South America Journey

South America Video

2010-06-30T05:33:00.000-07:00

Hey all - check out the short video of our journey through South America. It's actually a little demo I put together in hopes of landing my dream gig. It also works great as a quick highlight video of our journey. Here is the link - copy and paste it into the address bar:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MkRgKBCzeYE

I'm currently working on 5 more videos of our time in each of the following countries as well and will post them upon completion: 1) Argentina 2) Brazil 3) Chile 4) Peru 5) Uruguay

Chau,

AA

Jen's SA farewell

2010-05-08T15:51:00.000-07:00

I sit here in our hotel room at 6:45am on our last day in South America. I woke up this morning, eyes wide open and mind racing a million miles a minute, and I felt like a kid waking up on Christmas morning. My whole body was filled with excitement, eagerness, joy, appreciation, and hope. It’s finally here, the end of our 8 month trip to a different continent. Tomorrow morning we wake up and fly home to the warm welcome of my family and Booker. The anticipation of our new lives when we return is overwhelming. We are looking forward to so many different things. We are also left to wonder how our time and experiences here will change us and will affect our lives. We have learned a lot and don’t want that knowledge to get buried by the weight of reality when we return to our normal lives. We want to expand on what we’ve learned and unveil it even more to expose equilibrium and harmony in our lives.

Looking back on our decision to make this dream a reality, I’m not sure that I really had an idea in my mind on how our time would be spent in South America. I say that because I am trying to decide if the trip was what I expected it to be. I guess in many ways it was what I had expected – I learned a new language, was exposed to many different cultures and peoples, I volunteered and experienced the joy of giving back, I learned a lot about myself and AA and our relationship, I traveled and was fortunate enough to visit some of the most amazing locations on earth, and I had a lot of fun. And on the other side of that, the last 8 months have been far from what I expected. I never expected to make good friends along the way, I couldn’t envision the day-to-day life of living on the road, I was unaware of the stresses associated with traveling, I never imagined traveling on bus could be so luxurious (although I hope not to set foot on another bus for a very long time), the speed at which the time passed was unexpected, yet at the same time there were never-ending days and weeks, and lastly I was challenged and blessed in more ways than I ever expected. It is refreshing that both of us are looking forward to, and excited about returning to Colorado and work. We imagined that at this point of the journey we would be begging to stay longer and dreading returning to work. However, we are both appreciative of the time we’ve had here, but we are also really excited about returning to work again, being productive members of society, and moving forward with our lives.

Here are some random memories that remind me of our journey:

- We returned to Buenos Aires to visit our friends Guido and Natalia. They were trusting, friendly, and welcoming and AA and I were sitting in their living room, around 11pm at night, just finishing watching a movie, when Natalia walks in the door. She left for work before 8am that morning, and was just now getting home from a very long day of work followed by hockey practice. We talked and caught up, she showered and then we waited for Guido to get home. He finally got home from work around 12:30am and then at 1am we all jumped in the car and headed to the hot dog stand for dinner, followed by ice cream. Those two work so hard! It was a normal day for them, but an eye-opening one for us.

- We were in San Pedro de Atacama, Chile, which is in northern Chile, and our destination was somewhere in Peru, we didn’t even know where yet. We get on an overnight bus that will take us to Arica, the border town on the Chilean side. We snuggle in for the night, get comfy with our blanket and pillow, and then the bus makes a stop about 1 hour later. I won’t ever forget the “party bus” as we now call it. About 25 locals got on the bus and brought the party with them. They had their music blaring all night, they were drinking and smoking (neither are allowed) and I was quite surprised when I went to use the bathroom at 3am and three people walked out of the tiny little stall. I can only imagine….. Once we arrived to Arica (having received no sleep the night before), from there we had to get a car to drive us across the border into Tacna, the border town of Peru. That went relatively smoothly. In Tacna we were gobbled up by an agent who “helped” us find a bus to Arequipa, the next big town where we could catch a bus to anywhere in Peru. He told us promptly that the next bus left in 5 minutes, and if we didn’t make that one we’d have to wait several hours for the next bus, so we frantically rushed and got the tickets and ended up getting taken advantage of because we only had Chilean money and so they basically charged us double (and I’m sure buses leave there every hour). The feeling after being ripped off sucks! That bus ride was another long one, and so by the time we arrived in Arequipa we were spent. Not to mention be both were sick this whole time, struggling with adjusting to the altitude changes. But, we were not to our final destination. So there we found a bus going to Chivay. Apparently the trip would only take 3.5 hours, so we were excited and anxious to finally get to our destination. Well, that was another bus trip from hell. It involved traveling up the Andes Mountains in a bus that was incapable of doing so. It was like being on the little bus that could, it tried and tried and huffed and puffed, but unfortunately it broke down 4 times. Because we were near the tops of the Andes it was very cold outside (and dark, nighttime again). It actually started snowing near the top, so visions of us sleeping on the bus in the freezing cold filled my mind, becoming closer to a reality each time it broke down. After closer to six or seven hours the bus finally managed to make it to Chivay. We had been traveling on various buses and cars for over 24 hours, gotten very little sleep (or food), and on top of that still needed to find a place to stay for the night. This is just one of the many bus stories we have from our 8-months traveling via bus.

- It was fun to see the progression of our Spanish, measured through our understanding of the church sermon. Our first time going to church in Buenos Aires we understood three words: Dios (God), pan (bread), and Jesus. That’s it! Eventually we recognized more and more words, and the last time we went to church we were able to understand the general meaning of the sermon. Although we don’t understand everything, we can identify most of the words and usually at least get the main idea. Looking back from where we started we have come a long way!

- It has been confirmed on this trip that there’s not much that makes me happier than dogs, babies, and running! The simple joys of my life…..

- We arrive by bus to Maringa, Brazil in order to meet AA’s friend Gui’s family and stay with them for an unknown amount of time. The only problem is we spoke basically no Portuguese and we had no idea what they looked like. After wandering around for a short time we locate them. They seemed extremely nice and friendly, but the communication barrier made it extremely difficult for us. I knew how to say “hi” and “thank you”, so I repeated those two words way too many times. Valdir, Gui’s dad, spoke absolutely no English, so the two of us communicated very little. He stuck with AA because AA at least knew a few more words than me, and plus AA talks with his whole body and arms, so at least Valdir felt like he was making more progress with him. Luci, Gui’s mom, ended up brushing up on her English by the end of the week and by the end of the week we were able to communicate somewhat. I have some fond memories of joining her for ladies night at her “club” (as in country club, not party club). But this country club was made ALIVE with drinks and smokes and bunches of (older) women joined in a circle dancing to 80’s music. Good times!

- I remember feeling like a little 3-year old clinging to her daddy when we were at the Catolica vs. Cola Cola soccer game in Chile. The stadium was just insane with people everywhere, commotion, loud chants, rivalry, drums, banners, everything. I just clinged to AA for safety and followed him and Diego wherever I was led. I also remember at that game getting nailed in the head with a rock. The stadium is divided into two sections, making it impossible for the fans from the two sides to have physical contact with each other (obviously for safety reasons). Therefore, the bitter fans result to throwing rocks over the tall wire dividers in order to show their displeasure with the other team. Luckily I got side-swiped and not hit directly in the head. That could have been the end of me!

There are so many more memories, but those definitely leave a lasting impression of our time here. We have been blessed incredibly and feel so fortunate to have had this experience with each other. I’ll end with a few bible verses that have either been the inspiration for taking the trip or just insights picked up along the way.

- Exodus 23:10-11; “For six years you are to sow your fields and harvest the crops, but during the seventh year let the land lie unplowed and unused. Then the poor among your people may get food from it, and the wild animals may eat what they leave.” For those of you who haven’t heard the story on how we made the decision to take off this year, it had to do with this passage. We had made an offer on a house which ended up falling through. We learned of this on a Friday and immediately AA suggested taking our money and traveling instead. We began to pray about it and that Sunday we went to church and the sermon was about “Pressing Pause on Life and Filling up on God.” Our pastor quoted this passage and ironically we had both been working for 6 years, this would have been our seventh. This among other factors led us to believe it was God’s will for us to take a year to travel, grow, and fill up on Him.

- Dueteronomy 24:5; “If a man has recently married, he must not be sent to war or have any other duty laid on him. For one year he is to be free to stay at home and bring happiness to the wife he has married.” I like to stress the part about bringing happiness to his wife :-)

- Ephesians 5:33; “However, each one of you also must love his wife as he loves himself, and the wife must respect her husband.” Seems so simple…..

- Philippians 2: 3-4; “Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves. Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interests of others.”

I now wear my “shield of faith” every day and remember what’s most important to me: Faith, Family, and Friends. I’m reminded of the fruits of the spirit (love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, gentleness, faithfulness, goodness, and self-control), the feather symbolizes my friends (long story), and the heart my family.

AA's SA farewell

2010-05-08T15:25:00.000-07:00

Our time in South America is at its end… I vividly remember arriving in Buenos Aires to a lost bag and a Spanish vocabulary of less than a dozen words and later that day lying on the hide-a-bed of our first downtown apartment thinking to myself how we had 8 months and that I couldn’t wait for the time to evaporate to see what’s in store. Now I’m having thoughts (many of us find ourselves imagining from time to time) of wishing I could rewind the last 8 months. Jenny and I are flying back to Florida tomorrow where we have plans to explore the states until the end of July when we return home to Denver.

This experience has been wonderful in so many ways. It’s definitely hard to put into words what we’ve learned and how our perspectives have grown from living inside the States and the day to day to now living in South America for several months. By being immersed in this part of the world and only viewing and hearing little news and events from the States through a few forms of media as well as locals viewpoints – I feel many of the beliefs and assumptions I once had have now been altered somewhat due to the realities and life outside our borders. I was so unaware or hidden. This limited access to our culture, society, and customs has caused all I’ve known growing up and been exposed to in the professional world to slowly drift deep in the back of my mind. The duration of our stay has been long enough that it’s opened a window for these new cultures, customs, and lifestyles to penetrate and form a layer over my prior belief systems and way of life in the U.S. I now see happiness is much easier to attain than I once believed. Life can be simpler with less stress.

Some of the ways I feel my outlooks have changed somewhat are in the way I view food, eating out, shopping, cars, clothes, houses, careers, and many other things. One of the things I now realize is how much of a waste it is for me to have a really nice "cool" car – especially with the burdens it can potentially cause financially. After the time here and constantly seeing tiny, compact, little cars and trucks it makes you realize how much money could be saved for more important things and for me to use for travel again in a few years. When I first arrived I couldn’t believe everyone drove all these types of cars and trucks as for the most part I’d never seen any vehicles alike in the U.S. I basically thought they looked hilarious. Now I find myself wanting one and realizing how much easier it would be. After all, most of what a car is good for is getting you from point A to point B. The rest of the time it's just chillin' by itself somewhere anyway... That’s one of the reasons I mention the belief systems of our society and the influence it has on us growing up. It’s way too easy to just get lost in the hustle and bustle of everything and only pay attention to acquiring, building career, advancing, and then soon finding yourself on a road of pressure, strain, and constant worry.

It makes me almost sad in a sense to realize why people’s attitudes and thoughts (in several countries) are as they are about Americans and our society. I still get annoyed each time I hear someone from down here (or Europe) crack on the United States in general or about its decisions, views, and use of power. I admit that I can now see what they’re referring to sometimes. I suppose I just never wanted to agree or believe certain things about the U.S. and maybe subconsciously protected myself from letting anything negative stick in my head. I still love the U.S., desire to live there, and am proud to be an American, but just think we have areas in which we promote too many false assumptions and directions to our younger generations that lead to more stress and possible harm than needed.

I wish I could transfer all my experiences, conversations, and what I’ve learned telepathically to all I know so they could see what I’ve witnessed in the cultures, customs, food, transportation, poverty, people, happiness, and the awareness traveling creates in you. Then maybe the last few paragraphs would be a little clearer for some of you. Living in South America has definitely made me appreciate the things I have that I didn’t think were much before, such as the house we have that is plenty big and equipped with all we could need (before we left we nearly chose to close on a new and larger one), the vehicle I have (again, before leaving I nearly purchased a bran new truck with all the whistles - only because mine was older and I just wanted to have a “new” truck), and the heaps of clothes back home in my closet that I thought were crappy – just because they were a few years old I had the belief I needed new ones and began to desire the new looks.

Backpacking through these countries has also made me realize the many luxuries at our disposal that we so easily take for granted – even small things like: not having to pay for water in restaurants, or free refills on soda, coffee, and even water, actually having toilet paper in a public restroom and not having to pay for it or bring your own – also being able to flush it as opposed to throwing it in a waste basket next to the toilet. Actually having hot water for showers and sanitary conditions nearly everywhere we go inside our country.

A challenge that I foresee (and that I look forward to) will be coming back to the States and holding on to some of these viewpoints and discoveries as I begin to live and work in our culture and society again. I know some things have changed with the economy and philosophies since we’ve been gone – I just don’t want to fall back into all the false beliefs and assumptions I had and have grown up with before having this journey.

It's been neat to see the progression of how much we've changed in the way we travel and noticing the improvement and efficiency each time we pack up and head for the next leg of our journey. The stress level in the “moving on” has gone down immensely now that we have a good idea of how things work with transit (inner-city and long distance), places to stay on arrival, and the fact that our Spanish level is good enough to understand and say what we need.

I’m pretty sure I won’t even realize all the benefits this year of travel has brought us until several months have passed in being home. I do know it's been wonderful for my marriage with Jenny. We have discovered so many other things about each other that we had no idea about before – just further confirmation our relationship is true for the fact that even in the difficult times and stresses this journey has presented we’ve stuck together, learned to accept, compromised, and found solutions best for both. I feel some roles have come into play and been defined as well without consciously trying to figure them out. One of the things I’ve come to love about Jenny is the way she thinks, plans, organizes, and her practicality and logic in most situations. She’s wonderful! I often find myself looking at her as she sleeps and while traveling from place to place on over-night buses thinking how amazing, beautiful, and incredible she is and how happy I am that God introduced us.

Traveling together for this amount of time side by side, every day all day, without really anytime apart for privacy or individualism and mixed together with all the decisions to be made from where to go, what to eat, which way to turn, where to sleep, and who farted :) can be pretty overwhelming at times. Then adding to it the stresses of new areas and potential danger combined with the additional fact of recently being married last July has been the exam of my life in the most positive way.

We definitely do well together and have learned each others ways and how to work together. I do have to say my Mom said it best in a casual email to me, “This has been quite an experience for a newly married couple – all the adjustments and the learning curve of being newly married and getting used to each others’ personality, mannerisms, quirks, needs, etc. and then doing it 24/7 could have been quite a challenge to a “new” relationship. I sensed that the two of you could do it successfully.”

Thanks Mom! You definitely hit the nail on the head!

Thanks everyone for sticking with us and following along on this wonderful journey and most of all thank you God Almighty for your guidance, protection, and the numerous blessings you’ve provided.

Onward and upward…

- AA

Machu Picchu, April 27, 2010

2010-05-07T13:44:00.000-07:00

Machu Picchu is definitely a must see and I would highly recommend putting it on your list of places to visit. It's absolutely incredible!

We woke up at 4:30am the morning after taking the train to Aguas Calientes (closest town to Machu Picchu) so that we could be one of the first ones up to the beautiful, historic, stone village. We heard that the first 400 people would be given a ticket allowing them to hike to the top of Waynapicchu (young peak) another skinny, tall, mountain that shoots straight up at the northern point of Machu Picchu (old peak) and gives a great view of the entire city.

We got a guide upon arrival at the entrance in order for him (Ernesto) to show us around and explain all the amazing ruins and knowledge of the Incan indians. Without a guide it would not have been the same as the knowledge and skill these people had was fascinating. Also - the city is almost like a maze and it would have taken us hours to find our way through.

As we walked into the site we were in the thick of the clouds and had very low visibility. Our guide began speaking to us and explaining a few things (as we couldn't see anything) when right before our eyes the clouds began to dissipate. Out of no where stone structures began emerging all around us as the city magically revealed itself within about 15 seconds. It looked as if a breath from the heavens gently blew the clouds away to unveil the beauty of the entire city in one shot for us, for the first time. It was unforgettable!

Throughout the tour we learned about the kings and royalties and saw their houses as well as the workers, astronomers, and watchmen. We saw all of their worship areas, sacrifice areas, sun dials, temples, watch houses, rock quarry, etc. Tons of cool ruins with so much thought and ingenious in the design and construction!

- For drinking water they had little canals carved and running all throughout the city -

- These two windows signified the beginning of Summer and Winter. When the sunlight would shine perfectly through the one on the left they knew it was the beginning of Summer and the one on the right was for the beginning of winter. -

- The detail of their stonework was remarkable and how the blocks would fit together. -

- In this enormous stone there are 39 angles cut into it in order for it to fit perfectly into their design. -

- Condors were very significant to the Incas and here is a temple of the condor. If you look you can see the two huge stones behind carved into wings and the flat stone on the ground was the body of the condor with the white ring around the neck that all the males have. Here they would make sacrifices. -

We did end up hiking to Waynapicchu and the view from the top made it well worth it! It was a little nerve racking climbing to the top as the stone stairs are very narrow and super steep with nothing to keep you from falling clear to the bottom.

All throughout the village and at the top of Waynapicchu there are hundreds of retaining walls they built and the greenest grass grows at the top of each. We saw llamas and one that was only two days old. We also walked to this bridge the Incas built which was quite impressive in itself. Overall, Machu Picchu is just amazing.

The logistics of getting to Machu Picchu were a little overwhelming (each way required 2 buses and a train to get from Cusco to the top), but once we figured it all out everything went smoothly.

