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Day 517 - Tuesday, April 1, 2003

Today we visited El Peñon to deliver and set up a small reforestation project.  We took with us about 1000 seeds for various types of trees.  The objective was to give them seeds for trees that would produce construction wood as well as wood that can be used for firewood.  Over the years the trees that provide them with these types of wood are disappearing and being used for cooking.   No efforts have been made to replenish them. 

The project went very well and the kids and teachers alike were very excited and helpful in everything.  Luckily one of the teachers used to work in a nursery and knew more about the planting and care than I did.  Aside from a minor mistake on seed preparation on my part everything went well.  I misidentified the manner in which one of the seeds needs to be prepared and they now have to pull about 250 of them out of the dirt bags and boil them first before replanting them.

We also delivered Pencils and Notebooks to the school that will be used in the future.  The notebook and pencils were donated by a class from Wisconsin who had put together a care package for us after they found out that some of the kids in the school do not have proper supplies to do their school work.

When we returned from El Peñon we went over to the Mayorga's house for lunch and told them of our impending trip to South America.

Day 518 - Wednesday, April 2, 2003

We packed for our trip this afternoon.  We are taking three small backpacks, one of which is almost empty and will be used to bring souvenirs back in.  I worked a while on the Mom and Dad VP video which is almost finished, while Jennifer taught English classes to about 80 kids at the library.

Day 519 - Thursday, April 3, 2003

We traveled to Tegucigalpa this morning.  I have a Volunteer Advocacy Committee meeting tomorrow and Jennifer and I will be preparing the food at the Country Director's house.  So, we also stayed over night at his house.  He lives in a very nice house that is decorated with all sorts of stuff from Central America and Africa where he served with USAID for some time.

For dinner we had a wonderful meal prepared by his wife and went through several bottles of wine talking about Peace Corps, their lives before they arrived in Honduras, and us.

Day 520 - Friday, April 4, 2003

I met this morning with the other VAC members while Jennifer worked on lunch.  Around 11 pm I went back to the directors house to fire up the grill and get the marinated chicken cooking for our "Chicken Fajita" meal that we prepared.  The chicken and everything else was excellent and both Jen and I were impressed with house good a meal we had put together. 

The VAC meeting lasted about 2 hours and afterwards we returned to the general population and checked into a hotel like a normal volunteer.  The director had offered his house for a second night, but we decided we wanted to socialize or at least use the free internet connection a the hotel to chat with friends.

At 9pm we connected with a couple of good friends and had an online bible study out of a book we had been using before we left.

Day 521 - Saturday, April 5, 2003

We chatted with Dad VP this morning on Yahoo and then went to the movie "Chicago".  Which turned out to be much better than I thought it would have been.  It was very interesting and very well put together.  I can see why it won so many awards this year.

Day 522 - Sunday, April 6, 2003

We left this afternoon for Peru.  It was a long flight flying first to El Salvador, then to Costa Rica, and then on to Lima.  With at least an hour or so layover in each airport.  When we arrived in Lima we got funneled into a travel agency when we were actually looking for the ticketing agents.  It was kind of annoying in retrospect, but worked out ok.  At 9 pm we were not really fit to make really good decision, and purchased a travel package to Cusco that included several tours, train tickets to Machu Picchu and out hotel in Cusco.  We slept overnight in the airport as our flight to Cusco left early in the morning.  The airport was pleasant enough, but overnight in any airport just isn't all that pleasant.

Day 523 - Monday, April 7, 2003

We left on a 6 am flight to Cusco this morning.  It was a short flight and we arrived a little after 6 am with a time change and about an hour of flying.  When we arrived we were advised by our travel guide (included with the tour package) and the hotel people that we should rest for half the day and drink our Cocoa tea (tea made from cocoa, the same thing used to make cocaine.  It apparently has some medicinal purposes when used correctly, and alleviates some of the severe symptoms associated with altitude sickness) to keep from getting sick from the high altitude.  Cusco sits at about 11,000 feet which is about 10,100 feet higher than where we live in Concepción de Maria.  The highest mountain I have ever been on was about 9,000 feet in Colorado.  I remembered vividly how the altitude killed my appetite and made me nauseous like I had been punched in the stomach repeatedly.  I drank my Cocoa tea and hoped this new local legend was correct and tried to tuck all my misgivings about drinking something made of the same substance cocaine is made out of.

