TravelStream™ news feed for member ruizespieces on TravelPod's free travel blogs service http://www.travelpod.com/syndication/rss/ruizespieces en-us Copyright ©2009 TravelPod.com Tue, 29 Apr 2008 12:02:45 -0400 http://www.travelpod.com http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/ruizespieces/2/1209484860/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/ruizespieces/2/1209484860/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/ruizespieces/2/1209484860/tpod.html Tue, 29 Apr 2008 12:02:45 -0400 Ismael and Melanie´s South America Adventure Spectacular!!!

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Chicago, Illinois, United States

hello all,we've been home for almost 3 weeks now, still looking for jobs, though.  but i finally added pictures to all of the blogs.  take a look back and see all the things we did.  love you allmelanie and ismael
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Cusco, Peru

Hola a todos! Friday we were finally feeling a little better, so we went to the Museo del Arte Precolombino.  There were some very neat artifacts there, bowls and pots and that sort of thing, but also some beautiful jewelry made from gold and silver and also from seashells and bones.  there were some earring type things that the royalty wore. the stud part that goes through the ear was at least 2 inches wide.  and we thought all those people who stretch out their earlobes now were crazy. maylo got some great pics.  we´ll add them later.  That night we found a little cafe that shows movies on the wall in a separate room.  300,000 people in cusco and they don´t have a real movie theater. we watched american gangster, the one with denzel washington.  really good. saturday we went to the Museo de Qoricancha. it´s at the site of the only inca temple that was in cusco.  the museum itself, pretty bad, but the site is neat. the spaniards came and tore down most of the temple and built a church on top of it.  there are still wall segments from the temple though. we did a little shopping and saw another movie, amores perros.  one of maylo´s favorites.  i know, i know, going to movies, but it´s pretty boring to be in a town for 7 days.  especially when i don´t really like to go to bars.  yesterday we went on the tour de Valle Sagrado, the Sacred Valley. we went to Pisac, an archeological site and walked around for almost 2 hours.  when we first got there, there was a man playing the flute. the sound was beautiful and it was echoing off the mountains.  it almost felt like we were in incan times. our guide´s name was saul, he was a great guide. i could understand almost everything when he explained in spanish.  he really taught us a lot about the incans and the area.  we´ll be hiking about 45 kilometers of the inca trail when we go to machu pìcchu. if you add up all of the trails that they had it totals more than 40,000 kms.  we did walk sections of it yesterday.  i was scared a few times.  it´s very high up a mountain with a long drop off the side and the trail is only a couple of feet wide in parts.  we saw the religious section of the site. saul is from the sacred valley and quechua, the language of the incas, is his first language.  he taught us about one of the thousands of symbols.  it´s what some people call the andean cross, but he said cross was a european term. the real name for it is chacana.  it has 4 sides that are each a 3 step shape.  each step represents different things. on one side is the three worlds, the world of the dead, the world we live in and the spirit world.  another is the condor, the puma, and the serpent but i forget what they represent. the third side the philosophies of love, work and help, and the incas needed all three working together to do most anything.  the last side represented the elements of earth, fire and oxygen, or wind.  the symbol as a whole represented mother earth, called pacha mama. and in the center was a circle representing either father sun, or cusco itself. the quecha word, qosqo, means center of the world. saul told us that symbol was only used on religious items and buildings.  After pisac we stopped in urubamba for lunch.  they suggested a buffet, but that cost 25 soles each (about $8). we walked down the street to a little restuarant and both had a meal and drinks for 15 soles, including tip.  i had lomo saltado, a local meal. it´s chunks of steak, tomatoes, potatoes, peppers and onions grilled and served with rice. ¡muy delicioso!  