im incredibly ambicous right now. Its been over a month since i have last blogged. LOTS has happened since that day…. But, here i sit, with a few bottles of wine, ready to take on the daunting task of keeping YOU updated on the ULTIMATE ADVENTURES OF ASHLEY. (please, feel very special). also, please note, a lot has happened in over a month so this will be scatter-brained as i conjure up more memories as time went by... its just that, after my journal got stolen, i got a wee discouraged about keeping up on blogging since all my memories were taken away. but, im gonna keep it up this time i hope.
PIFO ECUADOR
-I spent some time in ecuador in the andes mountains.
-i climbed the 700 steps, had 5 beers (which are 600L each) at the top of this mountain which has llamas and then rode a horse, was preceded to be sexually assaulted by some ancient ecuadorian man. i freaked out at him in spanish and told him there was no way i was paying for the beers OR the horse ride.
-a couple days ago, a bus forgot to put on the E-brake and the bus rolled into a pay phone and killed a little girl.
-there was a dead body found in the park a few days before that which is only 2 blocks from where i am staying. comforting, right?
-met margo´s family
-watched Fay´s Christmas to celebrate the holidays while drinking cachaca we brought back from Brasil
I left Margaret in the town of Pifo about a week before Christmas because I didnt want to spend it with a family that wasnt my own. So, I headed north from Pifo Ecuador to another mountain village called Otavalo where i met up with a friend of mine from Alaska. together, ben and i decided to take on the world. we headed to another tiny town that i forgot the name of but i know it starts with a T where we met up with a french couple. we stayed the night on a farm eating tunas (the fruit) and chasing chickens around.
bus ride from QUITO to MANTA was horribly terrifying. want details? just ask.
from there, we all 4 headed to the coast and our first stop was....
MANTANITA- about 2 weeks
-This incredibly beautiful town on the beach with great surf and perfect waves.
-We rented an apartment in a hostel called the Galapagos which was RIGHT on the beach
-i bought too many pairs of pants
-i basically layed in my hammock all day outside and surfed and ate delicious food that the french couple would cook me. (they claim that french folk are the best cooks in the world so naturally i made them prove it to me.
-we spent countless hours watching the sunrise.
-for Christmas (MERRY CHRISTMAS!!), Chloe wrapped up gifts for each of us and we opened them up in the sun on the beach.
-ben and i surfed but it didnt last long when his shoulder popped out and i had to pop it back in for him. we called that one an early day.
-jean luc made special pancakes one morning but the french pancake is much different than the american pancake. also, did you know that the french are convinced that french toast is just toasted bread?
-met up with Bens college roomate, Cappo who was very burnt from the sun and who was taking malaria pills and it turns out, if you take those, your skin is incredibly sun sensitive. Jean-Luc and Chloe convinced him that he would be burnt and red forever. (over a month later, and he is STILL red)
-found an argentinian restaurant where this guy made us pasta from scratch (probably bens favorite memory) while we played UNO
we pressed on.
so the night before we left, we spent all night prancing around the beach and hanging out on cocktail ally and in peoples homes that actually looked more like dorm rooms. so the night was awesome. really, honestly out of control. but as smart and responsible as ben and i are, we called it a night since we needed to wake up early the next morning and pack and clean the apartment which was honestly trashed from 1 solid week of partying like rock stars. at one point in the night, one of jean-lucs skeezy aquantances came into our apartment all sneeky like and i caught him red handed. we think this is when jean-lucs camera went amiss. so the next thing i know, we are headed to the bus and we cant find jean-luc anywhere in site. the bus is about to pull away when i see him round the corner with his huge green pack, his digery doo, 2 beers in hand, a cig in his mouth, his Albert Einstein sunglasses, no shoes (he seemed to have lost them that night), his hair pulled back into a greesy ponytail, green tinsel wrapped around his neck, and limping towards us (he seemed to hurt his foot which lasted 3 weeks before it eventually healed). so, together we board the bus and the driver is yelling at him to leave the beers so he chugs one and hides the other. the bus was aparently overbooked so they stuck the 3 of us on the stairs to the bathroom in the middle of the bus. this was very cramped. jean luc cracks his other beer, spills it, and lays down in the middle of the isle while his clothes soaked up the sloshing beer in the isleway.
MANCORA, peru
-for new years eve.
-when we arrived, every single hostel was 100% booked. some, even overbooked. so, i went up and down the strip with ben thinking about our options. we ended up convincing a family that owned a hostel to let us sleep on the roof for a few days.
-i have never been to a bigger party in my life than the one in mancora for new years eve. it was out of control. over 80,000 people in a teeny tiny beach town that is only 1 strip. it was an all night, multiple day adventure at this place. the waves were braking perfectly as far out as i could see. there were multiple breaks as well so you could choose how big you wanted your wave to be and which one you wanted to ride out.
-Loki Hostel
HUANCHACO- over a week
-another beach town near Trajuillo in peru.
-i joined an argentinian band called La Fuser (you tube them)
-ate the most delicous chicken curry ever ever ever at this hostel called chill out
-was robbed (including ipod, waterproof videocamer, 2 journals, bens shorts, G harmonica, passport, credit card, cash, beach sarong, drivers license, etc.)
