Lessons learned while trying to leave Colombia:
E-mail sent from Bogota airport:
Frack!! Apparently if your flight connects within the same country you have to go to a whole different airport!! So the first check-in lady yelled at me and then sent me running all over the airport looking for a bus. Then (after asking 8 people where the bus was) I had to go through security to even get to this imaginary bus....of course they wouldn't let me through since I have scissors in my checked bag. The lady told me that I had to go back downstairs and give my scissors to the airline. Right. So I ended up leaving and taking another expensive taxi to the other airport where I arrived just minutes before my plane is supposed to board. Wow such excitement!! I haven't even gone through customs yet, so I will have to do all of that fun in Medellin, good thing I have that long layover! Phhhheeoooowwww!!
E-mail from Quito:
Man oh man the excitement just wouldn't stop today. Once I got to Medellin I had to totally exit and check back in...only my airline wasn't open yet!! So I had a nice sit down lunch and used up all but about $1 of my Colombian money and then went to get my boarding pass. The lady sent me back to the other side of the airport (it is shaped long and skinny like the KC airport) to get my tax exempt form and then tried to keep my piece of paper that had my hostel information! No worries, I got it back from someone else who then sent me to immigration. Of course my airline wasn't set up at immigration yet either and I was sent away for another hour..booo. So I studied during that hour waiting break, pretty sure I am a Spanish expert after that hour refresher ;)
THEN I made it through security without too much problem (I set the alarm off so they made me take off my shoes) but then some random security lady stopped me and gave me a very thorough pat down...she found my my passport pouch that I carry around my neck, but nothing else that I hide on me...muahahaha!! Of course I was only hiding money...US money!!! But then I got to my gate and it was for the wrong airline! (and they don't have ANYTHING posted about what flight is leaving from what gate) So I asked some dude and he pointed me to the next gate. I then got on the plane when an announcement was made with the flight number and destination LIMA...so I leaned over and asked the Grandma next to me what the flight number was and had a momentary freak out when I thought I was on the wrong flight. Then when we were about to take off Grandma started freaking out with her seat belt so I leaned over and showed her how to do it....then we were even :)
Sunday, August 16, 2009
Wednesday, August 12, 2009
Amber goes to Colombia!
So, Colooooombia! My friend Ingie is working for a year a ministry here in Bogota, so for my two weeks with her with be spent helping kids and enjoying my friend :)
Bogota is very different from everywhere else I have been...much dirtier and more rundown. But the landscape around Bogota...iiiiincredible! I am excited, I should get lots of Spanish practice and everyone here (in the ministry) is so upbeat...love it!
Bogota is a HUGE city and yet I don't find it nearly as intense as a big city back in the US. I am so glad that I didn't try to tackle Bogota earlier in my trip. Because of Colombia's (unfair now) reputation I think I would have been scared off my butt... but I have been in South America long enough now that I am not scared anymore. Whatever, people get robbed...but I am smart and I don't carry all of my valuables around town with me or in the same spot. At the same time, Bogota just isn't scary. Don't get me wrong, robberies happen here, but it just doesn't seem any different from any other major city that I have been in lately. So moral of the story, I am being smart and trying not to get robbed but in the end I'm not dwelling on the fear of it anymore.
As for my life here in Bogota...wow what a switch!! I have my very OWN room all to MYSELF in a HOUSE with a FAMILY. This is the first time that I have had a room to myself in months...honestly it was a bit overwhelming and WAY too quiet at first. Anyway, Ingie lives with a Dutch family from the ministry. They are...interesting :) Mostly nice. The kids scream ALL the time. No joke. BUT today the Mom went to work at the ministry and the dad stayed home and the kids were SO much better behaved. Even when the homeless people came over to the house for lunch...no screaming! It was amazing. I sat down and had a tea with him later, he is very nice. Except for one night he and his wife were (we assumed) fighting and he turned around and yelled at us for "whistling"...we assumed he meant whispering. Haha, it was very classic.
As for the work. Wow, the intensity leaves me feeling the exhaustion that I always felt at the end of a day of summer camp...but the pay here sucks! Saturday we went to a shitty part of town to help run a 'kids club' for some pre-street kids. It was crazy! We had 90 kids and I was put in charge of a group and told to discuss what "God's love" means to us. Ummm....kids were shouting ideas at me and I had NO idea what they were saying. I am sure the look on my face was priceless :) I just took every idea they had and had one of the older girls remember them all ;) Haha!!! We then played 'human knot' which didn't work out in any way. Lol, the craziness...oh man.
During the week Ingie works at a school that takes in street kids (who are usually rejected from traditional schools for various reasons). They have only 19 kids...oo but the craziness. Haha, are you seeing a pattern? I have always known that I wasn't cut out for orphanage/street kid work so this is quite an adventure for me. I am trying to be the strong adult, but I don't even know how to say things like "keep your hands to yourself," so I just say "your hands are for you only." Haha! And man the kids have so many more problems than your average kid, it's so hard! They try to fight so much, I have had to grab a couple of boys off each other...I am thankful that I have not seen any bloody fights yet!
