Final South American Email: Photos, Amazon Jungle, & Colombia (1/5/09):
**VERSIÓN ESPAÑOL ABAJO**
Hi everybody, once again...
(the album is #7 called Last Stint)
So, I believe last time I wrote was from Huanchaco, Perú... quite a long time ago. I am back home now (as of a few days ago) and basically went overland from the peruvian coast all the way to the eastern border of the country in the amazon basin, then up through colombia for my last month.
Lets see, to start... i should probably do another plug for my volunteer organization. So, go check out
www.fairmail.info. Ok, so my time there was invaluable, but i kind of already explained all of that. I became friends with the people i lived with, other volunteers, and some locals there too... but the time came to move on again, so i said goodbye to them all and headed north. i went with 5 girls(!!!) who were also volunteers with me in Huanchaco, but did other jobs like teach english or a teachers aids. We explored the city of Chiclayo together, and even went to the wizards and witches market, where we could buy pretty much anything. I passed on the deer leg brewsticks, and even on the Amor Eterno pills and just went for the eyecandy. walking around the market with 5 tall white girls (sorry Lina) was pretty fun, we attracted a lot of attention and people were really happy to show us their yummy looking, salted, flattened, dry, fish... or maybe their live black, really fast, worm-like water creatures.
After a couple days, i said goodbye to them and met up with my peruvian friend Nancy for a day, and she showed me around... but somehow i was better oriented than she was in her home town, so we didnt actually do all that much other than eat empanadas and cookies. We had a fun time walking around and talking though. I left for the mountains, which was the northern range of the Andes, and found myself in the town of Chachapoyas. I was, once again, traveling alone down there. The town really nice and pretty, i recommend it and its surroundings as a destination, but theres nothing email worthy from my time there... check out the photos. I've already said too much!!!
I was getting excited to leave Chachapoyas because I knew my JUNGLE ADVENTURE!!! would start. I will capitalize all of my creative titles to add emotion to the text. I was about to embark on a month long amazonian jungle thing. as you can see, i am still suffering badly from talking english not goodly. So, i headed to a few small towns, easing my way from the mountainous climate which included cloud and high rain forests, and went all the way down to the humid and more tropical "jungle" as we call it. i stopped in one town and hung out for a few days, viewing waterfalls and checking out the new amazonian fruits. I was even offered marriage (or something) from the girl i bought a hammock from, but i graciously declined. In this town, called Terapoto, I began to notice the trend... that many many young girls in the region have kids (like between the ages of 15-20), and that there were probably very few that were my age, single, AND without children. it was a little different than some of the more developed areas where theres a higher percentage of young people who were focused on a career or education. So, that meant that if i were going to find a wife there, she'd probably have some kind of boyfriend or whatever. shoot. i didnt anyways. typical.
Ok, so i left Terapoto on a horrible bus, and eventually made it to Yurimaguas, which is the port town that leads me to the amazon river by boat... and yes... i had started my JUNGLE ADVENTURE!!! I also discovered another trend. I stood out a LOT. for some reason people liked trying to sell me things... probably cause there are a lot of travelers that go down there and buy too much crap. For example, I had 3 jungle guides come up to me and find out where i was heading and told me they had a "friend" who lived there and would meet me at the dock when my boat arrived, and they'd be my guide... I was supposed to look for a guy named Juan, another named Genaro, and i forget the last but ill make one up... Estev. Annoying. I got bad service in a restaurant probably cause i wasnt a local, and those 2 things pissed me off enough to where i didnt wanna see their shitty town anymore and i got on the next boat outta there.