-became tight with the peruvian mafia
-rented a bike with ben and aussy nathan for 1 sol an hour and went to the Chan Chan ruins, ben and i both got flat tires half way there and ended up hitching a ride back
-saw the inca hairless dog with purple blood
MACHALA- 1 night
-just so happens to be the banana capital of the world
-stayed in the San Fransisco hotel (not recommened)
-learned that when my skin gets cold, the cold part gets covered in hives (this will be fun when i go back to alaska.....)
LIMA- 1 day
-ate a really really good icecream cone in the Plaza De Armas
-was trapped in the upstairs balcony of a very sketchy restaurant
-reapplied for my passport at the embassy
-
CUSCO- over a week
-found the best veggy restaurant ever that flooded downstairs while we were eating dinner upstairs and had to walk on chairs to get out of the restaurant
-met back up with Chloe
-met Hans who owns a hole in the wall veggie restaurant who took me and ben to his house with an increble view and the most bizaar plants you have ever seen surrounding his deck
LIMATAMBO- almost 2 weeks
-10 day Vipassana Meditation Retreat that was really 11 days
-practiced Noble Silence for 10 days
-became a vegetarian
-hung out in the town and walked by chocolate river
-went to mass and cried for the people in Haiti as 30 nuns sang so sweet
-ate a lot of miel (fresh honey) and avacados and chocolate
back to CUSCO- about a week
-met back up with Margaret
-met the prophets in white in the Plaza San Blas who arent from anywhere but are from everywhere
-we considered buying crystals to begin channeling our energy into the universe through others
-experienced very heavy rains
-experienced Peru´s natural Disaster first hand
-volunteered during the relief effort sorting clothes, food, etc.
-went to different mountain towns (Inca Punta Ttiopunca, Sancopacha, Pacruamba, Pachar, Wuancoyocampa, Ollantaytambo, and Yucay) and gave them water, food, and bags of clothes, assessed their health and the safety of their homes
-met Edgard who works as a Peruvian tour guide and has guided Leonardo DiCaprio, Arnold Schwarsenager, Cameron Diaz, Robert Kennedy, Fuji Mori (Perus pres. at one point) and even spains president, along with a much longer list of people. He also works for national geographic.
-moved in with Edgard
-got free tickets to all the museums and all the Inca ruin sites
-climbed 484 steps, a trash trail, and stumbled upon the Eucalyptus tree forest
-got kicked out of the ¨free¨ Qínko Inca ruins
-said goodbye to Ben as he took off to Lima
a typical email to the sisters
dear sisters,
if you dont already know, im in Peru.
margaret and i met up in cusco a couple days again after i got out of a 11 day Vipassana meditation retreat in a tiny peruvian mountain village about 1 1/2 hours outside cusco. After the retreat, i spent a few days climbing mountains and such around the village and easing my way back into civilazation slowly instead of jumping into the biggest and wealthiest city in peru right away. at vipassana, i wasnt allowed to talk, read, write, excersice, or communicate in any other fashion. i was only able to meditate, eat, and sleep while practicing what they called Noble Silence. Anyway, that was an interesting experience for sure.
While me, Ben, the french couple, and this Bengium girl that I am traveling with all were taking it easy in this village called Limatambo, it rained and rained and rained and some of the locals were even concerned about the amount of rain that was coming down even though it is rainy season. aparently, it was an unusual amount of rain because the banks of the rivers were being undercut at rapid rates and the amount of wash in the rivers such as whole entire trees.
we left the town and headed to cusco where i ended up meeting back up with margaret. on the bus ride from Limatambo to Cusco was sad. I watched in a cozy bus seat as all the families were running their cattle to safety, and attemps to evacuate their homes and land as safely, quickly and effeciently as they know how.
it is so incredibly interesting to be on the inside of one of these disasters that you see on cnn.
check out this link:
http://enperublog.com/2010/01/26/emergency-declared-in-cusco-heavy-rains-flood-the-region/
when it rains really hard, we have to walk through the streets in a bunch of water, but that is about it. and one time, we went out to dinner at this vegetarian restaurant and ate upstairs. a couple hours later, when we were leaving the restaurant, we had to step on a path of chairs to get to the door because the downstairs had over 2 feet of water in it. then, we walk out onto the streets and the circular storm drains in the middle of the roads were literally floating on top of a HUGE current of water under the drain. the roads here in cusco are mostly rivers.
the locals say it hasnt rained this hard in 14 years and the governent now calles this a NATURAL DISASTER.
but, other than that the city of cusco is relatively unaffected, but the surrounding villages are really taking it hard. houses are collapsing left and right, even in cusco! probably, or course, because they are made of mud and bricks and are all on the side of a mountain.
marg and her sister are so lucky they went to machu picchu last week because both bridges to aguas calientes (which is the village a couple hours away from here you have to enter right before entering machu piccu) are washed out and people are having to be helicoptered out and the town had over 2000 tourists in it and it isa tiny town and they have no food or water for all these people. good thing i decided not to go 2 days ago.
its really really sad to see. there are also a ton of stories that were told by tons of different tourists who had been stranded on machu picchu with no food or water for a couple days. there were 2000 people up there a couple days ago and now there is about 800 left. the government called for 4 helicopters to be running all day for the next couple days to get them out of there. 1 argentinian young girl died on her inca trail tour along with her tour guide. the death toll is now up to 8 in CUSCO ALONE with over 80 injured. this does not include ALL the towns around the cusco area and remember, cusco wasnt hit NEARLY as bad.
