Easter Island

As I waited for three hours on the side of the road to start upon my journey from El Bolson (Patagonia) to Santiago, Chile, I saw my beloved bus breeze past me, leaving me standing/swearing comically in a cloud of dust. I had never been stood up by an automobile before, and it hurt. After a two-day, two-night adventure, however, I made it to Chile and actually found my brother. The next morning we headed out for Rapa Nui, a magical, little island today called Easter Island, which is literally in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. Rapa Nui is shrouded in mystery and approximately 1,000 gigantic Moai statues (the stone heads), carved by Rapa Nui inhabitants many, many years ago, using only obsidian knives, and rocks. Incredible. Because the island was plagued with tribal warfare for years, many of the statues have been knocked down, and their platforms destroyed. With the help of modern equipment, and funds, however, many have been ¨successfully restored.¨For five sun-drenched days, my brother and I toured the island by foot and scooter (i´m buying one immediately upon my arrival home), and saw the island from above and below, snorkeling one day in some very rough, but unbelievably purple waters. As you can imagine, everything on the island was imported--the cars, the food, the clothes--and this was definitely reflected in the price of things. Because the people of Easter Island cut down all the trees (this is no exaggeration) in order to transport the Moai statues from one location to another, the flora and fauna is painfully scarce. The trees that do exist on the island have all been imported, and there are still only a few animal species there--from what I saw, only birds, horses, dogs, cows, and cockroaches. On our last day on Easter Island, Andrew and I hiked up an extinct volcano called Rano Raraku--the experience of standing upon the ridge of such a beautiful death trap was truly humbling. We also witnessed a ¨final four¨soccer match on the island. So funny that with only 4,000 people on the island, they can make 10 teams to compete. I think my high school Lady Bears team could have shamed them off the field, but they were okay considering the talent pools they were able to draw from. Currently i´m in San Pedro de Atacalamas, in northern chile. Andrew left for Bolivia this morning, but because they tossed out the American ambassador about a month ago, and many of my friends told me horror stories about trying to get in and leave Bolivia, I decided not to go. Andrew, using his brain, brought along his Canadian passport, so he´s set--apparently Canadians are welcome. I´m not sure where my next move will bring me, or when I will leave this beautiful little town, but wish me luck!

new adventures.

It is still hard to put into words how beautiful my temporary home is. Since the last time I wrote, my days have been filled with more cooking, teaching english, gardening, cleaning bathrooms, and animal tending, as well as long hikes to the lake. One of the big, brown horses decided to be my friend two days ago, which was clearly the highlight of my week (read: my life), and the three kittens I get to play with daily are growing bigger and more curious every day. A little more than a week ago, Brian flew back to the United States--It´s a little lonlier here in paradise without a constant companion, but I am still having a blast, and loving Patagonia. Last Monday, I started upon my own adventure to El Calafate, taking a bus (27 hours) to the southern end of Argentina, with two girlfriends from the farm, to El Glaciar Perito Moreno. Because I can´t upload pictures just yet, i´m asking you all of you reading this to google this glacier--it is absolutely mind-blowing. The gigantic glacier is the last expanding ice-mass on earth, and is a breath taking shade of blue that makes it pop out of the brown mountains and green waters that surround it. The ice is so dense, that the sounds of little pieces of the glacier cracking off, become thunderous clapps, sounding like the beginnings of an avalanche. Because the girls and I left to see the glacier just before 6am, we got back to El Calafate early, and decided to hike one of the many mountains that surround the city. The view, as you can imagine, was spectacular. On the way up the mountian, two little local dogs decided to tag along, and followed us for over 3 hours up and down the mountian. I´m just making friends like crazy in the animal sphere.

In a few hours I am off to Santiago, Chile (a 27-30 hour bus ride), to meet my brother, Andrew, for a family adventure. YAY. Hopefully the hardest part of the next few days will be locating eachother in a gigantic city, without cellphones. We´ll see...

