Honduras, First Impressions

So I´ve finally made it to an internet cafe. Only took a week. My first impressions of this Central American country are that life couldn´t be more different than back home. Not necessarily in a bad way, just different. The landscape is gorgeous: lush, dense rainforst covers mountains that poke high into the air to points seemingly unreachable heights. Tropical weather is always in full affect, leaving beads of sweat permanently dripping off my nose. Here it is a cold shower that leaves you lingering wanting to stay forever. Living here makes me want my next volunteer location to be the Himalayas.

The Hondurians are a beautiful dark skinned people. In El Porvenir I am working with a group of youngins who´s parents are gone, or have to work in the pineapple fields all day. They are such a lovely group of kids, and are soooo trusting. The first day i met them, they all came up and latched on in a loving hug. I´ve been doing some teaching here so far, basic abc´s and stuff. Its good for me because my spanish is about the same level as thiers.

I living down by the beach, literally. Below you can see the view out my window. I´m really ruffing it, I know! There´s no surf, but a nice dip in the water after working with the kids is unbeatable.

As for security, Ma, dont worry! Our house is like fort Knox. There really isn´t an crime in El Provenir, but if there was it wouldn´t be coming through that razor wire. Drugs and gangs tend to be bad in Honduras in general, but this little town is actually a relatively clean and safe place due in no small part to the volunteer work that has been done.

Fairwell BBQ in Chile and a Day in Miami

In a most wonderful gesture, all the people at the hostel got together for a big BBQ to show me off. Getting the grill going was quite an adventure. They didn´t have lighter fluid, and the charcoal was really just burnt wood which is kinda hard to light. Four of us Americans were trying to get the Barbie going for a while, when finally this Chilean guy felt bad and gave us his newspaper.














We cooked some dank american style burgers with the works (perhaps not as good as yours bro, but pretty close), and I admit I got a little homesick. There´s nothing in the world like biting into a big juicy burger.... mmmm. There were girls from Argentina, Finland, Sweeden, and a couple guys from Chile that I think had the best burger of their life. But alas, I eventually had to hop on the bus to the airport and leave Chile behind.














I had forgotten that I had a 12 hour layover in Miami until I got on the plane departing Chile. I think my original plan was to have a day at the beach, but who knows. Maybe if I could get some sleep, it could be a wonderful day in Miami. However, the plane I flew back on was the coolest flight I´ve ever had. Each seat had its own TV with a couple dozen movies on demand, not to mention endless music, games and TV shows on demand. On top of that they served free booze. I didn´t get much sleep needless to say. I caught a couple more hours of sleep in the airport waiting for the sun to come up, then made it down to the beach. A $1.50 bus ride got me all the way to the beach, a steal compared to the $35 cab ride, and I even got to hang with the local flavor.














I found a sandwhich joint about a block from the beach and was overjoyed to see Yuenglings in the store. So I made myself a little pic-a-nic basket and spent the day on the beach.

After an afternoon of swimming and napping, I made my way back to the airport to go return to foreign soils. It was quite a fantastic day of being ´home´again, but the journey must continue. This next stage is the greatest one, for I hope to put some engineering know how into some building projects and do some basic teaching. I can´t wait to tell you all how this goes. But for now, I am safe in Honduras in the hotel. On a side note, I was greeted at the door to the hotel by a Tarantula the size of my fist. The bigger they are, the bigger mess they make.

Weathering the Storm

Sure enough, the morning has brought with it a wild storm. Rain pounded my window all morning as I tried to will it away with more sleep. It would not relent, so eventually I left the comfort of my bed to weather out the storm in the lounge here at Pichilemu Surf Hostal.














The view out the windows is awe inspiring. The tremendous waves crash this way and that, like white horses galloping along the water, eventually either colliding with each other at full speed or rolling head over tail until they disappear under the water. It is a great battle between the constant push of the current and the randomly swirling winds. The windspray off the top of the curling lips seems to be the wind pulling away the fingers of the wave, at times all together disintegrating the wave before it can realize its grand crash. At other times the wind plays the waves against each other, redirecting them towards each other into a brilliant explosion of white frothing sea.














