Say it isn't over

Final Days at Sea

The last few days at sea were filled with the obvious packing duties and last minute wrap up in the office. Everyone walked around knowing it was a few short days/hours until we docked in San Diego and had to leave this floating utopia. Many didn’t describe it as a utopia as you still heard people complain about the food, talk about being at home with their creature comforts and living as if they were already halfway home in their minds, but we will all soon realize we were living a dream as it came to an end.


Our final big event of the summer was the Ambassador’s Ball. This is a chance for everyone to get dressed up, have a great meal and bust out their dancing moves. It was a masquerade ball so everyone was told to pick up a mask in port along the way. Many people came as themselves but a few of us decided to go for it. (Yes, that’s me behind the Batman mask). This event was a great way for everyone to spend one last night together reminiscing and taking it all in. The party continued well into the night for the faculty and staff and as luck would have it, we gained our final hour on the clock…trust me, we needed every second of that. ;-)

Coming home is so bittersweet for me. The last time I sailed I spent the last two days in bed sick, I was returning to California homeless and unemployed and it was 2 days before Christmas. This time around I knew I would miss my friends aboard the MV Explorer but I was coming home to a fiancé, a beautiful condo that I love and colleagues at work whom I missed all summer. I will admit it, I kept telling myself, “It’s going to be nice to be back!”


We arrived outside San Diego early Tuesday morning and the Captain all but shut down the ship completely. Unlike other ports, we had to time our arrived at exactly 8am because we had a group of parents and friends on the docking waiting for our grand entrance. We slowly made our way through the harbor and docked right in downtown San Diego. Standing along side the same railing on Deck 7 that I had the previous 8 ports felt different. I wasn’t getting back on this time. I was surprisingly calm given my usual emotional waves during these types of monumental events. And then it hit me. Out of nowhere I just started crying. I think I was happy to be home and sad to be leaving and I’m not sure which one brought on the tears. There were a few people I knew standing on the dock (Shaun & Melissa from Fall 2000 and the wonderful staff at SAS’s main office that I have come to love) shouting and waving and I think that is what really did it for me. Don’t worry, I was able to pull myself together and make the most of the morning as folks said their goodbyes while we waited to disembark.



The usual suspects (an amazing group of faculty and staff that I have come to know and love) made our way to the hotel across the street to store our luggage for the day and eat lunch. We ended up walking around San Diego all afternoon and then met up at a pre-arranged location for drinks and dinner prior to some of us flying out. It was the perfect end to an amazing summer.

Unfortunately, I was the first one to get up from the table and say my good-byes. I knew it was going to be hard but I was trying to keep a stiff upper lip. Then I got to Tania. She looked up from her seat and had one little tear on the edge of her eyelashes and it was all over. I started bawling. This began a whole chain of tearful hugs and like taking off a band-aid, I walked out as quickly as I could and immediately jumped into a cab. As I rode to get my bags from the hotel I remembered the same exact feelings coming over me when I got into my cab in December of 2000. I felt alone, I felt a little nauseous and I felt thankful, thankful for the opportunity to leave the world I know behind and experience something life changing. It is impossible to come back from Semester at Sea and not think and act in a different way and for that I will always be grateful. But most importantly, I am thankful for the wonderful friends I have made. I hope I stay in touch with all of them, reality tells me it might be just a few, but I know that I will never forget the memories that we created together and the way each one of them made Summer 2007 an amazing 2 1/2 months for me.


Back in the USA

For anyone that has left the country for any significant amount of time returning provides more adjustment than anyone expects. For some they expect the reverse culture shock, for others it hits them like a ton of bricks. I fall somewhere in the middle. I tell myself I’ll be fine, I act as if I’m fine and then I find myself saying things under my breath that very much contradict my notions of fine.

Everything looks clean to me and everything looks bigger to me (including the hallway in my building and my compact condo, funny how that happens after living in a ship cabin all summer) but somehow most of it feels familiar. I must have been driving Nate crazy because I kept telling him how much I loved our condo and how beautiful everything looked. As I sit here now typing this the room has seemed to shrink from a few short hours ago and now there’s just a mess of bags on the floor that look as if they have exploded. How does our mind adjust so quickly? I hope that I am able to slow down this adjustment if only to appreciate what I have at home and most importantly, what I have experienced abroad!

Guatemala and Honduras

Greetings from the Pacific Ocean very near the tip of Baja California (Cabo San Lucas to be exact). My apologies for the delay in blog entries. We were in Guatemala for five days and then I had the misfortune of getting very ill and spending two days in bed. I’m finally up and around and most importantly, eating. Coincidentally, I was very sick during the last crossing on my first voyage but luckily this time around it wasn’t quite as bad and we have a five day crossing so my illness did not interrupt any of the closing activities like it did in Fall 2000.

On to much better topics…GUATEMALA!

I loved Guatemala. Actually, I should be more specific, I loved Antigua, Guatemala. We arrived in Puerto Quetzal, Guatemala as schedule to find that Puerto Quetzal is a dock, literally, just a dock. Okay, truth be told, there was a grass covered hut, a small outdoor restaurant and a dock, but it was not a city. The closest town to Puerto Quetzal was San Jose. I didn’t see San Jose because everyone I spoke with told me not to waste the money it took to get there. I guess they didn’t care much for it.

