I have now spent 4 nights in my own bed. It's nice to be back in my own nice, warm bed but my house somehow became a disaster in my absence. I guess unpacking a 50 pound bag on top of the mess didn't really help things. And the fact that we are between seasons and that I need to pack away shorts/capris/short sleeves and dig out pants/long sleeves/sweaters isn't helping much either. But that is nothing compared to the great 2 weeks I just had.
Anyway, as I likely finish this blog - as my travels are now over - please refer to my blog to stay on top of my life.
Ya know, cuz I'm like Paris Hilton when it comes to exciting lives. :)
Friday, October 3, 2008
Thursday, September 25, 2008
So Close Yet So Far Away (Thanks, Hall & Oates)
(Written in 2 parts: on Monday in airports & Thursday night at home)
I am far from home.
I am even farther from South America.
My apologies to all of you for the lack of posting since I left Sao Paulo. We were at this nice hotel in Buenos Aires for the completion of the trip, and despite paying about $10 a day for internet access, it didn’t work worth a bleep.
Incidentally, this will likely be my last post to this Latin America blog, since I am no longer actually in Latin America.
Buenos Aires was by far my favorite city of this entire trip. Argentina is a close 2nd in the “Erin Carrasco award for best country she has visited thus far in her life,” not far behind Spain. The other cities visited on this trip, although completely worthwhile and I am very fortunate to have seen what I did, do not hold a candle to Buenos Aires. I think I have a new found love for “Don’t Cry for me Argentina.” (Which I actually tried to locate the “Evita” soundtrack on my iPod last night on the flight, but was unable to find it. It might be one of the 1,000 other cd’s I have yet to upload to my iPod. Maybe I could hire someone to do that for me. Oh yeah, that’s right – I have bills to pay.)
It took forever & a half to get to the hotel from the airport, but we were right on Avenida 9 de Julio which happens to be the widest street in the whole wide world. I think Talia and I ended up counting the lanes yesterday and there were at least 16. Anyway, it’s like the center of the city which was awesome. The hotel was nice – I got checked in right away & went up to my room to eat (I was starving) and to get settled in. And for those of you who are wondering – it was a club sandwich – and yes, it had eggs. After eating, I could even unpack a little as I would be staying a whole 3 days at the Hotel Panamericano. During the time in which I was stuffing my face and unstuffing my suitcase, Kathy the Lindener’s leader, got her carry-on bag stolen. Apparently, she stepped away from it for all of like 30 seconds to help someone, and some old man walked right off with it. This would be an unimportant fact of the trip, if it hadn’t been for the fact that Kathy’s laptop, projector & all her jewelry were in this bag: including new pieces obtained from the D.R. She was a trooper about it though, I think it had to do with the fact that the hotel apologized by giving her an umbrella that was about my size and that she could in no possible way take back to D.C. with her.
I digress.
Anyway, 4 of us went to a graduate workshop at Fulbright the afternoon of our arrival with this wonderful woman named Norma Gonzalez who was actually a Fulbright student in the US herself. The meeting was pretty much pointless, other than the fact that the building she was housed in was gorgeous and had like 20 foot ceilings. I was also amused by her top lip as I swear part of it stuck to her teeth when she talked. I couldn’t quite figure it out, but it was intriguing, none the less.
Upon my return to the hotel, Audra told me that they had made reservations at the tango joint that evening for 6. For $85, you got a ride to and from the hotel, dinner, wine & a show. Now, this was a bit of a dilemma. My p-card will pay $50 for dinner: but absolutely no alcohol. Not to mention, I wasn’t very sure of the repercussions of putting more than $50 for a meal on that card (although I will likely find out soon from the dinner in Sao Paulo). So that left putting it on my debit card. I wasn’t sure how I could justify spending my own money on this…but on the other hand, when would I ever be in Argentina again and see a tango?As you can see below, the tango won.
I am far from home.
I am even farther from South America.
My apologies to all of you for the lack of posting since I left Sao Paulo. We were at this nice hotel in Buenos Aires for the completion of the trip, and despite paying about $10 a day for internet access, it didn’t work worth a bleep.
Incidentally, this will likely be my last post to this Latin America blog, since I am no longer actually in Latin America.