we also got to try another local drink called frutillada.  it´s made with the local corn, called choclo, and strawberries. they let it ferment for 2 days and then strain it. tasty.  there´s a picture of choclo on my last entry.  each kernel is probably the size of 4 or 5 of our kernels.  we also ate some steamed choclo with local cheese.  it was so good!after lunch we headed to ollantaytambo, which is where saul is from.  the town is called ¨inca viviente¨ meaning that 85% of the town is of incan descent and still live in incan houses and live by the incan way of life.  it was neat to see.  the site here was pretty cool too.  the terraces that the incans built were just amazing.  they were used for agriculture, but also for suppport for the buildings on top.  and the incans learned that terraces of different depths would have different temperatures, and therefore would best grow different crops.  ingenious.  at this site they used the local rocks to build the terraces, but wanted something better for the temple.  they brought pink granite from the top of a mountain more than 16 km away.  these were huge blocks, weighing up to 300 tons!  can you imagine, carving out these huge stones, transporting it down a mountian, across a river and up another mountain, all by manpower alone?we were supposed to go see another site, but it was too late, so we just stopped in the town, chinchero.  i finally found a hat that i liked and actually got to buy it from the woman who made it, yoselina. as to our illnesses, i´m feeling much better, but ismael hasn´t gotten better.  after trying different medicines we finally went to a doctor today.  turns out he has a parasite in his belly.  it apparently has been there for 2 or 3 months, but wasn´t big enough to bother him until now.  he´s got some antibiotics and other medicines so hopefully he´ll feel better in a day or two.  well, that´s all for now, this is a massively long entry, but hope you like to hear about our adventures.  please be praying for us.  we start the trek to machu picchu tomorrow.  pray for our health, our strength, and for good weather.  love you allmelanieHola a todos!El viernes por nos sentimos un poco mejor, asi que fuimos al Museo del Arte Precolombino. Hay cosas muy interesantes, platones de oro, ollas y joyeria hecha de oro, plata, conchas y  piedras preciosas.Habia joyas que usaban la realeza. En unos aros, la parte que engancha en el oido media casi 2 pulgadas! Hay muy buenas fotos que tome! Esa noche encontramos una bar-cinema que te deja escojer cualquier pelicula que quieras ver con solo un consumo minimo de creo 11 soles. Se me hizo raro, pero en una ciudad de 300 000 y no hay un cine... Vimos American Gangster, muy buena. El Sabado fuimos a el Museo Qoricancha, es el sitio del unico templo Inca en Cuzco, el museo bastante fregadon, pero el lugar es historico porque aqui  fue donde estaba el templo mas importante de los Incas, los españoles derribaron el museo y encima construyeron una Iglesia. Sin embargo se alcanzan a ver los cimientos con el trabajo Inca. Nos fuimos de compras  y fuimos a ese barecillo, vimos Amores Perros,  una de mis favoritas.  Ayer nos fuimos a tour de Valle Sagrado. FRuimos a Pisac, un sitio arqueologico. Duramos como unas 2 horas. Cuando recien llegamos habia un Quechua tocando flauta andina. El dia era soleado, calido y la hermosa melodia hacia  eco en las montañas... Senti como si por un momento habiamos viajado en el tiempo.. la verdad algo bastante surreal. Nuestro guia, Saul, era muy bueno nos explicoi que hay mas de 40 000 km de veredas Incas, y no crean que solo son marcas en el zacatito... son caminos hechos con piedra. Era la mayoria trabajo de los esclavos y todo fue construido casi al mismo tiempo por el mas grande emperador Inca,  Pachacútec. Habia pedazos del camino que me dio cuis cuis, porque estaban tan estrechos (menos de 1 mt.) y a tal altura que me dio un poco de, digamosle ¨vertigo¨. Vimos varios sitios ceremoniales importantes. Saul era quechua como los Incas y el español lo aprendio de muy chico y nos enseño el significado de uno de los miles de simbolos, la Chacana. Mucha gente erroneamente le llama ¨cruz andina¨ pero ellos nunca usaron cruces, y aunque sean similares no se les debe llamar asi. Tiene 4 lados con 3 escalas y un circulo en el centro
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El Calafate, Argentina