Upon our arrival a few of us caught a ride with our interport student, Pablo, to Antigua. Usually in each port we will pick up a student and a lecturer from the next port of call and they will sail with us to their home county. They provide us with information about their country and sometimes, if we’re lucky, travel tips. Mario got to talking with Pablo the night before we docked in Guatemala about the best way to get to Antigua for the day. During this conversation Pablo offered us a ride with him. He said he had a truck that had benches in the back and he could take as many as we could fit. To me this sounded a little shady but honestly it beat the $180 price tag the taxis were going to charge us. So off we went with Pablo. As we were walking it began to rain so I thought it was a good idea to ask Pablo if this truck of his had a cover on the back. He said, oh yes, don’t worry. Then I asked him if he left his truck there before he flew to Nicaragua or did someone drop it off for him. It was then Pablo turned to me and said, “My driver is picking me up”. I realized quickly that this truck Pablo was talking about probably wasn’t what I had imagined. Moments later we were introduced to Pablo’s driver as he pulled up in a black Land Rover. A ha. His “truck” was definitely covered.


So in we hopped and drove to Antigua. Mario, Ebonie, one of our students and I spent the day roaming around Antigua. It is a beautiful city nestled in between mountain sides and volcanoes. The streets are charming and the people are very friendly. After our day of site seeing we were off to meet up with some students at Pablo’s sushi restaurant. Pablo is a 27 year old medical student who is part owner of a swanky restaurant near the main square in Antigua. It was beautiful inside and the food was delicious. I have been craving sushi the entire trip and was too afraid to try it up until now. I knew this was a place that took great pride in their food just by looking at the entrance. The students all showed up (many of whom had never tried sushi) and we had a great meal. After dinner we sat in the bar and had martinis with Pablo and his friend, Andrea. They were both so gracious and we received VIP treatment. Andrea’s cousin actually goes to Stanford so I told her I would look him up with I got home. The time came to venture back to the ship and we hopped on a SAS bus that was heading back.


The next morning a few of us had a day trip planned to Antigua. It was a field directed practicum for our friend, Ray’s class. Unfortunately, Ray had been put on bedrest after our trip to the beach house in Nicaragua because his foot became infected (perhaps it was the gasoline plant we walked through) and he could not lead the trip. Doug filled in for him and we spent the day with 20 or so students visiting churches in Antigua. Well, that is what the itinerary said. Unfortunately, our guide had us following a procession through the streets of Antigua that was honoring a patron saint. This procession just happened to be stopping at all the churches we were stopping at and we were not able to go in to any of the churches due to the celebration. Well, this was true for all but one stop, the Cathedral. He had us walk through the Cathedral DURING MASS! We almost died. Many of us stayed outside until we could no longer see anyone from our group and didn’t have a clue where he was going. So at the last minute we tried to tip-toe our way through (hard to do with a group of Americans in shorts and tennis shoes – uh). It was not a fruitful tour and many of us split off from the group early in the game.
After a bite to eat we went to do a little shopping. The markets in Antigua were full of beautiful glassware, masks, textiles and wood carvings. I got separated from Doug and Rasa while we were shopping because I was trying to purchase something and was taking a little longer than I had expected. When I met back up with them Doug squealed when he saw me and started pulling a black plastic bag off of something big in his hands. Little did I know how much joy the thing in the bag would bring Doug and the rest of us. He had purchased a wooden monkey he named Pablo. I’m not sure I’ve seen anyone so excited by any purchase ever in my life. We have adopted Pablo as our mascot. (Lisa and I eventually kidnapped Pablo and took him around the ship for a photo shoot…you had to be there)

On the morning of our third day in Guatemala I was signed up to trip lead a group to visit the Mayan ruins in Copan, Honduras. I was feeling a little ho-hum about this trip and didn’t know what to expect. All I knew is that I would be riding in a bus for 6 hours to get there and this didn’t excite me at all. I’m so glad I went. It was fabulous! A lot of folks flew up to Tikal so our group was very small, only 16. When we arrived at the ruin site we were the only ones there. We essentially had a private tour of a very spiritual and cool place. It poured rain the entire time but no one seemed to care. It was just cool to be sitting in the jungle learning about these amazing, once hidden, temples and alters. After our tour we explored the museum a bit and then headed back to town. The town of Copan is very small but charming. Most of the locals grew up there and all of them thrive on the tourism that comes through.


After walking around the town, shopping a little and having a fabulous steak dinner I went to bed and called it a day. The following day we had our morning free so a few of us ventured to the “residential” area of Copan. This is the place the Mayans lived many many years ago and is not visited by many tourists. In fact, there isn’t a gate to get in or anyone collecting tickets/money. Fortunately, there was a guide there who was waiting for another group to arrive that gave us a tour in Spanish. One of the students we were traveling with was able to interpret for us and we had yet another private tour.

As we departed Copan we were driven up to the hills for lunch at a bed and breakfast that over looks the ruins and the town. Hacienda San Lucas had a stunning view and was a wonderful location to end our tour of Copan. We had a great meal, walked around the grounds a bit and off we went for our return 6 hour drive. I returned to find a group of my friends eating dinner and heading out for some drinks at the restaurant by the dock. I quickly changed and went with them.



