A (brief) Tangent

Arriving at the first ''backpacker hostel'' I've stayed at in months, and my first in Colombia, I finally realized why I haven't met many backpackers during my stay in Colombia so far. It's because they stay in the hostel all day long, eating, drinking, watching episodes of "Two and a Half Men," and waiting for the sun to go down so they can get the party started with Colombia's most famous export. I hoped it was just a rumor that I had been hearing along the way, but indeed many of the 20-something backpackers in Colombia are here for only one reason. It's sad, considering the fact that they are in one of the most beautiful countries in the world (as I was told by a slightly intoxicated Colombian young man last night "Colooombia es paaaaaradise!") and they never see it in the light of day.

Here's an article about backpacking, cocaine-seeking tourists that sums it up well. http://www.guardian.co.uk/travel/2008/apr/01/colombia.southamerica

Being here, I have also learned first-hand about what the cocaine industry has done to this country. The amount of money that is made from exporting cocaine is extraordinary. A lot of which goes to para-military groups and the FARC (made by implementing ''taxes'' on drug trafficking organizations). I met a friend of Linnea's last night whose mother had been kidnapped and killed in the 90's by those groups. 3 million Colombians have fled the country as refugees and 40,000 have been killed since the early 90's. Being here really makes it sink in that making the decision to use cocaine isn't just affecting yourself, but an entire country.

Medellin: former headquarters of Pablo Escobar's drug cartel...

...Now the safest city in South America.

A fantastic change from crowded, overcast Bogota, Medellin had the perfect mix of sun, beautiful people, and a wonderfully organized metro. Part of the metro included the cable cars that I didn't realize were in store until it was too late. Those of you who have been lucky enough to witness my fear of hights first-hand should be glad you weren't with me in that metal box of death, precariously swinging hundreds of feet above the ground.

It was way higher up than it looks

Birthplace to Colombia's most famous artist, Fernando Botero, we spotted his chubby statues all over town. He has museums in both Medellin and Bogota which are FULL of his paintings and sculptures of overweight Latin lovers.

Plaza de Botero

We took a side trip to see "El Peñol," a huge rock that reminds you of Sugar Loaf in Rio, surrounded by a lake. It is one of the most beautiful places I have been on this entire trip. I can't even try to describe it, so I'll just post some pictures. Even they don't really do it full justice. I want to retire here.

"El Peñol"

The view from the top

We also went to the neighboring town of Guatape, which was the epitome of what I imagined a Colombian town to look like. Sitting on the side of a lake, a beautiful plaza surrounded by jeeps and colorful tuk-tuks, a cupcake colored church, cowboys standing in doorways and fresh empanadas for sale on every corner (the tastiest ever).

a street in Guatape

tuk-tuks by the cathedral

After returning to Medellin and spending one last day soaking up the sun and some disappointing botanical gardens, I got on a bus back to Bogota with Robin and Jun, two new friends who I'd been traveling with since Salento. They stayed with Linnea and I for a few days and had a squillion laughs together.

The Colombia Coffee Region, aka Heaven

I had been planning to take a trip last week up to the coast, stopping in Colombia's Adventure capital, San Gil, along the way. But then I ran into a CouchSurfing friend, Russ, I had met in Arequipa and decided to go with him to the coffee region and Medellin.

We left early Friday morning, settled into our cushy, wide seats in the front of the bus and prepared ourselves for the 8 hour trip. (They cost the same as the other seats, so why not? We tried to ask the other people on the bus why they weren't sitting in the comfy seats and they just shrugged.) The bus ride was beautiful, which made the 8 hours to Salento feel more like 5. Or so.

Salento is a beautiful, small, colonial town in the coffee region with brightly colored buildings and quite the local nightlife. Everyone goes out to the plaza on the weekends and drinks until dawn.