hello allwell, wednesday we said goodbye to the end of the world and prepared for another long day on uncomfortable buses.  we left at 6am and headed back to rio gallegos.  the bus took a bit longer this time.  at the border crossing into chile a guy on our bus didn´t claim some fruit that he had in his bag, and they found it.  he had to fill out a bunch of papers and pay a fine (ismael heard someone say it´s $35 for each piece of fruit!).  so that took awhile.  and then we had to wait about 45 minutes for the ferry across the strait of magellan.  we tried going out onto the deck to look for dolphins again, but the wind was so crazy strong i had to hold onto my hat, so we went back inside.  in rio gallegos we ate some snacks while we waited for another bus to el calafate.  we arrived to town at about 1, so about 19 hours on buses.  yuck!  i´m getting so sick of the bus.  thursday we booked a tour for the next day and then tried to figure out what we´re doing from here.  we´ve decided to scrap the trip to see the penguins.  i´m a little sad, but money and time have kicked that off the agenda, and the fact that many of the penguins have already started the trip back south, so it wouldn´t be like i had imagined it.  maybe some other time.  we spent a great deal of time on the computer trying to find out about flights from here to buenos aires or iguazu falls.  we found a great deal so we reserved it.  when we tried to pay however, it wouldn´t let us.  so we went down the block to the office.  turns out our amazing price was for argentinians.  for us it would be $100 more per ticket.  ridiculous.  but it´s that or 42+ hours in buses.  friday we took a tour to the perito moreno glacier.  it was unbelievable.  the glacier is part of the patagonia ice field, the third largest in the world behind antarctica and greenland.  the ice field is over 370 km long and 16,000 sq km.  the perito moreno glacier is one of 48 glaciers coming from the ice field.  the glacier is 5 km across and 35 km long.  the front extends down to a lake and the part above the water can get as high as 70 meters, with another 150 meters underwater.  since my brain doesn´t really get things in meters, that´s over 200 feet above the surface of the water.  the glacier is famous because it is one of the few in the world that is steadily advancing, up to 2 meters a day.  the glacier cuts into lago argentino and can advance enough to cut of the flow of the lake from one side to the other.  right now it´s closed off, so they are expecting a rupture soon.  that´s when the water pressure on one side of the lake rises enough to push through the ice and quickly erodes the ice to form an arch.  within a matter of hours the arch gets big enough that the top cracks and the front part of the glacier comes crashing down.  the pictures of it from 2004 are amazing.  also, because we were at an altitude of only 200 meters, it was rather warm, so the glacier warms and huge chunks can carve off and fall in the water.  the sound of the ice cracking and crashing to the water is so loud and echoes around the valley.  alright, that was the little lesson about the glacier.  now to our trip.  we got there and were given almost 2 hours to wander around the trails and balconies overlooking the glacier.  it is truly amazing.  so massive.  the balcony closest to the glacier was closed, so that was a bummer.  we sat and just looked at it, hoping for some massive piece to come crashing down, but no luck.  there was one way off to the side, but we were to far away to really see much.  we ran into a guy, carlos, on our tour that we had met in ushuaia and had planned on having dinner with, but he got lost.  so it was cool to see him again.  then it was back to the bus and over to the boat launch.  on the boat we got to see the other side of the glacier face.  this is the side where the water rises when it´s cut off.  right now it´s already up 6meters.  there were some huge iceburgs floating in the water, bigger than our boat. we crossed the lake and disembarked.  then we hiked about 20 minutes to the base of the glacier and got fitted with crampons.  they had told me to tuck my pants into my socks to avoid getting them caught, so i was a real fashion statement.  then, it was out onto the ice.  we got to hike on the glacier for about an hour and a half.  it´s a little awkward to walk in the crampons.  you have to keep your feet apart so the spikes don´t get caught on each other, and you have to step with all your weight to drive them down into the ice.  walking on the glacier was one of the coolest things we´ve done.  it´s unreal how massive the glacier is.  we walked out and then looped back, but we didn´t even get up high enough to see across.  the entire surface of the ice is rough, which surprised me.  i expected it to be smooth.  there were small pools and rivers of melted water, and it was the cleanest, clearest water i´ve ever seen.  and the ice has a blue tint from minerals.  i remember the blue from the glacier in france, but this seemed more vibrant, purer.  it really is impossible to describe the glacier adequately, even with pictures.  nothing can truly capture the effect it has on you.  at the end of the hike there was a small table set up with glasses and whiskey.  they chop up a chunk of glacier ice and fill the glasses.  i had some just to be in the spirit of things, but i really don´t like whiskey.  carlos thought my reaction was hilarious, so he had me take another swig so he could take some photos.  after that we hiked back over to the boat.  as we were walking through the woods we heard a loud crack and looked in time to see a huge piece crash down into the water.  at least i looked in time, ismael was behind some trees and didn´t get to see it fall.  back on the boat we started to pull off from the rocks.  there was a huge iceberg the size of a 2 story house behind the boat, maybe 25 feet from the back where i was standing.  i saw it rock a little and thought it was from the vibrations of the boat.  then i realized that it kept leaning.  the weight had changed and the iceburg was rocking to find balance.  we thought the whole thing was going to flip over, and it came pretty close.  but as our boat drove away, it settled into a sideways position.  a rather cool end to a very cool day. 
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/ruizespieces/2/1205263800/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/ruizespieces/2/1205263800/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/ruizespieces/2/1205263800/tpod.html Mon, 21 Apr 2008 10:27:10 -0400 Ismael and Melanie´s South America Adventure Spectacular!!!

