Thanksgiving!

Hey folks,

it has been a while since I posted. Sorry about that, I was busy thanks to a lot of assignments due. When I was not working for university I tried to enjoy my time. So now let me share some memories, this time about my Thanksgiving.

Actually I had kind of two Thanksgiving-Experiences.
I had a real turkey dinner with the family of my landlord. How cool is that? A huge turkey, a delicious cranberry sauce, mashed potatoes, some really good vegetarian stuff, pumpkin pie and so much more adorable stuff! First time for me and really an experience I do not want to miss. I like the idea behind it and I like it that Thanksgiving here has a huge importance compared to the German version called "Ernte-Dank-Fest". The only uncommon part of this dinner was that it took place one week before, because the relatives of the family of my landlord were visiting early and Bill had to work on the actual Thanksgiving. Better for me otherwise I would have missed it because I went to Tofino on the long Thanksgiving-Weekend.

Tofino is by now the most adorable place on Vancouver Island. I just love this little town being surrounded on three sides by water. Nearly on every car in every front yard you can see a couple of boards, a lot of surf shops/rentals, a huge amount of Bed'n'Breakfast-Places as well as a lot of little art and craft shops. Just so cute and so relaxing. So of course, I had to try the first time surfing. I must admit, I suck. Nevertheless it is so much fun! I could stay all the time in the water paddle out, try to surf the wave, fall into the water, paddle out again and so on. The only restriction it is also very tiresome! Did a three hour course and I was done afterwards. Spent the rest of the time at the beach relaxing and enjoying the sunset (see pictures).
On the other day I went for a whole day boat trip going to hot springs on a smaller island north of Tofino. Several stops on the way made this experience breathtaking, whales, harbour seals, sea lions and plenty of different eagle species were shown by our guide. And that was just on the way. Reaching the island a short hike threw the forest was a nice exercise before enjoying the hot natural bath in front of the ocean. At the source the water was about 70 degree, but obviously I cooled the further it went down to the ocean. My favourite spot was where the little stream meets the ocean. It feels warm but every time a wave rolls in you'll get the freezing cold water. A roller coaster of temperatures, our guide said it helps stay young. So probably I cut a few years of my age on that day ;) Afterwards I enjoyed some time on the warm rocks (luckily the weather was perfect, a lot of sunshine and around 20 degrees) before we had to go back to Tofino. I finished they day with a picnic at my favourite spot for watching the sunset.
Whenever you think about going to Canada make sure you include Tofino into your trip, this place is magic! But have a look by yourself :)

Take it easy guys!
Leon

PS: Forgive me some typos, it is becoming late and I was working on one of my assignments for class: drinking wine ;)

The lower your little pool of the stream the colder ;)

I was just sitting in the right down corner, best spot!

Harbour Seals on the rocks! :)

Can't share the experience and the way it felt. At least a little picture of a giant taking a breath.

The Ramblings of a traveler

Ok, then. As expected, boredom has set in a bit. Not about living in Lima and traveling Peru, mind you, but the bothersome task of writing about it… So I will now, in an effort to also bore you, ramble on about all kinds of things, interspersed by genuine pieces of information. I am not, however, a monster. So I will put all relevant information in red parentheses. Feel free to skip everything you’d like.

(A few weeks ago the Mistura (a giant food festival) took place in Lima. The fair was composed of many food stands offering mostly Peruvian, and some Mexican specialties. The range was incredible and left nothing to desire. From Ceviche to Chifa (peru-china-mix) to Churros and alcohol they had everything. Five hours spent on the grounds and it wasn’t even close enough time to experience everything.) Of course I clearly don’t have enough money either to try all I’d like, but that’s my problem, being the poor student that I am. The Mistura also included a big stage with live music. 

While I happened to be there, a Peruvian punk-rock band started playing. Yeah Peruvian punk-rock… With ingenious lyrics like “I like my dog! My dog is my best friend, way better than cats! I love my dog!”. Catchy tunes, though, so I threw myself right into the mosh pit.

Granted, it felt more like being the teacher in a class of 5^th-graders. Peruvians are just waaay to small… Seriously, I must have walked into well over 20 people by now. Not because I don’t pay attention. I look around and stuff. But they are just so small that there are a lot of blind spots for me… It’s like Gulliver’s Travels down here.

