Sunday, October 28, 2007

Update Time! 10/28/07

Hello Everyone! We have not posted blogs in a while, but it isn´t because we don´t love you! It´s because we´re lazy! No, really, since Lima . . . a lot has happened and we´ll get to it, promise. Since Lima, we had visited Arequipa and Chivay in Peru; Compacabana, La Paz, Coroico, and of course, the Salt Flat desert of Uyuni in Bolivia; and Corobá and Buenos Aires in Argentina. And it´s a little overwhelming to catch up with all of that right at this moment.
You see, since we have arrived in Buenos Aires in mid-October, Mishka has left to surprise his sister in Costa Rica and his parents in the US, and I have remained behind primarily to study Argentine Tango and eat more steak. (Not always at the same time) And both were gooooooooood.
As of today, Mishka is back home, bought a car, looking for work and taking a trip to Moscow with his sister for Christmas, and I . . . well I´m still here. I´m up north at Puerto Iquazu about to see the famous Iquazu Waterfalls that border Argentina and Brazil. Then I head back south via an interesting route or cross over to BRAZIL. It´s funny that I´m only 20 hours away from Rio, where we basically started out trip almost 11 months ago. Crazy! Next month, I fly out to Puerto Rico to see my mom and my sister, and finally return home (but not for long, I suspect.)
I know it sound all glorious and crazy, and it is, but that is just plain ol´ travelling . . . something all the kids we meet around here are doing as well. So next to them, we´re not so glorious and crazy, but just one of the bunch . . . the vagabonding bunch.


Stay tuned! This program will return to its usual schedule after the . . . .

Tuesday, October 16, 2007

Lima And The Coming Of Mom And Z 09/08/07 to 09/12/07

Ok, we got to Lima, the capital of Peru, a city of 8 million people and a lot of trash. It sucks that wherever there is poverty, there is pollution. Both things are bad (obviously), but there is definitely a relation between the two. I guess you can't blame people for having the biggest worry of putting food on the table and pushing the rest of the problems to the side. But anyway, Lima, ¨The City of Kings¨ was founded shortly after the quick elimination of the Incas by the Spanish and became Spain's capital in the New World. You go Francisco Pizarro and your murderous gang of conquestadors!As the story goes, once the Americas were discovered, 2 of the world's most richest countries wanted a piece of the action. So the problem settled it's way on to the desk of the most powerful man, the Pope. He pointed his finger on to a spot of the unfinished map and basically to the east belonged to Portuguese and to the west of that finger was now Spanish territory. Funny, huh? Of course, frontiers were constantly redrawn, and then again and again. But that's how the story goes.
Lima is a sad city. Not only because of the economic troubles, but also because of it's sky which is covered with clouds for 9 months of the year. Depressing and cold! Yes, cold even while Lima is just about 600 miles south of the equator. Well, we stayed in the historic center of the city in which still remain many beautiful examples of Spanish architecture.
Anyway, we were here for Mom & Rich, so we got to work on finding a place. While looking for a cup of coffee, we found this guy...
A cool, older gentleman who took us from hostal to hostal until we found Hostal España, a beautiful little place with the best neighbors:
That day was anxiously anticipated since the parents were coming that night. So after the preparations were made, we headed to the airport.
The drivers who crowded around us as they were holding signs of their own were astounded by the beauty of ours, laughed and whispered. Yeah Baby, Mom and Z are a comin'!! Finally, after dozens of people came out, it was impossible to not notice the smile of mama and the lost look of Richie as they strolled out of those doors. They made it!

After hugs and kisses, we packed them into a combi, a minivan which seats about 10, but holds triple the amount of people, and headed for the hostal. Not until the bus broke down on the way and after a few bangs on the side of the truck, it was back on its way again. After a little settling in, we finished the night with wine and fruit as deserving of the greatness of our guests... and of course conversation. The following morning, we hit the streets. We visited Iglesia San Francisco and its catacombs that supposedly stretch for miles underneath the city connecting it to various important buildings in the area and also being home to over a 100,000 bodies of people who were buried there.
Spookily standing over a pit of nicely arranged skulls and bones, never afraid!


"Rich looook...NO LOOOK!" Yes mom is here. Amazed at everything, looking at the world as through the eyes of a baby. And that is so beautiful! The church is beautiful as well with wood carved ceilings that took 40 years to make, paintings, reliefs, Portuguese tile, and a lot of priceless Jesuses everywhere. It is incredible to imagine, the money, time and lives that goes into these places of God, while so many people starve and die of sicknesses and slavery. At least the first 2 apply to almost any religion. Hey, this is the stuff that runs through my mind sometimes. Am I a cynic? Hey look at that! A solid cast iron sink over 200 years old! I wanted to swipe the grated drain in the middle of the sink for my boss, but then thought better of it. Yes, I may be crazy to be taking pictures of stuff like this, but think about it. How long did it take to make? How many hands and things were washed in it? What had this sink seen that you and I can never imagine?
We just did a lot of walking around the city, from small markets to parks, to just watching Peruvians going about their business. And of course, most Peruvians are nice, even the ones guarding the Presidential Palace.
The guys are so obliging that they even let me hold the machine gun. Mom! Look what I can do!

