Just about to start our month long trip across the country! First up, State College and after Chicago.
Gotta figure out how to upload an image of our bucket list-- 11 items since it's 2011 and a mix of easy to complete and less easy but still pretty doable items.
I'm not even sure how to make this post! I still do not own hiking pants. I am reviving the traveling hat! It's with me.
Saturday, July 2, 2011
Thursday, June 11, 2009
KeZley part 2...
It became immediately clear uppon arrivein in Ecuador that Kelsey is not a very common name here. Not only that, but also that nearly all spanish speakers across the board, regardless of whether they are indigenous folk from ecuador or bilingual tango show hostesses in Buenos Aires, can not for the life of them pronounce her name. Her family lovingly referred to her as kesley (pronounced kezley, like elvis presley) the entire semester, the customs men at the post office in ecuador laughed bluntly in her faced and asked if that was seriously her name, but the icing on the cake occurred last night at our tango show.
So last night, we attended our first tango show in Buenos Aires after it was recommended to us by a New Zealandish...New Zealander...New Zealandian??...New Zealandic!!! comrad at our Hostel. He RAVED about the show, telling us they were ¨like, real professionals¨(pronounced profishonells) and that it was the best steak he had in all of Buenos aires, and the Tango musicians and singers were just.... FANTASTIC!!! We took his word for it and were presented with something between a strip show and the dance fighting scenes from West Side STory...the whole time i whistled ¨when you´re a jet you´re a jet all the way¨ in kelsey´s ear. Speaking of Kelsey....
So, in order to schedule the tango show kelsey called to make a reservation... now in her words a recounting of what happened:
¨i call the place, talk to the lady, get the information and hang up.
then nik is like, she told you the wrong time, call back and make sure its right.
okay, i´lll call back.
i call back and the lady is like OH GOOD i forgot to tell you about this promotion with your hostel, you get the whole meal for 180 pesos (originally we were just going to get drinks and desserrt) so i´m like COOLIO that´ll work just fine. and she´s like can you tell me your name again? and so we go through the whole process of trying to get her to understand that KELSEY is a NAME. but like everyone else in latin america, she doesn´t believe it for a second. so then i get off the phone, and am fairly confident that she has an idea of what my name is and that we do in fact have reservations.
but then nikki still isn´t convinced that the time the lady told me was right. so i call back AGAIN. in like a five minute period. but it is a good thing i call back because the lady is like OH GOOD YOU CALLED BACK AGAIN. i forgot to get your full name. (which was her way of saying, i still have no freakin clue what the hell your name is. why isn´t your name REAL??)
so i start to tell her my last name is stewart. and she´s like how do you spell it, and i´say S-T-E- and she´s like no your first name. so i change to K-E and nik is like NO THE NEXT LETTER IS W!!! hahahaha. but finally i spell it out, k-e-l-s AS IN SUSIE...etc. etc.
a few hours later we finally arrive and go to check in, and what is my name written down as on the reservation??
KELFLY.¨
hahahahahahahahah
Also, another quick and trivial happening that just occurred. We were just taking the elvator down in our Hostel to head over to this internet cafe and when we stepped aboard the 60 year old door man of the hostel was standing in the elevator car. I walked in, the doors closed, and immediately i had the sensation i was being suffocated. Initially confused, i quickly realized the waning oxygen was the result of a growing abundance of cigarette smoking filling the elevator and sneaking up my virgin nostrils. hahahaha. Anyway, i look furtively using my peripherals and see the door man holding a marlboro, sucking on it idiotically with his old chapped lips. Horrified i instantly started shooting dagger eyes of death at kelsey and then down at the cigaretted hand. She began to laugh. Then the man dropped his cigarette after hot boxing the ´vator and put it out on the ground. Then i burst out laughing until i realized i shouldn´t waste what little oxygen i had left.... Moral of the story, WHO THE HELL SMOKES A CIGARETTE IN AN ELEVATOR.. A SMALL ENCLOSED METAL BOX. WHO FREAKING DOES THAT?? IS IT EVEN LEGAL? I´m inclined to complain and say what the hell is wrong with the whole rest of the world why do they all smoke, but i realize the real problem is the GODDAMN TOBACCO INDUSTRY...YOU FUCKERS HOT BOXED MY ELEVATOR IN BUENOS AIRES. TAX THOSE CIGARRETTES, TAX ÉM ALL DAY CONGRESS!!!
ok ok we´re getting a little loopy down here. Tonight or tomorrow night we´re trying to go to this greek restaurant where they break plates and stuff. i´m hoping for a rousing rendition of mizerlou on the bizouki!