Its interesting, because cusco is the most wealthy town in peru and yet none of the money they get from tourists goes into some kind of reserve for the towns people for times like this, it goes to campaigns for politicians and there is an election coming up.... so, now they are having a collection on the church steps in the main Plaza De Armas and tourists feel so bad for the people, so they are donating, when in actuality the real people of the campo are pissed at their own gvoernment for relying on tourists emergency funds when they have so much money and dont help the people with it. it is crazy.
marg and I were planning to stick around here in Cusco and help with the relief effort instead of heading to Bolivia tomorrow as planned.
We are doing some research right now about road conditions since so many of the roads going in and out of cusco have been damaged too badly to navigate across and or are flooded. naturally, we arent that excited about going on a bus ride for any length of time if its any MORE sketchy than the roads around here already are....
love,
your favorite sister,
ash
PUNO, Peru- 4 days
-the festividad virgen maria de la candelaria
-rum and cokes
-non stop parades in the streets that literally were on every street and literally went all night for multiple nights in a row
-vodka and orange juice
-taxi rides taking us to lookouts with giant puma statues
-floating reed islands with free BBQ cheese and rice and beer in the middle of lake tit kaka
-the soccer stadium FULL of locals and dancing group after dancing group after dancing group performed on the field. when we left the stadium, we asked if we could get back in and the guard smiled in said in spanish, ¨of course, we will recognize you, you are the only gringos here.¨
-peruvian cotton candy
-wandering through a street market, i bought a cheese grater
-met a boy from UCLA who said and i quote, ¨ive got lots of money, i AM the american dream. this made me laugh.
NOTE- im gonna add to this often as i remember things that happened all along the way.
and now, off to BOLIVIA
Thursday, February 4, 2010
Friday, December 18, 2009
Day 1 in Pifo Ecuador
I am staying at Margaret's uncles farm in Pifo Ecuador. I have no plans other than attempting the 700 steps daily so i can loose the copious amounts of weight i have gained from drinking massive amounts of Brahma and Caperinas in Brasil the past month. Also, they have llamas at the very top and many, many Pilsners to be drank.
There are more dogs in this town than there are people. One dog, a small poodle, once bit margaret in the leg a few years back and now she has panic attacks every time she walks past the dog. in fact, she actually refused to walk past the poodle by herself so she will stand at the top of the hill and scream for her Uncle Matt or her cousin Alex to accompany her down the hill to the house.
i was doing some business on the toilet last night before bed when in the corner of my blue eyeball i saw the biggest spider of my life. a freaking terranchala. It was mid-business so there was nothing that i could do but hang tight and hope for the best. Me and the terranchala had a stare down contest and im pretty sure he won because i couldnt handle being so close to it so i cut my session short and ran to the other house to get Uncle Matt's help. He began to reassure me that it wouldnt harm me and that they aren't poisonous but i didnt believe him so i googled it and caught him in his own lie. Early this morning, I woke up from a spider dream and i caught a spider crawling off my chest and onto the shelf thing next to my bed. Im pretty sure that because I had Uncle Matt 'take care of the terranchala' last night, that i had unfortunately, unintentionally declared a war against the 8 legged insects... i am now incredibly paranoid....
There are more dogs in this town than there are people. One dog, a small poodle, once bit margaret in the leg a few years back and now she has panic attacks every time she walks past the dog. in fact, she actually refused to walk past the poodle by herself so she will stand at the top of the hill and scream for her Uncle Matt or her cousin Alex to accompany her down the hill to the house.
i was doing some business on the toilet last night before bed when in the corner of my blue eyeball i saw the biggest spider of my life. a freaking terranchala. It was mid-business so there was nothing that i could do but hang tight and hope for the best. Me and the terranchala had a stare down contest and im pretty sure he won because i couldnt handle being so close to it so i cut my session short and ran to the other house to get Uncle Matt's help. He began to reassure me that it wouldnt harm me and that they aren't poisonous but i didnt believe him so i googled it and caught him in his own lie. Early this morning, I woke up from a spider dream and i caught a spider crawling off my chest and onto the shelf thing next to my bed. Im pretty sure that because I had Uncle Matt 'take care of the terranchala' last night, that i had unfortunately, unintentionally declared a war against the 8 legged insects... i am now incredibly paranoid....
Thursday, December 17, 2009
Day 31
Good Advice that I got from a taxi driver in Salvador about my deaf ear:
DAY 31:
1. Margaret and I slept in the Rio airport before heading to Lima Peru. I woke up around 4am and went to get 2 cups of cafè, a pizza pocket type thing for me and 2 balls of fluffy fried bread for Margaret (shes a vegetarian). I walked back to our camping spot right in front of the airport check in stand and woke maggie up by handing her two fresh baked balls and some coffee. shes really the only person i know that could handle such an epic wake-up call.
2. Whats the point of soap dispensers if there isn`t any soap to dispense??
3. We flew over Titi Caca Lake which is between Bolivia and Peru. It was beautiful!
4. Thank the Lord for airlines such as Taka who give you free alcoholic beverages all flight long!!
5. Sat at the Lima, Peru airport for 12 hours and drank beer after beer after beer after beer after beer, etc. 16 total to be exact.....