BOAT TIME!!! so i paid $22 for a day and a half boat ride with food included down the amazon. There were 3 levels on the boat: 1st floor was 2 cars, 30 cows, a few goats, some chickens (the population decreased after each meal though), and about 1,000,000 onions. 2nd floor was the cramped, sweaty, bad food, worse bathrooms, no room passenger floor for 20 bucks. the 3rd floor had the luxury box rooms (luxury = having a door) and area with a better view for the passengers for a higher price. I went for the cheap option and was directed to hang my hammock with about 200 other people... 2 of which were tourists. Being that i am of a larger build, often times i would touch hips with my neighbors' because, well... i guess to put it bluntly, my hips are big. i felt bad when he was sleeping and i'd crash into him trying to shift around. i spent the next 36 hours either in my hammock and the small viewing deck enjoying the people on the boat. Many of the señoras were very impressed that i could knit and was the icebreaker. they'd lurk around me curiously, as if they were a man helping a wounded dinosaur, and then i would usually smile and say something to let them know that i could speak spanish and it was okay for them to say whatever it was that they wanted to say... i guess, making them think that i was the herbivore-style dinosaur and was of no danger to them. After talking with a woman, i'd watch her tell all the other older folks around her about me and they'd come down and do the same... and they really liked that i was making my mom a scarf. i think i broke their hearts a little bit. so, it was an amazing experience... i made friends with some of the other passengers just doing a lot of nothing with them. The trip was characterized by sleeping too much in a hammock, talking to people about california, waking up to blaring cumbia at 5 am, and eating bad food. it was absolutely wonderful.
ooh, i forgot... here is a sanitation story: so, i went to the bathroom once [ummm, it was a #2 (omg)] and flushed. dont worry, this is the ONLY time i did that on my trip, so you wont have to hear about it again. no problems. then i went around the corner and washed my hands. clean hands now. WAIIIIIIIIITTTT. looked down at the brown river and did the math... flush goes down. infinitely large body of water = zero concentration of fecal matter... right? water comes up to wash hands. was it contaminated with the fish and bananas i had in yesterdays lunch? perhaps. i then embraced my surroundings and showered with the same river water that was my septic tank and hand wash basin... while praying that my shampoo was stronger than bleach. if you guys didnt wanna talk to me after EATING shit, how do you feel about me showering in it? i realize that this paragraph is a jumble of horribly written nonsense, but whatever.
I visited a national reserve called Pacaya-Samiria... and had an awesome time. i got off the boat in this little village and found a guide. so, for $25/day i hired him as a private guide, chef, fisherman, fire builder, canoe paddler, mosquito net erector, animal finder, and companion. the two of us paddled through this reserve down the pacaya river for 6 days... and all we brought were some clothes, my camera, a canoe, a banana branch, and rice. we caught fish, paddled our canoe, looked for animals (i saw river dolphins, monkeys, crocodiles, sloths, birds galore, turtles, frogs, and whathaveyou), listened to the sounds of the jungle, ate a lot, and swam in piranha infested waters. it was the wet season, so almost the entire reserve was under a few feet of water, meaning that all the navigation was done in the canoe itself. check out the pictures, but they really dont do the experience justice... i definitely plan on going back and doing the 20 day one-way trip someday. by the end of the 6 days we were having lots of fun talking with one another, but i was ready to change shirts back in town.
from there it was another couple day boat ride down to Iquitos, and then to Leticia... in both towns i didnt do anything super exciting. i think i had my first migraine in one of them though! i also found out that the Obamas had one the world series or something like that. i didnt know til a week after it happened though cause i was in the reserve and then a tiny town. other than hanging out with a couple of other cool travelers in those two towns, nothing too remarkable happened... other than the fun night out at some club where i spent a night trying to avoid a whole bunch of 30-something year old prostitutes (or maybe just "opportunists"). i felt some strong foot rubbing on my leg anytime i stood too close to the bar, and some creepy woman was trying to get me to go upstairs with her and some other dude. not having it. 2 of the 4 guys that i went with there fell for their "tricks" and i didnt see them the next morning in the hostel. dirty. I also ate bbqued worms. thats another gross sounding food that is confirmed to taste gross. they looked like oversized maggots trying to emerge from some sort of cocoon, tasted like bbqued something, and left me with the feeling in my stomach that communicated "it feels like you just ate a worm and although its not that gross tasting, brain is telling stomach that you shouldn't be happy."