Yesterday Ingie and I spent the day cleaning the library (a lot of Courtney references during this) and then the toy room. During the toy room some of the kids came in to help. My favorite part was when the 2 youngest troublemakers came in to help me wash toys and Ingie asked me, "will you be ok if I leave the boys with you while I look for a bucket?" In the smallest voice I could manage I responded, "alone?" Hahaha!! It was really a rather horrifying thought though...I speak Spanish but not a toooon and the kids don't really respect me because I'm not technically a teacher. I was so happy to be cleaning yesterday...that is something that I am good at and understand in any language ;)
But I don't spend everyday at the school with Ingie (since I also wanted to see the city!) One day I ventured out into the city by myself and it was such a huge success! I went out to the bank and the store and then caught a taxi out to the Monserrate (famous church on a hill overlooking Bogota). My taxi driver was hilarious! He said that I was only the second foreigner that he has ever had in his taxi and he had SO many questions. He wanted to know if we have Frito Lay in the US and if everyone looks like me and if my family has my eyes. He was very disappointed when I told him that I cheer for Ecuador in futbol and gave me the futbol flag from his window of his favorite team so that I could cheer for them back in the US :) Sometimes taxi drivers get creepy and start proposing marriage and stuff, but this guy was just genuinely interested in learning more about my country, it was super fun....and great Spanish practice! He was really worried about me going up the church alone...he said he wouldn't do it because he was scared. He was also worried that my water bottle would make me a target because if I had 50cents for water then obviously I have money for other things as well. He was very sweet.
To get to the Monserrate you can hike, take a mini train or a cable car...but hiking has gotten too dangerous so they just recently closed down the path (too many robbers waiting for dumb tourists...it's the same way in Quito at their TeleferiQo). When I got there I got in line to buy a ticket for the cable car on the way up and the train on the way down when 2 (obviously) Americans walked up and asked me to explain their options for getting up the mountain. Rescuing confused tourists is one of my favorite activities! Sadly the train was closed down so we all bought round trip tickets for the cable car. It turns out that the guys are Delta airline pilots and I spent most of the rest of the day with them. They were super friendly and thought that I was fascinating, so of course I loved them :) One of them just bought land in Washington and was asking me questions about selective harvests and reseeding and which types of trees grow well together, and do I know what a Tamarac looks like? I do I do! Haha, what fun. OH! And then he asked me questions about lightning ignited fires and such...I suddenly felt very smart, it was great. So we had a beer on top of the mountain and then rode back down just as the rain started! A taxi from their hotel pulled up so I rode down with them...where we learned that the president was staying at their hotel!! Then they put me in another fancy hotel taxi and paid to send me home. I need to meet more people with money ;) When I got home the dad here answered the door and he couldn't get over the fact that I came home in a taxi from a fancy hotel...he had to go tell his wife right away. Haha!
My sister asked about where I am staying. I am staying in the house where Ingie lives. The house is owned by a Dutch family (mom, dad, 16 month old and a 4 year old...both boys). The boys scream a lot, it is interesting. The parents are very "European" Ingie tells me...in other words they are odd about some things, mostly involving money. I have my own room and bathroom off the washroom. It was a little intimidating being all alone after months of sleeping in dorms!! They have wireless internet here, so that is addictive and terrible :)
Part of what the ministry here does is support "pre" street kids as well as taking in kids whose parents are not stable enough to care for them. One such boy, Jorge (4), lives with one of Ingie's friends (her entire job is to care for this little boy...in other places in the city other volunteers care for up to 10ish kids at a time) and he is absolutely adorable. He reminds me of a little Kael :) I was really glad that he got comfortable with me super quickly so that I can twirl him around and play cars with him...I miss having kids in my life! I met his baby sister the other night and she was sooooo sweet, very smilely and just precious. Their mom makes super cute kids, but she really needs to be stopped! (she has at least 3 others as well...the ministry is working with her so that she can take the kids back into her home)
I have met a ton of kids here and some of them just break your heart. Some of their stories are just terrible...they need so much love! I am so glad that they have Ingie, she loves them so so much :) and she is so good with them/for them, she has definitely found her place.
I continue to be blown away by Bogota. At first glance it is the most run down/underdeveloped country that I have spent time in, but then I run into things like Blockbuster where you RENT movies instead of just buying bootlegged copies on the corner. We ate at a Crepes and Waffles where they only employ single mothers or expectant unmarried women. They have Baskin Robbins!!! Their bus system here is incredible, very advanced. I can't remember what else I have noted, but my favorite expression has become: "What is this country, where am I!?" I am very impressed.
Oh man, I had a slow week last week because I wasn't feeling great...like I was coming down with the flu again. Every single one of Ingie's friends was sick with something different which didn't help me. I slept in a lot...which Jordie (the dad here) thought was amazing...especially since his kids scream so much :) I had an ear infection that spread into my jaw which was fun for about a week. Luckily that is done now and I am starting to feel like I am on the upswing...but of course Ingie isn't feeling well now so that makes me nervous. Whatever, upswing!
Bogota is very different from everywhere else I have been...much dirtier and more rundown. But the landscape around Bogota...iiiiincredible! I am excited, I should get lots of Spanish practice and everyone here (in the ministry) is so upbeat...love it!
Bogota is a HUGE city and yet I don't find it nearly as intense as a big city back in the US. I am so glad that I didn't try to tackle Bogota earlier in my trip. Because of Colombia's (unfair now) reputation I think I would have been scared off my butt... but I have been in South America long enough now that I am not scared anymore. Whatever, people get robbed...but I am smart and I don't carry all of my valuables around town with me or in the same spot. At the same time, Bogota just isn't scary. Don't get me wrong, robberies happen here, but it just doesn't seem any different from any other major city that I have been in lately. So moral of the story, I am being smart and trying not to get robbed but in the end I'm not dwelling on the fear of it anymore.
As for my life here in Bogota...wow what a switch!! I have my very OWN room all to MYSELF in a HOUSE with a FAMILY. This is the first time that I have had a room to myself in months...honestly it was a bit overwhelming and WAY too quiet at first. Anyway, Ingie lives with a Dutch family from the ministry. They are...interesting :) Mostly nice. The kids scream ALL the time. No joke. BUT today the Mom went to work at the ministry and the dad stayed home and the kids were SO much better behaved. Even when the homeless people came over to the house for lunch...no screaming! It was amazing. I sat down and had a tea with him later, he is very nice. Except for one night he and his wife were (we assumed) fighting and he turned around and yelled at us for "whistling"...we assumed he meant whispering. Haha, it was very classic.