6. Taka airlines also gave me free crayons
7. I learned that i am subconsciously obsessed with the color green... and bulky touristy hiking boots annoy me.
8. A 4 year old Peruvian boy came and sat at out table during our beer meeting and wanted to get in on my Taka colored crayons. He said his name was Diego and that Michael Jackson had a black jacket and wore a star on his head.
9. Margaret and I are cooler than most people. (is that being humble?)
10.
11. I hit 3 countries in 2 days. Now, Lets talk about SUCCESS.
12. The guy behind me in the airport had a baby upside down in a shopping bag. This is clearly a culture difference.
13. I spilled the salt shaker 9 beers into the beer meeting and Margaret freaked out and had a minor panic attack. She made me throw salt over my left shoulder while at the same time, wiping the spilled salt off the table.
14. This is our poem to Paula and Fransisco from Recife Brasil:
There once were 2 girls on a quest,
they put their portugese to the test
they went to brasil and drank cachaça until
they found Chico and Paula the best.
The 4 of them had a great time
with Pitù, sugar, and green limes
Chiclete and Skol and eating crab in the sol
And we even committed a crime
Brasilian primas- thank you so much
and we better all keep in touch
we`ll see you soon
dancing under the moon
at your wedding, carnival and the such.
Goodbye Brasil!
Hello ECUADOR!
If you have ear problems, warm the breast milk of a mother with twins and dribble it into the problematic ear......noted..... the same taxi driver also gave me a branch with many leaves still attached and said to boil the leaves into a tea to cure any indigestion problem that may occur. The entire trip, I had no stomach issues until i touched that stupid plant and then for the next day, i really wasnt feeling up to taking over the world so much.....
DAY 31:
tasty balls
1. Margaret and I slept in the Rio airport before heading to Lima Peru. I woke up around 4am and went to get 2 cups of cafè, a pizza pocket type thing for me and 2 balls of fluffy fried bread for Margaret (shes a vegetarian). I walked back to our camping spot right in front of the airport check in stand and woke maggie up by handing her two fresh baked balls and some coffee. shes really the only person i know that could handle such an epic wake-up call.
2. Whats the point of soap dispensers if there isn`t any soap to dispense??
3. We flew over Titi Caca Lake which is between Bolivia and Peru. It was beautiful!
4. Thank the Lord for airlines such as Taka who give you free alcoholic beverages all flight long!!
5. Sat at the Lima, Peru airport for 12 hours and drank beer after beer after beer after beer after beer, etc. 16 total to be exact.....
6. Taka airlines also gave me free crayons
7. I learned that i am subconsciously obsessed with the color green... and bulky touristy hiking boots annoy me.
8. A 4 year old Peruvian boy came and sat at out table during our beer meeting and wanted to get in on my Taka colored crayons. He said his name was Diego and that Michael Jackson had a black jacket and wore a star on his head.
9. Margaret and I are cooler than most people. (is that being humble?)
10.
Im not picky, I just know what I like.
11. I hit 3 countries in 2 days. Now, Lets talk about SUCCESS.
12. The guy behind me in the airport had a baby upside down in a shopping bag. This is clearly a culture difference.
13. I spilled the salt shaker 9 beers into the beer meeting and Margaret freaked out and had a minor panic attack. She made me throw salt over my left shoulder while at the same time, wiping the spilled salt off the table.
14. This is our poem to Paula and Fransisco from Recife Brasil:
There once were 2 girls on a quest,
they put their portugese to the test
they went to brasil and drank cachaça until
they found Chico and Paula the best.
The 4 of them had a great time
with Pitù, sugar, and green limes
Chiclete and Skol and eating crab in the sol
And we even committed a crime
Brasilian primas- thank you so much
and we better all keep in touch
we`ll see you soon
dancing under the moon
at your wedding, carnival and the such.
Goodbye Brasil!
Hello ECUADOR!
Tuesday, December 15, 2009
things i adore about brasil
in no particular order and always more to come....
1. colorful buildings
2. Flavia, Celline, Paula, Chicão and all of the family members in between
3. world class beaches
4. cachaça
5. capieora (crazy fighting dance)
6. cobble stone streets
7. monkeys and lizards
8. people honking horns for no reason (this amuses me)
9. the rules of the road (there arent any)
10. the heels woman where (especially when they are walking in heels on cobble stone streets. this also amuses me)
11. fruit falling off trees and then i get to eat it
12. meat on a stick
13. barbacue cheese on a stick
14. surfing
15. samba
16. brasilian music (more specifically CHICLETE COM BANANA... i saw them in concert and he touched my hand)
17. the creative architecture
18. Brahma, Skol, Chopp, Bohemian. (These are all Brasilian brewed beers)
19. Portugese (its a incredibly complex language)
20. graffiti
21. rinding horses in the country
22. all of the lights. this country is blanketed in sparkling, white, blinking, colorful lights
23. the sound of birds chirping constantly
24. the Delta Experience
25. the money looks like monopoly money
26. yellow brasilian jerseys
27. the colorful clothes people wear
28. hanging clothes up to dry in the sun
29. having maids
30. living in mansions and penthouses
31. restaraunts that charge by the kilo (paying for what you eat? what a concept!!)