In colombia, i flew to the capital, Bogotá, and met up with Monica (my friend i met in Spain) and her boyfriend Marty. I stayed in their apartment which was really nice after over a month of moving around a lot and sleeping in very less than ideal conditions. i relished in having my own room, a bed, internet in the house, and an excuse to not do anything (cold rain). the 3 of us spent the 5 days i had there exploring, chatting, and catching up. one night we went out to a club/bar thing... if you EVER see a drink called "Be Happy" do not order it. its a mixture of beer, vodka, tequila, rum, grenadine, gin, aguardiente, and curacao. and thats it (those are all alcohol, btw). so, i may or may not be speaking from experience but one (1) of those things will get somebody of my build, current (at the time) food saturation level, tiredness level, and tolerance pretty much hammered. PLUS, it tastes bad. but, pretty sure it turns you into a really good dancing machine... just ask any of the 4 girls that danced with me and then all of a sudden were no longer dancing with me.
after that, i headed to a town called Bucaramanga, where i had a friend (who i had still not yet met) waiting for my arrival. i decided to Couchsurf (check out
www.couchsurfing.com, a cultural exchange website) and actually stay at somebody's house, whereas before i had just met up somewhere in town. my new friend was named Tania, and once i was at her house, her whole family was just as open as she was. Originally planning 2 nights with them, i stayed 7 and had a great time everyday... i met her parents, 2 sisters, boyfriend, his daughter, about 12 aunts and uncles, 8 cousins, and some of their friends too... it was a ton of fun. they took me house shopping, out to dinner, to the mall, to a beautiful colonial town, and some other stuff. i was staying at Tania's boyfriends house down the street... and it just so happened that there was a painter and his 3 painting apprentice sons staying there too, so every night when i came home the 4 of them were up and we'd talk til late. Although i didnt need much, they all convinced me that colombia was a great place to be traveling. On my last day, the Mom invited me to eat ants (a local delicacy), so we went to the ant district of town and found some. they were huge, and WITH WINGS. ugh. they tasted like peanuts... but like, really disgusting peanuts with legs that got stuck in your throat. But, you know, it was very nice of them to try to "let" me enjoy the ants! Tania, her sister, and i all got along really well... we had lots of fun hanging out together, and im grateful to have met such a nice family.
On my 3rd day with the family, it was thanksgiving. Tania took me to the store and i took forever (if youve ever been to the supermarket with me, you know...) for me to get a thanksgiving turkey and all the good stuff that goes with it. i spent 8 hours cooking a turkey with stuffing, green bean cassarole, mashed potatoes, gravy, and an apple pie in the unventilated and hot kitchen. they thought i was crazy... like, whos this weird american guy who took over our kitchen, and why is he cooking so much weird stuff?? i was really nervous cause everything i made was from scratch and i was positive that i'd blow it one way or another, but it actually came out really well and they all liked it. who knows, maybe one day this act of kindness will end the drug war!
From there, i went up to the caribbean coast for my last 12 days or so in the continent! Fernanda, who i had met back in Santiago in March, decided to come up and hang out with me for my last week and a half and we had a blast exploring the coast. We visited Cartagena, a small fishing town called Taganga, and a national park called Tayrona... and it was all beautiful. I did some scuba diving and snorkeling... and got to see some of the tropical life once again. In the park, we backpacked through calf-deep mud to the ocean and slept in hammocks on the beach between palm trees. We spent the days swimming around in the 80 degree water and just doing some hardcore lounging around in picturesque beaches while eating tropical fruits. I was really sad to have to say bye to her and to south america... but i couldnt have thought of a better way to end the trip.
