Halloween to Now... 11/27/2012

  Hellllllllllo Everybody.  It's been a while, once again, and I have been quite busy.  I left Santa Marta on Halloween, and since leaving have come to the opposite end of the continent.  I am currently in the southern most town/city in the World, Ushuaia.  I have been having a blast, and have been moving quite rapidly and having a blast along the way.  

From Santa Marta, I flew to Bogota and have a night layover,  I got dinner with some very special people I met and have come to LOVE, who are from Bogota, but visited La Brisa Loca while I was working.  I spent one of their Birthday's, Alejandra's when she her sister, dad and best friends from Bogota came!  It was a blast!  From there, I went to Medellin, Colombia, which has to be on my top 5 for favorites cities I've visited.  It  was also very cool because about 12 people I met at La Brisa Loca were staying at the same hostel I booked in Medellin.  We had a blast exploring the city, busing to beautiful Guatape, and The parks surrounding Medellin.  After a week in Medellin, My canadian friend, Adam, and i flew together back to Bogota, and stayed about a week.  

               We stayed in a Hostel in the Central part, and were treated very well by the same Bogota girls I met in Santa Marta. And spent another birthday, Maria's, in Bogota with her and allllll of her friends, and was so much fun.  They treated us like so well that week, taking us around to all the cool, hip places in Bogota, and just being very hospitable.  I spent endless hours with these friends and was able to practice so much Spanish as well as make some lifelong relationships.  I ended up leaving the hostel to stay in Maria's home, and we had a blast.  the whole week, different activities and dinners planned everyday. It was overall one of the best memories I think I'll take home with me.  I love meeting and learning about these places I visit, instead of just stay in a hostel with other Europeans slash travelers in general.  I think it is this natural intrigue between locals and gringos, curiosity, a desire to learn and make relationships from people different.  I didn't want to and was sad to leave but had to get south!

From Bogota, I flew directly to Santiago, Chile to get a taste of Chile.  I didn't have to much time there, and as its a very big city, didn't get to meet too many locals besides the hostel workers...but had a nice week.  I had heard, the chilean accent was strong and difficult to understand....but as I've gotten better and better at speaking as well as understanding...I didn't find it hard to understand...but it simply wasn't my favorite accent.  It's fast, close-mouth and they cut of the end of their words.  But it is really cool to be able to pick up the different accents so strongly.  It also wasn't my favorite city...very clean...very nice...good transportation, but lacked (in my opinion) a lot of the "flavor I found in other country's cities.

From Santiago, I flew to Punta Arenas, another chilean city, who's attraction is the Magellan Penguins.  And they were amazing.  I took almost one thousand photos in just three days.  I also explored the Park Reserve and spent almost 6 hours hiking around by myself in extreme weather.  It was nice.  The place I stayed was more like a quiet bed and breakfast than a hostel.  I met some people but for the most part, I was solo.

I then took a 12 hour bus and a ferry across the Strait of Magellan, which was very cool.  Crossed the border back into one of my favorite countries and where it all started for me, Argentina.  I arrived Thanksgiving Day, in Ushuaia and had myself a gigantic king crab dinner, again alone...but reflecting on everything thats passed in the last year.  I found myself more than content, in fact ecstatic about how the last year has gone, all the people I've met, things I've learned, places I've gotten to know, my health, and just every lesson I've taken with me from being alone so long.

The last week has been a great experience, I've met more people, seen more amazing places, and have been quite active.  I climbed a glacier a couple days ago, rode 52 kilometers, seen more penguins,and hiked around the parks they have here.  I am at the bottom of the world, and it sure feels like it.  

I leave tomorrow for El Calafate, El Chaltan, Fitz Roy, and some other very interesting places surrounding a more northern area of Patagonia.  I plan for some great climbs, hikes, rides, pictures, and exercise.  I'll be spending until the 11 in this area, and from there I have a little over a week, in Buenos Aires before I..................................

RETURN TO THE USA ......

and spend the holidays with my much missed family.

At home I will try and find some work while waiting to start my wilderness EMT course.  I'll be sending in job apps, going to the gym, travelling and reading a bit as to where I want to live, what I want to do, and kind of set up a life plan for the next year or two.  But thats boring...

I recently talked to a friend from college who has been a wild-fire fire fighter for the last seven summers.  I am seriously considering, after a job offer, to do this.  I would work in Montana and be on call pretty much 24/7 for not only the region of Montana, but as well as other fire country, like Colorado and California.  I think it would be extremely cool, and is job that pays pretty well, and who feeds and accommodates housing and some other stuff.  I am not ready to sit down, nor am I ready to go back to school just yet.  I have so many passions and could see myself doing so many things, and I think some time earning money at a cool job, working outside, with time to think on the future will be nothing but good.  I am guessing I will also become pretty fit and gain something from it.  But this is just a consideration.  I am still loving the wilderness therapy guide, and checking out asheville, as well as other jobs that I could use my wEMT with.  Nothing is ever final for me, as my future is nothing but know, but I am just excited to be in the position I'm in, which could take me any direction.  That is all for now!

Love and Positive vibes being sent your way from the bottom of the world.

   

James

My Plan until US, and future plans in the states!

So I have been way behind on blogging, but I assure you that I have been more busy now in these last two months than I have my entire trip.  

From Ecuador, I met Luli in Cartagena, and we spent an amazing week together walking around the old city and eating at great restaurants, and relaxing at beaches.  We even spent two nights in a Resort in Rodadero which is close to where I am now. We hiked into Parque Tayrona and spent a night in Hammocks which is a fun and unforgettable memory ;)

I work at a very amazing hostel with great people and have made some amazing friends.  I also volunteer about 10-12 hours a week teaching the cutest kids you can imagine.  I also started a fundraising website and thanks to mostly close family have raised close to 100 dollars, which has painted our school, bought soccer uniforms, a sports kit, and normal school supplies.  On top of that with what we have left, we will be rebuilding the roof to one of our schools. Its been amazing.  On top of my bar-tending at the hostel I go on boat cruises to Tayrona park, which is breathtaking and consists of the most amazing beaches i have ever seen.

I could go on for hours with stories and such but just know that there are just to many to share.  I have met amazing people, visited amazing places, shared great memories, and have found myself through this last 10 months.