"Valle del Colca" & Chivay, Peru

2010-04-21T12:52:00.000-07:00

Yep - it's only a 2,000 meter drop from beneath our feet here at Colca Canyon - yes that's roughly a 6,000 ft drop and we're sitting on the edge. We don't have much to worry about though because we came to this point of the canyon from Chivay to watch the magnificent flight of the Condors and we're pretty sure with their monstrous size they'll catch us if we fall. Their wing-span is up to 8 ft wide and you have to be at this point of Colca Canyon by 8:00 am in order to see them take off for the day. They live at the bottom of the canyon where nothing can bother them or their young. By 8:30 in the morning they're airborne and do not return until after dark. It's the only chance of seeing them up close and witnessing their beauty and elegance in flight. I had no idea how beautiful it would be to see them as they circle up from the bottom of this gorgeous canyon (which, at it's deepest point, is twice as deep as the Grand Canyon). The scenery alone brings such a peace that you practically long to be one of them gliding through the air. The Condors truly become Kings of the sky and almost seem to enjoy us observing them as they glide over our heads and cruise within a stones throw away exhibiting a confidence and assurance unseen in other creatures of the sky.

On the way up the canyon to the "Mirador" or "Cruz del Condor" there are a few small villages in which the culture and people are nothing like what we have seen in our 7 prior months of travels in South America. The villages after Chivay are: Yanque, Achoma, Maca and then the tiny village of Pinchollo. Most the people here work in the fields producing a variety of different crops from wheat, barley, potatoes, onions, alfalfa, and countless other vegetables. Others produce all different types of hand crafts necessary for the region.

What amazes me most is that the men and women in their 60's and 70's still get up every morning by 5:00 and are on their way to the endless fields of crop and farm by manual labor all day using only hand tools, pics, and shovels. They use their donkeys and bulls to pull what we know as to be the old fashioned plows - I'm talking 50 to 100 years ago. Vehicles are scarce so most the crop is wrapped in blankets and tied around their backs where they haul it for miles back to the villages and markets of each day hoping to sell what was harvested.

All the fields are separated by perfectly built rock walls and to utilize as much land and good soil as possible terraces are built throughout the entire valley climbing as high as possible in which crop will grow. Each level cultivates a different product. From a distance they seem almost as gigantic steps or an enormous amphitheater filling the valley. Most the terraces in the monstrous valley are still in place from the Inca’s construction some 500 plus years ago. It's truly remarkable!

The best way to get to and from each village is by a "colectivo" or bus. You can take a little unique taxi as well, but they cost more. The difference in these "colectivos" from what we're use to everywhere else in S.A. is these are old, well used vehicles such as the one we rode in - a small, old, Volkswagon van. You pay 1 "Sole" (Sol-eh) and wait in the little van until at least seven people are in it. This way it's enough money to be worth the drivers time taking you to the next village. The funny thing though, is that there can basically never be too many people in the little "colectivo." All along the road in route the driver will stop and pick up more people flagging him down. In the picture below we had just started and there were about 10 people including the driver. I had no idea what was in store. By the time we got to the next village we had 17 people smashed into this little, tiny, Volkswagon van. Hilarious!

In Chivay, where we stayed, we loved how inexpensive everything was - especially since we've been on a budget for this whole journey. We ate in the market (nearly every night) at these little restaurant booths that are set up and broken down each night. Our total bill each time was 9 soles (including tip) which equates to less than 3 dollars. Unbelievable! The other fantastic thing for us is that we found a very nice "Hospedaje" to sleep. We had a double bed, hot water, soap, towels, and even cable television with 3 English channels for only $10 per night! Seriously???!!! Awesome! Our room was where the windows are on the 3rd floor overlooking the market and city.

For Jenny's birthday we went on a horse ride with just the two of us and our guide Wilber. He took us all through the valley and around the canyon for spectacular views yet again. One of the neatest parts of the horse tour was when he took us to the ruins of Yanque - the original village some 800 years ago. It was so nuts to be walking through this village and learning how they survived close to 1,000 years ago. Many of the village's tombs have crumbled open as well due to earthquakes in which you can see the bones of entire families.

Chivay and the "Valle del Colca" is probably one of the neater places I've been. Viewing first hand the beauty and tranquility of this culture and landscape while witnessing how much different their way of life is compared to what we know was something I will never forget and will always cherish.

Destination Peru

2010-04-19T06:16:00.000-07:00

Twenty-five hours, 3 buses and one car for the border crossing – we arrived in Peru – our last country on the list for this journey in South America. Wait a second – let’s rewind just a bit and describe the buses in getting here. We left San Pedro de Atacama, Chile (the Atacama Desert) at 8:45 pm. We arrived in Arica, Chile around 6:00 am after a looooong bus ride due to about 10 individuals that chose to party on the overnight bus drinking and smoking and making all kinds of noise. We have never experienced this on a bus in South America before. It was so annoying and frustrating – half the bus wanted to kill them for their lack of respect.

Upon arriving in Arica (the northern border of Chile with Peru) we had to find a transport across the border. As soon as we got off the bus and gathered our bags we were approached by a man insisting on taking us across the border to Tacna, Peru (the border town we had to get to for other bus lines and destinations in Peru). He took us to the company desk and they wanted 20 mil Chilean pesos (which is way too much we knew). They said the bus leaves in 5 minutes and there are no other buses until 4:30 pm (it’s now 6:00 am). We didn’t believe them as we knew there had to be other ways. So Jenny and I walked around the terminal until we found two ladies working a ticket booth for local colectivos (buses). We asked them how to get to Tacna and they said to just walk out the terminal about one block up and there we could find private cars for rent. They told us to wait till the sun came up though, because it’s really dangerous (for muggings) outside the terminal when it’s dark. When the sun came up I left Jenny in the terminal with all our stuff and walked over to discover all sorts of private car transports across the border to Tacna – for only $3 mil Chilean pesos! I went back grabbed Jenny and our things and we were on our way in a car with 3 other passengers. So much easier and faster too! So glad we listened to our intuition in how to get across the border otherwise we would have been totally ripped off!

The border crossing was pretty straight-forward. First we stopped at the Chilean side for our exit stamp, and then proceeded to the Peru side for our entrance stamp. It was nice to know this was the last time we’d have to go through that process for awhile being that Peru was our last visit on this trip. Once we arrived at the bus terminal in Tacna, we had to decide where we would go next. We had narrowed it down to two choices: we knew at some point we definitely wanted to go to Puno, which is the where you reach Lake Titicaca, but I (Aaron) had also been reading up on Colca Canyon near Chivay, Peru. If we were going to explore Colca Canyon (twice as deep as the Grand Canyon) we needed to go there first as it made most sense for beginning our route through Peru. Jenny was leaning towards Puno as we could go straight there from Tacna with out any bus changes or hassle. Something in me just had my eye set on Chivay though and my intuition was just saying, “go to Chivay, go to Chivay.”

The decision became quite easy after Jenny inquired about tickets to Puno. The bus for Puno left at 8:00 am and it was now 8:20. The next bus was not for several hours. That led me to ask about Chivay. The guy said we have 10 minutes to get on the next bus to Arequipa and from there we could get bus tickets to Chivay or Puno even. We looked at each other and knew that was the best option as we wouldn’t have to sit around in a border town bus terminal all day and it would also give us 5 more hours on the bus to read up in our guide book and decide which destination would be best for us. We opted for that and by the time I ran to get money from the ATM (as we had no Peru money yet) and got back it was 8:32 and we still had to buy the tickets and get across the street to where the buses depart. Once we had the tickets in hand the clerk grabbed one of our bags and basically ran out the door telling us to follow him. We made it across the street and saw a bus halfway in the street with a couple people (from the company) standing in front of the bus so it couldn’t move any more. We realized they were holding it for us. We ran up and a couple guys grabbed our bags and threw them underneath and basically shoved us in the door. As soon as we were in the bus it took off before we were even upstairs to our seats. We had made it though – relief!

Three hours into the ride I couldn’t help but notice the landscape as we were climbing in altitude and winding our way through mountains and canyons. It was hot, arid, and dry. We were in the Andes Mountains – only like I’ve never seen before – it was as if we were in the desert and you could just see for miles with no sign of wildlife. It seemed to be so desolate with only sand and huge mountains as far as you could see. We were wondering to ourselves – where in the heck are we??

Arriving in Arequipa (where the landscape had dramatically changed) was pretty amazing for the fact that the “Misty Volcano” overlooks the entire city and absolutely dominates the landscape and sky line. It towers close to 19,000 ft. I couldn’t believe how high and magnificent it was. Nothing near it even came close to its height leaving it the focal point and king of the sky. It was quite cloudy and we could only get peeks at the summit, but it was mesmerizing!

Ok, jumping forward a bit we were finally on the bus to Chivay (Jenny and I the only tourists and English speakers whatsoever) and only had 3 ½ hours until the destination. It was now 3:30 and we had left the prior night at 8:45 from San Pedro, Chile. Needless to say we were hungry, tired, and ready for some decent food and wanted to be done with the busses. After a short while on the bus we had both fallen asleep. I woke up around 7:00 to my ears completely clogged and finding it hard to breathe. We were in the tops of the Andes on a little highway and the temperature was dropping. I looked at Jen who had woken up as well and her ears were really hurting too. I was happy though knowing we only had around 30 minutes left or so. That’s when I looked up towards the front of the bus and through the windshield and saw the headlights beaming on the pavement lying before us for what seemed and eternity uphill. What really had me confused was how slow we were going – it was slow enough to the point I leaned over to Jenny and said, “I can walk faster than this.” It must be the altitude we gathered and the bus just doesn’t have much power… Well, not even 5 minutes later the bus starts making some funny noises and you can hear the driver grinding gears trying to keep the bus in motion. Seconds later his attempts failed and the bus came to a complete stop – instantly you hear everyone on the bus sigh and groan with disapproval and disappointment.

Jenny and I were pumped! We were now at the tops of the Andes in Peru on a little highway, it was freezing cold outside, no one on the bus spoke any English, we were hungry and tired, and had absolutely no idea what was going to happen. What an adventure in itself this was becoming. The passenger door opened and several of us got off to drain the lizard and stretch the legs – holy cow was it cold! The driver and two other guys were frantically working on the engine throwing tools here and there and barking orders to each other. Ten minutes or so later the engine was running! Yes!! We won’t have to sleep on the bus, or starve for the night!

Fast forwarding a bit and several miles up the road (and even higher at this point) the bus broke down for the 3rd time – only now it was snowing! The same routine took place and the engine finally started after about 30 minutes. Jenny and I were both praying we make it to Chivay. As soon as the bus started moving and driving down the road – as we had made it to the top when it broke down again – I was looking out the front windshield and soon saw my life flash before my eyes as the bus suddenly hit some black ice, fishtailed, and drifted across the lane and road heading straight for the edge of the highway to a several hundred foot drop! I grabbed the seat if front of me and Jenny’s leg and was about to yell “hold on” when the bus regained its traction as it nearly left the pavement... HOLY COW – JUST GET ME OFF THIS BUS!!

At this point, all we wanted was to be in Chivay in a nice warm bed. Around 10:00 pm we arrived and luckily for us a lady on the bus asked us if we had a place to stay and offered us a room at her small hotel. We took her up on the offer and were in a room within the hour. It was nice and cold in the room with a small window pane missing leaving us exposed to the nice frigid air of the Andes at night above 11,000 ft. Jenny and I jumped in bed with all our clothes on and snuggled together with 3 of their nice warm blankets made for this type of altitude and weather. We were asleep in minutes with the warmth of each other and the happiness of making it to our destination after 25 hours of non-stop travel. Tomorrow we would explore Chivay and see what it’s all about.

The Great Revealing

2010-03-18T07:07:00.000-07:00

Day 0:
Me thinking: Man, the women here look so hot wearing those swimsuits where their butts hang out. I could never pull that off. I can’t believe everybody on this beach (except me) has an exposed butt right now. Bizarre.

AA: “I think those suits the girls wear here are really flattering on all body types. The suits at home are not as flattering because they squeeze your ass into them and then some always hangs out making it shabby looking.” Babe, you should try one on.”

Me thinking as we walk by a swimsuit shop later that night: Those suits look really cute on those mannequins. I wonder what I would look like in one. WOW – they are only $R20?

AA: “Babe, look – there’s those suits – you should try one on!”

Me: “OK, I’ll try one on, just for laughs.”

So I try on a suit and come out to show AA, trying to cover myself up because I feel so exposed. He claims that he likes it better than any of all my other suits and that I should definitely get it. I end up going home with a new Brazilian suit!

Side note – I think AA had ulterior motives. He really wanted to buy this shirt as a souvenir that also happened to be $R20. Therefore, to justify him buying the shirt, he wanted me to have also bought something.

Day 1:
Me: “I really don’t know if I can go out in public like this. I feel so fat in this suit – everything hangs out and plus all of my tans lines show. My butt is a pale shade of white and I think I’m going to blind everybody. I’m so embarrassed!”

AA: “Honey, you look good! Don’t worry everybody here is wearing one. You’ll fit in more than with your other suit. Make sure you put on sunscreen though - the full moon is definitely shining!”

We arrive at the beach and I applied ample amounts of 45 SPF to my stark white butt cheeks. The one thing I was liking about this suit is how my cute little butt tattoo (sorry mom) is nicely displayed, and I’ve never had the chance to show it off before. Other than that I can only describe how I felt on the beach as insecure. I felt like the entire world was looking at me and laughing at my butt: white with tan lines from my “grandma” suit, and fat bouncing all around. I was in one of two positions all day. One, laying down on my towel in the sandy beach area trying to be somewhat secluded from all the people, or Two, sitting in my chair halfway emerged in the water. I remember when I stood up out of my chair and immediately a mother with her little girl walked by, laughing out loud. I was certain they had to be laughing at me (the tourist trying to play Brazilian), haha. At the end of the day I quickly put on my dress cover up and felt so much better to had regained my vanity. I ended up with two bright red butt cheeks, despite all the sunscreen that I applied. Alright, I thought, at least I’m one step closer now to having a bronzed butt.

Day 2:
Me: “AA, does my butt look red?”

AA: YES!!!!

Me: “Oh well, I’m going to wear my new suit out again today.”

AA: “Put on lots of sunscreen!”

Our time at the beach was quickly coming to an end (only 2 days left) and for some reason I now felt it my personal mission before we leave to get tanned and look like a true Brazilian. This day I was feeling a little more comfortable in my new suit. For some reason it seemed so much more bearable having a bright red backside rather than it being white. On day 2 I even built up the courage to go for a walk on the beach! This might not seem like a big deal to you, but to a newly butt-revealing swimsuit wearer it is a big step! I was walking around in front of people, feeling so exposed. It helped to just look around and see that every other girl out there was also “exposed”. It wasn’t so bad walking in a crowd, walking by females, or passing somebody as they walked by. BUT… the worst was when somebody (a guy) was just sitting on the beach, people watching. The first time I walked passed a guy like this, I just kept repeating in my head “I’m so embarrassed, I’m so embarrassed, I’m so embarrassed, I am so embarrassed” as I passed by him. As I continued passing by guys the chanting in my mind shortened. By the 5th or 6th guy I was pretty proud of myself because I no longer had the continuous chant in my mind, instead it was just a single “I’m so embarrassed!” But the cool thing is what happened after walking for about 30 minutes. All the sudden, out of nowhere Fergie’s song came into my mind. For the rest of my walk these lyrics filled my mind: “What ya gonna do with all that junk, all that junk inside your trunk? I’m gonna gonna get you drunk, get you love drunk off my humps. My humps my humps, my humps my humps my humps. My humps my humps my humps, my lovely lady lumps. Check it out.” Thanks for the confidence boost, Fergie!!!

Please note that this is NOT me in the photograph, but thanks for the flattery

Brazil

2010-03-15T06:47:00.000-07:00

As I write this blog, I am here in Florianopolis, Brazil with a couple too many caiparinha’s (see AA’s earlier post from Oct.29 about these drinks) under my belt. I have downloaded Shakira’s first album (all in Spanish) to my ipod and then copied all the lyrics into a word document. I am jamming to Shakira, trying to sing along in Spanish, and for some reason AA – who is reading his book next to me – is not to amused with my singing. Hum…. I feel like my Spanish is really coming along nicely.

Brazil has been an adventure. From the frantic cab ride to make the flight here and every step along the way, it has been an experience. We have had numerous fun times here. For example, hiking to “Christ the Redeemer” in Rio de Janeiro was awesome. It was definitely a good hike – I sweated like crazy and both the guys sweated through at least one shirt. For those of you who don’t know, “sweating through a shirt” means that you sweat so much that taking off your shirt and ringing it dry only works a couple times. Then you break down and put on your new shirt, and repeat. Disgusting! The view at the top was totally worth it though.

We had two really nice days in Rio (one on the hike and the other on Ipanema beach) before the rain began. Our hostel – the Mango Tree hostel - was a great location. We had less than a 5 min. walk to Ipanema beach and then another 15 min walk to Copacobana beach. Both of these beaches have some type of black and white stones forming a walk path above the beach, which apparently is very famous. We now notice the design of this pathway on all the postcards, shirts, and sarongs that we see.

Our first day there (the one in the sun) was great. We rented some chairs and an umbrella and enjoyed the sun and beach. AA made friends very quickly with this guy that came up to us on the beach. He befriended AA (trying to understand as much Portuguese as possible) and quickly shook hands with AA. Immediately after that he grabbed a beer out of his cooler, opened it, and put it in AA’s hands. He continued his “friend” role-play while also asking for $3 Reis for the beer that was now opened and in AA’s hand. AA was not happy with his role-play and tried to hand the beer back to him, but he refused. So AA went to set the beer in the sand, not wanting to pay for it, or drink it. Luckily, just in time, the guy that rented us our chairs and umbrella showed up, and he ended up with a free beer. Funny how things work out. The beach was packed that day, full of amazing looking women in butt-bearing swimsuits as well as “sculpture” looking men in speedos. It was a fun day!