After a short nap and my cocoa tea I felt like I was ready to conquer Cusco, or at least go explore a little and find some dinner.  We walked to the center with our new found friends Ingia and Elizabeth from Norway who we met in the minibus that brought us to the Hotel earlier.  Elizabeth apparently has relatives in Minnesota and has visited there.  They both spoke very good English and looked like Minnesotans (or Norwegians depending on your perspective).  We found a small restaurant and all ordered soup (also a recommendation to combat the altitude).  We parted ways with Ingia and Elizabeth and set out to explore a little of downtown Cusco. The town is beautiful and we took lots of photos we have a few photos of Cusco in the South America Section of the Vacation Photo Album.

Day 524 - Tuesday, April 8, 2003

In we got up early this morning and headed to the train station for our four hour ride to Aguas Calientes.  The train ride was uneventful and wound slowly through the Andes mountains at a snails pace.  Just to get out of the valley Cusco is located in we spent an hour going forward then backward up the mountain.  At first we thought we were just going back and forth until we noticed that after the third or fourth pass that we were much higher above the town.  Our seats on the train faced two other seats in front of us and we had train friend from Finland who spoke a little English, but stuck to Spanish.  He apparently worked in Peru some years ago on a protected areas management project and helped them set up a national forestry and environmental protection agency.  He was returning after 20 or so years to see all the marvelous sights that had cropped up and become famous tourist spots since he was there in the 70's.

We arrived in Aguas Calientes and gave our bags to a porter from the Hotel who assured us and other guests that our bags would indeed be there at the hotel when we arrived.  This was a nice turn of events since we were told by our guide to pack light as we would not be going to the hotels and would have to hike with whatever we brought.  We then hiked through town to a couple of busses that were waiting for us.  We identified our Machu Picchu tour guides and climbed on busses.  The bridge across the mighty river that carved the valley below Machu Picchu and the valley that the train wound through to arrive in Aguas Calientes (which means hot waters) was under construction so halfway through our bus ride we had to get off and cross on a footbridge then re-board another bus.  The water, which when we saw the first glimpses of it on the train looked like it would be fun to go white water rafting down; that was upstream, at this particular point it looked like something that would chew up anything that was dropped in it and maybe spit it out- maybe it would just swallow it whole and never return it to the light of day.  A tinge of fear crept in as I tried to imagine if I could swim to the shore if I fell over the edge of the bridge.  Confident in my strength and ability to swim I concluded I had a 50/50 shot and decided I didn't ever want to be in a position that would require me to test my odds.

Safely on board a new bus we climbed several thousand feet to the top of the mountain where we were able to catch brief sightings of the Machu Picchu Ruins.  We picked our tour guide and decided to take the Spanish tour guide thinking maybe he would know more about the ruins because he spoke Spanish.  About 20 minutes later we decided it was hard to take photos and listen at the same time and changed to the English speaking guide.  The actual history of Machu Picchu is based mostly on speculation and archeological mumbo jumbo, as with most ancient archeological sites Jennifer and I concluded that our best guesses were probably close to theirs, although it was still interesting to hear what they had to say.

After the 1 1/2 hour tour we broke off and started taking photos, and exploring the site.   Machu Picchu is a magical place.  The ruins are well preserved and expansive.  We ran into a few lamas and an alpaca that wandered out after most of the other tourist had left to work on manicuring the different levels of grass on the upper side of the ruins.  We pestered them relentlessly until we had some good photos.  The last bus left at 4:30 with the last of the tourist and another bus with all the workers also pulled out.  For dinner we had pizza at a local place that baked the pizza in a wooden stove with the coals piled around the pizza.  It was very good.

Day 525 - Wednesday, April 9, 2003

We got up early this morning and went to the hot springs for which the town is names.  the actual springs are higher up in the mountains, but the water is pumped down into several swimming type pools and showers for people to come and use for "therapeutic use".  Apparently the hot stinky water is supposed to cure everything from diarrhea to headaches.  It did little for my back ache, but it was nice to sit in the hot water.

In the afternoon we had lunch, did a little shopping, and headed to the train for our 4 hour ride back to Cusco.  We arrived an hour out of Cusco to a train station where eager bus driver's promised that for only 2 dollars each they could have us in Cusco in 15 minutes.  It was more like 25 minutes, but it was worth it to not have to sit on the train any longer.  I was tired and hungry and wanted to get back to Cusco as soon as possible.

