ESTAMOS EN BOLIVIA

Have just arrived in Tupiza, known as the American Wild West of Bolivia. This region was the setting for the final scene of ¨Butch Cassidy and The Sundance Kid¨. Home to the Cordilleras de Chichas (Chichas Mountains), this small dusty town is surrounded by a picturesque landscape of canyons, painted hills and cacti-filled valleys. The Bolivianos are more indigenous-looking, wear traditional altiplano dress and are more humble than the average Argentine. And it´s cheap, cheap, cheap. Tomorrow we are going on a 3-hour horseback riding trip through the region and set off on Friday morning for a 4-day tour of the southwest region.

From South America Random

Some highlights over the last few days:
-Saw the mummified body of an Incan child who was sacrificed to the gods at the museum MAAM in Salta, Argentina. Disturbing yet intriguing.
-Trekked through the Hills of Seven Colors in Purmamarca, Argentina and had a great 3-hour talk with El Cactus Bailarin on a hilltop about anything and everything.

From South America Random

-Tried llama meat in Tilcara, Argentina. Pretty delicious actually.
-Dealt with bureaucratic inefficiency today when we tried to cross the border into Bolivia. The Argentine side had an unnecessarily long line to receive our exit stamp (over an hour). The Bolivian side was more efficient but did not ask for any of the 8 ¨required¨ documents needed to cross the border.

El Cactus is gone- it was great to have his company but Los Gauchos don´t cross borders with strangers. Bolivia is very exciting and am looking forward to the last 2/3 of the trip.


Besos!!

Lazy Sunday in Salta

Spent the day relaxing and taking care of errands. Needed a chill day after enjoying a real Argentine night out with the boys and the newest addition to our group, Fede, who will now be referred to on the blog by his nickname which is El Cactus Bailarin (the dancing cactus). He will be joining Los Gauchos until he gets sick and tired of us, which might be soon.

Also, FYI, El Gringo Loco will now be called by his newest, less generic and more appropriate nickname, El Pollito Sin Cabeza (The Chicken without a Head). Chad gets two thumbs up for for the two aformentioned names. One thumb up to me for translating the names into Castellano.



We had quite an evening last night. We went to a peña, a folkloric dance show, in the happening part of town. The performers danced different regional dances in traditional costumes and, true to form, Pollito was the star of the evening. He was selected out of the crowd to dance with one of the beautiful performers and had the entire audience eating out of his hand for the rest of the night. Very comical and he had Los Gauchos in hysterics the entire evening. Pollito and I tore up the dance floor-we got a standing ovation at the end of our dance. After the ovation, the MC told the audience that ¨we danced like we were on 600 mm of Rivotril¨(according to Wikipedia, it is a common prescription for epilepsy, anxiety disorders, panic disorders, mania and restless legs syndrome, among other things). Don´t think it was a compliment but we had fun!!! El Cactus received the adjective in his nickname (bailarin) after impressively dancing to some Cumbia. We had a great time dancing to his favorite songs. Chad eventually got on the dance floor after a few Salta beers and charmed a 60-plus woman with his fiery rhythm and moves. We ate an amazing parrilla but there is a severe lack of vegetables in this country.



Went to a live music show and enjoyed some Fernets with Coke. Fernet is a bitter and aromatic spirit made with herbs and spices. Pollito was the band´s most spirited groupie and we all chatted it up with the band after the show. Pollito and I split a choripan at the end of the night after we resolved a brief lover´s quarrel. We hugged it out!

Great fun had by all. One of the highlights of the trip so far.

Tomorrow morning at 6:30AM we will head to Pumamarca, farther north and on our way to Bolivia. It will probably be our last stop before we cross the border. Argentina is AMAZING!!

Besos,
La Princesa Magica

Hikes, Wine Country and Lots of Maté

Tafi del Valle was so picturesque. A small rural mountain village inhabited by indigenous people. One day, we hired a 14 year-old boy named Pancho to guide us to the waterfalls, Cascada Rio de Los Alissos. We hiked up to about 3000 meters to see the 60 meter drop from two rock faces. It was covered in ice and when Chad climbed closer to get a look, a big sheet of ice fell from the top of the falls and shattered pretty close to his head. Terrifying but funny after we saw he was okay. The hike was certainly made more difficult by the altitude. It was in Tafí that we picked up an extra travel buddy, Fedé, a porteño (from Buenos Aires). He is chill, nice and funny, but his sense of humor is a little inappropriate for my taste. The guys seems to enjoy his potty humor, however. He is still traveling with us but I think we will part ways after Salta. We shall see.



Since Tafi, we have pased our time in Cafayate, Argentina´s second biggest wine town after Mendoza. Gringo went for a 50 km bike ride yesterday while Chad, Fedé and I walked through the hillside and visited a few bodegas. Being in wine country brought me joy and it was great to taste some wine and learn more about the wine-making process. Fedé cooked us dinner last night-delicioso.


