The Last Stop

I'm sitting in Ezezia International Airport in Buenos Aires, preparing to board my flight home. It's been a while since I've updated this blog. I got really caught up in all the things I was doing and neglected to make another post for almost the last two months. This obviously will be the last post, since my trip is now nearly over, but I will try to catch you up on the places I've been and the things I've been doing.

When I last wrote in this blog, my girlfriend Emily was on her way to meet me in Medellin. We had a pretty good time in Medellin, a great time in northern Peru, and an awful time in Lima. Unfortunately, Emily didn't like Medellin quite as much as I do, but we had a pretty good time for the two days we were there, and then were off to Ipiales, Colombia. Emily was such a trooper. She got sick overnight on the bus, despite having taken dramamine. But she didn't complain, she just silently threw up in her little baggie, and kept on truckin'. When we FINALLY got to Ipiales, we got some dinner and went to bed early to prepare for the early day at the Santuario de Las Lojas. The next morning, we took the colectivo to Las Lojas, and I must say that it was one of the most beautiful things I have ever seen. I've seen Macchu Picchu since then, and while MP is obviously more historically significant, the Cathedral at Las Lojas is every bit as awe-inspiring. Apparently, sometime in the 1500's, a painting of the Virgin Mary and baby Jesus appeared on a rock face high above the river that runs through the valley there. In honor of this miracle, the people of Ipiales built a cathedral around the painting. It has changed a lot over the years and is now quite the spectacle. There was also a very interesting museum/crypt below the cathedral which houses a two headed goat, born near the miraculous painting, that obviously proves the legitimacy of the miracle. Obviously.

After Ipiales, we headed straight for Quito, Ecuador. Again, Emily was such a trooper. Our first day in Quito, we took the Teleferico (cable car) up to the foot of Pichincha, the mountain overlooking the second highest capital city in the world. When we got up to the top of the teleferico, we saw that we were only maybe halfway up the mountain. I suggested to her that we climb it, despite the mild altitude sickness that I was feeling. I could not believe that she agreed. So we did, and it was incredible. Toward the top, it was really hairy. We were doing some really hardcore rock climbing with no proper gear whatsoever. We finally made it to the top and the view was incredible. We were just under 5000 Meters high. That's like 3 miles. In the next few days, we did some shopping and some dancing. Emily was SOOO cute trying to salsa. She was jumping up and down like it was a Jimmy Eat World concert. We also had our first taste of fried cuy (guinea pig)...not that great. After a few days in Quito, we unfortunately had to skip the rest of Ecuador and headed straight for Mancora, Peru.

Mancora is a small beach town on the northern coast of Peru. When we arrived, we were mobbed by 10 guys soliciting their moto-taxi services. We ended up staying in an adorable private, two-story cabana with hot water (sometimes) and electricity, directly on the beach, for like $12/night/person. I couldn't believe how cheap it was. And the view was amazing. Unfortunately, the first morning there, as Emily was sleeping, I went for a walk on the beach and found a dead Sea Lion rolling around in the tide. It eventually washed up on the shore and stayed there for the duration of our trip. This was disturbing for me, but especially so for Emily. If you don't know, she's a zookeeper and trains Sea Lions. I hated for her to see that, especially because it became evident that it was poisoned from the dead animals that surrounded it. They died after trying to eat the Sea Lion. Fisherman in Peru sometimes poison Sea Lions because they feel that they are eating too many fish. They are completely ignorant of the ecological devastation this causes. It's tragic. I wish there was something that could be done, but how do you reason with those people, or prevent them from doing it? Either is nearly impossible.

Despite the tragedy on the beach, it was a delightful town. We ate great food everyday, I did some surfing and played some soccer on the beach, and we watched kite surfers for quite a while. I also buried Emily in sand. If you've never seen kite surfing, it really is something to watch. Those guys go so stikin' fast and they get SOOO much air. I wanted to try it, but it was really expensive, and it certainly doesn't give me the feeling of an unfulfilled trip.

After nearly a week in Mancora, we headed to Lima. She was still a trooper, but this time Em just couldn't take it. She was extremely sick for her last 3-4 days in Peru, which was terrible. She wanted me to leave her in our room by herself most of the time, so I'd leave, but never went very far. Thus, I didn't see much of Lima, but I justed wanted her to feel better. She never did. We tried to change her flight to no avail. She ended up leaving in pretty bad shape. I was really worried about her layover in Bogota that night, but she ended up being helped by some friendly Colombians, much to my relief.

I never did get to see much of Lima. I'm sure it has it's great points, but I didn't really see many. It was cloudy the entire time I was there, and like I said I just stayed in the Miraflores district most of the time to be close to the hostel Em and I were in. The day after Emily left, I went to Cusco.

This time, I was the one getting sick on the bus. It was nearly 24 hours, and I was on the second floor without dramamine. In the morning, when I was starting to recover, the bus attendant started a game of bingo. Lo and behold, I won. But so did another guy at the same time. So, we had to have a playoff, because the prize was 1 ticket back to Lima, not 2. I ended up losing in triple sudden death overtime. Who loses bingo in overtime, much less triple sudden death overtime? But anyways, I hope I never make that bus trip again. The bus was nice enough, but I couldn't take it.

Once in Cusco, I explored the city for a few days before heading up to Macchu Picchu. Cusco is so neat. The markets, the streets, the mountains, it's all so rustic and gorgeous. I tried coca leaves (they're not cocaine, relax) ate some really great, cheap food, and got some pretty neat pics with kids and llamas and old ladies wearing bowler hats. After a few days in Cusco, it was time to make the trip to Aguas Calientes/Macchu Picchu.

