Postal Mail and Me

I love getting mail!

The kind you get when you open up your mailbox that sits outside of your home. The kind that a 'mailman' delivers. By foot.

I should define what kind of mail I like getting......

I like personal mail. Not anything to do with bills or anything that is not hand written.

I recently received a hand written note from my Spanish teacher Carmen in Guatemala.

It's in Spanish of course..........but I loved getting it!!

I also got 2 great post cards from 2 of my new friends while I was away in South America.

WOW! I'm sooo happy whenever I get postal mail.

"Paper" is a very reliable storage medium and is not dependent on any technology. Documents printed on most common paper and left undisturbed for one hundred years will be easily readable. In contrast, most electronic storage degrades much faster. Worse, devices that can read a particular electronic storage medium may be difficult to find and use even a decade or two after their introduction.

Don't worry..........I don't keep any of this mail...........but it's nice to know that I could if I wanted to!!

Tea and The Boys

I can't believe how much tea I've been drinking since I've come home.

It must be all the time I spent with all those Brit's. They love their tea.

I always thought it was just the Brit boys that drank tea. Not our Canadian boys.

Wrong.

Today I served green tea and mint tea to the three young men who were at my house to install my new windows.

There was a problem with the windows, so while waiting for the "boss", I served them tea and biscuits.

Yup. Just me and the boys.

Crazy People

I'm back to crazy people in the city.

While shopping at the grocery store tonight, I witnessed a verbal fight between two grown men. One had 2 kids with him (a girl - I'd guess 8 years old and a young boy a couple of years younger).

Insane. The poor kids had to listen to their dad argue with the other man who was yelling at him about his driving skills.

The dad wanted to take it outside, which I'm sure meant a fist fight, but luckily the other man was being a bit more of an adult and telling him that he shouldn't be driving like he was with two kids in the car.

The young girl looked like she was going to cry.

You wonder why we have bullies at school?

Just look at the examples they have at home.

Flowers and Me

Tulips are at sale at Safeway.

2 bunches (each containing 5 field tulips) for $5.00. A great deal.

Last week I had yellow ones in the house and today I purchased bright orange one's.

Beautiful flowers.

Too bad they don't live long.

On The Road Education

One learns so much when travelling. It never stops.

Food always tops the list.

Dolce de leche, much loved in Latin America as a sweet treat, is basically caramelized condensed milk.

I had never heard of this until just a few months ago being in South America. It was everywhere.

I now see it at Starbucks! Along with mango & pineapple empanada's (stuffed pastry).

I'm not so sure I would of even noticed this if not for my latest trip.

It's like noticing all the pregnant women when one has a pregnant friend. And you never noticed pregnant people before.

Very interesting what we choose to see.

I Hate ALL Lawnwork

I just spent the last two hours raking up my lawn before the major snowfall that is coming hits my lawn.

I noticed my neighbour cleaning up her lawn the other day, and of course this put pressure on me to do the same.

I don't have trees on my property for a reason, yet, my lawn has dead crab apples, pine cones and leaves. This bugs me.

I also have empty peanut shells that the cute black squirrels insist on eating on my property.

As you can guess, I don't feed the squirrels either.

I want to post a sign on my lawn that says KEEP OFF as owner is lazy and hates doing the lawn.

Technology & Me

I'm getting better!

I've spent about 30 minutes loading a few pictures on my blog............WOW!

I even made myself a photo album at Wal-Mart's new HP Photosmart Studio.

That took me a bit longer.

I'm so happy I can still learn new things.

Amazing.

Cabs & Me

I've discovered that most cab drivers in Calgary lack basic english skills.

When I left for the airport back in February, the cab driver was a bit nervous due to the snow storm. I'm pretty sure this was the first time he saw snow.

Coming home the other day, I had to direct the cab driver to my house by pointing my lefts and rights and basically yelling to get my point across on stopping and driving the speed limit and not so slow.

I don't know why we yell when people speak another language.

I had to point the way back out of my neighbourhood for him.

I think this was his fifth day on the job.

Poor guy.

Washing Sweaters

I purchased this really cool looking orange sweather, hand made, in Santiago. It was cool due to this really long and pointy hood in the back. Different. So me.

I made the fatal error of washing this sweater today.

In the wash. Cold water as advised by the vendor that I specifically asked directions on.

Let me just say that the sweater now is very big and ripped in a few spots.

I've laid it to dry...........just in case miracles happen.

I should know better.

What does $18 USD really get you these days anyway?