So anyways, now im writing this from Santa Cruz... and its alllllll over. I am happy to be back with my family (gonna be uncle cody!), Thumper, friends, and some of the luxuries here. to name a few... flushing toilet paper is alright. pricetags are handy. road rules apply. having more than 75 liters of stuff can be nice. i have more than a 5 shirt rotation. i dont have to fear for my life due to electrifying myself in the shower. my bed fits.
although, ill have to drive a little further to find a paint store, im gonna miss $1 delicious meals, i have to refrigerate my eggs, there aren't any cumbia buses here, chickens no longer walk across the road.
i was gone for 11 months and 1 day, i guess this is where i sum it all up in a simple, eloquent phrase... huh? im not even gonna try. if youve enjoyed reading these emails, i guarantee that obtaining these stories was way more fun than reading about them. some of you may think im crazy, lucky, retarded, non-goal oriented, whatever... but taking a year off and doing something like this was not as expensive or impossible as you may think... the what i gained there far outweigh what i missed here. i encourage you to go check it out... its a beautiful place, and feel free to ask me advice on places to go down there!
until next trip,
cody
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hooooola amigos,
(están en el album llamado ¨phase VII - Last Stint¨)
Bueno... pueeeeessss, creo que la última vez que escribí fue de Huanchaco, Perú... hace mucho tiempo. Ahora, les escribo a ustedes de mi casa en California, y basicamente fui por tierra y rio de la costa de Perú atravesé los Andes de nuevo, y fui por el rio amazonas hasta colombia, y viajé un mes en colombia antes de regresar.
Para empezar, yo debería promover la organización con quien trabajaba antes, miren la página
www.fairmail.info. ok, mi tiempo allí con Fairmail era inolvidable, pero ya expliqué esto mas o menos. yo llegué a ser amigos con la gente con quien yo trabajaba y vivía ahí, y también con algunos Huanchaqueros... pero vino el momento para salir y despedir a los amigos... y me fui al norte. Fui con 5 chicas(!!!), y ellas eran voluntarias también en Huanchaco, pero hacían otras cosas como enseñar inglés o ayudantes en la sala. Fuimos juntos a la ciudad se llama Chiclayo, siquiera visitamos el mercado de brujos, donde puedes comprar de todo... por ejemplo, me quedé sin compras cuándo ví la pata de ciervo para sopa de brujas, y resistí comprar las pastillas de Amor Eterno (para hacerte MAS hombre). Caminando por el mercado con 5 chicas altas era muy divertido, porque les llamamos la atención a todos, y la gente estaba muy feliz mostrarnos sus pescados salados y planos (?), o quizas sus gusanos negros y vivos que vivían en agua... asco.
Después de unos días, yo les despedí a mis amigas, y encontré con mi otra amiga Nancy (quién conocí en Arequipa) por un día... y me mostró la ciudad. no hicimos muuucho aparte de comer empanadas y las galletas tipicas de la región... King Kong?? Me fui para las montañas, que eran los andes del norte de peru... y me encontré en el pueblo se llama Chachapoyas. Yo estaba, nuevamente, viajando solo ahí y me gustaba mucho. El pueblo era muy bonito y agradable, y lo recomendo y los alrededores también como destino, pero no hice nada digno mención. ya he dicho demasiado!!!
Yo estaba emocionado por salir de Chachapoyas porque sabía que mi AVENTURA SALVAJE!!! empezaría pronto. Voy a hacer los titulos letras grandes para aumentar el nivel de emoción en este mensaje. Yo estaba a punto de embarcar en una cosa amazonica que iba a durar un mes. este parte no traduce bien, porque me quejé del hecho que todavía no puedo hablar bien en inglés. Entonces, visité algunos pueblitos al principio del clima montañoso que inclusó bosques nubosos y lluviosos, y fui hasta la región humida y mas tropical... ¨selvosa,¨ la llamamos. descansé por unos dias en una ciudad se llama terapoto y no hice mucho en estos días... miraba cascadas y probaba frutas nuevas. Siquiera se me solicité la chica que me vendió una hamaca su misma como esposa o algo, pero la tuve que rechazar graciamente. Ahí me comencé a dar cuenta que muchas (claramente, no todas) de las chicas entre 15 y 20de allí tenían hijos y que probablemente estaba pocas chicas de mi edad que estaban solteras y sin hijos. Era diferente que los lugares mas desarrollados donde hay un por cientaje más alto de jovenes quienes enfocaban más en su educación o trabajo. En corto, si yo fuera a encontrar una esposa ahí, ella probablemente tendría 16 años o un novio. No gracias.
