The Miner Leagues

I checked out the world's largest copper mine today. They kept saying it was in the "heart of the Andes", which I finally got at the end of the day (the mine is literally in the center of one of the mountains. Get it?)

It was actually super cool. Also as a side note, I'm not sure if my Spanish will get better or worse here in Chile, since they use SO much slang, slurs, and shortcuts.

Here are some pictures.

Mines!



While I was exploring.



I got bored of the bootleg museum we went to, so I explored the abandoned mining town, which now sounds like the beginning to a B-list horror movie.

This was the coolest part; They pushed a button, and all of a sudden these walls of dirt and boulders came crashing down into this rock-crushing pit. It was the loudest, the coolest, and also extremely reminiscent of that crazy pit of doom in one of the Star Wars movies. I want to say Return of the Jedi...

I checked out the world's largest copper mine today. They kept saying it was in the "heart of the Andes", which I finally got at the end of the day (the mine is literally in the center of one of the mountains. Get it?)

It was actually super cool. Also as a side note, I'm not sure if my Spanish will get better or worse here in Chile, since they use SO much slang, slurs, and shortcuts.

Here are some pictures.

Baby´s first viñard

Today I checked out a massive viñard right outside Santiago. There was no shortage of grapes, climate controlled cellars, classy wines, or free samples. I was pretty excited, and, even though my pallet is not even close to sophisticated enough, I thought the wines were tastey. And no, the wooden barrels in the basement were not for sale, and no, there wouldnt have been a discount on them if they hadn´t finished aging or fermenting. So far, so Santiago.
A real, live viñard.
This is the classiest I´ve ever been. Just let me bask in it for a second.
J.C. lives down the road from me. I´ve seen him buying groceries twice (mainly water and cookies that are a lot like Samoas, except they´re not the Girl Scout brand)

North ______ East West

Adios, Peru. Here´s a view of Lake Titicaca.

Oh, hey.
Now I´m in Chile. (Now its monday, now its tuesday)
After bags were packed, drinks were drank, and goodbyes were said, I made my way south to Santiago.

I´ve been here two days now, and its SO DIFFERENT. There are tons of people everywhere, a clean and efficient metro system, and hot showers. I welcome some of these changes, but still kinda miss the grittyness and small town feel of Cusco.

I started working at the Woman´s Crisis Center, which is exactly what it sounds like. It´s a shelter where abused women can go with their kids while they figure out what to do and how to do it. I will be in charge of taking care of their kids from 10 AM to 4 PM, which is insane because there are about 15 kids, ages 1 to 13. Buah.

Vamos a ver, vamos a ver.

Also, drop me a comment if you read this blog of mine... It´s the only way I know anyone sees it, and, as of now, only about two people see it I think.

Lake EXPLETIVE DELETED

Hold on to your maturity!!!

I´m off to Lake Titicaca this weekend! Assuming I manage to stop ROFLing at the name, its supposed to be beautiful.

Just to refresh you, it is:
-On the border of Peru and Bolivia
-The highest lake in the world
-The biggest lake in south america

I´m staying overnight with a family on a manmade floating island. Yeah.
Yeah.

Sacred Valley, The

For all you alpaca fans out there... chaos.

Try and find all this instruments this guy way playing... Notice the drum by his foot.

Nice, huh?

I made some friends.

But then I almost had to fight one of them.





Religious yet?

Not for the faint of stomach

These are pictures from the local market. All of these are from the meat section, which is definitely the most horrifying. There are other areas of the market (like beans, cheese, and plants), but you wouldnt be impressed if I put up pictures of flowers, would you? I apologize if these are gross or offending, but I wouldn´t have put them up otherwise. Smile-nod.
As promised. I´m really sorry.
Moving on...
Sick, huh?
Has anyone seen my mouth? I remember stopping by the market... It´s probably under my bed or something.
I don´t think an explanation is too necessary.

Important note: I did not post these pictures because I´m ¨into¨ this kind of gore or nastyness... I posted them so you can see the hygene embraced by this country and some obvious cultural differences. But still, pretty sick huh?

Use the Door

Alright I´m back in Cusco and I have some heavy good pictures from a market I went to today. I don´t want to give anything away, but there may or may not have been a pile of donkey mouths. I may or may not have nightmares about a pile of donkey mouths tonight.

But to show you those pictures now would be too easy, so I´ll get to those tomorrow or so.

Here is a picture of a mud house that I guess ran out of money (or mud) mid construction. I desperately wanted there to be a sign that said ¨Please, use the door¨ but there wasn´t.

And We're Back

I've been home for five days so far, and it has been healing. Literally, my cuts have healed and I got my rabies medicine.

I even managed to fit in all the things I missed most about home: I had chocolate chip pancakes (twice), I slept late, and I watched some movies. Also I stocked up on things to bring back to the orphanage with me, such as toys, games, clothing, and flip flops. As long as some of it gets to the kids, it'll be worth it.

Anyway, has anyone else noticed this years lineup for Bonnaroo?? (http://www.bonnaroo.com/artists.aspx)

Tomorrow I will be hopping a flight back to Cusco to continue my adventure. Wish me luck and please keep writing e mails to the p male. That was dumb, but maybe you smiled.

I'm gonna go let Sparky in.