Adventures in the Gorge

Hi all! For some reason I have not felt terribly inspired to update this lately and have let nearly 6 weeks pass since last writing. However, it is certainly not for lack of inspiring and exciting things to write about as life never fails to be an adventure on a daily basis here in the Nantahala River gorge. So there is much to report!

First of all, I would like to note that I saw the sun today for the first time in 9 days. Nine days does not seem like a long time until you experience each and every day of non-stop rain, clouds, fog, and slogging through mud, mud, and more mud. At first, I looked at it from the glass half-full perspective - "At least we arent experiencing the drought of the last 2 years;" "The trees, plants, farmers must be SO happy;" and "It's a good excuse to read a book, watch a movie, curl up indoors." Oh wait...this last one got me. It WOULD be a good excuse to curl up inside on the sofa and read or watch a movie, if ONLY I lived in such a place. My dwelling is not so fancy. I described it to my dad as a "cabin" being that is has four walls, a roof, a wooden slat with a thin mattress for me to lie upon each night snug in my sleeping bag, and is made of wood. But that is about all it has. Dad arrived to discover that spending the night with me meant a 200 yard walk in the dark to use the facilities and climbing a wooden ladder to sleep on an equally thin (and rather a bit more dusty) mattress in the "loft." Again, loft often inspires visions of something cute, cozy, and comfy. This is NOT that kind of loft. Dad decided it would have been better described as a Swiss climbing hut. However, having never visited a climbing hut, I have taken to just telling people I live in a shack and use the outhouse to answer the call of nature (and thanks to a recent move, I am now only 20 yards from the toilet - makes those middle of the night stumbles to the bathroom all the merrier)! But do not be led astray. I LOVE where I live. I may not like it so much come next month when cold temps roll in and my heater-less abode provides no comfort from the elements, but for now, I live in a great community where we wile away evenings in our one common room drinking tea, reading the "latest" tabloids (often received a 2-4 weeks after they come out, but, hey, it's news to us!), and doing crossword puzzles. HA! Sounds like a cheesy scene right out of The Waltons...The things people must have done to keep themselves entertained pre-tech era, I suppose. But, I digress...

The sun is out again - I no longer have to run wearing scuba gear to prevent from drowning and may once again use that awesome hot pink road bike of mine. Woohoo! And now back to the days I refer to as BtR - i.e. Before the Rains.

This is my fourth season working at the Nantahala Outdoor Center, but it is really the first time I have truly felt like a part of the NOC community. It probably has a lot to do with living in staff housing for the first time ever, but I also think that I have made much more of a personal effort this year to hang out with co-workers. And, as a result, the adventures have been numerous, varied, and made even the days of non-stop rain bearable.

Most memorable adventure goes to our Mashburns - this being the name of the place where I live - family outing to eat dinner at Ryans Steakhouse buffet. A co-worker and I each one a gift certificate for 2 to eat at this restaurant located 45 minutes from our "casa" in the nearest city of any size. We decided that rather than choosing dates, we would let anyone interested take part in a competition to win a coveted date with us. But what kind of competition should we have? Alas, we decided on a Sumo Butt Wrestling competition amongst co-workers. People signed up, rules were explained (basically using only your butt, you must knock the other person out of our mud-made ring), and the competition was underway. By the end, Kate and Liz won this "survival of the fittest (butt)" challenge. But people were so thrilled about the prospect of a night out on the town, that another 4 people hopped on board to join us (even knowing they would actually have to fork over $10 for the grand buffet). This being a special event for us gorge dwellers, Kate managed to get the 6 girls some fancy dresses straight from the 80s from the local theater and the guys dressed in their own redneck wedding clothes. Bathed, dressed, and with our tummies rumbling, we headed off in two cars for a night of food - LOTS of it - and an especially exciting after dinner trip to Wal-Mart. Really, there is no end to the amazing things one can find in that store - doggy vitamins, Jonas brother towels, and EEE sized bras...who knew?!

Dinner at Ryan's in our "fancy" clothes!

For awhile, there were so many calamities, that I thought I might need to plant myself in a plastic bubble until I managed to get myself some health insurance: Sarah was still recovering from her Copperhead bite; Liz broke her tail bone - while filming an NOC safety video, no less!; Will tore his pectoral muscle during a swift water rescue course and subsequently had to have surgery to repair it; Daniel had surgery to repair an infected Brown Recluse bite; a bear entered onto Slow Joe's porch one evening while I was alone using the computer (it later ran off as I didnt look like too tasty of a treat); and two dogs chased me with blood in their eyes while on a solitary (and previously peaceful) bike ride. And the powers that be finally decided to grant me health insurance, so I feel a little less tense when biking/running/walking/breathing.

The bear visits Slow Joe's!

And now onto a positive note - There have been many beautiful bike rides with Pete, Chris, and by my lonesome, early morning runs along the Upper Nantahala, movie nights in Sylva and Asheville with Sarah, Tofu dog and Sangria dinners at Pat's, dogsitting with Sarah (and discovering instructor Gary's super secret stash of enough Slow Joe's trail mix to help him survive the apocalypse), a day of bumper cars, pizza buffets, and video games at the Fun Factory (similar to Chuck E Cheeses) with Shock, yummy homemade Argentinian dinners with Vanina, and being treated to TV nights sitting on a real couch in a real house while Kate housesits - oh the luxury of lying upon a non-mold laden carpet and watching trashy cable TV!! I have also taken to being a total kodak moment mom this season documenting each and every moment of life with my crappy digital camera. And I mean EVERY moment. I even went so far as to document the events leading up to throwing away an entire case of mayonnaise after one brilliant person put the box in the freezer (to her credit, the mayonnaise and meat boxes look VERY similar). My co-workers are getting used to the camera flashing to capture such events as washing dishes and opening a giant can a jalapenos.

Wee One-Eyed Willie - the fruit of our Fun Factory tickets


Taking a break from washing the dishes


Saying goodbye to the mayonnaise

And one delightful weekend, I received a real treat when my dad, Susan, Susan's 7 year old granddaughter Victoria, as well as good friends Scott and Diane Segars, and Doug and Maryanne came to visit, paddle, and break it down at fellow kayaking buddy Whitney Sanford's wedding. We ate some yummy chocolate mousse, danced to 80s tunes at the reception (I cannot express enough how much it means to me that I have a family who knows how to let loose and have fun on the dance floor. We may look silly, but who the heck cares?!), and I got to play the proud daughter and take a ton of photos of the fam as dad fearlessly guided Susan and Victoria down the mighty (mighty cold, that is) Nanty. Much to my relief, my dad did not pull his usual scare tactics, and Victoria had a blast on her first ever raft trip. Cant wait until they come back!

Letting loose at the reception


Dad, Victoria, and Susan rafting the Mighty Nantahala!


Dad, Susan, Victoria, and I outside of Slow Joe's

As for life outside of the gorge, I visited Emily Mcguire Journy in Atlanta and took a quick trip across the country to Portland, OR to see Alexis, one of my best friends from Smith, get married. I spent 5 days catching up with old friends, eating freshly caught crab meat, camping 100 yards from the Pacific Ocean, watching my first live baseball game, dancing til my feet hurt, and hiking in the Colombia River gorge with my brororo. I fell in love with Portland and have decided it shall be my next US home....go there and you too shall be enamored!

Hanging out with Hannah and Alexis at a baseball game in Portland:).


Hiking with Jarratt in the beautiful Colombia River Gorge!

Now I am soaking in the sun and the tranquility of a Slow Joe's free day to eat a yummy muffin, read the local paper (on the day it comes out, no less!), and catch up on emails and phone calls while I have steady cell phone reception. Life is good, and I feel beyond blessed for the life I have, the opportunities I have been granted and the friends and family that surround me in body and spirit here and afar. Love to all! VIVA!

In my mind (and heart and body and soul) Ive returned to Carolina (del Norte)!

Hi all!

So it has happened. I have returned to Western North Carolina, to the good ole Nantahala Outdoor Center, and to my trusty position as a doer-of-all-things-needed-to-be-done at Slow Joe's Riverside Cafe. I feel like ever since I set foot back in the United States of America, I have been on the move, and the adventures continue, so as long as you keep reading, Ill keep writing....and I imagine I will keep writing even after you keep reading - it's just too much fun!

