Writers Block

Ever since I've been back in Buenos Aires, I have had a bit of writers' block. That is not to say that nothing has been happening - I haven't felt interested in writing. So... I've been settling back into my Buenos Aires routine but there is a BIG new addition to my exciting schedule (and likely part of the reason I am too tired to write English)... I've enrolled in intensive Spanish classes. This means I have 4 hours of Spanish per day at a spanish school. I decided to do this as I have a bit more time on my hands and I really want to focus on learning Spanish. I am actually finding it quite challenging -- give me a math or logic problem and I can do it quickly but languages for some reason are not as easy for me.

The school I am going to is called Daniela Wasser. It is located nearby, also in Palermo but about 1/2 hr walking distance. Classes start everyday at 9am, which means dragging my lazy ass out of bed after a late night meal (we have been eating steaks at 11pm typically). I have a class from 9-11 with my first teacher Juliana (pictured above), then I have a 1/2 hr break then class with Pablo (I will get a photo of him soon). I was supposed to be taking group classes but unfortunately the person who was supposed to be in my class dropped out for a week -- he is coming back next week so this past week I've been alone with my two profs. I plan to do the group classes for at least 3 weeks, also so I can meet some people here. One fun thing we got to do is watch desperate housewives in Spanish. I love that show in English so it was funny to see the same characters appear, except they are latina.

Speaking of TV, we have been downloading our fav TV shows, such as Amazing Race (we should be on it except everyone in America would see that I am crazy anxious and Ariel is grouchy), Californication (great show, and I just realized a girl I went to high school with is in it), Top Model, and of course So You Think You Can Dance Canada. Love that show, and my fav is Nico pictured here.... I have a feeling he'll win.

Watching the shows really make us feel close to home.

It has been nice and warm out here in BA which means I can now blog from our balcony (see gratuitous photo of me blogging in my jeans). Seriously though, it is so hot during the day (which I love). Today we will be going to a pool party and hopefully I will have some photos of some people in sungas (not me) for next blog.

Another great thing to do when it is warm ou t is go to the nearby zoologico (ie. zoo, for those who didn't realize). I haven't been to a zoo in many years and literally we live 10 min walk from the city zoo. Last weekend, Ariel and I went. It was a lot of fun as there are quite a lot of cool animals there -- even a large reptile exhibit. The elephants were pretty cool and it felt like they were right in your face (so was their massive poo). Speaking of poo, there is not a social norm here to pick up after your dog. Which means, for example, last night, I slipped on some poo on the sidewalk. It is all part of the fun though.

Another fun thing we did this week is go to an art exhibit. As you may be able to guess from the photo, it was an art exhibit held at the Axel Hotel, a gay hotel here in BA. It was a lot more posing than art and basically an excuse for a bunch of peeps to get together and drink champagne. It was a lot of fun, and the music was great. They have a pool outside and this is where we are going today for the pool party.

In other news, I got a haircut recently and am contemplating letting the grey stay... I am going to wait a couple of days and see if I like it. I am so used to my Garnier #50 that I don't know if I will be able to live without her. If it makes me look more like George Clooney I may decide to keep it...

As you can see, I think Carolina liked it last night which is good (except she's a chick but oh well)! Ariel likes it as well (YES!).

Anyhow off to bruch and pool party with Ariel's brother, Mike, who is visiting... More on that later.

Miguel

Peru Finale: Frozen Mummy and Guinea Pig

Are you thinking that this Peru trip would never end? Well the last days of our recent trip just whizzed by. We arrived home to BA yesterday (Friday) and did a mega load of laundry (well, actually we sent it to the place nextdoor where they wash, fold, dry, iron and separate your laundry for you-- LOVE it).. Here's the run down of the last few days of our trip...

Day 9 (pm) - Return to Arequipa from Colca

We arrived back in Arequipa late afternoon on Tuesday and were a bit beat from the early morning condor viewings (and of course the latina teen fan club photo shoot). But I still had energy and interest in seeing one thing: Juanita!