Buenos Aires was by far my favorite city of this entire trip. Argentina is a close 2nd in the “Erin Carrasco award for best country she has visited thus far in her life,” not far behind Spain. The other cities visited on this trip, although completely worthwhile and I am very fortunate to have seen what I did, do not hold a candle to Buenos Aires. I think I have a new found love for “Don’t Cry for me Argentina.” (Which I actually tried to locate the “Evita” soundtrack on my iPod last night on the flight, but was unable to find it. It might be one of the 1,000 other cd’s I have yet to upload to my iPod. Maybe I could hire someone to do that for me. Oh yeah, that’s right – I have bills to pay.)
It took forever & a half to get to the hotel from the airport, but we were right on Avenida 9 de Julio which happens to be the widest street in the whole wide world. I think Talia and I ended up counting the lanes yesterday and there were at least 16. Anyway, it’s like the center of the city which was awesome. The hotel was nice – I got checked in right away & went up to my room to eat (I was starving) and to get settled in. And for those of you who are wondering – it was a club sandwich – and yes, it had eggs. After eating, I could even unpack a little as I would be staying a whole 3 days at the Hotel Panamericano. During the time in which I was stuffing my face and unstuffing my suitcase, Kathy the Lindener’s leader, got her carry-on bag stolen. Apparently, she stepped away from it for all of like 30 seconds to help someone, and some old man walked right off with it. This would be an unimportant fact of the trip, if it hadn’t been for the fact that Kathy’s laptop, projector & all her jewelry were in this bag: including new pieces obtained from the D.R. She was a trooper about it though, I think it had to do with the fact that the hotel apologized by giving her an umbrella that was about my size and that she could in no possible way take back to D.C. with her.
I digress.
Anyway, 4 of us went to a graduate workshop at Fulbright the afternoon of our arrival with this wonderful woman named Norma Gonzalez who was actually a Fulbright student in the US herself. The meeting was pretty much pointless, other than the fact that the building she was housed in was gorgeous and had like 20 foot ceilings. I was also amused by her top lip as I swear part of it stuck to her teeth when she talked. I couldn’t quite figure it out, but it was intriguing, none the less.
Upon my return to the hotel, Audra told me that they had made reservations at the tango joint that evening for 6. For $85, you got a ride to and from the hotel, dinner, wine & a show. Now, this was a bit of a dilemma. My p-card will pay $50 for dinner: but absolutely no alcohol. Not to mention, I wasn’t very sure of the repercussions of putting more than $50 for a meal on that card (although I will likely find out soon from the dinner in Sao Paulo). So that left putting it on my debit card. I wasn’t sure how I could justify spending my own money on this…but on the other hand, when would I ever be in Argentina again and see a tango?As you can see below, the tango won.
It was a great experience, we had a wonderful time.
The next day was a relatively pointless school visit. I say this because the main counselor who puts on the college fairs was away at NACAC, so someone else was in charge. I likely talked to 5 students. Not very worthwhile.
After the school visit, I went to the grocery store and bought a few things, then took a nap. At 7:30 the group met in the lobby for our “farewell dinner.” It wasn’t a delicious dinner, but it was a nice one with the remainder of the group, one last time. We said our goodbyes in the lobby that evening and went to bed.
On Saturday, I woke up to a beautiful, warm sunny day. But I wouldn’t really know this when getting dressed, since my 2nd floor room looked out at another building, and some type of heating & cooling system. It was beneficial to me in that I didn't wake up with the sun, but it was terrible not being able to see what the day looked like.
I set out at 11 am with Kathy, Nicole & Talia to head to Recoleta. Recoleta is one of the nicest neighborhoods in Buenos Aires - there are a number of high end stores (Cartier, Louis Vuitton, etc) and also an amazing plaza & cemetary. You're probably thinking, who calls a cemetary amazing? Look at this:
These tombs are huge - altars, fireplaces, stained glass, doors, basements, staircases, marble, etc. We even saw the grave of Evita Peron. Please check out my pictures on my Facebook or My Space...I am trying to get them uploaded elsewhere too.
Afterwards, we had lunch, did some shopping and saw "La Casa Rosada" which is the equivalent of our White House.
I concluded the beautiful afternoon with a bottle of wine & a filet mignon with Reesa at an outdoor restaurant down the street. It was the perfect last night in Buenos Aires.