So for a recap of my last two weeks: I visited mom in Oxford, saw her new cute cozy house, got my second pedicure in my life, saw The Hangover (funny movie, but NOT a mom movie - sorry mom!), and ate yummy deserts. I then drove 8 hours to North Carolina, moved into my temporary housing where I am sharing a bunk with the resident spiders, ran, worked, ran, worked, repeat for 8 days straight. Broke up the monotony by spending one delightful evening after work swimming in Lake Fontana where I was baptized as a Mashburn Mermaid - Mashburns being the name of the staff housing where I will soon be moved. And then, the GRAND AVENTURA of the week occurred when my friend Liz and I rushed Sarah, a co-worker and fellow Mashburn Mermaid, to the emergency room after a pleasant evening hike ended with an attack by a copperhead. Questions were asked ("How does one decide whether to give anti-vemon or not?" Doc's response? "Oh, it's more of a gut feeling." Hmm...), anti-vemon was FINALLY administered, lessons were learned (Copperhead bites can cause the heart to stop - believe me, this little tidbit of information was NOT helpful in calming Sarah as the doc listened to his gut...), and Sarah now sits in the comfort of her uncle's house in Atlanta while her leg returns to a normal size (it swelled from her foot all the way to her thigh - ahhh!) and she regains the ability to walk. And in an effort to pass on the knowledge gained during this ordeal, I pass along this...1)Do NOT ice a snake bite. It can cause you to lose your limb. 2) For the uninsured (i.e. yours truly), a snake bite could be the end of any savings as you know it. Anti-venom is EXPENSIVE. $7,000 per vile and Sarah's "small" bite required 6 viles. 3) It only takes one "near bite" experience to cause one to jump as the sight of a log lying alongside the running path and shiver when someone suggests we go see the movie "The Rise of the Cobra." Umm...No thanks!

So after only 8 days in NC and leaving Sarah in the care of her uncle, I turned around, drove 8 hours BACK home to Mississippi where I had an interview this past Saturday for a $25,000 Rotary Ambassadorial Scholarship to study public health and nutrition abroad for a year. In late June, I heard about this opportunity, so I spent a few hectic weeks in Ecuador gathering recommendations, transcripts, writing essays (in English and Spanish - thanks Luisfer for your patience and guidance!), and researching schools and programs in countries all throughout Latin America. And thanks to so many people both here in los estados and Ecuador, I was able to get everything together and turned in on time and was back here in time for the big interview before the committee on Aug 8th. And later that same afternoon, heard word from the head of the committee that I had been chosen to receive the scholarship - woohoo! I will not hear WHERE I will be sent (most likely Argentina, Nicaragua, or Colombia) until November and will not be leaving to study until Fall of 2010, so there is still a bit of suspense. But lo importante es saber que I got it! And to know that I at least have some sense of what I will be doing in the future...

And after the stress of interview preparation and the drama of finding out I won - Susan screamed so loud she nearly lost control of the car (we were en route to Clarksdale for a Blues festival) and Dad had me calling every family member we could think of - we spent a sweltering afternoon in the Delta eating rib tips (dad, not me), listening to Blues music, and driving among the cotton fields en route to Tunica, MS where we saw the Counting Crows in concert. Then, the next morning, I once again got in the car and drove the 8 hours back to North Carolina where I intend to stay until the season (and my job) ends on Nov. 1st.

So that, once again, brings me back to Western North Carolina, to the NOC, to Slow Joe's, to being a productive member of society (i.e. one that brings home a paycheck), to long morning runs in the rain, to evening bike rides through the rolling hills and past the pastoral farms, and to the beauty of all that is natural and mystical here in the Smokey Mountains. I am at home in the mountains. I love it here. I miss Latin America. But there is so much beauty here in my own country, and I feel blessed to have been received with open arms once again here on the banks of the Nantahala. Come visit and you too will be enamored - I promise to steer you clear of the snakes! VIVA!

Home Sweet Home (for a short while!)

For a quick update as to my whereabouts on a stormy Sunday afternoon: I returned to my hometown of Jackson, MS on Tuesday night after saying a sad goodbye to my lovely Ecuadorian hosts (and a not so sad goodbye to the little critters I slept with each night). The return trip was 16 hours as I first flew to Miami where upon landing I immediately burst into tears - not sure if it was due to being happy or sad about returning, but nevertheless I was certainly a pathetic sight as I sat there wedged in between two complete strangers trying my darndest to clear my eyes and look "normal." After going through immigration and being readmitted into the good ole U S of A, I boarded a train for an hour long trip to the Ft. Lauderdale airport where I entertained myself by eating Dunkin Donuts and reading The New York Times during my 4 hour layover. After what seemed like forever, I boarded a plane for Atlanta, waited around another hour and FINALLY made my way to Jackson and the waiting arms of Susan around 11:30 PM. Talk about an exhausting day!

Since returning to the comfy coziness of my dad's house, I have caught up with old friends, battled the intestinal blues (appears some little critters made their way through immigration wiht me:(), made tentative plans for the next month and thought about packing my backs for my next adventure. Tonight, I will head to my mom's house in Oxford, MS, and then onward I go to North Carolina to begin working at the NOC on Thursday. Looking forward to being back in the mountains - hiking, biking, eating Becki's pasta salad, Della's hummus, and homemade cookies fresh from the oven. Come visit:)! VIVA!

Tis Time to Say Goodbye...

Buenos días! I am sitting in Ivo and Luisfer's apartment in Quito, Ecuador in what has been my home for 5 weeks now and am pulling all my things together to pack my backpack one last time before I head back to los estados unidos for awhile.


Ready to go out in Guayaquil!

I spent my last weekend of my time here in Guayaquil near the coast with Luisfer and his family. Guayaquil is a big city and very very hot...similar to Mississippi in the Summer...so I was immediately reminded of what I will be returning to in just over 24 hours. And my body's reposnse? Complete and total shock and shutdown. After only a few hours wandering around the city center with Luisfer and his mom and eating some amazinginly delicious llapingachos (cheese filled potato dumplings) covered in peanut salse prepared by his grandmother, I proceeded to sleep nearly 4 hours...qué vaga soy! But refreshed and revived, we headed back out to the center to eat dinner, climb 450 stairs to the top of a hill overlooking the city and the rivers the snake through it, and then off to dance the night away in celebration of my final night out in Ecualandia (Luisfer's cousin lent me clothes so I had actual "going-out" attire!). Sunday, a cousin and her boyfriend joined the two of us on a bike ride before eating lunch, playing tennis, eating again - this time in the company of 12 family members - I love Latino family get-togethers! - and then boarding my final night bus to return to Quito.

Bike ride to the river in Guayaquil

Tomorrow will mark the end of 8 and a half months of my life as a mochilera traveling solo throughout South America. I have visited five countries (Argentina, Chile, Peru, Colombia, and Ecuador), visited countless cities - from capital cities with 12 million people to pueblitos with population of 200 and every size in between, met some of the most wonderful, hospitable and inspiring people, and had some of the most amazing experiences of my life on this adventure of mine. I have been challenged in ways I could not have imagined - physically and mentally - and, as I said from the beginning, tried my best to stay in the mindset of "Do that which you think you cannot do" when faced with such challenges.

But now the "real world" (I.e. one in which I must work to recuperate my savings) is calling me home. And I am not sure how I feel about returning home. It will certainly be good to see my family and return to North Carolina to work and play in las montañas, but I will miss Latin America - the ambience, the friendly people, traveling everywhere by bus, living a very materialistically minimal existence traveling with - I kid you not and please do not be disgusted - 3 pairs of pants, 4 shirts, two sweaters, and 2 pairs of shoes (and, yes, holes have peeked through a few of my clothes, but I HATE shopping even when things are cheap...), and - most delightfully - the ability to buy any and every kind of food imaginable by simply walking out your front door - no need to go to the supermarket here! I will not miss - being utterly confused about the how, why, when, and where of bus stations, bus schedules, bus routes; eating nothing but bread for days on end when other options included potato chips and soda; explaining to people that I only drink water (why would someone be so crazy to live like that?!), do not eat red meat, deep fried foods, and prefer to have veggies at least once a day; and I will defintely NOT miss bathrooms without toilet seats and toilet paper....although it may be awhile before I stop throwing the papel higenico en the trash can...8 month long habits die hard:)!

Tonight is celebration of my final evening here, the boys and I plan to eat ice cream (first!), pan de yuca, choclo, arroz con menestra, perhaps a llapingacho, and, if space allows it, an empanada de queso. And tomorrow, painfully bright and early, I will be off to my hometown where Susan will be awaiting my arrival with bells on! Hasta la proxima, America Latina! VIVA!

Conociendo Colombia (and putting off my Final Goodbyes)

Buenos Días desde Quito, Ecuador! Im STILL here, although a FINAL return ticket has been bought - no turning back now! But, in the meantime, I will enjoy my final days of my Grand Aventura.


View from high above Bogotá!