Our last day in port I didn’t have anything planned and thought maybe I would try to go back into Antigua. This thought was quickly altered when I woke up not feeling great. I kind of figured it was a slight hangover since I have not been drinking much at all this summer and I went out for drinks the night before (little did I know it was going to be a full blown stomach bug). I spent the day on the ship just hanging out and doing a whole lot of nothing. It came time for us to depart Guatemala and say good-bye to the last port of Summer 07. Everyone was getting nostalgic and hugging at the gangway. Part of my responsibilities include helping out at the gangway as on-ship time approaches. The benefit to this is the fact that we are always the last ones on the ship. After everyone boarded the ship and we knew we were all accounted for myself, Lisa (the Director of Student Life) and the four RDs (Mario, Doug, Ebonie & Garrett) went to the dock and took one last photo of us in front of the ship. It was a sentimental moment.


Anyway, up the ropes came from the dock and we sailed off on our way to San Diego.

We still have our closing activities to attend to (Ambassador’s Ball and Commencment) and the last minute wrap up responsibilities but for all intents and purposes my Summer 07 adventure is finished. It is hard to believe that in a week I will be back at work in California and students will be returning to begin the 07-08 academic year.

Where did the last 2 1/2 months go?

Spring Break ’07, Nicaragua…wait, it’s August!

We docked in Nicaragua on Monday and 11 of us headed straight to a beach house we had reserved on-line weeks before. We had decided we wanted a port to relax in and since none of us had plans in Nicaragua it worked out perfectly. We loaded up in a run down van, kept our fingers crossed and off we went. After an adventurous ride (one of our drivers told Ray in Spanish that he had a gun and was going to kill all of us –thankfully Ray kept this to himself and played nice until they were long gone) we arrived at 75 Meters South of the Virgin. Yes, that was the address we were given for our house and it was literally 75 meters south of the Virgin, a statue that stands facing the beach in the very small town of Las Penitas. We met the caretakers of the house, Pedro and Carmen, surveyed our surroundings and headed off to a local restaurant for lunch. When I say restaurant I really mean a small bar with camping like kitchen facilities and a few plastic tables and chairs. We ate, drank a few cold beers and off we went back to the house to begin our beach extravaganza.

We boogie boarded, we swam, we napped, we read, we cooked, we ate and had an all around fabulous time for three days.






As our departure neared we were trying to figure out how we would get back to the ship. Las Penitas doesn’t exactly have a cab stand on the corner. We inquired with Pedro and he found a friend of his who had a boat that could take us back. We all perked up at this idea as the boat ride was said to take 20 minutes. Pedro’s friend picked us up and we piled into his small pick up truck and headed to the “dock”. It was more like a small stretch of sand where a small boat could pull up. Eight of us piled out of the truck and wondered just how all of us and our stuff would make it in this boat through the ocean currents. “No problem” states the boat driver and off we go.


It started as any other normal boat ride until we ventured into a mangrove swamp. This is where our simple boat ride home became so much more. It was amazing. We were motoring through swamp like surroundings with birds and bugs chipping loudly and although we didn’t see any, our guide said there were alligators in the water. This was all well and good until he had to get into the knee-deep swamp water at one point and push us through a very shallow area. Apparently he was not worried about said alligators. I, on the other hand, couldn’t quite get that image out of my head. An hour and many acrobatic moves later (some of the clearings in the swamp were the exact size of the boat which meant we all hit the deck, literally!) we arrived back in ocean currents and the cranes of the container port we were docked in appeared. After a mini-celebration we noticed our ship in the distance and knew we were close to home.

The boat driver was trying to decide where he was going to drop us off and did a quick ride by so we could take pictures of the ship. We waved to a few people on the back deck and before we knew it we were being dropped off…at a gasoline plant. WHAT! Here we are, 8 Americans crawling out of essentially a dingy with oil tankers everywhere and no trespassing signs. Fantastic! We made our way through the gasoline plant after passing over 50 no smoking signs and a truck driver smoking next to one of them! Eventually, we found our way to the ship and I’m not sure who was the happiest to be there…Ray who has spent the last week and half in a cast and on crutches with a broken foot, Karen who picked the wrong seat and was soaked by the time we got out of the boat, Rasa and Mario who rode backwards at the front of the boat and had to listen for people to tell them how to dodge fallen trees and branches or me who clearly over-packed and just wanted my backpack off of me in the stifling heat! It didn’t matter, we were home.

Eventually, we all showered and made our way to the deck for some food. We ended up spending some time on the ship playing cards and just decompressing from our incredibly hot hike back to the ship. After some down time we decided it was time to see what Corinto had to offer. Hum, it didn’t take long to find out this was a small port town that didn’t have too much to do. One of the interesting things about Nicaragua that I have failed to mention are power outages. The country shuts the power down every day from 7am to 2pm (actually the time varies from region to region). And 2pm is a loose time frame as it was now after 4pm and still no power. We walked around sweating to death and finally when the power came on we joined about 10 other people in line to use the cordless phones that make international calls. You guessed it, these phone had not been charged for over 9 hours and didn’t work so well. About 30 minutes later we decided to give up on our city tour and go eat again. No one was really hungry but it meant we could sit down and enjoy a cold beverage. After waiting an hour for our appetizers to arrive Doug and I decided we weren’t hungry enough to order dinner and returned to the ship thus ending my time in Nicragua.