The next day, I did a bit more shopping, ate a burger @ the hotel with Talia (yes, they offered me an egg on it...and ham too!) and headed to the airport. Our flight sat on the runway for TWO hours in Buenos Aires, but we were eventually on our way and I obviously made it home safely.
All in all, it was the trip of a lifetime. The experience of a lifetime. And I would do it all over again, no doubt.
Tuesday, September 23, 2008
What came first, the chicken or the egg?
Eggs: I try not to eat a lot of them, because I've had a history of high cholesterol since I was 19. I know, who has high cholesterol at 19? Only me, apparently. I like to blame it on the cafeteria food at WMU where I was prone to eating egg bagels at 7:40 before leaving for class.
I don't believe that South Americans know much about high cholesterol. I've been in this country for 8 night so far, and I've seen eggs all over the place. At the breakfast buffet in all of our hotels, you can request a made to order egg meal. On hamburgers, there is a fried egg. Today on my club sandwich, there was an egg. I like to think that the saying of South Americans is "when in doubt, egg it out" you know, as in "pimping" it out. Seriously, eggs on a hamburger?! Who does that? My other thought is that "clubs are safe." Club sandwiches pretty much everywhere involve meat, bacon, lettuce & tomatoes. You just need to be careful of the egg and additional toppings, apparently.
The overnight flight last night (rhyme, rhyme, rhyme) was ROUGH. I had 2 benadryls, and a red wine and still found it hard to fall asleep. I'm telling you, it's the leg factor: I need somewhere to spread these little monsters! I sleep in a queen size bed with an 80 lb dog at home, I'm used to having to compromise my space. But having to recline just a tad and find space for your legs on an airplane? Practically impossible! By the time we got to Sao Paulo this morning it was 5:30 (5 hour flight & a 2 hour time loss) and I was beat. I got to the hotel, had breakfast and slept until 2:oo or so. Luckily, there was nothing going on until 6:00 tonight when we had the reverse fair.
A reverse fair, you ask? That is where the universities go around and talk about themselves to schools & companies such as Education USA. It was a good experience, but the whole highlight of this trip was meeting the Sao Paulo Education USA person. Guess where she lived for a year in 1980? F-f-f-f-f-Flint town! What a small world! Her husband was going to Kettering at that time...it was great to talk to her about the changes in Flint and the growth of UM-Flint.
After the reverse fair, 8 of us went to a restaurant for dinner. The type of restaurant was a churrascarias which is basically a buffet. They have stations: salads, appetizers, meats & deserts. You go to the grill and order your meat cooked the way you like, and they deliver it to you. From what I've heard from Reesa, in most Brazilian cities the wait staff brings it around on swords and cuts it right in front of you. Here, the salmon & lobster was incredible. We also drank the typical Brazillian drink, the caiprinha which is made of limes, sugar cane & rum. T'was hard to handle at first, but once it was stirred a little, was much easier to throw down.
It was a great night filled with laughs & good food. I cannot tell you how in debt I am to UM-Flint for sending me on this trip. It has provided lasting memories, an eye opening opportunity for me both personally & career wise and a location that I likely never would have seen otherwise. I still cannot believe I am here sometimes. I have become all that more passionate about my job @ UM-Flint and about international recruitment. Si, se puede! :)
Oh, and I am a hot mess over Portuguese! On paper, totally like Spanish. Spoken? A gigantic French-sounding mess. Ay, ay, ay!
I don't believe that South Americans know much about high cholesterol. I've been in this country for 8 night so far, and I've seen eggs all over the place. At the breakfast buffet in all of our hotels, you can request a made to order egg meal. On hamburgers, there is a fried egg. Today on my club sandwich, there was an egg. I like to think that the saying of South Americans is "when in doubt, egg it out" you know, as in "pimping" it out. Seriously, eggs on a hamburger?! Who does that? My other thought is that "clubs are safe." Club sandwiches pretty much everywhere involve meat, bacon, lettuce & tomatoes. You just need to be careful of the egg and additional toppings, apparently.