WE GET HOME IN T-5 DAYS!!
So last night, we attended our first tango show in Buenos Aires after it was recommended to us by a New Zealandish...New Zealander...New Zealandian??...New Zealandic!!! comrad at our Hostel. He RAVED about the show, telling us they were ¨like, real professionals¨(pronounced profishonells) and that it was the best steak he had in all of Buenos aires, and the Tango musicians and singers were just.... FANTASTIC!!! We took his word for it and were presented with something between a strip show and the dance fighting scenes from West Side STory...the whole time i whistled ¨when you´re a jet you´re a jet all the way¨ in kelsey´s ear. Speaking of Kelsey....
So, in order to schedule the tango show kelsey called to make a reservation... now in her words a recounting of what happened:
¨i call the place, talk to the lady, get the information and hang up.
then nik is like, she told you the wrong time, call back and make sure its right.
okay, i´lll call back.
i call back and the lady is like OH GOOD i forgot to tell you about this promotion with your hostel, you get the whole meal for 180 pesos (originally we were just going to get drinks and desserrt) so i´m like COOLIO that´ll work just fine. and she´s like can you tell me your name again? and so we go through the whole process of trying to get her to understand that KELSEY is a NAME. but like everyone else in latin america, she doesn´t believe it for a second. so then i get off the phone, and am fairly confident that she has an idea of what my name is and that we do in fact have reservations.
but then nikki still isn´t convinced that the time the lady told me was right. so i call back AGAIN. in like a five minute period. but it is a good thing i call back because the lady is like OH GOOD YOU CALLED BACK AGAIN. i forgot to get your full name. (which was her way of saying, i still have no freakin clue what the hell your name is. why isn´t your name REAL??)
so i start to tell her my last name is stewart. and she´s like how do you spell it, and i´say S-T-E- and she´s like no your first name. so i change to K-E and nik is like NO THE NEXT LETTER IS W!!! hahahaha. but finally i spell it out, k-e-l-s AS IN SUSIE...etc. etc.
a few hours later we finally arrive and go to check in, and what is my name written down as on the reservation??
KELFLY.¨
hahahahahahahahah
Also, another quick and trivial happening that just occurred. We were just taking the elvator down in our Hostel to head over to this internet cafe and when we stepped aboard the 60 year old door man of the hostel was standing in the elevator car. I walked in, the doors closed, and immediately i had the sensation i was being suffocated. Initially confused, i quickly realized the waning oxygen was the result of a growing abundance of cigarette smoking filling the elevator and sneaking up my virgin nostrils. hahahaha. Anyway, i look furtively using my peripherals and see the door man holding a marlboro, sucking on it idiotically with his old chapped lips. Horrified i instantly started shooting dagger eyes of death at kelsey and then down at the cigaretted hand. She began to laugh. Then the man dropped his cigarette after hot boxing the ´vator and put it out on the ground. Then i burst out laughing until i realized i shouldn´t waste what little oxygen i had left.... Moral of the story, WHO THE HELL SMOKES A CIGARETTE IN AN ELEVATOR.. A SMALL ENCLOSED METAL BOX. WHO FREAKING DOES THAT?? IS IT EVEN LEGAL? I´m inclined to complain and say what the hell is wrong with the whole rest of the world why do they all smoke, but i realize the real problem is the GODDAMN TOBACCO INDUSTRY...YOU FUCKERS HOT BOXED MY ELEVATOR IN BUENOS AIRES. TAX THOSE CIGARRETTES, TAX ÉM ALL DAY CONGRESS!!!
ok ok we´re getting a little loopy down here. Tonight or tomorrow night we´re trying to go to this greek restaurant where they break plates and stuff. i´m hoping for a rousing rendition of mizerlou on the bizouki!
WE GET HOME IN T-5 DAYS!!
Saturday, June 6, 2009
Buenos Aires is a black hole....
