My first top ten list: things we take advantage of when we're home!

A word about conveniences: We all have them, but sometimes fail to notice that they are indeed conveniences.

It wasn't until I got to my friend Tomas' house the other day that I could really articulate the list below. Sure, I'd complained about not having some things, but once I got them again, it was like seeing old friends for the first time in a long time. "Oh, I've MISSED you guys!!"

So below, some things I am currently enjoying and will be missing again as soon as I leave Santiago...

10. A hair dryer: Yes, a hairdryer. When your hair is as thick as mine is, sometimes it's nice to be able to blow-dry it for 15 minutes and have it all set for the day. Or how about when you take an evening shower before you go to bed -- do you think it's fun to have sopping wet hair all over your pillow? No, it's not. I miss having a hair dryer and have been thinking about getting one for close to 3 weeks now.

9. A closet or dresser for your clothes: Until I get back home to DC at the end of this year, I will be living out of a backpack. Said pack has a few things inside that act as my drawers, or really, as my way of sectioning off things: 2 vacuum bags that house my tops and bottoms (which are rolled up when traveling and let loose to breathe when I'm at a hostel), 4 large ziplock bags (for socks, underwear, bras, and soiled things), and that's it, everything else is just sort of placed in there.

8. A phone: Before I left DC, I was sure I was going to get an unlocked phone to bring with me around the world to use in case of emergencies etc. After finding out that getting one would entail me going to a sketchy part of town, I opted to not buy one and just stick with Skype on my laptop. But there are times I do

wish I had a cell phone or even a landline phonein my room that I could just pick up and use whenever I feel like it. It's like I'm back in the early 90's, when I had to get picked up from school and if my mom was late, I just had to sit there and wait (or if the timing was REALLY off, I'd have to find a pay phone to try and get a hold of her.)

*Side note: Yes, there are pay phones here, but they're big and scary and I don't know how to use them.*

7. Not having to be vigilant against theft: Do you sleep with your wallet, laptop, and camera? Do you live in constant fear that you forgot to lock your cheaply made wooden hostel locker and your stuff may be stolen? I do. It's part of traveling in general, but it's definitely part of traveling cheap: you must constantly make sure you have your big ticket items accounted for at all times.

6. Clean tap water: Sometimes I wake up at 2am and desperately need a glass of water. I usually get up, walk to the kitchen, grab a glass and pour some water into it from the tap. If I did that while traveling so far, I'd probably end up in the bathroom for the next day. Instead, I have to make sure I have one full water bottle at all times, otherwise you end up waking up and having the chug the 2 day old coca cola that has rolled under your bed.

5. Your own room: This one goes without saying, really. There's something relaxing about having your own room, your own space, where unless you let someone in, it's only your room. I miss this. When you share rooms, people walk in and out at all hours of the day making noise and reminding you that you basically live in a dorm again.

4. Sheets that you know are actually clean: A sleep sack is basically a sleeping bag made of silk. Why silk? Silk is impenetrable against bed bugs. When rolled up, it's small and compact, and I carry it everywhere. Personally, I don't trust most hostels so I use this sack every night. It's not terrible, but for those of us who shift constantly when sleeping, or sometimes like to throw one leg up and one leg back, it's kind of a pain. But I'd prefer that over beg bugs crawling all over me.

3. Hot showers: I miss searing hot showers! Burn baby, burn! I have taken too many cold showers over these past 3 weeks and just when you think you've had the worst one ever, the next day's shower beats it out. Terrible.

2. A toilet that you can flush toilet paper down and don't have to squat over: When I first wrote out this top 10 list, 3 of the items were about toilets. Seriously people, when you next see your toilet, tell it how much you appreciate it. I've never been a fan of public toilets. I've been known to run home to use mine instead of one at work or at a restaurant, but I knew I would have to get over that on this trip. What I didn't expect was not being able to flush ANY toilet paper down the toilets or not being able to FLUSH! So far, Tomas' house is the only place I've been able to flush toilet paper. In Lake Titicaca, we had to pour water into the toilet bowl after using it to produce a sort of "flush." This was fun. (I'm dry heaving now just thinking about all of my toilet woes. God help me when I actually get some kind of stomach issue on this trip.)