The overnight flight last night (rhyme, rhyme, rhyme) was ROUGH. I had 2 benadryls, and a red wine and still found it hard to fall asleep. I'm telling you, it's the leg factor: I need somewhere to spread these little monsters! I sleep in a queen size bed with an 80 lb dog at home, I'm used to having to compromise my space. But having to recline just a tad and find space for your legs on an airplane? Practically impossible! By the time we got to Sao Paulo this morning it was 5:30 (5 hour flight & a 2 hour time loss) and I was beat. I got to the hotel, had breakfast and slept until 2:oo or so. Luckily, there was nothing going on until 6:00 tonight when we had the reverse fair.
A reverse fair, you ask? That is where the universities go around and talk about themselves to schools & companies such as Education USA. It was a good experience, but the whole highlight of this trip was meeting the Sao Paulo Education USA person. Guess where she lived for a year in 1980? F-f-f-f-f-Flint town! What a small world! Her husband was going to Kettering at that time...it was great to talk to her about the changes in Flint and the growth of UM-Flint.
After the reverse fair, 8 of us went to a restaurant for dinner. The type of restaurant was a churrascarias which is basically a buffet. They have stations: salads, appetizers, meats & deserts. You go to the grill and order your meat cooked the way you like, and they deliver it to you. From what I've heard from Reesa, in most Brazilian cities the wait staff brings it around on swords and cuts it right in front of you. Here, the salmon & lobster was incredible. We also drank the typical Brazillian drink, the caiprinha which is made of limes, sugar cane & rum. T'was hard to handle at first, but once it was stirred a little, was much easier to throw down.
It was a great night filled with laughs & good food. I cannot tell you how in debt I am to UM-Flint for sending me on this trip. It has provided lasting memories, an eye opening opportunity for me both personally & career wise and a location that I likely never would have seen otherwise. I still cannot believe I am here sometimes. I have become all that more passionate about my job @ UM-Flint and about international recruitment. Si, se puede! :)
Oh, and I am a hot mess over Portuguese! On paper, totally like Spanish. Spoken? A gigantic French-sounding mess. Ay, ay, ay!
To be or not to be Portuguese
(Written last night while waiting in the Bogota airport for the 9:30 flight to Sao Paulo)
T’was a long day, just like was expected. We had four school visits with our day beginning at 6:40 and ending a little after 6:00. I just had a nice glass of red wine & 2 benadryls so that I will hopefully sleep my little heart out on the way to Sao Paulo.
Bogota is absolutely beautiful. I could kick myself for not charging my camera battery last night. We went up the mountains to this school that was literally at the top. The ride there & back was totally from a movie with bad bumps & the bus actually getting stuck more than once on the way down. F-Dawg (a colleague from Linfield College) had to get out and guide the bus driver. Anyway, the view was TO DIE FOR. You could see all of Bogota from the top of the mountain and it was simply breathtaking. Like I said, my camera battery died earlier in the day, so I got no pictures of this. The view alone made all the hassle of changing from Bolivia to Colombia and waking up at 5:55 am, totally worth it.
I never felt unsafe in Bogota, as you may think since there is a travel warning against this country. The only disheartening sight was about every 50 yards in the busier parts of town, were military police full on with machine guns. Earlier in the day, F-Dawg was trying to take pictures and was told that he could very likely get his camera taken away from him for doing this. Even going through the airport was not bad; there were not drug dogs or something that you might think you would see, as in a movie. At dinner though, we were all talking about “Maria Full of Grace” a drug movie if you have not already seen it. These girls swallow balloons stuffed with cocaine and take them into foreign countries. Ay, ay, ay.
The school visits were good – nothing absolutely noteworthy, but quite a bit of interest at the second to last school. They asked great questions! At the second school of the day we ate a typical Colombian lunch of a soup with 3 types of potatoes, chicken, capers, corn & avocado – it was very good.
At this time a week from now, I will be home. The thing I miss most about home? Not eating out at restaurants for every meal; I want a nice home cooked meal! That means you & pork chops, mom J I also miss my dog & cats. You see all kinds of stray dogs here and being the animal lover that I am, I just want to pet & feed them. Luckily, I haven’t acted on that urge.
There is a girl on this trip that totally reminds me of Raj, the hotel roomie from heck when I stayed in Salamanca. From her mannerisms to her know-it-all-ness, to her pickiness about food, I think I have not liked her very well from the beginning because of her similarities to Raj. You can take the girl out of the catiness, but you cannot take the catiness out of the girl.