Once back in Cusco we went to a small restaurant for some pizza and to take a few night shots of the town before retiring to our hotel.

Day 526 - Thursday, April 10, 2003

We had another tour planned for today and left in the morning for a place called the Sacred Valley.  Believed to be a suburb of the Ancient Inca capital the Sacred Valley boasted that it produces the largest and best varieties of corn in the world.  After seeing some of the samples I do not doubt the claim.  Some of the corn kernels were 3-4 time bigger than the largest sweet corn kernel I've seen. We went to a market where we purchased a some clay pottery and made a deal with a local painter to buy a piece of art that was still on the easel and had to have the finishing touches put on it.  We made arrangements to meet in front of the cathedral in Cusco if he was interested in selling it for 1/2 his asking price, which was still kind of high, but reasonable for the painting.  The painting is an abstract with a strong Picasso styling of 3 musicians and is stylized through the use of geometric shapes and uneven paint textures.  The colors are striking and it is one of the best painting I have seen in Central or South America.  We finished our tour and went back to Cusco.

In Cusco we found an internet cafe and saved the 300+ photos we had taken onto a CD so we could continue to take photos through the rest of our trip.  The first places we went to (photo stores) wanted about 20 US dollars to do it and couldn't get to it until tomorrow in the afternoon.  We checked a few other places that were equally high priced.  Supply and demand is alive and well in Peru.  We finally found a back alley internet cafe that charged us 3 US dollars and even included a recordable CD in the deal so we were able to make a backup copy of the CD we burned.  The guys that ran it were knowledgeable and not all that interested in gouging the gringos for what ever amount they could. 

Afterwards Jennifer went back to the Hotel and I waited in "Plaza Independencia" in front of the Cathedral for our artist to show up. I was pretty sure he was since most of the painting he sold went for about 1/20th of what we were willing to pay for this larger one.  While I was waiting I apparently caught the eye of the local constables.  I noticed that the tourists rarely just sat around in the park; I guess the 45 degree weather is too cold for them.  I've decided I would make a very good spy as I look too suspicious.  The approached me and struck up a conversation which quickly turned into a light interrogation.  I recognized many of the questions I would ask if I wanted to know what someone was doing there and looking for a reason to dig deeper. It lasted about 20 minutes and was aggravated, I believe, by the fact that I understood every word he said and spoke with a Central American accent.  This seems to throw people as I sound like a North American speaking Spanish as a second language but if the sentences are short my accent is close to a Honduran, if I mumble a bit it makes it even harder to identify.  It generally causes confusion as I look like a big old "gringo", but don't sound like one.  My story seemed pretty far fetched too as I told them I was waiting to buy a painting from an artist that would be meeting me from the Sacred Valley (which is two hours out of town).  They seemed very confident that my painter would not show up and I was wasting my time.  As the painter came up again I remember why I was there and realized I hadn't been paying attention to the front of the cathedral very well.  The constables left convinced I wasn't a terrorist or drug dealer as I noticed a guy that looked like the painter carrying a piece of PVC piping.  I walked up to him and started to talk to him.  He seemed a little odd when we first met him and I soon realized that he was deaf and trying to read my lips.  His Spanish was hard to understand as he spoke with the accent of a deaf person who had learned to speak before he became deaf and could no longer hear himself.  We soon switched to writing on a notepad as it was easier for both of us to understand one another.  After looking at the painting and talking about how he was struggling I gave him an extra $10.00 for the painting and told him it was one of the best I had seen in Latin America.  We talk a little about the Picasso influence which got him excited as Picasso is one of his idles and he thinks he was a genius.  We parted ways both happy about the purchase.  I went back to the hotel room to show the painting to Jennifer and ohh and ahh over it for a little while before going to bed.

Day 527 - Friday, April 11, 2003

Our last tour in Cusco was a tour of the City.  We went to an old Inca temple that had been built over by the Spaniards.  They build a convent and church on top of the original Inca temple.  As was customary back then the Spaniards believed that if they could crush the religions beliefs of the Incas they could conquer the people, which they did.  We toured the main cathedral of Cusco, which was absolutely incredible.  The stone work was done by the Inca stone smiths and had a precision and beauty that I have never seen in a church before.  Our guide told us that the many carved wooden decorations that ordinate much of the church were made by Incan stone smith.  The were taught by Spanish carpenters how to do the work and soon became more proficient and more detailed than their teachers as they had spent years carving stone and working with the more malleable wood was like a wood carver working on a bar of soap.  Cusco being home to the institute of art houses a huge collection of religious painting in the churches.  Most every wall of the cathedral had a painting on it.

