tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-60347852011-04-21T22:30:51.432-07:00Latin LoversAn Odyssey Through Latin AmericaJacobhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00302122292336865794noreply@blogger.comBlogger581100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6034785.post-1604363179481714182007-11-17T18:58:00.000-08:002007-11-17T19:18:38.495-08:00Messing around on the interweb and I came across this.... We haven't been traveling internationally much much since our trip to Latin America. we've taken a couple of western US road trips though. The picture to the left was taken in Oregon this summer near Bend. So anyways, to the inspiration for this post.... Below are two maps of all the countries first me and then Raegan have visited. Jacobhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00302122292336865794noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6034785.post-1111272202362751682005-03-19T14:37:00.000-08:002005-03-19T14:46:35.476-08:00It is very telling that it has taken two months to write this conclusion to our blog. Coming home has been like getting swept away by a strong current. Things started piling up on day one and moved very fast. But I am finally sitting down to try and get a little bit of closure for this long great story.Inspired by the time Jacob and I spent abroad in college we started talking about taking a yearRaeganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00316949369352096720noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6034785.post-1106848505836423412005-01-27T09:52:00.000-08:002005-01-27T09:55:05.836-08:00A week ago I hadn’t worn socks for weeks. Our time on the island of Roatan, about 50 miles off the coast of Honduras, was well spent. Raegan and I worked on our tans beside clear Caribbean waters by day and drank rum with folks from the islands, mon, by night. Today I am in a 4th floor apartment in the west-village, Manhattan. It is loud and it is cold and it is expensive and my skin is Jacobhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00302122292336865794noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6034785.post-1105891082488727202005-01-16T07:51:00.000-08:002005-01-16T07:58:02.486-08:00We are back on home turf! We arrived late last night in Washington D.C. and are staying with Jacob's cousin. So nice to drink water from the tap! I can't believe how luxurious that feels. We just wanted to write a quick note that we aren't wrapping up the blog yet. We've still got a few weeks of travel here on the east coast to go. And we want to add a few last entries on our last few Raeganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00316949369352096720noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6034785.post-1105137223433064792005-01-07T14:02:00.000-08:002005-01-08T11:54:36.893-08:00Happy 2005 everyone! What better time than now to apreciate 2004 and what it meant to us. A week from tomorrow Jacob and I will be back in the U.S.A. Hard to believe. I think it has probably gone faster for you who are reading this blog than for us. Jacob said he thinks this may well be the longest year of his life yet. I have to agree. That is not to say we haven't had a fabulous run and that Raeganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00316949369352096720noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6034785.post-1104347493512325972004-12-29T10:37:00.000-08:002004-12-30T18:12:24.450-08:00We've been slacking a bit on writing but guess what? You have two new entries! Please read Jacob's after this to hear about what we've been up to the past month.
I feel like we are skipping over an issue we mention often on this blog but deserves more attention and reflection than we have given it. This issue being the extreme poverty we see everyday in Central America. I think one of the Raeganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00316949369352096720noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6034785.post-1104344696226725972004-12-29T10:23:00.000-08:002004-12-29T10:32:43.586-08:00Happy Holidays! We’re back on the road and back on the blog after a hiatus. To those of you who check the site often: we’re terribly sorry for the delay. We’ll do our best to keep you updated in these last weeks of our trip. We’re going to be back, state-side by the middle of January and with so little time left we’re starting to reflect a great deal on our trip. We’ll be sharing some of those Jacobhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00302122292336865794noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6034785.post-1102292916183413572004-12-05T15:41:00.000-08:002004-12-05T16:28:36.183-08:00We've been in Nicaragua for a week. For me, this is a trip back to the source, the source of most of my motivation and inspiration for travel: A two week trip to Leon, Nicaragua when I was fourteen. It was my first time out of the country (sorry, I don't count Canada here). It inspired me to learn another language, blew my mind, initiated motivation for thinking about the struggles of other Raeganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00316949369352096720noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6034785.post-1101412729045330882004-11-25T10:43:00.000-08:002004-11-25T12:16:17.856-08:00We are back on the mainland after a great 5 weeks in the D.R. This being our third visit, Panama City is now both comfortable and familiar. Well, at least familiar. We still haven’t gotten used to the humidity here. It is brutal.