1. A variety of... anything!: I've already posted about the contents of my pack and I, at the time, thought it sounded like I had a lot of potential variety. But I'm realizing I don't. If I'm in a colder weather place, like I am now, that means I am rotating my 2 long sleeve shirts and wearing the only pair of closed toe shoes I have. Likewise, when I get to India, I'll be rotating the 3 tank tops I have. And it's not just the clothes that I don't have a variety of! How about the same makeup, same jewelry, and same forms of entertainment. It forces you to buy cheap

stuff that will help you get a little variety in your life, like the plastic ring and bracelets pictured above...

Santiago, Chile: Am I in the States?

First impression of Santiago: big city, surrounded by big mountains, and lots of American shit.

I love me a big city, so I'm not upset about the fact that there are huge shopping malls, a metro system, smog, and tons of cars. For those of you looking for something unlike a major city in the States though, this isn't the place for you.

As a matter of fact, when my friend

Tomas picked me up from the airport on Wednesday afternoon, he said, "I hope you're not expecting anything out of the ordinary here!" I can't say I was, but it was a stark contrast from the traditional Peruvian and Bolivian dress I had just been surrounded by. And I didn't see stands selling dead baby animals or jars of urine.

For your viewing pleasure, I've posted some American establishments I found during my first day walking around in Santiago. I am still sticking to my decision to not eat at any American food places, but I may find it difficult... Tomas just ordered us pizza and I don't know

where from. Maybe Dominos or Pizza Hut? We'll see...

Bolivia: 39 hours total. That's enough time to see one country, right?

Bummer, man. I really wish I had had more time in Bolivia.

I guess this is what happens when you're traveling around alone. You meet people at one place, you stay longer than you intended, and then your whole schedule is off. It's generally not a big deal unless, like me, you've already purchased 70% of the flights that you'll need along the way and you're locked in...

I already had moved my departure date from La Paz to Santiago once last week, moving it from Monday to Wednesday. That cost me $50, which in the grand scheme isn't HUGE, but it's money I may want in 7 months when I'm down to pennies. I almost moved it again, from Wednesday to Friday, but at the end of the day, I realized I was just throwing money down the drain and had to suck it up and stick with the Wednesday flight.

So what happened during my less than 2 days in Bolivia? A lot of partying.

The hostel I stayed at in La Paz was incredible. It is a converted old hotel with a converted ballroom serving as the bar (that has a stage, pool table, and tons of tables.) There is also a movie room with big screen tv and couches, a computer room with 9 computer stations, an oxygen room, a video game area, and a large "quiet room" with bean bag chairs. Who needs to leave? I kind of didn't...

Well, I did. Once. The one afternoon that I had there, I convinced 2 of my new friends to come out to the Witches Market with me. Unlike most markets I have been to so far on my travels, this one had some more, um, unique things on sale such as dried baby llama fetuses (photo to the left), mason jars of some animal urine, and drying pieces of peyote cactus. Good times.
That outing was sandwiched between two nights of partying until 4am. The bar at the hostel is too awesome to not hang out at! And that of course leads to going out once that bar closes at 1:00am. It sounded like a good idea to stay out that last night but waking up the next morning was beyond terrible. With my eye makeup form the night before halfway down my face, I packed up my stuff and got a cab to the airport. Goodbye Bolivia, hello Chile!

Calling out for help! (Don't worry, I'm fine.)

Okay, I know I JUST blogged about living in the present, but it’s healthy to have an eye on the past and future too, right?

Let’s be 100% honest -- I have NO idea what I’ll want to do when I get back to the States. Trainer? Back to school? Elephant rescuer?

But one thing I know now, is that I’m enjoying blogging and photographing my trip, so I should maybe capitalize on this. I mean, I’ve been entertaining my clients with random stories for 7 years, and there is never a dull moment with me, so why not try entertaining a few more people?

