We have decide to change plans. Due to reasons that I can not tell you, we have decided to move north through Chile. Our stops will include La Serena, Valle de Elqui, San Pedro de Atacama (The Atacama Desert), Equique, and Peru.
I say Peru, because I really have no idea what we're doing in Peru other than Machu Pichu, and hopefully Lake Titicaca. Boliva will be avoided as a whole due to a large entrance fee.
And with that, we're off, all I leave you with is this link...
http://www.craigslist.org/about/best/alb/621862265.html
That's just funny stuff.
Monday, May 11, 2009
Sunday, May 10, 2009
After this you will officially be caught up with the life of Wayne, and Blogasarus is doing it's job
So the program has ended. I have struggled through one more semester of school. I have hung up my bike shoes, and put my helmet down for the next month. The Sister, and The Old Man are here, and we're headed out in the morning...
Here's the count for the semester:
Flat tires -4
Broken Spokes - 1
Me hitting car (my fault) - 1
Car hitting me (their fault) - 1
New friends (estimated) - 75
People I NEVER want to see EVER again - 1 (and it's not the person that hit me)
Times I have ridden the metro - 45
Money spent on cell phone (here) - $30US
Weekends spent in the city - 2
Photos taken thus far - 5924 (true story)
Time here - 4 months
That's about boils down to an average of 40 photos a day.
Anywho, I have one more month here, bellow the equator. Our plan is as follows.
We plan on leaving here (Santiago) tomorrow (Monday the 10th) and heading for Mendoza Argentina. From there, we will travel our way north in Argentina untill we just about hit the Bolivian border. We will then head back over the Andes toward San Pedro de Atacama, In chile. From there it's north again. Kick it for a weekend or so with my buddy, Bret, in the north and surf. Then head into Peru, do the Machu Pichu thing, lake Titicaca, and then head back down to Santiago.
That's our very rough plan. From here the blog posts will be shorter and more sparse, however hopefully equally as entertaining.
At this point the adventure should really start, now that I have liberated myself from the oppression of the education system, and can finally open my wings of exploration, to see the big shinny world that is out there for the taking.
As we were helping my sister decide what, of the 3 bags she brought, would go into the one bag for our adventure, my sister said this:
"There's nothing mysterious about women... they just expect things"
-Theresa Smith-
and that's all I have to say about that.
now, for the first week that school was out I went down to Chiloe with Steve.
We flew from Santiago to Puerto Mont, spent one night there in an incredibly musty and smoky hostel, we did get to watch Wallace and Gromit in Spanis, and the beds were big (atleast mine was)
This little guy I found in the morning,
3rd wheel attack room if I've ever seen on. Could you imagine renting this room with a friend and a significant other. It would be like all sleeping together, but not.
For those having trouble it says "Nuts 5 Nuts" this is a Chilean franchise that has derived from another franchise called "Nuts 4 Nuts" which makses sense. This however does not.
We finally arrived in Castro (a town) Chilloe, near the fishing boats Steve and I found these guys selling ceviche. that's literally all we ate here, we stayed for 3 days.
Does this appeal to anyone?
The island of Chilloe is famous for its old wooden churches, some dating back to the 1700s. This is one of them. This one is the oldest with a birthdate of 1730. Oh yah, and it's only wood, they didn't even use nails. Seriously
Steve with his huge plate of death. It cost $5 US.
Another wooden church, a bit newer, they used nails on this one.
Castro's "wooden" church. it's actually wood (covered with metal) but it's still labeled as a wooden church. This is decidedly the most colorful, and coolest of the churches. Great work Castro.
This is at the enterence to our hostel. On the right... Martial Arts of Castro. On the left... hostel.
Boats at night.
We stayed a night in a town called Dalcalhue, or something like that. The entire building had 6'4" ceilings, except in the shower, it got a bit shorter in there. Yes I did shower. no it wasn't worth it.
Good view from an Island of an Island.
The dock was linned with tires, that's not that unusual, in fact, it's a good idea but...
They were NEW tires. When I asked my host mom why they did this she simply replied "because we're Chileans"
This was the ONLY decoration in the hostel in Castro where we stayed, it's a turtle.
This is the Ocean, on the west side of the island.
Brightly colored wooden church, taken from the bus.