Okay, I think that is it. I cannot wait to be in Brazil J
T’was a long day, just like was expected. We had four school visits with our day beginning at 6:40 and ending a little after 6:00. I just had a nice glass of red wine & 2 benadryls so that I will hopefully sleep my little heart out on the way to Sao Paulo.
Bogota is absolutely beautiful. I could kick myself for not charging my camera battery last night. We went up the mountains to this school that was literally at the top. The ride there & back was totally from a movie with bad bumps & the bus actually getting stuck more than once on the way down. F-Dawg (a colleague from Linfield College) had to get out and guide the bus driver. Anyway, the view was TO DIE FOR. You could see all of Bogota from the top of the mountain and it was simply breathtaking. Like I said, my camera battery died earlier in the day, so I got no pictures of this. The view alone made all the hassle of changing from Bolivia to Colombia and waking up at 5:55 am, totally worth it.
I never felt unsafe in Bogota, as you may think since there is a travel warning against this country. The only disheartening sight was about every 50 yards in the busier parts of town, were military police full on with machine guns. Earlier in the day, F-Dawg was trying to take pictures and was told that he could very likely get his camera taken away from him for doing this. Even going through the airport was not bad; there were not drug dogs or something that you might think you would see, as in a movie. At dinner though, we were all talking about “Maria Full of Grace” a drug movie if you have not already seen it. These girls swallow balloons stuffed with cocaine and take them into foreign countries. Ay, ay, ay.
The school visits were good – nothing absolutely noteworthy, but quite a bit of interest at the second to last school. They asked great questions! At the second school of the day we ate a typical Colombian lunch of a soup with 3 types of potatoes, chicken, capers, corn & avocado – it was very good.
At this time a week from now, I will be home. The thing I miss most about home? Not eating out at restaurants for every meal; I want a nice home cooked meal! That means you & pork chops, mom J I also miss my dog & cats. You see all kinds of stray dogs here and being the animal lover that I am, I just want to pet & feed them. Luckily, I haven’t acted on that urge.
There is a girl on this trip that totally reminds me of Raj, the hotel roomie from heck when I stayed in Salamanca. From her mannerisms to her know-it-all-ness, to her pickiness about food, I think I have not liked her very well from the beginning because of her similarities to Raj. You can take the girl out of the catiness, but you cannot take the catiness out of the girl.
Okay, I think that is it. I cannot wait to be in Brazil J
Sunday, September 21, 2008
Fotos
Here are some recent photos:
This is the view from my hotel room in Bogota. As you likely read in the post before, I didn't get out to see or do much, however the view in & of itself was beautiful. Fortunately, there was sun & warmth here, unlike in Lima!
On Saturday morning we took a tour of Pachacmac, some Incan ruins. Supposely, these are supposed to be the next best thing to Machu Pichu. Apparently, archeological things such as this are a total waste on me; I was tired & ready to leave quickly after seeing this - the first of quite a few stops @ the site. One good thing, is from the top you could see the Pacific Ocean. It was quite a windy, cold & gray day in Lima. They only get 3 inches of rain a year, and it is cloudy most days. 
This is my table at the Roosevelt school, in their auditorium. The actual fairs @ night are in nice ballrooms, so this is just a taste of what the school visits are like. This picture didn't come out too well because I was practicing on taking pictures on a flat surface, without a flash.
Remember how I told you in Guayaquil we went to the Santa Ana neighborhood, and there were 444 steps to the top? If you look in the lower right hand corner of the steps, you will see a number. Here we were about halfway; in the 200's. Off to Brazil this evening - I can't wait! It's surprising that I am even relatively enthusiastic, considering I had to wake up at 5:55 this morning.
The return of my sleep
What is more appropriate when sitting in a hotel room in Bogota, Colombia than to watch a drug movie? I put “21 Grams” on, but once I actually sat down to watch, realized it was in Spanish. There’s something about Spanish subtitled films that I don’t like…it’s probably because the lips are totally out of synch.