Raegan and I just got a CD of our pictures from Panama and The D.R. made and we’re really excited to share them. Other excitement: we just ate turkey at a café (and Jacobhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00302122292336865794noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6034785.post-1100358061002879172004-11-13T06:15:00.000-08:002004-11-13T07:01:01.003-08:00When you are on a farm in the mountains with no communication to the outside world and not a lot to do other than enjoy the outdoors, life gets pretty slow in the rain. The main events of the day become your three meals and hot chocolate breaks. This is our life week four in the Dominican Alps... rain rain and more rain. Reading, dominoes, cards and hot chocolate. We are learning dominoes theRaeganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00316949369352096720noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6034785.post-1099167053119541332004-10-30T11:54:00.000-07:002004-10-30T13:10:53.120-07:00Hello all, Raegan and I still have our heads in the clouds in the hi-lands of the Dominican Republic. We've been keeping ourselves busy doing some work related to the coffee farm and some community-building work in the town where the farm is located. I'll get more specific at a later date, I promise. Once or twice a week we head down the mountain to the town of Jarabacoa to remember what Jacobhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00302122292336865794noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6034785.post-1098713928404558712004-10-25T06:51:00.000-07:002004-10-25T07:18:48.406-07:00Month ten of traveling finds us on a coffee farm in the middle of the mountains of the Dominican Republic. We are staying for a month on the Alta Gracia coffee farm in the mountains (the Alps of the Carribean) of the D. R. We arrived on the 19th and were picked up in the town at the bottom of the mountain, Jarabacoa, by the current full time volunteer on the farm, Julie, and a local family Raeganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00316949369352096720noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6034785.post-1097976246181641462004-10-16T18:07:00.000-07:002004-10-16T18:24:06.180-07:00We aren't in South America anymore. But where are we? That was the question when we rolled into Panama City, the banking district with 173 banks (our taxi driver said). Tall buildings and all of a sudden TGI Fridays, Payless, KFC, US dollars, and prices and people. But the next morning we got up to blustering rainy season clouds and got on the city bus. An old US school bus painted bright Raeganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00316949369352096720noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6034785.post-1096147522811372242004-10-11T14:16:00.000-07:002004-10-11T10:49:35.396-07:00Raegan and I safely landed in Panama City a few days ago. Immediately it became apparent that despite sharring many linguistic and historical ties with South America, we are on a different continent. First impression: how could the air possibly be more humid? We´re adjusting. Next was getting US greenbacks out of the ATM. What bland and boring money we have, but to this too we are adjusting. I Jacobhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00302122292336865794noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6034785.post-1096827406313306802004-10-03T11:16:00.000-07:002004-10-03T11:16:46.313-07:00Oi!
Okay, this is version number 3 of this entry because the first two magically disappeared with one sentence left to go. So here goes nothin’…
The most common gesture here is a thumbs up, or two thumbs up to someone passing by, meaning “Tudo bem” or “It’s all good”. We are still in Brasil and it is two thumbs up, Tudo bem.
We have been enjoying a relaxing past couple of weeks, a vacation Raeganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00316949369352096720noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6034785.post-1095789095505887202004-09-21T10:03:00.000-07:002004-09-21T10:51:35.506-07:00Raegan and I are in Northern Brazil and like my candidate for president, we´ve been flip-flopping a lot lately. Our flip-flop tan-lines are coming in nicely. Tonight we will be on the road once again to Lençois, an inland area with lots of hikes to waterfalls. Though this ride will not be as long as our last, we´re leaving a little sooner than we´d like -- it seems we could never have Jacobhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00302122292336865794noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6034785.post-1095019205912450072004-09-12T13:31:00.000-07:002004-09-12T13:00:05.913-07:00Well we are in Rio, the only city I have been to so far in the world where it is perfectly acceptable for grown men to walk around city streets in a speedo and flip flops. More power to em. Brazil is fabulous. We like it a lot, people are loud, nice and easy going. The diversity is incredible and from what we can tell so far, way more intergrated than in our own country. We DO NOT have enoughRaeganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00316949369352096720noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6034785.post-1094343511269382252004-09-04T17:18:00.001-07:002004-09-06T08:46:51.270-07:00On the road again....