We strolled the city streets looking at old buildings, laughing and eating fried chicken ( a Peruvian specialty). Yes, chicken and fries is the most popular dish in Peru. Also found this antique plane. Richie loves planes and mom loves Richie.
The nest day we checked out Museo de Oro. The Museum of Gold is the pride of Lima. Its a private museum that is owned by the family of this guy who spent his life collecting gold artifacts from Peru's archaelogical cites and guns. So many guns, swords, daggers and other weapons that would make your head spin. A lot of guns, Russian guns, French guns, German guns, American guns and so on. You get the point. Here are some pics of guns and swords:

Samurai swords and armor galore. I love samurais! Of course picture taking is not allowed, but we're rebels. Walking around the museum makes you wander at all the art and work going into these weapons. Priceless materials going into them like ivory, gold, extict woods. All of that to kill people. A piece of our history nevertheless.

Here is my princess teaching a knight a thing or two. Then we descended into the vaulted basement of gold. Here are Richie's favorite pieces:
Those pieces were obviously the best, and there were others which were really cool as well:
Mom and mummy! And with that, we put Lima behind us as we descended south towards Ica and its giant sand dunes. Stay tuned...

Monday, October 8, 2007

Ica & Huacachina:The oasis and Sandboarding!!!

As you may have heard, this part of the world experienced an enormous earthquake only weeks before, so of course, on the drive through Pisco and Ica, we saw a lot of people living in broken down houses and tents, surviving off the generosity of fellow neighbors. Kids running after the bus for a coin or two, lots of dust seeping through the windows, and collapsed houses and buildings.

Arriving at Ica, one can tell that there has been a lot of devastation, yet somehow, the city bustled with life . . . salsa music at every corner, ladies selling bread and cheese, and couples and families roaming through the plaza for the weekend walk.
Upon arrival, we headed toward the famous oasis five minutes away -- yes, you heard me right, an oasis. A first for us as well.
We arrived minutes later and the scenery transformed from dusty streets and broken houses to sand dunes, sand dunes, sand dunes! I have never seen anything like this before, this whole little place was in the desert, literally, subtropical climate with a little lake smack in the middle. And to make things even better, our hostel had a beautiful in ground pool . . . all this without breaking the bank account! And after all this cold weather and mountain air, a hot afternoon by the pool is exactly what we needed!! So sand boarding is the biggest attraction here, and it being still afternoon, we figured we would give it a go and walk up the sand dune ourselves! Who needs a buggy?! We can do this! (or so we thought)
Ladies and gentlemen, it is tough!! Let me tell you! It may look easy, but oh no!
Yes, we made it to the top. Yes, we tumbled all the way down. (Here´s a little sneak peak at Mishka´s first run.)
And yes, we had a really hard time getting back up.Well so what, it was a great little experience with the sand anyway. Two steps up, three steps down, sand in our teeth

. . . and butt-cracks.

A great end to our first day of sand boarding.

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The next day, you better believe we paid for a buggy to take us up and it was way more than we expected. First, they ride around a whole desert you didn´t think was really there! Endless and endless horizons with beautiful dunes all around you, having a blast till the sun went down. They drive pretty crazy too, as if you´re on a roller coaster . . .
uuuuuuuuuuuuuup!
dooooooooooooooowwwwn!
sideways!
jumping over the bumps!

just really crazy and wild . . . and our driver was pretty cool too and had awesome energy (even though he denies knowing what the words on his shirt really meant.)
We got to sand board plenty . . . some on our feet, some on our tummies, some just rolling down not knowing which way is up and which is down! But it was a lot of fun and yes, totally different from snowboarding. First of all, they give you a pretty beat up board that you have to wax with a candle every time you want to sand board (and if you don´t, you might get stuck on a steep drop for no reason.) Second, the straps on the board are held on by mesh, so there you go! And you´ll be lucky if you don´t rip your straps at least once. And finally, it´s sand! So the fall is a piece of cake . . . no bruises, no freezing fingers and toes . . . just total recovery.
And as a side note, we were talking to the owner a bit and he told us that people stopped coming to Huacachina after the earthquake. Out of fear is all. Except the oasis is fine and they´re in desperate need of tourists, so please, if you´re in the area, GO!!!
It´s totally safe and wonderful, except maybe an overprices dinner or beer here and there.

Upon our departure, we figured it would be a great idea that Mishka´s parents, Rich and Liza, should definitely come here on their visit in the upcoming week. And it sure was a great idea . . . Stay tuned!