As for the work. Wow, the intensity leaves me feeling the exhaustion that I always felt at the end of a day of summer camp...but the pay here sucks! Saturday we went to a shitty part of town to help run a 'kids club' for some pre-street kids. It was crazy! We had 90 kids and I was put in charge of a group and told to discuss what "God's love" means to us. Ummm....kids were shouting ideas at me and I had NO idea what they were saying. I am sure the look on my face was priceless :) I just took every idea they had and had one of the older girls remember them all ;) Haha!!! We then played 'human knot' which didn't work out in any way. Lol, the craziness...oh man.
During the week Ingie works at a school that takes in street kids (who are usually rejected from traditional schools for various reasons). They have only 19 kids...oo but the craziness. Haha, are you seeing a pattern? I have always known that I wasn't cut out for orphanage/street kid work so this is quite an adventure for me. I am trying to be the strong adult, but I don't even know how to say things like "keep your hands to yourself," so I just say "your hands are for you only." Haha! And man the kids have so many more problems than your average kid, it's so hard! They try to fight so much, I have had to grab a couple of boys off each other...I am thankful that I have not seen any bloody fights yet!
Yesterday Ingie and I spent the day cleaning the library (a lot of Courtney references during this) and then the toy room. During the toy room some of the kids came in to help. My favorite part was when the 2 youngest troublemakers came in to help me wash toys and Ingie asked me, "will you be ok if I leave the boys with you while I look for a bucket?" In the smallest voice I could manage I responded, "alone?" Hahaha!! It was really a rather horrifying thought though...I speak Spanish but not a toooon and the kids don't really respect me because I'm not technically a teacher. I was so happy to be cleaning yesterday...that is something that I am good at and understand in any language ;)
But I don't spend everyday at the school with Ingie (since I also wanted to see the city!) One day I ventured out into the city by myself and it was such a huge success! I went out to the bank and the store and then caught a taxi out to the Monserrate (famous church on a hill overlooking Bogota). My taxi driver was hilarious! He said that I was only the second foreigner that he has ever had in his taxi and he had SO many questions. He wanted to know if we have Frito Lay in the US and if everyone looks like me and if my family has my eyes. He was very disappointed when I told him that I cheer for Ecuador in futbol and gave me the futbol flag from his window of his favorite team so that I could cheer for them back in the US :) Sometimes taxi drivers get creepy and start proposing marriage and stuff, but this guy was just genuinely interested in learning more about my country, it was super fun....and great Spanish practice! He was really worried about me going up the church alone...he said he wouldn't do it because he was scared. He was also worried that my water bottle would make me a target because if I had 50cents for water then obviously I have money for other things as well. He was very sweet.
To get to the Monserrate you can hike, take a mini train or a cable car...but hiking has gotten too dangerous so they just recently closed down the path (too many robbers waiting for dumb tourists...it's the same way in Quito at their TeleferiQo). When I got there I got in line to buy a ticket for the cable car on the way up and the train on the way down when 2 (obviously) Americans walked up and asked me to explain their options for getting up the mountain. Rescuing confused tourists is one of my favorite activities! Sadly the train was closed down so we all bought round trip tickets for the cable car. It turns out that the guys are Delta airline pilots and I spent most of the rest of the day with them. They were super friendly and thought that I was fascinating, so of course I loved them :) One of them just bought land in Washington and was asking me questions about selective harvests and reseeding and which types of trees grow well together, and do I know what a Tamarac looks like? I do I do! Haha, what fun. OH! And then he asked me questions about lightning ignited fires and such...I suddenly felt very smart, it was great. So we had a beer on top of the mountain and then rode back down just as the rain started! A taxi from their hotel pulled up so I rode down with them...where we learned that the president was staying at their hotel!! Then they put me in another fancy hotel taxi and paid to send me home. I need to meet more people with money ;) When I got home the dad here answered the door and he couldn't get over the fact that I came home in a taxi from a fancy hotel...he had to go tell his wife right away. Haha!
My sister asked about where I am staying. I am staying in the house where Ingie lives. The house is owned by a Dutch family (mom, dad, 16 month old and a 4 year old...both boys). The boys scream a lot, it is interesting. The parents are very "European" Ingie tells me...in other words they are odd about some things, mostly involving money. I have my own room and bathroom off the washroom. It was a little intimidating being all alone after months of sleeping in dorms!! They have wireless internet here, so that is addictive and terrible :)
Part of what the ministry here does is support "pre" street kids as well as taking in kids whose parents are not stable enough to care for them. One such boy, Jorge (4), lives with one of Ingie's friends (her entire job is to care for this little boy...in other places in the city other volunteers care for up to 10ish kids at a time) and he is absolutely adorable. He reminds me of a little Kael :) I was really glad that he got comfortable with me super quickly so that I can twirl him around and play cars with him...I miss having kids in my life! I met his baby sister the other night and she was sooooo sweet, very smilely and just precious. Their mom makes super cute kids, but she really needs to be stopped! (she has at least 3 others as well...the ministry is working with her so that she can take the kids back into her home)
I have met a ton of kids here and some of them just break your heart. Some of their stories are just terrible...they need so much love! I am so glad that they have Ingie, she loves them so so much :) and she is so good with them/for them, she has definitely found her place.
I continue to be blown away by Bogota. At first glance it is the most run down/underdeveloped country that I have spent time in, but then I run into things like Blockbuster where you RENT movies instead of just buying bootlegged copies on the corner. We ate at a Crepes and Waffles where they only employ single mothers or expectant unmarried women. They have Baskin Robbins!!! Their bus system here is incredible, very advanced. I can't remember what else I have noted, but my favorite expression has become: "What is this country, where am I!?" I am very impressed.