Raegan and I have resumed our travels and are now writing from country number 6, Brazil. It´s been a little strange to strap on the backpacks once again, and we´ve had a few minor hiccups, but we´re adjusting.
Tuesday night we left our apartment baren with our security deposit in hand and headed to the bus station. It was hard to believe that the items we had strewn Jacobhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00302122292336865794noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6034785.post-1094343511280726932004-09-04T17:18:00.000-07:002004-09-04T17:18:31.280-07:00On the road again....
Raegan and I have resumed our travels and are now writing from country number 6, Brazil. It´s been a little strange to strap on the backpacks once again, and we´ve had a few minor hicups, but we´re adjusting.
Tuesday night we left our apartment baren with our security deposit in hand and headed to the bus station. It was hard to believe that the items we had strewn Jacobhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00302122292336865794noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6034785.post-1093827595333325202004-08-29T16:58:00.000-07:002004-08-29T17:59:55.333-07:00Well, we're seven months on in our "latin quest" and this will surely be our last entry from Buenos Aires. Although this will likely spell relief to all of you out there (who are "commenting" with less and less frequency) -- as we will probably write more from the road -- our ongoing goodbye in this wonderfull city has been tough to say the least.
In the last week we've been tying together a Jacobhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00302122292336865794noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6034785.post-1093300046670171962004-08-23T15:13:00.000-07:002004-08-23T15:35:17.183-07:00It is hard to believe that three months is almost up! A week from tomorrow we are leaving Buenos Aires. Wow! Time has flown. I keep having these urges to take photos of the guy who works at our video store, the baker, the pasta guy, the man who runs the internet cafe, the woman who works in our favorite cafe and the one who works at our favorite bar. But I am a lazy photographer so it probably Raeganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00316949369352096720noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6034785.post-1091750499415903162004-08-05T16:32:00.000-07:002004-08-08T13:33:50.640-07:00Before I revert back to tales of our social lives, I'd like to add a few tidbits related to Raegan's previous health care-related entry:
--Our (soon-to-be) doctor friend, Ceci, has told us that Chileans frequently cross the border into Argentina to recieve medical care (and an education). I find this really interesting in light of the fact many have described Chile's growth in recent years as anJacobhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00302122292336865794noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6034785.post-1090968920850936472004-07-27T15:07:00.000-07:002004-07-27T15:55:20.850-07:00Some observations after spending two months in Buenos Aires:
Take it with a grain of salt of course that these are my observations and no great scientific research and my data is solely collected through conversations and what I see from my own perspective.
Last week I felt horrible. I think I had a sinus infection and after eight days of a stuffed up head, head ache and strange pains it Raeganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00316949369352096720noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6034785.post-1090366145675097892004-07-20T15:57:00.000-07:002004-07-21T12:54:27.476-07:00Today Argentinians are celebrating Friends' Day. I know it sounds like a Halmark holiday, and maybe it is, but folks here figure that if mothers, fathers, and siblings get their day, why not friends. To celebrate, our friends Cecilia and Christian have invited us out to a resteraunt for our first taste of Korean food since leaving our little casita not far from Oaklands' Koreatown. The Jacobhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00302122292336865794noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6034785.post-1088810254373141492004-07-02T15:57:00.000-07:002004-07-02T16:17:34.373-07:00Well I have to admit that I am not gonna blaze this page full of exciting new news. Raegan and I have been in Buenos Aires for a while now and our crazy traveling life is transforming into a crazy domestic one. Rest assured, we have not fallen out of love with this city -- far from it. But our pace has surely slowed since we've arrived (save a few long nights). My main reason for writing is Jacobhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00302122292336865794noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6034785.post-1088034666293218752004-06-23T16:17:00.000-07:002004-06-26T09:18:27.953-07:00Hola Chicos!
