Want the translation? You’ll probably regret it once I tell you. Okay, brace yourself…
“Brittni ate guinea pig”
So, there it is and yes, it’s true. Here’s the proof:
It wasn’t actually as good as I made it look, but I had to fake it to get Cydney to try it ;-). I think seeing the little feet got to my head. I feel like if I grew up with eating them instead of having them as pets, it wouldn’t bother me. Well, no one can ever say that I’m not willing to try new things. I hear there’s a town in the South of Peru where I can eat cats. I don’t know if I would go that far, though.
Here’s a little video and story about a hotel I stayed at in Cusco:
From the website http://www.ninoshotel.com/:
“The Niños Story in short:
In July 1996 Jolanda van den Berg left for Cusco in Peru. Half a year before she’d been in Peru on holiday and had seen many children begging on the streets. She decided to do something about it. Even if she could only help one child, she thought, it would be worth it.
Almost directly after her arrival in Cusco, Jolanda adopted two children. Within a year her family had grown to 12 children.
In 1998 Jolanda began the Niños Hotel from which profits are spent on child aid projects also initiated and lead by Jolanda. Since May 2002 there is a second Niños Hotel in Cusco, with the same aim.
The Niños Hotels together with a large number of Niños donors allow 500 extremely neglected children to get a hot meal every day, a warm shower, medical aid, dental aid, homework lessons.”
http://www.ninoshotel.com/
Someday I will make this kind of difference. Segura.
After a 22 hour bus ride which was also delayed because the tire blew, we finally made it to Cusco!
I hate to share some bad news, but unfortunately, I’ve been a bit sick the last few days. I think I’m actually fighting off 2 things: a pretty standard cold and a stomach bug which I believe to be from the polluted water I surfed in (I know, not the best idea I’ve ever had - then again, not the worst). But at least I’m not hungover …like I was yesterday :-l
But the show must go on! I’m getting up early tomorrow to do a light jog and start getting my body acclimated to the high altitude. I’m between 11-12,000 ft and need to be ready for my 4 day Inca trail hike to Machu Picchu starting this Saturday! So excited!
For Christmas this year I got a Canon Powershot G10. I love it so much and would highly recommend it to anyone thinking about upgrading their camera. It is, by far, the best camera I have ever owned. I’ve been more motivated to take artsy photos instead of just point-smile-shoot, like I usually do, and am really interested in learning more about photography. I’ve got a bunch of great shots with it so far, but unfortunately they loose quality when I upload them, so you wont be able to appreciate them at there fullest.
Here are some photo’s of a water park I went to with some friends:
Here’s a video of the fountain that had the kid’s playing in it. I didn’t get a video of me playing in the adult fountain, but it looked similar, just bigger:
I was sitting in the front seat of a local bus just like the one that you see speed by us and get into an accident with a car in this video. And I started recording this video because the driver of my bus was driving sooo crazily! Can you believe that?
Be sure to watch until the end so you can see the front of the bus after we drive by it. Since I was in the front seat, I would definitely be in the hospital or dead if that was my bus!
…um…not to make anyone at home more worried than they already are.
Oh, and I did a little editing in iMovie for emphasis. So, no, the bus didn’t really crash 3 times.
After about 11 hours on the plane, I landed safely in Lima, took a shuttle to my hostel and dropped off my bags. And what was the next thing I did? Met a few other girls and went on a run with them! It was a great way to explore the city a bit while expanding built-up energy from the plane ride. We ran to the beach and along the coast and saw a bunch of surfers which got me really excited to go surfing, so that was the next thing I did! Even though I didn’t think I needed a lesson, the lesson was about the same price as just renting the board and wetsuit, so I did it anyway. But I did get up on my own, even with a much thinner board than I’m used to. The water was nice and warm and it was a beautiful day. The only down sides were that the water seemed pretty polluted and I got sick later that day and at some point I managed to kick something very prickly, probably a sea anemone, which I had to pull a piece out of my toe later with tweezers.
I meet up with my old roommate from Buenos Aires, Cydney, who I’ll be traveling with for a few weeks and we walked around town a bit, did some errands, took some pictures, and then went back and hung out at the hostel.
I also got a local sim card, in case anyone needs to get a hold me: (051-01-9) 8569-0416
A Chinese restaurant in Lima
On the coast in Miraflores, Lima
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My friend, Cydney
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Reading a Spanish book I bought right before the picture was taken
For some reason, everyone just wanted to kiss me that day.
