I fell into some kind of South American trip tips vortex this weekend. A party at Isabelle's on Friday night led to several conversations with people who had spent substantial amounts of time in Chile or Argentina, and had lots of insight, contacts and even pictures to share. Marie-Noelle offered to hook me up with people all through southern Chile; she'd spent a year in Punta Arenas. Judith had just gotten back to Montreal 3 weeks previous from 3 months of field research and travelling in northern Argentina and Buenos Aires. She had tons of tips on what to check out in the north of the country, where not to live in Buenos Aires, and just happened to have her photo album on her. Veronique had also don her field research in Argentina last year; once again, both in Buenos Aires and the northern part of the country. She had tango tips, as she had taken tango lessons while she was there. I left the party hoping the month until I leave will go by fast.
And then the next day I ran into Alejandro and Marie-Claude who just happen to have a friend in Buenos Aires who just happens to rent out rooms cheap to travellers in her wonderful old mansion in a gorgeous, atmospheric, centrally-located neighbourhood. She also happens to be really nice, and a tango teacher, and always willing to accomodate a friend of her Montreal friends.
Screw the Lonely Planet! If this continues I can use my guide books for rolling papers and door stops.
Monday, July 31, 2006
Friday, July 28, 2006
A little note on the picture in my profile
Do you like my "headshot"?
When I was taking a PR class at Concordia, our teacher insisted we have headshots, preferably done by her expensive photographer friend, because, of course, once you're a big corporate executive, you have to have a head shot. Except that we were all poor young people taking a PR class to try to get a job that pays more than $8/hour someday.
Anyway, me and my friend Kaija did little photo shoot at her house with her digital camera and a bunch of lamps n' stuff.
My teacher didn't think it was corporate enough. (She must have hot water up her arse.)
Anyway, so I thought I'd put it on here.
When I was taking a PR class at Concordia, our teacher insisted we have headshots, preferably done by her expensive photographer friend, because, of course, once you're a big corporate executive, you have to have a head shot. Except that we were all poor young people taking a PR class to try to get a job that pays more than $8/hour someday.
Anyway, me and my friend Kaija did little photo shoot at her house with her digital camera and a bunch of lamps n' stuff.
My teacher didn't think it was corporate enough. (She must have hot water up her arse.)
Anyway, so I thought I'd put it on here.
Sunday, July 23, 2006
Trip archives: Chile - December/January 2004
My trip this fall will be my third time in South America. I rang in 2001 in Caracas, Venezuela with my friend David and his family. And then I spent 2 weeks in Chile over the Christmas holidays in 2004 hanging out with my friend Claudia. It's hard to put my finger on why I keep going back; though there is an interest and an attraction for the region and the Spanish language, the motivating factor behind my trips there so far has been my South American friends. With both David and Claudia, the sharing of our own cultures and backgrounds has been an important part of our friendships, and so a trip to experience their respective regions first-hand seemed only natural.
My 2004 trip to Chile came out of the last-minute realization that my finances, vacation time, and desire to travel all intersected, and that there was really no good reason why I couldn't go. So I went!
After a slew of weather/Christmas airport hell- related flight delays, I arrived in the glorious summer sun of Santiago on Boxing Day. I spent a couple of days in Santiago, taking in the city, interacting with the locals ( a.k.a partying with Claudia and her friends), meeting Claudia's family, getting my ears used to the rapid-fire Spanish being spoken around me at all times.
Claudia had been living in Montreal and had recently returned to Santiago. When she was living here, I'd met quite the motley crew of people through her, many of whose identities were some variation on the term Chilean-Canadian. And by chance, three of these friends, Alejandro, Marie-Claude and Joel, were also in Chile at the same time as I was. So we ( me, Claudia, Alejandro, Marie-Claude, Joel, Claudia's best friend Jesica and her boyfriend) all set off to Valparaiso, Chile's big port city, which is the place to celebrate New Year's in Chile. The city is made up of a bunch of hills that ring a huge bay - picture Halifax with several Citdel Hills all along the harbour. Boats go out into the water to shoot off fireworks, and the top of each one of the hills becomes a spontaneous party as everyone gathers around to watch. It was awesome. We stayed at Jesica's grandmother's beach house in Con Con, just north of Valparaiso, which meant we were able to get in some beach time. (I was the whitest person I think anyone on the beach had ever seen...)
Joel happened to be heading north towards La Serena to visit family, and I had been plannign to head north on a quest to see the desert, so I jumped in his rental car and we took off on the Panamericana, while everyone else headed back to Santiago. What started as a daytrip to the Valle de Elqui east of La Serena ended up me spontaneously deciding to stay a couple of days, and telling Joel to leave me there. As you can see in the second photo, the Valle de Elqui is this crazy green valley amongst these desert mountains that are the eeriest grey-pink colour. Grapes are grown there, and it's the home of one of the best-known breweries of pisco, Chile's national liquor. The little village where I stayed had a great laid-back vibe and the stars at night were amazing. And there was also this Chilean Joey Jeremiah lookalike who lived in this weird adobe-style summer hut down the road from my hostel.
I then went back to La Serena for a couple of days, where I took a boat trip to this penguin colony of the coast ( check out the third picture above - those are desert animals called guanacos that we saw ont he way to where we took the boat). I then took an overnight bus back to Santiago for a couple more days of city living before heading back to winter in Canada.
I really enjoyed my time in Chile, and I guess the proof is that I'm going back there again! I felt quite comfortable around Santiago and around the country; and it was pretty easy to get around. And despite the differences in character of the different cities and different regions, overall, I really liked the vibe there. And the natural phenomena, scenery, landscapes, etc, don't leave much to be desired. Let's just say it's a good sign for a country, scenery-wise, when you're awestruck before the plane even lands as you come in over the snow-capped Andes...