Every now and then I see a nice break with a fantastic barrel, and think I could weather it out on a board. But then the very next wave is a single overhead that closes out right where I would have to sit to catch the previous wave. I can see how this would be a nice place to surf in good weather.














It would be a good deal more interesting if I were not the only one staying here, but there are enough books to keep me busy for ages. Not to mention good music and a fully stocked bar. I will make the most of it and head back to Santiago tonight.

Pichilemu, Down by da Beach

After having to give up on snowboarding because of my ankle, I still had a few more days in Chile. Rather than spend them in Santiago, I made for the coast again, to spend a bit more time at the beach. A friend had told me about Pichilemu, a fairly small coastal town known for its surfing. It was supposted to be heaps better than the last place I went, Con Con, so I set out on a bus early Thursday morning. Again, I found myself meandering through the foothills with vineyards on either side.














Little known to me at the time, I ended up taking the ´long´bus which meant a 5 hour ride instead of a 3 hour ride. It was manageable, but I´m sure as hell not making that mistake twice. When I finally arrived, hungry as a dog, I found a nice resuraunt on the beach to grab a bite to eat at. The pic below was my view from the table.














After a delicous $4 sandwitch, I was on my way again trying to locate the hostal. This task proved to be quite difficult, since my directions sucked and no one seemed to know where it was. On top of that, rain was steadily falling and the wind was picking up. My hopes got up when I saw a big building with the name of the hostal spray painted on it, and it looked to be quite the prime location (it is the building on the point in the picture below). However, it turned out to be a cheap version of a billboard and the building was all locked up.














Finally, I flagged down a car and used the guys cell phone to call the owner. I finally found the place and took a half hour long hot shower. It was absolutely beautiful. The hostel itself is a nice place run by a Deutch guy who has more or less permantently moved to Chile. 15 years ago, his friend told him the women and surf were great in Chile, and he´s been here ever since. The weather´s not supposed to pick up, so I´ll probably not be getting a surf in. The place is beautiful though, and there´s a great view out my window in the hostal, so I can´t complain too much.

More Snowboarding

Another blue bird day with a nice dusting of fresh powder, mmm.... I´m getting too lucky here! I also got to ride with a few pro riders from Holland (yes they do have pro´s in Holland). We hit some nice powder runs and made some trips through the park. One of the riders was a 17 year old girl that was absolutely kicking my ass. Sorry I couldn´t represent the States a little better boys.














My day was cut short however, when I found out the ticket I bought from a friend was no good. I had been riding for half a day before they caught me though, and I got my money back from the guy, so all in all it was a free day with some nice riding.

That night I went out with some guys in the hostal to a private party for ski instructors and equipment promoters. It was held in a cozy little bar which was soon full of people. The drinks were cheap and the music was great. A guy was playing guitar and singing all my favorites, Sublime, Led Zep, Eric Clapton, etc. until the DJ took over and played equally good music. He even played a Katchafire song, one of the best bands to ever come out of New Zealand. At the end of the night I made my way home in a zig zag; I´m still not sure if it was because I´d been boarding all day or because of the last couple liter ´o beers.














The next day was not so beautiful, no new snow and quite cloudy. However, there was absolutely no one on the slopes. I had 100 foot wide groomers all to myself. It was nice to have so much freedom, but an old injury was flaring up. My ankle had been getting more and more swollen over the last few days, and it was pretty much impossible to ride another day. So it was to my dismay that I left the mountain and made my way back down to Santiago.

Surfing in Con Con

It felt a little funny, trying to go for a surf in the middle of winter. But really it wasn´t that cold here. I was in shorts and a T-shirt a couple of days, although all the Chileans were thinking the same thing as they walked by, ´loco gringo!´. They may have been right though, seeing as how I did see a penguin in the water when we were surfing.