I guess i decided to blog today because i have the rest of my trip planned out up until my arrival to Washington D.C. December 19th

Oct 31, I fly to Medellin and spend a week there because I have heard the city is amazingly cool, fun, and more attractive/hip.  Then I fly down to Bogota and stay for 5 or so days before Flying to Santiago,Chile. I'll be in Santiago for a week before heading south to Patagonia, and there i will be exploring and making my way into the Argentinian side, hopefully flying or busing from Bariloche, and northern Patagonian town that itself is gorgeous.  But I hope to be trekking almost the whole time which will be a nice change. I fly back to Buenos Aires and hopefully spend two or so weeks reuniting with friends there!

After New years I am going to the Wilderness Medicine Institute of NOLs and getting my   Wilderness EMT, which is a month long intensive course in Wyoming.  In between my free time at home and this course I'll be looking into guiding jobs, and wilderness therapy jobs.  I have to see the city first but I think I may be moving to Asheville, NC which I've heard is a really cool city, similar to Boulder, CO but bigger that has both the green aspect but also the metropolitan feel.  There two of my friends are wilderness therapy guides and they both love it, and so before moving I'll visit and hopefully interview with these companies and do that for a year or so.

So yea thats the plan (for now)

I truly hope everyone is doing great and am looking forward to seeing friends and family at christmas and the time I have home

PS Def. getting out to California and Colorado before doing my Nols course to see all my long lost friends....so get ready!

These children need some donations! :)

http://www.donationto.com/mariposas

This is a page I made, in hopes of getting some money flow into the organization which is a grassroots education non profit for very poor children. Everyday I will be teaching kids how to read and wrote and help with sports days. Long story short, the funding of this program is lacking but the attendance by the kids is incredible and they need you. I set this up so I can start buying supplies, balls, paper, fans, anything we can do to assist in this program in helping these kids soar. Thanks for even reading. The foundations website is this:

http://fmacolombia.weebly.com/

I will be blogging heavily dealing with my experience here and it is a way (if you donate or not) to see the direct result of these donations. I will start with simple things such a pencils, pens, markers, paper, workbooks in reading writing mathematics etcetera. I have already fallen in love with these kids because of the strive and desire to learn. They were literally begging me for more math sheets, coloring papers etc, their brains are dying to be used and this is where you can help. Thanks

The Amazons with mom and mark! What's happening now?...

Sooooooooo! Just got back from the amazons last night and have to say it was another crazy awesome experience. My mom and mark arrived in Quito last week and before heading to the amazon we had a lovely day in Quito. I outed them around hitting some highlights of the city including the basilica in old town and a couple other beautiful churches, and then we headed towards Mariscal a younger more social barrio and there we did some shopping in the market and got some food. 

The next day we had a 40 minute plane right to a city called coca. From there we took a two an half hour boat ride up the Napo river which is the largest river that feeds into the amazon.  From there we had a half hour high inland through the jungle. We came to a Small creek and took another 20 minute canoe ride up the creek into a lake where Sacha lodge is set upon.

It was absolutely gorgeous I mean I can't even explain it and have never been to such a place. It seemed as if if it were an old missionary in the middle of the jungle, set on a beautiful lake and surrounded by trails and creeks to canoe on.

The food was amazing. The schedule was very organized, averaging two activities during the day which included canoe tours up creeks, hikes, the giant tree house bird observatory and another sky bridge for bird and monkey watching. We learned about all the plants and their purposes for the quichoa people.  We saw amazing wildlife including four species of monkeys, crocodiles, piranhas, the most amazing birds I've ever seen, and some crazy spiders and insects.

I think the best part was just being away from everything, and with my mother who I hadn't seen in 8 months.  No Internet, just nature and the sounds incredible sounds of the animals we were surrounded by and living with.  It was like a natural symphony beginning at around 6pm and went all night.  Another highlight was looking for the caiman crocs at night. One night we went on a night canoe ride and found a 3 meter caiman croc. Incredible. 

Another highlight was this lake full of caimans, snakes, and piranhas and we'd swim in it during the day, even when we saw a caiman under the boathouse. They're just not aggressive and don't want to eat you haha.  They had an 8 foot diving board Ao that was one and I made some young friends from Israel and spent hours swimming and doing crazy jumps off the board.

It was just nice being away.  I can't say it was relaxing because we were pretty much doing something t all times of the day, from 530am to about 9pm.  But it was tranquillo and definitely amazing to spend time with my mom after not seeing her for 8 months. Was also great to spend time with mark, my mom's boyfriend who I've met quite a bit but haven't had such a close quarters situation, but it was awesome he's cool and great to my mom and is a really interesting guy! So hey! All good

Today I fly to Cartagena, Colombia, where I'll be four two weeks hangin out with Luli and exploring the surrounding areas hunting for the most secluded beaches we can find and sleeping in hammocks! From there I start a job at a fun hostel in Santa Marta and start teaching kids which I am incredibly excited about! What's crazy is that I'm not teaching them English, I'm teaching them how to read and write in Spanish speaking Spanish to kids the entire time and the staff at the school are mostly native Spanish speakers so it will be interesting to see how my Spanish has progressed and how much more it will progress!

I am also going to be really trying to get better at surfing, and also going to work on my dive master certification so I can possibly be a scuba instructor at some point if I don't want to go home. About an hour away is an amazing national park where I'll get my hiking fix and it's on the Caribbean coast so I have a feeling this place will be Hard to leave but we shall see.

Gotta pack for the airport!

I'll keep everybody posted

And thanks mom and mark for a fabulous trip! And thanks for bein brave and comin down to visit! Mom you will be missed and excited you want to come back! Love you dearrrrrrly... Thought I'd finish with this classic

Galapagos and future adventures!

So the last couple weeks with my sister was amazing! Galapagos and machu picchu off Our bucket lists in a heavy traveling, close quarters two and a half weeks. It's been a while since my sister and I spent time like that together, and must say it was wonderful. I thought it couldn't get much better than machu picchu, and that's for sure but the galapagos rivaled it and at the same time, because they were such different types of places, both will stick in my mind as some of my fondest memories and favorite places I've ever had and ever been.

The galapagos islands were an immediate sensory overload. After arriving to our beautiful hotel, we just went for a stroll and saw huge iguanas, gigantic pelicans, sea lions, bright orange crabs, lizards, tortoises, and the incredible fish market

At the fish market were tons of fish and the fishermen were filleting the. And selling them Right there. Not only that but sea lions and pelicans were fighting over the scraps... Very cool to see.

We went to the famous Charles Darwin science center and saw the gigantic turtles and land iguanas and that was a pretty spectacular sight.