Today we are in Salta- not much to do here but the main square is full of beautiful 19th Century buildings. I was Gringo´s arm candy today while he played the slots. We ate empanadas and tamales for lunch. We will probably go to a boliche (dance club) tonight after we eat at a parrilla (grill house). Not sure where we will head next but spontaneous nature of this trip is exhilirating.

The trip is awesome. We all travel really well together and we have nicknamed ourselves Los Gauchos (the cowboys).

Besos
Teeny

La Empresa Almirante Brown = Caca

Chad and I had a mediocre bus ride last night with Almirate Brown. The bus was an hour late and I was running around like a crazy person trying to figure out when it was leaving. The bus terminal did not have any information and the bus company´s ticket office was closed. It was stressful. We finally got on and we were seated right in front of the bathroom, which was quite unpleasant. Äs Chad said on the ride, ¨That is a rich aroma¨.



Arrived in Tucuman at 2 and are staying in a beautiful 100-year old house in the center of the city. Tucuman was where Argentine independence was declared. The Plaza de Independencia is full of old colonial buildings and, of course, protestors. El gringo arrives this evening and we plan to go paragliding tomorrow. plan to watch the Copa de Libertador tonight. Then off to Tafi de Valle for some hiking in the mountains.

Besos,
Teeny

Ideas, Quotes and Happenings from La Rio de Plata

Chad is concerned about the world-wide depletion of fisheries.
La vida es buena.

From a soft-spoken Texan-raised expat who currently lives in Colonia, Uruguay:¨If God saw fit to put cannabis on this earth, no man or government has the right to say that I cannot smoke it¨ His life´s dream is to start the ¨New Jerusalem¨ and he believes that the government is ¨the beast¨.

From Jhon, a Colombian I met at the hostel, who spoke to me about visiting his home country: ¨el unico riesgo es que te quieras quedar.¨ (The only risk is that you will want to stay)

Argentine slang: ¨Ay, Manzana¨ (Literal Translation: Oh, Apple. Slang Translation: DUH)



Fui a boliche hasta las 6 con tres porteños y un colombiano. Bailé, bailé, bailé. Ordenamós cervezas del litro alli y no usamos vasos. Muy divertido. Had to change rooms because of a hairy fifty-something year old snoring man in my dorm room. Took a ferry to Buenos Aires in the AM. Lunch, cafe and laughs with Julieta and Maruja. Tonight going to a dinner party at Laura´s house. She is a friend of Vero´s. Tomorrow is flag day, a national holiday- I will go to the feria in San Telmo with Julieta before we hop on a 18-hour bus ride to Tucuman to meet up with Gringo. Julieta said we will get off the bus with ¨really fat asses¨ because they serve so much food on the trip.

Los Montevideanos

Perdón mi español. Estoy practicando. Hace 4 años desde que he practicado esta idioma. Si quieres corrigirme, apreciaré.

From Uruguay

Los Montevideanos son amables, humildes y tranquilos. Ayer una mujer que me encontré en el aeropuerto vino a mi hostel y nos tomo Chad y yo a desayunar. Tomamos cafe y cookies de avena. Anna nos mostró un parque grande y el estadio nacional antes que ella salió para la casa de su familia en Paysandu.

From Uruguay

Despues desyauno, Chad y yo caminamos por el ciudad para 7 horas. Caminamos cerca del mar, en el ciudad vieja y el los barrios adinerados. Mi piernas ahora estan cansadas y dolorosas. En la noche, cocinamos guiso de lentejas con Uruguaysos que nos encontramos en el hostal. Tomamos mucho vino mendocino, reímos y repulsé suavemente los insinuaciones de un chico de diez y ocho años que a mi me gusta. Ay dios mio!! No se que este chico estuvo pensando. No soy una puma. Haha. Pero dormí muy bien.

From Uruguay

Ahora no soy vegetariana porque no quiero solamente comer ensalada, pasta y pizza para dos meses. Me encanta las parrilladas mucho per hoy compré verduras en la verdureria porque echo de menos vegetales.

La vida es buena aqui. Mañana vamos por Colonia, un barrio historico.

Ciao y besitos!!

Safe!

From Uruguay

Just arrived at my hostel in Montevideo. About to start a day of sightseeing. Chadś flight was rerouted to El Salvador due to the volcanic eruption that seemed to have disturbed everyoneś flight plans except for mine. So I am flying solo today until he arrives tomorrow morning. Have already met some really friendly and helpful Uruguayans. Life is good.

Besitos,
Teeny

Click on the photo above to see the pictures from my first day.