Bye Bye Santiago

I'm home now. Calgary. Not the big city like Santiago, which has 5 million people. My little city with clean air.

Santiago has a lot of smog and pollution. It's awful. I guess it gets even worse in Winter,which is just around the corner. I can't even imagine how people breathe in that city. Yuck.

My last week there was great. Hotel Espana, room 320........the "Love Shack". Red velvet walls. Big closet mirrors. Fridge. TV. Shower that worked. It rocked!

Highlights of the week:

• Valparaiso and the 5 star Pullman bus to get there. Let's forget about the worms in the grapes and fresh peas purchased at the market.



• Great hot chocolate at the cafe in the Belle Artes district. The spoon used to stir this is now in my home.


• Museo de Belle Artes. Note to self: Bring a spanish dictionary next time to understand what is going on.
  
• Central Fish Market. Don't eat cold fish soup in the future. Yuck.


• Pisco Sours for only 1,000 peso's. Loved them! You even meet people coming from a Bad Religion and Velvet Revolver show.


• Peruvian, Chinese and Italian food. What exactly is Chilean food?

After a 9 hour flight to Dallas, a 5 hour layover and a 4 hour flight to Calgary, I made it home safe and sound.

I really enjoyed my trip and did not want to come home, but I had to.

My tax return is due end of the month.

Mercado´s & Me

Yesterday I purchased some of the best strawberries, fresh figs and cactus pears I´ve ever had. Yummy!!

I love the craziness of foreign mercado´s.

Supporting Con Artists

I´m walking down Paseo Puente by Plaza de Arms today to check out the shopping and see this large crowd of people watching this guy in the middle. Curious, I walk toward the crowd.

In the middle is this older guy with 3 circles that he moves around super fast...talking really fast as he does this. The crowd is supposed to guess which one the colored one is after he stops moving them around.

There are no gringo´s around this circle and all the "locals" are throwing down 10,000 minimum for the bets. Wow I´m thinking...big money.

Somehow I got into the game by him telling me to guess which circle, then turn it over. I had some of the people in the crowd ask me to tell them which circle to bet on. All in some form of Spanish.

Of course I was guessing correctly all the time.

Then the guy moving around the circles gives me 30,000 peso´s and tells me to use his money to make a bet. Of course I guess the correct one.

Knowing far better than the stupid moments that followed, I was encouraged by pretty well the full circle to make the next bet. A few of them were all playing along as well.

Of course I lost my money, and am now a "monkey" according to one of the people in the circle that I understood.

I´m pretty sure all of them were in on this now that I have my brain back.

I wanted to cry right then and there. How stupid was I?

I´m not laughing yet, but will be someday as I fondly remember Santiago for my support of a family and friends of con artists.

City Tour Gone Bad

What was supposed to happen:

• Our own van (for the 5 of us taking the tour....Marta, Sally, Clermont, Chantel & me).
• Yes, we could pay cash or visa card.
• The best tour company around and you will see many different spots.

What really did happen:

• We had to share the van with 3 Americans (whose luggage...6 bags....were lost by Air Canada...similar to what happened to Chantel).
• They had no visa merchant supplies on them to take visa. Clermont had to wait until they drove back to their office and get them, and then had to wait for processing the payment.
• We toured all the spots many of us had spent the morning walking to. A very lame tour.
• We also stopped at a jewelry shop after the tour. We all really LOVED that!

All for only 18,000 peso´s each ($36.00 USD).

The tour guide and driver did not get a tip from any of us.

Goodbye Truck Mates

My overlander experience is over.

Am I sad? or........ Am I happy?

Both I would reply.

Sad............in that I love to see new places, try new activities, and meet new people.

Happy.........in that I love to have my own space and that 7 weeks surrounded by so many people was long enough.

I´m not ready to go home though.

I should of booked a few more weeks of independent travel after the tour.

Next time.

Hot Chocolate & Me

I just got back from this little cafe next door, as the power went out at the internet shop.

I ordered a hot chocolate ($2.00 USD).

A cup of hot milk poured over huge pieces of solid chocolate.

WOW! The BEST hot chocolate EVER!!!

I love this city!

More Vino Please

On our drive to Santiago yesterday, we stopped at a family run vineyard. The huge Miguel Torres one:

http://www.torres.es/eng/asp/index.asp

For $5,000 peso´s ($10 USD), you get the tour, plus 2 tastings...one of the white and one of the red. You do get this money back if you purchase 6 bottles of wine when you are done the tour. I didn´t buy any bottles, as I can´t carry any of this stuff and not break a bottle or two...so..... I just found out where I can buy this wine in Calgary, and will buy it when I get home.