The next day we went diving. Shanny had never really dove before, only trying when she was very young and she was excited to try it. We did two dives which were equally incredible and I saw some amazing stuff. I hadn't been in almost three years, but like Riding your bike...it comes right back. I saw white tipped reef sharks, Galapagos sharks, over ten turtles, huge schools of fish, rays, and like before complete sensory overload.

The second day we went to tortuga bay, which is a park and beautiful beach. Here we saw some of the coolest animals in their natural habitats and here was where I took the best photos. We came out, after a thirty minute walk, to a huge white white sand beach and walked along that overwhelmed by the beauty. We noticed there weren't swimmers as there were "riptides". We followed the beach and reached a shallow and gorgeous mangrove bay where the water was as still as a pain of glass. The water never reaching above your waist and water clear enough to see your feet. We hung out there for a bit and got antsy to see what else there was. So we followed a path and at first didn't notice because we were to concerned with the temperature of the sand walking barefoot but when we stopped we noticed hundreds if not thousands of black iguanas camouflaged in the black volcanic rock.

Then we look further and noticed these black iguanas surfing and swimming about the waves...so fuckingggg COoooool. We saw the famous blue footed boobies diving and flying so suavely, it was incredible...prob my favorite animal I observed. The pelicans also making their dives, and the beautiful red crabs littered Across the black rock. We noticed the black iguanas taking the waves all the way in to a mangrove that was beyond the path, and Shanny and I being the adventurers we are decided to go behinds the Boundaries a little bit just to see. It was amazing, hundreds of iguanas coming in, using their reptile tail like the fin of a fish and swimming so amazingly. They'd come out and dry off On The rocks in incredible numbers. It was truly a unique and wild experience.

we just observed and took hundreds of pictures. After getting back on the path we tanned, or burnt like toast on the mangrove beach, and decided to head back. The first beach with the waves looked too appetizing to not go in, so I went and joined the surfers and did some AMAzing body surfing and didnt feel any rip tide haha.

The third day we went on a walking tour where we went to a couple different places, but the nightlight for me was "the crack" which was a narrow canyon fled with water that I guess was 30+ meters deep. And yes I jumped off the canyon wall many times, jumps as high as 15 meters, very f-ing fun

The last day we went on another dive which is where we decided the true true treasures of the Galapagos are, and saw amazing things.

Sadly we only has 5 days there, when we could've stayed for two or three weeks, but 5 was amazing.

We returned to Quito and stayed at my mountain guide's hotel (forAconcagua). He wasn't there sadly but his hotel was one of the most beautiful aces I have seen in a while. Hidden up In The mountains with fireplaces, the most amazing food, llamas, horses, peacocks, antique furnishing, it was just incredible and we hung out there for two days until her departure (this morning) and From there I took a bus to Baños, where I am now, a beautiful mountain town...staying at a small quiet bed and breakfast where I am writing this now.

I have four days here where I plan to hike, rock climb (FINALLY), raft, canyoneer, and just relax and write music and take it all in.

My mom and mark arrive Tuesday and we have a day in Quito before flying into the amazons!

After that I fly to colombia where I am meeting my long lost luli and have her company for almost two weeks in colonial cartagena where we will be hunting for the most beautiful empty beaches and hopefully (getting her to dive off the Caribbean coast).

After that I decided I am going to hunker down spending wise and settle for several months teaching kids how to read and write, and yes teach them music! In another Caribbean city called Santa Marta. From there we will see. I am coming to a realization that my journey cannot go on forever and and the end is in sight. And even though I don't want it to end I am going to make sure I have these experiences all throughout my life because you truly learn so much above yourself, different cultures, the worlds of travelers beside you, and just how beautiful life can be when you find time to enjoy what it has to offer.

And with that I leave you.

Cheers from Baños and hope everyone has a wonderful weekend

Brazil, and Machu Picchu!

So again, I have been slacking with blogging. the only excuse I have is that I have been having an amazing time and haven't had a moment or enough downtime to write. Also the longer that I wait, the more it becomes homework. This entry should be pretty short, I just want to catch people up, who are still reading, if there are any left haha.

I just arrived to Quito, Ecuador and a lot has happened since my last post. my last post left me off in Lencois, so I guess I will quickly recap my adventures since then. after an amazing backpacking and outdoor adventure in Lencois, I took two buses and a ferry to a small island off the coast of bahia, brazil call Morro de Sao Paulo. It was spectacular for its beauty and the 10 steps between my hostel and the beach. I only spent three days there because it was more of a romantic getaway and I was alone soooo yea. There was not much of a backpackers scene, and I just laid on the beach, snorkeled, and worked on my tan. I got antsy and decided it was time to move on. from there, I took a 6 hour bus to a little piece of heaven named Itacaré. It is a little tiny surfing town south of Salvador. I met Three friends on the bus, a Swiss couple, and a Brit who was also traveling alone.

I decided to stay at a hostel called Banana hostel, because it had great ratings, and I had heard from people in Lencois, that it was a great place to be. It was. It was owned and run by a British couple, and they were extremely nice and welcoming. And as for the staff, they were also awesome, they became immediate friends. I loved this place because they were all like a little smiley and had no meanness in them. It was a very chill and relaxing place but with adventures as well. All the guests were awesome too. So basically for 5 or 6 days, I went to the beach, met other backpackers, surfed, and snorkeled. It has been one of my favorite places thus far. I did not want to leave and could have stayed for a month but I had already made plans and had a deadline to get to Rio. It was sad to leave and I know I'll get back there some day, but my friend max was meeting me, and I had already stayed too long. I decided to take a plane because I mixed up my friends arrival date, and had to get there fast.

Rio was a whole nother animal. It was hectic, beautifully unique, unlike any other city I've seen in my life. the people were very nice, good looking, and it was great to see a familiar face. I think I may have said this before, but my goal for brazil, after leaving wintry Buenos Aires was to spend time on the beach, and thats exactly what max and I did. we went to beaches and ate good Brazilian food, we got to see a lot of the city staying in four different neighborhoods: ipanema, Lapa, copacabana, and leblon. We got to see big Jesus and was there for the sunset which was incredibly breathtaking. The culture here had a crazy fire of activism and life that i have not seen any other place. Every body works out, every body is beautiful, the food was good, and people stayed up all night. I wish I had more time there as well, because I had been thinking about moving there, but all we did were touristy things so I don't think I got a good enough feel for the city, but I loved it. I know that if I had more time I could have fit in well with the rio culture. But maybe I'll give it another shot in the future.