Patagonia

I´m in paradise. The bus ride down to El Hoyo took about 23 hours, but with a constant stream of food, and a purple lighting show that lasted over 6 hours, the time flew by. The farm I now live on is a beautiful little organic ranch surrounded by snow-capped Andes Mountains, nestled between gigantic emerald green lakes that look as though they flow right under the mountains. Brian and I are living the good life in our two-person tent, waking up to bright blue, cloudless skies, and falling asleep under the biggest silver moon I have ever seen. At night the horses gallop around our tent, not used to the white intrusion on their uninterrupted green landscape, and sometimes get so close, I think they´ll crash into us.

Work for me starts at 9, and consists of weeding the herb garden, preparing meals, sifting compost, teaching english to local kids, shoveling cow manure, and trying to keep calm when dealing with the unpredictable worms that weasle out of the rich soil every 5 minutes. Brian, on the other hand chops wood, turns flower beds, and does more manly chores. Today he fashioned a sled out of pine tree branches to haul wood out of the forest. We are the new cast members of Lost.

Showering here is a bit interesting, seeing how we have to light fires to warm the water tank in order to receive a hot shower. If the fire is stubborn, i´ve been instructed to put a few walnut shells in the shower oven to get her going. Similarly, the toilet situation is also a bit untraditional. To ease the flushing process, we are asked not to put any toilet paper in the toilet... ever. Being from the western world, this is an extremely hard habit to break.. and i´ve definitely forgotten about 18 times so far. bleh.

The ranch keeps three horses, three dogs, two cats, and three kittens (born only a week ago) in addition to their permanent members and volunteers. Currently there are 7 volunteers here, counting Brian and I, from all over England, Australia, and Canada--all in their early 20´s. So far everyone has been getting along really well, and we spend most of our free time cooking, reading, snacking drinking, etc., together, and it´s great to have the company. I am also taking some free Spanish lessons here from a girl who lives close to the farm, and am learning more here than I did in the city. Like everything else here, the food is fantastic. Everything is vegetarian, and DELICIOUS, and for breakfast, lunch, and dinner, we all eat together, and have a nice little hand-holding silent prayer session beforehand. After lunch we always have a 2 or 3 hour siesta, where everyone reads or naps away the meal. Most days, after this nice rest, Brian and I head off into the mountains for a day hike, and stay in the woods until it´s time for dinner.

I wish I could describe where I am, and what I am doing better, but I don´t think I can. To summarize it simply, though, this place is magical. The food, the landscape, and the community is incredible, and I hope everyone reading this gets a chance to experience it one day. I feel incredibly lucky.

Leaving the Big City

Today Brian and I are packing for our big move to El Hoyo, Argentina-- a rural area in Patagonia, at the foot of the Andes Mountains. We got involved with an organization called WWOOF last month,  that helps people find farms around the world that they'd like to volunteer on. The place we're are moving to is a 15 organic ha organic farm that sustains an herb garden, walnut orchard, fruit tree orchard, and some other ...things. The plan is to help the owners with their gardening, fruit harvesting, building, and cooking, while not forgetting to participate in the monthly circle dances. Yeah... I PROMISE to put up pictures as soon as I take them. Oh, and free Kool-Aid at these dances too, i guess. Awesome. 

Last friday was my last day at work, and it was pretty tough saying goodbye to my students. Some of them turned into friends that I just happened to get paid to hang out with, so leaving them was pretty tough. Two of my favorites let me borrow their tent and sleeping bag for my trip so i wouldn't have to buy one. Did i mention that I will be sleeping in a two person tent for 5 weeks? Brian is going to stay for 3 extra weeks, while I meet up with my brother in Chile for another big adventure. If all goes to plan Andrew and I going to Easter Island for 5 days, then trekking around Chile, Bolivia, Paraguay and Uruguay before meeting up with my family in Buenos Aires just before Christmas. All six Mazzottas are flying into BA for Holidays!! AHHHHH!! I can't wait. 

More to come. 

Chaos.