After the live act ended it was straight to the pisco tent. (The prevalent alcohol in Peru is pisco. There is a raging battle between Chile and Peru who invented Pisco and who’s the real owner of it. It is a spirit made out of grapes and similarly strong as whiskey or rum.) Officially the Mistura closed at 10:30 pm, but at least in the pisco tent nobody seemed to care… And so, the music, dancing and of course drinking went on until the early hours of the morning, while the rest of the grounds was laying in silent darkness. You shouldn’t drink pisco neat, by the way. The usual mixtures include ginger ale or lemon juice.

(Another highlight in Lima is the Parque de las Aguas. A park, as the name implies, that sports a variety of fountains, including the 120m long Fuente de la fantasia which has a laser and picture show projected onto it. Other highlights are a music synchronized fountain that let’s people try their luck to get to the center without getting wet all over, and a tunnel made out of water jets. In total the park contains 13 fountains (all of which are illuminated by night) and is one of THE best places in Lima, as far as I’m concerned.)

To get to the park, as with all things in Lima/Peru, you have to take the bus. Recently I have realized how much I adapted to living in Lima. While riding around Lima for the sake of a friend’s visitor he mentioned in no uncertain terms how noisy the city is. I think his exact words were 

“Jesus Christ! How can you live with all that fucking honking and yelling going on!?”

Well, you just ignore it. It becomes white noise. A continuous backing track to your life in Lima. I didn’t even notice all the noise until our visitor mentioned it. While we’re talking about traffic and such,

here’s a quick pop quiz for you guys:

What width differential between buses and road are acceptable in Peru?

(a) just wide enough so two buses can squeeze by each other, if one stops at the broadest passage of the road

(b) wide enough to barely avoid taking out each other’s side-view mirror

(c) “Oh my god, I don’t wanna die! Please don’t let me die!"

(a) and (c) are correct. Good on you, little Sherlocks! You guessed right (except for you Tina, I have no idea how you could have possibly gotten that wrong)!

I am genuinely amazed but also disturbed by what are considered safely accessible roads for buses. Let me elaborate a bit on (c). This weekend we went to the Huaraz, a small town in the Peruvian Swiss (so named for the similarity between the country sides). Part of that trip involved a bus trip to a nice hiking trek. During the ride came a time when the bus was passing a lagoon. The road was about 15 meters higher than the body of water, and (I shit you not) the difference between driving on a road and taking a swim in a lake was about the width of a hand. This is only one example of many to be found in Peru.

(Okay, let’s talk about the trip to Huaraz. As mentioned, it’s a village in the Andes. The second day was going to be the weekend’s climax. A trip to the Laguna 69, situated 4700m above sea level. In order to prepare ourselves, the group did a shorter hike up another mountain to yet another lagoon. You can never see too many mountain lagoons, though, so it was fine. The hike to lake “Willcacocha” was nice and easy and lead through a few mountain villages. Nearly all people wore traditional clothing and were busying themselves in the fields. Young, old, and very old. The lake itself ended up being somewhat of a disappointment. It was more of a dirty old pond. The view from the top made up for it, though, and the trek itself was nice as well.)

The second day started extremely early. 5 am. How is that a time to be awake for anyone (or anything, for that matter)? So at 5 am a herd of zombies made their way to the bus. Groaning, moaning and occasionally exhaling in pain when hitting something in their way because of a lack of general awareness. Before Jack and Jill went up the hill (yes, I made that reference) I bought a few coca leaves. Now that is altitude sickness prevention done right. Chewing the leaves sets free some chemicals that help against the low oxygen in the air. Chewing leaves that are prohibited in Germany and most of Europe makes you feel like a badass and a cow at the same time. I can honestly say, that was a first for me.

The hike itself was really fun, and at this point I have to mention Jessica and Ingrid (two of my Mexican roommates). First of all, after not finishing one, respectively two previous hikes with the group, conquering this (arguably hardest of all) treks was going to be a huge challenge. And I have to pay my respects to both of ‘em because they fucking made it. Yeah, baby!