Salento

The place we stayed at was the cutest little hostel, with a very outgoing owner, Lili. Every time we told her "gracias" she said "con todo amor" really dramatically. Everything she did was fairly dramatic. She is the epitome of latina carinosa. And possibly made the best breakfast I have had on the whole trip.

casa de lili

Next day we took a trip to a little organic coffee plantation. A man of 70 years greeted us down the road and introduced himself as the owner, Don Elias. He didn't have any teeth, so you can imagine how well it went trying to understand his Spanish. His grandson gave us a tour of the farm which included a little crash course on growing coffee plants. He also showed us how they cultivate and roast the coffee, then we all tried a little sample. YUM

on the way to Finca de Don Elias

artfully demonstrating the roasting/grinding process

Seeing as how it was Friday night, we decided to spend it like the locals do, playing a popular game called Tejo. We asked Lili where we could play and she led us to a wonderfully seedy bar down the road. After getting over feeling a little strange being there, the 7 of us gringos started getting into it.

Tejo consists of throwing a metal weight underarm into a wooden packing crate. The wooden packing crate is filled with clay and set at an angle (see picture). Squished inside the clay is a metal ring. The object of the game is to get your weight to stick in the clay as close to the metal ring as possible.

where the action took place

Then just to make the game a little more interesting and a lot more Colombian there are folded paper triangles of gunpowder placed at the top and bottom of the metal circle. These triangles are touching the metal circle and, obviously, if you get metal hitting metal with gunpowder between them you get a large BANG! The best part! (And the scariest part for me when it happened the first time...)

We were playing with smaller weights and a smaller distance to throw, just trying to make it on the crate at first. The local men that were playing there were amazing at it, throwing their weights 80 feet (and 15 feet in the air) and getting it to stick in the clay every single time. It was good we were playing the smaller version (about 15 feet long), or else it was a concussion waiting to happen.

We played for a while before we started getting the strategy and really wanting that BANG! Eventually, one of us got it and we all flipped out, including all of the old men that were playing there too. A couple of rounds later, I got the BANG! Best part of my day :)

The next day we had another early morning (which was ok considering that i had been sleeping in until 10 or so every day in Bogotá) and headed to Valle de Cocora, a beautiful, green, lush ''valley'' with huge wax palms towering over it.

wax palms in Valle de Cocora

We hiked around for a few hours, making our way to a home where the owners has attracted hundreds of hummingbirds. Incredible. There were quite a few rickity bridge crossings, so I was glad I had brought my chacos and could just walk right through them. Tobias hadn't been so lucky, and his lack of balance caused each crossing to be quite the adventure.

tobias crossing the river, with russ holding a stick that will be used as a railing for tobias

After visiting Don Elias' finca, four of us decided that we wanted to find one of our own secluded finca to stay at. We put on our adventure hats and said ''lets just get on a bus and get off when it looks pretty and stay there.'' But the whole trip was pretty (breathtaking, in fact) and we were indecisive, (and most of the places charged over $30 per person) so we just ended up going all the way to Medellin.

So Colombia. I am officially very much in love with it already. From the moment I arrived, I noticed that it is much different than most places I have been to. Here's some of them:

• you can drink the water. and it doesn't taste bad!
  


• you can flush toilet paper down the toilet. so very nice to not see brown-streaked toilet paper overflowing out of the trash bin.
  

• you can pay with credit card pretty much anywhere (very financially helpful for me at this point in the trip...) and all I need is my CA driver's license. Everywhere else I have needed my passport. Not a fun thing to carry around in my purse all day. STRESSFUL

• there is regular, decent, relatively easily navigated public transportation in most cities.
  

• people are so ridiculously friendly, wanting to help you even when unsolicited

• groceries are a little more expensive, but produce still stays cheap cheap cheap. here's to eating vegetables for every meal!

• I am living in a city of 8 million people where I can easily occupy myself daily (for under $5 a day) without work or other obligatory activities.
  

This is just the tip of the iceberg. Thank you, Colombia. Life is good.

A Series of Unfortunate Events

It's been a while.

Funny story. About two weeks ago (maybe even three by now...) I was headed to the internet cafe so that I could write another blog and mention how good I was at blogging lately. But then when I got there I found out that all of my pictures from the entire trip had been deleted off of my little flash drive. (I have no idea how that happened. I just plugged it in once and they were GONE!) So then I was a little preoccupied trying to figure it out so I didn't blog. The pictures are still deleted but it's ok because I have most of them on Picasa. But I did lose a lot of my pictures from Arequipa and the first half of Bolivia. it's a shame. shame shame shame. Gotta figure out some better way to save my pictures so this doesn't happen again.