After spending the last three days of Rio stuck in the hostel due to the rain, we decided to bounce to Ilha Grande – a secluded island with no roads or cars. Rio was tough on our budget and we were looking forward to a more peaceful location. We ended up taking a van to some beach where there was a boat/ferry waiting to take us and 4 others to the island. The 4 others included 2 guys from Iran (in their 40’s) and 2 girls from Europe (about 20ish). As the trip went on we concluded that the 2 guys and the 2 girls must know each other because of the way they interacted, sharing snacks, chapstick, gum, etc. on the boat ride. This was later confirmed over drinks on the island we shared with the guys from Iran. The boat pulled up to a dock on the island, and not much more was there. Luckily there was a nice young lady there to greet us that did speak English. We asked her how to get to our hostel that we had reservations at, and she said just cross the bridge, walk on the beach 400m, walk through the shallow river of water, and then take a left on the only street and it will be on your left.

At this point on our travels we are traveling heavy. I have my suitcase (which rolls really well on pavement, not on the BEACH!), AA’s big backpack, a little backpack with most of our valuables, and a big bag with all of our camping gear – tent, sleeping pads & bags, cooking equipment, etc. So usually how it works is I carry the little backpack on my back, and pull my rolling suitcase (which is VERY heavy), while AA has on his big, heavy bag and is carrying the camping stuff in his arms. Well, the 2 guys from Iran quickly noticed that we were going to have problems carrying all of our gear on our journey to the hostel via the beach as there is no road or sidewalk. They were very nice and one of them ended up carrying the camping gear bag for us and the other switched off with AA carrying my heavy “rolling” suitcase that doesn’t roll when walking across the beach. I’m pretty sure what really ended up happening was I had the little bag, and the Iran guy would hold my big bag for less than 1 minute and then get tired and hand it back to AA who would walk about 5 min. with both big bags and then the cycle would repeat. Regardless, we finally found our hostel and made ourselves home in our bug infested, no a/c, musty, 4-person dorm shared with two girls from England. It was their final night on the island, so they were excited to make the most of it. We didn’t see much else of them, only heard them when they returned to the room in a drunken state around 2am and then woke up at 6am to pack and catch their early ferry.

We had a nice seafood jumbo mix cooked by the lady running the hostel the next night. It filled our bellies well after spending the day taking a boat to a private beach and laying out in the rain. The rain continued for the rest of the time we were on the island. Therefore we played lots of card games (AA still has yet to beat me in nerts!) and also killed plenty of time eating at several different places. We decided that the two nights we had originally reserved would be plenty due to the unsatisfactory weather. Our next destination – Paraty.

We took the big ferry, in the pouring down rain, to Angra, the main connection point from Ilha Grande. In the pouring, tropical rain we walked/ran with all our stuff to try to find the bus to the bus station. Luckily it was the first bus we found, so soaking wet we got on and rode to the terminal. We caught the first bus to Paraty – only about 1.5 hr by bus. We got there and the rain continued. We saw some English-looking travelers at the bus station that were leaving, so we asked them what there is to do here, where to stay, etc. They recommended a hostel and so we walked there, again in the pouring rain. We arrived to what they described as a “really awesome” hostel and we both agreed there’s no way we would be staying in that dump, so we just started walking, again in the rain to try to find a place to stay and dry out. After walking a few minutes, we were approached by this guy on his bike. He suggested we try his hostel right down the street, so we did. We ended up liking it – our own private room with a TV! Unfortunately that’s all the room had to offer. The TV had at least 2 channels – all in Portuguese, and we had the pleasure of eating our breakfast (bread) on our bed because there was no other place for us to eat. That’s pretty much all I remember about our room in Paraty.

The town was cute, historic, lots of beaches, boats, etc. The problem was the non-reliquent rain. We decided to heck with it and went on a boat tour to the surrounding islands regardless of the rain. It was cool and we really enjoyed the guy on the lower deck playing live reggae music for us the entire afternoon. We celebrated that night by going to the local buffet – the one of two choices of restaurants we had in this small town. It was a pay by the kilo buffet – so you load your plate, they weigh it, and you pay based on the weight of your plate. We both loaded up our plates high and dug into our awesome dinners. Unfortunately about an hour later (after we also enjoyed the pay by the kilo ice-cream joint) AA’s stomach started to let him know its displeasure. Food poisoning!

We had seen about as much as the town had to offer, so the next morning we were planning to leave – go to Curitiba, the next “big” town south of where we were. However, I woke up that morning, looked at the guidebook, and immediately started cheering to AA: “Ub-A-Tub-A, Ubatuba, Ubatuba”. This beach town looked awesome and it was only about 1 hour away – much better than the 8 hour trip to Curitiba would have been. AA had been sick the night before, but since then was feeling a little better. However, he woke up feeling very weak. We decided to make a dash for Ubatuba, despite his condition. We went to the bus station and bought our tickets. We ended up on a bus that was basically a school bus. It stopped every km or so to let another kid off the bus. So the 1 hour bus turned into 2 hours. Then the bus pulled over and told everybody to get off. Huh? Where are we? What do we do? Well we ended up waiting (AA getting worse by the second, feeling like he will be sick every second along the way) at a “bus stop” in the middle of no-where until another bus came and picked us up. We spent another hour on that bus until we finally arrived at the Ubatuba bus station.

Now what? No touristy-looking people around to get recommendations. Nobody around that could understand Spanish or speak in English. AA is about to fall-over sick at this point, he is not feeling well. I tell him to wait here for a minute while I go walk around and try to find a hostel. Well we end up at a HOTEL (not hostel, but hotel – with our own room, TV with English channels, A/C, good breakfast, wifi, the whole sha-bang, we splurged!) and it was heaven for us! AA did not leave the bed for 2 days. He was very sick and it was all I could do to convince him to eat some Fruit Loops and eventually a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. Since it was raining I pretty much spent those two days watching TV and “surfing” on the Internet. We didn’t see much of the beaches that Ubatuba had to offer. Once AA regained his strength we set out for our next destination- Curitiba.

This city is not on the beach, at this point we had had enough of beach towns with non-stop rain so we couldn’t enjoy them fully. What do ya know – as soon as we got to Curitiba the clouds parted and the blue skies rolled in. We really enjoyed being “tourists” in Curitiba and site-seeing and meeting up with my friend’s aunt who lives there.

After several days in Curitiba we decided to leave for a place we’ve been dreaming of since we were in Colorado – Florianopolis. From what we’d heard it’s basically a beach HEAVEN. Well getting to Florianopolis was not so grand. Our bus stopped like every 20 minutes and so what should have been a 4 hour trip ended up being 6 hours and we got in after dark, never a good thing if you don’t know where you are going. I had spent several days prior trying to reserve a good hostel for us, but I couldn’t find anything reasonable. Everything was SOOOOOO expensive, I couldn’t bring myself to push the “reserve” button. I figured we’d get there and figure it out.

Well now it was dark, late, and I was wishing I had just hit that “reserve” button. We were getting frustrated because we didn’t know what to do – getting in a cab is guaranteed to cost you an arm and leg but we couldn’t figure out the local buses and didn’t know where to go regardless. That’s when Alejandro, who I think was an angel, came to us. He spoke Spanish, but the kind of Spanish that was as easy for us to understand as English. He was nice, sweet, helpful, and had so many (cheap) options for us. We ended up at a hotel he recommended in “centro” – downtown for one night, and then we planned to meet up with him the following day. He said he’d drive us to this great beach where he had the perfect “Pausado” (condo) for us right near the beach for a great price!

Well the next morning with AA’s buck knife in his pocket and our money belts around our waists (the first time we’ve actually worn our money belts since our first day in Buenos Aires back in September) we were ready to take the risk and ride with Alejandro, hoping the amazing beach images he’d implanted in our minds would prove to be true. We piled in his tiny car with another couple and he drove us to the beach in Barro da Lagoa. We arrived at an apartment complex 50 meters from the beach and he showed us our new home. It’s amazing, a bedroom, bathroom, and kitchen area. A two minute walk to the beach as well as a two minute walk to “town” (I guess it’s considered a “town” as long as there is a shop selling food and a store selling souveniers). We have been here ever since. We’ve enjoyed some great sunny weather on the beach, swimming, getting tan, watching the good-looking people, laughing at the tourists trying to learn how to surf, and ahhing at the kite-surfers. We’ve found a great spot for us and we are loving it.

We did have one big adventure trying to get to a more popular and famous beach only 30-minutes away. It ended up being a 3-hour bus trip on 3 different buses, which left us only 1 hour at the beach in order to catch the bus back. But other than that it’s been great here. We’re getting fat eating donut-like pastries for breakfast, burgers topped with ham, peas, tomatoes, eggs, corn, and cheese for lunch, and of course this awesome pizza we’ve discovered on most nights for dinner, and rinsing it all down with more than a couple caiparinha’s. For now I guess we’ve found paradise….

Rain, rain, go AWAY!

2010-03-05T08:35:00.000-08:00

What's a girl to do - her husband is in bed for two days with food poisoning and it's been raining nearly everyday since we left Santiago? I've used this time to upload the majority of our pictures (excluding Buenos Aires - hopefully I'll get those up before the trip ends) to a website. I know there are a ridiculous amount of pictures, but if you are needing to kill some time, it's a great way :-)

Check it out periodically to see pictures of what we've been doing.

www.boydmissionsa.shutterfly.com/

Traveling like a Pro – Rio de Janeiro

2010-02-25T13:49:00.000-08:00

We’ve been traveling now for about 6 months. We are very proud of our ability to take micros, the local buses, and not have to take taxis. We are also feeling confident with omnibuses, the long distance buses. Yup, just when we were feeling good about ourselves and getting around easily……

We spent weeks trying to figure out where and how we would travel after we left Argentina/Chile. We knew we wanted to see the beaches of Brazil and Uruguay, Machu Picchu, Peru, northern Chile, and we had to factor in our time volunteering in Pisco, Peru and that we fly out of Lima, Peru on May 9. With all of this information we struggled with the itinerary – where would we go first? Would we fly or bus? How long in each spot? After realizing that flights out of Brazil to Peru were at best $600/each, we finally decided it would be best to fly to Brazil from the southern tip of Argentina (and S. America) then bus the rest of it. We found flights from El Calafate (southern Patagonia, Argentina) to Rio de Janeiro, Brazil for about $420/each. That was the best we could find. In addition, this flight schedule was not the best. We would leave El Calafate at 8:30pm, flying first to Buenos Aires. We would arrive at 12:30 a.m. and then catch a flight at 6:10 a.m. from Buenos Aires to Rio, arriving at 9:10 a.m. I was not particularly excited about this option – spending a whole lot of money for such a horrible flight, but I decided to try my new attitude of not worrying about money so much and go for it! (Busing it would be quite out of the question – as it would take probably well over 50 hours to get from El Calafate to Buenos Aires alone, but it would save some money. :))

To make a long story short, it did not go as smoothly as I had hoped. We had to pay departure tax at the airport, our flight got delayed, I had horrible stomach cramps and a seat that would not recline, and getting less than 3 hours of sleep, on the airport ground, wasn’t much fun. - JenAA

We arrived in Buenos Aires around 1:00 a.m. so we had 5 hours and 10 minutes before taking off for Rio. I knew JenAA wasn’t looking forward to the layover and was ready for sleep. What excited me was the fact we had our bag of camping gear with us. We had the right things at easy access so all I had to do was find the right place to set up camp in the airport. It didn’t take long before I found an area to the side of an elevator and some escalators which blocked us from the sight of most people and gave us a bit of shelter and privacy. On the one side that was more exposed to people I lined the cart with all our bags on it to set up a small barricade that Jenny could sleep next to (always want to protect my little chestnut – she dyed her hair “chestnut” so now I call her my “little chestnut”). Next we pulled from our camping gear: pillows, pads, and sleeping bags. Perfect, I thought, at least for sleeping in an airport (I contemplated the tent as well). I believe it must have been half way decent for the pretty Jenny as well as she was soon fast asleep – I quickly followed… - AA

- our campsite in the airport

At 4:10 a.m. my alarm went off. I woke up, noticed all of our bags were still arranged around us, and AA and I got ready to go check in. We waited in line for about 30 min and finally got to the ticket counter. The man asked where we were going and we told him Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. He looked at us confused and said, “You are at the wrong airport!” (This is when deep breaths really come in handy – long deep breaths to be precise – I think they say 3 are good). Is is really possible that they would not have informed us that we would be landing in one airport in Buenos Aires, and be flying out of a different airport in Buenos Aires? I guess so! We asked how far the other airport was, and he said, “50 min via taxi.” We glanced at each other and mutually agreed without words to turn and run for a taxi. T – 1 hour 30 minutes before take off and we have yet to travel 50 minutes via taxi. We run outside to try and flag the first taxi possible. Seconds later a cabby pulls up and we ask how much to the other airport and he says “$100 pesos.” Unfortunately (and adding to the amount of deep breaths we needed to take) we only had $50 pesos because we had planned to use up all of our Argentinean money before leaving the country. We tried desperately to sway him to take our $50 pesos, or let us pay him in American dollars or Brazilian Reis, but he wouldn’t agree. Aaron ran into the airport to find an ATM while I started to load our bags into the taxi. He returned with the money, and we both dove into the cab and told the taxi driver “muy, muy rapido, por favor” – it was now 4:45 a.m.

The driver took our advice literally and we had the ride of our lifetimes! Luckily since it was so early in the morning there was no traffic. The taxi driver was absolutely flying – up to 130km/hr (and we had no seat belts). His little car was shaking from front to back and it felt as the wheels were going to fly of with each long curve of the highway. Every few minutes along the way he would reach up and rub his medallion of Jesus Christ hanging from the rearview mirror. He also had the rosary beads hanging. I think I just sat praying that we wouldn’t be killed in a car crash and that the car would hold together. I was doing the math in my head – if it takes 50 min then we will arrive at the airport at 5:30am and maybe we can cut to the front of the check-in line and be able to make it in time. Our bags might not make it, but we will at least.

Well, thanks to the speeding and red-light running of the taxi driver, we arrived at the correct airport at 5:10 am. While pulling up to the airport he did a Hail Mary and kissed his rosary beads. He was obviously also pleased with his time and the safe arrival. Our rock star cabby shaved 25 minutes off the normal trip time between airports! At that point we had no problem checking in and making our flight with time to spare. We arrived to Rio right on schedule, to a beautiful, hot and sunny day. - JenAA

Talk about a total change in climate - it´s hot and humid as can be here in Rio. We´ve really enjoyed our first few days here with the nice weather and gorgeous beaches. I joke with Jenny about 99.9 percent of the Brazilians here at the beaches and have found a new term for them - I call them "Sculptures" as every person looks as if they were chisled out of stone with ripping, defined bodies. Every 2 seconds - geez - look at that sculpture! We've never seen anything like it!

We actually hiked up to Corcovado (Christ the Redeemer) yesterday. We took a cool little trail that goes through the rain forest up to the top - hardly anyone knows of it other than the locals (796 meters to the top).

- Start of hike looking up to our objective

We got lucky and found out about it and decided to hike to the top instead of train or cab like everyone else. Due to the heat and humidity - it was definitely a tough little hike (new climate brings new obstacles - plus I´m realizing that I keep repeating myself with how tough all these hikes are... where are the easy ones???). :)

- steep section where we had to use a rope already in place thankfully

- view from a clearing along the hike

- near the summit was a little shed we climbed on for a private view - the owner of the Mango Tree hostel (we're staying at) hiked it with us and is the one who informed us about the trail

It only took 1 1/2 hours, but still tough. I have never sweated so much in my life - it literally looked as if I jumped into a swimming pool from how wet I was - luckily I took a spare shirt for the hike - got the advice from our hostel owner and changed into it at the top. The statue at the top is truly beautiful - I had no idea I would think that before ever being there.

- Christ the Redeemer - Corcovado

- happy Jenny and Aaron (notice the shirt change)

Here are some other pictures of Ipanema beach throughout the day:

- Brazilians juggling soccer balls throughout...