I think it is about time to give an update on life in Buenos Aires. We have been busy. When I think that we have only been here two weeks it is amazing. This city is always offering something new. I think the next two months will go by fast.
We have been doing lots of walking and trying to remember all the little cafes and restaurants we want to return to later. There is a cafeRaeganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00316949369352096720noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6034785.post-1087244719925521692004-06-14T13:22:00.000-07:002004-06-14T13:25:19.926-07:00OK. If you haven't read our last post, Raegan and I have settled into an apartment in Buenos Aires. Not bad, eh? We'll be here until the end of August. Our address is posted bellow, and our number (if calling from the US) is 011-5411-4300-6645. Also, we just had more pictures put online from our first few months of traveling. There are lots. I hope you enjoy them.Jacobhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00302122292336865794noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6034785.post-1086992329392043912004-06-11T13:42:00.000-07:002004-06-11T15:18:49.393-07:00I apologize to all for the lack of communication. We are very far, both mentally and physically, from when you heard from us last. I have a lot of catching up to do...
We've been on the road for nearly 5 months, and although it looks like we've barely scratched the surface, we've seen many things in many places. It's time for a break. So, we've settled in to our new home until the end of Jacobhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00302122292336865794noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6034785.post-1085942071043909832004-05-30T11:34:00.000-07:002004-05-30T11:34:31.043-07:00We have bombarded this blog lately and Jacob´s previous entry sums up very well how we have been feeling about Bolivia, but I just had to add a little more. Just to warn, this is another email that is probably not going to feel very nice.
Bolivia was a really hard place for me. I always felt safe but I also felt a lot of anger brewing there. You see manifestations of this anger everyday in Raeganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00316949369352096720noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6034785.post-1085602242598394212004-05-26T12:43:00.000-07:002004-05-27T15:41:28.943-07:00Continuing from where I left off in yesterday's post....
As beautiful as this country is, there is a lot of pain here and it is evident. Everyday we read in The Prensa, the biggest daily in the country, articles about the upcoming referendum to export gas (to the US via either Chile or Argentina). It seems the people distrust the presidents proposal to raise needed cash by exporting gas, not Jacobhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00302122292336865794noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6034785.post-1085526272523123092004-05-25T14:50:00.000-07:002004-05-26T12:43:35.683-07:00Don't miss Raegan's last post on our Salar de Uyuni jeep trip. And if you are having difficulty imagining the surreal landscapes that she described, here are some pictures from our time up until now in Bolivia. Also, although many of these pictures are of strangers, you can see more of our ride on the most dangerous road in the world here (the password is photos). I'll let the fact that we Jacobhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00302122292336865794noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6034785.post-1085329847049103072004-05-23T08:58:00.000-07:002004-05-23T09:30:47.050-07:00Salar de Uyuni
For those of you who aren't familiar with the Salar de Uyuni trip, it is a four day jeep ride through some extremely fascinating, bizarre, and gorgeous scenery in the Southwest corner of Bolivia. The trip includes one full day driving across the actual Salar, an enormous salt flat that blinds with endless flat whiteness, making it hard to tell where land and sky end. For the past Raeganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00316949369352096720noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6034785.post-1084658485766714002004-05-15T14:07:00.000-07:002004-05-17T09:55:18.193-07:00We've been in Bolivia for over a week now and there's much to report. Here is a synopsis of our first 24 hours in the country. Soon you'll get a little about La Paz and our time on the most dangerous road in the world.