I’ve talked with many other people who ventured all around Nicaragua and it sounds like an amazing country with wonderful cities to explore. Perhaps my next visit I’ll be about to see some of these places and experience more of the country. For now, I’ll take my spring break adventure and swamp tour. We had a blast!

Costa Rica and I need a new start

We’re back from two nights in Santa Elena where our head colds won out and we returned a day early. We tried to make the best of our two days up in the mountains but honestly neither of us had much motivation or energy to do anything so we hopped in a taxi this morning and returned back to the ship.


Once we docked we left on the first bus for Monteverde/Santa Elena, which cost us a whooping 2 US dollars and took us almost five hours to get there. We later learned the drive could take less than 2 hours but our bus stopped for any person along the street that wanted to get on and also made a significant detour to another town along the way. It was an adventure. We got off the bus and checked in our hostel. We had reserved a private cabin and that was a good thing because after having a quick bite we both crawled into bed and were fast asleep by 7:30pm. Pathetic, yes, I know. It gets worse.


The next morning we got up and decided to just start walking. We knew the general direction we were heading in but didn’t really know what we’d come across. After a quick breakfast we were off. About 10 steps into it we were adopted by two dogs who followed us the entire way. They were very cute and we later found out they live at the hostel. So with “big dog” and “little dog” in tow we visited every artisan shop and gallery we stumbled across. The big moment in our walk came when we saw a sign for a waterfall. We paid our $4 entrance to the guy standing there (I’m sure he was just pocketing it as this was not a registered park) and started our hike down to the waterfall. It was a quick jaunt but I must admit I was pretty tired afterward. Given the battle between being sick and wanting to experience as much as I could I was pushing myself along most of the morning. We finally ended up at a bakery right about lunch time so we sat down for a quick bite and then headed up a little further to a cheese factory. After Rasa had the brilliant idea that we buy some cheese and grab a bottle of wine and go home we decided this was our final stop on our journey.

A quick ride back to the hostel and a stop at the market and we were sitting in the common area of our hostel enjoying delicious cheese, wine and a game of cards. This did not last long before we both decided to head back in to the room for a nap. Trust me, this will not be an exciting blog entry like last time! Rasa fell asleep and I headed off to use the phone. I came back to find Rasa still sleeping so I decided to crawl into bed as well (it was 6:30pm). Thirteen hours later I woke up to learn Rasa had gotten up the night before, gone for a quick bite for dinner and had come back for a good night’s rest all while I slept like a baby. Here I am in Costa Rica and I have just slept 23 of the past 48 hours. Unfortunately, my cold had worsened and the congestion in my head was killing my ears. We decided first thing this morning that neither of us had enough energy to take advantage of the area so we decided to grab a cab and come back to the ship.

After a lazy day on the ship we found our friend Ray and learned he broke his foot playing volleyball the day before. He wanted to get off the ship for dinner since he had been stuck on the ship for two days. This was an adventure because Ray has never been on crutches before and we are docked at the end of a very long pier. With enough help we got him off the ship, ate dinner and then got him back on the ship (which was pretty funny as it involved a piggy back ride part of the way and then a wheelchair. It didn’t help that the gangway was on deck five so he had to go up a very long flight of stairs).

Today is our last day in Costa Rica and I’m still planning to lay low. I went to see the doctor this morning and thankfully I do not have an ear infection (which is what I thought I was happening) but he gave me some Sudafed and I plan to have this kicked by Nicaragua!

Next port – BEACH HOUSE FOR FOUR DAYS! Yay!

Costa Rica, part II

We arrived this morning in Puntarenas, Costa Rica and it's HOT! We haven't been in hot weather for a while now and I didn't realize how nice it was not sweating to death. I didn't make any plans for Costa Rica and up until yesterday had no idea what I was doing. It seems everyone is going in different directions on SAS trips. I ended up booking a cabin at a hostal in Santa Elena with Rasa. Santa Elena is a small town next to Monteverde. Both are in cloud forests and have a lot of eco-tourism to enjoy. We'll see what the next few days bring for us.

As some of you know, I was in Costa Rica a few years back and spent the majority of my time lying on the bathroom floor in our hotel. That will likely go down as one the more sick moments in life. I'm excited to say I'm raring to enjoy Costa Rica for a second time. Unfortuantely, I have been battling a cold the past few days and am just thankful it isn't something more.

Given my lack of energy and a few less problems in Peru than Chile I was able to take most of the day off yesterday. I worked really hard the day before to hold all of my meetings and get the necessary paperwork completed. It paid off. I slept, got a massage and slept again. A pretty nice day!