Juanita is the mummy of an incan girl who was sacrificed to the incan gods as part of an incan ritual in the 1400's on a mountain near Arequipa. Due to the cold weather, remarkably, Juanita remained hidden and preserved until 1995 when, due to volanic ash melting the ice on the mountain, 'Juanita' was found and transported to Arequipa to be studied, and ultimately displayed in the museum. We went to this museum in Arequipa to hear the story and see the preserved mummy. It was amazing to see her (photo is not mine, it's from Google) as well as all the other artefacts, and learn more about the Incans (who seem a bit loco if you ask me). She is preserved in a temperature-controlled glass 'freezer' in the museum. Definitely a highlight of the trip so far!

Day 10 & 11 - Arequipa to Lima

Well we still had one day more to explore the beautiful city of Arequipa. Our day started off with a nice breakfast on the roof of our fav hotel. Again, sunny warm day made for great tanning weather.

From there, we decided to visit the Santa Catalina Monastery (e.g. nunnery). The monastery is a city within a city so we spent a bit of time walking around and exploring where the nuns used to live (not exactly the Hilton I tell ya). Here is a cute picture of Ariel posing with the replica of the last supper...

The grounds were actually quite nice (the nun's rooms were dark and tiny) so we spent most of the time walking around outside.

The Monastery also had an impressive art gallery. I quite liked these 2 paintings of the Creation of the Earth and Adam/Eve story...

For lunch, we went to this creperie (what other kind of food would you expect in South America?) which was a lot of fun. They challenged you to make a perfect crepe, and if you did, your lunch would be free. It was sorta like the TV show "Just Like Mom". As you can see from the picture, I failed miserably at the task (but it was a lot of fun, and the guy used his perfect crepe to make me a yummy chocolate banana one)... If I had to guess the guy's name, hmmm... it would be Jose Luis. Appears that every male I meet here is named Jose Luis.

Then we flew to Lima (population ~10 million) for our last 2 nights. We were told in advance Lima is a sprawling city and it was true. The traffic jam leading up to our hotel was not a lot of fun. We had heard that Lima was a bit dangerous but we saw no evidence of this here on this sign...

We stayed in Miraflores which is a rich suburb full of casinos (kinda unusual and strange for us to see given that we had just come from the countryside and so much simplicity and poverty). Our first night in Lima we also learned first hand about the 19% food sales tax that apparently is only added to foreigner's meals. Although the meal was a tad pricey for Peru standards, we ended up having a very nice ceviche, a specialty in Peru.

The next day in Lima turned out to be a mini food adventure. We started our day shopping for some clothes and ran into a nice salesperson guy in the store who sent us on a mission to eat the best of Lima cuisine (he wrote this on a receipt in his store as you can see). Our mission, should we choose to accept it, is to eat as much of the following as possible... according to the guy (likely named Jose Luis) there was a food market 'just a short walk away' where we could sample the best of Peruvian local cuisine. Of course... we were in!!! I knew what the first item was on thst list but I deciced I was going to try it anyhow...

So we started walking and soon realized that the "short walk away" was actually walking 20-30 blocks downtown form the suburb we were in. We decided to get on the local public transit - minibuses which have a man at the door hollering out to passerbys in order to get you on to the bus. All the buses go the same direction (I think) but slightly different prices and slightly different levels of cleanliness. Of course, we had to find one of the more dirty ones to really get into it. In the picture the guy in the red shirt with grey vest is 'working the door'.

We finally arrived at the food stations and treated ourselves to almost everything on the list. It kinda reminded me of a latino CNE. The chicharron (that means pork - sorry rabbi) was quite tasty. Then we dug in to the cuy (guinea pig, yep that's correct! See photo). As you can see from the photo, they leave the tooth and claw in the guinea pig. It kinda tasted like chicken but it was really hard to find the meat. I didn't mind it but put it this way, I woudn't order it again. The best thing on the list was Picarones, the latino version of Tiny Tom donuts which were very yummy (and not tiny).

There was also a little bit of love going on at the food event. "Toothy" pictured here with me I think had a bit of a crush on me. He kept looking over at us while we were eating our guinea pig so I decided I would take a photo with him holding a large piece of meat. He had a very sharp front tooth so I nicknamed him toothy.