Second, and more importantly, I have to say thanks. Thanks to Jessi and Ingrid taking a bit longer than the originally set deadline I got to enjoy the fantastic scenery around me for an additional hour. Good move, girls ;-)

(The hike to Laguna 69 was just great. Nature really gave all it had on that walk. Up there the weather is a fickle mistress and accordingly we walked through fog, rain, wind and sunshine. Each of the phenomena giving the trek a different feel, from mystic to amazing. The landscape itself offered a lot as well. Green meadows with colorful flowers, with rivers running through them gave way to a mountain trek with waterfalls and astonishing rock formations. All leading to the Laguna 69. A lake with water so icy-blue and clear it was almost surreal. All surrounded by snowcapped mountaintops. A scene so beautiful as only the greatest painters could envision.

Sunday was then spend in a more relaxed fashion. Two hikes a weekend are quite enough. So on the last day we took a stroll through Huaraz. The town is really nice. The obligatory plaza the armas (which usually serves as main square) a few churches and lots of small streets with even smaller shops.) Since up to that point I hadn’t spent all of my budget the day turned into a private little food orgy. Strolling through a market street where they sold everything from chicken to bikes to televisions to electric guitars, I ate mango ice cream, and had a fresh orange juice. Then I ate couple churros and had the possibly weirdest drink of my life: passion fruit, milk, honey, banana, and something else. It was so thick, it basically doubled as a full-fledged meal. Don’t ask me how much I was overcharged. But you can bet, that if you’re a gringo they will assess you and then make up a price they think you rich folk might still be willing to pay. That’s why you don’t get prices on menus a lot of times. Same goes for taxis or the bus.

(The pinnacle of food experience in Huaraz was the “Pachamanca”. The word is Quechuan (native language of indigenous people) and means earth pot. The food (different meats, camote, yucca, tamales, potatoes, and corn) gets wrapped up in leaves and is then cooked between hot stones and covered under a pile of earth. The taste was incredible. I also visited a tiny archeological museum, but it’s really not worth mentioning. Neither is Pachacamac, the biggest archeological site in the district of Lima. Everybody tells you about it and it’s supposed to be so interesting, but I just don’t get it.) It’s a giant area of desert with a few stones still lying around and a heavily reconstructed “temple” that may or may not have looked anything like that originally. No information, no nothing. BORING.

Overall I did not travel that much over the last few weeks, because of school stuff and especially the mid-terms. I should not have bothered learning and instead gotten out of Lima. The time for an exam is set to 2 hours. Not for a single one of them did I need more than 30 minutes. “True or false” questions in every exam and in one case even a crossword puzzle… What the hell? Then again it kind of follows logically, when one teachers only purpose seems to be giving us texts to read and then leaving us to our own devices. Another who only talks about his world views using his subject as a launching pad, and a few who don’t know English well enough to ask clear unambiguous questions. There is a reason why I only address one of my teachers as professor. The others, in my opinion, are not qualified to be addressed as such regarding the way they teach. The Psychology of Communications Prof. is great, though. Easily one of the best courses I’ve had. Here or in Germany.

And now, for the few of you who might have read the whole shebang: Good job. Respect. I, in your place, would not have done that.

For everybody else: Get a grip, lazy. It’s like 2.5 word pages. How much time do you really need to get through that?

Cheers, till next time!

                           

                           

Everyone knows Fiji... So why not traveling to TONGA!!!

Hey guys,
Again sorry for this late post about my time in Tonga. It is know almost 1 1/2 month ago, but I am still overwhelmed from this cool country. The most of you might not know about Tonga before... That was the same for me. I just heard about Fiji, Samoa or the Cook Island... But Tonga? No clue where that was, or better said no clue that this was existing. But while we were planning the semester break in the end of August we saw that there was another pacific island that didn't seem to be that touristic as the other ones... So why not? I can tell you, we didn`t  regret this decision. It was an awesome week, with cool trips, a loooooot of relaxing and sun bathing. I loved it. So if you ever think about visit the Pacific Island and you don't want to be in the mass of tourists - choose Tonga.