The next few weeks will be crazy for us. We are in Costa Rica for four days and then we only have one day on the ship before we dock in Nicaragua. A large group of staff and faculty have rented a beach house in Nicaragua so we're fired up about that. A lot of quality time on the beach or in a hammock is on the agenda. After four days in Nicaragua we are once again on the ship for only one day before we dock in Guatemala. My schedule is pretty full in Guatemala with two day trips and an overnight trip to Copan in Hondoras. Weird to think we'll only the be on the ship for 72 hours in the next 15 days.

I hope all is well with everyone back home.

Love, Anne

An amazing trip to Machu Picchu and an up close and personal tour of the Andes

In the words of David Geis (Academic Dean Summer ‘07), “It was the best of times. It was the worst of times.”

Okay, so maybe Dickens wrote that first but those are the words I found on a card that was left for me on my cabin door last night. I have to admit, it is the best way to articulate my time in Peru. It started out wonderful (Machu Picchu is amazing), peaked somewhere in the middle (Nate proposed) and slowly eased its way to down right miserable by the last day (a 17 hour drive back to Lima). Let me start from the beginning.

We docked in Callao, Peru on Tuesday, July 24th. Like every other port we had our diplomatic briefing before anyone got off the ship. This was a briefing like no other. On my previous voyage we had the “don’t buy drugs” briefing (Malaysia), the “don’t be shocked by the poverty” briefing (India) and the “don’t let anything out of your sight” briefing (Brazil). This, well, it was all three wrapped into one. I must admit I left a little shell shocked and a lot relived that I was heading immediately to the airport to begin the highly anticipated trip to Machu Picchu. This was the must see/do for the summer. I really didn’t care what else came along for the other ports but Machu Picchu was my mission. We booked our tickets/hotel months ago and good thing. It was Dia de la Independencia this week and everything was booked solid.

Our trip started out great. Nate, Lisa, Tania and I grabbed a cab and headed to the Lima airport. We flew to Cusco where we stayed the night prior to taking a train to Machu Picchu. Getting to Machu Picchu was going to take some work and we were okay with that. We roamed around Cusco, which is a beautiful city. We explored the Incan Wall, an incredible architectural feat (stones carved perfectly to fit on one another without mortar or any other support) and had a fabulous dinner.


Wednesday morning we woke up bright and early (4:45am) and headed out of Cusco by train for Aguas Calientes, the train stop for Machu Picchu. Aguas Calientes began as a location for backpackers who hiked the Incan Trail into Machu Picchu to stay the night prior to taking the train back to Cusco. Over the years it has developed into a small tourists town complete with hotels, artisan shops and a pizza restaurant in front of you at all times (I never did find out why pizza…every place sells it, even the high end joints). We arrived in Aguas Calientes and checked into our hotel. Wow! When we started making the reservations back in March everything was booked. As I mentioned, we were visiting Peru during their week of Independence celebration and it was packed. We ended up splurging and getting a junior suite. Truth be told, we just wanted a room and that is what we found. Our room was spectacular.
It was on the top floor of the hotel (which looked out into the Andes with a river running in front of it) and we had the corner room. We had two walls that were all glass (top to bottom) and an enormous balcony. I ran around the room like a little kid at McDonald’s Playland for a few minutes and then the excitement to see Machu Picchu won out.


We met back up with Lisa and Tania, grabbed a bite to eat (pizza, of course) and caught the bus to Machu Picchu. The bus ride up to the ruins takes a switch back road to what seems to be nowhere and 25 minutes later you emerge at Machu Picchu. It is stunning even from the road. I have to be honest, I don’t know the last time I was this excited inside. I was having a hard time sitting still on the bus and then as we turned a corner and the stone structures came into view I almost squealed. Nate just kept laughing at me. I’m sure my five year old self was totally apparent. We entered the park and stood in awe. It is so much more amazing in person than any picture can do it justice. It is huge! And the peak in the distance (Wayna Picchu) towers over the ruins.

Often referred to as the “Lost City of the Incans”, Machu Picchu was discovered in 1911 by a Yale archeologist. In the Quechua language Machu Picchu means “old peak”. Machu Picchu was built in 1450 but was abandoned about 100 years after it was constructed. When the Spanish invaded Peru many of the Incan treasures were destroyed but Machu Picchu was never discovered because it is not visible from below.

Before hopping the bus in Aguas Calientes Nate bought a book on Machu Picchu and served as our guide. It was great having all the history and knowledge at our finger tips. We spent almost four hours at Machu Picchu the first day. It was sunny out and the sky was perfectly blue. It was a magical day but we didn’t get to see everything. We were taking our time absorbing what a wonderful place it was because we knew we’d have the next day to continue exploring. We descended back down the mountain to our hotel, had an unremarkable dinner (which was par for the course in AC) and went to bed early. Most tourists come in to Aguas Calientes on the morning train, visit Machu Picchu for a couple of hours and then train back to Cusco all in one day. I just can not imagine only being at Machu Picchu for a few hours so I was so relieved we decided to take a night in Aguas Calientes. It also afforded us the luxury of being on the mountain after the trains had left. The crowds had thinned out and it was a little more peaceful.