It rained today and will be for the next few days - probably won't get to do all we had hoped, but are thankful for even being here and having a few nice days. We´re heading to Ihla Grande (an island a few hours south of here that´s 11 miles off the coast) in two days and will stay in a hostel for a couple nights and also camp for awhile. It`s suppose to be a beautiful island (what island isn't though - right?) that has yet to be developed and is all secluded beaches and tropical forest - there are no roads or vehicles. Should be fun.
- by JenAA and AA both…

The Reward

2010-02-10T16:22:00.000-08:00

We are now in a town of southern Chile, in the lake district, called Pucon. It is somewhat a tourist town - but the reasons are obvious. Pucon is surrounded by lakes, national parks, mountains, volcanos, hot springs, and many other forms of adventure lovers' dreams. We spent our first two days here in Parque Nacional Huerquehue. We hiked “Los Lagos”, an 18km hike winding through many different lakes, waterfalls, and a tropical forest. It was beautiful - the forest looked like it could be from a different planet. The huge trees were covered with thin, stringy light green moss which very closely resembles silly string. Other trees have pine cones, but they all grow together, connected, pine cone after pine cone, forming a big crosses as the branches. They were very interesting. We also noticed all of the Chilco flora which look like red upside down firework flowers. Along our walk we were never far from the sound of water rummaging through the forest. We also stumbled across some beautiful, untouched lakes amid the mountain scenery and also some waterfalls. If only the weather would have been better we could have seen some really incredible views of the volcanoes as well. However it had been raining for the past two weeks straight, so the trails were muddy and the clouds were out. We camped in the park for one night, but woke up to rain and cold weather, so decided one night camping would be enough. Our next adventure was to climb the Villarrica volcano. It's known to be a "must do" when visiting Pucon. The volcano is an active volcano, reaching 2,847m high. We went with an excursion group which consisted of our new friends, Jeff and Maggie, a father/son team from France, our lead guide Mauricio, and an assistant guide. Our alarm went off at 5:40 am, and we all got dressed as recommended (warm pants, three layers on top – long-sleeve shirt, fleece, and jacket, long socks, and sunscreen), ate breakfast, made some sandwiches for lunch, and we were off. We arrived at the base of the mountain around 7:15 and began preparing for the hike. The guide provided us with snow pants, a windbreaker, head fleece, gators, waterproof mittens, gloves, boots, cramp-ons, a helmet, ice pick, and backpack. We got all of our gear on and then took a ski-lift up to where the snow on the mountain began. The morning was beautiful - cool, crisp, and a gorgeous view of the lake, other volcanos, and of town. We looked up and saw the vapors rising from the top of the volcano. It didn’t look so far away; we thought that it would be an easy hike up. However, this ended up being a lesson in depth perception and how something that looks so close can actually be very far away. Our main guide, Mauricio was in front, leading the way, and the rest of us followed in a single file line. We got started and immediately I thought to myself – “Wow, this is much harder than I expected.” It did prove to be a very difficult challenge. The mountain is covered in snow and ice. Therefore, you must learn to trust your cramp-ons. Those are the things you put over your boots that have 14 prongs and dig into the snow and ice in order to get a good grip. We were also taught how to use the ice pick as an extra weight-bearing limb. The mountain’s slope averaged between a 25 and 45 degree angle. It was especially scary when we were near the top, a very steep area, and the snow was icy. Two people from our group had already experienced some problems so they were behind with the assistant guide. I was directly behind the guide and he was paving his own trail of switchback after switchback in order to get us to the summit. It was especially scary because it’s hard to feel like you have a good grip with your feet when you are on a 45 degree angle, on ice, and thousands of feet up. I probably had half of the prongs dug into the snow and the other half hanging in the air due to the angle. In addition, I developed huge blisters on the back of each of my ankles. Each step I took involved a lot of pain, but there was no room to think of the pain. The only thing I could do was concentrate on putting on foot in front of the other – that’s it! It was overwhelming to look down and know that one misstep would lead to your death, and then to look up and see a tremendous amount left to conquer. It made me feel overwhelmingly helpless because I had no other option except to not think about any of my fears or pains, and only to focus on one foot in front of the next. Eventually, after trekking up the mountain for about 4.5 hours, we made it to the top. Ah, it felt so good to have conquered the mountain. I was looking forward to sitting and resting and eating some food at the top. That proved very short lived due to the freezing cold, gusty winds at the top of the mountain, and the vapors released by the volcano. The vapors include sulfur and chlorine gases which stung our eyes and irritated our lungs, making it difficult to breathe. So we had to hold our breath, run out for a picture near the crater, and then run back to the fresh air. I was hoping to peek down into the crater and see a hot magma pool, but unfortunately that was not possible. Villarrica is an active volcano, but you can only see the lava from a plane. I was already dreading the descent. I asked Mauricio how much time it would take to get down and he said 3 hours. My feet hurt, I was tired, and the last thing I wanted to do was spend another 3 hours or so getting down. However, I was also freezing cold and ready to get moving again. We went down a slightly different way, where the snow was very soft and not icy at all. We took huge, big steps and it was going very quickly. Cool, I thought, this is going to be easy. Then, I look over and see people sliding down the mountain on their butts! It looked like so much fun. I glanced ahead at our guide wondering if he knew about this way to descend, secretly hoping that he would let us try. We walk down about half an hour and then finally he tells us the surprise - we get to slide the rest of the way down the mountain! Yay!!! I wanted to plant a huge kiss on his cheek at that point. We strapped on these special butt protection/sledding aids and off we went. We used the ice pick as our brake and there were grooves in the snow already created from all the people sledding down. I have to say that I can't remember a time I've had as much fun as I did sledding down the mountain on my butt. It was sooo cool!!! It made all the torture and pain of going up worth it. In fact, I'd love to do it all again tomorrow just to get to sled again. It was exhilarating! I felt free and carefree and reckless. It was awesome. The way down only ended up being an hour, the guide had tricked me! The trip itself was just great and now we sit here sun-burnt and completely exhausted, reliving the experiences of the day. Check out this video of us at the top of the volcano.

And check out this video from the Pucon beach. Notice the black sand due to the volcano.

Extrañaremos Santiago

2010-01-25T12:11:00.000-08:00

Well - it's time to move on... It's been close to 100 days and we leave Santiago on the 6th of February for a 3 month backpacking journey before heading back to the states the middle of May. We ended up spending 3 months here with all the blessings that came our way and the volunteer opportunities that arose. We will depart with some awesome memories from the time here and have met some wonderful people that will now be lifelong friends.

Adding to our packs for this leg of the journey - we now have a tent, 2 sleeping bags, 2 pads, 2 small fold-up stools, and a basic camping cookwear set strapped and bungied to the packs. We're fully loaded that's for sure...

We have a pretty good plan and have made some reservations in a few towns for hostels. We also plan to do quite a bit of camping to stretch our money and couch surf where possible. We best be camping as we are hauling it now :). We are honestly going to see some pretty amazing places - and are both so thankful for this opportunity.

Before I go further on our plans I must first give a shout out to the true love I've found, friend, and partner - Jenny Marie Jackson Boyd - What Up - I love you and thank you for who you are - you're such a wonderful, strong, and amazing woman! Thank you GOD ALMIGHTY for introducing us! I can't imagine having this experience or doing a trip of this nature with anyone else - plus - they would have probably put me to rest by now... :) Thanks sweetie.

Our plans from Santiago will be to travel to the following places in Patagonia and beyond:

Pucon, Chile
Villarrica, Chile
San Carlos de Bariloche, Argentina (Bariloche for short)
El Calafate, Argentina and Glacier National park (36 hour bus ride in no man's land of Patagonia via rough roads from Bariloche - this we have both agreed = FUN, but it's close to the southern tip of S. America is why).

The last week of February we fly from El Calafate to Rio de Janeiro, Brazil where we will head down the coast of Brazil from Rio to the following:

Sao Paulo
Curitiba
Paranagua - we'll take a boat to "Ihla do Mel" (Honey island)
Florianopolis (another little island off the coast)
Porto Alegre
Also a few small towns in the mountains near the coast to visit my friend Lucia's Mom and some of her recommendations:
Taquara
Gramado
Crenola

After Brazil we will venture down the coast of Uruguay with a few stops where we are hoping to rent some beach cabanas:
Cabo Polonio
Punta del Diablo
and then the capital of Uruguay - Montevideo

From Montevideo we'll take a ferry to Buenos Aires for a few days to meet up with some friends we made there when we began our trip and then bus back across Argentina to Santiago, Chile again. We plan to stay for a night there and then begin heading north through Chile for a few stops, possibly parts of Bolivia, and then ending in Peru where we plan to Volunteer again for a couple weeks, take a 4 day excursion into the Amazon, and end with Machu Picchu. We'll see how well we do with our budget and time as both are running out. :)

Before we even left for South America I remember wondering to myself who we will meet, what they will be like, and even what they were doing right at the very moment I was having those thoughts. Now to reflect on the before, during, and after, halfway through our trip I find it quite refreshing and fun. It creates a little tingle of warmth and happiness within. Upon snapping out of this little dreamland - yet again - I find myself smiling...

Some of the people from Santiago that became real from my prior daydreams in Colorado are Diego, Ale, Tomas, the Perkins, Frank, Dulce, Vito, Maria Jose, and the babies Jen has grown to love at the orphanage - especially Isaac - who wasn't even created at the time of my original thoughts. Each one of them are now joined with a few others we've met along the way such as Guido, Natalia, and Marlen in a special and secure place deep within the treasures of our chest. We still have more to come as I begin again to think about the before for the next 3 months...

We are both excited and ask for your thoughts and prayers for our safety and guidance as we set out for the next step of this journey. Thinking of you all always and have you in our prayers as well! We most likely won't be in touch as much (like Santiago) over the next few months. All depends on the capabilities of the technology we find ourselves with, which has actually been quite impressive up to this point. Afterall - it is 2010.

Love you all and thanks for following us.

Onward and upward...

Aaron & Jen

Natural Selection

2010-01-18T14:41:00.000-08:00

Fuimos a acampar otra vez el fin de semana pasada con Marlen amiga nuestra de Alemania en "Parque Nacional La Campana." [We went camping again last weekend with our friend Marlen from Germany at "Parque Nacional La Campana."] We met Marlen a few months ago in northern Argentina and she has been staying with us for a few weeks in Santiago. Charles Darwin visited this same park (causing its fame) back in 1834 and also hiked to the summit of the tallest mountain there (La Campana, 6,000 feet). The views from the “cumbre” (summit) of "La Campana" extend to Valparaiso and the ocean in the west and to the high peaks of the Andes in the east. We decided to attempt it thinking it would be fun to go on a nice hike.

It turned out to be 14k round trip (8 miles). We actually had an idea of the distance and time it would take, but didn’t actually realize the intensity of the hike and in reaching the summit.

The first 7k was at a thigh burning, steep incline almost the entire way - one of the harder hikes I've done thus far. I would even say it was tougher than Long’s Peak in Colorado - just not as long (Long’s Peak takes an average of 12 hours). It took us 7 hrs for this one.

My legs had already turned to jell-o with half a kilometer left to the summit. As the sun beat down and observing how little water we had left - I was a little concerned about my endurance and legs handling the weight of my body for the 7k down. No way was I stopping though – I hadn’t come that far to quit now. I wanted to stand on top of the mountain! Plus, pretty Jenny was a trooper and hardly even tired. She was some good motivation. I guess all that running she does pays off. Her endurance was amazing! Good job hunny!! :) The last ½ k was the steepest and most difficult by far. Several areas we had to step up a couple feet at a time by grabbing on to a hold above for assistance.

I misread the way down as I thought it was going to be much easier. I guess it was other than the first half kilometer. The decline forces your legs to be flexed constantly. My thighs were so shot it was all I could do to catch my weight with each step down. It was also so dusty and dry that many areas were slippery causing you to easily lose footing if not careful. Shortly after beginning the 7k descent to camp we ran out of water. We luckily arrived at a little drinking hole about another kilometer down as it was the first time I had ever been in a situation where all I wanted was water. It was the mountain stream water that when passed on the way up I thought no way would I ever drink it! Obviously outlooks can quickly change when it becomes apparent something is absolutely necessary! HA! That water was the best I’ve ever had!! It amazes me how the body can reach a point where nothing matters to it other than obtaining water.

It was safe to drink for the most part - just contains a lot of minerals. You wouldn’t want to drink too much or you risk upsetting your stomach as your body is not use to it - didn't stop me though as I filled up and chugged 3 bottles in a row before dousing my head in the water to cool off... it was so hot! Wow – did that help! If those water holes would not have been there I’m not sure how I would have made it down without falling over from heat exhaustion. Thank goodness for the “Corporacion Nacional Forestal” and its strategic placement of these water areas.

All said and done it was awesome, I enjoyed it, and I'm glad we made it to the summit. It was really cool to be at the top and look around parts of South America and the peaks in the distance above some light clouds – especially with my hunny bunny! Yet another thing we’ve done together that we can check off our list. They even have a log for those who make it to the top to sign and write some words - our mark is now there - the triangle.

Looking at our pictures I'm impressed with how far up we hiked. Nearly two hours after starting the trail we took a picture from a clearing we came to of this peak way off in the distance not even realizing that it was the summit of our hike.

Maybe I should begin running more like this girl I know that wakes up in the morning, rolls over, opens her eyes, and says to me first thing, “I think I’m going to go for a run.”

I also got some really cool videos - took one of this huge stick bug in the forest that I just so happened to see move... it's an awesome video! A bee is trying to land on it the whole time - so we got to watch it defend itself and even throw the bee off a few times by completely stopping and blending in with the dead twigs and branches lying on the forest floor.

The bee fell for it a few times and actually landed on the small twigs thinking it was the bug. Talk about a Darwin’s theory at its best, "natural selection," on Darwin Mountain. :) Stick bugs blow my mind with their camouflage or "natural selection."

Couple more interesting discoveries along the trail and best of all - a quick easy dinner before retreating to the tents:

AA

8626 Rio Loa

2010-01-12T15:58:00.000-08:00

It’s a bit strange to be sitting in a living room relaxing on the futon while looking around all the rooms of the house and décor constantly realizing none of this is ours. It sure feels that way having spent over a month in this house already. We’ve grown to love Santiago and all the blessings that have come our way here.

Almost daily, my mind drifts away as I gaze out the window reflecting upon all that’s taken place the last days, weeks, months, and years – let alone what all’s transpired within just the last year and the emotions I’ve felt.

In 2009 I welcomed my 3rd nephew into this world in January, traveled to Puerto Rico in February with Jenny for a wonderful trip earned by reaching top sales for 2008, again celebrated my birthday and Jenny’s together in April (only 5 days apart), proposed to the beautiful, sandy-blonde girl from Florida in May, earned 2 promotions in 6 months (January & June), truly had the best day of my life on our wedding day with our families and best friends in July, cruised with my new wife to the Cayman Islands, Mexico, Belize, and Honduras in late July, arrived home and decided with Jenny to “push pause on life” and take a year off to travel, grow together and appreciate more, turned in my two weeks and left Denver for South America in August, welcomed my 4th nephew into this world via Skype in September, lost my precious Grandma in October while in Puerto Iguacu, Argentina, and celebrated my 1st Christmas as a married man with my wonderful wife here in Santiago at this house in Las Condes. Time truly does fly by…

Here it is January 2010 and I have 8 months yet of overall new discoveries, travel, cultural observation, language learning, people to meet outside the U.S., and activities to attend before I’m back home in Denver. I plan to make the best of it. I’m beginning to look at my return to Denver as a fresh start to a new career (as well as many other things). I’m brainstorming several ideas for what to pursue. Many people would call these ideas of mine – dreams – and smile about the “dream” and maybe pat me on the back for a good thought and wanting to possibly go for it, inadvertently telling me not to go for it. I’ve actually come to realize though that I truly am a dreamer and one of the things that puts a smile on my face and motivates me is the absolute challenge of making most of these dreams become reality.

Slowly the visions, voices, and images of today’s daydream so real and alive dissipate as small gusts of wind softly sway the branches of the tree in our front yard luring me out of the trance and back into this moment. Then again, sitting on the futon I look around and smile taking in the fact that I’m here and able to live what was before a dream.

It is all completely foreign – the books, dishes, towels, photos of smiling strangers everywhere and our temporary dog Tully, (SOMEBODY PINCH ME), the Weimar-wiener we have here. She’s probably feeling a bit strange herself with all her familiar surroundings, but yet the people are different. I can tell she is happy and going with the flow – she’s comfortable, has food, water, gets to run with Jenny, has quite a bit of playtime with us, and even gets to break some of the rules she’s known (I know I’d be a happy dog if that were the case for me)! She’s already grown quite attached to us as she follows us everywhere, whines when one of us leaves, and sleeps at our bedside. I must admit we have grown quite fond of her too!

We have been blessed to have such an opportunity land on our laps. We have an entire house, cell phones, dog, and even car (if we need it) in a beautiful city and country in South America. The Denver of South America in my opinion. It has the best of both worlds; the Andes Mountains lining the city and the Pacific Ocean less than 2 hours away. If you like the waves or the mountain snow, Santiago has it, along with your normal city life activities, disco-techs, and restaurants. One of the other not so common amenities of other cities that Santiago has is the numerous vineyards on the outskirts of the city which produce the famous Chilean wine.

We will have been house sitting here for over 70 days by the time we leave. The bus route and metro (subway) are already embedded in our heads, we have both completed over 100 hours of Spanish which is beginning to make things much easier, and we both have part time volunteer opportunities we are contributing to 20 hours per week. Jenny is volunteering at 2 different orphanages a few days a week along with helping out at an “English café” in which she helps Chileans practice their English. I have been volunteering in sales and marketing for a language school here at Escuela Fronteras and helping to further develop its study abroad program with the U.S. and Europe.

The family we are house sitting for happen to be missionaries here with two children. They are on “furlough” for 2 ½ months back in the states. This was an excellent solution for both the family and us as it saved them money by not having to pay someone to stay here, take care of their dog Tully, and maintain their house and yard. In turn, it has definitely helped us out as well with saving money and having a wonderful place to call home, volunteer for awhile, practice our Spanish, and enjoy Santiago and the central part of Chile for a good amount of time.

We will leave here the 18th of February and head south through Chile to nearly the southern tip of South America to experience Glacier National Park. We then plan to fly up to Buenos Aires to catch a ferry over to Montevideo and travel the entire coast of Uruguay and Brazil up to Rio de Janeiro visiting as many beautiful beaches as possible. When finished with Rio, we will fly back to Santiago and travel north along the coast of Chile into Peru and quite possibly some parts of Bolivia. We plan to volunteer in Peru in the town of Pisco where we will help to rebuild a city devastated by an earthquake a few years ago. Our finale if all goes to plan will be Machu Pichu in Peru and then fly out the Middle of May from Lima.

Again - Onward and upward my family and friends…

AA

Feliz Año Nuevo!

2010-01-01T17:19:00.000-08:00

Happy New Year!

We just got back from camping the last 2 nights for our New Year's celebration. We went with a friend of mine that I worked with at Cbeyond a few years ago. We actually couch surfed with someone in Buenos Aires back in October and when we arrived the host told us he had hosted a couple from Denver 3 months prior. He wanted to see if we knew them (I told him no way will we know who they are), he pulled them up on facebook and I couldn't believe my eyes - it was my buddy Greg from Cbeyond! hahaha...

