Monday, July 21, 2008
La Paz, Bolivia
We arrived in La Paz yesterday. It was a whirlwind leaving our apartment in Santiago for the last time, at 4:45am, and dealing with delayed flights in the Santiago airport, but we made it. After anticipating our entrance to Bolivia all morning, the Bolivia customs was no problem, and we haven't been robbed yet!! The altitude is a good introduction to what we'll face in Peru, and while we can feel it, I think we're acclimating well. We ran into a girl from our Teaching Chile program who was living in Valporaiso yesterday and toured parts of La Paz with her. Today we did our own version of a walking tour, taking it pretty slow. Tomorrow we fly into a town called Rurrenbaque where we will spend the night and then take a 5 hour ride in a dugout canoe to the Bolivian Amazon jungle. This was our big splurge for this trip and we're excited to see what it has in store for us. Unfortunately we don't have the equipment with us to upload pictures for the next few weeks, but we'll try to keep the blog updated.
Tuesday, July 15, 2008
San Pedro de Atacama
Last week we traveled to the Atacama desert in Northern Chile. We spent three and a half days there not including the 50 hours round trip on the bus.
Who would have thought the desert could be such a beautiful place? The Atacama desert is the highest and driest in the world. The Altiplano (Alpine Desert) is littered with volcanic peaks, many of them active, of up to 5000 - 6000 meters (X3 plus some change = feet). It was hard to believe that we stood at altitudes almost as high as Mount Rainier without much snow or water, but our lungs believed otherwise. The Altiplano has a rare beauty that is unique to the North of Chile. Among the many volcanoes were turquoise lakes, massive volcanic rock formations, geyser fields, and deep canyons.
We stayed in the tiny town of San Pedro de Atacama, though very touristy and expensive on the central streets, it maintains the distinct culture of Northern Chile's desert inhabitants. The smaller villages (pueblos) of the Altiplano provided an even more authentic glimpse into this culture. It was amazing to see how they use what little water is available (run-off from the Andean peaks) to survive and cultivate the land.
On our first day we rented bikes and rode through Valle de la Luna. We explored caves and rock formations, and watched the sunset over the desert. The next day we toured the Altiplano lakes, canyons, and nearby volcanoes. Our last day we left town at 4:00am to watch the sunrise over El Tatio Geysers near the Bolivian border at an altitude of 4300 meters. We nearly froze waiting for the sun to rise at a temperature of 10F, but it didn't stop us from stripping down for a dip in the thermal pools. After a relaxing afternoon in town we hopped a 24 hour bus back to Santiago.
We now have 5 days to pack up and say goodbye to Chile before we head North on our trip home. We'll try to keep the blog posted as we travel through Bolivia, Peru, and Ecuador, but no guarantees.
Who would have thought the desert could be such a beautiful place? The Atacama desert is the highest and driest in the world. The Altiplano (Alpine Desert) is littered with volcanic peaks, many of them active, of up to 5000 - 6000 meters (X3 plus some change = feet). It was hard to believe that we stood at altitudes almost as high as Mount Rainier without much snow or water, but our lungs believed otherwise. The Altiplano has a rare beauty that is unique to the North of Chile. Among the many volcanoes were turquoise lakes, massive volcanic rock formations, geyser fields, and deep canyons.
We stayed in the tiny town of San Pedro de Atacama, though very touristy and expensive on the central streets, it maintains the distinct culture of Northern Chile's desert inhabitants. The smaller villages (pueblos) of the Altiplano provided an even more authentic glimpse into this culture. It was amazing to see how they use what little water is available (run-off from the Andean peaks) to survive and cultivate the land.
On our first day we rented bikes and rode through Valle de la Luna. We explored caves and rock formations, and watched the sunset over the desert. The next day we toured the Altiplano lakes, canyons, and nearby volcanoes. Our last day we left town at 4:00am to watch the sunrise over El Tatio Geysers near the Bolivian border at an altitude of 4300 meters. We nearly froze waiting for the sun to rise at a temperature of 10F, but it didn't stop us from stripping down for a dip in the thermal pools. After a relaxing afternoon in town we hopped a 24 hour bus back to Santiago.
We now have 5 days to pack up and say goodbye to Chile before we head North on our trip home. We'll try to keep the blog posted as we travel through Bolivia, Peru, and Ecuador, but no guarantees.
