¿Dónde está Alyssa?

Breaking up...isn't so hard to do

alyssa_schwartz — Thu, 13 Sep 2007 23:25:00 GMT

As you may have noticed I've been ignoring this blog. I've found that I've been increasingly losing interest in updating this site. The time has come to break up with worldnomads. I would like to say it's been there for me in good times and bad but I can't honestly make that statement. So instead of posting lengthy, wordy blogs I'm going to move on to a photo-blog. Who needs words when you can just view photos? It seems to work for all the Japanese students. But then again, that could largely be due to the language barrier....

Anyway, from here on out look for me in the flickr world.

Ja ne!

Gallery: Sr. High School Sports Day

alyssa_schwartz — Sun, 9 Sep 2007 18:01:00 GMT

An afternoon watching the high school students perform martial arts, relay races and more.

Gallery: My first enkai

alyssa_schwartz — Sun, 9 Sep 2007 17:51:00 GMT

Delicious food, a new kimono and karaoke fun.

Gallery: しょうがっこう

alyssa_schwartz — Tue, 4 Sep 2007 19:06:00 GMT

Genki elementary school kids.

Gallery: Exploring Tanegashima

alyssa_schwartz — Sat, 1 Sep 2007 17:17:00 GMT

Now that I've got a ride I can check out this amazing island.

Uso-mitai!

alyssa_schwartz — Sun, 26 Aug 2007 19:21:00 GMT

This is too good to be true....I'm living on a tropical island in southern Japan, eating cheap fresh sashimi and being greeted by the cutest, friendliest Japanese children as I stroll the street. I don't think life gets much better than this.

After a quick orientation in Tokyo I said a sad goodbye to my new JET friends and flew to Kagoshima, the most southern prefecture of Kyushu. I met my co-workers, went shopping for household goods and moved all my belongings into my new house. I've spent the last 48 hours trying to stand in front of my air-con and shooing gigantic spiders (slightly smaller than the size of my hand)out through my windows.

Minamitane is quite small and easy to walk around but beyond the town center it's a long walk anywhere. Luckily, this is where my new friends come in. I'm pretty fortunate in that there are already a few other gaijins living in the area. Jonathan, the other JET in my town, has been living here for almost 4 years so he knows everything and everyone. We met up at Everyone (the 24 hr convenient shop) and sat in the cool air-conditioned store until his friends Pete and Chie arrived. Pete is also from England (like Jonathan) though they met here on Tanegashima. Pete and his wife moved out here from England in March. I can't recall what kind of business he runs but they moved here for the tropical weather. Plus, Pete likes to surf...so this is the place to be.

My tour guides drove me around to show me a few of the local beaches and countryside. After only a few minutes of driving through the inaka (countryside) I began to fall in love with the island. Just look at the few photos I was able to take from the last hour we spent driving around the southern coast. In addition to seeing some beautiful spots I've already been offered surf lessons from Pete and Chie has offered Japanese lessons. I think I will get along just fine in Tanegashima.

Tomorrow is my first day at work. I hope I can remember my Japanese introductions so that I don't slur my sentences together like I did when I met a few co-workers on Friday. Also, my bowing technique isn't quite there yet...I seem to do a slow head nod and forget about the rest of my body. Well, I have plenty of time to work on it.

Until next time...Mata ne!

Gallery: Tabemono!

alyssa_schwartz — Sun, 26 Aug 2007 19:18:00 GMT

Food porn.

Gallery: First week in Japan

alyssa_schwartz — Sun, 26 Aug 2007 12:17:00 GMT

2 short days in Tokyo and first impressions of Minamitane, Tanegashima.

Gallery: The new pad

alyssa_schwartz — Sun, 26 Aug 2007 12:13:00 GMT

My house in Minamitane

Gallery: Argentina

alyssa_schwartz — Thu, 28 Jun 2007 09:38:00 GMT

Wine, tango, futbol and Evita

Gallery: Peru

alyssa_schwartz — Wed, 27 Jun 2007 16:38:00 GMT

As my camera was stolen, these pictures are shown courtesy of my kind friend Katrin.

