Sorry I have neglected to blog for so long, the last couple weeks have gone by in a blur. Robert and I split paths in Cuzco and went our separate ways, which I am VERY glad of. The next part of my journey I spent in Lima. The day I checked into my hostel I immediately made a couple friends and we went out to lunch and to the beach. ...

As I followed my friends into the cave I got scared when I heard Julian say, "the rock is bleeding!" and ran out. But I just had to see what was in side. Holding Nina's hand, we walked along the stone carved walkway. Precipices dropped down on either side and in the middle of the chamber we saw the king sized bed slab of rock where the moonlight shined in through a window. ...

On Sunday we crossed the border between Argentina and Paraguay after busing across Brazil for a short distance. Our stay in Argentina was really nice, ending it all off with a visit to a massive waterfall called Iguazù falls and a tour of the Guirà Oga animal hospital. There were a variety of jungle animals including monkeys, orangutans, all sorts of birds, and little mammals i had never seen before...

Large orange fish skimed the surface of the pond, searching for food and jumping for bugs in violent splashes. Red arc bridges with golden caps at the point of each banister traversed the waters. A mixture of local Buenos Aires flora like palm fronds mingled with Japanese plants like pink roses. ...

Day 1: The moment I stepped out of the bus station in Buenos Aires, I got robbed. A woman I thought was a taxi driver "put my backpack into the trunk" and i didnt even realize it was missing untill I arrived at the hostal. The real taxi driver helped me report it to a police officer nearby, but the probability of seeing it again was impossible. ...

After many sad goodbyes, last nights out, jokes from my friends about kidnapping, and so much more, I hopped on a bus yesterday morning for Mendoza, Argentina. Crossing the Andes Mountains was captivating. Going from the hills on the coast, through the green pre-cordillera, through the Andes which looked like spikes shooting into the sky, then trhough the dry brown mountains after the border crossing (which went by with ease, didnt even get my bags searched), I was suprised to wake up from my nap in the bustling metropolis of Mendoza.. ...

The earth rumbled bellow the earths surface from the lava boiling deep down in the caldera. Sulfuric gasses burned my nostrils as I sat down on the snow for my lunch. I looked out over the stark contrast of endless green Andes mountains. At 2,847 meters, Volcano Villarica has a micro climate which keeps it in perpetual winter. ...

I hadn't been putting forth much effort to keep up with the election news. I spent my whole weekend camping on a beautiful beach a two-hour walk from Horcon. The fields were entirely full of wild flowers, horses and cows graised in wide open pastures, and a little forest nesteled into the hills foiled the steep ocean cliffs, prickly with cactus and full of sea gull nests. ...

A weeek ago I began a volunteership at the Colegio Presbetariano in Valpara"so, Chile. It interests me a lot as an education student because I see things I`ve never seen in the school system back home. A couple of things that popped out at me yesterday:...

The past week went by like a whirlwind. When I got home from La Campana, I discovered forgotten tickets to the Argentina vs. Chile soccer game in Santiago. With the pile of homework on my nightstand and the dirty laundry on my floor, I did not want to go anymore. But when the bus of exchange students pulled up on a sidewalk to park because it could no longer drive towards the stadium, squirming excitment filled my stomache...

Sitting on the rocky mountain peak, 1,900 meters above sea level, with the fog bellow me flowing and rising like a river into the sky, I could see the Andes mountains to the east and the Pacific ocean to the west between the billows of clouds. The hike up took about four and a half hours, but the sensation of complete solitude and acomplishment made it so worth the while. ...

The past week has been a blast! I havent traveled anywhere, but had a lot of fun right here in Viña del Mar/Valparaiso. Last Friday night, I started out at a classmates house, Carolina. We were practicing for our belly dancing performance on Monday with some other girls from the class. Afterwards three of us wne to a festival together in Valparaiso...

Before coming to Chile I heard lots of advice on how to the avoid fleas, but I never imagined how hard it would be! Fleas are everywhere, even more so now that spring has sprung. I think its the climate here, or maybe the quantity of stray animals, either way, there are so many fleas that many of the locals barely even notice them; they have developed a tollerance. ...

The last week was really relaxed for me. Besides having a friend I met in San Pedro de Atacama visit me, everything was just life and school as normal. I do not have much to tell about, but I decided I would take this chance to share a few poems I have written recently...

On Thursday I got home around seven and although I could have gone to my friends barbeque, but I was so tired after my trip that I took a shower and went to bed early. The rest was well needed for the coming weekend however. When Chileans say celebration, they mean celebration...

I am sorry I neglected my blog for so long, but the past week has been so busy for me. Last Thursday I just barely made it on time to catch my bus at 10:15 p.m. to Calama, a small town near my destination, San Pedro de Atacama. After 22 hours on a bus, my friends and I finally, made it, but suffered a set back. The connecting bus to San Pedro was delayed untill 1 a.m., so at 2 a.m. we had to bang on the hostal door and shamefully wake everyone up, but there was nothing else we could do...

What does Sept.11th mean to Chileans? Not just the American tragedy on Sept.11, 2001. I have heard many Chileans say that 9-11-01 was like America's political karma because on 9-11-1973 Chile had its own national tragedy. This tragedy was also a strike against democracy that resulted in loss of civil rights and many lives...

On Saturday I woke up uncomfortably early after my night out to go on a trip with the study abroad group. I was warry because some of the trips with the group have been terrible before, but this one was already paid for with my program admission fee and it turned out to be really fun and very worth while...

I've been thinking for awhile that after I finish my bachelor's degrees, I'd like to go for a master's degree in linguistics. The processes by which a language develops and people learn languages captivate me. The other night I was watching a Brazilian film, "Ciudad de Dios," with spoken Portuguese, English subtitles and discussed it with my friends in Spanish. ...

-Spring is officially here, the garderners trimmed the hedges today and painted the gate. -People don't stare at me on the train anymore, I was probably just drawing more attention at first because I was nervous. -No matter the socio-economic status or political sittuation, peole live just the same- it's life...