...it sucks you into this ridiculous partying lifestyle where everyone starts drinking at 2am and stays out being mental until 9am and then they sleep until 18:00 when they roll out of bed and start all over again. The first three days we were here we saw nothing because we slept all day and then just went out with Bob and Anna Frank. Today we finally got up early, at noon, and saw a city of dead people where i sang that marly and marley song from a christmas carol and tried to get Kelsey to sing ¨DONT CRY FOR ME ARGENTINA¨in front of Evita´s grave, but she wouldn´t. Then we saw a giant flower. We were really impressed. Then kelsey ate plastic again because she cant resist buying lollipops made out of that candy apple candy, or mojjjie apples or whatever, and she asked the guy selling them to take the wrapper off but instead he just held it over a flame until it was melted on and all the plastic chemicals were inside the lollipop. Delishish. THen we saw a tree with these big pod things hanging in it, kelsey got one down by yanking on a braNch. Michelle Branch. Then she tried chucking it at the ground to see what was inside, but it didnt break open. Then i tried and it hit a car. Then we left. Tonight we are trying to see an ESPECTACULO!!! A tango show at Señor Tango where Bill and Hillary and Selma and Sting all saw shows. Hope we can get in looking like hobos (we always sleep too late to do our laundry). Luckily tomorrow night we head to Iguazu falls to see the coolest waterfalls in the world. It will hopefully break up the cycle. Peace and Love. (when you sneeze 3 times in spanish speaking countries they say Salud, Amor y Dinero for each sneeze respectively...health, love, MONEY)
Friday, June 5, 2009
B.A. Update
here in argentina.
today we went to la boca, the colorful famous houses!
i accidentally ate a lot of plastic.
we really like being in a city. its quite the change from peru and ecuador. especially taxis.. we even had one that had a GPS system. last night we went out and met up with a few friends Nik has here studying abroad plus some of their friends. The scene was crazy and really crowded and we discovered something new..
THE MORE SOUTH THE MORE CREEPER.
You think guys in Ecuador are bad. And I already complained about the men in Peru. BUT the men in Argentina take the icing off the cake. Or top the cake. Or whatever that saying is. They are crazy and really forward and in your face.
MEN STOP IT. LEARN SOMETHING ABOUT MANNERS.
It has been very surprising..for some reason we thought they'd be more tame down here.
Oh also hilarious, we went to this vegetarian restaurant today and everything was gray/brown and tasted the same. Once Nik tried to ask what something was and the response she got was "de verdura" or of vegetable..well DUH! It was really reminiscent of a church fellowship meal, just without the weird meats and without my mama's delicious addition to the meal, baked ziti. YUM. (If you're reading this mom, I really want some of that baked ziti when I get home :-) ) The restaurant just looked like a soup kitchen. Thanks for the suggestion, Lonely Planet..hahaha.
We come home so soon and we can't believe our trip is almost over!
today we went to la boca, the colorful famous houses!
i accidentally ate a lot of plastic.
we really like being in a city. its quite the change from peru and ecuador. especially taxis.. we even had one that had a GPS system. last night we went out and met up with a few friends Nik has here studying abroad plus some of their friends. The scene was crazy and really crowded and we discovered something new..
THE MORE SOUTH THE MORE CREEPER.
You think guys in Ecuador are bad. And I already complained about the men in Peru. BUT the men in Argentina take the icing off the cake. Or top the cake. Or whatever that saying is. They are crazy and really forward and in your face.
MEN STOP IT. LEARN SOMETHING ABOUT MANNERS.
It has been very surprising..for some reason we thought they'd be more tame down here.
Oh also hilarious, we went to this vegetarian restaurant today and everything was gray/brown and tasted the same. Once Nik tried to ask what something was and the response she got was "de verdura" or of vegetable..well DUH! It was really reminiscent of a church fellowship meal, just without the weird meats and without my mama's delicious addition to the meal, baked ziti. YUM. (If you're reading this mom, I really want some of that baked ziti when I get home :-) ) The restaurant just looked like a soup kitchen. Thanks for the suggestion, Lonely Planet..hahaha.
We come home so soon and we can't believe our trip is almost over!
Tuesday, June 2, 2009
i love a shower in holland
Hola!
Back in Lima and staying at the Flying Dog Hostel, which is very clean and quite nice. (WAYY better than the last spot we stayed here..) We went dorm style rooms and were lucky enough to get a bunk bed without reservation ahead of time! And once the toilet flooded and left an inch of water outside the door which Nik splashed through without hesitation. HAHA. Then a man ¨cleaned it up¨with a mop and bucket and there was still an inch of water next to my bed, which is where we accidentally dumped a pile of chips. Gross. Soggy chips. There´re still there right now.
To celebrate we went out and got a few drinks with three other people from our hostel...two 23yr olds from Holland and one roughly 45(?give or take 3yrs?)yr old from Florida. It was really fun and we learned two games, one called Hello bishop, which I will try to bring back to EEUU.
A few highlights of the night..
*After introducing themselves to us, Nik and I almost simultaneously turn to each other to get secret clarification of one of their names...IS THAT BOY´S NAME...HAM?? (it was not.)