32. not having a cell phone
33. there is music on every single street corner
34. everyone is always smiling because there are literally "no problem"s here
Things I dont think I will be missing so much:
1. passing out on crowded bus rides
2. Toilet Paper that is really wax paper. (whats the point?)
3. ketchup that is really raspberry jam....?
4. French fries cost me 10 reaies down here!!
5. the smell of some of the rivers... makes me gag. seriously.
6. trash and litter
7. Germans (margaret and ashley not included as we are also germans)
8. mosquitos (margeret and i counted 50 bites on my right arm alone)
9. crack and crackheads
10. phone cards and pay phones (unless the payphone looks like a sombrero)
11. ANTS
so, im about to take off from brasil. its sad. i love it here. the culture is incredible. Im pretty sure my $300 visa was worth it but i still want to come back for more.
the people we met along the way have been incredible. more than hospitable. its been an amazing time and i will forever miss this place but i'll be back. i mean, lets face it. i do have a 5 year visa now and ther World Cup is in 2014. Im just saying. Plus, theres Carnival, The Olympics and much, much more Brahma and Cachaça to be had.
Ciao for now my giant amighina.
Hello Ecuador.
1. colorful buildings
2. Flavia, Celline, Paula, Chicão and all of the family members in between
3. world class beaches
4. cachaça
5. capieora (crazy fighting dance)
6. cobble stone streets
7. monkeys and lizards
8. people honking horns for no reason (this amuses me)
9. the rules of the road (there arent any)
10. the heels woman where (especially when they are walking in heels on cobble stone streets. this also amuses me)
11. fruit falling off trees and then i get to eat it
12. meat on a stick
13. barbacue cheese on a stick
14. surfing
15. samba
16. brasilian music (more specifically CHICLETE COM BANANA... i saw them in concert and he touched my hand)
17. the creative architecture
18. Brahma, Skol, Chopp, Bohemian. (These are all Brasilian brewed beers)
19. Portugese (its a incredibly complex language)
20. graffiti
21. rinding horses in the country
22. all of the lights. this country is blanketed in sparkling, white, blinking, colorful lights
23. the sound of birds chirping constantly
24. the Delta Experience
25. the money looks like monopoly money
26. yellow brasilian jerseys
27. the colorful clothes people wear
28. hanging clothes up to dry in the sun
29. having maids
30. living in mansions and penthouses
31. restaraunts that charge by the kilo (paying for what you eat? what a concept!!)
32. not having a cell phone
33. there is music on every single street corner
34. everyone is always smiling because there are literally "no problem"s here
Things I dont think I will be missing so much:
1. passing out on crowded bus rides
2. Toilet Paper that is really wax paper. (whats the point?)
3. ketchup that is really raspberry jam....?
4. French fries cost me 10 reaies down here!!
5. the smell of some of the rivers... makes me gag. seriously.
6. trash and litter
7. Germans (margaret and ashley not included as we are also germans)
8. mosquitos (margeret and i counted 50 bites on my right arm alone)
9. crack and crackheads
10. phone cards and pay phones (unless the payphone looks like a sombrero)
11. ANTS
so, im about to take off from brasil. its sad. i love it here. the culture is incredible. Im pretty sure my $300 visa was worth it but i still want to come back for more.
the people we met along the way have been incredible. more than hospitable. its been an amazing time and i will forever miss this place but i'll be back. i mean, lets face it. i do have a 5 year visa now and ther World Cup is in 2014. Im just saying. Plus, theres Carnival, The Olympics and much, much more Brahma and Cachaça to be had.
Ciao for now my giant amighina.
Hello Ecuador.
Monday, December 14, 2009
I've conquered the city of Recife
So far i've drivien 3 cars, a ferry from Arraial D´Ajuda to Porto Seguro, i´ve stolen a motorcycle, and i rode a horse.
Ashley: 6 ..... Brasilian Modes of Transportion: 0
A met Paula and Fransisco who are nothing less than a big deal.
I've been living in a penthouse.
I drink free Pitú Casaça every day.
I had my first "clubbin" experience which was WAY beyond extravagant in every single aspect.
I had VIP passes to the Requebra Brasil Music Festival where I could touch the stage and get free drinks all night. I did just this.
At the festival I got to see Chiclete Com Banana who is the MOST famous brasilian band.
The concert was killer. I have NEVER been to such a huge event in my life. Or have ever seen something so intense even on TV. There were thousands upon thousands of people there. About 50,000 heads. We had to get tickets to go and when you showed up at the door with your ticket, they would give you a t-shirt. the VIP shirts were white. so we go inside and there is a booth there that customizes your shirt if you want. So they cut mine all up and made it fit me WAY better and made my v neck into a c neck and now its a tank-top instead of a t-shirt. that was rad. get this. they also had a plethra of badazzles there so i hot glued the 8 stars of gold on the front right on top of the yellow country of brasil that was already on the shirt when i got it and rocked some Alaskan pride.