Thus far, my blog has been a closed blog, as in, it hasn’t been searchable through a search engine. I only sent out an email to my friends, family, and clients, asking them to follow me, but now, dear readers, I ask you this: Please let people know about my blog so I can get some more readers. Maybe I can make a gig out of this? Maybe one day I’ll get PAID to travel???

In exchange for your help, I can’t offer much. I CAN write a blog dedicated to ANY topic you ask about, or I can post a photo of random people doing something you always do back home (for you, Tim, arm chugging or for you, Jen, handstands.)

I’m hoping I don’t regret this decision. I know other travelers who seem to incessantly be online, blogging multiple times a day, constantly updating their blog, using their trip solely as a jump off point to a new career. If blogging and traveling leads me to a new career, so be it, but I’m not planning on anything. I’m living in the present.

Personal reflection as I'm leaving Peru

I’ve never been a “live in the moment” sort of person. And that has always bothered me about myself. For years, friends, family, and psychologists have suggested that I stop obsessing about the past, stop freaking out about the future, and just, you know, go with the flow, man. A few years ago, somebody asked me what percent of my time was spent thinking about the past, present, and future. Sadly, my response was something like 50%, 2%, 48%.

It really hasn’t been until this trip that I feel like I’ve really been able to live in the present. To those of you who live this way, I have nothing but sincere admiration. It does take a bit of work. Do I wonder what I’m going to do with my life after this trip? Or if I’ll ever end up being happy living in one place? Or if I should cut my hair once I get to India? Sure, of course I do, but I now have an internal dialogue that goes something like this.

Inner Me: Now, Alison, why are you on this trip? Do you want to be all OCD while you’re traveling if there is no need to be?

Anal Me: *inhale* Well...

Inner Me: Let me answer for you: No, you don’t. Now go back to starring out the window at the sheep on the side of the road.”

So here I am, with Oasis blasting in my ears, not obsessing about the fact that I have already changed my flight from La Paz to Santiago back a few days and yet will still only have 36 hours in Bolivia (thanks, altitude sickness and weird throat infection!) I instead am focusing on filling out my paperwork properly so I’m not held up at the border, I am reading my guide book about how corrupt people may try to rip me off once I’m there, and practicing such phrases as, “Yeah, no, I don’t think so. I know I don’t have to pay an ‘embarkation’ tax.”

32 hours on Lake Titicaca

When I decided to start a blog, I knew I didn’t want it to be a detailed explanation of how I was spending each and every day. Instead, I thought it should be a mix of things, from some history of where I currently am to interesting situations I’ve found myself in.

But after looking back at the 158 photos I took over the past 2 days, I think detailing what I did for the last 32 hours will be fun. Here goes!

7:45am: My guide meets me my hostel to a) make sure I am alive and can make it on the trip and b) hand me off to the van driver who will be taking me to the boat. I have my whole big backpack with me and he looks at me like I’m crazy. He tells me in a combination of English and Spanish that I’m supposed to have only a day pack and the rest stays at the hostel. I scramble and make sure to pack underwear and socks this time around.

8:00am: 2 vans full of people show up to the docks and we are escorted on our boat. I should probably remember the name of the boat, especially because our guide asked us to memorize it, like, 20 times, but who cares. Basically, it’s a boat: it floats, it has an inside deck area with enough seats for us all, an open area in the back where a few people can sit, and a deck up top with benches that seat about 10 people.

8:15am: We’re off! Our guide, Andreas, introduces himself to us and we decide on a group name. We settle on Pacha Mama which means Mother Earth in Quechawan, the native language of the Incans. I also introduce myself to the guy sitting next to me. His name is Yalon and he has a guitar with him. I decide

we are going to be best friends. He also happens to know 2 ladies from Canada on our boat that he has traveled with previously. Yeah, a clan!

9:00am: We arrive at the first island: Uros. It is a group of floating islands made from something sort of like sod and reeds. A man from Uros shows us a demonstration of how the islands were made, but all I can pay attention to is a baby who is crawling around on the reeds (so cute!!)