I like both the Santa Digna Chardonnay, and the Santa Digna Cabernet Sauvignon (not a bad red, even though I don´t drink red). Cost of aprx $10.00 Cad a bottle if purchased at their store. I´ll see how this compares when I´m back home.

What I really liked about this tour was that you could taste the actual grapes. They had several rows of different grapes and you just grabbed a grape and ate it. I´ve never been able to do this on other wine tours I´ve been on, so I thought that was a pretty cool thing to do.

Most of the group bought bottels and bottles of wine and were pretty drunk by the time we got to our hotel in Santiago.

Some of the guys got into the beer and were singing along to the Queen music track that Aimar put on.

All I was thinking was that I should of bought one or two bottles just to drink on the 2.5 hr trip into Santiago.

Richard & Tony cannot sing.

Easter Weekend in Santiago

I´m here in the big city!

A lot of the stores and museums are closed today seeing as it is Good Friday.

I´m just walking around getting lost. This is how you really get to see things. I´ve managed to find the Museo de Arte Contemporano...closed...but open tomorrow and a few cool art stores, which are also closed until tomorrow. Wondering around a bit more, I found this real cool internet place. I´m in my own office like space with cool music in the background.

Before I started my wondering around, I stopped off at the Mercado Central to see what they had open. EVERYTHING!! Mostly all food stalls, which I love walking through. The fish section was out of control this morning. I´ll be going back today to pick up some fruit and maybe eat at one of the stalls before I head out on my city tour.

I booked a city tour for this afternoon at 3:30 pm ($18,000 peso´s $36.00 USD). I couldn´t get away from everyone, so a few others are coming along...which is okay. The hotel staff even booked our own separate van for us 5. I´m sure that when I go back, there will be others that are tagging along. I hope it´s not too large a group. I need some space.

My first impression of this city is that it is very smoggy. The people are nice, as I´ve stopped quite a few of them to ask directions and they are very helpful.

Other than it being a very expensive city....it´s all great so far!

Peer Pressure & Me

If a group of people are doing something that I'm invited to participate in, I usually say yes....especially if it involves doing something off the wall.

One of the reasons I do is because I do not want to feel left out. Mainly....I don`t want to miss out on the fun!

I just got back from a trek up VillarricaVolcano here in Pucon. What was I thinking? I thought I would never do this again. Ever. 20 of us went. Only 1 turned back. Cost of the tour was 40,000 peso´s ($80 USD) and $3,500 pesos for park entrance.

The hike up takes around 4 to 5 hours. Half the time on rocks, gravel and the other half on snow/ice. It takes 2 hours to come down, due to it being very steep. We walk up about 1,500 meters... after our drop off point that is mid way up the volcano. 5 Kms to walk up in 5 hours. Walking 5 kms usually takes just one hour.

You get outfitted with hiking boots (for ankle support), crampons, gators (these cover your pants from the knees down to protect against rocks etc.,), ice pick, helmet, wind pants, gloves & a snow hat. I´m getting scared at this point.

We left this morning at 4:30 am...started the climb up at 5:30 am, and I walked back in to the Hostel at 3:30 pm. I was in the slow group. 5.5 hours to walk up. 3 hours to walk down.

Hector, one of the guides held my hand most of the way down. I tipped him 10,000 peso´s ($20.00 USD). My life is worth it.

I can go up okay but coming down scares me and I am extremely slow.

The views from the volcano were amazing! Very worth the torture.

I am very sore right now and am waiting for my booked massage. After this our barbeque and then the Los Pozones Hot Springs.

Life is tough.

And on peer pressure....good thing the group does not do crack cocaine.

Pants vs Trousers

We call them pants, the Brits call them trousers.

I've learned to not say that I'm wearing my dirty pants or I can't find my pants.

Lynne lost her trousers the other day when she forgot to pack them up after leaving them on the tree to dry after she washed them.

I kept saying that Lynne lost her pants and everyone just kept smiling while Lynne yelled out it was trousers NOT her pants.

Today both of us purchased new trousers for her and pants for me. 15 Chilean peso's ($30 USD)

Chile is much more expensive than Argentina.

And their SMALL sizes fit differently.

I think they label everything small.

Dogs Everywhere

Most of the small towns we have been going to have dogs everywhere. Just running around. All sorts of dogs. Homeless dogs.

El Calafate was one of the worst areas.