We arrived in the evening in Tonga and the guy from our amazing Lodge (Heilala Holiday Lodge - awesome Lodge with such a friendly personnel and the best papaya jam in the world!) picked us up at the airport. He told us that the next day is a public holiday and that everything will be closed, so we stopped by a small `supermarket` to buy some stuff for the next days. Because we did not want to make him wait that long we rushed through the store and bought some pasta and tomato sauce. Later on we noticed that the tomato sauce was tomato paste :( urgh, that was a disgusting dinner, but as no store was open on the next day we ate it. So, never rush through a store in Tonga... Especially (as we realised later on in that week) everyone is very relaxed and will not be mad at you if you need some minutes longer... They wait for you, even if it is half an hour, what was kind of annoying for us Europeans who are used to punctuality as you can imagine! :D Good example the bus systems: the bus plan says that the bus is driving between 9 and 17 each day, nobody's know at what time exactly so you just wait for it to come at some point... But as our driver told us, it could be that they just cancel the last bus rides, so never count on the buses between 15 and 17 because they might not drive. But hey, we were on holiday and relaxed so it didn't really bother us.

On the first day we went for a small bicycle tour around the area and discovered this small and cute private beach. It was awesome, we spend some time there - observing  huuuuge crabs, sea stars and collecting beautiful shells on the beach.

After that we went back to our Lodge and spend the day on the beach... Which was the biggest mistake of this whole holiday! Of course, typical europeans, nooooo we don't need that much sun cream and nooooo the sun is the same as in europe... NO, that's wrong, we had to learn it the hard way. Julie and I got the sun burn of our lives, which annoyed us the whole week and even the days back in Dunedin, as the skin was peeling of completely. So please, use sun cream and don't go directly into the water as we did... Stupid students we are :D

On another day we booked an island tour with a Tongan guide, who was hilarious. So cute and he loved the island and was giving us so many insides into the culture and the everyday life there. Things like: We don't have street names and house numbers... Everyone knows who the family lives in the villages and when the post carrier doesn't know he just ask in the village.
This tour was great because we saw all the attractions that Tonga has: the splitted palm tree (which seems to be extremely rare and they are very proud of it), a coral bridge, fishing pigs (yes, exactly, pigs who are fishing in the sea during low tide - hilarious I tell you), a cave where you can jump into the water (best activity on that day), the blow holes and a tsunami rock.

All of that was great and we had such a good day. In the evening we watched the sunset, which was the most beautiful sunset I have ever seen... Look:

So, another reason why we went to Tonga was the whale season and the possibility to swim with them. But unfortunately when we arrived the whales just got their babies and were really bumpy and wouldn't stay at one place. We talked to some people who did it, and they said they couldn't swim with them as they always swam away quite fast. So we decided to cancel that and to do a Kajak Tour instead, because this whale swim was quite expensive. In the end I saw whales two times while lying on the beach... Which was great! They are huuuuge, I tell you. This was like a personal show!
The Kajak Tour was really fun, but also quite challenging as it was a really windy day... Yes, great for kayaking on the open sea. But our guide told: That's fine, you are strong girls... You can do it. Unfortunately he had to change his mind. We were kayaking from island to island, and the first way was the longest with approximately 20-30 Minutes... But as the wind came from the left, we were just able to paddel on the right, which my right arm really didn't like. It hurt after 5 minutes and I almost regret the decision to do the trip. But I kept going and the island was coming nearing. Unfortunately our guide totallly underestimated the stream in the water and the fact that the low tide was coming as well... So at one point I had no control over the Kajak and it float me to the open ocean... great as I knew that  there were whales and other animals which I don't want to meet, just with the protection of a small Kajak... So I panicked a wee bit and screamed for the guide to help me. In the end we were lucky that the low tide was already quite low and we could step out the Kajak and walk all the way to the insel. So happy end... But the situation was horrible, even though we ware laughing about it know.

                                                   Survived!!!

The rest of the time, we just enjoyed the country, did some more bicycle tours or relaxed at the beach (of course now in the shadow, as my skin didn't like the sun anymore) and went to a traditional Tongan evening with food and dances. All in all we had a great time on the island.

I hope I convinced you of this country and you choose this instead of the other island, especially because the country really needs more tourists in order to built up a sustainable tourism industry (yes I am a tourist student :D).

See you soon.

Dublin - here I come!!!