Yes, they are selling matches with a FREE bottle of wine. Good idea?
That about sums it up. All except for the day we got to spend with Lia, and her Dad from the states. Thanks again for tollerating us Lia, and it was great to get to know your dad.
Lia eating sea urchin her dad behind her.
Steve and I returned to Santiago after 6 days down south, and the next morning I went to get the Old Man and the Sister.
Last, but not Least,
HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY
To all the mothers out there, but especially mine, mostly because she rocks just that much. Thanks for everything Mom, I love you.
Here's the count for the semester:
Flat tires -4
Broken Spokes - 1
Me hitting car (my fault) - 1
Car hitting me (their fault) - 1
New friends (estimated) - 75
People I NEVER want to see EVER again - 1 (and it's not the person that hit me)
Times I have ridden the metro - 45
Money spent on cell phone (here) - $30US
Weekends spent in the city - 2
Photos taken thus far - 5924 (true story)
Time here - 4 months
That's about boils down to an average of 40 photos a day.
Anywho, I have one more month here, bellow the equator. Our plan is as follows.
We plan on leaving here (Santiago) tomorrow (Monday the 10th) and heading for Mendoza Argentina. From there, we will travel our way north in Argentina untill we just about hit the Bolivian border. We will then head back over the Andes toward San Pedro de Atacama, In chile. From there it's north again. Kick it for a weekend or so with my buddy, Bret, in the north and surf. Then head into Peru, do the Machu Pichu thing, lake Titicaca, and then head back down to Santiago.
That's our very rough plan. From here the blog posts will be shorter and more sparse, however hopefully equally as entertaining.
At this point the adventure should really start, now that I have liberated myself from the oppression of the education system, and can finally open my wings of exploration, to see the big shinny world that is out there for the taking.
As we were helping my sister decide what, of the 3 bags she brought, would go into the one bag for our adventure, my sister said this:
"There's nothing mysterious about women... they just expect things"
-Theresa Smith-
and that's all I have to say about that.
now, for the first week that school was out I went down to Chiloe with Steve.
We flew from Santiago to Puerto Mont, spent one night there in an incredibly musty and smoky hostel, we did get to watch Wallace and Gromit in Spanis, and the beds were big (atleast mine was)
This little guy I found in the morning,
3rd wheel attack room if I've ever seen on. Could you imagine renting this room with a friend and a significant other. It would be like all sleeping together, but not.
For those having trouble it says "Nuts 5 Nuts" this is a Chilean franchise that has derived from another franchise called "Nuts 4 Nuts" which makses sense. This however does not.
We finally arrived in Castro (a town) Chilloe, near the fishing boats Steve and I found these guys selling ceviche. that's literally all we ate here, we stayed for 3 days.
Does this appeal to anyone?
The island of Chilloe is famous for its old wooden churches, some dating back to the 1700s. This is one of them. This one is the oldest with a birthdate of 1730. Oh yah, and it's only wood, they didn't even use nails. Seriously
Steve with his huge plate of death. It cost $5 US.
Another wooden church, a bit newer, they used nails on this one.
Castro's "wooden" church. it's actually wood (covered with metal) but it's still labeled as a wooden church. This is decidedly the most colorful, and coolest of the churches. Great work Castro.
This is at the enterence to our hostel. On the right... Martial Arts of Castro. On the left... hostel.
Boats at night.
We stayed a night in a town called Dalcalhue, or something like that. The entire building had 6'4" ceilings, except in the shower, it got a bit shorter in there. Yes I did shower. no it wasn't worth it.
Good view from an Island of an Island.
The dock was linned with tires, that's not that unusual, in fact, it's a good idea but...
They were NEW tires. When I asked my host mom why they did this she simply replied "because we're Chileans"
This was the ONLY decoration in the hostel in Castro where we stayed, it's a turtle.
This is the Ocean, on the west side of the island.
Brightly colored wooden church, taken from the bus.
Yes, they are selling matches with a FREE bottle of wine. Good idea?
That about sums it up. All except for the day we got to spend with Lia, and her Dad from the states. Thanks again for tollerating us Lia, and it was great to get to know your dad.
Lia eating sea urchin her dad behind her.Steve and I returned to Santiago after 6 days down south, and the next morning I went to get the Old Man and the Sister.