EPOCA DE BARCO!!! pagué US$22 por un día y medio de viaje en barco con comida incluida en el rio amazonias. Estaba 3 niveles en el barco: 1er piso tenía 2 autos, 30 vacas, algunos cabros, gallinas (pero, menos despues de cena), y como 1,000,000 cebollas. el segundo piso tenía mucha gente, sudor, comida mala, baños peores, y poco espacio. El tercero piso tenía cuartos lujosos (lujoso = tiene una puerta) y un área con una vista mejor para los pasajeros por un precio más alto. Escogí el segundo nivel y colgué mi hamaca con 200 otras personas... 2 de ellos siendo turistas. Como estoy una persona más grande, con frecuencia yo tocaba uhhhh.... no sé el nombre... el lugar entre el estomago y los piernas pero no ESE lugar... es hueso grande... lo que tiene vacas. no importa. pero tocaba mis vecinos (sin intención) mucho mientras y dormía en mi hamaca. me sentía mal cuándo yo chocaba con los vecinos y se despertían. pasé las próximas 36 horas en mi hamaca o en la terraza, disfrutando la gente en el barco. Muchas de las señoras estaban impresionadas que yo pudiera tejer y eso ¨rompía el hielo.¨ ellas pasaban mi hamaca mirandome curiosamente, como un hombre ayundando un oso herido con cuidado, y normalmente yo sonreiría y diría algo para que supieran que podía conversar en español, y era bien que me preguntaran lo que querían. Después de hablar con una mujer, yo la miraba decirles a sus amigos que yo sabía tejer y hablar español, y ellos iban a hacer lo mismo... divertido! y a ellas les gustaba que yo hiciera una bufanda para mi mamá, yo rompía sus corazones un poco. fue una experiencia bonita, hice amigos con otros pasajeros, pasamos tiempo juntos haciendo nada y compartiendo algunas historias. El viaje estaba caractizado por dormir en una hamaca demasiado, hablar con gente sobre california, despertarme por cumbia muuuuy fuerte a las 5 de la mañana, y comer comida mala. fue maravilloso.
casi se me olvidó... aquí es una historia sanitaria: fui al baño una vez (ummm, numero dos... mucha informacion, lo siento, pero pertiene a la cuenta) y tiré la cadena, sin problemas. de repente, fui al otro lado y me lavé las manos. manos limpias ahora. ESPEREN. yo miré hacia el rio café y pensaba... agua del inodoro va hacia abajo, un cuerpo de agua grande = cero contaminación de cosas ¨humanos,¨ verdad? agua va hacia arriba para lavar las manos. Fue contaminado con el pescado y bananas que comí el día anterior?? quizás. después me duché con el mismo agua, que era bien sucio hacía pocos minutos... y rezé que mi champú era muuuuuy fuerte como clorox. por lo menos no es guiso de mierda.