We made our way through ruins on the out skirts of town and went to a few sacred sites used by the Incas hundreds of years ago.  Jennifer and I continued to speculate and wonder what life was like here at the peak of their civilization. 

Day 528 - Saturday, April 12, 2003

We flew back to Lima this morning arriving in the early afternoon.  We waited in the Airport for several hours and then Boarded a plane that took us to Santiago Chile arriving around 11:30 PM.  We got off the plane and headed for customs.  On the way I saw a sign with a few flags of different countries, including the US, and different dollar amounts next to them.  I noticed that the US flag had $100.00 next to it.  When we got to the immigration station they told us that we had to go pay at the little booth across the way in order to get into the country.  We had planned on going to the bus station and taking a bus to Mendoza.  We went to the little booth where we were informed that US citizens have to pay $100.00 to get into the country.  We thought OK $100.00 Chilean right?  No $100.00 US Cash.  Ok, but why??!!!!!   Do we have to pay if we are in transit and going to get on another plane in the morning?  Yes, she replied.  Jen went to talk to a supervisor while I tried to get our backpack which was on the other side of the immigration station.  They told us if we wanted our backpack we would have to pay $100.00 as well.  I talked to a security officer who told me if we were in transit we didn't have to pay and he would call the airline to bring down our bag; he didn't seem quiet as hostile as the others and was glad to help.  In the meantime Jennifer was receiving a dissertation on US Chilean foreign policy and the evils of the US policy that forces people to pay $100.00 to apply for visa to travel to their country.  I didn't have the heart (or patience) to tell him we do that to everyone, not just select countries, it's a non discriminatory policy as this on was clearly aimed at punishing US citizens for wanting to visit their country as the four other countries listed were had to pay 1/2 or less what we did.  A friendly airline person showed up with our bag and explained that if we were going to get on another flight in the morning we didn't have to pay.  So we went up stairs to wait and hope that we could buy tickets in the morning like the travel agent told us we would be able to.  We decided that we really didn't like Chile or the people as no one was interested in helping two wayward travelers, they were just rude and hostile.

Day 529 - Sunday, April 13, 2003

Again sleeping in airports is pretty low on my list of "thinks I like to do", in fact is now towards the top of my list of "things I really don't like to do", which is relatively short.  Around 6am the airport came back to life, but only slightly as it was Sunday.  We searched in vain for a flight to Mendoza, Argentina and finally conceded that we would have to pay our $200.00 entrance fee and take a bus to Mendoza.  We left the airport bitter and tired and vowed to spend as little money and time in Chile as possible as the people were not very nice from what we could tell.  Maybe it was just the airport people as the bus people and everyone else we met after that were nicer, but only slightly.

We caught a city bus to the bus terminal and then got on another bus bound for Mendoza.  8 Hours later we pulled into the Mendoza central bus terminal and called Enrique and Chiquita who were surprised to find out that we were in Mendoza, as we had not been able to call them and let them know when exactly we would be arriving.  They were thrilled to see us and greeted us like long lost children.  It was obvious from the time we stepped off the bus and were directed by friendly Argentineans who wanted nothing more than to help us, that Argentina was definitely different than Chile.

Once at their house we were given our own room and some time to get organized and rest.  We talked all evening, enjoyed empanadas, and worked out a plan for what we would be doing over the next couple of weeks.  Around 11pm we went to bed exhausted realizing that it was 2am in Honduras and way past our bed time.

Day 530 - Monday, April 14, 2003

We slept in this morning and then went for a drive with Chiquita, Alberto, and Olga (Alberto and Olga are parents of another Argentinean guy that we know in the US, I used to play tennis with him, Alberto [the son] before I left for Honduras.)  We went to Our Lady of Lourdes where we looked at the church and the grotto for Our Lady of Lourdes.  Apparently in the 1600's a soldier was visited by the Blessed Virgin Mary at the sight  and they set up a church there.  The grotto was a small chapel type area and on the walls were metal plaques that people had donated thanking Our Lady of Lourdes for the miracles and answered prayers that they associated with visiting the grotto and asking for her prayer.  The place had a certain power to it and it was amazing to see all the prayers that had been answered.  Jennifer and I said a quick prayer, and wrote down on a sheet of paper that we would really like to be blessed with twins.  We tossed our paper prayer with hundreds of others that littered the floor in front of the statue of the Blessed Mother.