Last weekend, Brian and I went to Tigre, a community north of the  city that operates almost completely by and on water. Boats go up and down the river streets, and people get their food, gas, and sometimes their educations, from passing boats. While considering whether or not to take a pricey boat tour of the town, Brian and I noticed a big tour bus pull up to the dock, and watched as passengers filed onto the boat for their next activity. With our heads low, Brian and I jumped in line with the tourists, got our pictures taken, received some delicious treats on board, and saw Tigre for free. After we were positive we weren't going to jail, we started really enjoying the beautiful catamaran ride-- eating and drinking our way all around the little town. While returning to the dock, about an hour an a half later, my happiness came to a quick end as I saw a puppy, floating in the river. Dead. I did not take pictures of it. 

Food poisoning. Yup. Got it last week. I exploded for 32 hours of non-stop volcano fun in both my bathroom and bedroom, and vow never to eat eggs again. Without going into too much detail, I will just say this: the human body is amazing in its effort to reject food. It's ability to rid itself of contents from different sources at the same time is just plain effective. 

Brian and I moved into a new house this week in a neighborhood called Caballito, which means "pony." The house is a 1920's French Style home with hardwood floors, high ceilings, and several terraces outside to read on. We live with a girl from Canada, a guy from the US, and three girls from Buenos Aires. The first night we stayed there, the owner (a 26-year old from Maine, who bought the house to restore as an investment) threw a huge fundraiser for a big volunteer organization here called Help Argentina, which he helps run. We met great people from all over the world, and pretended the party was a housewarming event. Below are two of my favorite/two of the creepiest pictures ever. 

In other news, the pilot that I acted in a few weeks ago got picked up, and they chose me to do the full DVD series. YAY! And if that wasn't cool enough, a representative from a tv show here contacted me about doing an Argentine spin-off of The Office. Obviously this would be low-budget nonsense, but the idea was pretty funny. Both projects sound really fun, but I don't think I will do either. Right now I am reminding myself of the reasons I moved down here, which are do not include being in movies and tv shows, but rather, traveling the country. I am quitting my teaching job in two weeks to begin a spanish-intensive course to prepare for a possible trek out to Patagonia. So a much poorer, but much more spanish Liz is in the works. 

Phone Number!

Yay! I now have a somewhat local phone number! Brian and I signed up for an unlimited phone plan through Skype that lets us make and receive calls from anywhere in the US. It's (845) 605-4555. The number is out of downstate New York, so it costs the price of a regular call. 

This week I saw a really cool South American custom that I think the US should adopt. This Saturday I was reading my book in the park, when I heard a bunch of people behind me start clapping. I looked around and saw a man with a little girl on his shoulders, and  figured it was her birthday or something. More and more people in the park started to turn around and clap, (even though they were completely engulfed in their own conversations and park activities) and then at once the clapping was over. I asked my students the next day what that was about, and they told me that when there is a lost child in the park, an adult will put the kid on their shoulders and start clapping. Everyone here knows the drill, so when people hear one person clapping, they start doing it too until the whole place is doing it. When parents hear clapping they look for their own kids, and if they notice them missing, they can see if he/she is on a pair of shoulders. Really cool. 

 

Week 7

Just when I thought my days (okay, minutes) of fame were over, I was asked  by Jorge Aragon, a photographer here in Argentina, to do a photoshoot! WOO HOO! Mustering up everything I remembered from the 30+ hours of watching America's Next Top Model this spring, I strutted my awkward stuff, and went home with some pretty cool pictures.  Go to www.flickr.com/photos/31204538@N04/?saved=1 if you want to see a few of them.

In an effort to keep his soul safe from the Devil, Brian quit his fancy financial job which apparently too closely resembled the movie Boiler Room, and now is teaching English to bankers at HSBC and American Express. Work, for me, is still going well. It's beginning to be Spring here in Argentina, so I lure my students outside for lessons, and we all talk in the sunshine together. 

The highs and lows of this week, both included animals. The low took place yesterday when I literally walked into a dead pig. I was turning the corner on the way back to my home, and I ran into a pig carcass being brought into a deli. I was upset, the pig was clearly upset...not good. 

The highlight of my week was short and sweet. Well actually, big and furry. Near my favorite cafe I saw the biggest white and gray sheepdog of my life. I swear to God, I could have ridden it home--It must have been over 200 pounds. Nothing like a big ol' furry dog to put a smile on your face.