The hotel room here is just simply not up to par. The hotel we had in Lima was incredible. Here, I have a queen bed, wood floors, a couch that I swear was reupholstered from something my grandma owned in the late 70’s, and artwork which I’m certain is made out of rubber bands. But, there is a rear washer on the toilet & down pillows. Luckily, we leave this hotel at 8 am tomorrow.
We arrived in Bogota around 2 am last night to the disgusting smell of burning garbage. I was once again unable to sleep on the flight…it’s getting old. I’m totally tired, but it’s like I can’t relax enough to fall asleep. It’s likely something about having to sit upright & not being able to stretch my legs out. I may be only 5’1”, but my legs enjoy their space! By the time we checked in & were finally able to relax, it was close to 3:30. Everyone was talking about getting up this morning and going to see some sights at 11. I was undecided if I was going to do this.
When my alarm went off at 10:15, I decided against it. I just was not willing to get up & get myself going for another day. I have absolutely loved my first week on this trip, but it is a fast pace – having a day to do nothing, is essential. Not to mention I didn’t feel like converting any money over to pesos either. I had a leisurely morning, ordered a hamburger for lunch and spent the day napping and (finally) finishing up inquiry cards.
Tonight, I went with Reesa, Kathy (Lindener director) and Pascale to have dinner with the Education USA consultant. We went to this Caribbean restaurant, where I tried sea bass; it was spectacular! I am now back in my room and preparing to go to bed relatively early as we have to be out of here at 6:40 tomorrow morning for a school visit, and will be checking out at 8:05.
Tomorrow night we head to Brazil; it is a 6 hour flight. You can bet I will be taking some Benadryl with me; I am not staying awake for a 6 hour flight! I am looking forward to Brazil, as I have heard it is beautiful and has some awesome food.
With each passing day, I am becoming more & more confident with my Spanish skills. At first, I was totally out of it. I wouldn’t say it was necessarily culture shock, but it was like re-teaching myself everything, as I have hardly used Spanish for 4 years. I went from using it on a daily basis for 5 years, to not using it, period. It’s made me realize how disappointed I am in myself for allowing it to flounder. Anyway, it’s getting better and I am finding myself using it much more. I had a long conversation with the jewelry counter lady yesterday in Spanish. She asked me if I was from New Jersey? I’m sorry, do I have big hair?Speaking of hair, I’ve been plucking white hairs (they aren’t even gray anymore!) daily. I thought this was a good idea, until I realized that if I keep plucking them, I will soon go bald.
Oh, and for the record – they totally have Juan Valdez coffee shops around here.
The hotel room here is just simply not up to par. The hotel we had in Lima was incredible. Here, I have a queen bed, wood floors, a couch that I swear was reupholstered from something my grandma owned in the late 70’s, and artwork which I’m certain is made out of rubber bands. But, there is a rear washer on the toilet & down pillows. Luckily, we leave this hotel at 8 am tomorrow.
We arrived in Bogota around 2 am last night to the disgusting smell of burning garbage. I was once again unable to sleep on the flight…it’s getting old. I’m totally tired, but it’s like I can’t relax enough to fall asleep. It’s likely something about having to sit upright & not being able to stretch my legs out. I may be only 5’1”, but my legs enjoy their space! By the time we checked in & were finally able to relax, it was close to 3:30. Everyone was talking about getting up this morning and going to see some sights at 11. I was undecided if I was going to do this.
When my alarm went off at 10:15, I decided against it. I just was not willing to get up & get myself going for another day. I have absolutely loved my first week on this trip, but it is a fast pace – having a day to do nothing, is essential. Not to mention I didn’t feel like converting any money over to pesos either. I had a leisurely morning, ordered a hamburger for lunch and spent the day napping and (finally) finishing up inquiry cards.
Tonight, I went with Reesa, Kathy (Lindener director) and Pascale to have dinner with the Education USA consultant. We went to this Caribbean restaurant, where I tried sea bass; it was spectacular! I am now back in my room and preparing to go to bed relatively early as we have to be out of here at 6:40 tomorrow morning for a school visit, and will be checking out at 8:05.
Tomorrow night we head to Brazil; it is a 6 hour flight. You can bet I will be taking some Benadryl with me; I am not staying awake for a 6 hour flight! I am looking forward to Brazil, as I have heard it is beautiful and has some awesome food.
