Salamanca. It was so interesting to hear his stories and was nice to have someone to talk to for the ride up.
Salamanca was AMAZING. Ale's parents have a house in the country at a vineyard but htey live in town. The house i s HUGE and beautiful. I got there around 11pm and Erin and Maren had just made vino navegado (hot wine with cinnamon, sugar, and oranges). It was just what I needed after being out in the cold. The fire was going and we spent the night talking and playing cards. The next morning we went for a hike up a mountain. It was BEAUTIFUL out and the first time I've been warm in months. The mountain was filled with cacti and by the end of the trip our legs looked like they had gotten in a fight with a cat. That night we cooked Shashuka and apple crisp....yummmmm.....The next morning we made fresh squeezed OJ w/ oranges right off the tree and made french toast for lunch / breakfast. It was so relaxing and I wish we could've stayed longer! Ok, I suppose that is all. I hope everyone is well!
First we went to the University and gave them a tour and did science experiments. We then took a bus to another building and played games and had lunch. The kids loved it and it was so good to see them happy. THey all come from a very poor neighborhood in valpo. A number of them didn't have coats and a few of the girls didn't have stockings to wear under their skirts (mind you its about 40 degrees here). I've attached some pictures of the kids below. I'm goign to miss them. After the field trip I hopped on a bus to Salamanca to meet Erin, Maren, DAve, and Ale, the Chilean brother of Erin. It was a 6 hour ride and I sat next to this nice man that was from Salamanca. We talked the whole time about EVERYTHING. He has lived in numerous towns in Chile and has decided to retire in Salamanca. It was so interesting to hear his stories and was nice to have someone to talk to for the ride up.
Salamanca was AMAZING. Ale's parents have a house in the country at a vineyard but htey live in town. The house i s HUGE and beautiful. I got there around 11pm and Erin and Maren had just made vino navegado (hot wine with cinnamon, sugar, and oranges). It was just what I needed after being out in the cold. The fire was going and we spent the night talking and playing cards. The next morning we went for a hike up a mountain. It was BEAUTIFUL out and the first time I've been warm in months. The mountain was filled with cacti and by the end of the trip our legs looked like they had gotten in a fight with a cat. That night we cooked Shashuka and apple crisp....yummmmm.....The next morning we made fresh squeezed OJ w/ oranges right off the tree and made french toast for lunch / breakfast. It was so relaxing and I wish we could've stayed longer! Ok, I suppose that is all. I hope everyone is well!
Sunday, 17 June 2007
Suenos and Cerros
Hola everyone! HAPPY FATHER'S DAY DAD! Things are moving SUPER fast here and I can't believe my time is coming to an end! School is looking good, except for my cine class...blah. On Friday I went out with some of the other Luther ladies to a vegetarian restaurant on cerro Alegre in Valpo. It was SO SO good! AND it was actually warm inside...the Chileans don't believe in central heating. We each ordered something called a SUENO (dream). Its this brownie like cookie topped with the richest chocolate sauce imaginable. It truly was a sueno. I will definitely have to go back there before I leave!
Last night I went walking through the cerros (hills) of Valpo with one of the chileans I know. We started on Cerro Mariposa (in the center of the city) and walked for two hours on an Avenue called Avenida Alemania. The first hour or so we were in the upper class area with AMAZING houses. THey reminded me of doll houses and were all different shapes and colors....I wish my camera worked! Its amazing how much things can change between cerros. We turned the corner and were in a poorer district of Valpo. This is when my friend said, "if someone tries to assault you, give them everything." and promptly followed by saying, "you said you wanted to walk the cerros tonight, so i figured I'd give you the whole experience." At this point i was a bit nervous...It's not like I stick out or anything..haha. So we're walking on this street that is NOT lighted amongst run down houses and numerous stray dogs. In the end I was glad I got to see the real Valpo but at the time I was feeling pretty nervous. So we're walking and these guys start throwing rocks at us from above and yelling. All the sudden I see bright flashes of light and hear loud popping. It was only fire crackers but I was FREAKING OUT. So we keep walking and I figured that we were going to head down. I was wrong. We crossed into a better section for a while and I felt a little more relaxed. After about 15 min he warned me that this next section was a dangerous one and again told me to give up every thing if someone asks for it. yikes. So I felt like I was holding my breath for the next 15 minutes while walking through this area. We walked past some cops doing a drug bust and continued up the cerro. FINALLY we reached the end of the avenue and sat down to look at the port. It was such a beautiful view. We then headed down and took a micro back to vina where I had a McDonald's burger and tea...odd combo. It was a great night, and I'm so glad I got to experience all of valpo, I'm also glad that nothing happed.