That was in Sucre. Between Santa Cruz and Sucre I went to a place called Samaipata, which was absolutely beautiful. It's a beautiful little hippie town and I saw tons of animals and stayed at a cute place where I had a feather pillow. Feather pillow! I think it had to have been a mistake, but I didn't tell anyone because I didn't want it to be taken away. No pictures :( they are gone

Then I took a plane to Sucre because I'd heard from a lot of people that the bus ride was at least 17 hours and absolutely terrible. Plus, a plane ticket was only $50 so I splurged! Definitely a good choice.

Sucre was a beautiful city, the former capital of Bolivia. It was stolen away by La Paz years ago and they are still pretty bitter. The supreme court is still in Sucre, but everything else is in La Paz. Outside of Sucre there are dinosaur footprints so I visited those. They are on a vertical wall thing because of the techtonic plates moved. They aren't sure how much longer they will last because it is eroding.

can you see the footprints?

I was there for a day extra since I missed my bus to Uyuni. Caught the bus the next day. Good thing I flew to Sucre because it was a long long bus ride where I was sure that the bus was going to break down any minute. Luckily it didn't break down and I made it to Uyuni by sundown. I was supposed to meet up with friends there to do a tour of the Salt Flats together but hadn't heard from them and couldn't find them in the tiny tiny town of Uyuni so I booked a tour on my own. The tour was incredible. It felt like I was on a different planet. Everyone who had done the tour before told us how horribly freezing it was (-20 degrees celcius at night, which is around -5 farenheit) and you stay in little huts with thatched rooves. I was prepared for the worst, but the nights weren't that bad. The bad part was at 6am when we got a flat tire. I thought my toes were going to freeze off. Luckily, they didn't.

salt flats

At the train cemetery

''Arbol de Piedra'' - Stone Tree

After Uyuni I took an 11-hour night bus back to La Paz. I only had one day there so I walked around doing all the touristy stuff I didn't do last time I was there. Again, I really enjoyed La Paz. It's truly a city unlike any other I've ever seen.

A bus in La Paz

Had a flight the next morning (Tuesday) to Bogota, Colombia that I was SURE was at 11. Unfortunately, when I arrived at the airport at 9, I was informed that the flight was actually at 9. oops. (I am calm about it now, but you can be sure I was the opposite when it happened. not a fun day) So after a series of frustrated phone calls in both Spanish and English, I finally got myself on another flight on Friday to Bogota with ''only'' an $83 fee. With my newly acquired 3 extra days in La Paz, I mostly just lounged around on my friend's couch and watched Grey's Anatomy and Lost.

I made it to Bogota, and now I'm loving the city, hanging out with Linnea and Trish, and planning my upcoming trip to the coast. hooray!

Villa Tunari

Hopped on a bus/van from Cochabamba to Villa Tunari last Monday. I told the driver a few times that I wanted to get off at Villa Tunari, but he went a mile or two past it anyway. I was able to get a taxi back after multiple questions and an hour or so of waiting. Spent the rest of the day wandering around the town, taking some pictures. I had a permanent layer of sweat on my skin because of the heat and humidity, which was a nice change from the frigid cold of the mountains.

View from my hotel. I spent a lot of time here reading or doing nothing.

The next day I went to Parque Machia, an animal refuge that has lots of young backpackers working/volunteering there, including a couple of friends I had met in Arequipa. (Wasn't ever able to meet up with my friends, and got an email from one of them telling me he had gotten bit by a monkey -again- and that's why he couldn't come meet me when I came by the park...) It was a beautiful area, I hiked around the park where they had monkeys jumping around from tree to tree and also some beautiful macaws. They charged extra to bring your camera in so I decided not to. So no pictures, unfortunately.

After a lunch I took a ''trufi'' (shared taxi) to a resort hotel that you could pay to take a hike down to the natural swimming holes on their property. It was a beautiful, relaxing hike, but not quite hot enough to swim. It started raining on my way back and ended up pouring for 20 minutes or so, luckily not until I got to my hotel.