El Gringo Loco, Teeny S.Erickson and Chad Bloma do South America!!

I leave for the airport in 45 minutes. Hopefully, my flight is not delayed due to the volcano eruption in Chile, where I have a layover. Traveling always brings new surprises!

My traveling companions and I have come up with code names for ourselves during this trip and that is how we will all be referred to on this blog. You can probably guess who is who. Chad gave El Gringo Loco his name yesterday on a 3-way conference call. Pretty appropriate. For all the non-Spanish speakers, it means the "Crazy White Man". Chad Bloma's name is an anagram of his own. And mine, Teeny S. Erickson, has a funny back story. This past Sunday morning when I was doing my best to try to fall asleep after staying up all night partying and enjoying my 5-year college reunion, I got 2 voicemails at 7 AM from Vinnie Guiadillo, this guy with a heavy Brooklyn accent saying, "Teeny Erickson, I's outside yo house ta doo the wurk tuday. 768 Fulton. Puleez come let me in." After I called the gentleman back explaining that he had the wrong number and that I did not live at that address, he keep asking, "Are you sure this ain't Teeny?" At which point I realized this guy had given me the best code name is history!! So that is the backs tory behind my code name. The middle initial S stands for Sassafras, my alter ego when I dressed up like an elf for SantaCon a few winters ago.

Well, this is Teeny S. Erickson signing off until I arrive in South America.
I will miss you all!!!

Packing List

I pack light. The photo above is all I am bringing on my 52-day trip in South America.

Many people have asked me how I pack for lengthy trips (lengthy meaning one month plus). I try to bring as little as possible because I can get anything I need there and it is more fun to bring back clothing from abroad.

Not the most interesting post but just wanted to put my packing list out there. With this being my 5th backpacking trip, I feel pretty confident that I bring just as much as I need but am not lugging around anything that is unnecessary. With over 61 weeks of backpacking experience, I feel like a packing expert at this point. Hopefully this can be useful for people who are not sure how much or what to pack. Keep in mind that this list is all-weather appropriate as I will be traveling in Uruguay and Argentina during their winter and Peru, Ecuador and Colombia, which will be warmer because they are father north and closer to the equator. Also, it is worth noting that I mail back completed journals, read books, presents or clothing that is no longer weather appropriate throughout the trip to keep my bag as light and small as possible. Lastly, this list was pretty much the exact same for my 10-month trip except I had 3 pairs of pants instead of 1, no winter clothes and no drawing tablet.

CLOTHES

3 shirts: 2 shirts and 1 long sleeve shirt
1 pair of long pants
3 pairs of travel underwear (quick-dry and sweat resistant. dries in a few hours after you wash your clothes in the sink)
2 pairs of socks
1 pair of flip flops
1 pair of sneakers
2 bras and 1 sports bra
1 sweatshirt
1 light raincoat/windbreaker
1 set of pajamas
1 travel towel (another worthy investment. dries in a few hours)
1 shawl (to cover my shoulders in churches or use as a wrap)
1 belt
1 small day bag


FIRST AID

bandaids
sunscreen (with either zinc dioxide or titanium dioxide. i don't mess around)
insect repellent with deet
earplugs
pepto bismol
iodine tablets (to purify water)
neosporin
lip balm
2nd skin (for blisters from walking)
aleve

TOILETRIES
(everything is travel size. I can get everything I need there. Why bother with the extra weight?)

Dr. Bronner's (all-purpose soap to use as shampoo, body wash and laundry detergent. can even be used as toothpaste)
deodorant
razor
toothbrush
toothpaste
conditioner
comb

IN MY MONEY BELT

credit card/debit card
100 dollars in cash for an emergency
a $100 travelers check
passport
good luck charm from my grandmother
International Immunization Record

THE REST

Camera
Camera charger
camera memory card
thumb drive (to have a place to back-up my photos)
swiss army knife
book to read for pleasure (always set in the country I am traveling)
travel book
sunglasses
watch
flashlight (to read in the dorms at night)
journal and pens
drawing tablet and drawing pencil
plastic bag (to put wet articles of clothing)
a few ziploc baggies

South America, here I come!!

About a year later, the travel bug has bitten me again. Just booked my tickets to South America and I could not be more excited!! It's going to be another fun adventure but with a different cast of characters this time. I am traveling with 2 of my close friends from college for about 4 weeks and then spending 3 weeks traveling by myself. This will be my first foray into solo traveling and I am looking forward to this new challenge.

There is a lot to do in the next week:

Tuesday: renew my passport, math department meeting, report writing, organizing a year's worth of self-created worksheets and materials

Wednesday: full faculty meeting, more report writing, packing for the trip and moving out of my apt

Thursday-Sunday: Williamstown!!

Monday: last minute errands before my trip

Tuesday: Sayonara USA!