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Ushuaia, Argentina

WE´RE AT THE END OF THE WORLD!!!!!!!well, after several long bus rides, we´ve made it, the end of the world.&nbsp; ushuaia is the southernmost city in the world (there are a few places, such as puerto williams that are a little further south, but those are settlements or stations, so they don´t count).&nbsp; we are now 10914km (6782miles) from chicago, 1110km (690 miles) from antarctica, and 3929km (2441miles) from the south pole&nbsp; we entered argentina in la quiaca, the northernest city, and have traveled 5121km to reach the southernmost (although the sign here says it´s 5171km).&nbsp; woo, we´re tired.&nbsp;we left rio gallegos at 830 sunday morning and headed out into the nothingness again.&nbsp; to get to ushuaia we had to cross in and out of chile, so that meant border patrol.&nbsp; everytime i´d start to fall asleep, we´d arrive at the border and have to get off.&nbsp; we had to check out of argentina, drive 20 minutes to the chile border station, check in there and then when we left, do it all over again.&nbsp; i don´t see why, we were just driving through, not stopping anywhere.&nbsp; at one point our bus had to get onto a ferry so we could cross the strait of magellan.&nbsp; that was pretty cool. &nbsp;we got to get out of the bus and went up to the deck.&nbsp; it was very windy and cold.&nbsp; we saw 2 Commerson´s dolphin´s swimming alongside of the ferry.&nbsp; ismael got a really great shot of one jumping out of the water.&nbsp; they were really neat, so different&nbsp;from the dolphins i´ve seen&nbsp;at the&nbsp;zoo.&nbsp;i also saw what i thought were 2 ducks floating off to the side, but then i realised they were penguins!&nbsp; when i pointed to them to show ismael, they dove underwater.&nbsp; darn.&nbsp; he´ll just have to wait until we get to punta tumbo.&nbsp; we got into&nbsp;ushuaia sunday night and went out for a celebratory dinner.&nbsp; the area is&nbsp;full of&nbsp;sheep farms, so we had spit-roasted lamb.&nbsp; they just cut the lamb open on the underside and open it up, so it looks kind of gross, all splayed out like that, but it was very tasty.&nbsp; then it was off to galway´s irish pub (there´s an irish pub in every city)&nbsp;so ismael could&nbsp;try the locally brewed beagle beer.&nbsp; yesterday we woke to find it was already noon.&nbsp; oops!&nbsp; those long bus rides and that awful campground finally caught up with us.&nbsp; that afternoon we took a boat tour around the beagle channel.&nbsp; we saw <i>un faro--a lighthouse, and islands full of sea lions and different kinds of birds.&nbsp; we stopped at a large island and got to walk around a little, although it was rainy and a cold, so not entirely enjoyable.&nbsp; the island was once inhabited by the yamara, the people who lived in this area.&nbsp; they lived naked and covered themselves with sea lion fat to keep warm.&nbsp; when the british settlers came, they gave them clothes, but because they spent a great deal of time on and around the water, the clothes were wet and cold and the yamara became sick and died.&nbsp; real nice, huh?&nbsp; there is only 1 pure yamara left, she´s 80 and lives in puerto williams.&nbsp; last night we invited a couple from oregon, nick and jenny,&nbsp;whom we met on the boat tour to join us for dinner at our hostel.&nbsp; ismael made his wonderful beef stew.&nbsp; we sat and chatted with them for a few hours.&nbsp; it was a lot of fun.&nbsp; they are a lot like us, late 20s, married 2 months before us.&nbsp; jenny and i can talk a lot (you´re all shocked i´m sure) and nick and ismael were a lot a like too.&nbsp; they are traveling here for 2 months and then doing a 4 month road trip around the states.&nbsp; hopefully they´ll be able to come and visit us when they get near chicago.today we got up at 10,&nbsp;a little earlier than yesterday.&nbsp; we were planning on going over to the&nbsp;parque nacional de tierra del fuego and hiking, but it was going to cost us $40US&nbsp; to go over there and back and the entrance fees.&nbsp; we´d rather use that money for cool excursions later on.&nbsp; so we went to a museum and wandered around town.&nbsp;&nbsp;well, i guess that´s it from&nbsp;el fin del mundo.&nbsp; we leave tomorrow at 6am and head to el calafate to the perito moreno glacier.&nbsp; we don´t get in there until 1 am, 19 hours on buses.&nbsp; yeah fun!&nbsp;
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San Carlos de Bariloche, Argentina