Last, but not Least,
HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY
To all the mothers out there, but especially mine, mostly because she rocks just that much. Thanks for everything Mom, I love you.
Why don't I have my Chilean ID? ... because I'm not Chilean
So 2 days after April took off back to the land of cheap peanutbutter, coffee grinders, and electric toasters, I was struck down on my way to school. A chilean woman was rushing a book to her daughter at school and tried to pass me, only lift me off the ground stuff me on to her hood, Throw my helmet through her window, and finally skid to a stop, bouncing up onto the curb, and trowing me off her hood, onto the ground by the sidewalk. Here's photos I had an onlooker take.
That's the bike slayer there on the left in the flowered get-up.
I'm the tall one
This is the whepon
There's the bike, along with her, her weapon of mass destruction, and my life saving bike.
She hit me at a speed of 35mph. When she hit me, she hit me from the rear, hitting my rear wheel first, then my left side. The wheels on the bike (29ers) were big enough, so that when she hit me, it simply lifted me up onto her hood, and I rode it out on her hood, until, due to breaking forces, I rolled off onto that grass you see in the last photo. I was lucky. The bike was fine, absolutely NO damage, and I had a bit of a scraped up left leg, some ripped shorts, and a broken helmet. The Carabineros were facinated by the fact that I didn't have a Chilean ID card. I guess I'm starting to look the part... What do you think?
She doesn't want to pay me for my helmet and my shorts, so, I think I'll just let karma take care of her, either that or the Carabineros (Chilean police).
It was nearing up on the end of the program. Everyone was frantically going around, and making sure to say bye to all their new friends, before going back home. Steve Mac and I went to La Vega Central one more time, mainly because it's a rad place... and to drink a drink called a "terremoto" (earthquake) at a famous bar called "La Piojera".
A terremoto is a drink made of wine, and pineapple ice cream. They are OUTRAGEOUSLY sweet, and pretty good, and smooth, but pretty strong as well.
We then went to La Vega, where we discovered these genius signs.
Yah, you guessed it, spinach is labeled "Popeye" and garlic is labled "Viagra", and no, those arn't the Spanish words for them.
We then moved on to a "completo a lo pobre" which is a hot dog covered in sauteed onions, a fried egg, and cheese. It was crazy.
The following weekend I was invited to Valpariso with Mac, and her "host family" (her host family are really just really good friends whom she lived with here).
Valpariso was a blast, then it was back for the last week of school.
That's the bike slayer there on the left in the flowered get-up.
I'm the tall one
This is the whepon
There's the bike, along with her, her weapon of mass destruction, and my life saving bike.
She hit me at a speed of 35mph. When she hit me, she hit me from the rear, hitting my rear wheel first, then my left side. The wheels on the bike (29ers) were big enough, so that when she hit me, it simply lifted me up onto her hood, and I rode it out on her hood, until, due to breaking forces, I rolled off onto that grass you see in the last photo. I was lucky. The bike was fine, absolutely NO damage, and I had a bit of a scraped up left leg, some ripped shorts, and a broken helmet. The Carabineros were facinated by the fact that I didn't have a Chilean ID card. I guess I'm starting to look the part... What do you think?
She doesn't want to pay me for my helmet and my shorts, so, I think I'll just let karma take care of her, either that or the Carabineros (Chilean police).
It was nearing up on the end of the program. Everyone was frantically going around, and making sure to say bye to all their new friends, before going back home. Steve Mac and I went to La Vega Central one more time, mainly because it's a rad place... and to drink a drink called a "terremoto" (earthquake) at a famous bar called "La Piojera".
A terremoto is a drink made of wine, and pineapple ice cream. They are OUTRAGEOUSLY sweet, and pretty good, and smooth, but pretty strong as well.
We then went to La Vega, where we discovered these genius signs.
Yah, you guessed it, spinach is labeled "Popeye" and garlic is labled "Viagra", and no, those arn't the Spanish words for them.We then moved on to a "completo a lo pobre" which is a hot dog covered in sauteed onions, a fried egg, and cheese. It was crazy.
The following weekend I was invited to Valpariso with Mac, and her "host family" (her host family are really just really good friends whom she lived with here).
Valpariso was a blast, then it was back for the last week of school.
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