Anyway, that's a short summary of my first trip to Chile. For the long version, you'll just have to call me.
My 2004 trip to Chile came out of the last-minute realization that my finances, vacation time, and desire to travel all intersected, and that there was really no good reason why I couldn't go. So I went!
After a slew of weather/Christmas airport hell- related flight delays, I arrived in the glorious summer sun of Santiago on Boxing Day. I spent a couple of days in Santiago, taking in the city, interacting with the locals ( a.k.a partying with Claudia and her friends), meeting Claudia's family, getting my ears used to the rapid-fire Spanish being spoken around me at all times.
Claudia had been living in Montreal and had recently returned to Santiago. When she was living here, I'd met quite the motley crew of people through her, many of whose identities were some variation on the term Chilean-Canadian. And by chance, three of these friends, Alejandro, Marie-Claude and Joel, were also in Chile at the same time as I was. So we ( me, Claudia, Alejandro, Marie-Claude, Joel, Claudia's best friend Jesica and her boyfriend) all set off to Valparaiso, Chile's big port city, which is the place to celebrate New Year's in Chile. The city is made up of a bunch of hills that ring a huge bay - picture Halifax with several Citdel Hills all along the harbour. Boats go out into the water to shoot off fireworks, and the top of each one of the hills becomes a spontaneous party as everyone gathers around to watch. It was awesome. We stayed at Jesica's grandmother's beach house in Con Con, just north of Valparaiso, which meant we were able to get in some beach time. (I was the whitest person I think anyone on the beach had ever seen...)
Joel happened to be heading north towards La Serena to visit family, and I had been plannign to head north on a quest to see the desert, so I jumped in his rental car and we took off on the Panamericana, while everyone else headed back to Santiago. What started as a daytrip to the Valle de Elqui east of La Serena ended up me spontaneously deciding to stay a couple of days, and telling Joel to leave me there. As you can see in the second photo, the Valle de Elqui is this crazy green valley amongst these desert mountains that are the eeriest grey-pink colour. Grapes are grown there, and it's the home of one of the best-known breweries of pisco, Chile's national liquor. The little village where I stayed had a great laid-back vibe and the stars at night were amazing. And there was also this Chilean Joey Jeremiah lookalike who lived in this weird adobe-style summer hut down the road from my hostel.
I then went back to La Serena for a couple of days, where I took a boat trip to this penguin colony of the coast ( check out the third picture above - those are desert animals called guanacos that we saw ont he way to where we took the boat). I then took an overnight bus back to Santiago for a couple more days of city living before heading back to winter in Canada.I really enjoyed my time in Chile, and I guess the proof is that I'm going back there again! I felt quite comfortable around Santiago and around the country; and it was pretty easy to get around. And despite the differences in character of the different cities and different regions, overall, I really liked the vibe there. And the natural phenomena, scenery, landscapes, etc, don't leave much to be desired. Let's just say it's a good sign for a country, scenery-wise, when you're awestruck before the plane even lands as you come in over the snow-capped Andes...
Anyway, that's a short summary of my first trip to Chile. For the long version, you'll just have to call me.
Thursday, July 20, 2006
No turning back!
So, yesterday I bought my ticket! My travel agent Annie Hung ( no relation to William) hooked me up with a sweet deal on American Airlines between Montreal and Santiago, with only one stopover in Miami.
Last time I was in the Miami airport was for a 6-hour stopover when I was going to Venezuela in the year 2000, when to kill time I went up to the rooftop pool and patio of the very tall airport hotel. ( It sounds a lot nicer than it actually was. The airport hotel rooftop patio has a very nice view of...the runway and the airport parking lot. Breathtaking. )
So now I'm awash in that "Wooh! This is really happening! No turning back! I can't wait to leave!" feeling.
Well, maybe it's more like the "Wooh! This is really happening! No turning back! I can't wait to leave! But if something horribly dreadful happens before I do, like I get hit by a boat or chop my leg off with an axe, or on the way to the airport a couch has fallen off a truck and is blocking all traffic on the highway and I miss my flight, it's okay! Because I have trip cancellation & interruption insurance and will get my money back if I have to cancel my trip!" Cautiously living on the wild side.
Monday, July 17, 2006
This is my travel blog...!
So, I never really thought I'd ever make a blog. My life isn't really so action-packed to necessitate an on-line journal; it's not like I have young kids relatives across the country want to watch grow up, I'm a journalist and have any juicy news stories to break, or feel the desire to rant on-line about feminism or water polo ( though I appreciate those who do).
Anyway, so in order to justify making a blog and thereby becoming part of this latest craze to sweep the nation, I figured I either had to take up water polo, have kids, or go on a trip so I could make a travel(b)logue.
So I'm off to South America; Chile and Argentina to be more specific. I'm leaving Montreal September 4th and returning December 19. The only items on the itinerary at this point is a visit with my friend Claudia in Santiago, and a 2 month long Spanish class at the Universidad de Buenos Aires. The rest of the details I'll just fill in as I go along, I guess. I sort of like travelling that way.
Anyway, so in order to justify making a blog and thereby becoming part of this latest craze to sweep the nation, I figured I either had to take up water polo, have kids, or go on a trip so I could make a travel(b)logue.
So I'm off to South America; Chile and Argentina to be more specific. I'm leaving Montreal September 4th and returning December 19. The only items on the itinerary at this point is a visit with my friend Claudia in Santiago, and a 2 month long Spanish class at the Universidad de Buenos Aires. The rest of the details I'll just fill in as I go along, I guess. I sort of like travelling that way.
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