Dear readers and lovely colleagues,

FINALLY - my semester abroad started as well! Okay, let's be honest: I arrived in Dublin exactly three weeks ago. But I wanted to inspect the city first before I tell you what it is all about... ;)
It is an amazing city with fabulous people and a stunning atmosphere when you go in one of the uncountable pubs here! I will try to visit every single pub until I depart - and tell you then which is the best and even more important for students: the cheapest one! *Just kidding* Because it won't be possible to visit every pub here in Dublin in three months - well, it might be possible if I would do nothing else than that ;)
So, the famous TEMPLE BAR is just a tourist attraction! Everyone is taking pictures in front of it (including myself) and the beer is even more expensive than in the other pubs... So I had one Pint (standard size here ~ 0,57l ) there and that was enough as a tourist attraction!
More Irish are the traditional pubs where is always live music - and it is just a fantastic atmosphere which I can't express with words!!!
For the readers who don't know me: Don't be afraid - I loved alcohol already before I came to Dublin :P
On a Saturday I took some new friends with me and we drove with the Dart (that's the name of their train here) to Dalkey. It is situated at the coast south-easterly from Dublin - just 30 minutes with the train from Dublin city centre away! Beautiful region where you can also walk up the hill of Killiney and have a breathtaking view - the tiring walk is definitely worth it!!!

Next time (soon), I will tell you something about my accommodation and my studies here.

Have a great day and lots of love,

Tina



Ps.: Of course you get my picture in front of the Temple Bar ;)

Sport and Party Challenges

Hey guys,

Sorry for the long break... The last weeks were quite busy and I couldn't find time to write about my trip to Tonga. There will be a post in the next days - promise! So this post is mainly about my hiking trip to Wanaka. It was challenging, but awesome. We were 5 people, two from Sweden, one French girl and Daniela from my home university. So again, the European group is exploring NZ.

Wanaka is a small, but very cute city in the western part of New Zealand. So it took us around 3,5 hours to drive there. The city is very known for its hiking trails and for skiing. So the perfect destination for us as we wanted to do a hiking weekend. For Saturday we decided to do the Roys Peak Track. It is a 6-8 hours return walk with an altitude difference of 1500 meters... So I can tell you: It is suuuuper steep!!! In the end we needed 6,5 hours, what wasn't bad for my sportive condition... I just realised that I really have to do more sport... "This condition is not acceptable with 21..." was the only  thing I was repeating over and over again during the 6 hours... But hey, we made it! And it was such a satisfying feeling to reach the top - sweaty and completely exhausted - but I can tell you the view on top was all that worth it.

Wow, I was completely overwhelmed. This is typical New Zealand: Mountains, a huge lake and the weather was perfect as well (almost a little bit too hot). So all in all it was a great experience and I went to bed at 20:30 this day... I assume I am getting older.

On Sunday we were planning to do a longer hike as well, but the weather wasn't good - so we just hiked (or as the Kiwis would say tramped) for 1,5 hours to a great Wanaka outlook and spend the rest of the day in Puzzling World.

Puzzling World had a huge maze and visual illusion rooms, which was heaps of fun. So I would say it was a great alternative... Especially for my legs, which were quite sore after the huge hike on Saturday. After that we drove back to Dunedin.

This weekend was then more the Party challenge. My flat mates and I were giving a house party with the theme 90er in Friday!!! I loved it. We decided that we will dress up as the Spice Girls.... What do you think? Did we do a good job ;-) ?

Totally hangover on Saturday (defenitly to many keg stands!!!), but hey next party on Saturday evening as we were going to a concert of NZ bands... It was awesome. But again - I am getting older and on Sunday we were all just relaxing at the beach and sobering from the weekend.

So the last two weeks where a good mix of sport activities and partying... But now exam are coming nearer and I have to start to prepare for them. As said before there will be a longer post for the Tonga trip - as you really have to see some pictures and stories of this amazing country.

Bye guys!! Xoxo

Nuevas Adventuras

Hey Chicos!

wow - already October now. I have to start preparing for the second partials! Thats why this month should be a Little bit more relaxed in Terms of travelling on Weekends. BUT this evening at 22:25 you can find me at the Airport welcoming my boyfriend :))) and next Weekend, Cancun is waiting for us!! (I also have to Keep him busy haha). Very excited to see Mexico's beautiful beaches and pyramids, cenotes......