ok, i´ve written this enty twice in the last 2 days, but the computers kick me off when i go to send it.&nbsp; argh!&nbsp; so, this will probably be short.&nbsp; saturday the bus dropped us off at lago villarino and we hiked about 20 minutes around the lake and set up camp.&nbsp; then we got the surprise of neighbors.&nbsp; there were a few cows grazing in the woods.&nbsp; as long as they didn´t leave us a cow pie we didn´t mind.&nbsp; we gathered a lot of firewood and ismael cooked us rice for dinner, just rice.&nbsp; very unsatisfying.&nbsp; then we watched the sun set over the mountains.&nbsp; it´s absolutely beautiful here.&nbsp; the lakes in the area are glacier relics, and the water is so clear and cold.&nbsp; it´s a lot like maine.&nbsp; that night there wasn´t a moon so we could see millions of stars, amazing.&nbsp; i got a little freaked out when i turned around to the woods and saw nothing but darkness.&nbsp; the next day, sunday,&nbsp;we tried hitchhiking to the next campsite, but after an hour in the very hot sun, the bus came by, so we grabbed that to the next town.&nbsp; then we decided to just go on to bariloche.&nbsp; we´re trying to get south as quickly as possible so we have time to explore down there.&nbsp;&nbsp;we got to bariloche around 730 and then hiked around for over an hour&nbsp;looking for a place to stay.&nbsp; i say hiked cause they have very steep hills and it´s not easy&nbsp;carrying an extra 30 or&nbsp;40 pounds.&nbsp; we finally caught a city bus out of town to a&nbsp;campground and then had to hike up the longest, steepest dirt road known to man.&nbsp; we were exhausted by then so we just made some oatmeal with raisins and hung out at camp the rest of the night.&nbsp; monday, we did some errands around town.&nbsp; for lunch ismael made some awesome beef stew.&nbsp; he is really good at this campfire cooking.&nbsp; we finally downloaded our pictures to a dvd (we couldn´t do a cd cause it was too much).&nbsp; there were 736 pictures.&nbsp; wow!&nbsp; but that´s for 5 weeks, and ismael got a little camera happy with the carnaval in oruro and the graffiti in valpo.&nbsp; we went to try to upload them to a website, and after 2 hours only 115 were done.&nbsp; i tried to stop it, but instead it just canceled the whole operation and didn´t upload any photos.&nbsp; ARGH!&nbsp; i was also&nbsp;writing this blog entry, and the computer said i was inactive and erased my entry.&nbsp; DOUBLE ARGH!!!&nbsp; sometimes i really hate computers.&nbsp; but they are letting me write to you from the other side of the world.&nbsp; to make me feel better we went for a weekly splurge of fondue, bariloche has a lot of fondue restuarants.&nbsp; big disappointment.&nbsp; it ws just plain old melted swiss served with stale bread.&nbsp; what a crappy day.
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/ruizespieces/2/1203649980/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/ruizespieces/2/1203649980/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/ruizespieces/2/1203649980/tpod.html Sun, 13 Apr 2008 18:35:46 -0400 Ismael and Melanie´s South America Adventure Spectacular!!!