Birthday Ski Day
Cam's sister Lindsay and her friend Peter came to visit us in Santiago. Lindsay and I share a birthday month and both got to spend our first birthdays in the southern hemisphere. We decided to do something wintery because it's not often to have snow in June. A big group of gringos from our Teaching Chile program piled into a van, rented gear, and hit the slopes at a nearby ski hill, Valle Nevado. Now we all have the unique pleasure of being able to say, "When I was skiing in the Andes..." Happy 25th Lindsay and Debbie!
Wednesday, July 2, 2008
Buenos Aires
We recently took a 4 day trip to Buenos Aires, and the city lived up to all of our expectations. The architecture, food, culture and entertainment were excellent. Buenos Aires is beautiful, yet it also maintains the edginess of a South American city. It has a very international feel (especially compared to Santiago), owed to the large population of residents referred to as Porteños, whose ancestors immigrated to Argentina from all over Europe. Though it was not as cheap as we had heard (steak and wine for $5 is a thing of the past), we had a great time. The city continues to recover from the economic crash of 2001, as evidenced by the rising costs and continued restoration of the historic neighborhoods. We stayed in a San Telmo, an old neighborhood famous for steaks, street markets and tango dancing. We wandered all throughout the city, had great food and wine, went to an excellent tango show at the famous Café Tortoni, and experienced the national pride of Argentina at a soccer match between Argentina and Ecuador. We had an amazing time in Buenos Aires and would love the opportunity to return someday.
This is a video taken after Argentina scored their only goal of the game in the last 2 minutes of stoppage time, phew!!
This is a video of a street performer at the San Telmo Antique Fair, listen for Cam's laughter!
This is a video taken after Argentina scored their only goal of the game in the last 2 minutes of stoppage time, phew!!
This is a video of a street performer at the San Telmo Antique Fair, listen for Cam's laughter!
Saturday, May 31, 2008
Valparaiso
Cameron's brother, Zach, came and visited us for two weeks. We had a blast with him and he fell in love with Santiago. He also brought us a replacement camera for the one we foolishly lost in La Serena. We took a weekend trip to Valparaiso, a port town about an hour and a half from Santiago. It was a great trip and we all loved Valpo. It was especially difficult to swallow as this was one of our first choices of places to live while in Chile, but it didn't work out for us to be there. Sigh. Its a colorful town with lots of character. Every street had huge murals and the houses were brightly colored. The city sits on multiple hills with houses built into the sides. There are windy staircases to maneuver the streets, and steep "ascensors" which are old lifts to take you up the steepest parts. The town just begs to be photographed, so it was a perfect chance to try out our "new" camera. We took almost 200 pictures, and it was difficult to choose our favorites to post for people to see, but I think we did an accurate job. Overall, Valpo is a great city and a must-see of Chile.
Thursday, May 29, 2008
Winter has Arrived
by Debbie
The street vendors have put away the summer wares and are now selling sweaters, hats, gloves, and umbrellas. The rain seems to induce confusion here in Santiago and invite new excuses to avoid work. After the first big rain, some of the surrounding areas flooded and had “impassable” roads. We arrived to campus the next day with blue skies and sunshine despite notices of city wide school cancellations. Once there, we were told that attendance was optional, absences wouldn’t be held against students who couldn’t attend, and we weren’t to conduct any quizzes or presentations, due to the rain the previous night. The temperatures are in the mid 50’s, but that doesn’t stop people from bundling up in all possible layers. The news ran a special a couple mornings ago giving tips to people on how to deal with the cold, explaining how to bundle up and wear warm clothing. Many students have expressed concern for me when I wear a lightweight jacket to work, “Profe, you’re too cold, you will get sick.” Chileans still buy into the myth that you can catch a cold if you are cold. I had a student tell me she had to leave my class because her feet were cold, when I told her she would be absent, she gave me the most pitiful puppy dog eyes she could muster and said she didn’t feel good. *insert pathetic cough*
A mere drizzle causes a flurry of umbrellas to unfold on the city streets; this adds a whole new level of chaos to the already bustling streets of Santiago. People still rush from Point A to Point B without regard for others on the street, only now they do so with sharp umbrellas at eye gouging level. One must use extra caution when navigating even short distances, lesson learned the hard way. Those unfortunate enough not to own umbrellas (which is surprising with how much Chileans love them and the ability to buy them every two feet on the street) huddle under awnings if they can fit among the stray perros and homeless. We have been warned by numerous people of how cold it gets here in the winter. While it is significantly colder now than 2 months ago, I’m not buying into the “freezing” weather just yet, I think Chileans are just a little sensitive when the weather drops below 85 degrees. However, when the smog lifts and the rain lets up, we are left with splendid views of the snowcapped Andes, which are a faithful reminder that we’re actually here in South America and to enjoy it as much as we can while it lasts.