I was up next to the stage and I just want to make one thing clear. I touched the lead singers hand. Well.... really, he touched my hand. But I just really want to rub that in Chicão's face because he just happens to be in love with the lead singer.
there was so much trash at the festival. it was everywhere. i was appauled. also, everyone was making out. seriously. brasilians LOVE to freaking make out. they make out under trees, on benches, leaning up against the railing, in the middle of a crowd, in the middle of DANCE FLOOR, in front of the line to get free booze, seriously. everywhere. and if you werent making out, they were peeing. anywhere and everywhere. they would just whip their naughties out and potty right next to you for all they cared. it was gross. i mean, think if 1983 people peed in the middle of the street at the festival. that street would smell like a dirty toilet.
anyway. so we danced the night away at the festival with beers on our heads and in our hands. We ALWAYS made sure we were packing at least two beers at every moment of the concert.
Moving on to some other incredible Recife moments in time:
I've eaten crab in every single shape and form you could possibly imagine eating it. Its true. Ask Margaret. She knows about the 84934723847 different ways to taste those tasty morsels who gave their lives for the suppression of my appetite.
So we spent an afternoon meeting and mingling with Chicão's family in the country. A couple hours go by and all of a sudden we happen to find out that his uncle has a horse around the corner. And he didnt tell us this 4 days ago because....? (right, we havent figured that one out either). Needless to say, I rode that horse like its never been ridden before and me and the horse bonded. We had multiple moments. Seriously. The pasture was huge and the sun was setting and the smell of the wildflowers, and the sound of the calm wind blowing through the mango and banana trees. The way the horse gallopped across the fields with such pride and finess. .... I love horses. We spent the rest of the afternoon eating homecooked meals, sipping on whiskey, and laughing with one of the most adorable grandmas I've ever met. Shes my new amighina.
I went to jail today. its true. they have this place called Casa Cultura which is a super super old jail that is now a market and every cell is a different little store you walk into and buy touristy trinkets. I imagined what type of people were locked away in those same cells many years ago.
Then, we went to the pier and hopped in a tiny skiff and cruised around the Atlantic Ocean for a couple hours. We went across the channel at one point and got out and walked on this island type thing that holds 33 monuments for the same guy. The sun was setting when we were out there and then as soon as it began to get dark, all of the monuments were lit up with all different colors!! One thing about Brasil is they definetly like lights. EVERYTHING is lit up at night! Its incredible!
So, this is my partial story of why I have conquered the town.
Now, for those of you who have expressed concern about our health, I want to show you a little something Margaret calls the food pyramid:
6-11 servings of grains: beer
2-4 servings of fruit: wine, limes in caipirinhas, and exotic fruity caipivoshkas
3-5 servings of veggies: vodka is made of potatoes
2-3 servings of proteins: the little ants that crawl into my kool-aid-vodkas
2-3 servings of dairy: capetas have cream in them
use sparingly-fats and sweets: caipirinhas have sugar in them, but let's face it, this category isn't healthy, so let's not worry about it.
Ashley: 6 ..... Brasilian Modes of Transportion: 0
A met Paula and Fransisco who are nothing less than a big deal.
I've been living in a penthouse.
I drink free Pitú Casaça every day.
I had my first "clubbin" experience which was WAY beyond extravagant in every single aspect.
I had VIP passes to the Requebra Brasil Music Festival where I could touch the stage and get free drinks all night. I did just this.
At the festival I got to see Chiclete Com Banana who is the MOST famous brasilian band.
The concert was killer. I have NEVER been to such a huge event in my life. Or have ever seen something so intense even on TV. There were thousands upon thousands of people there. About 50,000 heads. We had to get tickets to go and when you showed up at the door with your ticket, they would give you a t-shirt. the VIP shirts were white. so we go inside and there is a booth there that customizes your shirt if you want. So they cut mine all up and made it fit me WAY better and made my v neck into a c neck and now its a tank-top instead of a t-shirt. that was rad. get this. they also had a plethra of badazzles there so i hot glued the 8 stars of gold on the front right on top of the yellow country of brasil that was already on the shirt when i got it and rocked some Alaskan pride.
I was up next to the stage and I just want to make one thing clear. I touched the lead singers hand. Well.... really, he touched my hand. But I just really want to rub that in Chicão's face because he just happens to be in love with the lead singer.
there was so much trash at the festival. it was everywhere. i was appauled. also, everyone was making out. seriously. brasilians LOVE to freaking make out. they make out under trees, on benches, leaning up against the railing, in the middle of a crowd, in the middle of DANCE FLOOR, in front of the line to get free booze, seriously. everywhere. and if you werent making out, they were peeing. anywhere and everywhere. they would just whip their naughties out and potty right next to you for all they cared. it was gross. i mean, think if 1983 people peed in the middle of the street at the festival. that street would smell like a dirty toilet.
anyway. so we danced the night away at the festival with beers on our heads and in our hands. We ALWAYS made sure we were packing at least two beers at every moment of the concert.
Moving on to some other incredible Recife moments in time:
I've eaten crab in every single shape and form you could possibly imagine eating it. Its true. Ask Margaret. She knows about the 84934723847 different ways to taste those tasty morsels who gave their lives for the suppression of my appetite.