Most recently, Luisfer and I boarded a plane (no long-distance busses this time around!), and made our way to Bogotá, Colombia to spend 5 days exploring the city, visiting his friends, and eating and drinking our way from one part of town to the next. Since we had muy poco tiempo, we stayed in the city. But Bogotá is HUGE, so there was certainly plenty to keep us well-entertained, as well as well-fed. I feel like Bogotá was as much a culinary adventure as anything else. And our first Colombian food? Hormigas (i.e. ANTS!). That's right, these little buggers are a delicacy in these parts - and they dont come cheap. Luisfer and I both ate one each. And that was enough for a lifetime. Basically, I felt like I was eating a dirt-flavored peanut which may not have been so bad had I not had to see the head and little beady eyes before I took to munching away... Other tasty delights included Tamales, Arepas (white corn tortillas) filled with ham and cheese, Obleas - huge crackers filled with dulce de leche (arequipe in Colombia) and grated queso fresco, Bandeja Paisa (typical dish of rice, beans, meat, and platano), and Changua (cheesy bread in a bowl of milk).

Our days involved lots of walking through the centro historico, making our way through the hoards of street vendors, riding the elevator to the top of the tallest building in Bogotá (46 stories) for a panoramic view of la ciudad - Qué Grande!, visiting the Botanic Garden (I LOVE green spaces:)!) where our hostess Nataly works, visiting museums, and playing the typical Colombian drinking game of Sapo (or "Frog" in English) which involved throwing a coin at a box with nine holes of varying point values, two of which were covered by frogs sitting with their mouths wide-open on the top. Neither of us was skilled enough to actually get the coin in the "Sapo's" mouth, but it was still quite fun! And while I was certainly a winner in my own mind, the score card seemed to lean more towards Luisfer and Nataly's team...hmm....


Our nights were spent bar/disco-hopping in different parts of la ciudad where we made new friends, drank chicha (a drink made from fermented corn) out of a coconut shell, tried each of Colombia's different beers, as well as aguardiente, and danced to typical Colombian music. Colombians know how to drink and stay up until - literally - the break of dawn. I didnt make it much past 3 AM (I know, I know - abuelita!), but our hosts kept the party going until about 8:30 AM.

We had a great time and really enjoyed getting to see the city with our Bogotán hosts. It makes such a difference (and is a MUCH calmer experience) when you are with people who really know the city - how to get around, the best places to go, etc. We met some wonderful people, and while, yes, there are police with big guns everywhere - and one even tried recruiting Luisfer to join the force - I never felt more unsafe than anywhere else Ive visited throughout my travels.

I have only a few days left here in my home away from home and will be going this weekend with Ivo and Luisfer to Guayaquil to visit THEIR hometown before making my way to MY hometown. It has truly been a Grand Aventura, and I am sad to see it come to an end. But for now, I will live in the present and revel in my last moments here in Quito with my Ecua-familia:). VIVA!!

Ecua Blessings

Buenos días desde Quito, Ecuador! I have been having a truly wonderful time here in Quito. The last week has been spent working on getting things in order for when I return to los estados (yes, my return is inevitable...) and need to do things like work (WORK? What's that?). I had the pleasure of talking to my wonderful boss Becki Davis at the NOC on the phone and it sounds like things are just as exciting (if not more!) than ever at the Nantahala River, so once I finally decide it is time for me to return to the homeland, I will surely be looking forward to getting back to las montañas de North Carolina, seeing old friends, going for some lovely long bike rides, and eating some of Slow Joe's fantastic hummus and pasta salad. Oh man, my mouth is watering just thinking about it. But enough about the future! Im still here and not ready in the least to leave.
As both Luisfer and Ivo were busy busy with work, and I was busy with "work," we spent the week here in Quito. Most nights, I got some form of lesson from Ivo and Luisfer regarding my pronunciation. We have been putting particular effort in the proper pronunciation of "torta" (i.e. CAKE!) as it is an incredibly important part of my vocabulary here. And who knew my gringa self could have SUCH a freakin'hard time sounding even slightly native...hmmm.... In addition to trying to pronounce food words, we had a few culinary adventures - ate sushi (Ivo - who eats EVERYTHING - only ate a few bites, but at least he gave it a chance!), brownie ice cream at my favorite little tienda, and Luisfer even explored the world of tofu when we went to a veggie buffet. I do not think I was able to sell him on the food, but, again, at least he tried it (and I took photos to capture the moment!).
Friday night we went out dancing and stayed out until they shut the place down - woohoo! Saturday, I joined Luisfer and Ivo on an outing to our friend Marcelo's hacienda outside of Quito where they played an exciting game of fútbol. During my year here, I, along with Elsa and Rene, were the "Monosapiens" biggest fans, so I spent a lot of that year watching these boys play and it felt like a blast from the past to watch them run around on the field again - I even had a few goals dedicated to me;)!

The rest of the days have been spent in search of cheap food, cooking (Luisfer was in total disbelief that I could actually prepare my own dinner and wanted to take a photo to capture the moment - hmph!), watching movies on the floor, running in the park, and - most exciting of all - planning a trip to Colombia!! Luisfer and I leave tomorrow morning for a 5 days trip to visit some friends of his in Bogotá and explore the ciudad. So while 4 years ago, I was completely forbidden fom even entering the country, things have improved dramatically, and I am thrilled for the opportunity to get a taste of what the country has to offer. And even more excited to have a travel companion. Traveling solo has its delights, but I am finding that I am WELCOMING the company!! So off we go....VIVA!

Im NOT Leaving on a Jet Plane!

Luisfer, Ivo, and I high above Quito:)!

Buenos días desde Quito, Ecuador!!! Im STILL here! And so very very very happy:). This whole grand aventura of mine was to come to a grinding halt this morning at 8:20AM when I was to board a Miami, USA bound plane here in Quito and, thus, I am supposed to be on a jet plane headed for Jacktown, Mississippi, USA at this very moment. BUT plans changed. I was not ready to say goodbye. I am not sure I will really EVER be ready to say goodbye to this lifestyle of mine. Even more so now that I am in Quito where I have been off and on for the last two weeks living with Ivo and Luisfer. It feels so darn homey here. I have a room, a mattress, sheets, drawers to put my clothes in, even my own "females only" bathroom - even though somehow it is also the males teeth brushing, hair-prepping bathroom, too! And I really, honestly LOVE being with the two of them. We were such good friends the year I lived here and it's fun to be with people who know me so well after months and months and months of meeting, greeting, and moving on. It is true that I have made some WONDERFUL friends, and spent enough time with some people that they know me pretty well at this point, but there is something so delightfully refreshing about being with people with whom you have an honest-to-goodness history. So as I soaked all this in the last two weeks, and made side trips to Otavalo to bike, hike, dance, and even try the fabled Ayahuasca - which didnt do a darn thing to us, by the way - as well as Mindo to raft, swing across a deep ravine on a zip line like Tarzan, jump off waterfalls and eat grilled choclo, I decided I could not bear to leave. I broke the news - gently - to Poppa T and mom. But, honestly, neither was terribly surprised. We Glenn/Lanell Taylor children tend to lean more towards extending our wanderings as opposed to looking forward to returning to the homestead. So here I am! For two more weeks....theoretically.

In the last week, I have gone for some wonderful runs in Parque La Carolina, spent 2 days celebrating Inti Raymi - the festival of the sun - in Otavalo where local indigenous groups danced around in circles while wearing Halloween-like masks and eating corn and guinea pig in celebration of the harvest. Luisfer joined me on a humorous search for Ayahuasca that involved knocking on random doors in a town of 2000 people and being told that the drink could kill us, but for a mere $60 the townspeople would be happy to cleanse of us all the evil inside and throw in a little good luck for $20 more! Who knew it would be so hard to find the fabled drink in this country! We made friends with a local family who finally took us to a local shaman's house where instead of seeing my own visions, I relinquished myself to paying $20 to let the shaman see visions of what was in my heart (her response? many people envy me and I am healthy...."anything else?" i asked? "Any evil?" "Negative thoughts?"....not a thing, according to her....hmm...I would LIKE to believe that that is all that is there, but Im pretty sure I am not chock full of goodness...). She then "Spiritually cleansed" me which in theory was refreshing, but when she told me I could not bathe or eat anything with onions for two days, I found myself struggling to decide whether it was worth walking around covered in dirt for two days so that people would stop envying me...In the end, I caved and bathed after 24 hours:(.


Rafting in Mindo

The next adventure involved a trip to Mindo - a beautiful town in the cloud forest - with Ivo, Luisfer, Victor, and a guy from Sweden on Saturday. Neither Ivo nor Luisfer had ever been to Mindo, much less taken part in any of the activities I had planned for the day - Ecuarafting (i.e. 7 tubes tied together to go down the river), as well as a hike to a nearby waterfall. These are CITY boys, after all! And while they moaned and complained, at first, in the end, they were laughing and loving it - albeit huffing and puffing as the hike involved a STEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEP climb! We also had a bonus adventure of riding two long zip lines over a deep canyon and, for Ivo, jumping 36 feet off a waterfall into the swirling waters of the river below. It was a good, adventurous day, and we all returned to Quito EXHAUSTED! While plans to go out dancing were underway, we were all in bed by 10:30....so much for being night owls!