9:30am: We get on boats (made of the same reeds that make the islands, the houses, the handicrafts and some of their food) to another one of the islands where I randomly run into a friend, Alex who I met and stayed with in Cusco. How weird!

10:00am - 1:00pm: A long ride to the next island. My new clan and I go up to the top deck, along with some other Pacha Mama group members, and my new best friend brings the guitar. For a while, Yalon and a guy from France pass the guitar back and forth, playing some stuff we know and other stuff we don’t. The views are amazing, and I, for the thousandth time, get a mammoth smile on my face... I’m so lucky to be doing this!

1:15pm: We arrive at the next island, Amantani, which is a very

peaceful island, we are told. There are no dogs, no police, and everyone is nice. The people here speak Quechua and little to no Spanish. We’re going to be staying with families tonight, so we walk up a hill and there are about 10 women in traditional clothing waiting to receive their guests.

1:30pm: Yalon, the 2 Canadians, Jess and Megan, and I are all put together and are assigned to Irma. Irma smiles when we are assigned to her, turns, and starts the ascent to her house. Within 5 minutes, my lungs are protesting and I’m wondering how the hell Irma can bust up this “hill” so effortlessly. Never have I felt so out of shape in my life.

2:00pm: We arrive at the house and find that Irma and her husband have 2 rooms for us, each with 2 beds. Unlike the huts made of reeds on Uros, this is a real house with real walls, so I rest easy knowing I won’t freeze tonight. We meet Irma’s husband and 13 year old daughter, and are told to rest a bit as she fixes us lunch. The guitar comes out again and the 4 of us relax on our porch admiring the views.

3:00pm: Lunch! For a starter, a delicious vegetable and quinoa soup. For the main course, various sorts of potatoes, sliced cucumbers, and a piece of fried cheese. It turns out our family speaks a good deal of Spanish which means we might be able to communicate a little after all.

4:00pm - 5:00pm: We meet up with Pacha Mama group to ascend to the top of the island where, now don’t get confused, we visit Pacha Mama -- it is one of the 2 highest points of the island. (I would go into an explanation of Pacha Mama and Pacha Tata but this blog entry is going to be long enough as it is...) We’ve walked up there to see the sunset from the top. On my way up, I am again reminded of how much my lungs are sucking ass at this altitude, and stop caring about the stupid sunset.

5:30pm: How wrong I am to not care! The sunset is out of this world. I have about 30 photos of this alone, though they hardly capture how breathtaking it is. Meanwhile, I make sure to walk around Pacha Mama 3 times while making wishes, as instructed to do by our guide. What did I wish for? Can’t tell ;)

6:00pm: We walk back down the hill in the almost pitch black, trying not to die. It is fun. We do not die.

6:30pm - 7:30pm: We have time to kill before dinner, so Yalon and I teach the Canadians to play poker. If only we had played for money! I still have the gift of poker!

7:30pm: Dinner! For a starter, a delicious vegetable and quinoa soup. For the main course, various sorts of potatoes, sliced cucumbers, and a piece of friend cheese. Haha, not really. Well, we did have the soup again, but the main meal this time was rice and some sort of potato/cheese/spice mix. We’re told after dinner that we’re going to go dancing. No offense, host family, but I didn’t see a discotheque on my way up that terrible hill a few hours ago...

8:00pm: Irma comes into my room with an arm full of clothes. She starts to put them on me as Jess and Megan come into my room in full, traditional clothing. Yalon gets a traditional pancho, and we all get hats. This is both strange and exciting, but either way,

I’m down because these clothes are super warm and I’m always freezing.

8:30pm - 10:00pm: They weren’t lying: we go dancing. All of Pacha Mama is there, dressed up, and we proceed to dance in a sort of hall, with 2 bands, one on either end. Irma takes me by the hand and starts to dance with me, and we

all switch off partners until the end of the night.