Afterwards we got a driving tour of the city going through the central park area (Plaza General San Martin) where there was a man made lake, a sculling club on the lake, a beautiful park area that reminded me of the park in Minneapolis on the Mississippi River.  Unfortunately while we were driving around the park we got into a minor accident with a guy that was pulling out of his parking spot and didn't see us.  They were very civil about the while thing and we felt a little guilty that it happened while they were showing us around the city.  We also went to the downtown area that is well organized, and beautiful with many plazas and, shops, and trees.  Apparently Mendoza was a dried up desert type area when they came to settle and through planting trees and irrigation they have created a beautiful little town and a micro climate that is a little more agreeable.

Day 531 - Tuesday, April 15, 2003

We checked out a couple of travel agencies in the center of town this afternoon and just kind of took it easy.  In the evening we went to Alberto and Olga's house for grilled chicken and salad.  We were very surprised when they served the chicken as it was about twice the size of the larger chickens we can buy in Honduras.  The meat was thick and juicy and appeared to have been marinated in something.  It was delicious and we commented on how big the chicken was.  They all seemed a little confused until we explained that the chickens in Honduras were a little skinny and underfed.  They thought this was funny and it became an standing joke for the next two weeks when ever chicken was served that we were having "pollo grande" or big chicken.  We were out until about 12:30 am talking and then returned to Chiquita and Enrique's house to crash for the evening.

Day 532 - Wednesday, April 16, 2003

We rested this morning and then headed out to the central park before lunch to go running with Enrique.  He works out several times a week and is in good shape.  We tried to keep up with him as we walked a mile around the man made lake and then ran a second lap.  Despite the higher altitude (we were at about 6,000 feet) the run felt great.  the air was so crisp and clean and the trail we ran on was nicely paved with no cracks, ruts or large rocks in the way.  Exercising in Concepción has always been a challenge as we fight for air among fires from garbage and cook stoves, and try to hide our faces from the large clouds of dust that attack us when busses or cars pass us on the road.  Mendoza and most of South America have a large number of cars that run on compressed natural gas making for next to zero emissions.  I was amazed at how advanced they were.  Most all of the filling stations offer compressed natural gas at a rate that, as far as miles per gallon are concerned, is about 1/3 the cost of regular gasoline.  The maximum range of the cars is reduced to about 150 miles, but there are huge savings in fuel costs as well as environmental impact.  Either way I was impressed with how clean the air was and was happy that on our exercise run I didn't have to smell smoke, garbage, road dust, exhaust, or animal excrement; it was very pleasant.

We returned home and had a light lunch wanting to save our appetite for the upcoming BBQ that we would be having in the evening.  In the late afternoon we visited with a few more relatives and around 8 pm lit the grill to start cooking.  Gustavo the "visiting chef" and a police officer with the motorcycle section of the Mendoza Police Department got the fire going and we were soon grilling huge chunks of beef and chicken over the fire.  The Argentinean process for grilling is to get a good fire and let the meat cook nice and slow.  Around 10:30 pm we sat down and started munching on the first pieces of meat off the grill.  They were very good and it seemed like there was a never ending supply of food.  After being protein deprived in Honduras for two years I took full advantage of the endless supply of beef ribs, steaks, and sausages.  Around 3 am we said our goodbyes and went to bed.  

Day 533 - Thursday, April 17, 2003

We went to a local vineyard this afternoon to see where wine is made.  It was interesting to see the process that it goes through and to walk among the huge tanks with wine fermenting in them.  The most interesting thing were the huge wooden casks that were used to age the wine and change its taste.  We bought a bottle as a gift for our Peace Corps Director back in Honduras.

After the vineyard we went to Chiquita's brother's house for some tea and "Facturas" which are pasties that are very popular at tea time.

