Preparing

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Still madly trying to finish up work for my summer contract, and taking care of a few more details before packing this weekend. If I have time, I might go to a friend's farewell BBQ this weekend (it's not for me, so I won't feel bad if I don't show).

Map of my flight route

Tomorrow will be my last Martial Arts practice with Academie Duello, although I have promised to continue the workout program one of the instructors has designed (I'm one of the guinea pigs). I'm currently working on re-writing it so I can understand it and follow it while I'm worrying about finding my bus and trying to speak poor spanish.

Fortunately, I will be travelling a lot with Mike, my best friend & roomate, who has just spent 4 months in Ecuador digging up a colonial hospital for his PhD. See his blog here. Read about his flirtation with deportation and you'll understand why I'm not too worried.

BTW, this travel blog is also available as a feed on my Yahoo 360° page.

My biggest concern about going down is the whole language barrier - I know I never understand how tourists can visit Canada and not know english, but I guess it's all part of the experience. Thankfully, my mom is even more paranoid than I am and got me a great phrase book & CDs for Spanish. I loaded them onto my iPod so I can listen to them while I'm travelling! Thanks Mom!

I'm also working on my packing list, which Mike has edited for me. The only electronics I'm bringing are my digital camera, and iPod. I'm hoping to figure out how to transfer photos from my camera to my iPod, using Mike's laptop.

More updates on prepping this weekend...

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Comments

[Canela]

Best wishes on your travels
Hi Jon! I hope you have a fantastic time in your travels around South America. I am glad you made it for my farewell bbq and hope you enjoyed the fond wishes from everyone there for you--we will all miss you very much! Give Mike a big hug for me when you get there! Have fun..and remember, no worries! Hasta luego mi amigo!