*One of the boys kept addressing us as ¨girl.¨ I´m not sure why, but I found it hilarious every time... It´s your turn girl! or You have to drink girl!
* The word for burp in dutch is the same as the word for farmer. (knowledge points)
*Long conversation about showers in Holland. Not gonna go into it but I´m now under the impression that families and friends shower TOGETHER in Holland. All the time.
Other than that we´ve spent most of our time in Lima planning the next part of our trip and doing nothing. We walked a long way today and I ate a hotdog for lunch. I think our old travelling companions would be proud at how far we walked in place of getting a taxi. It is cold and I´m concerned for BA, since it is winter there and I have no winter clothing.
Also, one more thing about LIMA. THE MEN HERE SUCK AND ARE GROSS. We are sick of the kissy sounds and gross greetings. GET A LIFE YOU IDIOT MEN. plus YOU´RE OLD so why do you even BOTHER??
We miss you all and are excited to come back and see you though this next part of our trip should be extra fun...tango lessons, world wonders and cheap pizza (or so I´ve heard.)
This post was more boring than I meant it to be..oh well, it was at the very least informative.
Neat-o Burrito,
Kelsey
Back in Lima and staying at the Flying Dog Hostel, which is very clean and quite nice. (WAYY better than the last spot we stayed here..) We went dorm style rooms and were lucky enough to get a bunk bed without reservation ahead of time! And once the toilet flooded and left an inch of water outside the door which Nik splashed through without hesitation. HAHA. Then a man ¨cleaned it up¨with a mop and bucket and there was still an inch of water next to my bed, which is where we accidentally dumped a pile of chips. Gross. Soggy chips. There´re still there right now.
To celebrate we went out and got a few drinks with three other people from our hostel...two 23yr olds from Holland and one roughly 45(?give or take 3yrs?)yr old from Florida. It was really fun and we learned two games, one called Hello bishop, which I will try to bring back to EEUU.
A few highlights of the night..
*After introducing themselves to us, Nik and I almost simultaneously turn to each other to get secret clarification of one of their names...IS THAT BOY´S NAME...HAM?? (it was not.)
*One of the boys kept addressing us as ¨girl.¨ I´m not sure why, but I found it hilarious every time... It´s your turn girl! or You have to drink girl!
* The word for burp in dutch is the same as the word for farmer. (knowledge points)
*Long conversation about showers in Holland. Not gonna go into it but I´m now under the impression that families and friends shower TOGETHER in Holland. All the time.
Other than that we´ve spent most of our time in Lima planning the next part of our trip and doing nothing. We walked a long way today and I ate a hotdog for lunch. I think our old travelling companions would be proud at how far we walked in place of getting a taxi. It is cold and I´m concerned for BA, since it is winter there and I have no winter clothing.
Also, one more thing about LIMA. THE MEN HERE SUCK AND ARE GROSS. We are sick of the kissy sounds and gross greetings. GET A LIFE YOU IDIOT MEN. plus YOU´RE OLD so why do you even BOTHER??
We miss you all and are excited to come back and see you though this next part of our trip should be extra fun...tango lessons, world wonders and cheap pizza (or so I´ve heard.)
This post was more boring than I meant it to be..oh well, it was at the very least informative.
Neat-o Burrito,
Kelsey
Sunday, May 31, 2009
pHOTO jOURNAL
SUCCESS!!! MACHU PICCHUUUUU!
Martin! The porter/chef who cooked us gourmet meals along the trail!
Kelsey´s hilarious makeshift blister remedy.
Truck on fire at the bus terminal in Chimbote, Peru...ghetto
Allie, Mikhail, Pierce and Peter At the beach in Mancora, stop number 1 on the whirlwind journey
Less Money, Mo´ Problems in Peru
So WE DID IT!!! WE SURVIVED THE INCA TRAIL and have some neat Apus Peru (our trekking company) tshirts, some massive blisters, and atrophying calf muscles to show for it :) Those of you that thought our two out of shape butts would never make it were almost right, but still..WRONG! To be honest, yeah it was a challenge, but totally not impossible considering we had 9 tiny peruvian men carring all of our crap (over 100lbs per porter) plus they would sprint past us to all of our camp sites where they´d set up a fancy dinner tent and cook us gourmet meals, ballin.
Highlights Include:
-The name of our guide: Big Willy
-Big Willy´s magic potions which involved rubbing something that smelled like teatree oil all over kelsey´s altitude sick head. greasy. and then clapping alot and making her smell his hands.