Hiking in the Cloud Forest with the Boys!!

Sunday, Luisfer, Ivo, and I stayed in Quito to do some exploring around the city. It was a rainy, rather dreary day, but we rode the Teleferico - a gondola that carries you 4000 feet into the surrounding mountains - to catch a view of the city below and hike for a little bit before the rains came. Afterwards, we adjourned to the arcade to play silly kiddie games and win a few prizes.

But, BY FAR, my favorite part of the last few days has been around 10:30, when the three of us pile onto my mattress on the floor in my bedroom and watch cheesy romantic comedies on Ivo's laptop. It feels like family. And I will surely miss it. For now, I will revel in the opportunity for two more weeks with my Ecua-family. VIVA!

Eat, Drink, Dance, Bike, Wander, Make New Friends, and Be Forever Merry!

Buenos Días desde Quito, Ecuador! I am so happy to be in one place - even though I went out of town this past weekend and have another trip or two planned. It's great to be able to take my time to explore the city, eat normal meals, run/walk through the park, eat my favorite cheese-filled, sugar coated empanadas, visit with old friends, go out dancing, and return to the same (albeit cockroach-infested) bed each night.

Last week, I hung out in Quito and spent my days wandering around the city and nights hanging out with Ivo and Luisfer. It's so crazy to me how so much time has passed since we last saw each other, yet to be together again feels like no time has passed at all. And oh so fun to remember our lives together 4 years ago - climbing volcanoes, biking to waterfalls, dancing salsa, playing soccer - so much fun! And I really like Quito. It is a pretty city with a big, beautiful park perfect for running (or trying to run), tons of places to eat high or low, and so much energy. So each day after the boys got off work, we went to eat or see a movie or dance salsa or just sit in their - comfortable, but mildly disgusting due to roach-infestation - apartment and catch up on life.

This past weekend, Ivo headed home to Guayaquil to celebrate Father's Day with his fam, so Luisfer and I ventured to the indigenous town of Otavalo in the Northern Highlands to get a good breath of fresh air and explore the great outdoors. While I had been to Otavalo - which is famous for its Saturday crafts market - a few times the year I lived here, Luisfer had never ventured much otuside of the big cities of Quito and Guayaquil, much less taken part in mountain biking or even hiking. Since I LOVE la naturaleza and almost any activity that involves being in and experiencing the great outdoors, I was thrilled to travel to Otavalo and expose my dear friend to such activities.

So off we headed bright and early on Saturday morning to the small, but lively town of Otavalo surrounded by three hulking volcanoes, countless lakes, and many tiny indigenous communities. Upon arrival, we also discovered that the biggest and most important festival of the year is right around the corner - Día de San Juan during which much dancing, drinking of chicha and eating of cuy (guinea pig) takes place. The actual festejando begins on Wed, but there were many people in town in anticipation of the events. We spent Saturday afternoon biking to a nearby waterfall, and then along the old railroad tracks to the nearby towns of Peguche and Iluman. That night we danced the night away with locals - and something Luisfer and I both found quite interesting was that the indigenous females went out to the discos in their traditional dress and danced alongside the guys and gals dressed to the nines like it was no strange thing... - and gringos until 3 AM when we returned to our comfy lodging and promptly passed out.

Biking along the Railroad tracks outside of Otavalo.

Sunday, after a very very lazy morning, we headed out on a dirt road toward La Fuente de Salud - some thermal baths I read about that sounded pretty. We decided to take the "scenic route" - i.e. we got lost. But one is never lsot for too long in Latin America. Especially in small towns. We asked around and made our way toward the baths through indigenous famrland making friends with loacls every 5 minutes or so as we asked passersby headed to and from the market if we were in fact headed towards the baths. We consistently got response such as "4 blocks more and then turn left" in a place where you would be hard pressed to figure out what exactly defines a block (we were in teh middle of farmland, after all! Or, my favorite, "30 minutes more and you are there" when, in fact, we would find ourselves walking for at least a good hour. I really have yet to figure out latinos concept of time.

But as we wandered up and down, scrambling down steep hillsides and crossing rivers, we came upon a lovely and incredibly friendly indigenous family en route to their father's house who either took pity on us or really wanted to make some new friends, who not only gave us directions to the baths, but accompanied us. Really? Were they SURE they wanted to go out of their way?!? They seemed sure. So off we went, chatting about life in Otavalo, speaking Quichua (the indigenous language), typical foods (guinea pig, blood and potato soup), and the size, ages, and marital status of each and every member of our families. I love experiences like this! In the end, the baths were not much more than a hole filled with yellowish-colored water, but the company was fantastic and we ended up being invited to the father's house were we were invited to spend the night if we ever found ourselves out that way again.

Our new friends!

We ended the night eating quimbolitos (sweet corn tamales) and humitos prepared by a local woman in the street market. I have decided that these sweet tasty treats are my new favorite food in the world and we both considered staying another night just to be able to eat more!

These things are so delicious!!

There is a chance we make make our way back to Otavalo on Wednesday and take our new friends up on the offer to spend a few days celebrating the fiestas with them. But for now, work called Luisfer home, so we flagged down a Quito-bound bus and bumped our way back to the hustle and bustle of the big ciudad. I am happy and healthy and appreciative for good friends in far away places:). VIVA!

Photos, Fotos, Fotitos Galore!

Buenos días desde QUITO!!! Oh my, I MADE it. It's almost hard to believe. 7 and a half months of travel, 4 countries, countless hours aboard buses, so many beautiful places seen and amazing people met along the way and here I am in my destino final - Quito, Ecuador!! And it feels freakin'fantastico to be here. So wonderful to see my friends, wander around the city, go running in Parque La Carolina, eat choclo con queso, Locro con papas, Habas, and other tasty Ecuadorian yumyums.

And after a ridiuclous amount of time at the computer, I have managed to upload photos from my time in Peru and my travels with my sister. So go to these links to check them out!

Travels in Peru: http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2067460&id=5901703&l=9c9cba8eb4

Travels with Annelle:
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2067505&id=5901703&l=b2dd5fddfc


Love to all! VIVA

Riding in Carros and Meeting Extranjeros

*NOTE: Once I get to Quito I will post photos - I promise!!*

Buenos días desde Machala, ECUADOR!! I made it - sort of. I planned to bus it as quickly as possible straight to Quito, but after a crazy crazy day yesterday aboard 4 buses, a minibus, 3 taxis, and perhaps the sketchiest border crossigng I have ever experienced over the course of 27 hours, I had to take a breather. Plus, it just so happens that two of my closest Quiteño friends (and the ones I will be staying with for the next 2 weeks) are in their hometown of Guayaquil for the weekend to vote as some sort of election is taking place today. And Guayaquil is only 3 hours away from where I am - as opposed to Quito which is 10 hours away. So after bathing, eating a real meal, and catching up on emails, I will pack my bag for one more long haul journey and head to meet Ivo and Luisfer in Guayaquil where the three of us will board a night bus bound for Quito. So this time tomorrow I should be back in Quito - my home away from home for nearly a year during my junior year of college.

So much of the last 5 days since I last wrote - has it ONLY been 5 days?! - have been spent in carros (i.e. Peruvian buses). After my 22 hour Cusco-Lima bus, I wandered around lost for an hour or so as I attempted to find a bus to Huaraz where I intended to spend a few days more hiking en la naturaleza before making the long haul to Quito. Well, here is where I have to say shame on me for ever thinking bad of big city bus terminals. It turns out big cities WITHOUT bus terminals are far far more overwhelming. Not only is there no central bus terminal in most cities in Peru, but the bus companies are not always close to each other. Not being aware of this, I wandered around what turns out to be a rather sketchy part of Lima at 7 in the morning from one bus company to another asking for buses to Huaraz. I finally found one, but had to take a taxi to the company and only had 15 minutes to make the 20 minute ride before my bus left. The taxista assured me we would make it in time. Me, feeling frustrated, tired, and overwhelmed in the big, belching city of Lima only wanted to get out. Didnt care where I went really, as long as it meant to come smaller, cleaner, less chaotic place. So as the taxi weaved through traffic, I decided, if I didnt make the bus, I would go to Quito. There was a direct bus - 32 horus! - in a few hours, and I would take that. Fin! At least in Quito, I know people and know the city. I have learned a number of things on this adventure that I hope to carry with me into the future. One thing that has come up A LOT in the last week is not to panic when a situation seems bigger than I can handle. I have found myself on the verge of panicky tears a few times, but been able to tell myself to take a deep breath, find a "safe" place, and think about what plan of action is best to take for the moment. And after a few minutes, the situation no longer seems so bad. It may still not be a place where I WANT to be, but it is a situation that I can at least handle for long enough to find a way to get myself out.