Gallery: Chile

alyssa_schwartz — Wed, 27 Jun 2007 16:15:00 GMT

Gallery: Bolivia

alyssa_schwartz — Wed, 27 Jun 2007 15:17:00 GMT

Blinding salt flats in the desert and the biting cold

Gallery: Ecuador

alyssa_schwartz — Sun, 24 Jun 2007 14:01:00 GMT

The tiny gem of South America

Gallery: Costa Rica

alyssa_schwartz — Sun, 24 Jun 2007 13:08:00 GMT

Wildlife spotting and horseback riding in Costa Rica.

Gallery: Guatemala

alyssa_schwartz — Sun, 24 Jun 2007 09:28:00 GMT

Markets, ruins and the glorious Lago de Atitlan

The Adventure Ends

alyssa_schwartz — Fri, 22 Jun 2007 07:21:00 GMT

Well, it's officially over...I am back in southern California, sitting on my king-sized bed, freshly showered (without wearing flip flops for the first time in 3 months!) and unpacking the contents from my overstuffed backpack into my old dresser. It feels a bit surreal yet comforting to be home.

The last week in Buenos Aires flew by. We decided to go out in style and dished out a few extra dollars each day on having our OWN room, complete with our private bathroom and....a TV! Having such amenities at our fingertips that we didn't have to share with others was definitely the right way to end our 3 month stint in Latin America. What I mean by that is we were comfortable... very, very comfortable. Our days were spent mostly at the shops in various BA neighborhoods and usually we'd waste away the afternoon in a cafe sucking down our respective caffeinated beverages to keep ourselves awake and warm.

We drank mate, very strong coffees and ate sweet delicious alfajores. We checked out the diverse and colorful suburbs of Buenos Aires that each offer a unique insight into the history of this very European South American city. Though I'd say the highlights of the week were the futbol game and tango show. Despite the cold we sat in the San Lorenzo stadium and cheered on River Plate against Velez. We won 3-2. Despite my general lack of enthusiasm for anything involving running on a field to kick a ball around I really enjoyed the game. However I was more enthralled with the constant cheering and rivalry amongst the fans than the teams themselves. The audience was far more interesting to watch as they made obscene gestures to the opposing team's fans and cheered like mad when either team scored a goal. I've never heard anything like the roaring chants of futbol fanatics before in my life. I hope to go again someday.

Our tango show came along with a free lesson and a fantastic three course dinner. For $60 Trishy and I attempted to learn the first few tango steps and dance with each other; learning both the male and female parts. This only made us even more confused trying to switch off but we managed to not bump into too many other beginners also trying to lead each other around the dance floor. It was a good laugh and showed us the difficulty (and seriousness) of the tango. After our lesson we gorged ourselves on the wine, pasta, fish and brownie dessert. Then the lights dimmed and we were thoroughly entertained for about 90 minutes of tango dancing and singing. Half way through the show one of the male dancers yanked me up to dance with him. All the dancers jumped off the stage to pull up an unsuspecting tourist for a few minutes. As we edged towards the stage I had a fleeting thought he was going to make me dance with him on a stage in front of the entire crowd. Luckily he didn't make me tango and we never stepped foot on the stage. The rest of the show only involved the professionals and I think it's fair to say the entire audience, including myself, was thoroughly entertained.

The flights home were long and tedious as one would expect from a 16 hour journey. But it didn't matter that I only had 30 minutes of sleep when I stepped out of the airport to feel the heat of Los Angeles and see my mom pull up to the curb. I breathed in the smog filled air and knew I could finally relax....I was home.

I do apologize for this tardy blog. I have been home for a few days but have been far too exhausted to finish the blog once and for all. But keep your eyes posted over the next few days as I plan to put quite a few photos up.

Although I'm sad that the trip has come to an end I'm happy to be back in California so I can catch up with most of you. Despite the negative experiences Trish and I had on the trip I definitely want to return on a follow-up trip. Perhaps in a year or so I'll return for 'Latin America Adventure-- Part II.' I will let you know when the planning begins so I can hopefully convince a few of you to join me.

Thank you for keeping my blog company with your comments and emails along the way. They have all been very much appreciated. I've missed you all and can't wait to catch up in person/over the phone (for those that are on the other side of the country).