I was also able to pick up a decent amount of Portuguese, which I didn't really think was sufficient but I had waiters and cabbies telling me it was good. I used my knowledge of Spanish and with a little help from a Spanish to Portuguese book, was able to get by just fine. its a very fun and unique language and think I could've picked up a lot more if I had more time. And that was my month in brazil. I really wish I had written sooner, so I could recall everything from these places, and share more culture and history but at the moment I have machu picchu and Peru fresh in my mind and want to get there.

I flew out of Rio, and had a nice 9 hour layover in Buenos Aires where I was able to meet up with Luli and grab lunch and spend some time with her. it had been a month and we really were missing each other. it was one of the best worse days, because it was a tease. I also hadn't slept because my flight was extremely early, but I arrived excited as hell and she was there to greet me. I have never really done the long distance relationship, but I can't explain in words how happy I was to see her. We couldn't stop hugging, smiling and kissing and just had the greatest day and really took advantage of that time together. It was a nice an unexpected circumstance, and although short, was amazing to see her. From that day I have to wait another month, where we will meet and travel around Colombia together, which I am extremely excited about. we're meeting in Cartagena in August and it can't come soon enough. But before that I still had/have a lot in between. Later that day she dropped me off at the airport and I almost missed my flight because we couldn't say our goodbyes, but when finally the lady said you have to go in now or you'll miss your flight, it was a quick and abrupt goodbye. I landed in Lima, later in the night, and checked into a hotel where I we to wait for my LITTLE SIS to arrive

I arrived into Lima on her birthday, and I had been gathering little gifts from different places I had been, and continued present shopping the day of her arrival, and set up a nice little birthday pile on her bed. I also got to meet and have

lunch with a girl my mom met last year on her trip to machu picchu, and we had a nice lunch and took a picture for my mom. After that, i had to get to the airport. When I picked shannon up at the airport it was great, I had bought A giant "bienvenidos" balloon and was there to greet her as she exited customs. It was a splendid reunion.

we flew to cusco the next morning, and I had already set up a hostel and our inca trail trek. (all of these events happened so fast it felt like one day blended together). We arrived to cusco in late afternoon and had just enough time to buy our train tickets returning from machu picchu to cusco, and to meet our trek guides. She and I were super excited about this trek, which consisted of downhill mountain biking for 5 hours the first day, followed by a 2 hour rafting trip to our destination. From there, we stayed in a little hostel in the middle of nowhere. there next day was our longer day, 9 hours of hiking, to finish our walking in a natural hot spring park, which was an unbelievable way to end the day. we then took a 20 minute ride in a bus to our next town. the following day we all went on the highest zip line, canopy tour in south America. the highest one being 500 meters above the ground, and the fastest line got us up to 60 kph. It was awesome. From there we walked another flat 5 hours. All along the way of this trek we were taking our time, and learning about what they farm. we learned about the coffee farming process, the cocoa leaves process, and from ha cocaine (lol), banana, mandarins,lemons, mangos, papayas, limes, potatoes, passion fruit, and these very tedious processes, very educational. we also learned about the incas and their downfall and destruction by the spaniards. I got to play with a monkey which has been my dream since I was a kid. I climbed a banana tree and got a whole bundle of fresh ripe bananas for our trek group and we all enjoyed some of the freshest best tasting bananas ever (and I don't even really like bananas).

The trek group was amazing. the two guides were super cool in their early twenties. we had three couples, one American couple, an Irish couple, and a new zealander and German girl, two german girls, and four Mexicans. To sum it up, we had a lot of active, clean fun, and we all had a great chemistry and made it special together through all of our openness. my sister and I also haven't spent this much time together in as long as I can remember so It was a great bonding experience. the final day was amazing, difficult, magical, spiritual, and already a favorite memory.

We arrived to Aguas calientes, after the day of zip lining and walking, following the rail line. It was O M G so touristy, but its just one of those places that everyone has to, wants to, must go before they die. Everyone was beat that night and we had to get up at 345 so we parted early. we woke up at that time and started hiking in our group with only water, lunch and cameras. After a 1.5 hour hike straight up steep steps, Shanny and I were literally the 10 or 15 people in the entire park, and we're there for the most magnificent sunrise I have ever seen. We then toured around for four or so hours, taking hundreds of pictures, and just in awe of the beauty that surrounded us. it was truly magical. Even thought we hadn't eaten much, we're running low on water, we're extremely tired after walking around in the sun up at 4000 meters, Shanny and I found it necessary to hike up machu picchu mountain, a gruesome 2400 steep, broken, and old stairs. We were dead after the hour and half but at the top it was well worth it, and I can't explain how good it felt to be up there looking over this insanely unique and ancient wonder. After that we were sooooooo spent. We left extremely satisfied and a sense of calmness came over the whole group, we had also become a little family...our guide calling us the baby alpacas, for our fiery spirit and entertaining nature. Later that day we had a lovely last supper, and parted ways. we had a layover in Lima las night, and arrived to Quito this afternoon where we'll hang out for the next three aus waiting patiently for GALAPAGOS ISLANDS, another once in a lifetime opportunity.

But all is well here, my Spanish is really maturing, because I don't have my friends in buenos aires to assist me. I can't explain how good it feels to have finally learned another language. I know a lot of people do, but I hadn't...and if you don't throw yourself In an unknown and learn a language from a culture that interests you, it's an amazing experience and a great way to get to know another culture. Shanny and I are getting along great, things have gone very smoothly and I am just really soaking up this time with my baby sis.

COMING UP: Galapagos, sister departs, I have about 6 days to et to an outdoorsy town called baños, then my mom and mark come, where they are treating me to a weeks stay in an Eco lodge deep in the amazon forest. After the, another week to do I don't know what, then meet Luli in Colombia for almost two weeks, and after will be volunteering at a children's non-profit in a impoverished area of coastal Colombia for two weeks to a month. And from there I HAVe nO IDEA, crazy awesome I know... I'm going to try again to be more consistent with entries, but hope you all enjoyed the update!

Title 6

Chapada Diamantina, Lencois, Brazil

The cave

Waterfalls and slides

The backpacking- vale do paty 

Morro de Sao Paulo 

The end

Chapada diamantina, morro de sao paulo, future plans

It has been an awesome time in brazil. Started in Salvador from the last blog and from there took an eight hour bus to a little gem to the west away from the coast. It is a totally outdoor lovers paradise with endless adventure which is why I stayed longer than intended.