Me and my surfing teacher
Ok, the board I used was actually a little bigger than that one ;-)
Cydney
Not me, but I looked just like that
The beach in Lima
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Hanging out at the hostel, trying new, exotic fruit
After a wonderful month back home visiting friends and family in California, I’m psyched to start the next part of my year off! For those of you I haven’t told, I have some pretty cool stuff planned out for the next 6 months. Here’s an overview of my plans:
I’m starting in Peru - Lima, Cusco, the Inca trail to Machu Picchu, then Lake Titicaca.
Then I’ll be heading to Rio de Janeiro, Brazil for Carnival. To get there I’ll go through Bolivia and spend some time in the rain forest, see the salt flats in Bolivia and Argentina, and pass through the Iguazu falls again.
After Carnival in Rio I’m heading down to Ushuaia, Argentina, the furthest most city in the world, where my boat to Antarctica will leave from on March 2nd for a 12 day voyage. I have plenty of warm clothes packed and I’m reading a bunch of books on Antarctica now to get psyched up.
After Antarctica I’m going to be heading North again. I’ll be passing through a few places I visited in Argentina and Chile in November, but then making my way back up through Peru, Ecuador, Colombia, then taking a ferry to Panama, and then through the rest of Central America. I would love to take a detour to the Galapagos Islands while I’m in Ecuador, if time and money permits. I’m going to try to avoid time constraints and take it easy. What I’ve realized more and more after traveling is that the more flexible I can be the better. So, my only real time constraint is to be home by mid-July in order to get ready for a big motorcycle ride to Sturgis, South Dakota. At one point, however, I do plan on stopping for at least 2-4 weeks in a smaller town (probably in Guatemala since I’ve heard such good things) and doing some volunteer work (probably teaching English to kids). And I also have it in the back of my mind to look at possibly taking a Dive Master Course along the way as well.
Well, that’s it. I’ll really try to keep on this blog as much as possible, posting photos, videos, and writing about my experiences.
I finally went Skydiving! I’ve been wanting to so long and finally I made it happen - and also talked my brother and 3 friends into doing it with me! Yes! It was so much fun and on of the most intense experiences of my life. Can’t wait to do it again!
My friends and I have been planning this trip for months and it was all worth it! My super tight group from the DC program had 12 of us and all of us made it (even if just for a dinner) which is really amazing! Those of us living in the bay area drove down together and made a week long road trip out of the event. Here are most of the activities from the week:
Day 1 - Me and four of my friends drove down to LA. When we got there we drove around a bit, did some touristy stuff in Hollywood, climbed up to the Hollywood sign, went out to Persian food, and then to a bar in Newport called Sharkyz.
Day 2 - We woke up early and headed up to bear mountain to go snowboarding. Unfortunately, the resort was sold out of tickets when we got there so we just drove back towards Newport and down the coast. We got some great tacos and clam chowder at Crabby’s in Huntington Beach and stopped at a little park just south of Laguna for an amazing sunset. Then went down to LA and out to a great Japonese Restaurant called Yakitori.
Day 3 - We went out to a great breakfast, then went to Balboa park, took a nap next to the fountain, saw a magic show, explored the science museum a bit, watched “Wild Ocean” a the Imax theater, and went to my friend Christine’s place to have a party and bring in the new year!
Day 4 - Christine, Ainslie, and I went down to old town San Diego, got some Mexican food, explored the shops and museums, and got some taffy. Later we met up with a bunch more old friends from the DC program and went out to dinner at Buca di Beppo, then back to an apartment where Jenny surprised the three December babies with a birthday cake, then we all went out dancing at a club called PB, then back to Christine’s apartment and partied til the break of dawn!
Day 5 - After the big party we had a loungy day, hanging out, went out to Pho, taking naps, watching movies, and that night we made a big dinner like we used to do all the time in DC.
Day 6 - We headed up to Irvine, went out to sushi, and hung out in a park for a while. Then went to the Ritz-Carlton in Laguna Niguel where my aunt works and got us a great discount. We had an amazingly pampered afternoon at the Ritz. First we watched the sunset over the ocean from the balcony of our ocean front room, then took a long walk on the beach, then went out to dinner at a local restaurant where we watched a great Charger game (and they won in overtime!). When we got back to the hotel waiting for us was delicious champagne and decadent chocolate covered strawberries that my aunt had sent to us. Then Ainslie and I put on bathrobes and went to the jacuzzis and explored around the hotel.
Day 7 - We woke up at the Ritz and drove back home to the bay area.