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Viña del Mar, Chile

ok, so mom is awesome.&nbsp; since we haven´t been posting pictures you can go to the bottom of any entry&nbsp; there are links to other people´s pictures of the places we´ve been. they may not be the same touristy places, but the ones i saw for the valpo entry are pretty much the same.&nbsp; thanks for pointing that out mom!so&nbsp;today was a lot of fun.&nbsp; we slept late, 1030, and then did laundry.&nbsp; i know, i know, when does the fun start?&nbsp; well, we finally got out of the house at 2 and took a bus to viña del mar, the next town over.&nbsp; where valpo is built on hills and is a very artsy town (tim you would love it here), viña is a resort town.&nbsp; we headed to the main plaza, and after a short goose chase since people don´t know what they´re talking about, we found the ticket booth for the viña 2008 concerts.&nbsp; for those of you who don´t know (like i didn´t) viña has an international music festival attracting big names in the latino music world, and as the guide book said, american has-beens.&nbsp; last night miguel bose, a huge latin pop singer, a group of chilean teeny boppers called six pack, and earth, wind, and fire were playing.&nbsp; since it was our last night at the coast, ismael really wanted to go.&nbsp; the galleria tickets were going for 9,600 pesos (about $20), but alas, they were sold out.&nbsp; scalpers were very aggressively trying to get us to buy them for 15,000 pesos ($30).&nbsp; we decided that was too much, so we wandered back to the beach.we sat on the cement wall overlooking the beach and it was packed.&nbsp; and this was at 730 at night.&nbsp; but very sunny still.&nbsp; while we sat there the tide started coming in.&nbsp; that was fun to watch.&nbsp; a huge wave would come, knocking small children and the ill-prepared over, and then come rushing up to the unsuspecting families with blankets laid out.&nbsp; the stupid people would move their blankets 6 inches and then 10 minutes later another big wave would come and soak them again.&nbsp; we were getting a kick out of it.we wandered back to the center of town and had dinner at a mexican restaurant.&nbsp; not very mexican, but a little comforting to have somewhat familiar food.&nbsp; then we went back to the entrance to the concert to see if we could get a glimpse or anything.&nbsp; ismael went to ask a cop if it was possible.&nbsp; while the cop was explaining that it wasn´t, his drug dog, who had been serenly sitting at his side, suddenly jumped&nbsp;onto ismael and tried to bite him.&nbsp; luckily he had his backpack on the front, so the dog just got his teeth on that, but it was very scary.&nbsp; we were both shaken up.&nbsp; then, we walked over to the main plaza, where 2 dogs were attempting to attack another.&nbsp; one had his teeth bared and was growling.&nbsp; they turned as we walked by and looked like they were going to come after us.&nbsp; needless to say, we were freaked out and avoided dogs the rest of the night.well, by then the scalpers were desperate to get rid of their tickets, so they had lowered their prices to 10,000 pesos.&nbsp; we stood and discussed for a good 10 minutes if we should go.&nbsp;&nbsp;i didn´t really know any of the bands, but i knew if ismael didn´t go he would regret it.&nbsp; and we´ve agreed to have no regrets on this trip.&nbsp; as soon as we decided that yes, we were going to go, a woman walked up and asked if we needed tickets.&nbsp; she sold us 2 tickets for 10,000, half what the others were going to.&nbsp; God is good.&nbsp; He gave us perfect timing so we could go&nbsp;but not waste money.&nbsp; we went over to the concert hall and it was packed.&nbsp; we had to stand, but we really didn´t mind.&nbsp; first up was miguel bose, who ismael wanted to see.&nbsp; it was crazy watching the crowd.&nbsp; every little hip twitch and the girls would scream.&nbsp; it was so cool, i´m really glad we went.&nbsp; during his 3rd encore, we finally caught a glimpse of the moon through the trees.&nbsp; i couldn´t tell if it was the trees, but we figured out the eclipse was in full swing.&nbsp; since we thought the concert was over ( we thought miguel bose was the closing act, but we didn´t want to see the others anyway), we left and sat on the plaza to watch the eclipse, keeping a watchful eye out for any dogs.&nbsp; i didn´t realize the eclipse was so slow.&nbsp; so we eventually got on a bus back to valpo and saw some more from there.&nbsp; we did get to see when it was completely covered, where it just glows.&nbsp; but then it was late, so we went to bed.&nbsp; what a good day.&nbsp;
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Valparaiso, Chile

Yesterday (look at that, i´m all caught up and writing about yesterday), we did a walking tour of valparaíso.&nbsp; this is really a neat town.&nbsp; like i said, it´s built on hills, so the houses are practically built on top of each other.&nbsp; many of the buildings are over 100 years old.&nbsp; but everything is painted bright colors, blues, pinks, yellows and greens.&nbsp; it makes everything fun and bright and lively.&nbsp; and there are murals and grafitti everywhere too, really interesting things.&nbsp; and there are wires and cables everywhere too.&nbsp; some of the buses are still cable buses, very cool.&nbsp; anyway, we walked around town, seeing the sights.&nbsp; first off, we went to a plaza with Monumento a los Héroes de Iquique honoring the men who died in the war of the pacific.&nbsp; there is also an underground "museum"&nbsp;with remnants of the first pier in valparaíso.&nbsp; next was museo del mar&nbsp;Lord Cochrane, a house from 1842 which held Chile´s first observatory.&nbsp; we had a great view of the city from up there.&nbsp; then we went to iglesia matriz, the site of four churches since 1559.&nbsp; the church was rather simple, with a beautiful wooden ceiling.&nbsp; i was a little nervous here since the book says to be careful as robberies happen on that plaza, and someone we talked to at the first museum told us to be careful too.&nbsp; but it was an uneventful trip.&nbsp; then we took an ascensor, an elevator, up another hill to a museum, but it was closed for renovations.&nbsp; bummer.&nbsp; but the ascensor was cool.&nbsp; they were built from 1883 to 1916.&nbsp; it´s an elevator, but it goes up at an angle up a hill.&nbsp; and you get a good view of things as you go up.&nbsp; pretty neat concept.&nbsp; from the closed museum we went over to the naval museum.&nbsp; valparaíso is obviously a port town and has a large naval force here.&nbsp; the naval museum was interesting.&nbsp; there were old cannons and weapons and model ships.&nbsp; kind of cool.&nbsp; then it was back to the hostel for some dinner and to relax.&nbsp; then we actually went out to a few bars.&nbsp; one was bar cinzano, which has been open since 1896.&nbsp; there was a keyboard player and a guitar player and a woman named carmen singing.&nbsp; very old school.&nbsp; and there were pictures of old ships on the walls and a mural, of course.&nbsp; neat little place.&nbsp; well, that´s all.&nbsp; i can´t believe i´m actually caught up.&nbsp; love you all
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/ruizespieces/2/1207840860/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/ruizespieces/2/1207840860/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/ruizespieces/2/1207840860/tpod.html Sat, 12 Apr 2008 11:38:10 -0400 Ismael and Melanie´s South America Adventure Spectacular!!!