The following morning we woke at 4:45am again and caught one of the first buses up to Machu Picchu for sunrise. This was also the plan of every other tourist staying in Aguas Calientes because the line for the bus was enormous. We waited our turn, got on the bus and drove back up the mountain. This time Machu Picchu was covered in mystical clouds and you could hardly see anything (thus no sunrise). The clouds came and went all morning long and it provided for a completely different feel than the gorgeous sun filled day before. After watching the ruins play hide and seek in the clouds for a while Nate and I venture down into a lower part of the city that we had not visited the day before. There wasn’t a soul down there. It was amazingly empty and quiet and we just stood there for a while. It was then Nate told me had had brought me a present. I naively asked, “from where?” and his response was “home”. Before I knew it he had produced a small ring box before me and I stopped frozen. He said my response was funny but honestly I was telling myself, “remember, these could be earrings”. I opened the box and sure enough an engagement ring sat inside it. Engaged in Machu Picchu…are you kidding me! I was already on top of the world and now he was proposing. It was the most beautiful setting and of course, I said yes.

Shortly after Nate proposed we met back up with Lisa and Tania who were thrilled for us. Seeing their excitement made the whole thing that much more fun. We calmed ourselves down and decided it was time to conquer the scarily high mountain, Wayna Picchu. In looking at pictures of Machu Picchu I was always aware of the tall peak in the distance but never knew you could hike it. As a person who is scared of heights I debated this adventure for a while and then decided what the heck. They only allow 400 people up the mountain a day and we were there early enough to make the cut. We stood in line for over an hour (this was not the most efficient operation as each hiker has to sign in and out and they use the same book and gate for both directions.) Frustrated, cold, wet and mostly excited we made our way through the sign in process and started stepping. I’m not sure how many steps it is to the top of the mountain but my legs will tell you it was a lot. The “stairs” were actually stones (some more sturdy and wide than others) that went basically straight up the mountain. There was a bit of a zig-zag but nothing like a normal hike where you switch back as you ascend. At each break (and I needed them at an elevation of over 9,000 feet) I would look down to make sure I would be able to hike back down without totally freaking out. Going up was not a problem because you are looking at the mountain in front of you. Coming down, was another story. There were a couple spots where you look at the step below your feet and just beyond was the edge the mountain. The only time I really looked back and thought “I’m not sure I can come down this” was so close to the top and there was no way I was going to stop there. I eventually made it up the first landing and gradually edged my way to the middle of the platform. Nate, being the adventurer that he is (and not suffering from vertigo like I do) continued up to the highest rock on the peak and loved every minute of it. After watching the clouds move back and forth over Machu Picchu and taking in the gravity of it all we began our descent. The first few “stair cases” were tricky for me. I relied on Nate’s hand and looked into the rocks for stability. After that I was just fine getting down. I think everyone was a bit surprised that I did so well given the intense fear of falling that I have suffered from my entire life (high dives, no thanks). We spent another short while at Machu Picchu and then headed back down to Aguas Calientes to catch our train back to Cusco.

The train ride was uneventful and we returned to Cusco for an amazing meal at an organic restaurant we saw the first night there. Everything they brought out was absolutely delicious and it was the end to a perfect trip. We retired early (we were exhausted) and finally got a very full night sleep. We met up with Lisa and Tania the next morning to find there was an Independence Day parade taking place right outside our hotel. After taking a leisurely stroll around the Plaza in Cusco our driver, Edwin, who had been transporting us to/from the airport/train came by to pick us up and off we went to the airport.

This is where all hell broke loose.

We arrived in plenty of time for our 11:55am flight. As we approached the check-in counter a student came up to me frantically asking for help. A friend of hers had a problem with her flight and they were worried that if they stayed to help they would miss their flight. I went over to calm her down and see what needed to be done. She was there without a flight, no money and her credit card was stolen. As this was happening I looked up and saw Nate was one away from the counter so I told her to hang on and went back to the check in counter. Preoccupied, we took our boarding passes and quickly went back to the student. I pulled as much money as I could out of the ATM, went back to the counter and bought her a plane ticket for the next day. We then went upstairs to catch our flight only to find out that our flight was moved up by 20 minutes (we didn’t know this because we were mid crisis management) and we had just missed our flight. UH! This was the beginning of a very long day/night.

I can tell you right now my description of the events will not do them justice but here goes. After numerous attempts at getting a straight answer from LAN Peru (just as bad as LAN Chile in my opinion) we gave up and went to a travel agency. They were able to book us on a 10:30am flight the next morning for a mere $500 but that would mean Nate would miss his flight back to the States. We could not find anyone at TACA Airlines to talk with about Nate’s flight the next day out of Lima and decided not to risk it so we’d just take a bus back to Lima. We quickly found out that the bus takes 25 hours from Cusco to Lima because you must wind through the Andes almost the entire way (over 11,000 feet to sea level) and let’s face it, buses are just slow. So that option was out. We knew our driver was coming back to the airport with Lisa and Tania so we waited in the parking lot for him and asked for his advice when arrived. Edwin rose to the challenge and stepped in to save the day. He helped arrange for a car and a driver to take us to Lima. It would be a very long night but we would be back in time for Nate’s flight. This entire time we had been consulting with another couple who was in a similar situation and they decided they were also in for the car ride back so we shared the expense (thank god, it was not cheap!) and headed to the Avis rental office.