The first day I went to a cave, and can't recall the name...go figure. It is the largest in chapada and I was really looking forward to it bc I hadn't been I a cave since I could remember. Well I or all the cave I could handle that day spending nearly 5 and a half hours underground with no light but the cheap rental the guide gave me. Forgot my headlamp. Well it was tough and think and hot and amazing as well haha, amazing stalagmites and stalactites and just amazing how many different worlds there on on te planet. I took almost three hundred pics and had trouble narrowing the ones to put up. It was insane though

The next two days I met a lot of locals and brazilians and my first Saturday night was one of the best nights I've had since leaving buenos aires. We went to a cafe/bar and there was a guitarist and all my friends told me to grab my guitar and it literally turned into a jamfest after a whole little band came to jam. I was understanding more and more Portuguese as well as discovering I had learnt more Portuguese than I thought and could put thoughts together. Anyways I could write about this forever but I'm typing on my iPhone and it's annoying.

The next several days were just day holds to waterfalls, natural slides, mesas, and I met two Israelis a German and a Swiss. We all decided after a couple day holes that we should get deeper and we hired a guide to take us to the number three most beautiful place I. South America vale do paty (patchy). And it was so worth it. Gret group, great hikes, great terrain and lots of swimming yAY. When we're returned I was supposed to again leave but then I heard about te weekend festivities which included a cultural horse fair where people rode from another nearby town to lencois where they were welcomed by families and friends. Very nice.

The German guy, Felix, and I decided to head to morro together where I am now. It's been fun. Beautiful place. Very tranquillo with a nearly empty beach outside the vendors trying to scrape every penny they could. Felix left today and ive found myself again bored and antsy and need a more social atmosphere and adventure which as I read Itacare has both. I really want to spend a couple days surfing before hauling ass south. So I think I'll be there until roughly the 26th and taking a bus or a cheap plane to rio to meet a Max, a buddy from school who decided to come down! Excited to meet rio as I have possible plans of moving down there after Christmas to hunt for some work and learn Portuguese. The Brazilian economy is the 5 or 8th biggest in the world right now and have heard job opportunities for English speaker (and bc I know Spanish and will learn Portuguese) a prime candidate. Anyways this is all I can write now.

Still loving the road and very excited to meet up with so many people alig the way. Max in rio, Shanny in Peru and Ecuador, mom and mark in Ecuador, and luli in Colombia, so even though I'm alone for a bit longer I am so happy knowing I am beig visited and will be able to share my adventures with friends and family and they will become characters and huge pieces I this 11month long journey. So for now tchau e bom noite

Welcome to Brazil-Salvador and Praia Do Forte

Hello hello hello.  It has been a while since my last post, but I am happy to say that from now on...since things be be constantly changing and I am alone (have more writing time)... I will be blogging again and more frequently.  I left Buenos Aires, and it was hard...but I knew I had to continue my journey.  I loved Buenos Aires so much, but it was getting cold and I was getting antsy.  I took a flight to the North of Brazil, and right now am staying in a city called Salvador.  It is, as Brazilians have told me, unlike any other place in Brazil.  It has a very distinct flavor and a very unique culture to the rest of Brazil.

It is a city of roughly 7 million and is literally set right on the beach.  It is beautiful and has a very tropical flavor to it.  It is known for its flavorful unique cuisine, made of seafood, spices, picante, and has very unique dishes that I will not even try to spell.  But it is fucking delicious.  It is a dominantly black population, as it had the highest importation of slaves back when the Portuguese first settled.  It was originally the capital of Brazil, and made money of Sugar...white gold.  But the city sort of died when other market spiked.  It is an amazing place and it has a reputation of being extremely laid back and everything sort of moves at its own slooooow, tranquilo pace, which is a good change from Buenos Aires.

It is a bit dangerous at night, but I don't let that interrupt my exploring, I just have been safe, but at night you are constantly bothered with aggressive beggars, and has a reputation for muggings and thievery.  Today when I was taking pictures with my nice camera, several police officers stopped me and told me to be careful.  During the day it is extremely safe, but as always...the night brings the danger.  Today I had a very relaxed day at the beach just soaking in the culture and observing the way of life here.  As a sociologist major, i find observing cultures very interesting and can entertain myself this way forever.  The water is beautiful, clear, about 70 degrees, and everybody runs to the beach after work around 2 or 3pm.

One cool thing that I never expected is that I can understand, and speak with the people in Brazil using Spanish and some broken Portuguese.  It really is not that different.  Alot of the words are the same, and I have been studying from a Portuguese book and have been able to get by.  After this amazing discovery I really am determined to become trilingual, perfecting Portuguese and Spanish.  It really is an amazing thing to be able to speak another language.  I had never experienced this before, because I was never in a place for so long.  I know I won't get Portuguese down, but I think I may move back to Brazil after Christmas, with hopes to get Portuguese down and work in Rio.  The economy is booming and it is just a very flavorful and beautiful culture.

Yesterday I went to a little and relaxing destination called Praia do forte.  It was very nice.  The bus drops you off at a cobblestone path and it takes about twenty minutes to walk down to a little town and then the beach.  It is famous for its turtle preserve.  I went to their museum and facility there, where I saw gigantic turtles and baby turtles.  They explained how they help the turtles to fertilize etc.  It was a beautiful day and finally I got in the water and rented a snorkel and did some of that.  It has been several years since I last was in a climate like this and I am truly in heaven.  I am so happy I came up here and have 20 days to work my way down the coast.  Although I would like to stay north because the further south you go, the more colder it gets.

But everything is amazon here.  I met a Brazilian my first day I arrived who spoke perfect English so that was a relief, and took away alot of my stress.  He left today, but I met two girls today, one from the Netherlands and another from Germany.  It really is an amazing thing to travel by yourself because you are forced to put yourself out there and meet people.  At the same time when you travel alone, you are in turn alone alot and you have to hang out with yourself and literally just be with you.  You learn and debate with yourself, you decide whether or not you like yourself, and it really is a treat.  Luckily I like myself (but not too much).  I can keep myself entertained and actually have a good time.  It is also important to keep moving because then you are always doing something.  For instance I like it here, but I am leaving Saturday morning to go 6 hours inland to a jungle sort of place with waterfalls, underwater caves, hiking, rivers.  But luckily two days ago in Praia Do Forte I met two girls from California and will be meeting up with them there.  So things tend to work out.  And even if I don't meet people, it is really a growing opportunity when  you have so much time alone, and you make yourself try and communicate with vendors, hotel staff, locals, waiters...and through this you get a flavor of the place you are in.  All in all things are really good and I love it here.  After Lencois (the inland jungle adventure), I am heading to Morro Do Sao Paulo, a small island where I'll surf, dive, and just literally hang out on the beach.  After that I am heading to a famous Surf beach called Itacare.  And just keep working south.