I think there were more dogs there than people....and...... it was interesting watching them.

One can learn a lot from street dogs.

Scenic Drives

This place has been amazing!

There are loads of mountains reflecting in the crystal clear lakes. Blue blue skies and just the best views ever. You want to keep taking more and more pictures to be able to show people, as it is very difficult to describe.

Best I can say is picture the Canadian Rockies on viagra.

And picture every town we have been in lately as Banff on viagra.

Simply the best!

Throw in Spanish and you have heaven.

Just Bet It All

I'm sitting at the Hotel PanAmericano Casino in Bariloche with John and Uttam playing Blackjack the other day......killing time in the afternoon of our last day there.

The casino tables open up at 2 pm. Loads of slot machines. One blackjack table open and one roulette table. 10 peso minimum per hand (3 USD). Dealer uses 6 decks.

We all go in to play 100 peso's each. I cut the first shuffle. We win often. We are all up. John the most as he has been betting big. He was at one point up to 400 peso's.

John cuts the next shuffle. We lose often. I'm out midway. John close by. Uttam still has his original 100 peso's left. He is ready to cash out. Figures one hour of play and having fun really cost him nothing.

John & I tell him to keep playing. Bet it all.

Nervous Uttam thinks about it for a few minutes and then decides to play for a bit longer.

The cards were good to him. He left with 300 peso's! Up 200 peso's from start of original bet.

Peer pressure can be good at times.

Stop Yelling At Me

Yesterday morning when I got up bright and early to get ready for our road trip to Pucon, I head down the stairs from our bungalow to get my gear and Lynne starts ripping into me about her not having a key to get in the night before.

Where was it and why didn't we drop it off at the front desk like we were supposed to? What time did you get in? Why didn't you come back the moment you realized you had the key? And on and on...................

Nice good morning is all I can say. Gees. Talk to Michelle. She had the key last.

I then head outside to get some air from all this and run into Lloyd. All I say is "Hey Lloyd, do you want us to start packing up?" .........and HE starts ripping into me about how the truck is double locked, everyone just leaves their bags around, what kind of security do we have....and on and on.

At this point I'm starting to think that everyone is crazy, so I just tell him to chill and I walk over to Clermont to see who else wants to scream at me.

Clermont offers me left over pizza from the night before and shows me all the pictures he took of Lynne at 12:30 am using Dave as a ladder to climb into our second floor window as she was breaking into the bungalow.

This made everything better.

Toys at the Farmacia

While shopping at the pharmacy today, I see this interesting looking gadget with flashing lights set up in the corner of the store. Naturally, I walk towards it to see what it was.

For only 200 peso's, I now know my peso (weight), my estatura (height), my presion arterial (blood pressure) and my grasa corporal (body fat content).

The security guard had to help me a few times, as I thought this big computer that I was standing on was going to rip my wrist off at one point.

It would appear that I am still weighing the same as when I left Canada, but am still 5 kgs over what my weight should be.

I also have a problem with % body fat and I'm not sure what it is saying about my blood pressure.

I blame it all on the red meat I have been eating.

I blame Argentina.

More Extreme Sports

I´m sitting at the one free computer they have at Backpackers Hostel & Agency ...the spot we just checked into about 3 hours ago. We drove all day to get here, Pucon, Chile.

Michelle & I decided to just pick up some food from the supermarket and make something here instead off going out with everyone. I´m getting tired of socializing with so many folks all the time.

I made this awesome salad.........carrots, tomatoes, green beans, red onion, cucumber and a pickled side of cauliflower, baby onions and cucumbers...I used this for the dressing as I could not find dressing at the mercado. We eat junk all day on the truck and I am SICK of ham & cheese sandwiches. I have such a biig tummy from all the food I have been eating this trip. I need to start going back to a good diet soon!

We are here for 3 nights and 2 full days....not a lot of time for all these activies offered:

Huerquehue National Park, Caburgua Lake, Currehue,, Sunrise in the Villaarrica Volcano, Los Pozones Hot Springs, Rafting, Hidrospeed, Canyoning, Horseback riding, Canopy, Fishing trips & Ducky (kayaking).

I´m signing up for the Volcano Climb and the Hot Springs...AND.....maybe the canopy activity.

The rafting here is a level 4....AND...you have to dive in to get to the raft! I will NOT be doing this.

The volcano climb takes 4 hours to get to the top...2 on dirt and 2 on snow. You get outfitted with all sorts of equipment to make it to the top.

I have to do it.

Peer pressure once again.