First Impressions:
Rather than taking a direct bus across the border we decided to do it the real travelers way. We haggled successfully for a 2 sole (66 cent) taxi ride to Jacobhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00302122292336865794noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6034785.post-1084378981364922562004-05-12T09:01:00.000-07:002004-05-12T09:23:01.366-07:00Do we have a treat for you blog readers! Below are two guest blog entries from my parents about their time in Peru. Someone's voice other than ours! I put them below one after the other so it is pretty long but a great read. My Mom´s is first and then Dad's. Thanks Mom and Dad, it´s great to read you reflections and you both say such nice things!
Raegan and Jacob invited us (us being Raegan´Raeganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00316949369352096720noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6034785.post-1083946313401653942004-05-10T10:38:00.000-07:002004-05-10T10:56:05.453-07:00Hola Blog Readers! Well, we are in country four Bolivia!! We will write much more about this interesting place but first I wanted to say some last comments about that wonderful country, Peru. Actually, these will not be the last words on the subject because my parents have agreed to write some guest entries for your enjoyment about their impressions and our time in Cusco and the Sacred Valley. Raeganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00316949369352096720noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6034785.post-1083698307213787392004-05-04T12:18:00.000-07:002004-05-04T12:22:17.280-07:00In the last episode you left the gringos in the porters' village, full from four meals of corn and potato soup, and about to party.....
Out comes the harp and the fire water. There was no chicha, or corn beer, so we had to settle for corn booze. The interviews soon stretched into conversations about who was single, and more questions about our respective homes. The award for most Jacobhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00302122292336865794noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6034785.post-1083283732823907022004-05-03T14:17:00.000-07:002004-05-03T16:09:02.903-07:00WE'RE ALIVE!!! I am truly sorry about the lack of communication on our part. I've got a couple of excuses, but I won't bother you with them. I will, however promise that in the next few weeks we will make it up to you, our readers, with rapid-fire entries likely to make your head spin. There will be our entries, our first guest blog entry, tales from lake titikaka, and if your lucky... more Jacobhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00302122292336865794noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6034785.post-1082411716526421212004-04-19T17:57:00.000-07:002004-04-19T17:57:25.670-07:00Hola, if you want to see pictures of changing a tire and roasting a goat in the mountains of Chile, a beautiful beach sunset in La Serena, scenery and friends made in Arequipa, or condors flying over the Colca Canyon: click here.
We are currently in Cusco, Peru. If you haven´t logged on for a while Jacob wrote an entry a couple days ago about our time in Arequipa and the Colca Canyon. Our Raeganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00316949369352096720noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6034785.post-1082237884003767972004-04-17T14:38:00.000-07:002004-04-19T14:05:53.390-07:00As Raegan mentioned in her previous post, we're going about our time in Peru differently than we did our time in Chile. Rather than covering close to 3000 miles, the entire length of the narrow country, in a little over a month, we're spending roughly the same amount of time in 3 areas in the southern corner of Peru: Arequipa, Cusco, and Puno. This country, as well as the way we're visiting is Jacobhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00302122292336865794noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6034785.post-1081452612056973222004-04-08T12:30:00.000-07:002004-04-08T12:34:00.466-07:00We are in country number three, Peru, and I like it! We are in a city called Arequipa and I have to admit that I spent the first three days so overwhelmed by all the stimulus (narrow sidewalks packed with people, streets filled with cabs honking at you, people selling things everywhere, music, colors, and old striking colonial buildings) that I have only really started to take in account where weRaeganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00316949369352096720noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6034785.post-1080938809240712232004-04-02T11:02:00.000-08:002004-04-02T13:07:39.653-08:00Ditto Raegan´s last entry: there is much to cover. Here is an outline (mostly for my benefit): I will first do my best to explain the Chilean mountain life we were graciously allowed to experience, then our return to the travelers circuit in Santiago, and finally on to Chile´s northern beach towns where we´ve spent the last week. I´m sure I´ll get more and more brief as I go, so bear with me.
Jacobhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00302122292336865794noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6034785.post-1080593410354192682004-03-29T11:53:00.000-08:002004-03-29T13:07:06.700-08:00We have had an eventful past week or so! Jacob and I have been stalling a little writing in the blog because it is hard to know where to begin.
Ten days ago we were in Valdivia, Chile a university town that is filled with young people and all the energy that makes every college town in the world feel somewhat the same. It was a really beautiful city, set among many waterways, rivers heading Raeganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00316949369352096720noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6034785.post-1079641254146472592004-03-18T12:20:00.000-08:002004-03-18T12:24:13.840-08:00I´d like to write a word about DOGS. As any of you who spend significant amounts of time with me know, I am afraid of dogs. You know this because I like to cross the street when I see them coming and if you are walking with me that can get old. In fact my walk to the BART station everyday in Oakland, which was a straight walk down one street, involved three or four planned crosses to avoid Raeganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00316949369352096720noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6034785.post-1079301846992351702004-03-14T15:54:00.000-08:002004-03-14T15:58:45.170-08:00After two days of flying, we´ve landed back in Bariloche. In the next few days we will cross over (yet again) to Chile. For now we are enjoying the warmer weather and faster internet that this portion of country provides. Raegan and I have come to realize that Internet cafe´s are truly the opium dens of our time. It´s hard to go a few days without the latest and greatest from friends, Jacobhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00302122292336865794noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6034785.post-1078707737543576352004-03-08T14:30:00.000-08:002004-03-08T15:06:27.466-08:00We´re in Punta Arenas now, on the Straight of Magellan. Some housekeeping: Raegan just wrote a few days ago so if you haven´t read it yet, don´t forget to scroll down. Secondly, we´ve been on the road for a bit now and are worried about reader fatigue. Let us know: are you most interested in our thoughts and perceptions or whereabouts; how do you find the frequency and length of our posts, etcJacobhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00302122292336865794noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6034785.post-1078513120548742202004-03-05T11:08:00.000-08:002004-03-05T11:11:58.733-08:00Hello friends and family! Well we are in the very southern tip of Chile and Argentina, way way down here. We have been traveling here for about two weeks and I am going to try to be brief, giving some highlights of what we have seen and done.
We finally found the foreigners! This place is crawling with Brits, Aussies, Israelis, Swiss, Germans, French and Americans. The hostels are packed Raeganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00316949369352096720noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6034785.post-1077465840260185742004-02-22T08:04:00.000-08:002004-02-22T08:06:45.560-08:00I want to write a little something about what we have learned so far about life in Argentina after the economic crisis two years ago. Most of this is from talking with a limited number of people so it is not going to be any kind of great analysis, just what I have gathered so far. As most of you already know the Argentinian peso was fixed to the American dollar at a one to one ratio, for many Raeganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00316949369352096720noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6034785.post-1077224787200155382004-02-19T13:06:00.000-08:002004-02-19T13:09:08.640-08:00One month down. Sometimes it´s hard to believe (it´s just, and sometimes only) a month. That is, until I look in the mirror at my ragged clothes, stubly face and consider that I now feel most confortable eating a burger with a fork and knife. Raegan and I are in Bariloche and are rears are feeling much better, thank you. Tomorrow we are flying to El Calafate to spend a month around the smallJacobhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00302122292336865794noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6034785.post-1076695044216266642004-02-13T09:57:00.000-08:002004-02-13T09:59:56.530-08:00Also, chicos, please check out our pictures (by clicking on "pictures") I hope that works. If it doesn´t, let us know. Also, we love the comments, keep them coming. But if you´d like our personal addresses, they are: jacobfordschultz@yahoo.com and raeganjoern@hotmail.com. More to come when we return from the woods! Jacobhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00302122292336865794noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6034785.post-1076693872502507552004-02-13T09:37:00.000-08:002004-02-13T09:40:25.030-08:00Hola Chicos! We are in El Bolsón, which was described in our guidebook as "the Berkeley of Argentina". We are a little skeptical of this comparison, because although it has declared itself a "nuclear free zone" and there are many organic farms about, it is really a very small place that barely bustles with the action of Bezzerly (or maybe we are just biased). Tomorrow we head into the bush for Raeganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00316949369352096720noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6034785.post-1076372343211194122004-02-09T16:19:00.000-08:002004-02-09T16:21:30.843-08:00Raegan and I have arrived in San Martin de los Andes. It´s beautifully situated on an Alpine lake (it is, afterall, the lake district) surounded forests and above them, glaciated peaks. Sounds great, eh? Well it is, but despite all of this, arriving here was sort of a rude awakening after Junin. We´re still in a small mountain town with no stop lights or signs, but here, perhaps they´re Jacobhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00302122292336865794noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6034785.post-1076115309675555902004-02-06T16:55:00.000-08:002004-02-06T16:57:32.716-08:00Junin de los Andes. This is our first stop on a long journey south in Argentina to Patagonia and the southern most city in the world, Ushaia. We are sure there will be many more beautiful sites to see, but we are loving what we have seen so far.