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Chicago, Illinois, United States

WE'RE HOME!!!!!our plane finally landed at ohare an hour late, but we were just happy to be home.&nbsp; mom and dad were waiting for us.&nbsp; it sure was good to see them.&nbsp; but what's this, i can see my breath outside.&nbsp; weren't we just in the jungle a few days ago?&nbsp; isn't this the middle of april?&nbsp; what's going on here? after a wonderful meal at chicago joe's, one that was actually full of flavor, we arrived home.&nbsp; mom and dad had come over and set the furniture back up for us and cleaned the apartment and filled the fridge with food.&nbsp; they're such wonderful parents.&nbsp; it&nbsp;is so nice to be home.&nbsp;&nbsp;now we start the search for jobs.&nbsp; i have sent off a resume to Willow Creek Chicago.&nbsp; they are looking for a part-time administrative assistant, a job that i believe would be perfect for me.&nbsp; ismael has begun the long, tedious task of researching companies and available jobs that interest him.&nbsp; please keep us in your prayers that God would lead us to the places He has for us.&nbsp; we would both like to send our heartfelt thanks to you all.&nbsp; we have been encouraged&nbsp;by your thoughts and prayers for the last 3 months.&nbsp; and thank you all for understanding why we had a small wedding.&nbsp; the money saved helped us take this trip of a lifetime.&nbsp; we&nbsp;thank the Lord for a safe journey, for his continual guidance and protection.&nbsp; He revealed Himself to us over and over.&nbsp; without Him, this wouldn't have been possible.May the Lord bless you all.Ismael and Melanie Ruiz
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/ruizespieces/2/1207666080/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/ruizespieces/2/1207666080/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/ruizespieces/2/1207666080/tpod.html Sat, 12 Apr 2008 11:11:07 -0400 Ismael and Melanie´s South America Adventure Spectacular!!!

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Buenos Aires, Argentina

after another overnight bus, we got back to buenos aires.&nbsp; we wandered around and did some shopping.&nbsp; mostly we just enjoyed our final day in south america.&nbsp; ismael had one last steak.&nbsp; he's probably had a steak every other day.&nbsp; the next day we got up early and got a cab to the airport.&nbsp; when we went to check in for the plane, we ran into trouble.&nbsp; as a mexican citizen ismael needs a visa to go to peru, where our connecting flight was.&nbsp; he had had one when we went the first time, but it was only good for 25 days.&nbsp; they told us to come back in an hour so they could try to contact someone to figure it out.&nbsp; needless to say we were worried.&nbsp; we sat down to some breakfast and prayed.&nbsp; when we went back over an hour later, it didn't look good.&nbsp; we finally told them that we weren't staying in peru, just waiting there for another flight.&nbsp; finally they let us go, but told ismael he wouldn't be able to leave the airport, like we had been planning on doing to do some shopping.&nbsp; we were just grateful to get on the plane.&nbsp; thank you Lord.when we got to peru, ismael had to wait up at the gates while i had to go through customs to get our luggage and check in with the other airline.&nbsp; well, it turns out, the airline doesn't even open until 3 hours before the flight.&nbsp; and our flight wasn't for 11 more hours.&nbsp; that meant i had to sit, alone, for 8 hours waiting.&nbsp; i was stressed and tired and frustrated.&nbsp; i asked a man who was helping me where a phone was so i could try to call the airline.&nbsp; when i said the word telefono i just started crying, tears just streaming down my face.&nbsp; he asked if i was okay, what the problem was, but i just said i was fine.&nbsp; then i went and sat down and just cried for about 10 minutes.&nbsp; it was just overwhelming to be alone for the first time in 3 months and not be able to fully communicate with people and not have anything i could do about my situation.&nbsp; i tried sleeping a little.&nbsp; i had brought a puzzle magazine, but had lost my pen.&nbsp; so i sat for hours with absolutely nothing to do.&nbsp; i was bored out of my mind.&nbsp; i finally borrowed a pen from a nice american couple who sat down behind me.&nbsp; that helped pass the time a little.&nbsp; at 730 the airline opened and i was able to check in.&nbsp; or so i thought.&nbsp; i could check in, but they wouldn't let me check ismael in, even though i told them the situation.&nbsp; they put him on standby.&nbsp; they almost didn't take his checked bag either, which would have really complicated things.&nbsp; i rushed through paying the airport tax (in south america you have to pay a departure tax when you leave an airport, it's separate from the tax you already paid.&nbsp; this time it was $30), customs and the security check point.&nbsp; when i got back to ismael i was so relieved.&nbsp; he had been wondering what had happened to me and was worried.&nbsp; we had had no communication for 8 hours, we rarely even go that long at home without talking.&nbsp; well, we got on the plane with no further problems.&nbsp; but then ismael told me about all the american flights that had been cancelled.&nbsp; american was our connection from ft. lauderdale to chicago.&nbsp; but i said we'd already had enough problems, God was going to get us home just fine.&nbsp;
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/ruizespieces/2/1207491600/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/ruizespieces/2/1207491600/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/ruizespieces/2/1207491600/tpod.html Sat, 12 Apr 2008 10:46:37 -0400 Ismael and Melanie´s South America Adventure Spectacular!!!