The street vendors have put away the summer wares and are now selling sweaters, hats, gloves, and umbrellas. The rain seems to induce confusion here in Santiago and invite new excuses to avoid work. After the first big rain, some of the surrounding areas flooded and had “impassable” roads. We arrived to campus the next day with blue skies and sunshine despite notices of city wide school cancellations. Once there, we were told that attendance was optional, absences wouldn’t be held against students who couldn’t attend, and we weren’t to conduct any quizzes or presentations, due to the rain the previous night. The temperatures are in the mid 50’s, but that doesn’t stop people from bundling up in all possible layers. The news ran a special a couple mornings ago giving tips to people on how to deal with the cold, explaining how to bundle up and wear warm clothing. Many students have expressed concern for me when I wear a lightweight jacket to work, “Profe, you’re too cold, you will get sick.” Chileans still buy into the myth that you can catch a cold if you are cold. I had a student tell me she had to leave my class because her feet were cold, when I told her she would be absent, she gave me the most pitiful puppy dog eyes she could muster and said she didn’t feel good. *insert pathetic cough*
A mere drizzle causes a flurry of umbrellas to unfold on the city streets; this adds a whole new level of chaos to the already bustling streets of Santiago. People still rush from Point A to Point B without regard for others on the street, only now they do so with sharp umbrellas at eye gouging level. One must use extra caution when navigating even short distances, lesson learned the hard way. Those unfortunate enough not to own umbrellas (which is surprising with how much Chileans love them and the ability to buy them every two feet on the street) huddle under awnings if they can fit among the stray perros and homeless. We have been warned by numerous people of how cold it gets here in the winter. While it is significantly colder now than 2 months ago, I’m not buying into the “freezing” weather just yet, I think Chileans are just a little sensitive when the weather drops below 85 degrees. However, when the smog lifts and the rain lets up, we are left with splendid views of the snowcapped Andes, which are a faithful reminder that we’re actually here in South America and to enjoy it as much as we can while it lasts.
Monday, May 5, 2008
Seismic Activity and a Seismic Blunder
By Cameron
There was a massive volcanic erruption over the weekend, about 750 miles south of here. We have also been awakened by two small earthquakes in the last couple weeks. No suprising at all, given the number of active volcanoes and fault lines in Chile. Check out the stories and images of the erruption on the internet. Its pretty intense. Thousands of people have been evacuated from the area. There is about 6 inches of ash around the region. I cant tell the story as well as a world news article or YouTube clip, so check it out for yourselves.
In other news, we took a 7 hour bus trip to the north this holiday weeknd (Labor Day in Chile)to a beach town called La Serana. On the trip up we both fell asleep. After arriving in La Seraena we walked about a half-mile before realizing the camera was missing. I ran frantically back to the station only to see that the bus had already left for its next destination, 1000 miles north into the Atacama Desert. As we learned, there really is no procedure here for reporting lost (or stolen) items. We are pretty sure it was wedged into the seat between us and we just forgot to grab it before getting off. It was a costly and stupid mistake that we really beat ourselves up over, but had to move on so we could enjoy a nice weekend away from the madness of Santiago. Sorry, no picturres to share. DOH! We hope to be getting a replacement soon. Until then Google images will be the source for photos of Chile.
There was a massive volcanic erruption over the weekend, about 750 miles south of here. We have also been awakened by two small earthquakes in the last couple weeks. No suprising at all, given the number of active volcanoes and fault lines in Chile. Check out the stories and images of the erruption on the internet. Its pretty intense. Thousands of people have been evacuated from the area. There is about 6 inches of ash around the region. I cant tell the story as well as a world news article or YouTube clip, so check it out for yourselves.
In other news, we took a 7 hour bus trip to the north this holiday weeknd (Labor Day in Chile)to a beach town called La Serana. On the trip up we both fell asleep. After arriving in La Seraena we walked about a half-mile before realizing the camera was missing. I ran frantically back to the station only to see that the bus had already left for its next destination, 1000 miles north into the Atacama Desert. As we learned, there really is no procedure here for reporting lost (or stolen) items. We are pretty sure it was wedged into the seat between us and we just forgot to grab it before getting off. It was a costly and stupid mistake that we really beat ourselves up over, but had to move on so we could enjoy a nice weekend away from the madness of Santiago. Sorry, no picturres to share. DOH! We hope to be getting a replacement soon. Until then Google images will be the source for photos of Chile.
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