The trail on the way to the swimming holes.

One of the swimming holes

The next day, after asking around a lot about how to get to Santa Cruz, I set out with my backpack to wait on the highway. The sun had come back out and I was drenched in sweat after just 5 minutes of waiting for the bus. After about 10 buses passed me by without stopping, I started to get a little nervous. But every time I asked someone, they said just wait there and a ''flota'' will come by. They said a flota is a big bus but I thought the big busses had already gone by. But once the flota arrived I knew which one it was. (it was huge compared to the others) I hopped on and got the last seat on the bus. It was a sweaty 5 hour trip to Santa Cruz, and it had started raining by the time I got there. I asked the taxi driver if this weather was normal (it's supposed to be the dry season) and he said no, it's only today. ok phew. I didn't leave Seattle to spend days in the rain.

I stayed at one of the best hostels I've encountered on my trip, and met a couple of other travelers. We tried going out that night, but after the first bar it was absolutely POURING down rain so we called it a night and went back to the hostel for a few beers.

The next day the weather continued. Freezing, windy, and pouring down rain. I felt like I was in a minor hurricaine. Not an inviting climate to wander around a city in. So I plopped myself down on a beanbag in the tv room and watched about three movies. Stepbrothers was a hilight. We braved the weather for lunch at a Bolivian-Mexcan restaurant and bought pasta to make for dinner. I didn't leave the hostel again that day. Unfortunate about the weather because the hostel had a great-looking pool.

DEFINITELY wasn't expecting that...

While wandering the streets of Cochabamba a few hours ago (which, may I add, is a little underwhelming on first glance...) looking for a place to throw away my yogurt container, I finally found a dumpster. I opened the lid to toss in the trash and there was a PERSON inside!! I yelped and ran away. But not before I threw the yogurt container in. I think it might have hit him.

I'm in an internet cafe where there are 13 computers, all but one have adolescent boys playing world of warcraft and yelling ''mierda'' and ''puta'' a lot. those are bad words.

Bolivia - land of the freezing cold

two of my best friends in Arequipa, Eli from Germany and Claudia from Peru

After a tearful goodbye in Arequipa, I left on a 5am bus headed for Puno, a town close to the boarder where I could hopefully catch a bus that would take me straight to Copacabana in Bolivia. Unfortunately I couldn't find a bus that did that, so I got to hop on a local ''combi'' to take me to the border. I was a little nervous because I had to have all my papers and forms ready for the Bolivian border patrol and it was my first border crossing all by my lonesome. It turned out to be quite easy, except I lost a sleeping bag on the way. Thats two sleeping bags in three years that Peru has claimed. oops

Copacabana was nice, it is right on the edge of Lake Titicaca. My hostel said it had lake views but when I arrived my tiny cell of a room didnt even have a window. There was also some weird green stuff on the wall that I was going to take a picture of for you, my friends and family, to see if you could figure out what it was, because I sure could not. But then I forgot. It will always be a mystery.

I took a boat out to the Isla del Sol my second day there and walked around the island for a few hours. Saw ruins and sacrificial stone tables. The sun was out in full force but I was still freezing! Copacabana is 12,500 ft above sea level, so it gets pretty cold there. Met more guys from the states who are cycling around South America. www.oneroadsouth.com.

Isla del Sol

An elaborate boat made out of reeds. Maybe they actually used it one day instead of it just being a tourist attraction. hopefully.

I went out to dinner at a little place that I picked because it had a space heater. (I have yet to stay in a hostel/hotel with any kind of heating. That might have something to do with the fact that I find $10 a night ridiculously expensive...) It was really tiny so when a couple came in to eat and there wasn't a table for them, the waiter just put them at the table with me. They were a really sweet gap year couple from southern England. We played jenga while we waited for our food and then they walked me home after the whole city lost power. The stars were incredible, though. I haven't seen the milky way that bright in a long long time. The power didn't come back on until 9am the next morning. crazy.

