Feliz Cumpleaños a mi Gemelo y Yo

On this day in history the following people were born:

Geronimo
Tupac
OJ's Best Friend, A.C. Cowlings
Harold, from Harold and Kumar, John Cho
The current leader in the clubhouse at the US Open, Phil Mickelson

A real illustrious bunch that we'll add these two guys to -

Younger and Cuter

Older and Thicker

Happy Birthday to my Brother and to me!

Parker vs. the Volcano

There is actually a Volcano in this story.  But it's been awhile so you'll have to wait to get to that part.  Nothing is terribly exciting, but I figure you all miss me and I have some pretty pictures to share.

First off, I again have access to my (dwindling) fortune.  A HUGE debt of gratitude to Miss Amy Bell for helping me out and for the incredible hospitality while in Santiago!

Next, the adventure of speaking Spanish is off to an amusing start.  I've quickly learned that there is very little that is as humbling as learning a language.  Last week, I took a "Super Intensive Class" in Santiago and we had a great time with our respective struggles.

The language is coming a long.  I understand it pretty well and when I speak I'm getting by.  Though, "getting by" might be stretching it, for instance, when I don't know how to say what I need to, I generally try to patch the words I know together to approximate.  This behavior is more or less encouraged/suffered, I think, because of the absurdities that could follow.  I've called a sleeping bag a "bolsa de sueños' (bag of dreams), remembered the word for butter - but not the words to direct a taxi. etc. etc.  I'm told I have a good vocabulary, and I'm trying.  But, after 3 weeks, I have to say that I'm confident at this point I'll be much better at the end of my tour in South America, but likely still not very good.  We'll see.  Maybe if I really do get a bag of dreams, it will help...

Anyway, as another week comes closer to closing I'll catch you up on the adventure since I left Santiago.  After a long overnight bus last Friday night I arrived on the lovely islands of Chiloé.  It was ridiculously cold and quite rainy for my time there, but I made a go of it.

The city of Ancud, a sleepy little fishing town with an old Spanish Fort. 

Certainly one of the most colorful churches I've ever seen and it was quite a surprise walking inside to a completely wooden interior with only woodgrain as the color. 

Los Palafitos

After Chiloé, I headed up in the lakes region of Chile.  The region is also a part of the Pacific Fire Belt, and the base of Volcano exploration is Pucón.

The Villarrica Volcano

The beginning of the ascent.  It looks so much closer than it was.  We didn't make it to the crater, due to high winds and ice, but it was still a magnificent view and a good, strenuous day on the mountain.

There are two other Volcanoes in the region and we got a good view of them above the clouds!  The close one is Lanín and the far one is Quetrupillán.  By some weird boundary marking, Lanin is in Argentina. 

One of the many lakes we could see from the mountain as well. 

The walk up is long, done with crampons, and at 50-60 degree slope.  The way down was much more fun.  Sliding down on the ol' keister!

In other news, I leave this evening for Santiago and to meet up with Megan, who is coming back for her second tour of duty here at Just 'Cuz It's Round.   A quick refresher on who Megan is courtesy of our friends at iPhoto:

Not sure what iPhoto is trying to say, but we'll be heading out to Valparaiso and Viña Del Mar and then up to the Atacama Desert and Bolivian Salt Flats over the next week or so.  Should be some weird and wild stuff coming to this venue soon.   

Hola Frío Chile!

Algún día en cualquier parte, en cualquier lugar indefectiblemente te encontrarás a ti mismo, y ésa, sólo ésa, puede ser la más feliz o la más amarga de tus horas. - Neruda

Chilly, Chile!  The view from "the Mary" in Santiago, Chile

Well folks, I've made it almost entirely around the world being just a few clicks west of full, longitudinally speaking, from NYC. 

I've made it to the 6th continent of this journey.  I'm in CHILE!!!

And, boy, is it chilly here! (ba-zing!)

I've been here for almost a week now, but between the ridiculous jet lag and rain, I've been a little bit of a bum.  

I haven't exactly been sitting around fearing the end though. (I mean, that's still months away!)  There's been more than a few highlights, some of which include: 

• I've learned that my understanding of Spanish is far better than I would've thought.  Of course, my speech is slow, terrible on conjugations, and most likely confusing; but I've been getting by.   And, I start "Super Intensive" classes tomorrow morning in Santiago!
• Santiago has an unbelievably convenient Metro system.  Has been fun to ride a subway for the first time since New Delhi! (I skipped the one in Hong Kong - took ferries and walked instead)
• The above view of the Mountains surrounding Santiago and this sunrise:

• Café con Piernas ("coffee with legs") - a bit of an amusement here in Santiago is the fact that some coffee shops have scantily clad women serving the beverages.  I've been told that due to the darkened windows on the shop below, the cladded ladies inside, may not be cladded at all. 

Cafe Tsunami - A sea of goddesses.  Though, I'm pretty sure Eva Longoria doesn't work here!  And, the sign on the door says something like: "See that we have the best coffee and best international and chilean girls.  Do not miss." (I'm guessing that's what "minas" means.  I can't imagine they are talking about mines)

• And, Valparaiso, about an hour and a half outside Santiago:

The city is all hills (think: San Francisco), so it makes for a pretty tough wander, but it is the only way to see the amazing colors and street art of the city.  Some of my favorites below:

The first two days basically just poured rain, so I was thrilled to have sun the last day and half.  Now it's back in Santiago getting ready for a week's worth of Spanish classes.  