Where I'm heading in June

So my time in Argentina is coming to an end. I want to come back and visit but I am feeling like a change is needed And that I am ready to see more of the continent.

In June my first stop is Rio. I want to stay there for two or so weeks possibly taking some Portuguese classes. If i feel like I saw enough of Rio in two weeks (which is doubtful bc i know i will fall in love with it from the descriptions i've heard) I will be busing north to some of the most beautiful beaches in the world surfing, diving, and finding all the adventure I can.

Then in July I will be flying to Lima/cusco Peru to meet my little sister. From there we are hiking one of the trails up to machu picchu and taking the train out. Then we will bus north hopefully finding a nice beach spot to chill out at for a couple days. And them making our way to Quito, the capital city of Ecuador, sitting at nearly 12000 ft. We are going to fly into the Galapagos where we will snorkel, dive and explore.

We may also volunteer depending on how long my sister will actually stay but I plan to do a month or so around this time probably after I see luli

I think I am meeting up with luli in Columbia or some where close to Ecuador after my sister returns again for a nice little beach time... Yes moooooooore beach time!!!!

This is obviously a rough plan, just to give me some structure and relieve some stress haha. Anyways, things are really great and I'm enjoying my last weeks In buenos aires and taking advantage of my Spanish skills haha

Chau for now!

Northern Adventure!!!

Well! I know it's been quite some time since I last wrote, which in my opinion is a sign that I am having the time of my life!  For all those who have been waiting, which I'm sure no one has haha, its been an amazing several weeks.  I think I have really fallen in love with this city, but at the same time, have realized if I don't leave soon I am going to want to settle...and we know thats not why I came.  I am having strong feelings on possibly moving back here once my travel fix is complete, but  I know I have a lot to see, and many more adventures lie ahead.

My roommate and I decided it was time for a little adventure, something more on the nature side.  We decided this because we both love the outdoors and this city swallows you with concrete and metal.  I was having metaphorical withdrawals from what I love most. So we sat down with a map and a general idea of what we wanted to see in argentina.  We decided we had to go to the Northwest because even though its very far, in that region lies a vast number of things to do and see.  We took a 26 hour bus (SO NOT FUN) to salta and there we stayed for three days.  It had sort of a Boulder/Seattle feel to it.  Live music everywhere, people were outdoorsy, and even though it was a city...just outside there is so much beauty.  We stayed at a very chill hostel in Salta, and there met a very cool argentine (traveling alone) and spent the next three days exploring the city with him...and a lovely way to practice some more spanish, because my roommate and I had to speak in spanish or else we were leaving him out.  Most of that three days consisted of waling around the city, eating, and goin out on the town during the evenings.  We also went on a hike tot eh city's highest point and there we could really see what was around us!

Miguel (our new buddy) was only staying three days and so when he left, we had seen enough of salta, and decided to scout out car rental places.  It is a very popular thing to do because there is this circuit called (Ruta del Vino), with translates to the wine route.  It is south of Salta, and we decided that would be a nice first adventure.  We spent three days driving through windy, mountainous dirt roads.  My roommate is from England and even though I gave him several shots, after the 3rd or 4th near death incident decided he should not drive anymore!  So yes I drove more or less the entire time plus or minus 1400 kilometers, ad didn't mind one bit because these empty dirt roads, with a stick shift was HALF THE FUN.  Anyways we stayed in a tiny tiny town (pop: 450), and it was a magical place.  We only really slept there, but that was one of the coolest parts of this trip, driving through these tiny towns and seeing how simple life is up there.  It is so hard to articulate and narrate this journey because of how beautiful it was.  Literally we stopped almost every ten minute to get out and appreciate the beauty, and for those who have seen my pictures on face book, it's the pictures with all the red and green mountains.  This three days was literally just views from the car, stopping for lunch, taking pictures, and enjoying the road trip.

When were were driving back down, meaning to stay in Salta another night; we realized it was an extra hour to our next destination and why stop back through salta when we could have more time in a new place, so we drove to  Jujuy, which is another providence (salta and Jujuy are the equivalent to states in the US).  It had a completely different vibe, and everyone looks more indian, maybe because it's very close to bolivia.  We still had the car and went to the most popular hostel in hopes of recruiting people to help pay for gas and the days worth of a car rental.  Well, thats was quite a success.  The next two days our car was packed and we met some pretty cool people.  We used the hostel as our hub, making day trips.  

The first of which, was Calilegua, a sub tropical rainforest.  It was nice, although, if anybody's been in a rainforest you know its thick and wet, with lots of bugs and humidity.  We went on a four hour hike and it was brutal.  We all got bit by these bugs that would literally latch onto your skin and suck your blood until they were huge...very gross.  The mosquitoes were terrible as well, but luckily I brought the kryptonite of mosquitoes from the states, something like 40% deet.  Anyways it was very pretty, but one hike there was enough.  When we got back tot he car, we decided to drive up into the cloud forest, which was amazing but very very sketchy driving.  It was raining pretty hard and the roads were muddy as hell, and these roads consisted of one lane on cliffs, very steep and indeed interesting.  We made it out alive...although on the drive out...I heard something from the tire and realized there was a large jagged stick in our tire...not cool at all.  We had to stop in a little, kinda sketchy town...but I managed to change the tire in about 10 min with no complications (minus a 700 peso fee)

The next day we departed again for the famous rainbow mountains, nestled in a beautiful little town called Purmamarca.  It was a very beautiful 3 hour drive and when we arrived, took a nice stroll-hike on the loop taking many pictures and just enjoying all of it.  It was relatively quick, and so we decided to head further north to Salinas Grandes, which are the famous salt flats at about 13,000 feet.  Again a very insane drive, through clouds, wet roads, steep cliff roads...not realizing when we left Purmamarca we had a half tank of gas (ill come back to this later).  

      When you arrive to a place like this you know straight away, and I can't tell you how in awe we all were.  No one could speak...and something we witnessed was a very very rare occasion.  The salt flats (usually one of the driest places in south america) were covered in one inch of water.  This made for one of the "trippiest" most unbelievably gorgeous sights I have seen in my life.  We were all in shock, and spent the next 3 hours just taking thousands of pictures.  And I'm sure you can believe that no...the pictures don't come close to doing justice for what this looked like.  It was a very beautiful couple of hours, we were so at peace and just calm.  It was thousands of miles of just flat, and there was complete silence...and after three days of clouds and rains...the sun was beaming down and at 13,000 feet, you can just feel its intense heat.  One of the most beautiful things I've seen, probably because I had never seen this type of ecosystem, or climate...just very different than my colorado mountains.  So that was it really. Now on the way back we had a quarter of a tank, we were at 13,000 ft, had to climb up this mountain road, and then drive 4 hours back.  And there wasn't a gas station until just before Jujuy...I'm not going to drag this out like a suspense story haha, but I drifted for nearly 3 hours in neutral (because after that climb to the peak t was all back down... very suspenseful and exciting...one of those things that in the moment was scary, but after...just added flavor to the day.

