Tina's wanderings around the world

Except this time instead of me looking out the window and waiting to plunge to my death, the bus just...didn't go. Last night we went to the bus station with every expectation of leaving, and then our bus got canceled, along with every other bus to La Paz (and who knows where else!). We wandered amongst the mayhem taking place in the terminal and Anthony managed to exchange our tickets while Cami and I kept our eyes open for sneaky hands wanting to steal our bags (C & A both witnessed a theft while we were out by the bus--don't know how I missed that!). Now here we are, still in Potosi, with the man-eating mountain leering at us in the distance. Okay, I need to elaborate a bit more on this mining. I don't know the number of miners that work there at the moment, but there are said to be approximately 300 children working in the mine. I think I mentioned that the miners, after beginning their mining lives, have a life expectancy of 10 years, most dying from silicosis due ...

Okay, so where did I leave off...probably right before our horseback riding in Tupiza! Horseback riding was lovely, though the bus ride the next day was not conducive to healing the back side. Um, and galloping? (Yeah, probably wasn't even real galloping, but it was fast to me!) Imagine my butt just jumping all around on that seat, me trying to keep it down but being totally unsuccessful. We "galloped" past these guys that were hiking out on the path and they were like, "Uh, you look like you're in pain." Yup, definitely didn't feel good! It was definitely fun, though, and by the end I was feeling a bit proud that I was able to ride a horse without looking like a total amatuer. I think. The next morning we took off for Uyuni, yet another frightening bus ride where we were afraid that we were going to tumble down the side of the mountain. Did I mention that there are (as of yet) no paved roads outside of the city? Yup, none, which certainly makes for int...

After passing the night in a little town called Purmamarca (it's TINY, but famous for its mountain of seven colors), we took a tour yesterday out to the Argentinean salt flats, which were interesting and fun, but nothing in comparison to what we know we're going to see while in Bolivia. Don't worry, I'll be copying Cami and Anthony's pictures to post and show. :) The tour was lovely with a nice woman driver, and we climbed up to over 4,000 meters of altitude, and let me tell you it was freezing! Mm hmm, nice little preview of what we'll be getting here in Bolivia. After the tour, we hopped on a bus to Tilcara, then another up to La Quiaca, the Argentinean border town. We found our hostel and asked the lady at the front desk if she knew anything about the Bolivian bus schedule, and she told us to just walk across the border and check out. It's normal, as long as we're back before the end of the day, no problem! We began our walk, feeling very unlawful...b...

Yet another successful night bus experience, yay! I arrived at my hostel, interneted as per usual, then went upstairs, showered, met my very sweet Swiss roommate, Julia, then conked out to recover from a less than restful night. I went to dinner that night with Julia and her new Mexican-Swiss friends (that’s a new combination for me!) and was happy to find Mendoza prices, like Cordoba prices, a bit lower than those in BA. More happiness! The next day I intended on doing the winery touring by bike and ended up getting caught up in a boy conversation with two cute American girls who are studying in BA. One of them actually goes to PLU and works in the development office with Kari, and I was reminded yet again of just how small this world is. J Winery plans sort of got aborted, and we ended up walking and exploring the enormous San Martin park and enjoying the sunny weather, exchanging boy stories. My story just never gets old and I don’t get tired of telling it! I did manage to make it o...

Yes, oh yes, I am back on the road again quite officially. Mardel was a welcome relief from the fast pace of Buenos Aires. My first day at the beach? I was sitting out in the sun, thoroughly enjoying myself, the beach and the sun, and this strange older vagabondish man sat down about 7 feet away from me, which was strange since the beach was fairly empty. I ignored him while still keeping a cautious eye on him, and about two minutes later I heard a bunch of yelling and three guys started running towards this man. They started shouting at him to get away, calling him crazy, saying they’d told him to stay away from here and to go away right now. Needless to say, I was quite startled! One of the guys came over to me to explain that he was sort of a local crazy that targets pretty girls on the beaches and I sort of zoned out as he explained why he targets the girls on the beaches, but it seemed that they were doing me a favor by scaring this man away. A little scary, but I felt as though t...

Wireless is becoming increasingly difficult to find, so all of the things I write on my laptop are just not as easily transferable! But I'm sure I'll find some wireless soon...and I can post all of my latest adventures. I have gone from Cordoba to Mendoza to Salta to Cafayate in the last two weeks and met a great Australian travel buddy (I seem to love the Australians!). Things are good! Um, the universe decided that I am not supposed to have a digital camera so I am minus pictures of my own, but I will be getting pictures from other people along the way. So next post? Pictureless, I would guess. Other exciting news? I come home in less than 5 weeks! First to Portland, then on to Seattle afterwards. Ewwwwwwie! (Sister Jessi is organizing a BBQ for the family to meet Marcus--yay! If anyone's going to be in Portland on June 21st, let me know...) I'm so looking forward to seeing my people again! However, perfectly enough, I am really enjoying my travels right now and the h...