Living lavishly in Buenos Aires, Argentina

I have been in Buenos Aires for almost a week now. It is a very neat, cosmopolitan city with French architecture, wide avenues lined with cafes and shops, shady parks that rival Central Park (NYC), and plenty to do and see! On the first day of my arrival, I decided to live like an Argentinean and have dinner at 10:00 pm, go home to take a nap, and then go to a smoky nightclub from 2:30 to 4:30 am. Very exhausting, to say the least, but I had to try it!

The next day, I joined 60,000 others to watch a live futbol game between Boca and Colon. Futbol (soccer) is a national obsession and to witness this live is quite an experience. Tourists are advised to sit in the more expensive bleachers but I had the opportunity of going with some locals, therefore standing in the popular section. Here, you witness some of the most passionate soccer fans singing at the top of their lungs, nonstop, through the entire duration of the game! I have never seen so much pride, swearing, and pure machismo on display. Nonetheless, I had a great time!

It is very cheap here. For $1, I can lunch on Choripan, Argentina's answer for a hot dog, which is chorizo on french bread with chimichurri sauce. Then for dinner, I have the option of going to a nice restaurant for a juicy steak and glass of red for $8. I also love the casseroles here. The other night, I ordered a purred pumpkin casserole with spinach, cheese, and honey. Delicious and only $3! We've had a free place to stay at our friend Aaron's temporary apartment and in exchange for accommodation, we buy groceries, help cook, and clean.

I was supposed to travel by bus alone tomorrow to visit my high school friend, Valeria, in Cordoba. However, I just went to the bus station and learned that there are cacerolazos (protests) blocking main roads in and out of Buenos Aires! Farmers have been protesting for two weeks now over raised export taxes (44%) on their products. It doesn't look like there is any end in sight but hopefully the traffic jams will ease over the weekend so that buses can pass.

Love and miss you all.

Machu Picchu

Cusco

Dispatch from Machu Picchu (by Sergio)

Machu Picchu was awesome! Jess is a little sunburned though. When the bus took off it was raining and jess was wearing a poncho we bought for $1. I think it was made from the same plastic as a hefty bag. We pretty much headed straight for Huaynapicchu when we found out they only let 400 people in per day. We were among the first to the top but found it a little crowded so we went down a few levels and found a nice spot to wait for the clouds to part. It got clear and hot by the time we left the ruins. I took tons of photos. We picked up a handy sim card reader that is about the size of a flash drive and are now able to upload photos. Check the blog Jess only has one up so far, but we´ll work on it more from Cusco.

Dispatch from Cusco, Peru

We´re in Cusco now! Took a one hour flight from Lima today. Flew into Peru (2 flights, six hours later) from Honduras via El Salvador yesterday. Stayed in Miraflores last night and I was surprised how modern that area was. My mouth was watering from all the streetside cafes displaying their sweets. I really like Peru so far!

We´re staying in a charming hostel up on the hill, about one and a half blocks from the main plaza. We had a tasty lunch not too long ago; ceviche, sweet potato, tamales, vegetable quinoa soup, and coca tea. Alpaca and guinea pig are staples here.

All alternative trails heading to Machu Picchu (at least, those that connect with the Inca Trail at some point) are completely full. One of the alternative options is to do a mountain biking/jungle trek that takes about 4 days. $150 covers transportation, three days of meals, three nights accommodation, mountain biking, hot springs, entrance to Machu Picchu, and round-trip bus and train travel. That seems to be a good deal as everything is organized and taken care of. However, we'll most likely take the train to Aguas Calientes and from there take a bus to the site early in the morning.

Stranded on an Island as a Hurricane Nears!

Well ... not exactly. But there is a storm headed this way.

And even that isn't enough to keep me from leaving this paradise! I am on the gorgeous island of Roatan, one of three islands that make up the Bay Islands, off the coast of Honduras. The water is crystal clear with different shades of turquoise and blue. Coconut trees are abundant and shade the white sand beaches. The island is occupied by a mix of Garifuna, native islanders and friendly expats. As I type this, a large Macaw squawks loudly right outside my window and a cat dozes on top of my computer. I've been looking forward to coming here for a long time and the primary reason being the affordability of getting my PADI Open Water certification.

Obtaining certification requires hours of classroom instruction, reading, four quizzes, a final exam, confined water dives, and four open water dives. It is definitely intense but I am glad to be doing something challenging and worthwhile. I have two more dives to go before I'm finished. However, they've been postponed until Monday because of stormy weather. But don't worry, there is no hurricane ... just mighty waves crashing on the reefs and strong winds.

Scuba diving is a whole new realm that one cannot imagine. When I first started breathing under water, I did not want to trust my regulator! The salt water was trickling into my goggles and stinging my eyes. I started to feel very anxious and wondered why the hell I ever wanted to do this. But I was immediately put to ease by my awesome instructor, Marco, who guided me through everything with patience. We practiced many different skills in shallow water and by the second day, were off diving along the incredibly diverse reef. I've seen turtles, squids, a barracuda, stingray, giant conches, fishes in a myriad of colors and sizes, huge lobsters, starfish, and even got stung by a jellyfish! Ouch! The pain quickly subsides though, and later you can treat it with terrific smelling vinegar (sarcasm there).

Reflecting back on Costa Rica from our post in Nicaragua

After a 10 hour bus ride (1 1/2 hours at the border) from San Jose, Costa Rica we finally arrived in the quaint colonial town of Granada! Lake Nicaragua is only a few blocks away from the hostel that I´m staying at.

I wasn´t planning on coming to Nicaragua until I met someone in Montezuma who had just come from there. He said that it was a lot cheaper and mentioned this charming town and the abundance of affordable activities. At that point, I had begun to realize that Costa Rica is much more expensive than I originally thought. Of course, it didn´t help that we were renting a 4WD (and paying for gas), eating out 2-3 times a day, renting surf boards, and paying for accommodation on top of all of that. Eating was definitely the cheapest activity, and perhaps the most enjoyable! On our last day in San Jose, I gorged myself on tres leches, a casado, and Costa Rican coffee and tropical fruit.

It was a relief to ditch the car rental sooner than we´d planned on returning it. Now I finally feel like I´m backpacking and the real adventure is starting.

The highlights of Costa Rica were:

The picturesque Volcan Arenal and the scenic drive through the lush jungles and rolling hills around Lake Arenal

Surfing in Nosara (and the best homemade ice cream and waffle cone I´ve had)

Watching the sunset on a palm fringed beach in Santa Teresa

Being invited by my host to join him and friends to drink delicious, authentic Sangria and listen/dance to Frank Sinatra under the starry night sky in Manuel Antonio!