What Day is it??

I would love to have blogged my trip, but we are so busy seeing everything. I only have 5 minutes now, so can´t blog, but wanted you to know I am still alive. We are going to Antigua today, so will try to blog there. I went ziplining yesterday and had a ball. Rode a boat to a wonderful market town, and of course, bought some things there. The hotel has been very nice. There is no crime in this town because they lynch people for crimes. This may be a bad way of handling it, but it certainly feels a lot safer here than in the rest of Guatemala. The guide has been very good at warning us about all the drug lords, etc. I bought a card reader yesterday, so hopefully, I will be able to upload pictures later. Luv u all and am having a blast. Great practice for my Spanish....it makes me feel good that I can communicate with most of the locals. Many on the trip are depending on me to translate. Oh well...you can fool some of the people some of the time...

Luv u...see u later.

El Salvador and Copan, Honduras

Well, I finally am getting a chance to blog a little. The tour keeps us busy, so will blog when I can. I forgot my USB cord to my camera, so will have to buy one when I get to Cuenca, Ecuador, so I can upload pictures. I am uploading some pictures from my roomate's camera, that I used this AM.

El Salvador...nothing much to see...we saw some ancient ruins, which were very interesting. We saw the excavation of a common man's home and the surrounding buildings. El Salvador is very, very poor and the landscape reminded me of Costa Rica, but not as nice.

We came to Copan, Honduras yesterday and saw Copan, the Mayan ruins, today. The guide was incredible...so knowledgable. It was absolutely excellent and will try to blog later on it. The humidity here is unbelievable, and as I sit in my hotel room (very nice), I am perspiring profusely. There is no air conditioning. (Another person just came in and told me how to turn on the air conditioner...GREAT!!

We have had great meals...very healthy...excellent fruit, plantains, beans, rice, chicken, great fish, etc. This afternoon a group of us are going horseback riding into the ruins so that we see them from another perspective, We will then have dinner together.

My roomate is absolutely fantastic, lives outside of Big Bear, CA (near Tim)and we are identical twins...even we can't believe we are so much alike...Her husband died 4years ago and she is about 55 years old. Such fun! Last night we had some type of rum drink, that is local...it was excellent. There are only 15 of us so the group can bond easily.

Must run...will like it better when I can upload pictures!! Tomorrow we are off to Guatemala City. We will be in Guatemala for 8 days. I am getting a lot of practice with my Spanish. I really feel good about all that I have learned, but have a lot more to learn and remember! Love you all..

Off to Central and South America

Coming news---I'm off on a tour to Central America (El Salvador, Honduras, Guatemala, and Belize) on 5/23 for 2 weeks....then on to South America (Cuenca, Ecuador) to study for 3 weeks...to Arequipa, Peru to study for 2 weeks....on to Cuzco, Peru to either study or travel for 10 days. Will post blogs and pics along the way...Luv to all friends and family

Emergency End of Trip

I won't be blogging this trip any more because I am returning home tonight. I was suppose to fly to Santiago tomorrow, but my back is injured somehow. When I was walking to the resaurant in Calafate last night I felt a pain in my lower torso. I thought I had just not eaten the right thing. Within 10 minutes I could hardly walk because my back hurt so badly. I think it is best to return to the good ole USA. Chile will be saved for another trip! Thanks for keeping up. Luv u all....

Perito Moreno Glacier-Calafate

Well, today I saw an unbelievable glacier. It is not the largest (although it is huge!, but it is very famous because it has not receded any. They do not know why. It is one of a very few in the world which has not receded. There has been a lot of global warming, no doubt due to natural climatic changes (with some help from humans) in the atmosphere and galaxy. This has played havoc with all of the other glaciers. One of the very large glaciers has receded more in the last 20 years than in the prior 2000 years. It is amazing. The Perito Moreno glacier starts in the ice fields in the Panatagonia Andes and goes all the way through the Argentinian Lake, the largest lake in Argentina. It was a great day (although a little nostalgic because this is the anniversary of D´s passing)! Tomorrow it is back to Buenos Aires for the night and then on to Santiago the next day...back to studying, but I hope to see all of Santiago and the surrounding areas. I will be spending three weekends and two weeks there. Iḿ looking forward to it very much. From what I hear, I will have to get use to an entirely new accent...ugh!!