Oh and one last thing-- I have a cell phone again (with the same 415 number!) so please re-program me back into your phones if you previously deleted me. =) I will be calling you very soon. But for now I think I'll just crawl under the sheets in this glorious king-sized bed for one final siesta....

The Countdown Begins

alyssa_schwartz — Thu, 7 Jun 2007 21:01:00 GMT

That´s right, we´re looking at just 13 days left of this Latin America Adventure before both Trishy and I get on our respective flights out of South America back to our home countries. By this point I think we are both ready and our minds are definitely not here anymore. I know this comes across sounding like we are homesick but it´s far from that---we are fed up with ROBBERIES.

Just when we were beginning to feel safe again (thank you Chile) we have run into some bad luck once again. This time the robbery took place inside our hostel, inside the lockers where our valuables were supposedly locked away safely. No such luck. However, I will say that the ¨Martin¨ character that checked into our room posing as a backpacker did not have any luck opening my locker. So we are still in possession of one camera. Now my camera is the sole photographic proof we will have of the last few weeks of our journey. Unfortunately Trish´s and our new American friend Meagan´s lockers were opened. Cash, an mp3 player and Trish´s brand new camera are gone.

First of all, we are staying in a very lovely hostel in Mendoza, Argentina. Despite recent events we are staying here since it´s fantastically organized, clean and has the best showers we´ve seen in a good month or so. Anyway...after an unplanned, yet very enjoyable week in Chile we crossed the snowy Andes at last. We arrived in Mendoza yesterday evening and spent today exploring the city while the rest of the residents were on their afternoon siesta. The day was going well and we had stopped by the hostel to drop some things off to then head to the supermarket (We can´t go out at 10pm like the rest of Argentina for dinner so we prepare our meals in the hostel). During this pit stop we met our new dorm-mate Martin, an Argentine businessman in town for a few days. Seemed like a fairly friendly yet odd guy so we thought nothing of it when we left minutes later. Upon our return that all changed. I noticed my backpack was unzipped a bit more than how I left it and suddenly my key was unable to open my locker. Plus I hadn´t noticed the key scuff marks before that were next to the lock....it all seemed suspicious but I thought it must have been old marks. The guy at the reception desk called the locksmith to open it. All my valuables were inside so I needed access...That´s when Meagan and Trish opened their lockers to discover our new roommate had gone through all their bags and removed the items he wanted. He must have had difficulty with the final locker (mine) or had to run quickly since he didn´t finish the job.

We are completely fed up now with theft. Trishy is understandably ready for the trip to end since this is her third robbery on this trip. It seems that no matter where we put our belongings (physically on us or locked away in a room) thieves find a way to get to them. But in one last attempt to salvage what is left of our collective belongings we have decided not to stay in any more dorm rooms. For the last week in Buenos Aires we are going to get a private room. It´s the only thing I can think of at this point to make us feel the slightest bit of safety.

However, I´m still hopeful that the rest of our time in Mendoza and Buenos Aires will be pleasant. We have a wine tour tomorrow, horseback riding on Sunday and then a week to relax and shop in Buenos Aires. I might even make a quick hop, skip and a jump over to Uruguay if there´s time. Apparently there´s a good day trip to Montevideo, Uruguay since it´s not too far from BA. I wouldn´t mind stopping by Uruguay for a day!

Alright, it´s time to log out.. make my bread & cheese sandwich and complete it with our first Argentine wine we purchased tonight. I think the 3 of us will especially enjoy it now.

Thwarted!

alyssa_schwartz — Fri, 1 Jun 2007 16:08:00 GMT

It´s official: we are STUCK in Chile. We attempted to leave San Pedro today and sat on a still bus for 3 hours, hoping the highway would open. Apparently there has been heavy snow in the Andes so the pass we need to drive through to get to Salta, Argentina is closed.

Since they don't know if the road will be open tomorrow we are changing plans. We are going to just go south from here (in Chile) since we can´t get to Argentina.

So now we have a 16 hour overnight bus to a colonial beach town, La Serena. Ah the many surprises you encounter while traveling. However now we might have time to squeeze in a 3am observatory tour to stare at the stars...if the weather permits it.

