3 posts tagged “south america”

When planning a trip I don't tend to dive into the culture until I arrive on it's soil.  Then I try and learn everything about it -- I'm more interested in understanding how people live day to day then ensuring I've seen every touristy spotlight written up in the books.  Because I don't immerse myself ahead of time I do sometimes miss out on things I don't leave myself time for ... because I didn't know to do so.  It just means I have to visit again.

When I get back from a trip I suddenly find myself surrounded by personal stories, news articles and travel tid bits related to my most recent exploration.  I've always wondered if they have been there all along -- but surface due to my new interest by association?  Or, is someone following me on these trips because they've decided what I do must be the next big thing (perhaps someone from the NY Times Travel)?  I mean, Bush did head to Uruguay after I deemed it a beautiful place to visit.

Although, I don't think two fires in Chile -- the weekend after we left -- has anything to do with what's popular.  One was in a hostel we stayed in down in Patagonia.  The blue hostel was the one that burned down and we had stayed in their related green house.  Around the same time a building in the historic Valparaiso also burned down.  We had wandered up in those historic streets, although I'm unsure if we passed the building.

So, it's probably no more than interest by association, and that's okay by me.  It means the more I travel the more I will pay attention to the world around me.  The more I will feel connected.  The more I will have stories to share.  No documentary or travel book will compare to the real thing.  It's like holding a photo you took in your hands vs viewing a digital one on the screen.  It's a whole different level of connection.

as i travelled through various large cities and small towns of uruguay, argentina and chile, i began to think every second woman i saw was pregnant.  could it really be true that the population in all three of these countries was about to boom?  were there this many woman back in san francisco pregnant, but i just never noticed?

then it finally hit me. i noticed all of these women because they weren't hiding anything.  they had on tight fitting tank tops that showed off their beautiful basketball like bellies.  they looked healthy and happy and walked with confidence. 

i wish i had a photo to share but i assure you it was a beautiful site. i salute them for standing tall and being proud of the creature they are creating. i only wish more women in the states would wear pregnancy clothing that shows off their shape.

if you are pregnant and you know it, and you really want to show it ... clap your hands ... er ... wear something fitted!

When someone suggests I take a bus somewhere I picture the Chinatown to Chinatown buses you can find from NYC to Washington, DC.  Very basic ammenities with a slight stench oozing from the back toilet. 

So, when I found out many of the buses from point A to B were 14 - 20 hours I wasn´t so keen to start hopping around from spot to spot.  Our first bus rides from Montevideo to Valiz already sent some encouragement that perhaps things wouldn´t be so bad.  We at least had air conditioning and the seats were quite comfy.

Then, we took a ferry boat from Colonia to Buenos Aires.  We thought we bought tickets for the slow 2.5 hour boat for $US20 but it turns out that bought us tickets on the 1 hour fast boat.  We get on the ferry having forgotten to buy lunch supplies.  Next thing we know ferry attendants are wandering the aisles handing out packed lunches.  This is more than most American Airlines hand out for free these days!

Well, then ... then we finally tried an overnight bus.  We took a 14 hour one from Buenos Aires to Mendoza (Argentina´s Wine Country).  When we saw the seats on our bus we must have looked liked little kids going on their first ride ever!  These seats were similar to ones you´d find in first class on a plane.  We only had semi-cama seats which tilt about 3/4 of the way back. For about $8 more you can buy cama ones that go almost flat.

It just got better from there.  They showed us two movies, fed us dinner and breakfast and gave us blankets and pillows.  If I had known how to say "will you tuck me in?" in spanish I may have asked the bus attendant to do so.