So, on that note, I settled into my crazy cab ride, arriving in the knick of time to buy my ticket and board the 8 hour bus high into the Central Highlands of Peru with one of the highest mountain ranges outside of the Himalayas. And, as luck would have it, one other person also arrived late - Rafa from España - and as we congratulated each other for making it just in the knick of time, we got to talking and ended up spending the next two days together exploring Huaraz, visiting ruins, eating yummy food, drinking pisco sours in a hippie gringo bar, and discussing our travels (his involve far far more countries!). We has a fantastic time in this small, but energetic city of Huaraz that is FULL of discos and bars. There is certainly a lot of tourism as many people come there to mountain climb, but even more so, there are a lot of locals andando-ing. So we visited the local market to buy lunch items and headed high into the nearby mountains to visit some Incan ruins. Not being sure of the actual route, we made our way through family farmland asking men, women, adn children along the way if we were headed in teh right direction. I loved the pastoral setting - so green, animals grazing, women washing clothes on the rocks, kids yelling "hola" at every turn, and old men wondering where we were headed and assuring us "oh, it´s only 30 mins more..." Later, after visiting an ancient Incan burial ground and ducking down into and wandering among the underground rooms, we made our way back down to a city about 7 kms away from Huaraz. The hike again was so beautiful - that is, until a dog got spooked and came after the two of us with blood on the brain. He got Rafa in the back of the knee and me in the calf. I have yet to be bitten by the many "guard" dogs I ahve come across, and this experience nearly had me on the ground in tears - more out of fear than pain. But night was approaching and we still had a ways to go, so I sucked it up knowing that if I got rabies - ok, the reality is that I most likely had nothing more than a scratch, but these things run through your mind when you are far away from a good hospital and your mom´s loving care. And three days later, we are both still alive, so it looks like we´ve come out just fine! And I suppose teh scary dog lead us off track as the last part of our journey involved slip-sliding down a fairly steep hillside and jumping off rock walls to get back to the highway where we caught a carro back into town.

The next day, I got us sucked into a tour that gave us a view of some of the surrounding towns, but was overall fairly disappointing - as I find tours usually are. And then I was on a night bus headed 9 hours to the coastal town of Trujillo to make my journey North to Quito. I did a little research, but was unable to find much of any use, so as I began my trip, all I knew, was that most liekly, I would ahve to take a minimum of 4 buses to get to Quito. There are direct buses, but that would ahve been too easy. Ok, no, I actualyl would have PREFERED that a million times over, but those buses only run on Tuesdays and Fridays. I would have to wait nearly 4 days, so I opted for the "adventure" route. And what an adventure it was! I got to Trujillo at 6:30 am, found out teh most direct route to the borer town of Tumbes would mean a 15 hour layover in Trujillo. NOt liking hot, dusty coast towns, I opted to make the journey in steps. Took a 3 hour bus to Chiclayo, then another 3 hour bus to Piura - slowly working my way up the coast. Then a 4 hour minibus to Tumbes, where I took a cab to the Peruvian-Ecuadorian border, listened to the taxista tell me about how dangerous this border crossing can be adn about two Italians who were stabbed last week. Oh joy! And night had already fallen just to make me feel that much more at ease. Then another cab to Ecuadorian immigrations on the Ecuadorian side in hopes of catching the last Quito-bound bus only to find out taht while I made it 2 minutes befor ethe bus left, it was full. nearly lost it then. Deep breaths... So Plan B - FINALLY - a 2 hour bus to Machala where I decided I would take a breather and spend the night. I found a hospedaje, showered, called my friend to discover that it was for the best I didnt make my Quito bus, and quickly drifted off to dreamland on an actual bed - woohoo!

So that brings me here to Machala - the banana capital of the world. And, now, bathed, and dressed in the last clean clothes I found in my backpack, I am headed to meet Ivo and Luisfer in a few hours. It will be the first time we have seen each other in 4 years. Looking forward to seeing them and to the adventures the next two weeks will bring...VIVA!!

On the road again....Only 3 weesk left!!

Buenos días desde Cusco, Peru!! I woke up this morning to realize it is Tuesday, June 9th. I have no sense of time any more. No sense of the day, the week, even the month. When people back home talk about warm summer weather and finishing up school, going on summer vacation, I find myself thinking " Wow, it´s June - JUNE! How is it possible that 7 months have passed since I began this journey?!?" And even scarier - sadder?! - "How is it possible that I only have three weeks left." - Ahhhh! At moments, I find myself ready to be done. Ready to no longer be living out of my backpack, ready to have more than two outfits (ok, but honestly,who am I kidding, I usually wear the same 2-3 things when I am in los estados...), ready to sleep in the same bed more than 3 nights in a row, ready to not worry about bus terminals, bus schedules, where I will lay my head from night to night, and, sadly enough, the one issue that leaves me the most estresada - WHERE to find a bathroom (I SWEAR Latina women do NOT have bladders. The men pee wherever they want, whenever they want; the women, well....I RARELY - I kid you not - see them use a restroom....HOW is that possible?!?). But I am not complaining. Just stating fact and my personal state of mind.

But I fully intend to revel in my last 3 weeks here. So much can be seen and experienced in 3 weeks, so only time will tell what adventures will unfold! After my long overnight stint in the Lima airport (which is a really delightful place to spend alot of time, by the way!), I was met by my friend José in the Cusco airport. We immediately caught a mini-bus for a 6 hour journey deep into the Peruvian jungle to the town of Quillabamba to spend a few days soaking up the sol. I feel like I have been freezing for so long, that it was such a pleasure to walk around during the day - and night! - in shorts and a t-shirt. Plus, the jungle is freaking awesome. We went to this public pool that cost approximately $0.17 to enter and is more like a tropical resort than a public pool. Three giant pools alongside the river with hulking mountains in all directions - including one covered in snow! - and an abundance of flowers and fruit trees of all kinds - cacao, papaya, mango, orange, coffee, banana. I even managed to meterme en el agua and swim a few laps in the cold COOOOOOOLD water - woohoo! I drank fresh-made fruit juices from the local market each morning for breakfast, ate a ton of fresh fruit, as well as fresh-caught trout from the river, and fried green beans. I was only sad to be unable to find any choclo - Peru´s fat, meaty corn - YUM!! We also took a few excursions through the coffee plantations, ate popcorn and watched the running of the bulls at a local festival, drank my favorite dark Cusqueño beer at an outdoor bar overlooking the river uner the full moon and danced the night away with the Quillabambinos at Don Diablo´s.

I am now back in Cusco after the death-defying 6 hour return trip. The roads here are crazy - so many twists and turns and steep steep drop-offs, and I am convinced that the drivers assume there is only one speed - as fast as possible without toppling over. So we sped around curves, dodged fallen rock and oncoming cars as I sat in the back with my eyes closed thinking - "It´s going to be okay. It´s all part of the adventure." And, in moments of extreme panic, " Please please please let me survive this jounrey!" And I made it late last night, found a woman on teh street selling the choclo Ive been craving for weeks now, and slept soundly dressed in 3 layers of clothes under 4 blankets back in the chilly town of Cusco!

In a few hours I will board a 22 hour bus for Lima. My thought for now is to go to Huaraz in the North to do some hiking and then bit by bit to towns along the Peruvian coast until I arrive sometime next week in Quito. This has two pros - no 30 hours bus rides AND I get to see more of Peru. However, part of me is ready to just bus it in one trip and spend my final weeks with my old friends in Quito. Who knows what I will do, but I have 22 hours on a bus to think about it. creo que es suficiente!

Hasta la proxima...VIVA!

Hermanitas Taylor Taking Patagonia by Storm

And YOU thought Yale was located in New Haven...


Buenas noches desde Lima, Peru! Ahhh, what a WILD ride these last three weeks have been. And how so very much has happened since I last wrote. I have just arrived in Lima after a 4 hour flight from Buenos Aires where I said goodbye to my sister after 16 fan-freakin-tastic days traveling ALL OVER Argentina and Chile. And as I sit here in the Lima airport, it is currently 10:30 PM. I will be here writing, reading, eating, maybe even sleeping a bit until I catch a 5:40 am flight to Cusco, Peru. So as I have finally foudn myself with an abundance of time and little to do with myself, I can FINALLY update the world on the whereabouts of the traveling Taylor hermanitas - woohoo!

Sooo....