Yo visité una reserva nacional se llama Pacaya Samiria, y tuve un tiempo bacano, bacan, copado, chevere... lo que sea. bajé del barco grande en un pueblo (lagunas) y conseguí un guía. Él era mi guía, cocinero, pescador, hombre-que-hacía-fuego, remador de canoa, erector de red de mosquitos, buscador de animales, y compañero. Nosotros remabamos en el rio pacaya por 6 días... y solo trajemos ropa, mi camara, una canoa, un palo de bananas, y arroz. pescabamos, remabamos la canoa, buscabamos animales (vi delfines del rio, monos, cocodrillos, perezos, muchos aves, tortugas, ranas, y otros), escuchabamos los sonidos de la selva que era muy fuerte, comíamos mucho, y nadabamos en agua habitado por pirañas. Era la temporada lluviosa, y casi toda la reserva estaba abajo agua, que significa que toda la exploración era de la canoa. miren las fotos, pero ellas no explican lo que es ese lugar bien. Quiero regresar ahí, porque quiero hacer el 20 día viaje de una via... algún día. Al final de los seis días nos estabamos divertiendo mucho hablando, pero y estaba listo para cambiar mi ropa por fin.
De allí, tuve 2 días más en el barco hasta Iquitos, y seguí hasta Leticia... y no hice mucho superemocionante en ambas ciudades. Descubrí que Barack Obama ganó algo... un campionato de futból?? No sabía hasta una semana después porque estaba en esa reserva, pero alguien me lo dijo en el barco. conocí algunos otros viajeros ahí y una noche fuimos a la rumbia y había muchas prostitutas... o "chicas oportunisticas" en ese disco, y me puso bien incomodo. cuando ibamos al bar para una cerveza, nos tocaban las piernas con sus pies. después, pedí mis cervezas de una distancia mas largo del bar. Otra cosa interesante de iquitos... yo comí gusanos asados. es otra comida asco que parecería asqueroso antes de comer. parecían como maggots(??), los gusanos que comen cadáveres y cuerpos para descomponer la materia orgánica, pero parecían como estos tratando de surgir de su capullo, tenían un sabor de carbón, y me dejaron con una sensación en mi estomago que me comunicó, "acabas de comer un gusano, y aunque no tiene un sabor supermalo, tu cerebro te dice que no deberías estar contento."
En Colombia, fui al capital, Bogotá, y encontré con mis amigos Monica y Martin (de California). Ellos están realizando un trabajo voluntariado por 9 meses ahí con YMCA, y me quedé en su casa por 5 días. Fue muuy agradable a quedarme en un lugar comodo en una habitación privada despues de un mes viajando mucho y durmiendo en condiciones menos ideal. Tenía una excusa para "rascarme los huevos" porque casi todos los días había una lluvia fría y no tenía muchas ganas de salir. Pero, exploramos un poco también, una noche fuimos a un discoteca-bar... y tengo un consejo: si ves un trago se llama "Be Happy" no lo pidas. es una mescla de cerveza, vodka, tequila, ron, grenadina, gin, aguardiente, y curacao. y nada más. puede ser que estoy hablando de experiencias verdaderos, pero un de estos tragos pondrá alguien de mi estatura e estado fisico borrachisimo. quien sabía?? MÁS, tiene un sabor horrible. Pero, lo bueno es que te haga una máquina de bailar, solo necesitan preguntar las 4 chicas que bailaban conmigo, y de repente pararon y fueron.
después de esto, me fui a una ciudad se llama Bucaramanga, donde tenía una amiga (quien todavía no habia conocido) esperando mi llegada. decidí que quería CouchSurf (
www.couchsurfing.com, un sitio de intercambio cultural), y quedarme en su casa... mientras que antes solo había encontrado la gente en un bar o café. Mi amiga nueva se llama Tania, y una vez en su casa toda su familia era tan amable que ella. originalmente, solo me iba a quedar 2 o 3 noches, pero me quedé 7, y todos los dias me pasaron lindos... conocí sus padres, 2 hermanas, enamorado y su hija, y como 12 tíos y primos... genial. me llevaron a ir de compras, fuimos a cenar, al mall!!, y a una ciudad colonial. también, toda la familia y yo fuimos a buscar una casa nueva, pero era demasiado cerca a una finca de pollos. me dormía en la casa de su novio que queda a unas 2 cuadras de la casa de tania, y en su casa estaban 4 pintores también visitando de bogotá. entonces, todas las noches, cuándo regresaba a la casa, nosotros charlabamos hasta tarde. aunque no necesitaba mucho, ellos me convencieron que colombia es un lugar hermoso para viajar. en mi último día, la madre me invitaron a comer hormigas, una delicia local. fuimos al "barrio hormiga" y compramos algunos... los comí, pero no me caen superbien. no son malos... son como maní con patitas que quedan en la garganta. y con alas. ugh. Pero... era SUPERagradable que ellos me dejaron disfrutarlos. Tania, su hermana Dina, y yo nos llevamos muy bien y agradezco haber tener esta experencia.