So we spent an afternoon meeting and mingling with Chicão's family in the country. A couple hours go by and all of a sudden we happen to find out that his uncle has a horse around the corner. And he didnt tell us this 4 days ago because....? (right, we havent figured that one out either). Needless to say, I rode that horse like its never been ridden before and me and the horse bonded. We had multiple moments. Seriously. The pasture was huge and the sun was setting and the smell of the wildflowers, and the sound of the calm wind blowing through the mango and banana trees. The way the horse gallopped across the fields with such pride and finess. .... I love horses. We spent the rest of the afternoon eating homecooked meals, sipping on whiskey, and laughing with one of the most adorable grandmas I've ever met. Shes my new amighina.
I went to jail today. its true. they have this place called Casa Cultura which is a super super old jail that is now a market and every cell is a different little store you walk into and buy touristy trinkets. I imagined what type of people were locked away in those same cells many years ago.
Then, we went to the pier and hopped in a tiny skiff and cruised around the Atlantic Ocean for a couple hours. We went across the channel at one point and got out and walked on this island type thing that holds 33 monuments for the same guy. The sun was setting when we were out there and then as soon as it began to get dark, all of the monuments were lit up with all different colors!! One thing about Brasil is they definetly like lights. EVERYTHING is lit up at night! Its incredible!
So, this is my partial story of why I have conquered the town.
Now, for those of you who have expressed concern about our health, I want to show you a little something Margaret calls the food pyramid:
6-11 servings of grains: beer
2-4 servings of fruit: wine, limes in caipirinhas, and exotic fruity caipivoshkas
3-5 servings of veggies: vodka is made of potatoes
2-3 servings of proteins: the little ants that crawl into my kool-aid-vodkas
2-3 servings of dairy: capetas have cream in them
use sparingly-fats and sweets: caipirinhas have sugar in them, but let's face it, this category isn't healthy, so let's not worry about it.
Friday, December 11, 2009
Im browning nicely.
Being in a poor country... its sad to see. Brasil isnt as 3rd world as i thought but there is an intense dichotomy of classes here. you´re either poor, or filthy rich... really. its crazy. Children younger than 10 are selling individual cigs, pirated dvds, and drugs in the streets to tourists here. its so sad. someone told me the parents have their youngest child do those types of jobs because the tourists feel bad and are more likely to give money.
but its a wierd feeling because there are thousands of little kids sleeping in doorways here with no shoes and they´re covered in dirt and then there is me. this little white american who sightsees all of the horrible attributes of the country and then when im done here, i fly back to my cozy bed (actually i dont have a bed or a home when i fly home but there is still a big difference). i wish i could do more instead of just walk by and stare.
on another note:
i went to salvador the other day. my bus arrived from illeús around 6am and i took a city bus into town where i was dropped at the center. i strutted across the street to the elevetor which takes you up to old town salvador. in old town, i went to the historic center which is full of HUGE buildings with incredibly old old old architecture and beauitful churches and colorful buildings. i kept walking to a part of old town called Pelourino and in the center i found a bunch of people doing copaeira which is like a type of dance that looks like their fighting. those guys are ripped and they can do one arm hand stands for minutes at a time. then i went down to the huge indoor market which was cool but really everything looks the same and im pretty sure i saw all that stuff in another indoor market when i was in barbados.
around 7pm. i hopped on another bus to head to recife. 14 hours later....... i made it.
margarets friend francsico had his incredible girlfriend scoop us up from the bus station and she took us to probably the best restraunt i have ever been too and i ate like a champion and she kept ordering capirinas and of course i kept drinking them so by the time lunch was done with, i was way too drunk for me own good. i started talking like a pirate.
then she took us to olinda. north of recife. they have shark signs everywhere. she plopped us at a gay bar on the beach and ordered us a skol while she worked distributing Pitú (a brand of caçasa) and then drank with us when she was done (but still working). she loves her job.
then, being drunk, paula showed us the town of Olinda. the streets here in olinda are beautiful. they´re tiny little cobble stone streets so narrow only one car can squeeze through at a time and all of the houses on each side are connected and lined up together but look so different. they each have their own character painted either yellow, pink, lime green, sea green, blue, orange... every color you can think of there is a building painted that color in the streets of olinda. the architecture is amazing too. rounded edges that peak at the top and shoot up into the sky like a dagger. the buildings look sturdy. like they´ve been there since the 1800s and they´re still holding strong.
So margaret´s friend fransisco and his girlfriend, Paula, well, they´re freaking rad people. paula works for Pitú which is a caçasa distrubuter. she gave me a bottle.
last night, paula got us free tickets to a concert to this local club. you know how in movies there is that divider stand that forms lines outside the club door? well, there was definetly one of those and we skipped to the very front because we were "on the list". then we went inside and all the tables at the club were reserved so paula "pulled some strings" and we sat down at one of the best tables in the club. no big deal.
then we drank and drank these delicious brasilian drinks and more people kept buying me drinks because i have blue eyes and one guy told me he wanted to take me out on his boat and i said no and then i danced because the club kept playing incredible american remixes of all these amazing songs that i forgot i missed so much until i heard them in a brasilian club. then, a really famous brasilian band got on stage and played all night long. by the way, i love brasilian music. so i danced. i danced like ive never danced before. then around 2 we called it and went to paula´s penthouse which stands taller than any other building around for miles. we have our own room there.
but its a wierd feeling because there are thousands of little kids sleeping in doorways here with no shoes and they´re covered in dirt and then there is me. this little white american who sightsees all of the horrible attributes of the country and then when im done here, i fly back to my cozy bed (actually i dont have a bed or a home when i fly home but there is still a big difference). i wish i could do more instead of just walk by and stare.