We had a lot of fun trying all the food, then hopped back on a bus to our hotel, had dinner, then got up for our early flight back to Buenos Aires.

All in all, Lima had a lot to offer but was hard unless you knew someone there (I only met Toothy later so it was too late for a tour guide). Also, the gay scene is really undercover and clubs only open up really late, so we didn't check it out....

I will leave you with a nice photo taken in Miraflores of some nice buildings. It was a fantastic 11 days in Peru, seeing everything from mountains, canyons, lakes, condors, historic ruins, art, and tasting the amazing cuisine. I will always remember this trip, and if I forget, I have this blog to remind me.

The next couple of weeks will likely fly by here in BA. I start a formal Spanish school, have Ariel's brother coming to visit, and the month (and Act 2) will culminate with us flying back home for a whirlwind wedding weekend (my sister's). Lots of great stuff to be looking forward. As always, I'll keep you informed throughout the adventures...


Miguelito :)

Peru Trip: Colca Canyon... and some condors

[Editors note: Thank goodness for Ariel who is proofreading my blogs. Otherwise people would realize I can't spell without spellcheck...]

Day 8 & 9 - Colca Tour

Ariel and I signed up for a 2 day/1 night bus tour to see the Colca Canyon, which is larger than the grand canyon and 3 hours outside of Arequipa. We awoke early in the morning and left our favourite hotel to board our cramped bus.

The first part of our tour consisted of us learning to chew coca leaves (we were again going high in altitudes). After chewing the coca leaves for the first time, I actually think they work for a number of ailments. They taste absolutely disgusting though.

On the way, we also saw (and distingushed between) the three types of important Peruvian animals:


1. Vicuna (so cute, not domesticated, and was extremely sacred for the Incans)









2. Alpaca - looks like a lamb, domesticated (if you don't own an alpaca, you are NOT cool), and popular for its soft wool.





3. Llama - camel face, good climber, and can carry 80 lbs.




Our bus ride went through the Andes to some great viewpoints where we could see the volcanoes and mountains...

This is a pretty cool picture (in my humble opinion) which shows the good luck custom here... to pile/balance small rocks on top of each other which makes for some pretty neat surroundings...



We have really been missing our dog, Ziggy, on this trip (special thanks to my Uncle Stan and Aunt Linda for taking care of him while we are gone). Any animal that is small and cute reminds us of Ziggy, for example this cute little goat that we found in the mountain... [yes, you figured it out... the bus trip wasn't the most thrilling and we stopped at every possible stop to see animals and buy trinkets from old women in typical Peruvian clothing...]


Finally we arrived at our rustic lodge in Colca where we would stay overnight and then leave early in the morning to look at the canyon and hopefully spot condors. The lodge was a great place to unwind on some hammocks. The food was quite delicious as well... [editor's note: Ariel would put a hammock in our condo if he could]


We then took a hike up a mountain to view an Inca burial site. There were a number of skeletons and bones there, which was sorta freaky. One interesting thing we learned is that the different communities in that time would deform the skulls of their people to differentiate them (note that the skull on the right is narrow and long).

In particular, I think i am the best looking one in this photo but I welcome your comments and feedback...


Prior to heading to bed in the lodge we went to visit a "modern" hot springs (a.k.a hot springs attached to 5 swimming pools with hot water) to soak in the hot water. This was especially welcome given how cold it got at night.

We woke early the next morning (5am!!) to explore the canyon in the hopes of seeing the condor, which is the second largest bird in the world (thanks Cliff Clayvin).

The canyon itself was very impressive, wide and very deep. There are different 'terraces' along the sides at different altitudes which were used for agriculture since different crops grow at different altitudes.


We managed to see quite a number of condors. At times, they suddenly appeared from the canyon and you could really appreciate their size. Unfortuantely, at those times, my reflexes were not as amazing, and as a result, my best condor photo appears to the right (no laughing please).




Real photo from Google -->

The real excitement for us, however, was the group of 20 teenage South American girls that were screaming to take a photo with us. It was hillarious!!... they were all lining up and wanting to pose with us for photos. Of course we obliged and even did fun things with them as you can see in the photo... As you recall we had a similar experience at Macchu Pichu-- obviously these South American girls have a thing for Canadian jews.