This began the city tour for an ATM because they only took cash. We walked around and finally found an ATM. As I put my card in I didn’t have a lot of faith that I could get any money out since I had already just taken money out for the student. Sure enough I was denied. Nate was a fast thinker and performed two withdrawals back to back as quickly as he could and it allowed him to take out twice the allotted amount. Thank God! Back to the Avis rental we went and after another 45 minutes or so we met our driver and began the long and very uncomfortable trek back to Lima.

I believe this drive deserves a little time in print and then I may never talk about it again. Picture this…a Toyota Corolla, 5 adults (I’m by far the smallest) and the windiest road you have ever seen in your life. I am not exaggerating when I say we took S shaped turns for the first 10 ½ hours. I must admit the mountains were beautiful but I would highly recommend seeing them from above if you’re ever in Peru. I had the distinct pleasure, as the smallest, of sitting on the hump in the back seat for the entire ride. We made one stop for dinner and a couple bathroom (if that is what you want to call the hole in the ground I paid to use on five occasions) stops and before you knew it (HA! 17 hours later) we were at the Lima airport to pick up our luggage, which we were told was put on the flight we missed. We waited for the LAN luggage office to open only to find out our bags were in Cusco. After coordinating to get our luggage on the next flight to Lima Nate decided to check into his noon flight while we were there (we weren’t having great luck so why chance it) and we went back to the ship to shower. Forty five minutes later we were driving back to the Lima airport where Nate boarded his flight sans luggage and I waited for the bags to arrive. We enjoyed a romantic lunch for two at the McDonald’s in the airport (our original plan of returning to Lima Friday and enjoying dinner at a fancy restaurant to celebrate our engagement was a distant memory) and I sent Nate off through security to fly back to San Francisco.

The good news (yes, one must find the little victories in life) is that our bags arrived when they were supposed to and I made my way back to the ship with two very full backpacks of dirty clothes. I threw our bags in the cabin and went to find anyone I knew for moral support. Thankfully, I walked into lunch to find some of my close friends all sitting at a table. Their warm welcome and big hugs made it all better somehow. And to put everything in perspective, one of kids (she’s 5) on board the ship (Ro/Mel, it was Emma Zavala) took a picture of Nate and I on the train home from Machu Picchu the day we got engaged and she had printed it out for us and came running up and said she had an “engagement picture” for me. It was very cute and perked me right up.

The rest of the day was spent on the ship. There was no way I was going anywhere. I continued to tell people I was going to take a nap but that never happened. Tom (Asst. Dean) saw me and said he wanted to have a congratulatory drink at 10pm in the Faculty Staff Lounge. I said, “great, I’ll be there” not knowing how incredibly exhausted I would feel at 10pm. There were a couple of times I tried to go to bed and everyone kept saying “just have one drink”. So I went up to the lounge and low and behold Tom had collected all the faculty and staff and had ordered dessert and champagne for a celebratory toast in my honor. It was very sweet. Our Executive Dean gave a toast and everyone was very excited. I’m sorry Nate missed our first engagement party. I lasted through one glass of champagne, one plate of fruit drizzled in chocolate and almost passed out right in the lounge. I excused myself and finally went to bed around 11pm.

WHAT A WEEK!!!!

Rapa Nui and more!

Unfotunately, there were a number of "issues" in Chile and I have been kept extremely busy the past three days. I haven't added an exact number up but I would venture to guess I've doled over 150 hours of dock time. I will be happy when we're in Peru. Just keep your fingers crossed that I will not be as busy between Peru and Costa Rica. Due to my schedule I asked Nate to guest blog about our time in Chile. I figured it's his last chance since he will be departing after our trip to Machu Picchu. Don't get too used to his writing style because you'll be stuck with my basic recounting for the next four countries.
-AD


Yesterday we completed a whirlwind visit to Chile and more notably Easter Island. We awoke before dawn last Monday morning and made our way to the 7th deck of the ship to watch the sunrise over the port city of Valparaiso. Unlike some of our previous ports we were afforded the luxury of stepping off the gangway and alighting essentially in the middle of downtown.

Unfortunately Monday was a Chilean holiday and nearly everything in town was closed. After wandering around lost for the better part of the morning we managed to convince the local ATMs to cough up some cash (our first five attempts were foiled because we failed to notice the ‘Foreign Customers Press Here’ button) we took an ascensore (like an elevator but outside) to the top of the hill overlooking the city for a bite to eat at an extremely well regarded local restaurant. Despite lofty recommendations none of us particularly liked the food and so we hopped a train to Vina del Mar in search of greener pastures (read: the mall, which we discovered was the only thing open).

We ran our few necessary errands and then wandered aimlessly, becoming crankier and crankier at being relegated to this infernal place on our first day in a foreign city. Finally we threw in the towel and decided to go see the new Harry Potter movie to kill time – abbreviated but pretty good by the way.