We have been in the area of Junin for five days. We arrived south overnight on a bus that amazed me because it served dinner, showed movies, sold Raeganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00316949369352096720noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6034785.post-1075592185022751522004-01-31T15:36:00.000-08:002004-01-31T15:38:40.013-08:00Just wanted to add a funny story about human nature. When we were in Viña del Mar we went to dinner for pizza. The place was really crowded and there were no more tables outside so the owner was nice enough to give us plates and we sat on a bench on the main street a little down the road from the pizzeria to eat. He gave us forks and knives but we took no notice, folded our pizza in half like Raeganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00316949369352096720noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6034785.post-1075507597246192112004-01-30T16:24:00.000-08:002004-01-30T16:24:12.530-08:00Well, more than one week down and we´ve already graced a second country with our presense. The day before yesterday, we crossed the Andes, not far from the 24,000ft peaks Raegan described, descended through utahesque, and napaesque landscapes into Mendoza, Argentina. It´s different, but more on that later.
Santiago is not a bad place to be sick: the water is potable, the juice is delicious, Jacobhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00302122292336865794noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6034785.post-1074894786446575802004-01-23T13:53:00.000-08:002004-01-23T13:55:10.123-08:00Day two in S. America, about 363 to go! Yippee we made it, our ten hour flight arrived safely yesterday causing me a great sigh of relief as I am no fan of strapping myself in a little capsule to jet off into the sky. On the way in we saw huge mountains from the plane, the Andes, jutting above the clouds. There was one on the opposite side of the plane which we couldn't see so well from our Raeganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00316949369352096720noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6034785.post-1073931611389670502004-01-12T10:20:00.000-08:002004-01-12T10:20:32.386-08:00Well, well, well. We're getting down to the wire here, and we couldn't be more excited. Only four more days of work, and five days of craziness lay ahead. To give you an indication or our lives at the moment: this last weekend Raegan and I had a dinner party, opened a bank account, canceled all our bills, sold a car, grabbed lunch and a movie with my mom, bought a few last minute items, got aJacobhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00302122292336865794noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6034785.post-1068769884235656012003-11-13T16:31:00.000-08:002003-11-13T16:31:29.426-08:00Okay, this is my third try at posting something, hope it works. I am really looking forward to this simple way to communicate our Latin American adventures! So far we are almost set to take off January 21~
More to come,
RaeganRaeganhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00316949369352096720noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6034785.post-1067982282865478372003-11-04T13:44:00.000-08:002003-11-04T13:44:45.740-08:00Hello friends and family,
This is an experiment in new technology. Perhaps this will be the resting place for many of Raegan and my stories, ideas, and adventures. Only time will tell. If I like this service I will send you links to my own web-site, rather than those annoying mass e-mails. Tata, and wish me luck.
-JacobJacobhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/00302122292336865794noreply@blogger.com