Calafate, Argentina

I am still in Pantagonia, but the country looks very different. When I landed yesterday, I thought I had landed on the moon. The terrain is very, very flat, with little to no vegetation. The foothills are totally brown (looks like the entire terrain is covered in dirt). The town is very small, but quaint. Some people speak some English, but not very much...my Spanish has definitely come in handy here. Now for the fantastic part...the glacial water is absolutely beautiful and the glaciers are everything and more than I expected. The boat got up close and personal and we saw some of the glacier falling into the water. The water becomes a light jade green when it is deep. Otherwise, it is this very beautiful blue-green that one can only see in glacial water. Pictures really don{t capture the color of the water, but have done a pretty good job of capturing the blue glaciers. Tomorrow I have another adventure to see another part of the glaciers, which should be great. Have enjoyed myself...cold is getting better...hotel is very nice, but farther from town than the last one. Luckily these small towns are very secure. Every Argentinian Bar-B-Que serves lamb, pork, chicken, chorizo sausage, & beef. Last night the restaurant served all 5 on one plate. The lamb is absolutely the best I have ever tasted, but the beef is very tough. Will run now...blog tomorrow...enjoy the pics. Luv u...

USHUAIA, ARGENTIA

This is the most southern city in the world, the closest to Antarctica. Antarctica is 500 miles off the coast. There is a land mass owned by Chile that is closer to Antarctica, but Ushuaia is the only habitable place that is this close to Antarctica. Therefore, the city is considered the end of the world. Ushuaia is located aross the Magellan Straits (hard to believe Magellan was here!). Yesterday was a beautiful day...sun was out and the temperature was in the high 50´s. After the sun went down, of course it was pretty cold, but not as cold as one would think it should be. It is a very dry cold. Today is a little colder, and in the mountains, it was very cold (about 25 degrees)! Yesterday, I had some fresh crab, right out of the ocean here. It was more like a king crab than any other and was delicious. Last night I ate Argentinian parilla...which is their bar-b-que and it was so much better than anything I got in Buenos Aires. I am going to try to get a picture of their Bar-B-Que pit tonight. I didn´t have my camera yesterday. Will post later. I arrived yesterday afternoon and went on a boat tour of the Beagle Channel, which was beautiful. The Andes never lose their beauty for me. I love them...especially with all the snow on them...they are gorgeous. I saw colonies of seals, birds of several kinds, etc. Also, this is an area where the Yamana indians settled. There is suppose to be one, pure-blooded, native speaking Yamana indian left. Thomas Bridges, one of the early missionaries in the area, studied the Yamana language, which he found had a much larger vocabulary than English. Charles Darwin, who sailed through the famous Beagle Channel, thought the Yamana were the missing link in human evolution. The Yamana women stayed naked, thinking clothes would give them disease. I can´t imagine in this temperature. It is amazing what the human body can stand. The government in this area has declared it tax-free in order to develop it. Today was a full day...with tour of lake, Andes, National Park, dog sledding, snowmobiling, and a wonderful lunch at a retreat in the mountains. I took a tour (all in Spanish) which was wonderful. The other four people were from Brazil and understood some Spanish. The tour guide also spoke English, but I told her I could understand most (I thought) and needed practice. I could not believe it, but I understood about 80% of what she was saying. I am sure she was talking slower than usual since she had tourists from other countries. If I had a question, she could answer it in English, which was nice. Uploaded some pics..of course, they do not do justice to the countryside. The only peope are in the actual city of Ushuaia and the rest of the country is all mountains and animals..absolutely beautiful and a wonderful place to get balance, after a hectic four weeks in Buenos Aires. The people are very, very nice here. The area depends on tourism...mostly coss-country skiing, skiiing, etc. In the winter a lot of people from Europe come here, but in the summer they say more Brazilians come. Well ...luv u all...cold coming back, but can´t stop now!!