After my last update, Annelle and I boarded a 10 hour bus headed due South from Santiago, Chile to Osorno, Chile where Claudio so graciously met us at 8 AM at the bus terminal to welcome us to Osorno. I never imagined I would be back so soon....but such is the beauty of traveling with an open mind and no set plans!! It was a rainy, hazy, chiiiiiilllly day, so after one of Claudio´s hearty breakfasts, we headed to las Termas de Puyehue to warm ourselves up by first spending the afternoon soaking in the natural hot baths at the base of the Andes mountains and then hiking up to a beautiful viewpoint to look our over the river valley. It was still cloudy, drizzly, and hazy, so we didnt get much of a view, but it was so great to be there. I had actually done this same hike nearly two months earlier with Claudio and when I wrote about it in my blog, I talked about how beautiful and peaceful a place it is and how I so hoped taht the next time I found myself there, I would be with a family member - so I guess sometimes, the whole, "Ask and you shall receive" idea works out after all!



After a nice soak and a hardy hike, we ended the day with a typical Chilean Once (the meal of bread, tea, coffee, cheese, ham, and cake that is eaten each day around 6 PM) with his family at their home in the campo - Annelle got to eat some tasty kuchen and meet the pet pig who thinks he´s a dog!!





The next day, we said goodbye (mejor dicho, "see you later!") - once again - to Claudio, and boarded a bus bound for Bariloche, Argentina. Ideally, Annelle would have seen the three HULKING volcanoes en route, but the rain poured and clouds shrouded the view, so no volcanoes for her. BUT as we climbed into the Andes to cross the pass into Argentina, we did enter into a Winter wonderland as the rain turned into snow and we found ourselves in the middle of a snowstorm. Now, Annelle jsut escaped from seemingly neverending 6 meses de frío. But I have not seen snow like that in over a year and found myself positively giddy as I looked out the window and hopped up and down in my chair saying, "It´s snowing, It´s snowing!!" And after a relatively easy, but coooold border crossing, we made it to Bariloche. I never imagined I would be back here so soon, and while it was chiiiiiiiily, it was beautiful. Positively beautiful. Blue skies, crisp clean air, giant snow-capped montañas, and delightfully friendly faces. Not to mention great food - ice cream, chocolate, budin, oh my!



Vista from atop Cerro Campanario. I was here with dad 7 months ago!!

Over the next few days in Bariloche, Annelle got to meet Rosario, German and his family, take the chairlift up Cerro Campanario to enjoy the GORGEOUS vista of the montañas all around, hike for hours and hours to the top of Cerro Otto (evidentally Argentinians mean FIVE hours when they tell you something will take you 2 hours...good thing we brought those extra empanadas...), eat the best ice cream in Argentina a Jauja, discover teh pure joy of a dulce de leche-filled plum covered in chocolate - who knew?! - and drink endless cups of coffee, tea, and maté.
Note about dietary changes: I have now become something of a coffee drinker - not to mention a ham and cheese sandwich aficionado. Seriously had you told me 7 months ago that I would be biting into a chicken sandwich topped with cheese, HAM, and FRIED EGG, I would have said you were out of your mind. But just LOOK at this thing...Doesnt it make your mouth water?!


Then, it was North to Junín de los Andes so Annelle could meet the family with whom I stayed for three weeks back in January - Tay, Noelia, and their three girls. We visited Tay´s school in the Mapuche community, took a walk along the river, visited San Martín de los Andes where we hiked, ate ice cream, and met a delightful old Frenchman who invited us to coffee and told us about his life in Argentina, his two daughters (who are about our ages), and his travels as a young whippersnapper. A last minute decision to meet Rosario and Claudio in Bariloche for one final hurrah (and an early bday celebration for Claudio) changed our initial plans - plans? what plans? - to head on to Buenos Aires. So we backtracked to Bariloche, ate pizza and cake, spent the night having a grown-up slumber party in Rosario´s tree-house as we all shimmied our way into the dollhouse loft to pass la noche, and went for one final hike in la naturaleza before flying to Buenos Aires. (I surprised Annelle by agreeing to not be Cameron McCheapskates for a moment by paying for a plane ticket to BsAs instead of forcing her to go the economical route - i.e. 20 hours aboard a bus!)


Yummy lunch with Rosario after a beautiful hike along the Río Limay!


And, alas, we arrived in the city that never sleeps and spent 4 days wandering the streets, exploring all of the neighborhoods, looking for teh street corner where Alex, Annelle´s boyfriend, lived 5 years ago, eating empanadas, taking photos, drinking coffee and tea, and desperately searching for that perfect pair of shoes and Annelle´s dream sweater. For some reason, the city that never sleeps, was rather sleepy - almost dead even - much of the time we were there. Annelle kept asking, "Is this what it was like when dad was here?" I think everyone must be hibernating for the Winter... We could not figure out the store hours and kept going out too early or too late to both shop and eat. But never fear, we resourceful Taylor´s found both food and awesome shoes (for Annelle, not me!) in the end.


Final Goodbyes in Buenos Aires! Hasta la proxima, Nurse Nelly!

And thus ends our 16 day adventure together. It was a grand adventure with much laughing, loving, and learning. And so delightful to show off these two countries to my sister. Even more delightful was seeing her response to every place we visited - how excited and awed she was by the people, the scenery, the culture - amazing, amazing, amazing!! To more great adventures together with my family en el futuro. Love and more love to all as I return to the life of a solo traveler and enter into the final three and a half weeks of Camerons Grand Aventura!! Who knows what adventures lie ahead....VIVA!!

Hot Tamales in Chile Today

Buenas noches desde SANTIAGO, CHILE! What´s that, you say? Chile? Wasn´t I supposed to be in Argetina traveling with my sister?!? Well..... I DID go to Argentina. One Monday night, I boarded a night bus, crossed the border at 1 am, arrived at teh bus station in Mendoza at 5 am, and spent the day making friends in the hostel until it was time to catch the bus to the aeropuerto to meet my sister. And at 3:30 PM, Annelle walked off her plane and into the life of my backpacking traveling companion for the next two weeks. And what fun it has been having her here with me!

In only 4 days, we have eaten lots of tasty meat, veggies, and ice cream (sorry Alex, we have been unable to keep up with your suggestion of 15-20 empanadas/day, but NOT for lack of trying...). We spent one gorgeous afternoon biking through the rural pueblo of Maipu visiting wineries, eating yummy olives and sun-dried tomatoes, drinking wine, tasting homemade chocolates, and - at the end of the night - being personally escorted by the police back to the bike place - I managed to get a photo of Annelle biking with the police dude driving 2 mph on his motorcycle next to her so that "Nothing bad would happen to us." Clearly, he just wanted the opportunity to spend a little time with two gorgeous girls! We also walked all over Mendoza, admired the Fall colors of the leaves on the trees in the park, ate ice cream and empanadas, and then boarded a bus for the boonies where we spent yesterday walking along a beatuful tree-lined dirt road at the base of the Andes where the mountains are streaked in green, red, and yellow - amazing! And it was WARM - hot even. Which has been much welcomed by Annelle who has suffered a never-ending Winter up in New Haven. And then the best part was the authentic Argentinian asado we were treated to last night at our hostel - Im loving showing off this place to my sister!!

But we have decided that a trip to Bariloche is a must. Weather be damned, we are GOING! Annelle can´t come all this way and not get to experience the beauty of the area - not to mention the opportunity to meet my wonderful friends who reside there. So geared up with our long underwear, hats, gloves, and winter jackets, we are making the journey South. And for a reason that I cannot explain, it is actually faster to go from Mendoza to Bariloche via Chile. And the totally awesome part of all of this is that Annelle gets the bonus of experiencing two Chilean-Argentinian border crossing (today´s was enough to make me want to pull my hair out, but somehow Annelle enjoyed it - we were really really high in the Andes, after all!), see Santiago, meet and hang out with Claudio in Osorno, and do some hiking in the INCREDIBLE mountains outside of Osorno. So this morning, we headed to Santiago, spent the afternoon eating yummy food - including some awesome hot tamales!, climbing the hills around town, and now catching up with family via email. In a few hours, we are back on the bus for a night trip to Osorno - there is never a dull moment when viajando conmigo!!

Off we two hermanas Taylor go. Hasta la proxima...VIVA!!

Flying by the Seat of my Pants

Buenas Tardes desde . . . SANTIAGO, Chile! So, if you read my most recent entry and pull out a map to understand where I have been (Cusco, Peru), where I was SUPPOSED to be (Salta, Argentina), and where I AM (Santiago, Chile), your head may start spinning almost as much as mine to understand why exactly I have found myself SO VERY FAR off track. Well...allow me to take a moment to explain.