There are several ways to get to MP. The first is The Inca Trail. I've heard it's great, but it costs entirely too much for a 3 day hike in my opinion. I didn't even shop around for Inca Trail info in Cusco, because spots were going for $1,000-$2,000US on the internet. Even if they were half off that on location, that's still too expensive. The second is the hiram Bingham train. Hiram Bingham is the guy who re-discovered MP with the help of a local boy. The train takes you straight to Aguas Calientes, but it costs around $150 US, which is much more expensive and less adventurous than the route I took. I took the third option: Colectivos (vans that leave when they fill up with passengers) from Cusco to Santa Maria and from there to the hydroelectric plant near Aguas Calientes. From the hydroelectric, you hike in for 3 hours along the Hiram Bingham tracks. I met a married American couple and the wife's brother getting out of the last colectivo at the plant. We hiked in together and got to see the sun rise over Macchu Picchu. It was amazing. When we got to Aguas Calientes, we got a hostel together, went to the thermal baths that give the town it's name (Aguas Calientes = Hot Waters), and climbed Putucusi, the mountain across the river from Macchu Picchu. If you ever go to MP, I HIGHLY recommend Putucusi. There are several huge ladders made or tree branches along the hike, which is incredibly steep. From the top of Putucusi, you can see Macchu Picchu. It's quite breath-taking, because of the view, the altitude and the exhertion from the hike. We took it easy that night and went up to Macchu Picchu the next day. My new friends got up at 3 AM (3 AM!!) to go up. I looked out the window, saw fog and decided that I'd sleep a bit more. I ended up leaving at around 8, just as the fog cleared. Good decision. When I got up to the top, after the 2 hour, straight up hill climb to MP, I was greeted with some of the most stunning views i have ever seen. It really is magical. The night before, I tried to un-psych myself so that I wouldn't be disappointed if it was just another ruin. It was not even a little bit of a disappointment. Look at the pics. They don't even begin to convey the actual beauty of it.

After Macchu Picchu, I decided to skip Bolivia. There's a $135 visa to enter. I understand that they only have the fee because we have a fee for their citizens' entry into the US, but I still didn't want to pay it. Instead, I flew from Cusco to Buenos Aires (via Lima) to enroll in a TEFL (Teaching English as a Foreign Language) course. I've since completed the month-long course and am certified to teach English anywhere in the world. The course was pretty intense, and is part of the reason that haven't updated the blog. The other parts are that I was trying to get over Emily breaking up with me a few days after my birthday on Sep. 2, and I was also really busy EATING! (Which helped with dealing with the breakup.) Buenos Aires has some of the best food I have ever had. Some things that we have in the states are still hard to find, i.e. peanut butter, hot sauce, anything spicy, and many ethnic foods. HOWEVER, the steak, pizza, pasta, and empanadas are some of the best anywhere. The steak, however, is traditionally served medium to medium well. That's because of the method they use to grill them. They slowly grill them over a bed of really hot, but not flaming, coal. For some reason it's hard to get a steak mid-rare or rare like that. If you like your steak rare-mid rare like I do, you'll have to ask for it "casi crudo" (almost raw) or "Vuelta y vuelta" (Turn and turn). I guess they put it over a hoter part of the grill to do it that way, but MAN is it good! I recommend the Bife de Chorizo (NY Strip) or the Bife de Lomo (Filet Mignon). I usually got the chorizo. Note: Chorizo actually means "sausage". The apparent reason they refer to it thus is that before that part of the beef is cut, it resembles a really big sausage. but it's not sausage. It's better than that. Although the sausage in BA is great, too.

I was in BA when I started this entry, and now I'm back in Memphis. I'm so glad to be home. I've got my dog here with me, I'm drinking a Miller Lite (good to see you, too old friend) and eating potato chips with tabasco. I've been listening to the classic rock station and I just found out that I'm welcome to go back to work at my old job (with a slight demotion). I also have gotten a volunteer position at the Y teaching English to hispanic immigrants. Stuff is getting back to normal, sort of. Emily and I are done for good, and I still have to get several things in order, but life is still good.

So what did I get from this trip? We all love numbered lists, so let's create one of those.

1) I learned Spanish. I'm still not fluent, but I can understand most written and slightly less spoken Spanish, and I can fairly effectively have a conversation with anyone in Spanish, from a variety of different accents and dialects, which vary wildly in South America.

2) I got certified to teach English to speakers of other languages. While I didn't do nearly as much philanthropy as I would have liked on this trip, I did teach some English in Buenos Aires, as well as put myself in a position to help lots of other people learn English in the future. Why is learning English good for these people? They have to speak English to get a US visa or attend a US school, not to mention simply to interact with people from English-speaking countries, thereby promoting understanding.

3) I realized that I have been a selfish person. I don't regret the trip, but I realized that when I was planning the trip, as well as during most of it, I didn't think about the damage that could be done to my two closest relationships: my girlfriend and my dog. Luckily, my dog remembers me and missed me. I wasn't so lucky with the other. But that's what happens when you only think about yourself. I'm glad I realize this now so I can address it and correct it.

4) I made some great friends, whom I will probably stay in touch with for a long time. Yay Facebook.

5) I saw places and things I never thought I'd get to see. Macchu Picchu, Buenos Aires, Medellin, Colombia's Atlantic Coast, Peru's Pacific Coast, Quito, Pichincha, Putucusi, Santuario Las Lojas, Cusco....it's a bit overwhelming. Those memories will last a lifetime.

6) I realized how incredibly lucky I am, simply for being an American. In South America, many people love Americans, some hate us, but almost all envy us. And for good reason. This is still the land of opportunity, "recession" or not. I'm proud to be an American.

I hope you enjoyed reading my blog. I apologize again for the long delay for this last post. Feel free to drop me a line here, or email me at dmartell1856@yahoo.com, or on facebook.com/buddymartell.

Until next time,

Buddy

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