The next morning we had to get up at the ungodly hour of 3:00 am in order to organize our trip to Easter Island (Rapa Nui to locals), catch a bus to Santiago and hop our five hour flight. An anecdotal note of interest: The airline Lan Chile possesses all the powers of a monopoly as it is the only one that services the tiny island located 2200 miles off the Chilean coast. As we discovered, they model their customer service plan after the military dictatorship of General Pinochet with sweeping tactics that include revoking previously confirmed reservations at random and refusing to swap seats between customers interested in allowing their more desperate friends to take their spots. As they dutifully explained ‘their computer doesn’t allow them to do that’. Suffice it to say one day before we were set to depart they informed us they had over booked the flight and twenty of our sixty total passengers had been bumped. Twenty. Through some miracle of foresight the ship’s local tour agent immediately snapped up the remaining seats in Business class so many of us who were fortunate enough to be spared actually managed to travel in style… Still, many potential travelers were very, very disappointed. Anyway, if you visit Chile, you’ve been warned.

After an arduous morning of travel we arrived on the tiny island at just about mid day. We were greeted by our local tour guides who immediately hurried us into buses for transport to the hotels. At something like 178 square kilometers, Rapa Nui is exceedingly small and on the way to the hotel, our driver managed to give us a tour of downtown -exactly one block long- in about a minute and a half.

Some cultural education: The huge sculptures Easter Island is so famous for are called Moai and they normally stand between 15-40 feet tall and weigh anywhere from 60-120 tons. They’re constructed as representations of dead Polynesian tribal chiefs’ souls and are generally erected on a funeral platform called an ahu. These ahus can house anywhere from one to fifteen moai and there are over 800 moai total on the island.

After straightening out a few logistical details with the tour guide we first visited the site of three ahus overlooking the ocean, one with a solitary moai, one with 5 standing and one completely destroyed. The massive statues are truly impressive to behold, particularly with the crashing surf in the back ground. For our first historical nibble it was pretty tasty.

Next we visited one of four currently dormant volcanoes on the island. A stroll to the highest point on the crater revealed a small village of stone houses overlooking jagged ocean cliffs, once the site of an important local competition. Only the strongest tribal warriors were selected to take part. These warriors were forced to descend the cliffs on foot and swim two miles through shark infested waters to a craggy rock jutting from the ocean nearby. Once there they needed to search for and retrieve the egg of a frigate bird and return (through aforementioned sharks) to ascend the island cliffs where they started making sure to transport the egg undamaged. Many died in the attempt. The first warrior to successfully present the egg to the overseers earned accolades for his tribe and his chief was crowned king of the island for a year. For his troubles the warrior was then rewarded with a bride who had been confined to a cave for three months to lighten her skin. (As we all know, fair skin = purity, therefore I am the purest SOB on the face of the planet) and they immediately began producing babies in order to strengthen the gene pool. Fascinating.

That night we went to a local restaurant for dinner and drinks and over desert cocktails were treated to a fantastic display of traditional dancing complete with body paint, fierce expressions, scanty costumes and enthusiastic percussion.

The next morning we again awoke before dawn (3rd day in a row) and were driven to the Tangariki ahu, a massive, fully reconstructed platform with fifteen Moai statues overlooking large ocean cove, where we watched the sun rise. It’s difficult to describe the experience adequately. One moment you’re wandering around, tripping over yourself in the dark and cursing the shrill call of the crowing roosters nearby and the next you are struck dumb as you watch a long row of these massive, primitive statues emerge magically from the darkness, surrounded by haze and mystery and strangeness. As you try not to get distracted by taking 18 billion pictures, you watch the morning sky unfurl in orange, purple and gold. Really unbelievable. One of the most amazing things I have ever seen. One can almost hear the chantings and mutterings of ancient holy men as they watched the sun rise over their people.


Recovering from our wonder over a continental breakfast we then visited several other ahus in various stages of disrepair that were no less impressive. By noon were arrived at the crater of another volcano, this one the site of the rock quarry where the moai were made before they were transported to the various ahus dotting the coast. Another unbelievable site. The quarry is home to more than 400 moai in various stages of construction. Many are complete while some have yet to be hewn out of the mountain side. Over time, Mother Nature has begun to reclaim them and erosion, wind and sediment have left many of them partially buried or sprouting from the earth at impossible angles. We spent nearly two hours exploring and hiking to the peak of the volcano where we were rewarded with a view of the entire island and I mesmerized Anne with superb feats of agility while teetering over nearby precipices.

Next it was off to visit the famed ‘magnetic stones’ which were viewed by Rapa Nui people as sources of power because of their unnatural smoothness and strange energies. (When a compass is placed on their surface it promptly goes haywire. Way cool.) A late lunch by the beach, beautiful but otherwise unremarkable and it was back to town for some exploring and shopping. Anne and I broke away from the group to watch a spectacular sunset at the first location we had visited. Long shadows and vivid colors reflected off the water made only slightly less enjoyable by the grip of people who inconsiderately piggy backed off our idea. Another dinner at a local restaurant and it was to bed after a long and magnificent day. The next morning we flew back to Santiago, hopped a bus to Valparaiso and relaxed. On the last day in port we wandered the hills of Valparaiso through narrow, winding streets and neighborhoods of colorful houses, visited one of Pablo Neruda’s nautically inspired homes, sipped Chilean wine, sampled street vendors’ fare and watched another sunset.

Next stop: Peru!