I met an Aussie in the Hostel Caracol from Brisbane. He was also thinking that a surf was worth a go. We found a little surf shop in Viña Del Mar that rented us boards and wet suits for $30, and gave us a bus ride up to the surfing beach: Con Con. The waves were nothing to write home about, but the occasional 3 and 4 footers were enough to make for a fun day. Poor Stu, the aussie, had drank his fair share of margaritas the night before and had quite a hang over. Here they call that an axe to the head. We finished up the day with a nice ride up down the coast, with beautiful beaches and rock outcroppings. A fantastic last day on the coast.

Back to the Mountains

I managed to fit in one day of surfing on the coast before my time in Valparaiso was done. It was bloody cold, but in a wetsuit the temperature was manageable. The waves were nothing special, but enough to get a few rides in. I´m working on getting the pictures, so hopefully they will be up in a couple days. In less than 14 hours after my surf, I was back in the mountains for a few more days of boarding.














It snowed most of the day to the point where it was difficult to see and many runs were closed. Instead of braving the weather, I met some of the other people in the hostel and went out for lunch. The place we ate at barely fit two tables, but had fantastic food. There was a bread oven constantly pumping out amazing bread and keeping the place somewhat warm. A bottle of wine and a few beers later I was ready for the afternoon siesta!

My first night there was a gorgeous clear night, with a beautiful sunset over Santiago. The hostel I stayed at, Refugio Aleman, was a nice place with a bar built in. Can´t say there was much nightlife, but the dinner they made for us was great.















We got a few inches of snow during the afternoon and a promising forcast of cloudless skies for the next day. It was shaping up to be another bluebird powder day for me!

Ex-Prison in Valparaiso

Quite near to the hostel I was staying in was an old decommissioned prison. The powers that be decided to turn it into a park- what a bright and cheerful place for a park! Despite the barred windows and eerie knowledge of who used to be here, the park has a rather cool atmosphere.














It is an artists playground. All artforms, be it sculpture, graffiti, poetry, etc is all allowed and even guarded by an armed guard. Grass and trees have grown in through the concrete and hard dirt ground, bringing some natural color in.














There is some fantastic graffiti, it is almost like visiting an art gallery.














We stayed until sunset, which allowed us to see the artwork in different lighting. Some of the painting had metallic paint that gleamed in the glowing reds and oranges of the fading sun.

Night out in Valparaiso

In addition to Graffiti, Valparaiso is in no shortage of bars and clubs. The hostel is full of cool people, and we went exploring the city for the night. The first bar was small and quaint with some excellent artwork on the walls. Next we made a stop at an all night diner for completos and beer. Completos are a brilliant concoction, basically a hotdog in a big bun filled with guacamole, various relishes, tomatoes, mayo, and hot sauce. In the diner, we met a old grandpa with quite the personality. We ended up convincing him to come out to the club with us. I expected the club to be playing reggaeton or top 40, but no it was karaoke. Chilean´s love their Karaoke with a passion. In this huge club filled with people, each singer spared no facial expression and hit every air guitar note. The walk home was pretty amazing as well. The lights over the city reminded me of San Fran.

More Pics from Valparaiso

The hostel I stayed at, Caracol Hostel, was on top of one of the hills. You can see it in the photo above, th yellow and red building. Many of the buildings in the city are quite old, but well maintained. It gives the city a very authentic feel.

I ran into a group of street performers. Some of the women in the crowd began dancing to the music. There were tons of street vendors ranging from clothes, to food, to artists, to used book dealers, to car parts dealers. I think you could easily live in this town without ever setting foot in a legitimate store.














And as promised, more pics of graffiti.

Valparaiso, Town of Graffiti

Santiago is a wonderful city, but there is so much more to see in Chile that I couldn´t waste another day in the same place. I caught a bus to Valparaiso at the perfect time to see the sunset over the wine valleys. Everything was magnificent about the ride, except the guy snoring next to me.