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Puerto Iguazu, Argentina

On our midnight bus from corrientes to iguazu, we slept as best we could considering there was a talkative 6 year old in front of us.&nbsp; the bus made another stop around 5am at a depot for the bus line.&nbsp; i heard them washing the bus and filling the drink cooler with ice.&nbsp; 20 minutes after we left there i had just fallen back asleep when i heard a loud thud and what sounded like ice and water rushing down the opposite wall and all over the floor.&nbsp; i sat up and looked across the aisle.&nbsp; it wasn't ice and water.&nbsp; someone had thrown a rock at our bus and shattered the window.&nbsp; there was glass all over the seat across from me and a little on my blanket.&nbsp; luckily the woman who had been sitting in that seat had gotten off at the last stop.&nbsp; cold air was rushing in.&nbsp; i was so startled and half asleep, i was kind of freaking out.&nbsp; ismael had to keep telling me it was okay.&nbsp; as i said we were only 20 minutes from a bus depot, so we turned around and switched buses.&nbsp; no biggie but a little crazy at 530 in the morning.when we got to puerto iguazu we found a hostel and showered.&nbsp; then we headed over to the national park.&nbsp; the park is 55,000 hectares (i have no oclue what&nbsp;a hectare is but i know 55,000 of them means a really big area) of natural sub-tropical jungle.&nbsp; there are 275 individual waterfalls falling 80 meters.&nbsp; niagara's horseshoe falls is only 53m.&nbsp; we walked down trails to see the falls.&nbsp; they're spread out into 2 major sections.&nbsp; one area is in a small compact horseshoe shape while the others are spread out.&nbsp; the firsst day we went to see these.&nbsp; they are beautiful, absolutely picturesque.&nbsp; i kept thinking of a cheesy truck commercial.&nbsp; we took a little bus across the river to an island where you can walk around and see the falls from different angles.&nbsp; while over there we waded in the river and tried to catch the small fish swimming around us with our bare hands.&nbsp; it didn't work.&nbsp; when we got back over to the other side of the river we saw a monkey.&nbsp; there were actually 5 of them climbing and jumping in the trees.&nbsp; it was cool to see wild monkeys.&nbsp; we also caught a glimpse of 2 coaties, but weren't able to get a picture.&nbsp; the next day we went back to the park and went to the horseshoe shaped falls, la garganta del diablo, the devil's throat.&nbsp; to get to it we took a little train and then went over walkways to stand above the river next to the falls.&nbsp; on the walk there were all sorts of butterflies of all different colors and designs flitting about.&nbsp; they really like ismael, he had a bunch land on him.&nbsp; i don't know, maybe i smelled or something.&nbsp; the falls are beautiful, like i said, but you don't get to get real close to them.&nbsp; at niagara you can go out on a walkway where the force of the water almost knocks you down and you get soaked.&nbsp; here at iguazu you're not that close and really only get a mist every now and then.&nbsp;
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