Given that I only had 30 pesos of spending money, I was grateful the views from the bus were free:

I can't wait to see what else South America will throw my way!

Translation for the Neruda quote above: 
Someday, somewhere - anywhere, unfailingly, you'll find yourself, and that, and only that, can be the happiest or bitterest hour of your life.

Left with only a penny...

Here's a first - I am out of money and have no way of getting more.   

Due to a misplaced decimal point by the Finance Department (This is not a mundane detail, Michael!), I have no money in my checking account.   So, my ATM card is useless to me.

And, since it is Sunday here, no way of exchanging money either. 

Anyway, the fallout could've been worse.  At least the Travel Gods were shining upon me when they left me enough to get back from Valparaiso with 30 pesos - 1 penny - to spare!  
   

These bad boys are going in to a lucky charm of some sort...

Too bad they won't be able to save the budget coordinator.  That guy is bound to be pretty sore from beating himself up about it. 

My Fat A$$

I've shared a lot about myself over the last few months.  Some of that sharing even included some shots of me shirtless.

That sort of behavior is very unlike me.

But, given these changes in my life, I suppose this day (today) was always going to come.

The day when we talked about my derrière.

Relax. I haven't come down with a case of Montezuma's Revenge.

It's worse than that.

Gang, it turns out that my keister is just too big for my pants:

No sooner had the right cheek side been mended than the left glute-section started ripping too.

Good thing my Mom taught me how to sew back when I was a kid.

I'm pretty sure her version didn't include multiple different stitching techniques, thread colors, duct tape and/or super glue though...

I'm not saying I used all of the above.  But I'm not not saying it either.

While you figure what that means, I've ordered this to get my act in rear.  I mean gear...

Ok, I'm done with this terrible joke/post now...

The Great Ocean Road

Welcome to the Great Ocean Road, Southern Victoria, Australia. 

The road is officially the world's largest war memorial and was built in between 1919 and 1932 as a tribute to the soldiers who fought and died in World War One. 

I think that Australia has to have the most helpful road signage in the world.  First, there are heaps of them.  You can't go a klick without seeing one of some sort.  Second, their information ranges from which side of the road to drive on, to telling you to take a power nap if you're tired, to getting your smoke detectors checked, to various wildlife that may be seen crossing the road in the vicinity (despite the warnings, I saw none.).

The drive winds around the coast of Australia south of Melbourne for about 300K.  So, needless to say there is a lot of water and beaches along the way. 

There are heaps of Lighthouses on the coast, but it hasn't stopped it from getting the nickname "Shipwreck Coast" on account of the more than 638 known wrecks that have occurred here. 

If there had been internet, I was going to send this to you all as a "Happy Monday" post with a wish for luck.  Now all I can do is wish you luck!

A place called Parker's Inlet.  Nothing fabulous about it other than its name, of course. 

The London Arch

The most celebrated stop is the Twelve Apostles (though really there are only 8 left due to the constant erosion):

It's odd that it is the second version of the Twelve Apostles that I've seen and neither has actually had twelve (the one in Cape Town has 17 or something like that).   I wonder how many more of these there are in the world?  New bucket list item!

Anyway, I took a load of pictures, so I could keep posting for days.  I think you get the idea though.

I think the Garden Route in South Africa was better as a drive.  But they didn't have Koalas and Kangaroos.   So, maybe it is a same-same, but different thing.  Either way, I still really enjoyed it.

Gettin' Wild on the Great Ocean Road

The Internet has been in short supply (or incredibly expensive - $10-15/hr -- which is out of my retirement budget) here on the Great Ocean Road, so today I'm writing you from a Library.

Yeah, they still have those things.

It's nice to be surrounded by the smell of books after living off of a Kindle for so long.

But we're here to talk about life on the road.  And there, I've been surrounded by animals.

Koalas, Echidnas, Emus, Whales, Kangroos, and Wallabies to be exact.  Sadly, the Wombat and the Platypus have proved elusive so far, but I'm still hoping to find some.

In the meantime, we'll start with the Koala.  They aren't bears, they are marsupials.  And they aren't friendly, despite their cute, Yoda-like appearances:

I may have found some active ones, but mainly they do a lot of the below.  I've read that they sleep a lot to conserve energy because they don't digest the food they eat very well.   But, that food also makes them drunk, so there is little incentive for them to change.  

Basically, the "lovable" little Koalas are all marketing, but are actually no different from a junkie.  

If they were humans, they would've been put on a 12 step process to eating something else and being more productive during the day.

Echidna - One of only two mammals to lay eggs.  The other?  The Platypus (Travel gods, let me see one!).  Not sure why they both are native to Australia.  Weird.

Emu - the World's third largest Bird.  

Whales - It is a bit early for the Whale season here, but I was lucky enough to catch this guy.  Most likely a Southern Right Whale up from Antarctica for the Winter.

Sheep - Some of my former colleagues are familiar with this guy, sans coastal cliffs and a few more months of growth.   The only place I've seen more sheep is in Ireland.  They're everywhere!

Kangaroos/Wallabies - I was told last night that I may not have seen a Kangaroo after all.  These are a little small, and thus probably Wallabies.  Whatever, I'm counting it. 

A funny side note from that conversation.  As I sat in the hostel last night, an Australian Mother and Daughter asked what they shouldn't miss while on the Great Ocean Road.  I, of course, started listing off all the sites where they could find the above animals. 

There response was, "We're Australian.  We call those things road kill here. Got anything else?" 

To which I say this: 

More pictures of the stunning coastline later, it has been well worth the drive!