By the way, I am reading the Kite Runner right now, which is incredible. I also have Wuthering Heights waiting for me in my backpack and just found Nickled and Dimed at a book exchange. I've got some good reading ahead of me.

I arrived in La Paz on Wednesday, and I'm couch surfing (www.couchsurfing.com) with a guy from Australia who is living here. There are also two other girls staying with him, and we have been having a great time together. Couch surfing is great but it unfortunately makes you never want to leave the house. Yesterday was the bicentennial celebration of the independence of La Paz, so Wednesday night I met a bunch of couchsurfers downtown to watch the parade. Then we made our way up the hill (slooowly, La Paz is at almost 12,000 ft.) to watch a concert. It was interesting seeing people walk around with full bottles of liquor and see the traditional music on stage, but I was freezing and tired so I took off to meet my Irish friends at their hostel. It was great to see them again and we made plans to do a tour of the uyuni salt flats (sounds incredible... google it and look at the pictures) when they get back from the jungle next week.

A street in La Paz

I got really bad food poisoning on Wednesday and spent all day Thursday on the couch watching Six Feet Under. (such a great show!!) Thursday was a horrible day but I woke up feeling 100% better yesterday. We spent the day walking around the city, drinking coffee, eating $2 lunches and shopping. I bought a beauuuutiful jacket that I have been wearing ever since.

Now I'll head to Cochabamba tonight (hopefully will find Harry Potter playing at the cinema...) and then to a little town called Villa Tunari on the edge of the Amazon basin to warm up a little and visit my friend who is working at an animal refuge.

Love and miss you and want to hear from you!!

Another post about the hostel known as Bothy

This is my last week in Arequipa. Sad, I know, but I am excited to move on to Bolivia and then Colombia. I was planning on spending my last week working at Bothy and saying goodbye to all of the wonderful friends I have made here. Then Sunday evening I was told by another girl who works at the hostel that the owner asked her to tell me not to work in the morning because the city was coming to do inspections. Since I'm a foreigner working there illegally (which I assumed but never actually talked about with the owner... who is Peruvian, by the way...), it would not be good to be seen working there when official guys stop by. She told me I could, however, help out in the afternoon with David, from England, who is also working there.

So I thought awesome! A day to sleep in. Then I checked my email Monday afternoon and saw that I had an email from the owner. (classy, huh? he couldn't call me or stop by the hostel.) He went on and on about I was getting the whole week off, (oh wow sweet! i was told it was only Monday) and it is a shame because it is my last week. But he said nothing about whether I could continue staying there. (let me first remind you that the only payment I was receiving in exchange for 3 weeks of working 48 hours a week and 3 more weeks working 30 hours a week was a dorm bed to sleep in and 2 hours a week of Spanish lessons...) I was a little confused about the whole situation.

He was at the hostel at around 8pm Monday night, so I asked him to clarify. He told me that he didn't know which day the city inspectors were coming, just that they were coming some time in the week during the morning hours. Thus David didn't have anything to worry about since he only works in the afternoon.
''Well can I help out in the afternoons?''
''No, you know there's really no one around in the afternoons, so one person is enough...''
''Sooooo there's nothing I can do?''
''Nope, you've got a free week''
''And I can still stay here?''
''Well you don't have to pay for tonight, but we will use tomorrow as the date for your check-in.''
(erin: blank stare. you have GOT to be kidding me)
''ummmm ok. can i have a discout?'' (seeing as how the hostel is about twice as much as most of the others in the city, and he knew the reason I was working there was to save money)
''no, I can't d0 that you know because this is the high season. you can always couch-surf you know''
(another blank stare)
''well.... ok...''
(walk out of office that I have spent over 200 hours in, without pay, regretting not throwing some kind of tantrum on my way out)

So I decided that not only did I want to pay for an expensive dorm bed, but I also didn't want to give him any of my money. So I moved into a little hostel where I get all of the same ammenities (minus toilet paper) for less than half the price. I am quite pleased.

The story isn't over. Seeing as how a lot of my friends are still at the hostel, including three who work there, I went over to Bothy a couple times after I had left. When a few people saw me leaving with my backpack, they asked me where I was going, so I honestly told them that I was moving to a cheaper hostel because I wasn't working there any more and couldn't afford to pay for it. No harm done, right? It's honest and not my fault that I was pretty much forced to leave.