With each passing day, I am becoming more & more confident with my Spanish skills. At first, I was totally out of it. I wouldn’t say it was necessarily culture shock, but it was like re-teaching myself everything, as I have hardly used Spanish for 4 years. I went from using it on a daily basis for 5 years, to not using it, period. It’s made me realize how disappointed I am in myself for allowing it to flounder. Anyway, it’s getting better and I am finding myself using it much more. I had a long conversation with the jewelry counter lady yesterday in Spanish. She asked me if I was from New Jersey? I’m sorry, do I have big hair?Speaking of hair, I’ve been plucking white hairs (they aren’t even gray anymore!) daily. I thought this was a good idea, until I realized that if I keep plucking them, I will soon go bald.
Oh, and for the record – they totally have Juan Valdez coffee shops around here.
Friday, September 19, 2008
Piscos & brujas
*Recapping Friday in Lima; it is now Saturday night as we await the flight from Lima to Bogota, Colombia. Word to your mother, Juan Valdez.
T'was an early morning in Lima. We had to be on the bus by 7:30 this morning to make it to Fulbright. I was up & ready to go, minus one big thing: my huge (71 pound) box of materials was missing. It was supposed to be delivered Thursday night, but never was. So I got up in the morning and made my way to the lobby, grumbling to my fellow Lindeners (yes, it is a word) about it. Well, turns out no one else's boxes made it to them either. Now I can understand mine not making it, because I don't know that many of the baggage boys (Yes, another technical term) are man enough to carry that box.
Anyway, Kathy our Lindener leader put the smack down and got the rest of the boxeses put on the bus before we left. We proceeded to the Fulbright Commission, where I was disappointed to see there was no UM-Flint stuff on file. Yeah, that's likely because UM-Flint had nevere been there before. I'm a pioneer, y'all! Anyway, we had breakfast, a "mock admissions" session with a few counselors and then headed to our next stop.
The majority of the day was spent at the FD Roosevelt school, a school for those who are "rich" as one of my fellow Lindeners said (and she's from Peru). The juniors were exceptional, but the seniors were just so-so. But you figure, by the fall of your senior year, most kids have figured out where they plan to study. We had a typical Peruvian lunch (don't ask me what other than white rice, because I couldn't tell you. Oh and passion fruit pudding) and bought some jewelry (a silver ring for me). Then it was back to the hotel in the early afternoon for another fair.
The fair went well - not as exciting as Guayaquil, but much more comfortable for me, and still a number of inquiry cards. And yes, I'm still behind on getting those in. Tomorrow, I promise.
After the fair, a group of 6 of us went to this faboulous Peruvian restaurant. Gabriela, the Peruvian girl ordered us this fantastic appetizer plate with all kinds of stuff. She asked us to sample the meat & chicken which were on skewers. Again, fantastic. It wasn't until after we all had swallowed those items, that she told us it was COW HEART. Yeah, I ate cow heart. It wasn't bad, but I didn't eat any more of it. I did order this great plate called "El Gran Brujo" or "The Great Sorcerer". It was beef tenderloins, black beans & rice. It was tasty. We washed it down with 2 bottles of wine (Melbac is INCREDIBLE) and the typical Peruvian drink of Pisco. It's this super tart margarita like drink. It was a good night filled with new friends, and lots of laughter.
*TODAY* (Our flight is delayed, so I'll keep going)
Last night, I was SO tired (Erin? Tired? NEVER!) so I wasn't sure if I would be able to get up this morning for the cultural activity: a tour of Pachacmac. The tour left at 9:00, I was up at 8:34 and made it down to the lobby in just enough time. The sight wasn't that phenomenal (pics to follow when I unpack my camera cord) and it was quite a brisk day. I'm glad I went, but I'm also glad that I got back in enough time to take a nap before we had to check out at 3.
At 3, Reesa, Audra and I had lunch in the hotel and then went to the markets downtown to do some shopping. Shopping, we did! I bought some things for myself, Chase, Clara, my dad & a few others. I figure I have 3 more cities to go to, so I didn't want to go overboard! There were so many beautiful Alpaca things! I spent more than planned, but my name is Erin and that is my game.
Finally, we are at the airport. I bought a few more things (including a pair of undies for myself that has a llama on it. For those of you who don't know, I have a bit of obsession with buying underwear. It's like a past time) and am now waiting for our flight which is delayed.