The next day, we took a 32 hour bus (FUCKNG HELL)...to the famous Iguazu Falls in the northeast of Argentina.  There we stayed at a very cool, hip and young hostel.  We explored the argentinian park for two days.  My roommate needed to get his visa renewed and go to the brazil side.  For Americans though its 150 US dollars, and I wasn't going to pay that for one day.  Anyways,  I explored the argentine side again by myself for a day which was very lovely!! and my roommate came back saying he did it all in 2 hours and it was not nearly as good as the Brazil side, so I was happy with my decision.  This place is truly magical...and there's not much to say only that you can only go to understand its beauty and amount of jaw dropping sights.

Besides this trip, everything is amazing.  I have (supposed to have 5 more weeks in BA) some time left.  I have to ramble, as you know if you read this regularly, I love to do.  I am seriously in love with This region.  Especially Buenos Aires and the places Ive been.  I can't say that its because of Buenos Aires's beautiful architecture or cleanliness because its none of those things.  It is the culture and the amount of passion for life in the population.  Everyone is so friendly and seems so generally happy, which I find is rare these days in the states.  And if you are truly happy, then your life is not your work.  Your work comes second to your life, and you live before you work.  That's what I find here, that makes this place just a lively and exciting place to be.  Everyone takes their work seriously and does it, but it is not what makes them.  What makes them is their friends, family, passions, music, dance, and it's just a very huge lesson I think people can take from most of Latin America. It something I will remember when entering the rat race int he states.  I am not hating on the way things are int he states...I believe in hard work.  But like everything else, I hope to be able to balance these two things first, and work as hard as I can while not vacating my life, because int he end life is so, really soooo short.  And in the end, all those hours of work, and that slaving away will be forgotten, if you also haven't lived a full and balanced, healthy life.  i haven't figured out how to go about this, and I think it remains a great mystery but I know that whatever I do, I will be happy or try, and if I'm not, I will try and change careers until I find happiness because that is what life is all about. LISTO...(done) :) Short and sweet.

Chau for now

ADVENTURE COMING SOON

FINALLY, some adventure is coming up.  This weekend I'm taking a boat to Colonial with my friend Luli and were gonna explore the Tigre river a little bit (i also need to renew my visa) and possibly spending the night but probably not.  Then next week, Aaron (my roommate) and I are either hopping on a bus, or renting a vehicle and driving up to Iguazu Falls.  It is a spectacular sight.  Here's a picture for proof.  We're going to spend a couple days there because it's a huge spot for people from all around the world to go.  It is in the northern tip of Argentina, but also borders Brazil and Paraguay.  

After spending a couple days there, taking pictures, and hiking, we are going to head to the northwest of Argentina to a place called Salta...which I've heard is like the Boulder, CO of Argentina.  Mountains, Rivers, Salt Lakes and, salt deserts where those sweet pictures are taken. 

 Very excited because like I said in my last blog, I'm getting withdrawals from no nature, and am getting claustrophobic in this concrete jungle.  I hope we rent a car because that would (I'm assuming) come with a lot of interesting stories and memories :)  Anyways just wanted to update everybody...and I will again be taking shit tons of photos... Chau!

3/25- Updates and RAMBLES

Hello! I know it's been a little while, but you know how it is when life just moves so quickly.  I like writing sundays because it's the one day where I'm not "GO GO GO".  Tonight I'm makin some stir fry with my roommate and watchin movies.  This weekend was really nice and very laid back.  This week was pretty fun because a new group of twenty or so students came in, and I have made lots of new friends.  After school, we all did somethin almost every day.  Visited the famous recoletta cemetery, went to parks, walked around the city, and more.  Friday after school a group of ten or fifteen of us went to a really nice park near my house.  It's my new running spot...and it is indeed a beautiful park.  I bought a futbol, and brought it down.  We played a pretty nice game with students from Brazil, Denmark, Australia, Russia, Israel, US, French, Deutsch, England, and I have to say I had a blast.  I hadn't played soccer in years, and surprisingly scored two goals :)

Almost everyday I go for big runs, and just recently got my roommate running with me and its pretty nice.  I feel strong and healthy and always energized afterwards.  I am learning tons, and can more or less carry conversations.  The trouble for me is hearing and understanding still.  I can read perfectly and talk pretty comfortable, but some people just talk very fast!  I went out with my Irish buddies and Luli and her friend on Friday, and just walked around one of the plazas close to my house.  Lots of fun, and later we met up with the kids from my school.  Big group of us just cruised around.  I don't know if I mentioned this but my roommate plays guitar, so its nice...but we only have one guitar.  SO, I play harmonica, and have been teaching him a little bit on the harmonica.  My spanish teacher (who i think spoke about and is a musician) is currently looking for playing space, and told me I could come jam whenever...which would be amazing!  I also went to a Milonga (tango class/get together).  Very cool to see tango so alive.  I cannot tell you how much I hate modern dancing and the butt grinding.  Here, there exists a very passionate and lively dance that has a long history.  It was this old dimly lit warehouse with art and old wood in it.  It was an overall amazing experience and was tempted to learn, but I was cursed with big feet and literally can't dance to this day without tripping and getting feet stepped on haha.  But I just wish there was some type of dance in the states.  I really want to bringback swing...but that's another blog...

I am for sure going to Uruguay with Luli this coming weekend, and also am going to try and get to a futbol match with her and her brother.  Saturday I went to a very nice garden park, where Luli and I just walked around. I met a cat and am obsessed with him.  I was never really a cat person (and can't be bc of allergies), but I miss playing with animals!  So that was fun haha, this garden is a sort of haven for stray cats...but they seem to get along just fine.

I am still living day by day, continuing classes and trying to decide exactly where to go from here.  I am still loving the city, but think I am going to start to travel on the weekends, and try and escape to some form of nature, because I am having nature withdrawal haha.  I also found a climbing gym! And I am pissed because I packed my shoes...and had my harness...but took my shoes out for space reasons...and because I didn't have my shoes...sent my harness back.  But I am going to try and get a membership there or at least go once a week because I miss climbing so much.  When we go on ours runs, there is a section where they have all those outdoors bars and workout benches, so we sometimes do pull-ups etc.