Valparaiso is a town built of color and teeming with life. The houses, although many are made of corrugated metal and hastily nailed wooden boards, are painted in an array of pastels. From almost any point in the city, you can take in the beauty because everything is built on hills. And not gently rolling hills, but hills that they build elevators to get to the top of. The relief of the town makes is so beautiful, but quite a workout to tour. I think I am in better shape now than after my week hike on the Appalachian Trail.















In addition to the pastel houses, there is tons of graffiti. Gorgeous artwork adorns the walls and allies of the city. It is a trademark of the city, although I think it is still technically illegal. The one below almost had me walk headlong into a wall. I have dozens of photos, but can only put a few up here right now (internet here is a Slowskies commercial). More to come!

p.s. Myles, you´ld absolutly love it here man!

Plaza de Armas in Santiago

I took Wednesday to see the center of Santiago, mainly the Plaza de Armas. There was a fantastic stone sculpture there, shown above, and many artists in the Plaza painting and selling their artwork. Chess players were engaged in tense battles while large crowds would gather around and watch intently.















There were also several street preformers. One guy was completely painted in gold, and was a mix between a mime and a statue. Another guy took a far more energetic approach. He was basically a comedian, but also did tricks. I checked all of this out, and then went to an open air market/ resturaunt. You could buy your meat, fish, or veggies fresh, or order them for a meal. I chose the later and had a great big fried fish. It was strangely reminiscent of an experience in Costa Rica (ordering a large fried fish fresh off the boat) that got Sass and I sick last year, but I had to face my fears and go through with it. No diaharea yet!

Live Spanish ¨Hip Hop¨

Making the most of a Tuesday night, Gustavo and I took a trip to the local clubs in Providencia (a barrio, or section, of Santiago). We happened upon a bar that was playing some good music, so we stepped in. After a few minutes of testing my Spanish small talking skills, a couple of guys got up on stage and started rapping. They still had all the English fillers, like ´come on now, here we go now´ and ´get up, get up´, but the rest was a mystery to me.




















It must have been some kind of open mic night, because a bunch more people ended up getting on stage, some better, some much worse, but all entertaining for sure. The bars here practially never close, so its quite possible to become a vampire. Party all night, sleep all day- and I´m sure many people do.















We finally called it a night when I was falling asleep on my feet, and not a moment too soon. As we were walking away, a few police cars pulled up. The club had a certain smell to it, if you know what I mean, and I guess the police were there to air it out. All and all, a good night, and poor Gustavo had to catch a ride to the airport 30 minutes after we got back to the Hostel.

Blue Bird Powder Day!

After the disappointing white out conditions yesterday, the snow gods left us with more than a foot of fresh Powder. For a day, Valle Nevado was heaven. The sun and blue sky were out in full force, leaving me with a nice racoon tan from my sunglasses at the end of the day. Being a Tuesday, there was absolutely no one on the slopes, so making run after run after run in fresh Pow became a fact of life.
















The Andes are absolutely gorgeous! The visibility was great as I´m sure you can see. It was better than usual according to the locals I met. Pollution from the city can get quite bad, although it makes for a great sunset.















I snowboarded from 11am to 5pm straight, eating lunch on the lift chair while begging it to go faster. Valle Nevado is no Vail, but it has some nice terrain in its own right. A few cliff drops, cornices, and natural spines begin to make up for the lack of trees. When it comes to size, Valle Nevado is much smaller than most good US resorts. However, if you include the back country terrain, which is very easy to get to, Nevado is actually bigger than most resorts.















Two of the locals I met know the back country well, and they worked out a deal with our bus driver for next time we come to Valle Nevado to pick us up at the bottom of the back country run. I could see the run they were talking about and it was absolutely unbelievable. Hopefully the future will have me putting down a line in that snow.















No trip to the Andes would be complete without some crazy driving experience. Our bus tried to pass a bunch of cars that were stuck in the ice, and managed to get us stuck on the ice as well blocking traffic in all direct directions. Amid many honking horns, we put our chains on and were on our way again.