- Pooping in little holes in the ground.
- Unbelievably beautiful, clear starry nights
- The porters getting a little too close for comfort when thanking us for the generous tips (accidental boob squeeze?)
- Porters baked cake for mikhail´s birthday...how do you even do that in the woods
- Making friends (or enemies) through song: being recognized by the other 800 people hiking along the trail as the girls who sing (everything from motown medleys to showtunes) to keep themselves from jumping off the cliffs.
-abSURD blisters: a few days before hiking the inca trail we hiked a mountain in Huaraz national park to practice and acclimate. Unfortunately all it did for Kels was give her MASSIVE MOON CRATER BLISTERS on the backs of her ankles due to the new hiking boots
- Kelséy´s makeshift attempt to fix the blister problem by wearing one venus (4$ ecuadorian style chuck taylor) and one hiking shoe
The Ancient City was all we expected it to be and more, though our sheer exhaustion after the four day hike led to a midday machu picchu nap and yoga session. We also saw many bird spirits.
Since then we saw the floating islands of Lake Titicaca, man made islands constructed of reeds where entire communities have lived for hundreds of years, originally started as a way of evading Incan and Spanish conquerers...ingenious!
We´ve spent the last few days in the lovely little colonial city of Arequipa, Peru, catching our breath and trying to plan the next leg of our trip: some charms of the city--delicious alpaca steaks and lovely christmas themed tablecloths at our cozy hostal. Also, they sell candy (mojjjey???) covered skewered strawberries here, like apples at a church bazaar but better!
Last night we decided to nurture our culture craving souls with a seemingly highly regarded and well advertised argentinian ballet that turned out to be a live, amateur, soft core porn. GREAT. It would have been less awkward if i hadn´t graciously offered to buy an extra ticket for a lonesome 31 yr old civil rights lawyer who had just arrived in the city and was also staying in our hostal......
So now, our friends have gone, and the two of us broke college students are trying to figure out how the heck to get all the way to buenos aires without having to live on teh streets when we get there... suggestions would be GREATLY APPRECIATED.
off to lima to hitchhike back down south,
CATCH YOU ON THE FLIP SIDE!!!
Highlights Include:
-The name of our guide: Big Willy
-Big Willy´s magic potions which involved rubbing something that smelled like teatree oil all over kelsey´s altitude sick head. greasy. and then clapping alot and making her smell his hands.
- Pooping in little holes in the ground.
- Unbelievably beautiful, clear starry nights
- The porters getting a little too close for comfort when thanking us for the generous tips (accidental boob squeeze?)
- Porters baked cake for mikhail´s birthday...how do you even do that in the woods
- Making friends (or enemies) through song: being recognized by the other 800 people hiking along the trail as the girls who sing (everything from motown medleys to showtunes) to keep themselves from jumping off the cliffs.
-abSURD blisters: a few days before hiking the inca trail we hiked a mountain in Huaraz national park to practice and acclimate. Unfortunately all it did for Kels was give her MASSIVE MOON CRATER BLISTERS on the backs of her ankles due to the new hiking boots
- Kelséy´s makeshift attempt to fix the blister problem by wearing one venus (4$ ecuadorian style chuck taylor) and one hiking shoe
The Ancient City was all we expected it to be and more, though our sheer exhaustion after the four day hike led to a midday machu picchu nap and yoga session. We also saw many bird spirits.
Since then we saw the floating islands of Lake Titicaca, man made islands constructed of reeds where entire communities have lived for hundreds of years, originally started as a way of evading Incan and Spanish conquerers...ingenious!
We´ve spent the last few days in the lovely little colonial city of Arequipa, Peru, catching our breath and trying to plan the next leg of our trip: some charms of the city--delicious alpaca steaks and lovely christmas themed tablecloths at our cozy hostal. Also, they sell candy (mojjjey???) covered skewered strawberries here, like apples at a church bazaar but better!
Last night we decided to nurture our culture craving souls with a seemingly highly regarded and well advertised argentinian ballet that turned out to be a live, amateur, soft core porn. GREAT. It would have been less awkward if i hadn´t graciously offered to buy an extra ticket for a lonesome 31 yr old civil rights lawyer who had just arrived in the city and was also staying in our hostal......
So now, our friends have gone, and the two of us broke college students are trying to figure out how the heck to get all the way to buenos aires without having to live on teh streets when we get there... suggestions would be GREATLY APPRECIATED.
off to lima to hitchhike back down south,
CATCH YOU ON THE FLIP SIDE!!!
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