Oh man, I had a slow week last week because I wasn't feeling great...like I was coming down with the flu again. Every single one of Ingie's friends was sick with something different which didn't help me. I slept in a lot...which Jordie (the dad here) thought was amazing...especially since his kids scream so much :) I had an ear infection that spread into my jaw which was fun for about a week. Luckily that is done now and I am starting to feel like I am on the upswing...but of course Ingie isn't feeling well now so that makes me nervous. Whatever, upswing!
I am getting kind of excited to head back to Quito. It will be such a different place without Jill or the apartment or the school, but I am so ready to be back in the glorious world of hosteling and my Spanish can not wait to get better!!
Sunday, August 9, 2009
Fighting "the man"
Once the bus got moving again we all pretty much passed out. Except... Andrea had a terrible cough at the time and one time when she coughed, the mom behind us reached forward and hit Andrea on the head REPEATEDLY!!! Earlier in the ride her kid had pulled our hair, sneezed on our heads and kicked our seats continuously. When Andrea asked him to stop, the mom yelled at HER. This was a fun bus :)
We eventually made it to the Lima bus station where we immediately hopped a taxi to the airport to get Andrea's flight sorted out. When we got there (around 6am) we were told that the Delta office doesn't open until 7pm because they only have night flights. Agh!! We hiked around the airport finding new people to yell at until we realized that absolutely NO ONE in the airport could help us.
We ended up setting camp at a phone/internet cafe where Andrea called Delta offices all over the world. They told her that she would have to buy a whole new flight because she had missed her first one (even though her mom had called ahead to say she wouldn't be able to make it because she was stuck in a RIOT).
I sat on our luggage while Andrea screamed and cried at Delta officials (all but one were incredibly unhelpful). While this was happening, an older American came up and offered to pay for her calls, offered her a place to stay and tried to help find new flights. Then a younger guy (American too) heard her screaming at someone about not having the $700 for a new flight and he came over to me and chatted for a while. He later told me that he wanted to give her the $700!!! She ended up finally talking to someone at Delta who worked the problem out and the extra money was unnecessary, but my goodness how generous and helpful of them both!!!
After that I walked the entire Lima Airport until I found a “special cases” Delta office where Andrea confirmed her flight for later that night and weighed her bag. Reassured that she would be able to go home, we found a hostel for me and spent the rest of the day repacking our bags and trading things that were supposed to stay/return to the US.
I was sad to see Andrea leave after spending 6 super crazy incredible adventure-filled weeks together, but it was time for her to head to the wedding and I was scheduled for a restful 9 days in Lima. I met a ton of amazing people at my hostel and had a fantastic time in a city that offers very little in the way of activities.
My 9 days in Lima consisted of sleeping late, watching English TV with other backpackers, partying at the bar in the hostel and laughing a LOT. I had such a great time. This was by far one of my favorite hostels of all time. It just felt so comfortable and by the end I knew literally everyone there.
After 9 days of parties, I boarded a morning plane to visit my friend Ingie in Colombia. Ok, stop judging! The Colombian government has made incredible strides to clean up their country, fight crime, track down FARK and increase tourism. Sure Colombia used to be the kidnap capital of the world, but now Venezuela holds that title. Also, Northern Ecuador is considered more dangerous than Colombia these days. I was psyched.
My flight over the Andes was easily the most amazing flight EVER. The mountains, the clouds, the ocean....wow. It was truly magical. And they served a hot breakfast with fresh fruit! How will I ever adjust to US airlines??
Wednesday, August 5, 2009
More "oh geez"...
And “Oh geez” continues...
Disclaimer!!: If you already stress about my safety in S.America, please skip this blog (but know that I am fine!)
So anyway we finally tracked down a hostel in Cusco and started researching alternate ways to leave Cusco for Lima. Andrea's flight was at midnight the next day, and I absolutely needed to go to Lima with her in order to get our checked bag back from the South American Explorers Club and our things sorted out before she left. We considered flying or getting on a bus immediately and when the bus stopped at 6am the next day just walking until we found a taxi or other mode of transportation. We ended up deciding to wait until morning to see if the strike was truly happening or not. I don't think either of us slept very well that night!
In the morning Andrea got up at 6:30 or so to check if traffic was still moving...it was! So we went back to bed and got up in time to head for our bus. We had a TERRIBLE time finding a taxi (and of course Cusco is at incredible elevation and we had all of our bags on) so when we finally found one, we fell straight in. The guy pulled to the corner and told me that the ride was going to cost us $20!!! When I asked him why it was so much, he said it was because the strike was indeed happening, and if anyone saw us driving they would throw things at us and it could be dangerous. Greeeaaaat. We took a bunch of back streets and hid from the riot police and eventually were dropped “near” the bus station. Good enough.
Once inside the bus station we were told that our bus was delayed until 5pm...our original bus was supposed to be at 12:30 so we were there at 11:30!! We decided to just wait at the station since the strike was affecting transportation throughout the city. Around 6pm everyone on our bus stormed the office demanding to know where our bus was. Eventually we all got on a bus at 6:30 where we were served a hot dinner (Andrea and I saved our extras...), watched a few movies and then went to sleep.
At around 4am we were all woken up when the bus almost tipped over. When the bus continued on we all went back to sleep. We found out the next day that the bus had hit a horse!!! This seemed like enough craziness for one ride...
But it wasn't done yet!
We woke up before dawn when the bus stopped moving. Not yet concerned, I told Andrea to go back to sleep and we would figure something out in the morning. She woke me up around 6 when people on the bus were freaking out and the bushes outside our windows were burning. Ohhh, that seems like a good sign.
With all of the people yelling at the same time I had a really hard figuring out what was going on. Eventually we gathered that we were stopped behind a roadblock that was supposed to last for 2 days. Excellent.