This journey for me has been so beautiful most especially for the lack of plans that I have made. Really, other than needing to be home for my dad's wedding last month, and now needing to be in Argentina to meet up with my sister, there have been NO set plans. And while, at first, this sent me into a panic as to what I was going to do to keep myself entertained without feeling painfully lonely, it has turned out to be the most delightful part of my trip. I have NO plans. NONE. I wake up in the morning and think to myself, "What will I do today?" Yes, some days there are plans. And I really really like those days. Especially when those plans involve hanging out and going on an adventure with a new friend (i.e. NOT solo!!). But there are plenty of days where I wake up not entirely sure what I will do, where I will go, what I will see, or where I will lay my head the next night. This is exciting and, also, downright overwhelming and frightening at times. And for some reason, these most recent weeks, since I left Blanca and her mom in Paracas, have been especially challenging for me and my psyche. I have had many take-a-deep-breath-all-will-be-okay moments and sent more than a handful of emails to Rene questioning my ability to keep this up. But you know what? It ALWAYS passes. ALWAYS. And even in the midst of feeling alone, lonely, cold, unsure of what step to take next, I KNOW it will pass. I also know that sometimes you just need to cry or send an email (talking is the preferred method, but seeing as how I am a long long way from the nearest free phone call, that method just ain't an opción!). And I know I have some really amazing people on the other end who are rooting for me!!

So as I boarded bus Numero 1 last Wednesday to head South into Chile and then further South into Argentina, I really had NO idea what the heck I was going to do with myself (other than spend nearly 3 days sitting on my butt on a bus) until my sister arrived. I just knew I had to go, and would figure out what to do once I got to Chile. The first bus ride was 17 hours, not nearly as cold as my other Peruvian bus journeys, and I was lucky enough to befriend the woman sitting next to me. We chatted a bit, she invited me to stay with her and her family in their home if I ever returned to Cusco - amazing! - and then even invited me to have a fresh-made papaya/banana juice at the local market once we got to Tacna, Peru. Because there are some tense relations between Peruvians and Chileans, one cannot simply take a bus from one country into the other. Soooooo, after my super tasty juice, exchanging emails, and hugging goodbye, I jumped in a taxi to travel to 2 hours from Tacna to cross the border into Arica, Chile. And when I got to the bus station at 9 AM on Thursday morning, I nearly lost my cool. Arica is beach, but it is also desert. Dry, gray, gloomy, and I was feeling all alone. I missed my mountains. I had 5 days until Annelle would get here. The soonest bus toward Northern Argentina out of this depressing town was not for another 13 hours. I did not know what to do with myself and felt I could not will the time to go fast enough so I could leave. I took many deep breaths, tried to convince myself something good would come out of this, sent an email to my sister and Rene complaining about the miserable town, and then did my best to make the best of the day by catching a bus into town to try to take a walk, see the sights, and cheer up. But I just couldnt. My trip to Salta would involve only more desert, and I do not like the desert. I like green. I like mountains. Desert. Dry. Gray. And alone. For five days. I was not sure Tuesday would be able to come fast enough.

But then the whole plan took a crazy turn for the better when I got online and started talking to Claudio - my friend from Southern Chile with whom I stayed some two weeks at the end of March. He suggested we meet up in Santiago - 28 hours on bus for me, but still more or less on the way to Argentina, and 10 hours North on the bus for him. Really? Would it be crazy for me to jump at this or would it be crazier NOT to? In the end, I decided someone (Big Mama?) was offering me a hand to help pull me up and out of my funk. So I rushed back to the bus station, begged to change my ticket, and boarded my home on wheels for the 28 hour journey down to Santiago where I have spent the last 3 days.

Santiago is a beautiful city with two large hills in the center of town perfect for hiking and feeling like you are in the woods in the middle of a large metropolis. And Saturday and Sunday, in the company of a great great friend, I got to explore the city, eat tasty food, sleep in a real bed, and even go out to a club to listen to some Blues music - WON-DER-FUL!!

And now I am catching up on a few things before boarding a night bus to cross the border into Mendoza, Argentina to meet up with my sister tomorrow afternoon. The weather there is sunny and warm, and I am THRILLED to get to show off the beauty of Argentina to my sister. Drink maté and wine, hike en las montanas, dance some tango in Buenos Aires....oh, I can only imagine the adventures that are in store for us!

Feeling delightfully blessed and hoping to continue to remember to breathe deeply in the midst of the most difficult moments and cherish the beautiful and happy moments. VIVA!

Viajando como loca!

Buenos días! So very little time to write, but wanted to throw in a quick update as I am not sure when I will next be on the computer.

I am currently in Cusco, but only for a par de horas before hopping aboard a 17 hour bus to Tacna, Peru to then take a taxi two hours to cross the border into Aric, Chile where I will figure out the next step. Most likely a little bit of time in this town and then 12 hours further South to San pedro de Atacama to breathe, let my legs remember what it feels like to walk, and enjoy some of the scenery before making the last leg of my journey some 12 hours into Northwest Argentina where I will meet up with my sister next Tuesday - I am SO excited to explore Argentina again and all the more wiht my sister - woohoo!

Anyway, for a whirlwind of an update, last Thursday, I decided it was time to head away from Cusco for a bit and check out Lake Titcaca and a series of islands off the coast of Puno that tourists can visit. After an extremely cold night bus ride, I joined a tour, met some wonderful Frenchman, as well as a fellow americano. We visited an indigenous community that lives atop a floating island - literally, the island sits above reeds that float in the water and has to be replenished every 30 days! - spent the night with a local family on the island of Amantaní where they live a totally sustainable existence off of the potatoes, corn, and veggies they grow, climbed to 4000 meters to the highest point on the highest lake in the world, and then danced the night away in the traditional dresses that our families gave us to wear. The next day, we visited the island of Taquile where the men wear hats to indicate their social status. Colorful hat=married. White with a few colors worn with the point in the back of the head = Ocupado or not interested in dating right now. Same hat but worn to the side = available. Seems to me the guy can decided depending on his mood if he is available or not. As for women. The non-married ones wear a cape with colorful pom poms that they hold in there hand and swing aroudn wehn they are available. I kind of like the idea...

And then after a long boat ride from these fairly isolated islands back to the mainland, I ate dinner witha Chilean couple I met who happen to live near the beach town I visited at the beginning of my journey, then hopped aboard yet another incredibly cold - adn this time incredibly crowded - bus back to Cusco. Then after recuperating from my bus ride, I headed to Pisac to meet up with my friend, Jose, to bushwhack our way through the forest along the river valley and climb on hands and feet up the some pretty freakin´ amazing ruins high high above this tiny tourist town. Last night, I went to a completely non-touristy town to eat some pollo a la brasa, spend the evening looking for a place to go out for drink past 8 PM, and sleep in a pretty darn cute hostel for $2 ($2.66 once I paid to take a hot shower - sorry, while I can rough it in many ways, but I absolutely draw the line at cold showers. CAnt do it. It´s cold enough here already...).

And NOW, I am back in Cusco to pick up my things I left in the hostel, change clothes - I am carrying around a certain "Ive-worn-these-same-clothes-for-three-days" odor - eat one last time at my favorite vegetarian restaurant and then climb aboard bus numero uno (1 or 4?!) to begin the next leg of my journey. Wish me luck y espero que no haya tanto frío!!! Until the next town, country, update...VIVA!

La vida Cusqueña

Buenos días amigos! I am still in Cusco, Peru. It´s too beautiful here to leave. Not to mention all the cheap yummy food, the fun fruit and veggie markets, and the lively discotecas! I must admit, my birthday was a hard day for me. It was beautiful, no doubt about that, and I was so happy to receive tons of messages from friends - that is my favorite part about birthdays, after all! But it was a weird day, in a way. Birthdays are meant to be celebrated with friends, so how does one celebrate when in a place where you do not really know anyone. I had been so proud of myself for making a few friends - Omar the disco dude and Jose my local tour guide -, but Omar headed back to his hometown that night and it felt mildly pathetic calling Jose to ask if he would hang out with me on my birthday. And Santiago, my Cusqueño friend I knew before actually arriving here, was still working on a river far far away and, thus, not available for birthday companionship. So I swallowed my pride - I was getting sick of eating alone, after all - and invited Jose to celebrate my birthday with me. And, fortunately, he agreed to join me. The dinner itself was nothing to write home about, but afterwards, we went to a Peruvian disco (as opposed to the Gringo disco - which is actually a boatload of fun, but I thought, When in Peru, go where the Peruvians go...). I had such an awesome time dancing salsa, as well as learning a number of other Peruvian dances whose names currently escape me. While I do not have the best rhythm and was no doubt the gringo in the bunch - I swear Latinos are born dancing, it´s in their blood! - I held my own and had a grand ole time. I even managed to stay out dancing until 4 am - I couldnt believe it myself!!