Day 534 - Friday, April 18, 2003

We went to a huge man made lake to spend the day at Alberto and Olga's cabin.  Since it was Good Friday we had fish "pastilitos" fried pastries with spinach and fish as well as baked fish, and fish empanadas.  It was all very good. After dinner and coffee time, I headed on onto the lake and went fishing with a couple of the neighbors and one of the relatives.  We stayed out for several hours catching a small silver fish that looked a lot like a large sardine.  The were tiny by fish standards, but they kept them anyway and said they would fry them up and use them as a snack.  The fishing was fun and I was able to watch the sun set over the Andes mountains while on the water.  It was a beautiful site and made the others I was with pause to enjoy it and comment on how beautiful it was.  The lake, "El Lago Carrizal", used to be a vineyard with a small river running through it.  Years ago they decided to turn it into a water reservoir that they could use for irrigating other vineyards.  The land was purchased, some engineering was some and now there is a large lake there that provides water to hundreds of farms in the area.  It was actually quiet impressive.

Day 535 - Saturday, April 19, 2003

We relaxed today and went for run with Enrique again in the park.  It was again exhilarating.  In the late afternoon we went to mass at Our Lady of Lourdes.  It was a beautiful Easter mass starting with a bonfire outside and then processing inside with candles.  It was a very nice Mass.

We returned home that evening stopping on the way for some Italian ice cream that was very very good.  Again having been ice cream deprived for so long in Honduras we took full advantage of the situation.

Day 536 - Sunday, April 20, 2003

We had a huge BBQ this afternoon with most of the family in attendance.  Again the meat was outstanding and we ate for about 3 hours before retreating to the front porch to play cards with some of the kids.

Day 537 - Monday, April 21, 2003

We headed out this evening for Bariloche, Argentina.  The bus ride is 20 hours and we will be traveling to the southern part of Argentina.  We slept as best we could on the bus and enjoyed the airline style food they served.

Day 538 - Tuesday, April 22, 2003

We arrived in Bariloche around 3pm today.  The roads were good and Bariloche is kind of cold this time of the year.  We checked into our hotel and then went walking around the town.  Bariloche was founded in the early 1900's by German and Italian settlers.  The town itself looks like something from Germany or Switzerland complete with little chocolate shops on every corner that had tons of exquisite chocolate treats and yummy ice cream.

Day 539 - Wednesday, April 23, 2003

We went to a spa this afternoon and both took a sauna and got massages.  We were kind of stiff and sore after the 20 hour bus ride and thought we would take advantage of the spa in town.  Afterwards we walk around town taking photos and sampling more chocolate and ice cream.  In the evening we went to the movie "Dare Devil" which, amazingly enough, was in English with Spanish subtitles.  Which was nice for us.

Day 540 - Thursday, April 24, 2003

We left early this morning for an excursion, which started with an hour long minibus ride to a lake.  At the lake we boarded a boat that took us to the other side of the lake where we got on board another minivan and continued into a national park to see a huge glacier that was at the top of the mountain.  We also got to visit a water fall.  The glacier was pretty cool, but kind of far away.  Every 15 minutes or so we heard something that sounded like thunder as the glacier slid a little closer to the edge of the mountain and a piece of it sheered off falling down the side of the mountain. 

Day 541 - Friday, April 25, 2003

We left to go back to Mendoza at 8pm.  The bus ride was ok.  The funniest thing we did was play Bingo.  The bus companies down here play bingo on each trip and give out a prize to the winner.  We were a little disappointed tough.  When the game started the bus attendant said that if you got bingo and wanted to prize you would have to sing or tell a joke.  The guy that got bingo refused to do either.  Eager to have the cheap little bag they were giving away Jennifer and I volunteers to sing a popular Argentinean children's song we had learned earlier in the week (it is sung by a clown on TV that is very popular right now).  We sang and the guy that got Bingo still got the bag, it just didn't seem very fair.

Day 542 - Saturday, April 26, 2003

We arrived in Mendoza about 7am.  Chiquita and Enrique were there waiting for us.  Once back at the house Jennifer and I separated.  I went with Enrique and enjoyed an afternoon luncheon with him and several of his clients (cardiovascular surgeons) and we all enjoyed a dish called Pailla, which is an Italian dish.  Watching it made I was glad that I heard so many stories from my father about his youth and the different types of seafood he ate while at sea, and that I was a person who was open to trying new things.  The following is the recipe that I wrote down while they were making it.  They were all impressed that a North American would want to learn how to make Pailla.

You start out with a giant skillet (about 30 inches wide and shaped like a wok over a giant burner almost as big.

