Viña del Mar, Chile: In Chile! Love it here! Really nice. But significantly more expensive than the last two countries.

A bit of catching up first. I left Cochabamba and got to Uyuni via train. Great train ride, 8 hours. Was in town for a day and found a tour of the Salt Flats, 3 days. I was grouped with 3 Bolivians, and they made it a great trip. They were older guys, friends since childhood, and vacationing together. They were hilarious. And the Salt Flat tour was incredible. Check out the pics, I would do it no justice trying to describe it.

From there I arrived in Chile. Because I thought I was in a huge hurry I jumped on a bus straight to the capital, Santiago. Turns out I have a lot more time than I thought. But I met up with a friend in Santiago, and we headed to Valparaiso. Valparaiso is a coastal town near Santiago. It has lots of character. Again, check out the pics. We spent Thanksgiving in Valparaiso. It was a nice dinner at a fancy restaurant. Of course the place was dead because no one out here knows or cares that it was Thanksgiving. I looked everywhere for Turkey, but they just don´t serve it out here. But we did find a delicious chicken, and we had mashed potatoes to have some semblance of Thanksgiving dinner. I enjoyed it.

From there we moved to Viña del Mar, which is like a mix of Pacific Beach and Laguna Beach. Its obvious that there are lots of rich folks here. Not a single backpacker anywhere. I suppose its too expensive. But we found a great deal on a room across the street from the beach. We haven´t done much exploring yet, but today we´ll probably walk around and see what´s going on out here.

I plan on returning to Santiago tomorrow or the next day. Chile is definitely a beautiful country. Very modern, almost like a different world compared to Bolivia. It is quite puzzling how one country can be so behind in terms of infrastructure and technology, and all that sort of stuff when they are neighbors. I understand it has to do with financing and lifestyle choices, but it still boggles my mind a bit. Not to say I think any less of the people in Bolivia, I think they´re world class people, and the country is as beautiful as any i´ve seen. But, fix your streets! Modernize your plumping! Things like that.

I´m at the beach right now, but the weather is a bit cold, and windy. I hope it warms up soon.

Hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving! It´s incredible to see how much we have to be thankful for, year after year. And after nearly six months of traveling, I think I have a greater appreciation and am more grateful for the opportunity to live where I live. Again, not to take anything away from all the beautiful countries I have visited, but I do believe I live in the greatest country in the world! And I am talking in terms of opportunity, and resources available to people to allow them to progress. Of course we can get better, but we´re doing pretty good. Just ask the dozens of people who remind me from time to time how much they would love to live in the states. Or at least work in the states. It is something to be thankful for.

Love you all,

Love you mom,

Michael

Cochabamba, Bolivia: Relief! That´s what I felt when I finally finished painting. Who would of thought painting a room and a staircase would be so difficult! I was not so much happy, as relieved when the job was finally completed. It must of took three to four coats to get that done. Let´s just say it wasn´t Sherwin Williams paint. But it got done! And the tile work got done, and I took care of the roof problem, I think. I did my best, and they asked when I was coming back to visit, so I must have done ok.

All in all, it was a great experience, and i´m going to miss Cochabamba when I leave tomorrow morning. One of the days I had to just stop working, because the kids just wouldn´t let me work, but it was much more fun playing with them. They wanted to be on the swing most of the time, which made it easy. Just a push. And the kids are pretty brave; they kept saying, ¨mas fete, tio¨. ¨Mas fuerte, tio¨. They wanted me to puch them faster. They were great. Funny, as most kids are. It´s a great organization, check them out on the web. Casa de Amor, Cochabamba, Bolivia. Just Google it. You´ll find a great story about Jennifer, who started the orphanage in her early 20´s. The whole staff is terrific, modern day Mother Theresa´s is the way I see them.

I also got a nice tour of the city from a local. Great town, bigger than I thought. Look for pictures on Facebook in about a week. I won´t have good enough internet service to upload until then.

Every town has its little sayings, or manner of speaking. Cochabamba is no exception. After every sentence, it seems, they say, ¨no ve.¨ It´s almost comical. Talking about almost anything, they end with, no ve. So, they´ll say, the place you want to get to is over there, no ve. Or, I´ve lived here for 20 years, no ve. And every time someone would say it, I had to crack a smile, so they were probably thinking, what´s so funny? But it was hilarious to me. I even had to ask someone why they said it so much, but I guess when your so accostumed to it, you don´t notice.

