Wednesday, December 31, 2008
new zealand, new year!
Monday, December 29, 2008
The End of an Era By Katy Jane
Fox in the pool with a cutie-patutie dog... woof!
Us waiting for a new bus in the apocadesert....bummer!
Gorgeous sunsent in Lima from Harrison´s balcony... que rico!
Inca stone work... wowy zowy!
Us girls at Machu Pichu... OMG!
Team Fox, minus photographer Katy, on the Hiram Bingham train to MP... fambly!
-------------------------------------------Hi Sports Fans! I´m going to open this post with a video message from Santiago, Chile:
So happy holidays and all that. We celebrated Christmas by eating Chinese food, lounging poolside, and making a new (and different, though equally excellent) experience of the holidays - away from family, but with a loving family of friends. We have been in Santiago for a week or so, arriving after four long, hot, icky days and three dusty, chilly, stiff nights on busses from Lima. This was our least hitch-free bus ride, as one bus got in a minor collision (we got rear ended, breaking out water tank and the windsheild of the bus behind us) and the other had and unknown mechanical problem (air conditioning?). Owing to this, we had to wait several hours each time for a new bus to come. We did, however, meet a lovely new friend (and mother figure), Juan Pablo from Ecuador, who helped us along the way and brightened our days and nights. Our time in Santiago has not been the most exciting, but it has been essential. We are collectively a little worn out from traveling ever so intensely for over two months, not to mention in countries where even basic communication is often difficult. So we have been resting up, reading up, eating up, and getting super, super, SUPER excited for our trans-Pacific jump to NEW ZEALAND!!!!!! which happens TODAY!!!!!! As I write this, somewhat franticly, the girls are packing their things to head to the airport, where we fly to BA and then to Auckland, where we arrive in the wee hours of New Years Eve Day. We have already been in contact with WWOOFing hosts, and are so excited to be back on the farm, this time learning how to milk cows and make cheese (OMG!!!).
Since today marks the end of the first part of our trip and it is very almost a new year, I think some reflection, recolection, and rememberance is in order. We have had a lovely two and a half months; we have learned, grown, experienced, danced, read, heard, breathed, seen, spoken, tasted, felt in all sorts of new ways. For me, someone who recently wrote a thesis on the American Dream, being on another American continent and steeped in another American culture has really been eye opening. One America could not, would not and can not be separated from the other and we have seen this relationship from the other side. I think one of the biggest things I´ll take away from South America is the responsibility of either deliberately calling myself ¨American,¨ or someone who is ¨from the United States,¨ but now knownign that the two are not one in the same. We have all come to reconsider our ¨American¨ identities as well as our roles as ¨people from the US.¨This I think is the most valuable lesson learned so far, and, on an international level, the timing couldn´t be more perfect.
Jess, just surveyed, reports that adaptablitity is what she has learned most on this trip. We have been confronted with many situations in the last two months that have been hard (Krishna farming), gross (hostel bathrooms), unusual (living out of a backpack with a very limited wardrobe), or otherwise not ideal (sleeping on busses). In contrast to this, we have been lucky enough to experience myriad other situations that have been liberating (having very few material possesion, including clothing), ecologically - and maybe even spritually - enlightening (Organic Krishna Farm), and character building (cold showers). Drawing inspiration from one of our recent favorites, the girls and I would like to think we know what he means when Che Guevara say ¨I felt incapable of making any decisions but clung to the thought that no matter how bad things became, there was no reason to suppose we couldn´t handle it.¨ So thats good and a good lesson learned - a confidence and ability to roll with the punches.
Laura is in the shower so I can´t ask her what she has learned, so in the interim, I´ll include another group realisation. From Edith and our serenditptious mother figures to hostel friends and bus drivers, we have come to realize just how awesome people can be. And awesome doesnt even do justice to the kindness, openness, and generosity we have been shown absolutely EVERYWHERE we´ve been. Not one single person has been nasty to us (excluding drunk men at clubs who confuse sexual advances with friendlieness.. ick!), we have been stopped on the street when obviosuly confused by the the map and asked if we need directions, we have had several people speaking in various languages attempting to solve our probelems. This random kindess is something that has really touched us and stirred in us all the want and desire to pay it forward. Never again will we shy away from the befuddled, non-English speaking tourist in our home towns, but instead listen very carefully, look closely at their maps, and even walk with them to their desination if we deem the directions confusing.