on another note:
i went to salvador the other day. my bus arrived from illeús around 6am and i took a city bus into town where i was dropped at the center. i strutted across the street to the elevetor which takes you up to old town salvador. in old town, i went to the historic center which is full of HUGE buildings with incredibly old old old architecture and beauitful churches and colorful buildings. i kept walking to a part of old town called Pelourino and in the center i found a bunch of people doing copaeira which is like a type of dance that looks like their fighting. those guys are ripped and they can do one arm hand stands for minutes at a time. then i went down to the huge indoor market which was cool but really everything looks the same and im pretty sure i saw all that stuff in another indoor market when i was in barbados.
around 7pm. i hopped on another bus to head to recife. 14 hours later....... i made it.
margarets friend francsico had his incredible girlfriend scoop us up from the bus station and she took us to probably the best restraunt i have ever been too and i ate like a champion and she kept ordering capirinas and of course i kept drinking them so by the time lunch was done with, i was way too drunk for me own good. i started talking like a pirate.
then she took us to olinda. north of recife. they have shark signs everywhere. she plopped us at a gay bar on the beach and ordered us a skol while she worked distributing Pitú (a brand of caçasa) and then drank with us when she was done (but still working). she loves her job.
then, being drunk, paula showed us the town of Olinda. the streets here in olinda are beautiful. they´re tiny little cobble stone streets so narrow only one car can squeeze through at a time and all of the houses on each side are connected and lined up together but look so different. they each have their own character painted either yellow, pink, lime green, sea green, blue, orange... every color you can think of there is a building painted that color in the streets of olinda. the architecture is amazing too. rounded edges that peak at the top and shoot up into the sky like a dagger. the buildings look sturdy. like they´ve been there since the 1800s and they´re still holding strong.
So margaret´s friend fransisco and his girlfriend, Paula, well, they´re freaking rad people. paula works for Pitú which is a caçasa distrubuter. she gave me a bottle.
last night, paula got us free tickets to a concert to this local club. you know how in movies there is that divider stand that forms lines outside the club door? well, there was definetly one of those and we skipped to the very front because we were "on the list". then we went inside and all the tables at the club were reserved so paula "pulled some strings" and we sat down at one of the best tables in the club. no big deal.
then we drank and drank these delicious brasilian drinks and more people kept buying me drinks because i have blue eyes and one guy told me he wanted to take me out on his boat and i said no and then i danced because the club kept playing incredible american remixes of all these amazing songs that i forgot i missed so much until i heard them in a brasilian club. then, a really famous brasilian band got on stage and played all night long. by the way, i love brasilian music. so i danced. i danced like ive never danced before. then around 2 we called it and went to paula´s penthouse which stands taller than any other building around for miles. we have our own room there.
Tuesday, December 8, 2009
sleeping in hammocks
i love sleeping in hammocks.
i now have 36 mosquito bites on my left arm.
i surfed all day again today and swallowed more salt water than i think i ever thought possible.
it reminds me when i went on my first family trip. we went to california and my little brother, shawn, i think was about 11 at the time, jumped into the ocean and came up from the water screaming and wiping his eyes yelling, `there is salt in the water!!` hahahah. he had no idea and it was so cute....
anyway, but really. i spend all day at the bus stop yesterday. on the door, it said in portugese, open from 13:30-18:30. so, i was there from around 1:30 to 5:30 and the employee NEVER showed up. today, i decided NOT to waste an entire day for a freaking bus ride so i went to the beach, surfing, layed around, got free beer (i dont know why im so good at getting free beer but it seriously happens ALL the time) and swam in the ocean. then, i went to the bus station around 5:15 and the employee is STILL not there AAAANNNNDDD, the mail is still in the exact same place in front of the door as if they havent been at work for a few days!!
in Bahía: do not expect to be anywhere at any certain time because you´re on bahía time
for this next part of the blog:
DAD AND MOM: please, do not read anymore..... seriously......
i got a tattoo tonight in itacare. im very stoked.
i now have 36 mosquito bites on my left arm.
i surfed all day again today and swallowed more salt water than i think i ever thought possible.
it reminds me when i went on my first family trip. we went to california and my little brother, shawn, i think was about 11 at the time, jumped into the ocean and came up from the water screaming and wiping his eyes yelling, `there is salt in the water!!` hahahah. he had no idea and it was so cute....
anyway, but really. i spend all day at the bus stop yesterday. on the door, it said in portugese, open from 13:30-18:30. so, i was there from around 1:30 to 5:30 and the employee NEVER showed up. today, i decided NOT to waste an entire day for a freaking bus ride so i went to the beach, surfing, layed around, got free beer (i dont know why im so good at getting free beer but it seriously happens ALL the time) and swam in the ocean. then, i went to the bus station around 5:15 and the employee is STILL not there AAAANNNNDDD, the mail is still in the exact same place in front of the door as if they havent been at work for a few days!!
in Bahía: do not expect to be anywhere at any certain time because you´re on bahía time
for this next part of the blog:
DAD AND MOM: please, do not read anymore..... seriously......
i got a tattoo tonight in itacare. im very stoked.
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