So here was the deal: 8 years ago the government sold the rights to natural resources, and now the indigenous groups are the ones suffering. They decided to sync up with the transportation strike to have a strike of their own. They had blocked the road with huge boulders and if anyone tried to move them, they threw rocks at them. They were also burning tires, logs and bushes.
Around 9am Andrea and I decided to venture into the nearest town to try calling the US Embassy. The town was completely deserted, every house boarded up and the dirt streets empty of venders and vehicles. What we did find (after crossing the roadblock) was a mob of angry bus drivers who told us they were arranging a talk with the striking group in the afternoon. One of the nice drivers helped us find a phone and then told us to get back to our bus.
My conversation with the US Embassy went like this:
Me: Hello, I am an American citizen stuck behind a roadblock in Puquio. I want to know what the safety situation is and what the recommended action is.
USE: I am sorry, you will need to call back at 4:30 during American Services phone hours.
Me: Is there someone else that I can talk to right now?
USE: I am sorry, you will need to call back at 4:30 during American Services phone hours.
Me: Ok, can you tell me if the Peace Corps has initiated their emergency procedures at least?
USE: I am sorry, you will need to call back at 4:30 during American Services phone hours.
Me: Alright, so what you are saying is that you want me to sit in a potentially dangerous riot and then hike back through town in 7 hours!!!?
USE: Ummm...let me see if I can find someone for you. <2 minute pause> I am sorry, you will need to call back at 4:30 during American Services phone hours.
Me: Can I at least give you our information and location in case things get worse here?
USE: No, you will need to call back at 4:30.
...at this point I wanted to say “Ok, when you hear about 2 American girls who died in a riot, that was us and you refused to help us!!
At that point (I was standing on some cement blocks and reaching up between bars to access the phone), I dialed Andrea's dad and handed her the phone. As soon as her dad answered, Andrea burst into tears. Not only was she scared by the situation, but she was facing the possibility of missing a good friend's wedding if she didn't make it home. She related the facts and asked him to call the airline (to cancel her midnight flight) and my parents. Then we hiked back up the bus where she never reemerged from the bus.
After hearing that we might be stuck behind the roadblock for 2 days, the bus company decided to stop serving any food. Andrea and I were pretty thrilled that we had packed food and had saved food from the dinner the night before. We also bought more water and juice while in town. We started hunkering down for a long wait.
Eventually the town realized that it could be capitalizing on the roadblock and, in the afternoon, began carting food and drinks up the hill to sell to the hundreds of people trapped on buses. The rioters also got mad at some point and went around painting “Puquio Paro, July 22-23” on all of the buses. We cowered in the bus when the plump old women in long skirts went by with their paintbrushes.
At some point the rioters agreed to let us through at 1pm...and then at 3:30...these did not happen. Buses began discussing sending passengers across the roadblock to trade buses and continue on. The people on our bus didn't want to because we had some old and sick passengers and people with a lot of luggage. Near dusk some people showed up from the other side of the roadblock to switch to our bus and they were denied!! It was at least a 2.5 hour walk from one side of the block to the other. It was terrible.
Angry mobs began to form outside of buses. Occasionally we would see 2 police officers, but they got yelled at so much that they ended up leaving.
Eventually at 6:30 the group decided to let the buses through for one hour and then they would close the block again. We were told that some of the first buses had been hit with rocks, breaking windows, so we closed all of the curtains as well as stuffing jackets and pillows into the windows for protection. The crossing ended up being totally uneventful...we saw lots of fires and hundreds of strikers, but had no problem crossing...and then we were on our way to Lima!!
For more information on the situation in Peru, check out these articles:
Protesters Gird for Long Fight Over Opening Peru’s Amazon
Government investigates reports of illegal logging
Disclaimer!!: If you already stress about my safety in S.America, please skip this blog (but know that I am fine!)
So anyway we finally tracked down a hostel in Cusco and started researching alternate ways to leave Cusco for Lima. Andrea's flight was at midnight the next day, and I absolutely needed to go to Lima with her in order to get our checked bag back from the South American Explorers Club and our things sorted out before she left. We considered flying or getting on a bus immediately and when the bus stopped at 6am the next day just walking until we found a taxi or other mode of transportation. We ended up deciding to wait until morning to see if the strike was truly happening or not. I don't think either of us slept very well that night!
In the morning Andrea got up at 6:30 or so to check if traffic was still moving...it was! So we went back to bed and got up in time to head for our bus. We had a TERRIBLE time finding a taxi (and of course Cusco is at incredible elevation and we had all of our bags on) so when we finally found one, we fell straight in. The guy pulled to the corner and told me that the ride was going to cost us $20!!! When I asked him why it was so much, he said it was because the strike was indeed happening, and if anyone saw us driving they would throw things at us and it could be dangerous. Greeeaaaat. We took a bunch of back streets and hid from the riot police and eventually were dropped “near” the bus station. Good enough.
Once inside the bus station we were told that our bus was delayed until 5pm...our original bus was supposed to be at 12:30 so we were there at 11:30!! We decided to just wait at the station since the strike was affecting transportation throughout the city. Around 6pm everyone on our bus stormed the office demanding to know where our bus was. Eventually we all got on a bus at 6:30 where we were served a hot dinner (Andrea and I saved our extras...), watched a few movies and then went to sleep.
At around 4am we were all woken up when the bus almost tipped over. When the bus continued on we all went back to sleep. We found out the next day that the bus had hit a horse!!! This seemed like enough craziness for one ride...
But it wasn't done yet!
We woke up before dawn when the bus stopped moving. Not yet concerned, I told Andrea to go back to sleep and we would figure something out in the morning. She woke me up around 6 when people on the bus were freaking out and the bushes outside our windows were burning. Ohhh, that seems like a good sign.