Ok, Laura is out of the shower and reports this: balance and communication. Having all been used to the rigors and schedules of college, we have all had to adjust to life without certain parameters. We are up to our own devices in every sense of the word, from feeding ourselves enough and finding a place to sleep everynight to keeping ourselves busy and feeling satisfied. We have learned to strike a balance between rapid touring all day and partying all night, only to sleep the day away. More importantly, we have learned that importance of communication with eachother, which includes honesty, assertion, patience, and integrity. This carries over to our communications with people at home, which is not always easy or constant, but hopefully becoming more meaningful and relaxed.
So! We´ve lived, loved, learned and now we must go to the airport. Next time we post we´ll be in NEW ZEALAND speaking English in a new year on a continent we´ve never been to... hurray! We love love love everyone and miss you times 10 and hope you are all well and the new year finds you all happy and healthy!
kisses on the cheek like the do here,
katy and the girls
marcus: world - 12 j - 63
Wednesday, December 17, 2008
Ode to Pachamama by Laura
After leaving Mendoza at the end of Susie's time with us we made our way to Lima via a series of epic bus rides through the desert and have since returned to Peru's capital after 10 days of whirlwind travel with my dear parents and brother. We have loved Peru and have traversed it by budget buses, luxury trains, and almost every type of transport in between, while simultaneously fluctuating in altitude from sea level to 14,000 feet and back again. Although five out of the six members of the group succumbed to projectile vomiting due to nausea at some point on the most intense and activity-packed "vacation" we have ever experienced, we all emerged with a great love and appreciation for Quechua Socialized living, trekking sandals(!), and above all, Pachamama.
Before the Foxes arrival in Lima, we were once again so fortunate as to have virtual strangers bestow upon us their hospitality and time in showing us their city. The first was our past (and current) host Harrison, an acquaintance of Katy's, who allowed his apartment and life to be overrun by the three of us. Secondly was my college friend Regina's cousin, Esteban, a lifelong Lima resident who generously showed us all around the city from an insider's perspective. This included trying lucuma ice cream, watching him eat the Peruvian delicacy of anticuchos -- cow hearts, and a trip to our consummate favorite neighborhood, Chinatown.
Once our travels with the family began we were able to see the stark contrast between Lima, the colonial center of the Spanish, and the Andean cultures which have preserved their traditions albeit often disguised to quell the Spanish Catholics. Our introduction into pre-Columbian Peru and the scene of our en masse vomiting incident was at the Nazca Lines -- a series of lines dug into the desert that transform into giant depictions of various animals and geometrical symbols when seen from a plane. Mind you the plane is a single-engine cessna and the day was particularly windy (justification for our collective weak stomachs). Although we were very grateful to be back on the ground, the site was remarkable for its millenia old grand-scale engineering as well as for its mysterious origin and purpose.
Next we made our way to Cuzco where I contemplated running away to join the Quechuas to live and work in their socialized terrace farm communities, but decided to stay with the group in order to ride the fancy train up to Machu Picchu (still trying to find the happy medium between socialist and capitalist). While visiting Machu Picchu the "not actually lost city of the Incas," we were hindered rather than helped by the various and often conflicting "life-changing" accounts of fellow travelers so I will not say much in that regard except that it truly felt like we were in a sacred place destined for something beyond this life -- especially after the girls and I hiked, crawled, and side-stepped for more than five hours to and from Machu Picchu Mountain and looked down upon the Incan city. Besides the sacred site upon which Machu Picchu was built, the stonework of all the Incan ruins we saw was incredible -- without metal tools or wheels they transported massive stones and fit them together without space for a piece of paper between them.