I´m off to Oruro tomorrow, but just for about an hour, then i´m taking a train to Uyuni (in Bolvia), where I plan to take a tour of the Salt Flats. I´m hoping I can do a 2 or 3 day tour. They´re usually 4 days. It turns out i´m in a bit of a rush again. Not yet confirmed, but I may need to be in Brazil by December 17th. That means I have less than a month to finish Bolivia, then visit Chile, Argentina, and Uruguay. Should be a fun next couple of weeks.

I´m also thinking I may be in Central America for New Years. Was going to be in Brazil, but since I will be there so early, I could just leave a little earlier. Depends on plane ticked prices.

Great news from back home, my uncle and aunt just had twins! I hope they post pictures so I can see my new cousins (hint, hint)! Congratulations Uncle D and Aunt Yvonne!

No place like home for the holidays, but i´ll make the best of the next few months. I think i´ll be in such a rush I won´t even realize I missed Thanksgiving, or Christmas. When is Thanksgiving, anyways? They don´t celebrate it out here, so I may not know that I missed it. Christmas is obviously international, so I may notice that it´s Christmas time. I´ll probably be in Brazil.

Hope all is well at home!

Love you mom,

Love you family, (and its getting bigger!)

Love you friends,

Michael

Cochabamba, Bolivia: Going to go out on a limb here, and proclaim Cochambamba my favorite city thus far. I reserve the right to amend this later, but I have to say, I have not been this satisfied with a city in a long time.

Now, there is nothing special about this city, and as I have said before, not many tourist, but that may be precisely why I enjoy it so much. For one, I can´t speak english here. No one in this city speaks more than four words of english! (Of course, that´s probably not true, but its nothing like other cities i´ve visited). Which is a good thing. I have really been able to practice my spanish here.

Two, I love what i´m doing at the orphanage. I started painting today, after a long morning trying to buy paint. Finding the orphanage was an ordeal in itself. I called for directions, and really could not get them. The phone was full of static, and there really wasn´t a proper address for the place. The best info I received was: next to Imba Pollo. And that proved to be the best way to get there. Tell the taxi to take me to Imba Pollo. From there I walked around until I found it.

The next day, which was today, I got up early to buy paint. Almost three hours later I had my paint, and off to the orphanage I went. Turns out i´m not a great painter, but I get by. It took me the whole day to paint a room. I have a bit more to do tomorrow. The kids are all under 5, and can´t help me, in fact they hinder more than anything. But, I love it! They call me tio, which is funny to me, but they always ask what i´m doing. Pintando, I keep telling them over and over. But again they ask, que haces tio? Its funny, but great to have them around. Once in a while they´ll get in trouble for being in the way, but not by me.

I left the place with wet paint on the walls, I hope its still on when I get back.

I´m also splurging again, and staying in a pretty nice hotel. Hot water, cable tv, clean bed, nice view...all luxuries when ¨backpacking.¨ There´s also a gym near by, and cost only a dollar for a day pass. I had to go, since its been months since i´ve done anything that remotely resembles working out. Of course I over did it, and will pay the price tomorrow. I even did squats! (That was dumb). I probably won´t be able to walk without pain in the morning, but it was good to get some kind of workout.

And, as an added bonus, and to my surprise, there are lots of really good looking girls in Cochabamba. Everyone talks about Costa Rica, Colombia, Argentina, and yeah, i´m sure the girls are good looking there, but who would of thought Cochabamba. And i´m talking lots of good looking girls. Not that its important, but there was enough to notice. And, yeah, it makes my stay here a little nicer!

If I can find the Pac-Cotto fight tomorrow night, i´ll be even happier. I´m thinking it will be the best fight in a long, long time. I think Pacquiao will win. Though Cotto is also a great fighter. Just think in a fight like this, you also have to have a great corner. I don´t think Cotto did himself a favor by hiring a friend.

So all is well. May stay here a bit longer than expected. At least until next Tuesday.

Love you all,

Michael

Cochabamba, Bolivia: Finally remembered my password! It´s been a month since i´ve entered anything, so this may be a long blog....or really short.

I think last time I wrote, I was headed to Machu Picchu! Hopefully you´ve seen the pictures on Facebook. It was all its cracked up to be. Certainly was not disappointed. And my brother went with me, so it was that much better. If you have not seen the pictures, do so. If you don´t have Facebook, sign up, its free.

Shortly after Machu Picchu, Ruben left, but I was stuck in Cusco, Peru because another friend was coming to visit. I was certainly glad she came, but if I could have chosen any other city, I would have. I was in Cusco for about 3 and a half weeks. About three weeks too long. I did not enjoy my time there.