With all of the people yelling at the same time I had a really hard figuring out what was going on. Eventually we gathered that we were stopped behind a roadblock that was supposed to last for 2 days. Excellent.
So here was the deal: 8 years ago the government sold the rights to natural resources, and now the indigenous groups are the ones suffering. They decided to sync up with the transportation strike to have a strike of their own. They had blocked the road with huge boulders and if anyone tried to move them, they threw rocks at them. They were also burning tires, logs and bushes.
Around 9am Andrea and I decided to venture into the nearest town to try calling the US Embassy. The town was completely deserted, every house boarded up and the dirt streets empty of venders and vehicles. What we did find (after crossing the roadblock) was a mob of angry bus drivers who told us they were arranging a talk with the striking group in the afternoon. One of the nice drivers helped us find a phone and then told us to get back to our bus.
My conversation with the US Embassy went like this:
Me: Hello, I am an American citizen stuck behind a roadblock in Puquio. I want to know what the safety situation is and what the recommended action is.
USE: I am sorry, you will need to call back at 4:30 during American Services phone hours.
Me: Is there someone else that I can talk to right now?
USE: I am sorry, you will need to call back at 4:30 during American Services phone hours.
Me: Ok, can you tell me if the Peace Corps has initiated their emergency procedures at least?
USE: I am sorry, you will need to call back at 4:30 during American Services phone hours.
Me: Alright, so what you are saying is that you want me to sit in a potentially dangerous riot and then hike back through town in 7 hours!!!?
USE: Ummm...let me see if I can find someone for you. <2 minute pause> I am sorry, you will need to call back at 4:30 during American Services phone hours.
Me: Can I at least give you our information and location in case things get worse here?
USE: No, you will need to call back at 4:30.
At that point (I was standing on some cement blocks and reaching up between bars to access the phone), I dialed Andrea's dad and handed her the phone. As soon as her dad answered, Andrea burst into tears. Not only was she scared by the situation, but she was facing the possibility of missing a good friend's wedding if she didn't make it home. She related the facts and asked him to call the airline (to cancel her midnight flight) and my parents. Then we hiked back up the bus where she never reemerged from the bus.
After hearing that we might be stuck behind the roadblock for 2 days, the bus company decided to stop serving any food. Andrea and I were pretty thrilled that we had packed food and had saved food from the dinner the night before. We also bought more water and juice while in town. We started hunkering down for a long wait.
Eventually the town realized that it could be capitalizing on the roadblock and, in the afternoon, began carting food and drinks up the hill to sell to the hundreds of people trapped on buses. The rioters also got mad at some point and went around painting “Puquio Paro, July 22-23” on all of the buses. We cowered in the bus when the plump old women in long skirts went by with their paintbrushes.
At some point the rioters agreed to let us through at 1pm...and then at 3:30...these did not happen. Buses began discussing sending passengers across the roadblock to trade buses and continue on. The people on our bus didn't want to because we had some old and sick passengers and people with a lot of luggage. Near dusk some people showed up from the other side of the roadblock to switch to our bus and they were denied!! It was at least a 2.5 hour walk from one side of the block to the other. It was terrible.
Angry mobs began to form outside of buses. Occasionally we would see 2 police officers, but they got yelled at so much that they ended up leaving.
Eventually at 6:30 the group decided to let the buses through for one hour and then they would close the block again. We were told that some of the first buses had been hit with rocks, breaking windows, so we closed all of the curtains as well as stuffing jackets and pillows into the windows for protection. The crossing ended up being totally uneventful...we saw lots of fires and hundreds of strikers, but had no problem crossing...and then we were on our way to Lima!!
For more information on the situation in Peru, check out these articles:
Protesters Gird for Long Fight Over Opening Peru’s Amazon
Government investigates reports of illegal logging
Did I mention 'oh geez?'
Sooo...the plane ride to Lima was basically uneventful.
But, from the time we got off our plane in Lima to the time we left Cusco, I don't think we ever stopped fighting people. In Lima it was the airline representatives, and in Cusco it was every hostel we could find! We stayed in 4 different hostels within the first 24 hours. The first place lied about having hot water and internet, so we asked for our money back. To get our money back I first had to be yelled at by the owner's wife, begged by the hostel worker to leave so she wouldn't get in trouble, and then I had to leave the hostel to call the owner. Eventually we were victorious...with the first hostel at least :)
We eventually settled in a magical place with cold showers and no internet...but because of the altitude and the hills in Cusco, we were too tired to find another place! After a few days of shopping, we headed out on a bus to Santa Maria where we caught a taxi bus to Hidroelectrica where we started our grand hiking adventure out to Aguas Calientes (the town by Machu Picchu). We had been told “you just have to follow the railroad tracks and they will lead you straight into town!” Excellent...we thought. After 7 minutes of hiking we came to the end of the tracks...wah!? We then had to scale a small mountain where we came acrosss an Indigenous woman who spoke no Spanish who “told” us that we were now going the right way. Of course we could have saved ourselves a lot of trouble by simply taking the tourist train into town...but we wanted the adventure and the significant financial savings!
Shortly after nightfall we straggled into town where we had been told “don't book a room, it costs 3x to book ahead, just get a hostel when you get into town!” Excellent... we thought. Seeing a pattern? We ended up visiting over 30 different hostels and ALL were full. Eventually we settled into a nicer-than-our-norm place and fell asleep in preparation for our Machu Picchu adventure the next day.
We got up at 4am in order to get on one of the first buses. Even as early as we were, we were still on the 18th bus. Who cares, you ask? Everyday the park only gives out 400 tickets to climb Wayna Picchu, the massive mountain over Machu Picchu...and of course Andrea and I felt that a trip to Machu Picchu would be worthless unless we could climb the mountain and get the “standard photo!!”