I emailed Greg about how small the world is in that we both couch surfed at the same house - he emailed me back and said they're actually living in Argentina. Wow! Are you kidding me?? How ironic!!

He, his girlfriend, and a friend of theirs came to visit us for the New Year. It was funny to see him - as back at Cbeyond who would have ever thought what was ahead of us...

The place we camped was AWESOME!!! It's called "Islote Las Gaviotas." We seriously got the best spot in the campground.

It's near the famous coastal town, Valparaiso, on the Pacific ocean that puts on the most famous show of fireworks in Chile for New Year's. Our campsite was at the top of some cliffs on a point overlooking the ocean and from this beautiful view we could see Valparaiso for the fireworks that were to launch at midnight.

At this gem of a site we were able to have a breath taking view of the ocean, witness the "Blue moon" for New Years that won't happen again for another 19 years (blue moon happens every 2 1/2 years where there are 2 full moons in one month), and saw wonderful fireworks all the way up the coast line as far as we could see!

To top it off there was an oasis of a beach that was right near our campground that was at the bottom of the cliffs in a little cove. It had gorgeous water, nice waves, soft, clean sand, and little caves all over in the cliffs and huge rock formations coming off the cliffs with caves as well - I felt like I was in Goonies for a bit. The beach was called "Playa Las Docas."

I thought about all of you and wondered what you were all up to... as our celebrations were all several hours apart.

Love you all and Happy New Year from Chile,

Aaron & Jenny

Here's a link to the video I took at the beach "Playa Las Docas"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9iYM1FscbHk

Merry Christmas!!!

2009-12-26T14:21:00.000-08:00

We had an awesome Christmas in Santiago!! I will let the pictures do the talking.

Christmas party at orphanage:
Aaron's "Company Christmas party"
Christmas Eve Service
Cookies, puzzle, opening gifts on Christmas morning

BBQ cookout and swimming - Christmas day

Orphanage I volunteer at ("Baby house") in the afternoon

Dinner with our friends visiting

Great day!

Muchas Gracias

2009-12-19T12:03:00.000-08:00

Yay, I'm done with classes! Here's my little speech (in Spanish of course) accepting my "diploma"

:-)

So proud!

Vamos CATOLICA!

2009-12-10T15:02:00.000-08:00

Saturday, December 5, 2009

10:00 am

I receive an email from Diego (Director of Curriculum at our school and new friend) that has several recommendations for the game we’re going to that night. It’s the Division 1 finals for the professional soccer league in Chile and game 1 of the 2 game Championship. The teams are “Catolica” (who we are cheering for) vs “Colo Colo” – both bitter enemies.

He recommends the following:

1) Don’t eat much during the day as the bathrooms will be filthy with human waste and you’ll have to tippy toe through waste covered floors by game time (gets worse as the clock tics). Holes in the ground will be the only form of toilets so #2 is out of the question (no t.p. too).

2) For Jen’s sake, it’s best not to wear shorts due to whistles, comments, gestures etc. from fans on both sides.

3) No valuables: wallets, purses, much money, cameras or anything else someone may want as it will be a full house and lots of muggings and pick-pockets happen at these intense matches. Do bring an ID though. He also says to be on the look out for safety as Colo Colo fans are pretty ruthless (although both teams have the fanatics).

4) Wearing a hat could be good idea for extra protection as many items (including rocks) can be thrown into the crowds from opposing teams.

5) We need to meet 4 hours early to make our way towards the stadium for extra safety before too many “Colo Colo” fans are there waiting and ready to ambush.

The list went on with several other precautions, but he did ensure the police will be 3 x of what it is normally.

2:40

Jenny and I arrive at “Los Leones” metro stop (subway) to meet Diego, his girlfriend Fannie, Cristian, and another guy from Germany. Diego again reinforces what he said about the bathrooms and asks us use the restroom.

3:20

We arrive at our desired bus stop a few blocks away from the subway. A large group of about 40 Catolica “fanatics” are approaching from the opposite direction. They are cheering and chanting different “Catolica” cheers and walking down the middle of the street causing traffic to stop before them. Most are drinking alcohol while others are throwing the empties wherever they please. They arrive to the stop we are waiting at along with about 8-10 other people and completely take over the area shouting and singing at the top of their lungs. They turn the back of the actual bus stop into a large drum and pound on it as hard as they can and scare off many of the bystanders. The others waiting at the stop along with us quickly leave the area and begin walking towards the next stop to get away from any potential danger.

3:30

We arrive at the next stop just in time as we see a bus approaching. We line up single file in preparation to board. The bus nears to 100 yards away and we begin hearing the loud chanting again. It pulls up to stop with the doors stuck open as so many fanatics are smashed into the bus rocking it back and forth, drinking, cheering and singing loudly. It moves on as no one at this stop wants or attempts to ride the bus. As it drives off graffiti paper is thrown out the side windows along with a beer can or two. A few minutes later another bus arrives without the fans and we board.

4:00

We exit the bus at a small park with about 300 or so Catolica fans already gathering. The plan is to wait until the Carabineros de Chile (armored police that look like commandos) clear a path. They will then herd us to the stadium. They do this to try and maintain peace as well as protect both the mass of fans that are gathering for each team. They’re anticipating Colo Colo fans to be hiding outside the stadium waiting to attack Catolica (us) on the parade there. Immediate retaliation is also definite and the Carabineros hope to control it as best they can. The Carabineros look like they are ready for battle. They have armor covering their entire body along with bullet proof vests, helmets, face guards, shields, guns, and night sticks in hand.

Everyone in the park is getting riled up with each passing minute. The strength and energy of the crowd increases as the number continues to grow. Club flags are everywhere representing not only Catolica, but signaling the several different neighborhoods of the Catolica fans. We begin to see allied battles of songs and chants from each neighborhood (fun to see the pride of each neighborhood). After a few songs and chants are finished all the fans of Catolica join in together and the energy explodes! It is quite impressive to observe.

As we near the departure time to parade towards the stadium small groups of people encircle individuals to keep them from the view of the Carabineros. We watch them wrap around their mid sections (like diapers) illegal club banners, flags and club paraphernalia – then pulling their pants up and over to hide. I now see how the fanatics get so many different types of flares, smoke grenades and all sorts of objects and weapons into the games.

5:30

It’s time to march for the stadium. The route has been set up by the Carabineros and they’re ready to proceed with the escort. The crowd (at least 6,000 strong now) begins to move in a massive horde down a side street toward the stadium. Huge drums are pounded in unison as we march creating more excitement and energy. Several more songs are echoed along with the beat of the drums. The adrenaline is definitely flowing. My body is now one giant goose bump and feels stronger than ever before. I am walking with Jenny’s right hand clasped in my left. I have my right arm free for any impulsive needs that arise. I begin to wonder if it’s a game we are heading to or the battle field as every step I take meets the ground simultaneously with each beat of the drum. I presume the majority believe we are actually heading to war.

The Carabineros are spread out sporadically on both sides of us. They have their night sticks in hand ready to club whoever dares to act disorderly or instigate anything. Every 30 seconds another person is belted across the back with a night stick. If they open their mouths to lip off or say anything they receive another blow to the upper arm (police brutality in my opinion for sure). Just keep moving – that’s all they want! Some may need the correction and repercussions given to them, but for the most part the police are abusing their power. They use their nightsticks on anyone they choose – it seems for no apparent reason in some cases. I was quite disturbed with some of the abuse I saw from the Carabineros.

Again, I do realize many of these “fanatics” with no brains for safety or consequences deserve what is handed to them. For example, we are crossing a small intersection in a neighborhood where several Colo Colo fans are hiding about 40 yards down a side street. They jump out and begin cursing at us, making gestures, and to my disbelief begin launching rocks into this mass of Catolica fans – rocks the size of plums and racquet balls. Instantaneously several Catolica fanatics start heaving rocks in return and a few burst from the mass of people and begin running towards them to inflict some sort of torture. They don’t even make it 10 yards outside the parade of people when they’re violently struck by nightsticks. WOW – some of those blows had to hurt – so much for going to the game ‘smarties’ – now you get to go to jail and miss it all together. So in essence – they deserve what is handed them.

The Carabineros are relentless in these types of situations. Anything you do out of the ordinary – you’re going to jail. Adding to the list of ‘smarties’ – as a few of these brainless fanatics are roughly dragged to the armored vehicles (to be hauled off) a whole barrage of stones come flying towards the Carabineros from the Catolica fans just ahead of us! Jenny and I had to literally duck out of the way of one stone with it drilling the guy behind us in the noggin! Man – that had to hurt! Glad it wasn’t Jenny or I though! HA!!

6:15

We enter the gates to a completely packed stadium with all the fans jumping up and down roaring! Only one section is reserved for the Catolica fans as game 1 is in Colo Colo’s stadium. There are about 10,000 fans for Catolica total (now that we arrive) and 30,000 Colo Colo fans. Huge flags are waving all throughout the crowd along with thousands of pom poms. Chants are thundering through the stadium from the home crowd. Streamers are thrown from the stands every few minutes to compensate for their short life creating a beautiful effect as they float slowly through the sky to the field. It’s absolutely the most intense environment I have ever witnessed for a sporting event – let alone almost anything!

The stadium is set up so there is no possible way for the fans of each team to come in contact. Barb wire, tall fences and locked gates block any possible opening or route. What’s hilarious is watching the actions of both teams’ fans towards one another in areas where they can’t physically touch each other. Colo Colo has one section near the walkway of the entrance for Catolica and also the bathrooms for the opposing team. The only thing separating the two fans is a thick fence. For about fifteen minutes Jen and I watched them both dual in chants towards each other, curse, spit and make every type of obscene gesture imaginable until the Carabineros finally broke it up by clubbing some Catolica fans on the back to get them moving. It was actually quite entertaining, but probably more repulsive to see the display of actions occurring before us.

The game ended in a 2-2 tie with some awesome goals! We were definitely alert the entire time as rocks were bombing in from the sections surrounding us. Jenny and I were actually unlucky and VERY lucky at the same time as one of the rocks skimmed the side of her head and then hit me on the right side of my back. If the rock would have actually hit her directly without grazing her it would have been a serious injury. I’m not sure that I would have ever felt so helpless before had it hit her square. I may have gone to KILL one of the Colo Colo fans even though I would have never known who it actually was! I actually wanted to attack them anyway as it came within the VICINITY of my hunny bunny!!

9:45

We begin to exit the stadium after an hour wait. The entire stadium has been completely emptied except for the Catolica fans. We are literally locked in our section unable to exit until the Carabineros deem its safe enough to let us leave and confirm most the Colo Colo fans have left the area. When the gates finally open the impatience of the crowd is at its highest level and the mass of fans begin to push hoping to expedite the exit. The force is so strong it nearly crushes the several hundred in front (including us) against the iron fences. One of the scarier moments I’ve had – again feeling completely helpless.

Exiting the gates we find not only the Carabineros ready to escort us again, but about 50 Carabineros on horses as well. The horses are dressed in matching armor of the Carabineros riding them – Probably the toughest, coolest, most intimidating looking horses I’ve ever seen! I sure wish I had my camera to show you this site. They formed a line for about 50 yards that we walked along – it was amazing! I have never seen such a security force first hand.

10:20

The last thing we encountered was at the metro about a mile away from the stadium. Near the station 50-80 Catolica fans started whistling loudly and running from the station towards us. Diego immediately said “run” and turned to run towards the next station. Apparently a mob from Colo Colo was waiting to attack the Catolica fans arriving at the metro. The whistles were warnings to everyone! It was another blood pumping experience for the night. Within 30-45 seconds the area was covered with Carabineros and the regular Policia.

10:40

Homeward bound… needless to say by the time we got on the metro heading to our apartment we were completely exhausted. It was an 8 hour experience with no food or water to help re-energize.

Despite all we saw along with the enormous smoke grenades, flares and fireworks after the goals and waves of people nearly crushing us a few times – it wasn’t enough to keep me away as I’m going to game 2 of the Championship tomorrow. I’m definitely anticipating it to be much crazier as this is the Final game of the season and the game that determines the Champion. Whatever team loses – the fans will be sure to go after the others!

I'm Dreaming of a White Christmas!

2009-12-04T18:35:00.001-08:00

You’re on Vacation for 8 MONTHS???!!!?????!!!

2009-11-28T09:41:00.000-08:00

You’re on Vacation for 8 MONTHS???!!!?????!!!
Well, technically, one year. Yes, it is true that I will be unemployed for one year. WOW… Yippee!!!!.... no work….. PARTY….. lucky!!..... BLISS…... Vacation. These are the thoughts that I’m sure people have as soon as we tell them we are traveling around South America for 8 months. These are the same thoughts I had when we were deciding to go on this adventure (in addition to many others like being scared, nervous, feeling blessed and anxious). At first we had to figure out all the difficult technicalities such as Where do our dogs go? What do we do with the house? What is our budget? Do we keep our cars? What about our jobs? What will we do when we get back? etc. However, after getting all of that taken care of these feelings of excitement poured in even more. I remember the last day of “work” for me (I worked as a nanny this summer), and I had an overwhelming feeling of accomplishment, excitement, and joy. With the exception of leaving the dogs behind, the decision to leave really could not have been easier. It just seemed to be right, and where God was leading us. This opportunity was once-in-a-lifetime, and the thought of pressing pause on life and going on this adventure was one of pure joy.

AA and I got married July 16, 2009. Following the wedding we had a one-week honeymoon on a Caribbean cruise. Then we returned to Colorado, moved out of our houses and finished our jobs, and then August 24, 2009 we loaded up the 4-runner and began our journey cross-country. So we really have not experienced a “normal” life since we got married. We have not lived together in our own house because as soon as we returned from the honeymoon we moved out of our houses and lived with AA’s parents for several weeks.

Today is November 28, almost 3 months to the day since we left Colorado. We still have 75% of the trip ahead of us to look forward to :-). We have spent the last three months seeing new places, learning a new language, meeting new people, experiencing new adventures, discovering different cultures, and doing some pretty unbelievable things. Of course – cause that’s what vacation is all about, right!!??!! Despite the good times we are having, I have to say that I think it’s impossible to be in full-time vacation mode for one year, or even for one month. Because even though you are traveling, not working, and have freedom, life still does exist. The realities of everyday life are still encountered, even though you are transplanted into a different place. I think my expectations were to be in “vacation mode” for the entire year. I didn’t anticipate the realities and challenges that this trip would also provide. I am now realizing that the expectation I had was unrealistic. In addition to the stresses associated with traveling (where will we go, how will we get there, how long will we stay, what will we do everyday, where will we eat, are we on our budget, etc.) we are also adjusting to the stresses of the first year of marriage (learning how to communicate, becoming acquainted with one another’s each and every good and bad habit, learning how to compromise, agreeing on money, forming a Godly relationship, etc.). We spend most hours of the day together which is great, but can also be overwhelming at times. This is all a big adjustment for us both, and change can be difficult. So, my expectations have been slightly revised. Of course I want to make the most out of this awesome time in my life. We have so much to be thankful for and so much to look forward to as well. My husband and I are learning how to accommodate each other’s needs, how to understand each other, and how to be loving partners to each other. I look at this time as an “immersion experience” we are being immersed into a new culture, new language, and new relationship with each other. We are and will continue to share countless amazing adventures and make great memories, but also difficult patches are to be expected. The overall result of building this foundation for our relationship and for our outlook on life and goals and dreams will serve us well in the future. To acknowledge that every day may not feel like a "vacation" has helped me to appreciate things even more. I am really looking forward to the next 9 months of "vacation" and everything that comes along with it.

Santiago

2009-11-17T17:53:00.001-08:00

We have been in Santiago, Chile now for about a week and a half. We spent the first week with my parents – my mom has been living here, teaching English for the past several months, and my dad flew in to travel with her for a couple of weeks. It was really great to spend some time with family. On the bus ride from Mendoza, Argentina to Santiago we were delayed several hours due to problems at customs and also a flat tire. We were originally scheduled to arrive in Santiago at 4:30. My mom gave me directions to her apartment and the plan was for me to call her when the bus arrived and they would meet us at the metro station by her apartment. AA and I were sitting on the bus as it pulled into Santiago – the time was 7:30, 3 hours later than expected. He looked out the window and said – “Jen, isn’t that your mom?” I look out the window and sure enough there is my mom (and later I see my dad too) patiently waiting for us to arrive on the only CATA bus coming from Mendoza.

It was a rather cold day, so after waiting over two hours for us and freezing they decided to get some coffee at a café and that’s when we saw them. It was a great feeling! Unfortunately on the metro from the bus station to my mom’s apartment her purse got stolen. Not a good way to start the trip.

Since my mom was still working, the rest of us went to Valpariso and Vina del Mar - Chilean beachtowns on the Pacific ocean - for a daytrip. We did lots of walking and exploring while there. We saw what appeared to be an awesome fresh meat, fruit, and vegetable market. It looked amazing! Other than that we spent most of our time walking along the beach and enjoying the nice weather.

We also did some sightseeing in Santiago - we took the fenicular up the "hill" to get a birds eye view of the city. It was very peaceful and beautiful at the top looking down over the city.

My parents have left now to travel Southern Chile - Patagonia - before returning home. AA and I have the fortunate task of holding down the fort here :-)

From what I have seen so far I am in love with Santiago! It is a perfect size city for me and it just has a great welcoming feel. My mom is living in a very nice part of town called Providencia. The streets are all lined with huge trees, beautiful flower gardens can be found at nearly every door, the city is very clean, big sidewalks, and just very comfortable. It’s hard to put my finger exactly on what it is that I like here so much, but regardless it feels like home. The only negatives I’ve found so far are that the people are very difficult to understand – they speak very fast Spanish with a lot of slang and also cut off the endings of their words – and that it is expensive here – about the same prices as in the states.