Today the sun is out, YESSSS. I'm going to hopefully spend the day writing a paper...if I can focus, which is rare. I suppose thats all. Miss everyone
Love Cristina
Last night I went walking through the cerros (hills) of Valpo with one of the chileans I know. We started on Cerro Mariposa (in the center of the city) and walked for two hours on an Avenue called Avenida Alemania. The first hour or so we were in the upper class area with AMAZING houses. THey reminded me of doll houses and were all different shapes and colors....I wish my camera worked! Its amazing how much things can change between cerros. We turned the corner and were in a poorer district of Valpo. This is when my friend said, "if someone tries to assault you, give them everything." and promptly followed by saying, "you said you wanted to walk the cerros tonight, so i figured I'd give you the whole experience." At this point i was a bit nervous...It's not like I stick out or anything..haha. So we're walking on this street that is NOT lighted amongst run down houses and numerous stray dogs. In the end I was glad I got to see the real Valpo but at the time I was feeling pretty nervous. So we're walking and these guys start throwing rocks at us from above and yelling. All the sudden I see bright flashes of light and hear loud popping. It was only fire crackers but I was FREAKING OUT. So we keep walking and I figured that we were going to head down. I was wrong. We crossed into a better section for a while and I felt a little more relaxed. After about 15 min he warned me that this next section was a dangerous one and again told me to give up every thing if someone asks for it. yikes. So I felt like I was holding my breath for the next 15 minutes while walking through this area. We walked past some cops doing a drug bust and continued up the cerro. FINALLY we reached the end of the avenue and sat down to look at the port. It was such a beautiful view. We then headed down and took a micro back to vina where I had a McDonald's burger and tea...odd combo. It was a great night, and I'm so glad I got to experience all of valpo, I'm also glad that nothing happed.
Today the sun is out, YESSSS. I'm going to hopefully spend the day writing a paper...if I can focus, which is rare. I suppose thats all. Miss everyone
Love Cristina
Tuesday, 12 June 2007
Churiana and Walking in the Rain
Dad, you would be proud....I tried/ate something called Churiana today...let me start from the beginning. I met my friend Jaime in Valpo for a fun filled night. We took the trolley down town and he showed me around one of the marine buildings where his dad works. It was amazing...SO OLD. It is a building for all the generals and ex generals to go and hang out and socialize....defiantly a different class of people. The bar inside was only for men so i was just allowed to peak my head in...a weird feeling. ANYWAYS, then we walked up this little alleyway to this hole in the wall restaurant...this is where I was introduced to Churiana. Churiana consists of a heaping pile (about 6 in tall) of the greasiest french fries known to man topped with eggs, steak, and onions. It was...GREAT. Sounds gross, I know, and I wish i could say that I didn't like it, but man oh man it was excellent. So yes, I ate a HEAPING plate of fries, stake, onions, and egg...which will explain the Chile 20 (instead of freshman 15...haha). Anyways, then we walked to this coffee shop on top of one of the hills in valpo. It was AMAZING. The coffee was real and the view was incredible. We talked a ton about Chile and the different social systems here and just enjoyed the FREEZING COLD night. Then we walked around valpo for a while, JAime is a tourism major so he knows all the places to go in the hills. I love this city, its so unique. We then took a bus to Playa Ancha about 5 min away. We went to his university which is having a strike right now. The students take the university, sleep in it, cook in it, have parties, and rallies. They have a whole system of doing things...people are appointed to be security guards, cooks, cleaners, and much more. Anyways, we stopped in to check it out. There were about 2000 people there, hanging out, sleeping , talking, eating, etc...what a sight. Then we walked by the water for about 2 hours....1 of those hours being POURED on...BRRRRRR. But it was SO SO fun and so beautiful by the water. What an adventure. Now i'm beat and heading to bed. yay. Hope everyone is doing well
Sunday, 3 June 2007
A Little Taste of the Bolder Boulder
What a weekend. As many of you know, the Bolder Boulder is a big deal in our family...and last Monday every time I looked at my watch I would think "they just took off," or "here come the elite runners," or "now they are cooking for the bar b que." I was bummed that I missed it but this weekend gave me a little taste of what it would've been like. Erin, Ale (erin's host bro), Amy, and I took off for Santiago on Sat. afternoon. When we got there we went straight to the stadium to pick up our runner packets. The stadium is located in the foothills of the Andes and could easily be confused for Boulder. We got these AWESOME long-sleeved dry fit t-shirts and immediatly tried them on when we got home :). Walking into the tent was like walking into a different country. There were actually ATHLETES there ....with REAL running shoes! SO EXCITING. Anyways, we made our way back to Ale's apartment and headed to the nicest mall I've ever seen to eat shushi....YUM, I tried octopus, pretty sure its my new favorite food. Then we bought Ice cream and cookies and had a relaxing night in the appt. The next AM Erin and I got up super early to get the FULL EXPERIENCE. We got to the stadium and were close to the first runners to arrive. We waited around for about 1.5 hours before AEROBICS got started...yes, aerobics. There was this big stage with these three women leading aerobics for the 1000 runners in their matching t shirts. IT was SO FUN! I laughed the whole time, thinking that this would never happen at home. We finally got ready to start. The starter was talking about the race while we were on the line and all i caught was first we were going to bajar (go down hill) and then subir (go up hill). So we start bajaring and then after about 200 meters get to the first hill. It was a short one, and the trail flattened out pretty quickly. Little did we know, the worst was to come. About 5 min later we were running up the longest hill of my life. At one point we walked because we were able to go faster than running. AFter a while we started down hill and got to cruise the last 3km. Erin and I were 2 and 3 and after crossing the finish line had cameras and mics shoved in our faces ....they soon realized that speaking spanish after a race would be difficult and promptly focused on the next runner coming in. Over all , it was a BLAST and I wish I could do the next 3 (argentina, uraguay, argentina). Hmmm, I guess its a thought. :) I've attached pics below. MARCUS congrats on the graduation! I suppose that's all for now. Time to get back to work. C.
Post race....grrrrrrrr
Start/finish line
Andes mountains
Post race in our SWEET LUTHER-BLUE T SHIRTS
Post race....grrrrrrrr
Start/finish line
Andes mountains
Post race in our SWEET LUTHER-BLUE T SHIRTS
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