I got a call today from David, who told me that Raul told Juliana (another girl who works there) that I am no longer allowed inside of Bothy. Why? Because apparently I told people staying at Bothy that they should go to a cheaper hostel and they did. WOW. David and Juliana can be friends with me, but only outside of Bothy. David didn't think that Raul was planning to tell me himself, so he thought he should tell me before I show up again and he can't let me in.

I am pretty frustrated because I had a fantastic 6 weeks working at the hostel and was planning on recommending it to everyone heading to Arequipa. Now, seeing the way that I have been treated and the way he treats others who are working and staying there. A sad ending to a good era. I still love you, Peru.

Now on to Bolivia!

couchsurfing, without the couch

I have been making friends with people in the CouchSurfing community here. They are really fun, energetic people, and a good mix of locals and other travelers. Usually, the common language is Spanish so it's great practice for me. It's much more fun than studying or taking classes, and just as good.

I took a day off of work and went rafting with them a few weeks ago. It was a blast, but terrrrribly freezing. A bunch of people chose to jump into the river, but i opted out of that one.

The guy in the front right doesn't speak English, so couldn't understand the commands that the guide was giving and was always paddling the wrong direction or at the wrong times. I was cracking up and yelling the spanish commands at him. I think I might have found it funnier than him...

Last weekend we went to a festival-type rock concert of mostly bands from peru and other south american countries. it included one band dressed up in costumes of different children tv show characters.

Pink Panther spent the whole time wandering around the stage and humping others

After that concert, we went to a bar downtown that had the most fantastic live music EVER. It was kind of like energetic latin ska covers of popular songs here. my legs were sore the next day from jumping and dancing.

Jaime and Jose Luis

With Jaime, from San Francisco, and Ellie, from Montreal

Sunday we went on a trip to see some waterfalls outside of town. I thought it was just going to be a short walk, but it turned out to take almost 4 hours to get there, (we thought we were lost a few times) walking under the blazing sun and through the river. Luckily I had worn my chacos but other people had to go barefoot. The water was freeeeezing (again... it's the dead of winter here) and sharp rocks hurt when they get between the soles of your sandals and your feet. But we finally made it and had a little picnic at the falls. Then we found a faster way back. Much better.

Walking through the river. Would have been much more fun if it wasnt numbingly freezing

I am keeping the sun off my head.

finally made it to the waterfalls

While doing my daily flight searches...

I found an incredible deal for my return to the states and... BOOKED IT!

So I arrive in San Francisco on October 20th, after a beautiful 7 hour layover in Mexico City, where I will proceed to consume copious amounts of huaraches, mole, and beans. Yay!

My plan after that is to head back up to the northwest in early November, to move in with some of my two best gals, Alexa and Brittany (who are actually coming to visit me and Linnea in Bogotá, Colombia in September). I am excited to start this new chapter in my life. Seattle, I have missed you (and everyone that goes with you).

Bothy Hostel

Whenever I tell people that I'm working at a hostel, they ask the same question, ''so, what exactly is it that you do there?'' So I thought maybe you might be wondering the same thing. I've been here for 3 weeks now, so I feel confident enough to tell you that my days don't really change much.

My day begins at 9am with a loud ''hola ereeeeeeeeeen!'' as I come down the stairs from Eduardo, who works with me every day. After a hearty breakfast of tea, white bread with margarine and jam and more bread, I plop myself down in front of the computer to check the reservations. There are approximately 4 different emails I get to check for reservations, so that can take me a while. Then I go back to the breakfast area and chat with any people that are there and clear dishes, etc. If I'm feeling motivated, I proceed to wash them or else I leave them in the sink for later (and secretely hoping that the cleaning lady will get to them before I do).

The next few hours are filled with people checking in/out, people asking questions about tours or the city or buses or other random information, making signs for different things around the hostel, or checking reservations again. Most of this doesn't take long so then until 2 o'clock I'm making myself busy by writing emails, blog posts or facebook updates. On some days the owner's mom brings lunch and is always impressed at how much I eat. Maybe she is trying to tell me something? One day she brought a dish with cow intestines and I surprisingly enjoyed it.