We then had lunch in Chivay, a nearby town, then boarded the bus for a 3 1/2 hour bus ride back to Arequipa. Overall, the canyon was a pretty fun experience. Here's a final photo of the canyon and the condor...



We were looking forward to getting back to Arequipa for one more day of exploring, then off to Lima.

Preview of upcoming (and final) blog from Peru: Frozen girl, unique food, nunneries....

Heading out to Sitges Club now... 25 peso all you can drink...

Hugs,
Miguel.

Arequi... Arequi... Arequi... Arequi... Arequipa!!!

Before I begin my blog I must tell you that about an hour ago, the phone rang and it was Andy, the landlord. He came over with another prospective owner to show them the place. Andy saw me blogging and asked me to see my blog (GASP - you may remember the blog of Andy with the heart on his picture). I told him I would show him later but I don't know how he will like the picture of him with the heart in it... oh well, I will maybe stall a bit longer.

Day 7 - Arrive in Arequipa

From Puno, we took a 6 hour bus to Arequipa, the second largest city in Peru (next to Lima). In the bus stations, all the bus companies were competing for business by screaming out the city name "Arequi... Arequi.. Arequipa"... a bit of a tongue twister if you ask me.

Arequipa was such a treat to arrive in for a variety of reasons - but first of all, it was actually WARM and I got to wear shorts. Up until this point, I was wondering how could this entire country be so cold, but now I was glad that finally there was some warmth. Arequipa is called the white city, both because of its racial composition, but also its white architecture. Arequipa is also at a much lower altitude so no more headaches or shortness of breath. The central square, Plaza des Armas, is extremely beautiful, as you can see in the photo below:

Ariel and I had a nice lunch overlooking the Plaza and the cathedral. It is hard to believe that part of the cathedral was rebuilt after a bad earthquake in 2001...


Arequipa had a really charming feel to it as we walked through the streets, many of which were cobblestone. I really loved the architecture and it was so clean. We spoke to a local who told us that people love the city so much that if a resident sees litter on the ground, they will quite often pick it up in order for the city to remain spotless. Obviously there is much more money in this part of Peru. Here is a pic of Ariel in an area of the town which reminded me of Old Montreal.

All and all, the city was very beautiful and we spent the first afternoon wandering around, buying little souvenirs and just enjoying the sunshine and warmer weather. The city is also fortunate to have the backdrop of a number of mountains and volcanoes so the scenery is stunning (more on that in a future blog).




What did we REALLY enjoy about Arequipa, you may ask? The Hotel. By far, the Casa Arequipa where we stayed was a phenomenal hotel. We splurged a bit more in Arequipa but it was well worth it - plus we got the 'gay' discount (sometimes it actually comes in handy believe it or not). It was such a beautiful hotel, with antique furniture, stunning lobby, great breakfast, and modern washroom... heaven I say! Here is a picture of me enjoying the most comfortable bed.

We also took advantage of their 2 laptops to do some email in the evening.

For dinner that night, we went to a restaurant for steak. I tried a triple sample of ostrich, alpaca, and beef. The meat was extremely tender and delicious - I actually enjoyed the ostrich the most. They gave us these big bibs to eat with so that we wouldn't have the grease splatters on our expensive outfis.

All in all, our first day in Arequipa was fantastic. We had a good night's sleep and got ready for our trip the next day to the Colca Canyon to see the giant condors!!!

Hugs,
Miguelito

I love Titi-caca

Well I am home from our amazing trip to Peru and now... importantly, need to catch up on my blogging...

Day 5/6 - Puno & Lake Titicaca

Lake Titicaca, despite having a name you want to giggle at, is the highest navigable lake in the world (I am going to ace Trivial Pursuit now). It is also has beautiful scenery, floating islands, and is one of the most beautiful places we visited on our trip to Peru.

To get to Lake Titicaca, we had to get to the closest city, Puno (which is not very pretty, kinda industrial). After a rest in Cusco (and unfortunately tempermental hot water at the hotel), we woke up early and boarded the Inca Express - a bus service which goes from Cusco to Puno, with stops along the way (see right for Ariel posing in the ruins).