The city is much too touristy, and really nothing too exciting to do there. Its more of a launching point to Machu Picchu. Three days is about as much time as anyone needs there.

I was able to volunteer for a week. So that made it a little better. I volunteered with Bruce Peru, an organization that helps educate poor children in Cusco.

But even with that experience, I was happy to leave Cusco, first chance I got. Which was the day after Clarrissa left. From Cusco I headed to Puno with Maddie and Nicole, two other volunteers from Bruce Peru. One thing is certain, you´ll always meet great people volunteering.

Puno was great! We spent about three days there, and visited some islands on Lake Titicaca. We even stayed with a local family one night, that was fun. We also splurged when we stayed in Puno and stayed at a really nice hotel! Probably on par with the Marriott back home.

From Puno, Peru, I crossed the border into Bolivia. I had to pay a Visa fee for the first time. 135 dollars! Quite expensive, but Bolivia is so cheap, it all works out in the end. My first stop in Bolivia was Copacabana. Its another small town on the shore of Lake Titicaca. I also visited some islands, but only for a day. And while in Copacabana, I ran into a friend who I met in Ecuador, and traveled with him to La Paz. Also went with two American girls, one of which found out a few days ago she passed the NY Bar! She was pretty excited about that, as was I.

I was in La Paz, the defacto capital of Bolivia, for a few days. Great city, I enjoyed it. Each capital city has its own character, yet all are very similar. I think I liked La Paz more than Bogota, but not quite as much as Quito. I don´t think I really saw the real Lima, but that was probably the nicest capital city thus far.

I´ll post La Paz pictures soon.

And now i´m in Cochabamba, and very happy about it! There is not a single backpacker in this city. Atleast I have not seen any. Its not really a popular stop for backpackers, nor is it on the so called ¨Gringo Trail¨, which is the trail most backpackers follow. Most popular cities in South America are part of the Gringo Trail, and really you could come to South America, and never really experience the culture or even have to speak spanish if you follow this trail. You stay at hostels full of foreign travelers who all speak english, and visit the same tourist attractions, and eat at the same foreign owned restaurants, and hang out at the same bars, and never really have an authentic experience.

But if you come to Cochabamba, you won´t find that. But i´m not here to meet other backpackers. I came to do some work for Casa de Amor, an orphanage here in Cochabamba. I wrote them a few weeks ago and asked if there was any maintenance work, or cleaning I could do for them. I have been in contact with enough orphanages to know that I can best serve by doing things that most people do not like to do. I love playing with kids as much as the next person, but most orphanages need monetary help, or help with the upkeep of their facilities.

So they wrote back and said, yes! They need someone to paint, lay tile, and fix a Bolivian style roof. Not to mention massive yard work. And of course I said, yeah, I can do that. But now I find myself a bit nervous, remembering that i´m in Bolivia, not California, and i have no idea if there is a Home Depot near by. And i´ve seen people lay tile millions of times, it seems easy enough, but is it? And Bolivian style roof? What´s that? So i´m not sure exactly what i´m in for, but I´ll stay until all the work is done. There is no doubt about that.

So i´m nervous, but happy. This is really what I came out here for. To be of service. I love traveling, and visiting new cities, but truth is, i´m kind of over it. Meeting new folks from Australia or Britain is not what I came to do. Though i´ve met some wonderful people. The whole backpacking circuit has lost its novelty. I don´t really enjoy hostels or meeting new folks from other countries, unless their from the particular country i´m visiting, but this I do enjoy. Taking on a new challenge, and helping in any way I can.

Tomorrow morning i´ll take a look at what I need to do, find a store to buy the materials (which I assume may be the toughest part), then i´ll get to work!

I´ll try to keep up with the blog. I know i´ll regret if I don´t.

Hope all is well back home. This last month has been the toughest. Traveling at 28 is a lot different than traveling in your early twenties. Lots of young folks out here love it and wish they never had to go back. But admittingly, they say they don´t have much to go back to. I feel like I have everything to go back to. Besides all my family and friends, I´ve finished school and all that good stuff. So I can´t wait to go home! But I also realize how fortunate I am to be able to do this, and I thank God every day for the opportunity. I know when I get home you´ll be able to tell the difference in me. Its hard to see it in yourself sometimes.

You´ll also notice how much weight i´ve lost! I´ve confirmed the other day that i´ve lost close to 25 pounds! The food in South America is ok, but nothing like home, and there is no good Mexican food! Good food is expensive, and not easy to find.

Love you mom,

love you family,

and love you friends!

Michael