Let me mention, that I am sore as a mother trucker from having to carry that box yesterday - mostly my upper body. And for the record, I left a TON of stuff behind at the hotel when it was time to check out. I had to pack enough to take to Bogota, but the amount I left behind was likely 30-40 pounds. Ay, ay, ay.
I would also give anything to have my back scratcher right now. I could sooooo use a good back scratching.
Paz en Bogota,
Erin
T'was an early morning in Lima. We had to be on the bus by 7:30 this morning to make it to Fulbright. I was up & ready to go, minus one big thing: my huge (71 pound) box of materials was missing. It was supposed to be delivered Thursday night, but never was. So I got up in the morning and made my way to the lobby, grumbling to my fellow Lindeners (yes, it is a word) about it. Well, turns out no one else's boxes made it to them either. Now I can understand mine not making it, because I don't know that many of the baggage boys (Yes, another technical term) are man enough to carry that box.
Anyway, Kathy our Lindener leader put the smack down and got the rest of the boxeses put on the bus before we left. We proceeded to the Fulbright Commission, where I was disappointed to see there was no UM-Flint stuff on file. Yeah, that's likely because UM-Flint had nevere been there before. I'm a pioneer, y'all! Anyway, we had breakfast, a "mock admissions" session with a few counselors and then headed to our next stop.
The majority of the day was spent at the FD Roosevelt school, a school for those who are "rich" as one of my fellow Lindeners said (and she's from Peru). The juniors were exceptional, but the seniors were just so-so. But you figure, by the fall of your senior year, most kids have figured out where they plan to study. We had a typical Peruvian lunch (don't ask me what other than white rice, because I couldn't tell you. Oh and passion fruit pudding) and bought some jewelry (a silver ring for me). Then it was back to the hotel in the early afternoon for another fair.
The fair went well - not as exciting as Guayaquil, but much more comfortable for me, and still a number of inquiry cards. And yes, I'm still behind on getting those in. Tomorrow, I promise.
After the fair, a group of 6 of us went to this faboulous Peruvian restaurant. Gabriela, the Peruvian girl ordered us this fantastic appetizer plate with all kinds of stuff. She asked us to sample the meat & chicken which were on skewers. Again, fantastic. It wasn't until after we all had swallowed those items, that she told us it was COW HEART. Yeah, I ate cow heart. It wasn't bad, but I didn't eat any more of it. I did order this great plate called "El Gran Brujo" or "The Great Sorcerer". It was beef tenderloins, black beans & rice. It was tasty. We washed it down with 2 bottles of wine (Melbac is INCREDIBLE) and the typical Peruvian drink of Pisco. It's this super tart margarita like drink. It was a good night filled with new friends, and lots of laughter.
*TODAY* (Our flight is delayed, so I'll keep going)
Last night, I was SO tired (Erin? Tired? NEVER!) so I wasn't sure if I would be able to get up this morning for the cultural activity: a tour of Pachacmac. The tour left at 9:00, I was up at 8:34 and made it down to the lobby in just enough time. The sight wasn't that phenomenal (pics to follow when I unpack my camera cord) and it was quite a brisk day. I'm glad I went, but I'm also glad that I got back in enough time to take a nap before we had to check out at 3.
At 3, Reesa, Audra and I had lunch in the hotel and then went to the markets downtown to do some shopping. Shopping, we did! I bought some things for myself, Chase, Clara, my dad & a few others. I figure I have 3 more cities to go to, so I didn't want to go overboard! There were so many beautiful Alpaca things! I spent more than planned, but my name is Erin and that is my game.
Finally, we are at the airport. I bought a few more things (including a pair of undies for myself that has a llama on it. For those of you who don't know, I have a bit of obsession with buying underwear. It's like a past time) and am now waiting for our flight which is delayed.
Let me mention, that I am sore as a mother trucker from having to carry that box yesterday - mostly my upper body. And for the record, I left a TON of stuff behind at the hotel when it was time to check out. I had to pack enough to take to Bogota, but the amount I left behind was likely 30-40 pounds. Ay, ay, ay.
I would also give anything to have my back scratcher right now. I could sooooo use a good back scratching.
Paz en Bogota,
Erin
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