En mi tercer día con la familia, fue el día del acción de gracias. Tania me había llevado al supermercado la noche anterior, y nos pasa MUCHO tiempo ahí porque yo no había planeado muy bien... y si una vez has ido al supermercado conmigo ya sabes como soy en ese ambiente... y tampoco sabía todos los nombres de los ingredientes que necesitaba. ahora sí... maizena, habituelas, y .... ya olvidé. Yo Pasé 8 horas cocinando un pavo relleno, pure de papas con salsa de pavo, un fuente de habituelas y hongos. yo creo que ellos pensaban que yo era loco... como, "quien es este hombre gigante que conquistó nuestra cocina, y porque está cocinando tanto??" estaba un poco nervioso porque yo hice todo con ingredientes basicos y estaba cierto que algo habría salido malo... pero fue delicioso. llamé mi familia porque todos se habian juntado en la casa de mi tía y ellos se soprendieron cuando les dije lo que hice.
De ahí, fui a la costa del caribe en el norte de colombia por mis últimos 12 días en el continente!! Fernanda, quién había conocido en Marzo en Santiago de Chile, decidió irse y encontrar conmigo por ese tiempo, y tuvimos un timpo genial viajando juntos. Visitamos la ciudad Cartagena, un pueblito de pescadores se llama Taganga, y un parque nacional se llama Tayrona. y todo me pareció bonito! fui a bucear y snorkel, y vi algunos peses tropicales de nuevo. en el parque, mochilamos(?) en barro muy profundo hacia el mar, y durmimos en hamacas en la playa entre palmeras. Pasamos los días nadando en el agua cálido y haciendo nada en las playas hermosas comiendo frutas tropicales. Trabajo muy duro. Estaba triste tener que despedir a ella y a sudamerica... pero no puedo pensar en mejor forma de salir de un viaje así.
Estoy escribiendo esto de mi casa en Santa Cruz, California... y todo es finito! estoy feliz estar aquí con mi familia, perra, amigos, y otras cosas. por ejemplo, ahora regreso a tirar mi papel gigenico en el inodoro. también siempre hay los precios en tiendias, la mayoria de la gente respeta reglas de maejar, tengo mas de 75 litros de cosas (la capacidad de mi mochila), tengo más de 5 camisas, no tengo que temer mis duchas ya... no me van a matar con electricidad a la cabeza, y quepo en mi cama. PERO, ya no tengo la comida interesante que puedo explorar, tengo que ir mas lejos para conseguir pinta, cosas son caras ahora, tengo que poner mis huevos en el refrigerador, no escucho cumbia en buses, y no hay pollos crucando la calle. estas cosas voy a extrañar.
estuve ahí por 11 meses y un día, y supongo que aquí es donde sumo todo en un frase simple y elocuente. ja. cody elocuente en español... estamos bromeando. si te ha gustado leer estes emails, te prometo que mi experiencia (conseguir las historias que escribo) fue muuuucho mejor que leerlas. algunos piensan que estoy loco, con suerte, estupido, sin metas, cualquier cosa... pero, viajando un año así no es tan caro ni imposible como piensan algunos... y lo que gané yo es muuucho mejor que lo que habría tenido aquí en un año normal. les alento tratarlo, es un mundo hermoso en todos rincones! si quieren consejos, escribanme!
hasta el proximo,
cody
PS: espero que pudieran entenderme bien con el idioma.