Add the following ingredients:

In the end it was very good and reminded me of Honduran chicken with rice only fancier with all the sea food.  We ate and talked for some time, and then headed home.  We went into town and did some shopping for souvenirs and then went back to the house and packed for out departure the next day.  In the evening we visited with relatives again and had pizza for dinner.

Day 543 - Sunday, April 27, 2003

We left in the late morning and arrived in Viña del Mar, Chile at 7pm.  In the bus station we found a guy who said he had several apartments to rent and went with him to look at them.  We weren't very impressed, but didn't have a place to sleep the night and took one of the apartments which was pretty nice, but not very well maintained.  Our view of the ocean, that we wanted, was obstructed by a building across the street and it looked like the bed sheets hadn't been changed.  When we asked about toilet paper and towels he said he would be around the next day in the late afternoon to deliver those as he lived on the other side of town and didn't want to have to drive all the way over.  Again we weren't very impressed and I was a little upset that the place was so slimy.  He was kind enough to drive us to a grocery store so we could buy food.  We paid him for one night and told him we would decide the next day if another night was needed. 

In the area of the grocery store we found a few other hotels, one of which was a little more expensive, but much nicer.  We went back to our little apartment, slept the night there (in our cloths due to the dirty bed sheets) and decided we would only be spending one night there.  To get back to the apartment we had to take a bus.  We unfortunately got on the wrong bus and ended up in the next city down the coast after dark and wondering how we would get back.  We managed to find the very last bus headed past our apartment and made it back with out too much trouble.  It was a little scary for a while.  We ran into a guy who was from Chicago and didn't speak much Spanish.  He was a teacher at a school in a nearby town and was trying to get back.  So the three of us tried to figure out what we were going to do. He ended up taking the one taxi we were able to find and left us wondering if we would ever make it back to our apartment.

Day 544 - Monday, April 28, 2003

We left the apartment early leaving the keys on the table and locking the door behind us.  The owner could figure it out for himself as I didn't want to waste the money calling him and after finding a cockroach in the refrigerator and having to use our personal stash of emergency toilet paper up, I decided it wasn't my problem if he didn't have a spare key or was confused by why we had just left.

We checked into the Best Western we had found the night before and enjoyed the view and cleanness of our room.  We then set out to check out the town, got lunch at an Argentinean grill, did some souvenir shopping, and visited an outdoor naval museum.  We also took some photos on the beach and just kind of enjoyed our time being next to the ocean.

Day 545 - Tuesday, April 29, 2003

We left on a bus early in the morning and arrived in Santiago, Chile at the bus station.  While I was on the bus I saw a sign for a hotel that was run by the same company as the bus we rode in on.  I thought that was interesting and wondered what a hotel run by a bus company would be like.  It looked really nice, and really expensive.  I figured it must be close to the bus station or it wouldn't be advertised on the buses.  The more I thought about it I figured it must be affordable as people who ride the bus don't usually have lots of money to spend on hotels.  When we arrived in Santiago we found that the hotel was located on the third floor of the bus station.  We went up to take a look.  Jennifer was ready to turn back as it looked like a place that would probably charge us about a hundred bucks a night.  To our surprise we were able to get the room for $30.00.  We were elated.  The hotel had been built the year before and is by far the best hotel we have stayed in in the last two years.  Everything was very very clean and they even had free internet access in the lobby for guests.  The name of the hotel was the Tur Hotel located above the Tur bus station. 

We went out in the afternoon and explored Santiago visiting an old castle, the Plaza Independencia, and other areas.  It was a very nice town with tons of shops and people.  Public transportation was outstanding with busses running every 5 minutes to where ever you wanted to go and a subway system that we would have explored if we would have had more time.  I still wasn't all that impressed with the Chilean people, but they have some cool stuff to look at in their towns.

Day 546 - Wednesday, April 30, 2003

We flew into San Salvador, El Salvador after a 3 hour lay over in San Jose, Costa Rica.  After a slightly frustrating moment in the airport we managed to find a taxi that would take us to a hotel.  We thought for sure we were getting ripped off until we arrived at the hotel 40 minutes later.  The airport is located some distance outside of the main part of town and takes a while to get to from the center of town.  We checked into yet another outstanding hotel, Hotel Capital, near the Catholic University.  It was very clean, comfortable and felt very safe.

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