That's when the fun started... once our bus stopped at the park I scrambled past the lines to buy our tickets (while Andrea held our place in line). Inside the gate, the footrace began. No, literally we all RAN through Machu Picchu ignoring the llamas and the ruins in order to beat everyone else to the WP line. Andrea even had to jump over a couple of people :) Ugh, and then the waiting began!! We had waited in line for an hour when people began turning around saying that there were no more tickets. Andrea and I are very stubborn headed and refused to leave until we heard something official. This worked out well because pretty soon a uniformed man came through line and gave each of us a number...and told us that there were no more tickets. Confused by our new number, we continued to refuse to leave :)
Eventually, after 2 hours in line we made it through! We didn't realize what a hike lay before us. Between the elevation, the steep climb and narrow stairs, we were fairly sweaty by the time we got to the top...great for pictures. We then got in trouble for going “the wrong way” despite having been directed that way, so we ended up summiting the mountain TWICE. Oooof. We then considered hiking down to see a cave, but people started turning around halfway there and they looked absolutely dead!!! So we hiked back to Machu Picchu where we quickly saw the things we wanted to see and evacuated back down to our hostel where we got cokes and were relaxing on our beds when the hotel manager came and KICKED US OUT!! Seriously, what a trip. So we had to go back on the hunt for a new place to stay (which turned out to be easier than the night before)! Oh the craziness.
The next day we hiked back out on the tracks...significantly easier than the hike in (and we didn't get lost...well not really, haha) and caught a taxi to Santa Teresa where we sat for 2 hours waiting for a taxi to give us a reasonable price back to Santa Maria (I eventually secured us a ride with a bunch of other foreigners, but we paid half what they did). Once in Santa Maria we got in a small bus and were assured “this bus is just for you 6 all the way to Cusco!” Excellent... you can see this coming right? We ended up picking up a mom and daughter who sat on me and a drunk man who yelled at the driver the whole way back to Cusco. The driver then dropped us off on the side of some random road and “wished us good luck”...very similar to our adventure in Paracas!
Oh this is where the fun starts, I hope you have hung in this long!!
We had our taxi drop us off as a different hostel from where our stuff was stored because we wanted to find a place that actually had hot water and internet. After finding out that the hostel was full I was busy badmouthing the world when a girl walked up behind us and said “haven't you guys heard? I can't believe you haven't heard!!” Ok... This is where reading my past e-mails will help you! Remember the last time I was in Peru I had to evacuate because of a massive riot in the north and then the road to Cusco was closed thanks to other protests? (8 years ago the government began selling rights to natural resources, and the indigenous people are the ones now suffering...so they are fighting back!) Alright well now the government is trying to enact some laws about transportation and planned a transportation freeze in order to...um...advertise? Who can explain the things that happen here. Anyway, there was a countrywide transportation shut down which meant that our bus (that we had already paid for!!!) for the next day would not be running. AND it meant every hostel in town was full because people were hunkering down in preparation. Oh geez.
Despite having already paid for our bus tickets, this was a big problem because Andrea had plane tickets for the next day. Did I mention oh geez yet?
But, from the time we got off our plane in Lima to the time we left Cusco, I don't think we ever stopped fighting people. In Lima it was the airline representatives, and in Cusco it was every hostel we could find! We stayed in 4 different hostels within the first 24 hours. The first place lied about having hot water and internet, so we asked for our money back. To get our money back I first had to be yelled at by the owner's wife, begged by the hostel worker to leave so she wouldn't get in trouble, and then I had to leave the hostel to call the owner. Eventually we were victorious...with the first hostel at least :)
We eventually settled in a magical place with cold showers and no internet...but because of the altitude and the hills in Cusco, we were too tired to find another place! After a few days of shopping, we headed out on a bus to Santa Maria where we caught a taxi bus to Hidroelectrica where we started our grand hiking adventure out to Aguas Calientes (the town by Machu Picchu). We had been told “you just have to follow the railroad tracks and they will lead you straight into town!” Excellent...we thought. After 7 minutes of hiking we came to the end of the tracks...wah!? We then had to scale a small mountain where we came acrosss an Indigenous woman who spoke no Spanish who “told” us that we were now going the right way. Of course we could have saved ourselves a lot of trouble by simply taking the tourist train into town...but we wanted the adventure and the significant financial savings!
Shortly after nightfall we straggled into town where we had been told “don't book a room, it costs 3x to book ahead, just get a hostel when you get into town!” Excellent... we thought. Seeing a pattern? We ended up visiting over 30 different hostels and ALL were full. Eventually we settled into a nicer-than-our-norm place and fell asleep in preparation for our Machu Picchu adventure the next day.
We got up at 4am in order to get on one of the first buses. Even as early as we were, we were still on the 18th bus. Who cares, you ask? Everyday the park only gives out 400 tickets to climb Wayna Picchu, the massive mountain over Machu Picchu...and of course Andrea and I felt that a trip to Machu Picchu would be worthless unless we could climb the mountain and get the “standard photo!!”
That's when the fun started... once our bus stopped at the park I scrambled past the lines to buy our tickets (while Andrea held our place in line). Inside the gate, the footrace began. No, literally we all RAN through Machu Picchu ignoring the llamas and the ruins in order to beat everyone else to the WP line. Andrea even had to jump over a couple of people :) Ugh, and then the waiting began!! We had waited in line for an hour when people began turning around saying that there were no more tickets. Andrea and I are very stubborn headed and refused to leave until we heard something official. This worked out well because pretty soon a uniformed man came through line and gave each of us a number...and told us that there were no more tickets. Confused by our new number, we continued to refuse to leave :)
Eventually, after 2 hours in line we made it through! We didn't realize what a hike lay before us. Between the elevation, the steep climb and narrow stairs, we were fairly sweaty by the time we got to the top...great for pictures. We then got in trouble for going “the wrong way” despite having been directed that way, so we ended up summiting the mountain TWICE. Oooof. We then considered hiking down to see a cave, but people started turning around halfway there and they looked absolutely dead!!! So we hiked back to Machu Picchu where we quickly saw the things we wanted to see and evacuated back down to our hostel where we got cokes and were relaxing on our beds when the hotel manager came and KICKED US OUT!! Seriously, what a trip. So we had to go back on the hunt for a new place to stay (which turned out to be easier than the night before)! Oh the craziness.
