I'm a nomad at heart. Love to explore new cultures and meet new friends. On the agenda for the next 4 months is... 1. Buenos Aires, Argentina (2months) (CHECK!) 2. Santiago, Chile (CHECK!) 3. Lima, Peru (2weeks) 4. Cusco, Peru (2weeks) I'll try to create a weekly update so stay tuned for some good pics and hopefully entertaining stories!
Unfortunately my South American travels have come to an end and I'm back in the states but here's a recap of the last month in Peru which was substantially calmer than the previous weeks in Santiago and Buenos Aires but still filled with some adventure. Sorry, this one is long also... once again feel free to skim. Also, there are multiple pages of photos. Shady Cab Drivers & Posh houses So, arrived in Lima on May 8th to some lovely cloudy cold weather that reminded me of Seattle. However Lima is right on the Pacific Coast so the air was slightly less poluted than Santiago, Chile which was a nice change for my lungs. My cab driver was pretty cool and took me to some electronics store to get a cell phone (1/2 detour which I ... read more
The last few weeks here in Santiago have been interesting to say the least... definitely different than Buenos Aires. Feel free to skim this one cause it's pretty long!... THERE ARE MANY PHOTOS!! Failed exams, the Crazy House, and Street Dogs The first thing I realized during my first week was how terrible my Spanish really is! haha. Chileans speak very quick and have lots of slang so it's really been a challenge. At my school Ecela, which I highly recommend to anybody, the professors speak slow enough so I can understand them. However, I still managed to fail my test and had to retake the level I was in... bummer. Needless to say I've been trying to listen to some local radio, watch The Simpsons and other TV shows in Spanish, and only speak in ... read more
My two final weeks in Buenos Aires were packed with more adventures. This one is long! Let's start with... Steak Dinner & Sticky Dance Floors March 29th I met up with my school friends, Dana and Julia, to check out a steak restaurant (asado) in Palermo that a friend told Dana about. We sat next to the grill and were graced with the rich smell of various cuts of steak, sausage and veggies frying on the grill. It was delicious and beautiful, and the bottle of wine was once again impressively delicious for being so cheap ($75 pesos = under $20). After gorging ourselves we made our way to Plaza Serano in Palermo around 12:30am. We ran into some ex-students from Brazil and Italy and shared a few drinks and funny stories from the past few ... read more
It's been 3 weeks now since the last update and the weeks are starting to blend together, but thankfully I have photographic evidence to remind me of what I've been up to... so here it goes!! Be forwarned, this will be long... (there's 2 pages of pictures) Rock and Reggae Thursday March 3rd some friends and I were out and about at night wondering the Palermo neighborhood, which is where there is a large cluster of various boutiques, restaurants, bars, clubs etc. I've stumbled upon many trendy cool places there but this night we found a "dive" bar/restaurant where all the locals (Porteños = from Buenos Aires) hang, Makena Cantina. We tried to blend in as much as possible as the band rocked the rest of night away. Reminded me of Seattle Also went there a ... read more
Hello friends and family! The last two weeks have been busy but a blast! Ugh... i just spent 30 minutes crafting some great stories and tried to save it then it logged me off and deleted everything so here we go again... THE HEAVEN LITERALLY OPENS ITS FLOODGATES Friday the 19th I was out and about with some school friends. It was getting late (4am) so we decided to head home. We noticed a bunch of people grouped near the doors so we pushed our way to the front and opened the doors. There was a torrential downpour unlike anything I've ever seen... didn't even compare to Florida storms during their rainy season. The bouncer said it had been raining like that for the past hour. We ran down the block to find a cab and ... read more
Hola Mis Amigos y Familia! This comes to you from beautiful Buenos Aires, Argentina in South America. I'll try to create a blog entry every weekend for the 16 weeks I'll be down here. So stay tuned! (Future posts will be shorter) My agenda for those 16 weeks are... 8 weeks in Buenos Aires, Argentina 4 weeks in Santiago, Chile 4 weeks in Lima, Peru This first week in Buenos Aires has been great! I flew in on Thursday the 10th after about 22 hours of traveling. Ugh... but wasted no time exploring the city for some good eats and a place to stay, and story my 70+ lbs of luggage. I found a cool Hostel in the Palermo barrio (neighborhood) recommended by my friend Trong who's been here for a month already. On Friday I ... read more