Our next big stop was Lake Titicaca -- the supposed origin of the great Incan Empire and what the Spanish thought was the fountain of youth. Lake Titicaca is huge and there are many islands in it that are the main draw of the area because of their culture and traditions that were more isolated and thus better equipped to withstand the Spanish influence. The cities that surround the Lake, however, are a bit lackluster which was further emphasized by our accommodations being located on a converted island prison. Our day on the Lake was really incredible -- we visited one of the fifty Floating Islands which are the result of the Uros people fleeing the aggressive expansion of the Incas. The Uros people base their entire lives on the reeds that naturally grow in the Lake -- they use the roots for the base of their islands and use the reeds for food, ground cover, and building materials. In order to get a better view of the Floating Islands we took a ride on a boat made entirely of, guess what? Reeds! The boat was operated by two oarsmen who were kind enough to let me refresh my bladework skills that have deteriorated since my collegiate rowing days many moons ago. Also on the Lake we visited Isla Taquile which seems largely unchanged for thousands of years -- seen most recently in their denial of a major hotel company's multi-million dollar proposal to build a resort on half of their small island. Their desire to maintain their culture is based on communal living in which family and food have paramount importance whereas money is valued only in order to provide necessities instead of modern comforts. Isla Taquile lends itself to me coming full circle with the title of this entry. Pachamama is the Quechua name for Mother Earth who is just as highly valued as Pachapapa, the Sun God, in accordance with the Quechua emphasis on balance and their deep respect for nature. While in Peru we have experienced various aspects of nature and seen the way in which the people that live in commune with their surroundings have inspired us to be more thankful for what Pachamama has given us.
for marcus: 55 jess 10 world
Sunday, December 7, 2008
Buenos Aires – Adventures with My Born-Again Homeless People - Guest Post by Suze Tull!!!
Being homeless is tough – even if you are homeless because you chose to backpack around the world after college. You’re constantly mobile, sleeping someplace different (and usually in bedding of questionable quality, if bedding at all), wearing your cleanest dirty clothes, figuring out transportation – whether across town or an international border, watching every penny when it comes to food and supplies, exerting significant mental energy to speak the local language and more. I’m beat just composing this list.
So when I arrived the Friday before Thanksgiving at the very modern and hip Hotel De Diseno in Buenos Aires’ stylish Recoleta neighborhood, our little vagabonds, five weeks into their trip and having recently spent 10 days on the spartan Hare Krishna farm, were in good spirits and health but a bit worn out and needing some TLC.
I found the girls in the hotel’s lower lobby, sprawled listlessly, like wilted flowers, across a white shabby chic sofa. Katy Jane’s mascara was smudged halfway down her cheeks and all three chicas were moaning about smelling less than optimal (my paraphrasing of what they actually said). They had gone out dancing the night before and finally left the club around 6:30 a.m. in this very European city, which never sleeps (dinner at 11 p.m. is common, and clubs rarely get going before 2:00 a.m.).
Unable to check in prior to my arrival, the girls had been “napping” in the park across the street. Fortunately, Buenos Aires also is a city of beautiful, well-shaded parks every few blocks, always filled with people and their off-leash dogs.
When we finally got to our accommodations – a lofted suite with two bathrooms including a rain showerhead and Jacuzzi, the cleansing began. I got concerned when 50 minutes passed and Laura was still in the shower, but she was fine. Jess soaked in the tub for just as long. I forget what Katy Jane did but it likewise involved a communion with water and soap. Amidst it all, there was discussion about washing off layers (note the pluralization) of residual dirt from the huerta. And I was asked to take a vow of silence, promising to never disclose the color of anyone’s bath water.
Then we all passed out in big, plush beds with comforters until well after dark. Around 11 p.m., revived and right on time for BA, we went to dinner nearby. I noticed at this and every subsequent meal with our travelers that there was never a speck of food left on a single plate and that desserts vanished within a few minutes of being set down on the table. I also noticed that Jess loves gnocchi, which is widely available in Argentina due to significant Italian heritage and population.