The next day we hiked back out on the tracks...significantly easier than the hike in (and we didn't get lost...well not really, haha) and caught a taxi to Santa Teresa where we sat for 2 hours waiting for a taxi to give us a reasonable price back to Santa Maria (I eventually secured us a ride with a bunch of other foreigners, but we paid half what they did). Once in Santa Maria we got in a small bus and were assured “this bus is just for you 6 all the way to Cusco!” Excellent... you can see this coming right? We ended up picking up a mom and daughter who sat on me and a drunk man who yelled at the driver the whole way back to Cusco. The driver then dropped us off on the side of some random road and “wished us good luck”...very similar to our adventure in Paracas!
Oh this is where the fun starts, I hope you have hung in this long!!
We had our taxi drop us off as a different hostel from where our stuff was stored because we wanted to find a place that actually had hot water and internet. After finding out that the hostel was full I was busy badmouthing the world when a girl walked up behind us and said “haven't you guys heard? I can't believe you haven't heard!!” Ok... This is where reading my past e-mails will help you! Remember the last time I was in Peru I had to evacuate because of a massive riot in the north and then the road to Cusco was closed thanks to other protests? (8 years ago the government began selling rights to natural resources, and the indigenous people are the ones now suffering...so they are fighting back!) Alright well now the government is trying to enact some laws about transportation and planned a transportation freeze in order to...um...advertise? Who can explain the things that happen here. Anyway, there was a countrywide transportation shut down which meant that our bus (that we had already paid for!!!) for the next day would not be running. AND it meant every hostel in town was full because people were hunkering down in preparation. Oh geez.
Despite having already paid for our bus tickets, this was a big problem because Andrea had plane tickets for the next day. Did I mention oh geez yet?
Tuesday, August 4, 2009
Frozen adventures!
Oh the things that have happened since last I updated! You would think that I would learn to update more often so that I wouldn't have to rack my brain everytime I write...but really that would be too easy ;) Forgive me, as always this is terribly long. I will have to send this update in pieces!!
The last time I wrote, Andrea and I were in Puerto Madryn...awesome awesome place! After that we headed south to El Calafate, gateway to the Glacier National Park. In Calafate we stayed with a fascinating family of 2 (mother and 9-year old daughter) which was an adventure all on its own! We took the daughter iceskating as our 4th of July celebration and cooked a typical...Morrocan meal that night! We also saw the Perito Moreno Glacier....incredible! I really can't describe the experience, please check out my pictures for that story!
After that we crossed through Chile for the 18th time in order to reach Tierra del Fuego and the bottom of the world!! (luckily the Parmesan cheese made it safely across once again) Back in Argentina, we stayed in Ushuaia, the southernmost town in the world. Reaching Ushuaia was easily my biggest goal on my South America trip. Cheeeeeckk!! While there we went dog sledding and visited the famous “End of the World” Prison. What an amazing time! Seriously...dog sledding, who does that!? On our last day it started snowing, and after fighting with bus companies for 2 days, I was afraid that we would continue to be stuck in Ushuaia. Happily our bus made it out, but because of snow and ice it was a very slow journey.
After fulfilling my Ushuaia dream we headed back north again (now we were making a mad dash north in order to make it to Machu Picchu before Andrea flew out). Unfortunately at this point I got super super sick. I was oddly grateful to be sick during this mad dash...can you imagine if I had been sick sooner how much I would have missed out on? We theorized that I had Swine Flu because it was such an epidemic when we were in Argentina. Clearly I never had that confirmed, but I will be having Swine Flu t-shirts printed up when I get home anyway ;)
I had really wanted to see the Lake's District and was excited that the furthest our next bus could get us was Bariloche, smack dab in the middle of the lakes! Getting off the bus we were greeted by amazing views even from the bus station itself. In town we stayed in the penthouse of a hostel...haha!!! No really, they were on the 10th floor in order to make money off the view they could offer from the balconies. Bariloche also turned out to be the Chocolate Capital of Argentina...see, we were meant to be there! :)
In Bariloche we booked plane tickets from Santiago to Lima (refer to racing up the continent remark) but we couldn't get Andrea's ticket paid for (problem with the website)...ohhh if only we had known the drama that would ensue from this! Then we headed out on our mad dash to Osorno/Santiago, Chile.
Haha, as we crossed the border back into Chile once again, Andrea and I got “busted” by cutoms...repeatedly!! First we got in trouble because we had left our sleeping bags on the bus, then Andrea got in trouble for having an apple core...and then customs went through Andrea's bag looking for marmalade. She had no idea how many she had, so she straight-faced lied to the agent that “yes, that is all I have.” Then they saw something in my bag on the x-ray and wanted to know if I had any marmalade and I began to panic about the safety of my Parmesan cheese! Luckily the guy believed me when I said I didn't have any marmalade and he left it at that (after x-raying it one more time). Oh Chile...
No really, oh Chile... After a surprise ride on a full cama bus (seats that recline into full beds...a bus not unlike first class on a plane) we made it safely to Santiago for our flight. We loaded up all of our belongings (and plane-ified our bags!!) and headed to the airport where we discovered that Andrea didn't have a ticket anymore (despite getting a confirmation the night before). With a little yelling and a few tears, she ended up with a more expensive ticket, but still on my flight!...and with both of our bags underweight!!
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