Yesterday, I woke up after only a few hours of sleep and went for a short hike along a river running from the mountain above Cusco down into the city. It was so beautiful and peaceful and weird to think that I was only a 15 minute bus ride from the hustle and bustle of the ciudad. I like that about Cusco. It reminds me of Salt Lake City in that sentido. You have this big, bustling city with life and energy and tons of people and stores and cars, but within 15 minutes you are away from it all, surrounded by the tranquilidad de la naturaleza. No people, no cars, no noises except that of the river flowing at your feet and the occasional sheep baa-ing in the distance. I completed the celebration of my birthday last night with a HUGE piece of chocolate cake as somehow or another I actually failed to consume any sweet tasty yumyums on my actual birthday....very much NOT like me. But all was righted in the world with the purchase and consumption of la torta de chocolate - YUM!

Plans for now involve heading to Puno to visit Lake Titicaca and then on to the colonial town of Arequipa before crossing the border into Northern Chile. That´s the "plan" - just not sure when the plan will be executed. For now, I will be here for at least one more night, and must head off in search of a new hostal to dump my bag and lay my head. Hasta la proxima...VIVA!

Festejando Mi Cumple en Peru!

Buenos Días desde Cusco, Peru! It is an absolutely GORGEOUS day outside here high en las montañas de Peru! I cannot get over the beauty here. I cannot get over the beauty I have seen everywhere I go - it is striking, stunning, breath-taking. Cusco is very very high - over 10,000 feet - thus my first few days were spent huffing and puffing my way around town as I tried to acclimatize after being at sea level. One night I even woke up in the middle of the night with my heart racing. But I am loving the challenge, the way it feels to push my body. And I am thoroughly enjoying this here town.

I came here 4 years ago during my Spring Break when living in Ecuador. And while I was only here for 4 days, I somehow managed to do most of the touristy things that many of the agencies offer - visit Macchu Pichu, raft the Río Urubama, bike through the Sacred Valley to see some salt mines and Incan ruins. So this time around, I came to visit Santiago, a friend I met when I was in Futaleufu, Chile, and to check out some of the less visited sites around Cusco, as well as wile away some time in Cusco itself. It is amazing. So much yummy food to eat, so many steep, winding, narrow cobblestone streets to explore, markets to wander through, and interesting people to meet. Unfortuantely, I have only seen Santiago for a total of maybe 45 minutes as he works as a raft guide and has been working since the moment I got here, but it has been a good opportunity for me to truly put myself out there and make friends on my own.

I feel like even though I have been traveling "solo" for 6 months now, there are very few times when I have spent more than a few days truly on my own. I have been fortunate enough to have met enough people that I often end up going from one town to the next meeting up with one friend or another. But since leaving Blanca last Tuesday, I have been on my own to explore as I wish and make friends as I may. Im not the best person at striking up conversations with random strangers, but there is something liberating about being in a foreign country on your own where no one knows you. It makes me feel like I have the liberty to put myself out there without fear of making a fool of myself because no one knows me and most likely - in the case that I come across as totally odd or ridiculous - they will never see me again. So with that attitude in mind, I spent my first few days talking to shop owners, random people in restaurants - I am usually eating alone, and, thankfully, this actually serves to make me more open to having random strangers start talking to me - and visiting the local South American Explorers Club to find out about potential hikes I could do on my own in the area. And along the way, I made a few friends - woohoo! I am sure it very much has to do with the fact that I am a bit of an oddity being both a female traveling solo and that I speak pretty decent Spanish, but it has been exciting to feel that challenging myself to do things that I often find make me uncomfortable has resulted in me making a friend or two. I met the director of the local cultural center who invited me to join his friends and family for a big party on Saturday night celebrating the Lighting of the Cross, another guy who invited me to celebrate his birthday with him at his friend´s cevichería and who later accompanied me to some of the nearby Incan ruins high above the city, and - best of all- a local guide who has taken me to two Incan ruins sites outside of town.

I usually will just go off on my own to do hikes, but here in Peru the hikes arent very clearly marked, so while getting information at the SAE club office, I met Jose, a guide from the nearby town of Ollantaytambo, who offered to accompany me to Tipon, an Incan site about an hour outside of Cusco. On Friday morning, we hopped aboard a local bus for the hour long journey to the "Pork Nugget Town." There are several towns outside of Cusco known for one particular food item (the Guinea Pig town, Bread town, Duck town, and Cake town - YUM!!) and if you have a hankering for such food, you hop aboard the bus with your family and make your way to the town for a big feast on said food. As it was 8 in the morning, pork nuggets did not really make my mouth water, so we headed on past the pork nugget stalls and up into the mountains looming over the town. I had spent the previous two days climbing up and down and around Cusco getting acclimatized, but this was my first true climb and boy did I feel it. I thought my lungs might bust out of my chest. But, OH, the SCENERY!! Thanks to some 6 months of rain, this entire area is green, green, green. I once again felt like I was in a scene out of Braveheart, exploring new territory as we climbed above the city and into a valley where there were no people, houses, cars to be seen. Just us and la naturaleza. Further along into the hike, we passed a small mountain community where the boys were herding goats, the men harveting potatoes, and the women chewing on coca leaves as they weaved garments for sale at artisan markets in Cusco. And after a few hours of climbing up up up and then down again, we made it to the Incan ruins of Tipon. Most people just drive up from the Guinea Pig town, walk around, and then leave, but since Jose is from the area, we were able to take the road less traveled and arrive from above, climbing down along an ancient Incan canal to enjoy the ruins. And after taking picures and staring in awe at yet another Incan ruin - there must be thousands throughout Peru, and I can´t say this one was any less awe-inspiring than Macchu Pichu - we headed down into Guinea Pig town (Pork Nugget towns neighbor)and took a short bus ride to the nearby Bread town to chow down on bread fresh from the wood-burning oven before making our way back to Cusco.

Saturday was an amusing day for me as I decided to try my hand at taking one of the local "carros" to a fruit and veggie market on the outskirts of town. I wanted to get a look at some of the hundreds of varieties of potatoes for sale, as well as the countless varieties of corn they grow here - purple corn, anyone?! After asking 3 people and being personally escorted to the proper bus stop by one kind Peruvian lady, I boarded the "carro" - basically a minivan that stops at every corner picking up and dropping off passengers. I was not really sure where I was going or where to get off, but in the end, I not only managed to get off at the right stop, but after wandering around the market, I managed to get back on another carro headed back to the center and exit just outside of the restuarant where I was to meet two new friends I had met the night before at the disco. After eating some super tasty and super fresh ceviche and washing it down with chicha morada - a juice made from purple corn among other tasty fruits, Omar - one of my new friends - and I hiked in the rain up to a large statue of Jesus Christ - no South American town is complete without one! -to get a view of the city just as the sun came out and a rainbow spread over the center of town. I ended the day with with a salsa lesson and a bit of dancing at the disco -Rene, I WISH you had been there)!!

And then, yesterday, I celebrated my birthday early with another hike with Jose - this time in his hometown of Ollantaytambo. This town is truly unique as it lies in the heart of the Sacred Valley and many of the Incan homes remain intact. Not only that, but the locals actually live in these homes. They are not just for oohing and aahing over! The town is surrounded by mountains and on one side of the town, there is a huge Incan fortress embedded high in the mountains overlooking the town, as well as several Incan temples rising up into the mountains on the other side. In 9 hours of hiking, I managed to hit both of these important sites, as well as hike a bit outside of town deep into the river valley and then up up up again to the ruins of Pumamarka where we had the ruins to ourselves! What a view! Lush green mountains all around, horses and goats grazing on the ancient Incan terraces carved into the hillside, and these ruins that invoke the image of one´s own personal gigantic dollhouse to play in. I kept climbing up and over the walls and through the windows to discover secret gardens of flowers and daisies inside - such fun!

And on our way down, we came across happy pigs digging up roots, campesinos planting crops in the terraces, and a lively fellow who offered Jose and myself some of his homemade chicha - more or less homemade beer made from yellow corn. I opted not to drink too much of the stuff for fear of what it might do to my ever-increasingly sensitive belly... But it was fun to hang out for a bit! Once we made it back to town, we stopped at a local house to have more homemade chica - again, I only had a little - as this is what the locals do on a lazy afternoon, or any afternoon, really. And when in Ollantaytambo... It was such a lovely day and I felt so happy and blessed to see and experience such beauty - and with someone who knew the ins and outs and secret passageways, no less! My ride home on the bus was a bit of an adventure as I changed from the crowded mini-van to mini-bus in Urubamba where I fought alongside the locals for breathing space before being deposited in the dead of night back in Cusco where I met a Peruvian woman who escorted me to the proper bus stop to make it back to my hostal. I ate a large pot of quinoa soup and passed out in my bed. What a day!

And today, life has ben much lazier - reading, writing, eating, and, hopefully, meeting up with some friends later today to eat dinner and go dancing to celebrate turning a quarter of a century - oh my! VIVA!