I've just decided I need to expel energy somehow because it in turn gives you energy and makes you feel rejuvenated and alive.  I was never a big runner, but I have to say...after I run I feel the best I do all day.  I've also noticed the change in my body which is always a nice thing haha.  I don't have my climbing muscles anymore, but am getting more of a runners body because I literally run a shit ton.  I don't know why I was always opposed to running, well I think it was purely because I was bored.  But here, I am running in a foreign place,and its a great way to explore the city, great people watching, and the most important is MUSIC.  Depending on my mood and music, I run faster or slower...but when a song comes on that just really hypes me up...I get the chills and literally start sprinting and that is why I continue running day after day...it feels so good.  I also run purely for the sake of sun.  Nobody runs during the day here except me and a few other crazy people because It's hot...the streets are crowded...and its torture...but at the same time I love when  I come back and my clothes are soaked and I can see how much energy I used.  The park is really nice, it reminds me of those big boardwalks in california or jersey, where there are lanes for bikers, runner,s walkers, etc.  I ran on saturday and it was the funniest experience of my life.  

Did you think rollerblading was gone? out of style? stupid? Well on saturdays at Parque Rosedale, there are hundreds, maybe even thousands of rollerbladers, all ages all types of people just doing laps...and yes beautiful girls in small shorts...it is quite the scene for people watching.  It is so funny how rollerblading is quite big here.  Don't worry I won't become a roller-blader this week.  It's is just hilarious! I wish I took pictures!

Anyway, still in school 6 hours a day, spanish, spanish, spanish.  Its also nice because half of the new kids are Brazilian, and so we all can only communicate through spanish which means I am doing spanish at school, after school when I hangout with these people, and then usually when Luli and I hang out!  Its marvelous.  Wish there was a way I could show you all my progression but just trust and believe me haha.

Things are great, and sadly for you (happy for me) don't think I'll be coming back to the states any time soon.  I will be here until at least may...quite possibly longer if I find a teaching job.  Then after,  I am thinking I want to just work my way north...possibly all the way up through central america.  Right now is my immersion, time to learn the language, and live in a culture...but after this I am going to be a very transient person, moving from place to place.  I am guessing finding some jobs, volunteering opportunities, adventures, and more along the way.  I am also open to staying down here if I find something.  But this is the adventure, NOT KNOWING... I'll keep you all updated ;)

LA BOMBA VIDEO

Sorry about my screaming, but this video is a great example of La Bomba and is the only one where the camer isn{t shaking from me dancing haha

La Bomba (a night of dancing and percussion) and How I locked myself INSIDE of my house

So I have to share my experience at La Bomba del Tiempo last night.  They hold these percussion shows every Monday from 7-10:30.  Short and sweet, everyone clearing out after.  It is somewhat of a hippiefest, but at the same time it is also a place where portenos and travelers/tourists meet and there is just tons of energy, beer drinking, and yes weed smoke in the air.  But the weed and beer wasn't the source of energy.  Nobody is messed up, most people having at most two beers, or splitting a joint between friends.  The energy comes from the 15 or so percussionists wailing away in syncopation, everybody dancing uncontrollably, and is just a healthy get-together.  

When I got there the music was just beginning.  At the front they have the "conductor", who is more or less the organizer and communicator, keeping everybody in sync and giving solos to different instruments and players.  It was an unbelievably energetic show.  I was dancing the entire time, not caring about what I looked like or who was around me.  At the end they always have one or two guest performers, this time being a reggae singer, and the other a trumpet player...both unbelievable musicians.  I have a video of the singer, but unfortunately my camera ran out of memory before the trumpet started...but it was probably my favorite part of the show. I was there with an irish buddy, and 8 or so girls from my school, all from Holland except one English girl and a girl from Turkey...all around a blast.

I love how here, everybody more or less gets along, and by that I mean there are a lot of travelers mostly from Europe, and the locals are super friendly towards everybody and inviting, as well as welcoming.  I have met so many "portenos" and they have all been super interested and super friendly.  I know I've said this before, but if you can speak spanish or even give it your best shot, you get brownie points haha.  Anyways, it was all around a fantastic time and plan to try and go if not every monday, every other monday because it was jsut a nice way of meeting people, without this need you have in bars to be messed up.  The music takes away your inhibition, and as hippie parties usually go, everybody was peaceful and positive vibes were surrounding the warehouse.  An experience everyone must try if you travel to Buenos Aires.

I have a pretty funny story I have to share real quick.  On saturday, I went to dinner with friends from school.  We met at my house, and shortly thereafter left.  I have two locks on my door; a regular one and a deadbolt.  Without knowing, I put my kjey int he deadbolt, and thought it would be ok because usually in the states its the same key.  Well it locked, and locked kinda funny.  I didn't think anything of it until I returned after dinner.  Well, The key must not have fit, because I soon found out that I was locked out and it was not going to budge.  Its hard to explain how I got in, but I basically climbed in through a window in a stairwell (with help of neighbors), and scaled my building (don't worry ground floor) and jumped down into my terrace.  Got in through my back door, thinking I could get it open from the inside.  Well, I was originally locked out...after my smart move...I was locked in.  

I called my roommate and he did the same thing because we both wanted to sleep.  Forgetting the next day was sunday and that almost everything was closed, after waking up, we quickly realized that we were screwed.  I emailed my landlord, called him... no answer.  Then my argentine phone and my roommate's ran out of minutes.  Luckily our neighbors checked in on us, and I passed my phone and money through the window.  They reloaded my phone and I called Luli.  She called an emergency locksmith (who i had originally called but he didn't realize...or I couldn't articulate that we were locked in) and came over.  I told him for all I knew, it was the same key...and he quickly got to work.  After about a half hour of working he said nothing was happening and that he may have to break the lock (600 pesos to fix).  We said we don't want that until a last resort.  Finally, after about an hour...he unlocked it and the door flung open, Aaron and I basically jumping on the guy out of excitement.  It was a very serious situation until it was over, then it all became a hilarious story.  Anyways, all is well now.  I had to pay the locksmith 250pesos (appx 65 dollars), but my landlord said he'd cover it.

Things are still good here.  I'm trying to plan my trip to Uruguay very soon, as I have to make a visa run (mine runs out after 3 months here), but I have been wanting to go regardless.  I love this city, but I need some beach or any form of nature, so we will see where I end up going.

Chau for now!!!