Lets tell and Show you some stuff about last month. We were at the Conexion Beach Festival at the beautiful Playa Mayto. We camped there with 5 People in a tent for (in my eyes) rather 2-3. But well, as Mexico is very cold anyway it is absolutely enjoyable to sleep in there with heat of almost 40 degrees and approx 50 mosquitos. So glad we werent alone..
But honestly, it was even tough a very nice Weekend. Basically it consisted of open bars of tequila everyday, a big pool, the beach right next to us, and some Highlights such as release of Baby turtles and These White paper lantern at night. The last one was my favorite because i always wanted to do it once :) AND they played Coldplay's "Yellow" so there couldnt be a better Moment!

Going a few meters along the beach we found a small Hotel "El Rinconcito" with delicious Pizza (something we dont eat here that often) and soft drinks. Such a lovely place to relax. We even received some greetings by a parrot called Pepe!

Party, Beach, few sleep is the summary of the Weekend. But it was a nice one again and worth it!

The next Weekend trip is my favorite one so far. We went to Guanajuato for the Independence Day (15.09.) and spend the whole Weekend in Gto and San Miguel. This City is SO ADORABLE!!! It has a lot of History and thats why it is the best place to celebrate the Día de la Independencia. But what i love most about it are These narrow streets where every house has a different Color. By the way, Guanajuato is also famous for the colorful City.

Here a face you have after 3 hours of sleep:

As the main Topic of the Weekend was "VIVA MÉXICO!", i decided to buy myself a real, typical Sombrero and posed it proudly after hiking up the 'Pipila', the hike to this amazing view in the first Picture of Guanajuato. I once again recognized I still have potential to improve my Fitness skills. But well i still have two months time :D

San Miguel was rather small in comparison to Guanajuato. As the Organisation of "Integrate", which plans the whole trip for all the students had some delays again, we only had 2 hours there. But for me it was enough to see some parts of it. Guanajuato really got me so it was hard to top it haha!

 (Looks almost like GTO)

The crowd was enormous that Weekend. Everyone was going crazy because of the Independencia, it showed that it is really important to the Mexicans and they celebrate as much as they can. When i wore my Sombrero one day, everyone was greeting me with "Viva México!!". This day I def felt more native, because usually i can see People thinking "she must be european" because of my blond hair..

Fyi: i think the bus Driver really liked the air condition again. We always take a Leggings or hoodie or both with us knowing the bus is going to have antarctic conditions. But aaaasssss i am actually sometimes a bit intelligent i just asked the Driver what perceptions of coolness he has and if it is possible to put the ac down. I went back to my seat and everyone clapped. muhahaha (proud!!).

Last but not least we enjoyed 4 days in La paz and Los Cabos. It is located in Baja California Sur, so just down the way from California/USA until the end of the mainland.

I link it with a very touristic place but nevertheless with beautiful beaches to offer. We started in La Paz (flying there for less than 20 Euro because of vivaaerobus.. thank you for your amazing offers sometimes by the way). And visited on the one day Playa Balandra (NOT touristic). Just b e a u t i f u l.

 You guys have to see our funny taxidriver on the way to the beach. I was sitting in front so i had the Task of talking to him, which i really liked because he was just talking and talking but i only understand half of it. I dont know where he was from but this dialect was not only spanish!!

Please look at this face!! :D i still Need to laugh everytime! Actually he had similarities to my grandpa because of this laugh and Humor maybe a reason i liked him so much. (Miss you Opa!)

In Playa Balandra we started a crazy activity by 'hiking' around the mountain with all our clothes because there was a Special 'stone' (lets call it that way) and you could only reach it by going over Stones and in water - before seeing the kayaks you could also rent.....

THE ONE->

Los Cabos was worse in Terms of Tourism. So many Americans coming over for Weekendvacation. And the Mexican men on the streets every 5 meter want to sell a tour by saying "Hola beautiful senorita what are your plans come over for whaleshark tours" - like this. Some are even more extreme by following you on your way even you say clearly No. But beside of that the beaches were again wonderful. And we de facto bought a tour, but only to the the arch of los Cabos, quite famous, because you only reach it by boat.

I like Relaxing at the beach and looking at mountains and nature around me. This is what we got in Los Cabos.

 

We came back on Monday to GDL and as already said the second partials are starting next week. Even though im unmotivated to study i realise how fast time is going by and that i Need to enjoy every day, at the Weekends but also at University with the other students!

See you soon! Take Care!

Sarah