10:15pm: I pass out as Yalon plays the guitar. I like to think he is serenading me.

6:30am: Yalon wakes me up. He’s already climbed to the top of

the island again with the other 2 to see the sunrise. Again, he plays his guitar and I make a solid resolve to take up the guitar as soon as I get done with my trip.

7:00am: Breakfast! Pancakes!!!!!! I wish Irma a happy mother’s day and she grins from ear to ear. So do I :)

7:30am - 8:00am: We finish breakfast and give gifts to our host family. Yalon sells his guitar to them for a good price because they’ve been talking about wanting it since yesterday afternoon. The 2 ladies and I give them money because we can’t think of what else to give. Irma hugs and kisses us all and watches as her husband walks us back down to the boat. As we walk down the path, she sticks her head out the wind

ow and yells “aaaaadddioooooos!”

8:00am - 9:00am: Back on the boat we go. The 4 of us are a little sad to be leaving our host family, but we know there’s another island to visit. The water this morning is super choppy and for once, I find that I am not the one who is sick!

9:00am - 9:45am: We arrive at Taquile. Our guide has several “information sessions” for us interspersed as we climb yet another “hill”. He teaches us about the island -- that red hats are worn by married men, red and white hats for single men, the men make clothes for the women and the women make clothes for the men, hand shaking is not polite nor is bargaining at shops. We also are shown a plant and accompanying berry that has several uses: when ingested, it’s like taking speed and the liquid in the berry can be used to paint your nails or used as glue. I consider eating some of these berries because I’m sick of climbing up all of these hills and I’m also a little sick of sitting through these “information sessions.” Let me explore!

9:45am - 11:00am: We’re allowed to explore. What a let down... There’s not much to explore on this island, and I’m ready to leave after about 15 minutes. But then I hear my name yelled out across the square. NO SHIT! It’s Alex, the friend from Cusco who I ran into yesterday in Uros. What are the chances?? (Actually pretty high when you’re traveling like this because we all end up wanted to go see the same things.)

11:00am - 11:15am: Pacha Mama leaves the square to walk to the restaurant where we’ll be having lunch. After another “information session”, we are told we’re having “a delicious lunch of vegetable and quinoa soup and blah blah blah blah...” I stop listening after I hear the words vegetable, quinoa and soup -- I’m over the soup. So I tell Andreas that I am going to go wander about and will meet the group at the boat at 12:30pm.

11:15 - 12:30pm: I find a little shop on the side of the road that has drinks and snacks and decide I’ll get something small. I’m not that hungry due to the altitude anyway. I ask for my items and hand the man a 20 (20 soles = approximately $7) and he tells me he has no change. I think to myself, “Let me get this straight, you’re running a shop that caters to tourists who will most likely have bills, and you have no change. Really? REALLY?” He asks me if I want more items (thus spending all 20 soles.) It’s not that I’m opposed to spending 20 soles, it’s just that I don’t want 3 packets of cookies, 2 candy bars, and 2 drinks to haul around. So I leave the shop empty handed, go sit on a rock, and yes, I cry. In my head: “Ah, Smeegel, why does you crys?”

I realize that crying is accomplishing nothing and go back to the store and permutate another 2 items that will allow the shopkeeper to give me some change. I walk down to the dock with my candy bar and drink and realize I need some chill time.

12:30pm - 4:00pm: We start our long boat ride back to Puno. My plan is to read for a bit, listen to my music, and then nap. Instead I read for all 4 hours and when we dock, my psyche has miraculously returned to a more happy and upbeat state. Oh, and I have a wicked sunburn.

Off to Lake Titicaca... expect some radio silence...

I'm awake and I'm off to see the islands of Lake Titicaca. My antibiotics are kicking in and I think I'll make it through the day! According to my guide, I'll be staying with a local family tonight instead of at a hostel tonight, so I won't plan on having internet. :(

So, until I next write, and you next read, have a great fin de semana and to all mothers out there, Happy Mothers Day!!!

(To the right, one of my favorite pictures I've taken so far.)