Cross your fingers for us that the highway is clear when we try to pass from Santiago into Argentina...we may have the same trouble again if things don't clear up. We don't quite understand why it´s so difficult to get ourselves to Argentina. So we are just going to enjoy the time we have in Chile. There´s no way out as of right now.

Stuck in the Chilean desert

alyssa_schwartz — Thu, 31 May 2007 10:23:00 GMT

I suppose there are worse things than being stuck in San Pedro de Atacama. The sun is shining, the food and coffee is quite good and it feels familiar, almost like a mini Santa Fe, New Mexico. But when you have four days to kill and not much to do it feels slightly annoying to be stuck in a tiny town when en route to Argentina. Oh well...

Trishy and I arrived in northern Chile midday Sunday and thought we would have a day to relax and soak up the sun after three freezing days in the Bolivian desert. However when we tried to buy bus tickets for Salta on Tuesday we found ourselves out of luck---Tuesday was sold out, we would have to wait until the next bus on Friday. So we are now officially on holiday. We are sleeping in late (or trying to), eating out, drinking wine, taking slow walks through town and lounging in hammocks. Now that sounds like a holiday, doesn't it?

I am quite happy to be out of Bolivia since I spent most of the time sick with fever, freezing and then, well...you know about the experience in La Paz. However it's not to say the entire time in Bolivia was horrible. After leaving La Paz we spent two cold days in Oruro where we were able to buy new cameras. We jumped on a train for a 7 hour dusty, chilly ride to Uyuni. Uyuni is a little itsy bitsy town that tourists go to as a starting point to arrange tours into the salt flats. Luckily we didn't have to spend more than 2 nights in the extremely cold Uyuni before joining a 3-day jeep journey through Salar de Uyuni.

Salar de Uyuni is the world's largest salt flat at over 4,000 square miles. In the southwest corner of Bolivia the land stretches to north Chile. The minerals in the salar make up the most amazing colors; mountains and volcanoes made of red, yellow, green, blue, white, etc. There are a few islands on the salt flats, the most impressive being Isla de Pescado (yes, it is in the shape of a fish) comprised of thousands of cacti. Quite a sight to see nothing but salt flats and then a sea of cactus. The salt flats also have rocks protruding from the flat landscape forming the most interesting shapes. At times it felt like we had just stepped into a Salvador Dali painting. The six of us tried to take photos to show the lack of perspective on the extremely white, salt flats but we didn't have the patience to get the shots just right. However I think a few turned out okay. One picture appears as if Trishy is standing in the palm of my hand and another shows Trishy holding our jeep in her hand. I'm quite happy to have a camera again to be able to take advantage of moments like that.

In addition to the incredible landscape we saw numerous animals living in the dry, harsh cold of the salar. Throughout the three days we came upon flamingos, vicuñas, foxes, rare rabbits, and other birds. I'm amazed that animals can live in the barren salt flats at below freezing temperatures. I barely held up for three days in the salt flats. Plus, I've never seen flamingos in the wild before so I was excited to stand in the wind and watch them drink from the red pools of Laguna Colorado.

Three of us departed the salt flats on the third day to say farewell to the moon-like landscape and return to civilization. Ahhh, Chile...running hot water, real coffee and warm temperatures! As soon as we crossed the border we were on a paved highway and driving down 1,500 meters to San Pedro. We stripped off the extra layers when we got into town and practically danced in the sun. After losing the feeling in my hands and feet for three straight days I was incredibly relieved to feel the heat. None of us were sure how cold it got while we were out in the salt flats but we know it was below freezing since bottles of water in the jeep were solid ice in the morning. Brrr...Just thinking about it now brings a chill back to my hands.

Tomorrow we have a nine hour bus ride to Salta. I don't look forward to the ride but I can't wait to get to Argentina. We have just over three weeks left now to make our way through northern Argentina to Buenos Aires. We plan to horseback ride in the north, drink wine in the central region and then end with a few days in the European atmosphere of Buenos Aires. Anyone have recommendations for Buenos Aires? We are hoping to spend about a week there so send over the suggestions if you have any.

I'm off to have a café cortado now. Ciao!