I think that Aaron and I have decided to stay here for at least two months, maybe three. We will spend Thanksgiving, Christmas, and new years here and the major summer months. Aaron has found an internship that he is hoping will work out – he will be working in sales/marketing for a language school. This works out well because we will get free classes in exchange for his work. So starting Thursday we will be back in Spanish classes again – yay!!! The classes will be in the mornings, and he will work in the afternoons. I hope to do some volunteer work at an orphanage in addition to some odds and ends at a church here. We feel like many things are falling into place for us here and it’s really working out well.

Missing you all lots (including Booker, Kahlua, Hunie, and Rook)!!!!
xoxoxoxoxo

My Grandma

2009-11-07T04:35:00.000-08:00

Today is the memorial for my Grandma Boyd that passed away a couple weeks ago. It has been difficult to be in S. America and away from my family at this time of sadness. She was an awesome woman and I will always miss her. I wanted to share a poem I wrote for her and that will be shared at her memorial. My Grandma always loved to play with my 4 little nephews and try to get them to clap their hands (as they are very young). She would always clap her hands in unison with the 3 words "clap your hands" - it was the cutest thing. I love you Grandma:

Grandma
Clap your hands
Clap your hands
Always there
Full of heart
Cheerful and bright
Ready to love

Warm and gentle
Kind and humorous
Sometimes pitching in surprisingly
Filling hearts with fun laughter and joy
Adorable - so very adorable
Thank you for your constant love and interest

Candy
Candy by the door
Candy before you leave
Be sure to grab a piece on your way out
Mmm... I'll take a toffee or cinnamon one
Maybe two
Thanks Grandma

Clap your hands
Clap your hands
Tender and precious
Mindful of our well being
Always sure to ask
and lately, ask again, and maybe even again
Such great moments and memories now to cherish
Reflecting on the smiles you created

I am warm now Grandma
Warmer than before
No need to worry
I feel your love and embrace
I love you Grandma

Thank you
For always being there
I will always clap my hands for you
Clap your hands
Clap your hands

In memory of my wonderful Grandma
who has always been around
and who I will always love
Clap your hands
Clap your hands

Your grandson,
Aaron

Fun Times!

2009-11-04T14:23:00.000-08:00

Salinas Grandes, Northern Argentina
(Great salt flats)

Memories

2009-11-04T10:32:00.000-08:00

Turns out that a lot of blogging gets done on our bus journeys – watch the video for a tour.

We ended up getting plenty of company on the bus shortly after the video – but it was fun being the only ones on the bus while it lasted. Now the sun is setting, AA is napping (for the second time today), and a movie is playing. The movies are all in English with Spanish subtitles. This particular bus ride is 22 hours, after just finishing a 7 hour bus ride leaving Brazil and returning to Argentina. I have spent the last hour gazing out the window and reminiscing on life. Out of the blue I realized that I am 28 years old, no longer a little girl, and life is passing by – way too quickly! Too often we go through the motions of life and forget to pay attention to the fact that we are living life. The last hour I have been reliving the past 28 years and I’m dumbfounded that I’m not that tall, gangly 5th grader anymore that is standing in the cafeteria and nervous about starting middle school. Here are some of the other fond memories/emotions that I can distinctly remember as if it was yesterday that they occured. Maybe some of you who have been by my side through these times will get a giggle out of them. It is funny what our brain chooses to remember.

Mike, Chris, and Tom Ackerman have stolen my Barbie and ripped off her head. They have climbed up the tree in front of the house and are taunting me. I am standing below, crying, thinking they are so mean.

Christine Amerman and I are determined that Spotty, the cat, will fit into my doll clothes.

I wanted to wear my white, MC Hammer pants EVERYDAY in 5th grade. My mom told me I wore them too much but I was hoping Rusty Moore would notice how good I looked and ask me to be his girlfriend. (He never did)

Mrs. Jones made me stay after school to practice writing my r’s in cursive.

We ate a grilled chicken sandwich, French fries, a nutter-butter, and Hawaiian punch every day for lunch at Lakeview middle school. And we all weighed nothing…???....

My mom picked me up from track practice after school, and we were rushing to get me to ballet on time. I am changing from my sweaty uniform into ballet tights in the back seat of the car and begging my mom to let me skip ballet.

Meagan, Katharyne, Jolie and I are in the back seat of the caravan, driving to Virginia and seeing who can fit the most pixie sticks in their mouth. So much laughter!

The feelings of being in love for the first time in high school, followed by the tremendous low of breaking up.

Being so nervous before the water polo game at Lake Brantley.

Feeling so much gratitude and love at my surprise 16th birthday party in Miami.

The feeling in my stomach on graduation day when the commencement song started playing. And realizing the impact of change seeing tears in my mom’s eyes.

Waving good-bye to my family when they dropped me off in Colorado for college. Felt so many different emotions that I didn’t know what I was feeling.

The overwhelming pride I felt when I read the letter saying I would graduate from CSU magna-cum-laude. (If you know the secret….shhhh)

The very nervous anticipation of interviewing and landing my first job.

The heartache of divorce and its consequences.

Feeling an intense sense of accomplishment when I crossed the finish line in 3 hrs, 40 min, and 47 seconds.

The pure humility and overwhelming emotion of letting God back in.

The joy of a happy heart jumping up and down in my chest wanting more, more, more.

It has been fun to think back and feel the joys and pains of living my life. It would be great to appreciate these emotions as we are in the moment. Instead I know that I rush through them and hurry on to the next task. Hopefully you’ll stop today and press pause on your life. Live, feel, embrace.

Holy Macaco!

2009-10-29T17:09:00.000-07:00

JenA and I were excited to go for our usual camina (walk) for the day now that we were in beautiful, Maringa, Brazil and had a new, large park to explore. Not that we believed a walk around the park here would be any different. The walking trail of “Parque do Inga” consists of a large circular path (3200 meters round) and encompasses a thick green jungle of Brazilian trees, bushes and plants (turned out to be a great place for Jenny to run each day). A tall fence lines the walking trail to keep the jungle area separate and to help maintain the habitat.

The park was designed so that every 800 meters or so had little exercise areas with the equipment provided by the city. You can do sit-ups, pull ups, curls, rows, and get some cardio by using the gliders provided or mosey around all the usual equipment for a well rounded workout. The funny thing to me was there was not really any weight associated with these exercise machines – it was mainly just the motion (which I guess is better than nothing). I definitely liked the concept and so did the people as the areas were always in use.

Another interesting experience at the park was a little stand along the path selling fresh coconut water. It was so fun to see! We ordered ourselves a couple glasses and the guy chopped off the top of the coconut and placed it upside-down letting the water leak through a small filtration system right into our cups. Mmm… it was so tasty and refreshing in the humidity of the day and so different from the norm of the parks in the U.S.

I do have to say the best part of the park (or surprise I should say) is what we encountered further down the path. We were walking along chatting when we heard ruffling above us in the trees. It sounded as if it was coming right at us. Sure enough - out of the thick green foliage popped a little “Macaco” (ma kah coe) jumping and swinging ever so easily in our direction until it let go of the last vine and plopped itself right on top of the wooden fence post just in front of us. Jen and I looked at each other with huge smiles and amazement! We both have never had this happen before and have never been this close to a monkey – not even at the zoo. This little guy was so curious and had no hesitation in coming up close to us in plain view – he must have recognized we were foreigners – and within seconds his entire family joined him in observing us.

Little did I know 4 years later from eating frango lasagna (chicken lasagna) with Guilherme and Lucia (both from Brazil) at their apartment in Denver that I would be sleeping in his old room at his family’s house in Maringa. Oh the treasure and unknown of friendships and what’s to come…

At that time the 3 of us sat around the dinner table trying to communicate - with them speaking hardly any English and me speaking no Portuguese. After a couple years of solid friendship and many fun experiences together we taught each other a good amount of each other’s language.

Now sitting here in Maringa after spending the last 5 days with his family (who speak very little English) makes me treasure the friendship even more, the little Portuguese I learned from him and the common bond his family and I immediately shared upon arrival. It only took about 1 day for my memory to come back and to understand much of what was being spoken to me. It was so exciting and fun to understand Portuguese as not many people do. It was also encouraging to see the Brazilian’s we met impressed with the amount of knowledge and understanding I had for their language. I only wish Guilherme himself could have been here too (he’s in Australia).

Guilherme’s parents (Valdir and Luci) made us lunch and dinner each day and we all (his brother Rafael too) sat around the table enjoying ourselves trying to communicate every time. Each day got more comfortable and fun as we shared many laughs in trying. It was déjà vu from 4 years ago in the opposite setting (me being in Brazil this time). They also took us around town each day to show us the city, where my good friend Gui grew up, and the famous “Catedral” downtown which can be seen from anywhere in the city. It makes for a “bom vista” (great view) from their balcony and has a design in which neither Jen nor I have ever seen.

A fond memory I will have as well is when Valdir wanted to show me how to make Brazil’s most famous drink – the Caipirinha. He took me one morning to his mother’s house where she had a lime tree in the back yard. We picked several nice, fresh green limes and headed back to his house. After slicing up all the limes and some fresh pineapple, we mixed them together in a glass mug and took a mashing tool (not sure of the name) and mashed the fruit together until the cup was 1/3 full of fresh juices. We then put in spoonful of sugar and topped off the mug with ice cubes and “Ypioca” liquor. MY GOODNESS – fresh Caipirinha’s are soooo good! We have an awesome video of it that Jen took too – best part is that it was only noon as Jen shows when the drinks began.


We also experienced their daily life of “O Clube” (the club) they belong to and go to each day for a variety of different activities. The club has soccer fields, futsal courts, tennis courts, volleyball courts, pools, bocha (a different form of bowling and shuffleboard mixed), a gym, bar/ cafeteria area, several areas for dancing, playing cards, playgrounds for children, sauna’s, hot tubs, showers and pretty much anything else you can think of that’s related. They have a variety of leagues for each sport as well which seem to be quite competitive – especially futebol (soccer in Portuguese)! I actually played for Valdir (Guilherme’s dad) as he’s injured. It was much more than what I thought I was getting into. Let’s just say after the 40 minutes of drills before the game (he had me do to warm up) I was absolutely exhausted as I have not truly played soccer in 12 years! Once that was done I was laughing to myself that I had to actually go out and play a game now! As ugly as it may have been I did manage to score a goal and save face! 

Another key area of their club is for the Sunday rituals of “Churrasco” which we got to attend. The “Churrasco” is what the Brazilian’s call their bbq’s - definitely something you must attend at some point if the opportunity presents itself! I could not stop myself from eating each time they came by with a different skewer of meat fresh from the grill.

When we finished I went and passed out from food coma!  I believe maybe all the “Skol cerveja” (Brazilian beer) they kept pouring me may have added to the coma as well… luckily later Valdir took me to his good friend Ronaldo’s “Panificadora e Confeitaria” (bakery and coffee shop) for some good café to wake up!

What a good experience and memory to have heard and listened to Guilherme’s numerous stories about Maringa, Brazil and now to have actually lived the culture and some of the traditions he always mentioned. His family is awesome and made Jen and I feel at home.

I believe it may have been a bit overwhelming for Jen as she doesn’t speak any Portuguese and has never actually even heard the language spoken - other than a few phrases from me in the past and some songs. Five days of not really being able to communicate is definitely tough! She has learned an impressive amount over the last week and I’m proud of the courage she showed in trying. It was a great snap shot for our return to Brazil in February for 2 months. Now back to the Spanish speaking countries for awhile…

Tchau,

AA

Oi

2009-10-24T11:35:00.000-07:00

We are on a bus right now, leaving Iguazu Falls and going to Maringa which is in Parana, Brazil. I should be studying right now – learning some of the Portuguese basics, but just like my students I’d much rather procrastinate when possible. We are so relieved to be in Brazil. It was a massive headache getting the visa to come here, and we were very nervous because we had only 90 days after the date of issue of the visa to use it. If we did not enter Brazil within 90 days (of August) then it would no longer be valid. But luckily everything worked out without too much difficulty and now as I type I am looking out the window at the beautiful countryside of Brazil. I feel a sense of culture-shock for the second time now. Argentina was the first time, but after 6 weeks there I got used to it and thanks to our great Spanish classes we know enough Spanish to say what we need to. But then we cross the border into Brazil and we’re back to ground zero. The currency here is called reais and the language is Portuguese. I got overwhelmed at the bus station, so many differences already. I went to use the bathroom and you must pay (they even have a security guard there), and then I went to the ATM to get some reais out (I can’t even pronounce the word reais yet), and I ended up doing a cash advance on my credit card, which I don’t know what that means but I’m pretty positive it involves extra fees, and then I went to buy some food for the 7 hour bus ride, but they make you order first in a separate area from the food, and then go pick it up. I barely know how to say hi in Portuguese (Oi), much less how to order us food (without just pointing to it). So I went back to AA, frustrated, and told him it was his job to get us some food. And that is why I should be studying Portuguese right now :-)

We are going to Maringa in order to meet the family of AA’s good friend Gui. We decided to go there now, instead of in February when we will be living in Brazil, because 1) we needed to get the visas stamped and 2) it’s pretty close to Iguazu Falls. The (long distance) buses here are awesome. Our last trip ended up being 20 hours on the bus, and it flew by and we were very comfortable. They served us a hot dinner and breakfast, played several movies (in English), and we had no problem sleeping. Today’s trip should go just as well and Gui’s mom and dad will be waiting for us at the bus station when we arrive. We are excited to meet his family and explore his hometown. We have no idea how long we’ll stay or what exactly we’ll do, but that’s the fun in being a vagabond, right??!!??!

It’s amusing to look out the window and watch all the small towns go by, imagining how different their lives must be. It makes me wonder and question what we really need in life to live and be happy. After observing for awhile I have noticed that I do not need a (clothes) dryer. I’m pretty sure hardly anybody in South America has a dryer – you see clothes hanging out to dry in practically every house. Washers, yes I do need a washer because doing it by hand was too much, haha, but a dryer I can probably do without. Cars – not needed here. As long as you have legs to walk and maybe a bike then that’s all you really need. The public transportation here is great and most of these towns are so small that you can walk from one end to another. Front porch – definitely needed here. Along with some friends or family to pass the time with while sitting on your porch, drinking mate, watching the clothes dry and world pass by. TV – I think that one is still a personal preference. I am surprised how many Direct TV dishes I see here, and big satellite dishes, but many people also do without. I could go either way. I guess basically for everybody, no matter where you are on this Earth, it comes down to having a roof over your head, food, friends and family, and a purpose in life. As I sit here and watch the towns go by I can’t help but to contemplate how different, but yet the same, my life is from these Brazilians.

I guess for me one of the difficulties I face while traveling is identifying what my purpose is. When I’m settled at home it’s easier to identify: to teach kids, contribute to society, be a good example of Christ, take care of my dogs, pay the bills, etc. Here it is harder for me because my purposes are to travel, explore, and grow. It helped in Buenos Aires when we were taking classes, because then I could identify my purpose as learning a new language. Maybe it’s just me, but I feel brainwashed to believe that tangible purposes hold more worth than intangible ones. I often overlook the main purpose of the trip – to press pause on life and fill up on God. Working towards God everyday is an invaluable and rewarding experience in itself. On top of that I feel so blessed to have this time to really learn who I am and who I want to be. AA and I are learning how to be partners to each other and how to provide what the other needs. A seed is being planted in my brain that perhaps the intangibles actually have more meaning.

Que Bueno

2009-10-17T11:29:00.000-07:00

Our first experience to surfing ended up being 5 nights in Devoto (deh-boh-toh). That is a barrio about an hour outside downtown Buenos Aires. Not surfing in the way we initially think of surfing, but “Couch Surfing.” If you are not familiar with it a quick explanation of couch surfing is a network and website in which you create a profile and post it for other travelers to view in search for a place to stay or “couch surf.” Everyone with a profile is required to give certain information and whatever background info they want as well as list whether they have a floor, couch or bed to host. Surfers and hosts are in all parts of the world. You do need to have a few other “couch surfers” validate you to prove you’re not a lunatic before you can really get started. It is an excellent way to meet locals and learn more about their city, country and culture. Just be sure to not overstay your welcome and be sure to return the favor when you are home from your travels and someone is passing through.

Stepping off the subte (subway) and walking down the street to the isquina of Corrientes and Leandro N. Alem, Jen and I could feel the adrenaline start to pump and the nerves become more prevalent. We thought to ourselves, “Was this going to be a good experience? Awkward? Uncomfortable? Awesome? What if these guys are loco and want to kidnap us or try to harm us?” We had no idea who or what these people were really about and had just exchanged a few emails and one brief phone call. They seemed nice. After all, they said they were going to make us “home made pizza” that night.

We stood on the corner of the intersection studying several bystanders for the girlfriend of the couple’s house we were going to be staying at. It was nearly 5:30 and downtown BsAs was alive with the workday coming to an end. Hundreds of people determined to get home were racing in every direction to try and catch the next taxi, colectivo, or subte. I don’t believe anyone near to us missed the opportunity to curiously eye us both from head to toe. I’m not sure why as we couldn’t have stood out - Jenny and her two bags she travels with; one small backpack which carries both our necessities and then pulling her large bag behind on rollers (also transforms into an actual backpack, but is too heavy for her). Then me - wearing shorts, a t-shirt, my large red backpack, and to top it off my signature upside-down, backwards, visor!! Oh the wonders of what these “Portenos” thought as they walked by us! 

Scoping out the crowd for any possible matches of who we dreamed up emerged a very pleasant looking, bonita chica, with long hair wearing a light black coat and scarf. She began waving happily and smiled a warm comforting smile as she approached. I looked to “mi amor” Jen and I could see in her eyes she was already feeling much more secure. The person we had been waiting for arrived and did not even remotely resemble what the two of us wondrously imagined. We were greeted with “Hola, como estan?” and then she gave us each the customary Argentina kiss on our cheek. It was a refreshing feeling.