From 2-5 a have a little siesta time in which I lay in the hammock on the terrrace and try not to get sunburned, read, cook lunch, hand wash laundry in FRIDGID water, walk around town, buy pirated DVDs or watch said DVDs. I also had my first Spanish lesson yesterday that I will be doing twice a week. It's part of the perk of working here that the owner is paying for me.

At 5 o'clock I arrive back in the office to do pretty much the same thing I did in the morning. The only difference in the evening shift is that I have to call the other hostel that I do reservations for and tell them all the reservations for the next day. The system they have for all this is absolutely terrible but I've given up trying to fix it. So I get to do an awkward telephone call in Spanish in which I ask them to repeat things a lot. I'm getting better at it, though.

Arequipa: the main cathedral at night, on the left is the plaza

me and el misti, arequipa is in the middle

my little bed

the office where i am sitting right now, just picture me sitting there waving at you

Arequipa

Why hello! After quite the hiatus, I am back. Here's what happened since last time:

-I changed continents
With Kristen and Ashley, I flew from San Jose, Costa Rica, to Quito Ecudaor.

-Traveled around Ecuador
We spent about 2 weeks in Ecudaor, hanging out in beautiful and crazy Quito, visiting our friend Heather on the farm she had been working at for a few months, flying in a little car over the cloud rainforest, straddling the southern and northern hemispheres on the equator, amongst other beautiful and fascinating activities.

a good friday processional in Cuenca

At Mitad del Mundo, the equator

-Arrived in Peru for the second time in my life, three years later
After Ecudaor, five of us ladies (we adopted Heather and Elin from the farm) took a long long bus ride to the beach in northern Peru. It was nice to lay around in the sun for a while before we took off for Lima. After Lima, we embarked on our longest but most luxurious bus ride yet, a 20-hour journey to Cusco. We did what all travelers do in Cusco, which is mostly party until the sun rises. We didnt really have the option not to, anyway, because everyone in our gigantic hostel was doing the same. I said a tearful goodbye to Kristen and Ashley, my travel partners for the last 3 months, who were heading off to Argentina from Cusco. Heather and I headed to Lake Titicaca, the world's highest navigable lake. (still not sure what that means...)

I wrote my initials in the sidewalk in Lima 3 years ago. they're still there!

Inca ruins, Saqsaywaman (say it out loud, phonetically)

-Traveled around Peru with Heather
Heather and I spent 3 weeks together in Peru, doing all kinds of things.

A boat tour on Lake Titicaca, which included the interesting and beautiful - but painfully comercial - floating reed islands

Visited Arequipa, the ''White City,'' second largest city in Peru

A hiking trip in the Colca Canyon (second-deepest in the world)

A pisco and wine tour in Ica

Sandboarding in Huacachina

A beautiful four-day hiking trip in the Cordillera Blanca

-Decided to stay in South America longer than originally planned
My friend Linnea has been living in Bogota, Colombia, since last year. She invited me to move in with her in August until she goes home in October. After a bit of consideration, I decided that I couldn't pass up that opportunity. So instead of coming home in August after visiting Bolivia and Colombia, I'll come home in October. Which gives all of YOU more time to come visit. :)

-Started working at a hostel in Arequipa
Because of my extended trip, I have to kill some time (about 6 weeks) while spending the least amount of money. (I'm running out a little bit, as you can probably imagine...) I met the owner of Bothy Hostel (www.bothyhostel.com if you're curious) last time I was in Arequipa, who invited me to come work at his hostel in exchange for room and board. Sounded good to me! So here I am. I work about 8 hours a day, 6 days a week. It keeps me busy, which in turn keeps me from spending money frivilously. My weakness now is buying pirated dvds of tv shows for about $4 a season. oops.

So there you have it, all the updates. I posted pretty much all of my pictures so far on picasa. I'll write more soon about my time in Arequipa.

I miss you all dearly and hope to hear from you soon!