I didn't think I was given a visa with a typo but from now on I'll be checking for those. I left LAX pretty excited to try and learn some portuguese and to do whatever it is I was gonna do here, and got to Mexico City for my layover. It was a stretch to kill the 5 hours there in the airport, but I did my best. Around 11:30 pm, we boarded the plane and took off for Brasil... or, better said, ALMOST everybody boarded the plane and took off. I was stopped in the jetway and directed to the desk where I was promptly told I wouldn't be getting on the plane and I was to go downstairs and get my bags. When I asked "what the deal was," the best answer I got was that I had to go "fix things."
tile floor for an hour or two of shut-eye. Around 5:30, I was awoken by a guard telling me not to be such a bum and get off the floor, so I moved to a table til about 7 when things opened back up. I went to the immigration office and was told to go to the Brazilian embassy to fix things. Also, I had no map or information about Mexico City (DF - Distrito Federal) at this point, so I jumped in a taxi with hopes of fixing things and getting on a plane that morning, so I could at least make my connection later that day in Brasil. I got to the embassy and the guy told me to go to the consulate instead. Right. I hopped into a taxi to the consulate, and was in the right spot! The nice woman sent me on a scavenger 
hunt to find a photo studio, a bank, an internet cafe, and a photocopy place. I was literally running around the neighborhood asking where these places were to get it all back by the 1:00 deadline. I made it at 12:45 and all was well. I then jumped into a cab taking me to a hostel I called earlier, because I realized I wouldn't be leaving on a plane that night. I arrived to the hostel just in time to cancel my internal brazilian flight and for the futbol match between México and the US. After a giant lunch, it was all I could do to not fall asleep during the game, and was glad we lost just so I could go to sleep.
I had always thought of México City as a dumpy place, but that was just my ignorance of the city talking, and I'm looking forward to going back. Over my week there (I ended up staying an extra 2 days cause it was fun), I met a few really cool people and saw quite a bit of the city. I ate a load of delicious food, per usual, and spent quite a few days just walking around getting lost and wandering through some of the random markets. I really enjoyed seeing Diego Riviera's murals in the Palacio Nacional showing the history of the aztecs and the spanish invasion. I also visited the 3rd largest pyramid in the world, Tiotehuacan... or something. Big pile o rocks, no biggie.
place just because of what you hear. Except for maybe Guatemala City. Here in Brazil, I have been CouchSurfing, which some of you know is a short term pay-it-forward cultural exchange type thing where you get to stay with a local at their house for free (but help with groceries, cleaning, etc). My friend from Colombia recommended that I stay at Cristiana's house here in Rio, so I contacted her before coming and set it up. I didn't know before, but she's way into it and has people at her house all the time. When I got here, there was an Aussie, Swede, Swiss, French, 2 Argentines, and a Brazilian staying here, with 2 Peruvian guests of honor that live close by. The official language of the house is spanish, because Cristiana, the brazilian owner, is in love with all that is Argentine.
do much during the daytime because it was grey and rainy, but after Cris came home from work she'd take whoever wanted out somewhere in the city... or we'd stay in talking and playing music til late. One night, some of us went to a concert in one of the favelas here in Rio, it was pretty amazing. Another night, the frenchie made us a chocolate fondue for dinner with 7 pounds of chocolate, it was absolutely amazing; it was a week ago and I think I still have some chocolate in me. 
o (lived in spain for 3 years), so we could actually have some intelligent conversation, rather than me struggling with portuguese. Because, you know, I'm all about intelligentical things. Anyways, the weather there was much much better and I spent those 5 days either on the beach, in the kitchen, eating someting good, or making a caiprinha... mmmmmm.
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