On Saturday, we bussed across town to El Campo Argentino de Polo to watch some of the country’s best teams compete in the four-week long 115th Argentine Polo Open Championship (“El Abierto”). This is one of the most prestigious, annual, competitive events in the world of polo, a sport at which the Argentines excel globally. I think the girls enjoyed the spectacle of the matches but it triggered some debate about animal rights.
The following day, we went to the weekly Sunday flea and crafts market in the antique district of San Telmo. As is often the case with these types of events, the street performers and people watching were superior to the merchandise being sold, with few exceptions. 
Katy Jane and I ran some errands near the hotel on Monday so we got a good feel for the neighborhood in Recoleta, which she likened to NYC’s Upper East Side. It had lots of fancy shops, including more confiterias (pastry shops) and high-end children’s clothing boutiques than we could count. We stopped in at Dos Escudos to pick up a tray of treats, which we ate in about five minutes around midnight in a spur-of-the-moment, hotel room pajama party. The day also included at pit stop to see great art at the Museo de Arte Latinoamericano de Buenos Aires, one of many outstanding art museums in the city. That evening, we went to the touristy but fun tango show at the historic Café Tortoni -- amazing dancing!
Patagonia -- Heaven on Earth
After four days in BA, Katy Jane and I took a three-hour flight to El Calafate in Southern Patagonia for a few days of outdoor exploration. I have been to the Canadian Rockies and the Alps in three countries but I have never seen anything as exquisite as what I saw here, at what is almost the end of the earth in the southern hemisphere. The view from our rustic-style hotel, La Cantera, included mountain peaks and the turquoise Lago Argentino. 
The nearby Parque National de Los Glacieres is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, and includes the Perito Moreno Glacier, where we trekked with crampons. 
We spent Thanksgiving day horseback riding at Estanicia Cristina. Breathtaking!
Although we’re not huge carnivores, one evening we went to Don Pichon, a parilla (these restaurants specializing in grilled meats are everywhere in Argentina) that the chef at our hotel recommended. The waiter brought a table-top grill piled about half a foot high with several types of steaks, some lamb and also sausage (but no morcilla, or blood sausage, at our request) and what we later found out were intestines, although we didn’t eat the latter because we suspected it was something like that. The lamb, very popular in Argentina and especially Patagonia, was delicious and so were some of the steaks, but some were average – an experience we had several times during my 10 days in the country. The $12 bottle of wine – a Malbec-Syrah blend from Bodega del Fin Del Mundo – was a knock out.
Mendoza – Wine Lover’s Mecca
The day after Thanksgiving, Katy Jane and I reunited with Laura and Jess in Chacras de Coria, a suburb of Mendoza -- the heart of the Argentine wine country. We stayed in a precious little hotel, Lares de Chacras, within walking distance of the town plaza and casual restaurants with good simple food like pizza and fresh salads as well as more great $10 bottles of Malbec.
And now this is where I will apologize to Bob and Linny Fox and also August and Cindy Caimi for putting the girls in the position of being over served. If they were “born again” in Buenos Aires, in the Mendoza area, they fell off the path … under my watch. Sorry. I hired a driver for a day to take us to several vineyards including Achaval Ferrer, only six or seven years old but already regarded as one of the top quality producers in the country. 
We also went to an older, more traditional winery, Viña el Cerno, which was where the real over-serving occurred. We all agree it was the tour guide’s fault – he was insistent that we try 11 wines and we didn’t want to hurt his feelings by declining and especially by not finishing the half glass “tastes” he poured of each. 
We were not very productive the rest of the day.
But it’s amazing what a long, deep sleep in real beds can do! It’s also amazing how people everywhere kept wanting to overserve us. The next day, I went to the Andean foothills to mountain bike while the girls slept late, hung out at the hotel pool and make travel plans to get to Lima. That evening, we went into the city of Mendoza to check out the Vines of Mendoza tasting room, where we hooked up with a friend of a friend of mine who is the COO there. Well, one thing led to another and I am sure that you can figure out how the rest of the night went … and Jess had gnocchi, too. 
Thanks, Jess, Katy Jane and Laura for allowing me to crash your trip. I had a blast with you!