Waiting for the train to Devoto at Retiro station we were becoming somewhat anxious from the growing crowd gathering around the platform. It was our first time to ride a train here in BsAs and we quickly realized it was going to be quite adventurous. People were escaping the huge mass forming by jumping off the platform onto the rock where the tracks lie and crossing over to the other side to make boarding less of a competition for the approaching train. I looked over to Natalia after I realized what was happening in nervous anticipation of possibly not being able to board with our large backpacks. As we made eye contact I could see in her eyes she was thinking the same. Natalia told us when we got there it was the busiest time of the day besides morning as thousands of people use the train each day to make their commute to and from work downtown.

The train began to slow and before I even had the thought of boarding (because of the speed it still had) people in front of us and to the side of us began jumping into the stairwells of each car nearly being knocked violently back to the platform. All to ensure they had a spot on the train. Jen and I looked at each other in awe and then to Natalia. She glanced back at us speaking with her eyes that it was now or never. We knew exactly what we had to do next and that’s when the adrenaline pumped full force. Following Natalia’s lead, Jen tossed her big bag into the next stairwell simultaneously as we both quickly jumped from the platform.

As we road the rails the extremity became known when we saw people literally on the outside of the train holding on as it whistled down the tracks. They were packed in the stairwells with a few only having half of their foot on the bottom stair while gripping the handle bars (for boarding) to keep from falling off! I couldn’t comprehend that this one departure time was more important than waiting 60 minutes for the next train. One slip and that was it!

Staring out the windows wondering what was to come and thrilled with all the adventure so far (I speak for myself here) I began to witness the poorest areas I may have ever seen in my life. Passing by what must have been the slums of Buenos Aires. I could not believe my eyes. There were blocks and blocks and blocks of housing made from old pallets, plastic, scrap metal, tree branches, anything you could find along side the train tracks. Clothes lines were tied from the make shift roofs of these throw together shed houses to the fences that divided these communities from the tracks. Sheds in the U.S. are complete luxury compared to what was before my eyes. Huge bond fires of what looked to be trash and whatever could possibly burn were every few hundred feet with several people standing around them. A family outside their front doorway – as there was no door – sitting on buckets and old broken, thrown away chairs they must have discovered while eating from tables made from scrap pieces of wood and metal. It seemed as though they were content and enjoying the nice afternoon and didn’t even notice a train flying by less than 40 yards away. I fought back sorrow as I saw kids standing around wearing only old, dirty, raggedy underwear and filthy from head to toe. Wow, these people didn’t have electricity, running water, bathrooms or let alone ANYTHING really. All the housing was like a large Lego city made from trash and old junk connected from one home to the other as one long constant maze of a scrap city.

Several miles up the tracks from this community I peered out to see yet another city formed in the ruins of old brick buildings from 1 to 3 stories high. The poor inhabited these ruins and made homes out of them. Many of the small brick buildings had only few walls left and were hardly standing. The residents reinforced them with old boards wedged up from the ground at an angle. Windows were what came out of the large holes in the brick walls and sloped plastic tarps were used as roofs. Patios were created out of the floors where the brick only went up a couple feet.

In the middle of the ciudad de ruins must have been the nicest place to live. It was rectangular in shape and 3 floors up. The floor must have been designed into 2 identical squares side by side. The square and end wall on the 3rd floor facing me was no longer there – the brick remaining along that edge fluctuated between 1 and 2 feet tall. The roof of that half was no longer there as well. The family had made it into there patio/ deck and had strung a close line across attached to each of the two good walls. The mother was hanging clothes to dry and two small children were playing next to her. I could tell behind them in the other half of the rectangular floor must have been their one room of shelter. For what I had just been viewing for the last several minutes I thought this place actually looked quite comfortable and homey. They even had a good view!

That night around 10 pm sitting in the living room of the 1 bedroom apartment playing with Tobias (their 8 week old Golden Retriever) and growing hungrier by the minute the sound of a key jiggling the lock drew our attention and in walked Natalia’s boyfriend. It was a fun moment as the four of us were now together and it seemed all were at ease – especially Natalia now that Guido was home.

“You hungry?” he asked with a big friendly smile. Jen and I replied with smiles, a friendly nod and broken Spanish. Within a few minutes Guido was busy in the kitchen rolling out fresh dough for homemade pizza.

Little did Jen or I know that couch surfing could actually be the means for lifelong friends. I don’t think the thought ever even crossed our minds that we could become such good friends with people who agreed to host us. On the flip side – I’m not sure they had that thought surface either. The dynamic that grew among the 4 of us over the course of the next 5 days was simply incredible! It truly only took about one night for us all to click and feel extremely comfortable with each other. Jen and I both couldn’t believe the generosity, respect and trust they showed to us instantly. The first two nights they insisted we sleep in their room as they wanted to sleep in the living room on the loveseat. They claimed it was normal for them from watching movies late anyways. Despite our efforts of declining the offer they prevailed with every excuse imaginable and we finally had to accept. One of the days we came to the apartment early afternoon while they were still at work to find $50 pesos on the table with a note from them telling us to go buy ourselves some lunch. The generosity just kept coming...

In the short stay with Guido and Natalia we created many fun and meaningful memories. We had dinner each night, breakfast a few days, drank “Mate” several times (the cultural and traditional herbal tea of Argentina) which is something you do with family and friends – some days – for hours at a time.

We got a glimpse of their weekly routines by seeing Natalia come home from hockey practice one night with a friend and hanging out for a bit; taking a taxi across town one sunny afternoon to see Guido’s outdoor “futbol” game where he scored 3 goals because of excellent footwork.

We enjoyed a Saturday night with dinner at a restaurant on a rooftop patio followed by a few fun competitions of tennis at an arcade! Sat around and ate “helado” (ice-cream) I believe every five minutes!  They do love their ice-cream! We also went and saw Guido play in a “Baby” (bah-bee) tournament (5 v 5 soccer). It’s played on concrete with goals that are 7x10 and with a smaller, dense, soccer ball so it doesn’t bounce uncontrollably. It’s amazing to watch as it’s fast paced and has numerous goals and fancy footwork. For those of you who are familiar with futsal – it’s practically the same thing.

I was even lucky enough to experience a night out with Guido and his friends when he took me to an “Asado” (grill out), for one of his friend’s birthdays (Jen had movie night with Natalia). What a great time! Two friends of his picked us up and from that moment on I mainly sat back and just observed the conversations, games, laughs and stories while eating several selections of tasty meat! They honestly spoke SO fast it all sounded as if it was only a couple words with each sentence (maybe the alcohol got their blood flowing quicker)!  Guido took me under his wing and translated the whole time and was sure to introduce me to everyone. Each of his friends individually came up to greet me with the Argentine kiss on the side of the cheek. I truly felt honored.

It was an amazing experience to be in a room with people from a totally different culture celebrating, laughing, playing cards, drinking, telling stories and overall having a great time while all at the same time I really didn’t understand a word. I laughed a ton and just felt great to be able to see all of them in their element. They were really curious of me as I noticed all of them staring at me periodically throughout the night. A few would come up and try to talk with me – thank goodness we had Guido to translate!

Something very meaningful Jen and I got to do for them was add a painting to their back patio wall. It has become a wall of happiness for them and is now one large mural from different friends and family who have left their mark. We both new right away the marking we wanted to leave – the triangle. 1) God at the top with Guido and Natalia on each side – we believe the closer we get to Him the closer we’ll get to each other and the triangle is a perfect symbol of that. We saw the love in Guido and Natalia as a couple and wish only the best for their relationship and wanted to share a belief of ours. 2) We also wanted to represent where we are from – the United States of America. 3) We wanted to share the best definition for Love. It turned out great and we really enjoyed painting it!

We are happy to have left them something from our hearts they can view for years to come. Hopefully we will see them in Denver one day and can return the hospitality, respect, and graciousness they showed us.

Today we depart from Buenos Aires after 6 weeks here and are heading to Iguazu Falls. It’s been incredible and the Spanish is slowly improving.

Chau – AA

1125 minutes

2009-10-15T18:30:00.000-07:00

That´s how long we will be on the bus from Buenos Aires to Igauzu Falls tomorrow! To be honest I am somewhat excited for the experience. Our seats fold down into beds, there are TVs on the bus, and they serve us dinner and breakfast. I´m sure after about 2 hours I won´t be so excited anymore though. Tonight is our last night in Buenos Aires. This has been a great home for the past 5 or 6 weeks. I will miss it, but I am also looking forward to new adventures.

I just wanted to write a quick update before we left. AA is working on a more detailed explanation of our last week or two, and I´m sure he´ll have plenty of time to finish it on the bus :-). We have spent the last 9 nights "couchsurfing" and it has been a fabulous experience! We have met some truly kind and generous people and we are excited to be the "hosts" ourselves once we are back and settled. AA will have more details for you in his post. The plan from here is for us to spend a few nights in Iguazu Falls which is home to over 275 gorgeous waterfalls. It is located in northern Argentina near the border of Brazil. We will wander into Brazil for a couple of nights to meet AA´s good friend Gui´s family. Then we will spend a couple of weeks traveling across northern Argentina, stopping in Cordoba, Salta, and Mendoza. Finally we will end up in Santiago, Chile and meet up with my mom and dad.

Again, just a quick update, more to come. Miss and love you all!

Sittin' in the park

2009-10-07T15:58:00.000-07:00

We are making home of a park in “El Centro” for the afternoon. The Hilton suite (as we called it) was super nice the week it lasted, but understandably Clara wanted her room back, so we are currently vagabonds. Vagabonds, what a scary word for me to associate myself with! Haha, it’s a new side of traveling that I am not very familiar with. I just realized today that this is most likely our first day of travelling place to place, with no real “home” for the four weeks or so, until we arrive in Santiago, Chile. Wow! AA tells me to relax and go with the flow – I’ll get used to it. So that is what I will do, but just so the world knows, I am not very comfortable with this. We have all our stuff with us now – two big bags and a backpack. It doesn’t exactly make for easy travel when you have to lug around all this crap, but it’s definitely adventurous. It was funny the other night when we were moving to our last place. We had left our old apartment around 6 and were planning to meet Clara at 7 at her casa. We were debating – do we take a cab or do we walk about 1 mile to the subte (sub) and take that there. We decided to walk until we got tired and then decide. Well, AA ended up carrying the three main, heavy bags (I guess I tired quickly), while I carried the two grocery bags full of leftover food. Anyways, we end up making it to the subte, but the darn thing is SOOO crowded between 5:00 and 8:00, it’s nearly impossible for just the two of us with no luggage to get on, much less both of us and all the bags. So, after humoring ourselves and waiting for a few more subs to see if they were less crowded, we ended up taking a cab.

This morning we had luck with the subte – it’s not that crowded at noon, and so here we are now sitting in the park with our stuff and waiting for our Spanish class to start. AA is jammin’ away on the harmonica, and I am busy people watching. The birds, the dogs, the people, the traffic, the homeless, it’s all so amusing! But what has been most amusing are these two boys – probably 15ish. When we got here they had this 2 liter soda plastic bottle, about ½ full, and they were maybe 40 yards apart from each other, tossing the bottle. Although they did not try to catch the bottle, they simply threw it high in the air and then let it fall to the ground. They were so happy to play this game.

Then the bottle burst open, so they took to a new game. The new game involved throwing rocks instead of the soda at each other. This time I believe the object was to actually hit the other person with a rock. That game grew old, so next they turned to throwing the rocks at trees. They competitively tested who had the better aim. And finally, when that no longer held their attention they just decided to wrestle each other.

This all was very amusing to me. They seem so content. But my question – why aren’t those boys in school right now?

We will update you on our vagabond life as soon as we have something new to tell you. We are hoping to finally have success with couchsurfing for a few nights. Tonight we will stay with Guido and his girlfriend. He seems very nice and he said he would make us dinner – pizza – for dinner when he gets home at 9pm. What a nice guy! We also may stay a night or two at this hostel we checked out yesterday. It is in San Telmo and seems like it would be fun for a few nights. Alright, well I guess it is officially pancho time. We are on a mission to find “super panchos” for lunch – jumbo hot dogs with little fried goodies on the top… YUM!

Top of the terrace

A Suite at the Hilton..

2009-10-01T07:20:00.000-07:00

or not. It's just our house for the next week or two!!! Lucky us! Check out this awesome place we landed which makes us feel like we're staying at the local Hilton or something. It's located in Palermo which is not quite in the heart of Buenos Aires as much as our last place was. This barrio is the "hip" part of town, and home to lots of parks which is an awesome treat for us. We are living in Clara's house and she also hosts a student, Katie, who is studying here from Wisconsin. Clara insists that no English be spoken in the house, only Spanish, which actually is very good for us. It's much easier to speak and understand Spanish that is coming from an American - and since Katie speaks Spanish well it is helpful. The house basically has three levels, so we've attached three videos to show each level. The bottom level is where Clara and Katie sleep, and also where the living room and kitchen are. AA and I get the second level "suite" - our own private bedroom and bathroom. Since we are located on the 12th floor of the building, the third level is the terrace - the roof of the building. It has amazing views of Buenos Aires and is very comfortable. We are so happy to be here and the change of scenery is great. We signed up for another week of Spanish classes next week, we can't get enough! :-) Enjoy

1st level

2nd level

Terrace

movie + warm + food = happy jenny!

2009-09-27T15:46:00.000-07:00

I sit here all alone in the apartment, watching New in Town (with Renee Zellweger) for probably the fourth time this week. Oh, I am so content! Today was the big day - we decided to splurge and pay big bucks for tickets to the big futbol game - something AA's always wanted to do since he loves the game so much. We arranged tickets with our school, and somebody was to pick us up at 4:30pm for the game starting at 6:10pm. It's an organized thing - with other students and a local guide. Apparently the games can get somewhat violent and rowdy, so it's smart not to bring ANYTHING with you and to be with a local. Today's the day!!

Let's back up and start at the beginning. We wake up this morning and it's a miserable day - cold (in the upper 40's/lower 50's), raining, and windy. The day doesn't start off awesome - we have procrastinated in finding a church to attend, so I wake up early (OK, 9:45 is not THAT early, but if it requires an alarm clock then it's early for us). I get on the net and start surfing. It's pretty difficult to find a church that one you don't know the name of, two you don't know the location of, and three you speak very little of the language. So I'm googling generic searches like "iglesias buenos aires". A list of about 25 comes up, lists the name of the church, address, and some have a phone number. It's a good start. So I start going down the list and looking for a street that I recognize. If I find one, then I google map it to find out if it's within walking distance. If it passes that test then I call the number and try to communicate and ask what time the church starts (usually 11). OK, sounds much easier than it actually is. Bottom line - I find ONE church (out of the 25) that I'm pretty sure is somewhat close and I'm pretty sure it starts at noon. It was hard to hear and understand the guy on the phone because AA was "helping" from the other room, correcting my spanish, as the guy was telling me the times. Anyways, as soon as I get off the phone the internet crashes before I write down the name or exact location of church. This is how the morning starts. Anyways, we leave, somewhat late, and walk in the pouring down rain about 11 blocks to the church. Good news - I had my story right and it was a real church that started at noon. This church was very different from any other church we have been to yet. First of all, most noticably, it was packed! The other churches never had even 20 people, and this one had about 200 - people standing all along the back due to the pews being full. Service was fine - once again we understand next to nothing. I did get extremely excited to understand my first SENTENCE in church: "We need to be reading the word of God daily" - go me!!!! Anyways, church ends and we walk across town in the freezing and pouring rain to check out an apartment we might possibly rent starting Wed., as our lease ends the end of this month. We arrive at 1:30 and wake up the owner (must have been a late night!), but the place won't work cause she has a cat and I'm allergic. So we walk back, again in the pouring rain, to our apartment...home sweet home!!!

YES, I think to myself. I can not wait to get to the futbol game and sit outside for hours in the freezing cold rain and be packed really tightly into the jammed packed and violent stadium and watch my favorite - a soccer game, yippee!! After debating for about 2 - 3 seconds, I made the executive decision to stay home and let AA enjoy the game solo, no female nagging and whining to slow him down. So now, here I am. I am so happy to be sitting in my warm, cozy, and comfy apartment all by myself. AA I'm sure is having a great time at the game, and I'm sad for him that the weather didn't cooperate with his dreams of finally attending a futbol game in South America. But I'm totally OK with missing out. I'm sipping on some coke zero, just finished eating some pizza, and this movie gets better every time!
J

Hustle and Bustle

2009-09-23T15:50:00.000-07:00

After my first trip to NYC I decided that at some point in my life I wanted to live the city life, even if only temporarily. It seemed so cool to be in the heart of everything, with so much to do all around you. Well, I guess this month or so in Buenos Aires will allow me to check that off of my list of to-do's. Our apartment in Congresso qualifies us as living in downtown Buenos Aires. Over 3 million people live in the city of Buenos Aires and about 14 million people in the grander Buenos Aires. I can leave the apartment and walk two or three blocks in ANY direction and be sure to find a number of stores selling speakers, radios, sinks, outdoor equipment, bags, purses, suitcases, clothing, glasses, office supplies, movies, blenders, magazines, newspapers, books, flowers, cell phones/accesories, lamps, light bulbs, antiques, TV's, furniture, sporting goods, guitars, artwork, and pretty much anything else you can think of. On top of that there will be many restaurantes, a few food stands selling fresh fruit, veggies, and empanadas (so good... basically dough wrapped around meat and/or cheese and fried), laundry mats, travel agencies, internet cafes, banks, drug stores, pastry shops with freshly baked medialunas (another big YUM... a croissant brushed in sweetness), and the list just keeps on going. It's amazing. Everything anybody could possibly need can be found by walking a few blocks. Except, and this is a big except, the one thing that I am craving so much lately.... Pretzels. Where are the pretzels? Mmmm, what I wouldn't give now for some....