At the first rest stop on our journey, I ran into Little Bo Peep with her Alpaca....








I also took an opportunity to pose with my own Alpaca at another rest stop on the 6-7 hr trip (at the time I didn't know it was an Alpaca but have sinced learned the difference between an Alpaca, Llama, and Vecuna). I think this picture is very cute but I feel that the Alpaca is stealing my thunder.

We reached Puno just before dinnertime, checked into our hotel (this one had hot water thank goodness - but you had to let the water run for a bit), and had a nice pizza dinner nearby our hotel. I was expecting Puno to be freezing cold but luckily it wasn't that bad. Puno is at a higher altitude than even Cusco so when the sun goes down it gets a bit chilly. There is not much to do in Puno so we had an early night so we could get up early for our day tour on Lake Titicaca. There were two options for a tour: slow boat or fast boat. The slow boat would take 3 hours each way to get to the main attractions (the islands) whereas the fast boat would get us there in 1 hour... but cost 3 times as much. After much deliberation, we opted for the fast boat. It turned out to be a smart move...

We got up early and met Sulima, our tour guide, at our hotel. Turns out we were getting a private tour of Lake Titicaca and its islands. Yes, they knew we were VIPs and we finally were getting the VIP treatment (either that, or no one else was dumb enough to pay 3x more for the fast boat).


First stop, Uros Islands.

These floating islands made of reeds on lake Titicaca actually are inhabited by about 1000 people. They do everything on the islands, including cooking and even watching TV thanks to solar panels. Here is a great picture of Ariel that gives you a sense of the islands.

Here is another of a woman making food on the island, with our cool 'fast boat' in the background. It also gives a good sense of how the island is made entirely of reeds.

One of the women on the island was telling us about her family. She had 6 or 7 daughters who all were married.... except for one, and then pointed to a 15 yr old girl nearby. Then she winked at us. We got a little scared and stopped talking to that woman.

I also decided it was time for me to show my 'butchness' and pose with the gun that they use to scare flamingos. Behind me in this picture is a house that one family lives in. It really was amazing walking around on these islands of reeds.

We then were given a ride in a reed boat (paddled by the 15 year old single girl and her dad). It was really relaxing going along the lake in this boat. The women on the island sang songs to us including Twinkle Twinkle Little Star, which is relaly cute since they don't speak English and unlikely know the meaning of the song.

After spending about 1 hour on Uros, we sped off to our next destination, Taquile island. The boat was great on the water, and the three of us sat in the back of the boat getting wind in our hair (and of course, a necessary sun tan).

Taquile island is a more conventional island (e.g. not floating island made of reeds) and allowed us to really appreciate the beauty of Lake Titicaca. We got off the boat and walked up some steep stairs in order to get a beautiful view of the Lake. It really looked so blue and relaxing that day-- here is a photo that almost looks like it could be art.



Of course, THIS piece of art is even nicer since I am in it :)

We had a nice lunch of trout and homemade soup on the island, made for us by a family who live on the island (and of course run a tourist restaurant). The lunch was delicious. Here is a picture of the host family..... Take special note of grandma on the right.

After lunch, they brought out some instruments and started a dance to celebrate the harvest. Then after this, they asked us to join in. It was actually pretty fun to dance with the family. Here is a picture of me dancing with the cutest little kid. Afterwards I danced with grandma who really gave me a run for my money in the dancing department.

After the dance, I started thinking that if Brangelina can adopt a child maybe I could too. Here is a cute pic of me with my newly adopted Peruvian son.... He kinda looks a bit terrified of me, the gringo.

Being on Lake Titicaca was a really great experience. It was relaxing and fun, and had beautiful scenery. We made our way back to the boat and took a few more pictures of the tranquil water.

We took our fast boat back to Puno (only took 1 hour to get there) and I couldn't help taking this great photo of the harbour. I love this picture...





Back in Puno, we spent our last evening catching up on email, blogging, and taking a ride in a bicycle cab driven by an 11-year old boy. He really had no idea where he was going but it was a great way to see the city.
We rested up for the next day as we were taking another bus... this time to my favourite city in Peru, Arequipa!!!

Miguelito