As soon as you step foot out of the apartment building you are sure to notice the chaos of the city. Busy, busy, busy! Cars everywhere, horns tooting like crazy, lots of chatter, people everywhere, and not an open space in site.

We are lucky to have one of the few parks in downtown not too far from our apartment, just a few blocks away. One lap around Congresso park is about 1/2 mile, but even there people are everwhere and venders are selling food, corn to feed the birds, handheld windmills, and lots of other random things.

It can be difficult to find a place to sit in the park, and while running or walking around the perimeter you must be careful and watch for cars on the roads cutting through the park. It is quite amusing while at the park to admire the dog walkers. Because housing is all found on top of the stores, apartments do not have yards. Therefore, dogs must be walked in order for them to do their business. Aparently what you do is hire a dog walker who comes to your home in the middle of the day and walks your dog, along with about 14 others, to the park. It's quite the site to see. One person walking 15 (big, Kahlua size) dogs.

Then they get to the park and tie up all the dog leashes onto one fence post. Another dog walker is 25 feet away with their 15 dogs tied to another post. All of the dogs are confined to the foot they have on their leashes, and they are all just barking at each other. So as AA and I run laps around the park (being careful to avoid the doggie do-do everywhere), the barking/tied up dogs amuse us and keep us giggling. At least the dogs get to be outside, right?

The ironic thing is that this commotion exists mainly during the weekdays, Monday - Friday. On Saturday or Sunday almost all the shops are closed and people are not out. There are many people at the parks, but not many people out on the streets going about. It's somewhat backwards from the states in that regard. We find comfort on a Saturday morning leaving our apartment and actually walking IN THE street (gasp) without being run over by a car or being yelled at by a person or honked at by a taxi driver. That would be impossible during the week. I have to say that I have enjoyed living here in the hustle and bustle. It's been new, fun, convenient, eye-opening, and exciting. I'm not sure that I'm ready to make the move to a big city yet - for one I could do without the constant inhalation of fumes - however I am happy to be experiencing it.
Jen

9 de julio - the world's widest street!

Hooot Hoot

2009-09-20T20:23:00.000-07:00

This is "Dbl A - Ron" postin' up at 1:30 am Monday. Amazing how much of a night owl I've become in the short time we've been abroad. I'm not sure if it's the culture I find myself swinging into or the lack of a holding a professional job anymore. Probably both!

It's refreshing opening my eyes for the first time each morning due to the warmth my body feels as it marinates in the sunlight for an hour or more. I've discovered the sun is becoming my natural and peaceful wake up call and usually wakes me gently between 9:00 and 10:00 am. It rises to the perfect position at this time and pierces a few rays through the small gap I leave in the curtain from covering the entire window. Jenny likes it as dark as possible in the room for no interruptions from sleep. I on the other hand enjoy peaking out at night and gazing into the stars, moonlight or any suspenseful object floating across the sky while drifting away in hope as sleep overtakes me. The "small gap" is a new compromise we've come to discover between us. It helps me sleep and is not large enough to ruin her beauty sleep. It has now become God's alarm clock for me and perhaps - the both of us.

We have 10 days left in our current apartment in Buenos Aires. It is a great little spot and has welcomed us nicely to the city and culture. A couple things yet to do are see the "Boca Juniors" professional futbol team here and see some true Tango at some Tango clubs in San Telmo. We also have about 5 Spanish classes left before we embark on a new journey via the whole coast of Uruguay.

We need to get our Visas for Brazil validated or "stamped" within 90 days of issue or they will expire. They were issued on the 25th of August. The only way to do this is to step foot in Brazil. We have decided to take the route from Buenos Aires by ferry to Uruguay and then follow the coast with a few stops along the way up into Brazil. It will be a short trip in Brazil this time around as we only want to ensure our Visas will be valid for our return in the summer months which are December thru February.

Once in Brazil we plan to head north visiting a few cities (Porto Alegre, Taquara, Gramado, Canela and possibly Maringa)along the way to Iguazu Falls which borders Brazil and Argentina (part of Paraguay too I believe). There we will spend a few days observing the rainforest and the 275 waterfalls I hear are a site not to miss in S. America. We will enter back into Argentina through Iguazu and travel along the northern part of the country on our way to Chili. Mendoza and "wine country" is another place I'm looking forward to exploring before leaving Argentina.

Shout OUT!!

2009-09-18T14:52:00.000-07:00

Here's a shout out to our newest nephew - Cayden Lee Conroy, born on 9/16/09 at 1:55pm, 8lbs., 3oz. We are pumped, but sad we will have to wait until next summer to meet him.
We love you guys!

Shower, please

2009-09-18T10:50:00.000-07:00

One purpose of leaving life as we know it for a year and exploring South America is to discover more about ourselves, about each other, and about us. It's only been one week, but I can already see that this goal will surely be met! When you put yourself into an uncomfortable, or I should say unfamiliar, setting, your old traits that seemed to just blend in now stand out and shout at you! An example is something that I learned about myself this morning. I was standing in the shower, the water turned as hot is it could possibly go - scalding me, the way I like it, and I realized that I've been in that same spot in the shower at least twice a day, everyday. Back home running to me was as natural as breathing. If a few days went by without getting a run in then those around me could tell - I was irritable and moody and just out of sorts. Well, it's now been a week and there is no running in site anytime soon. Buenos Aires (downtown at least) is severely dense. You literally can not step outside without bumping into another person, or nearly being hit by a passing car. Every square inch of the city has been put to use with tons of stores and apartments filling the streets. Running is out of the question. We have been walking a fair amount each day, but walking is not even the same breed as running. Anyways, standing in the shower this morning I realized that taking a shower has become my temporary "runners high". I'll pass on the alcohol, shopping, gambling, or other ways people get their high, mine is either a run or a shower. I like to take a shower when I'm cold, and want to be warmed. When I'm happy and want to sing. When I'm bored and need something to do. When I'm anxious and want to relax. When I'm sad and want to cry. When I'm excited and want to let my mind run free. When I'm annoyed and want to vent. When I'm congested and want to be cleared. When I'm overwhelmed and want to dis-engage. When I'm frustrated and want to contemplate. When I'm thrilled beyond belief and want to chant cheers as loud as possible. Oh, the reasons are endless. I'm just glad that the utilities are included in rent. That's probably why I stick to running in Denver.
Paz (peace), J

El fin de semana

2009-09-18T09:34:00.000-07:00

Hola - Como te va?

Today Jen and I will end the first week of our Castellano / Spanish classes. In Argentina they speak Castellano which is slightly different than regular Spanish. For instance, the double "ll" sound such as "pollo" (poh yo) would be pronounced "poh sho." All the double "ll" have an "sh" sound. Kind of throws me (us) off a bit from the regular Spanish throughout the rest of S. America. Our teacher (Silvynia) seems to be pretty good. She only speaks to us in Spanish the whole time (as she doesn't speak much English) which I believe is helpful. She works out of her house in San Telmo (barrio in Buenos Aires - neighborhood that is). It's nice as it's just Jen and I. Great price too. We are heading to Brazil in October for a bit as well where they speak Portuguese and that will throw us off a bit more... :). I do speak a little Portuguese so it will be fun to use it. Gui - onde voce esta??

It's Friday around 2pm and we have class in 2 hours. Been catching up with a couple different missionaries today as it is cold and rainy outside. We have a contact in Curitiba, Brazil and Santiago, Chile. We're currently trying to set up some missions work with our contact in Chile for December/January time frame. I will keep you posted as plans progress.

Time for some Mate (Mah teh)...

Pan y vino

2009-09-13T16:01:00.000-07:00

First mass today, didn't understand a word that was said! Hopefully in a few months I'll have a different experience. Basically this experience was about 360 degrees different than our warm welcome in Charleston. For some unknown reason we were chosen, in the middle of the service to bring the wine (vino) and bread (pan) represeting the blood and body of Christ up to the priest for communion. We were confused, but I (Jen) carried the two bottles of what I assumed to be wine, and Aaron beside me carried the bread wafers. Phewww, survived that, well then actual communion began and so we went up to recieve. As you Catholics know there is a proper ettiquite to communion - left hand over right to receive, etc. Well, Aaron and I were unsure of the formalities, and consequently got some muy (very) mal (bad) looks from the priest. He definitely did a stare down twice, once for each of us, during communion. Oh well. Later, we spoke with Ana, who spoke un poco (a little) English, and she informed us that you have to eat the wafer immediately, in the presence of the priest. So now we know :-).

We had fun this afternoon exploring San Telmo and the miles and miles of market - people selling what appeared to me to be some very, very random objects. I went to the (super) market tonight and bought some groceries - dinner was steak, chorizo, and rice/vege stir-fry - muy bien!! Tomorrow we start Spanish classes - 2 hours a day for the week - thank goodness!
PAZ (peace)

178 Parana

2009-09-12T16:03:00.000-07:00

Check out our pad for the rest of the month. We are located in the Congresso district - downtown Buenos Aires.

Great day today and a bit of suerte (luck). Last night we stayed in an apartment we found online while in Orlando. When we met up with the owner ayer (yesterday) we asked to try it out for a night to see if we liked the area and if the apartment was really what we wanted. It was late and we had been up all night on the overnight flight so we were exhausted and just wanted to rest and start fresh the next day. She agreed to let us use it for $40 US. It was quite comical as the owner spoke no English and Jen and I hablamos un pequito espanol. We got through though.

So today we (Jen) decided to look on Craigslist Argentina for apartments and we found an AWESOME deal! That’s my hunny bunny for ya – always knows how to get the deals. We set a time to meet the owner a las 14:30. We walked over a mile to check out the place and in our route we came to the widest street in the world – Ave 9 de Julio – my goodness is this street and traffic massive. Super cool though and quite pretty. It consists of 3 different one-ways with each consisting of about 7 lanes (pretty awakening crossing the street). In-between each one way is a wide median of grassy areas and places for pedestrians to sit and view the impressive traffic event and city.

Upon arrival at the prospective apartment we met Francisco, the owner and “Porteno” artist (Buenos Aires artist). He spoke no English as well other than a few words such as hello and numbers 1-10. We made it through again with quite a few laughs and short games of charades. Bottom line is we scored a really nice furnished apartment with 3 rooms, a kitchen, and bedroom for only $340 US. We have it through the end of September. This is a nice relief as it breaks down to $19 per day (which is much cheaper than booking private rooms in hostels for two where you only get a queen bed). Now we have our shelter set in Buenos areas and roughly 3 weeks to explore the city of 13 million. The apartment is located in the Congresso district which is part of the national historic district and houses the majority of the key government buildings. Tomorrow will be day one of exploration in Buenos Aires.

I’m pretty surprised and rather happy at the same time that hardly anyone here speaks English. My goal (and Jen's) is to learn as much Spanish as possible if not become fluent. This will definitely aid in the process and speed in which to pick up the language.

09/09/09

2009-09-09T07:08:00.000-07:00

Well our roadtrip of 5 stops (Omaha, Cedar Rapids, Atlanta, Charleston and Orlando) to U.S. departure has come to an end on this ironic date of 09/09/09. Jen and I are heading for Buenos Aires, Argentina today. We are ready to be there and see what plans God has for us. The anticipation of the trip has been exhausting from all the mixed emotions and has definitely encouraged us to do some thorough research. The cell phones are shut off and we each have one backpack and are splitting a small carry-on for the next 8-9 months. Hmmm... I wonder if we'll be able to predict each other's outfits? :)

We plan to be in Buenos Aires for around a month and hope to find and set up some missions and/or volunteer work throughout various cities in Argentina. We'll then tour through northern Argentina (wine country) for a few weeks and then head south to Patagonia. Soon to come will be Chili, Uruguay, Brazil, Peru and maybe Ecuador and the Galapagos Islands. Thanks to all of our friends and family we had a chance to spend some time with before our departure and the love and hospitality you showed. We created some awesome memories with you all over the last couple weeks. Please pray for our safety, guidance, and ability to make a positive impact to those we encounter. Onward and upward my friends...

Road Trip photos

2009-09-07T19:42:00.000-07:00

How 'bout that surf in Cocoa Beach

2009-09-05T22:31:00.000-07:00

At a distance I came remotely close to looking like a surfer while walking to the beach with a long board tucked under my arm, sporting some cool board shorts, and even a half sleeve tattoo. I felt cool and kept telling myself how much fun I was about to have riding my first waves. Yep, I was proud walking towards the water among a few other surfers that were definitely locals and knew what they were doing. I could tell they were good just by how tan they were. I figured I had about 2 more minutes to look like I knew what I was doing.

I reached the depth of water to where the other surfers were hopping on their boards to begin paddling out to catch the next set of waves. I took a few quick glances to see exactly how to go about it and then plopped up on my stomach in the correct paddle position. I couldn’t wait – I was about to catch my first wave.

Within seconds it was painfully obvious it was my first time EVER attempting to surf let alone even touching a surfboard. I do mean painfully too as I was completely exhausting myself just trying to stay on the board while paddling out as my body continually slipped off from one side to the next. I repeated this process enough times that the layers of wax on the board for feet grip began turning into a weapon as the board had decided I was no longer worthy to ride it. My stomach endured several scratches and scrapes to the point of becoming raw from the numerous attempts to hang on without sliding off.

Finally, after huffing and puffing for close to an hour and unable to catch a wave (as easy as it looks) I decided at least I will sit on the board and float out passed where everyone catches the waves to regain my energy. I figured I would use this time to view some more surfers for strategy. After all, this always seemed enjoyable and peaceful when you look out to the ocean and see all these surfers just chillin’ on their boards floating around chatting. I paddled out a little more to my own space and then propped myself up on the board in the sitting position. “Nice,” I thought to myself as I looked around. Not even one minute went by and I got a huge cramp in my left groin and had to bail from the board immediately… that’s when I decided I was done with my first day of surfing and headed to shore.

We leave for S. America in four days. Buenos Aires is our first stop. I've spent several hours in research and finding places to stay as well as familiarizing myself with the better neighborhoods to call home for a bit. Think I may have found some decent apartments to check out. We will soon find out.

Jesus Pepper

2009-08-30T13:13:00.000-07:00

Today we are in Charleston, SC visiting Mike and Amber. I think Booker is going to be happy here at his new home, I sure will miss the little guy! There is a chance Mike may be going to Africa and Amber will be deployed January - May, so........ let me know if any of you are wanting a very cute and well behaved little guy named Booker for a few months :-).

So far our road trip has been awesome. Omaha was great hanging out with friends, Cedar Rapids was fun meeting AA's family, and Charleston has been very relaxing.

This morning at 9:53 AA announced (while I was mid-conversation on cell phone with Katharyne) that he'd found a church for us to go to and it started at 10. So we dressed and were out the door by 10, and pulled into Calvary Baptist Church at 10:06. Me in my khaki capris and black sleeveless shirt, AA in his shorts and white Tommy Bahama shirt. We stood out! Late, under dressed, and the only white people in the church; however it was one of the warmest welcomes I've ever received. After standing in front of the church and announcing our name and where we're from (we were the only visitors), they had us sit, and then the entire congregation stood and clapped for us, welcoming us to their family. Next, every person in church came over to us individually and gave us a hug. It was great! Lots of singing, clapping, and praising Jesus going on this morning. Minister Bunkem preached a relavent and passionate sermon about giving our resources, forgiveness, mercy, and invitation to salvation. My favorite quote: "I have a pep in my step that comes from Jesus. I like to call it my Jesus pepper. Others want a Jesus pepper too!"

I really enjoyed seeing a new style of worship today. This is just the first taste of many different styles we will encounter over the next year, and I look forward to broadening my palate. Today I learned to confess with your mouth what you believe in your heart.

2009-08-20T22:13:00.000-07:00

What if this can somehow be the acknowledgement of my life's duty? Finding out there is a need for young, passionate, and faithful leadership in our church. The desire to fill up on God and His word and share the discovery - the transformation. I am beginning to feel the conviction as it becomes more real throughout time. Looking back realizing it's been so obvious. He wants me.

I believe I will pursue the treasure in the chest. It is Him singing to me in the beats of my heart. Guiding me to where I will serve and learn more. I will slow down and hear the encouragement, mission and guidance relayed to me in the most unexpected ways. The faith I have been shown over the last two years is an experience I want to share with you as my wonderful wife and I pursue the triangle.

We started day one on a block of the bible - a foundation we believe is sound. We shared the desire to keep building as we trusted God and kept seeking Him first. Inspiring each other to read in the mornings - short chapters 1-2 a morning just a few mornings a week. Sharing any discoveries or verses relating to our relationship and experiences. One thing led to another of trying to the best of our ability to be the best examples we could to each other and for God. Not too many months later we found ourselves in a pre-engagement class.

During this class we learned of a great symbol for partners and Jesus. The triangle. God at the top with us below at each side. The more we pursue Him the closer we will become (brings Hebrews 11:1 to mind).

We are firm believers in our trek so far with the Lord and have chosen to pursue His spirit all the way. Wherever it may lead. I love my wife with more than I ever knew I had. She is my lover, my friend, a teacher, and a wonderful woman ready to lead. I am proud of her, her intelligence, beauty, talents, and passion to learn more about our Lord. She is an inspiration in so many ways.

2009-08-18T14:24:00.000-07:00

This is Jen, trying out the blog for my first time. Well, the time is quickly approaching for our departure from Denver. It does feel a bit weird that at this point I have been replaced at work, I have sold my car, and I have strangers living in my house for the next year. All our stuff is crammed into a storage unit and the tickets to get to Argentina have been purchased. It's all coming together. Two more days of work (nanny) for me, Aaron's last day of work was today. What will we do with ourselves for an entire year of freedom? So much!
I'll keep this one short in case it's not working. Will update later with AA regarding our trip's mission statement.