Ben's Blog

Hola! So, Matt and I were in Rosario on the night of the last post, and then we stayed on more night after that. We had a great time there. We walked (and later I ran) along the boardwalk/sidewalk by the river there. I loved it! The area was filled with parks, cafes, walkways right along the river, areas to skate, benches under trees, and lots of people, running, eating, shopping, walking, visiting, etc... Rosario had a beatiful skyline with lots of old buildings, modern building, short and tall buildings, just very rich. Near the river there was a huge memorial built in honor of the Argentinian flag, because the Argentinian flag was designed by a man in Rosario. It was also nice, because by chance there was an annual festival going on by the river called the Feria de las Colectividades (Fair of the Communities). Apparently back several years ago, Rosario was the second largest city in Argentina (next to BA) because it had so much commerce on the river (it´s now the third largest after Cordoba). But back in these thriving days of Rosario´s past, there were many different ethnicities who migrated there. The fair had stations for Germany, Poland, Palestine, various districts of Spain, Ireland, Greece, just on and on... It was huge! And many of the stations had a stage with cultural dances of the said nationality. It was awesome. Matt and I ended up sitting and eating at the Irish one and a guy who runs the Irish Community Club in Rosario came up to us asking if we were Irish. And then we talked to him a bit. In any case it was great fun.

After Rosario Matt and I went to Buenos Aires. We spent a few days there seeing different areas and things of the city such as the Obelisk and ''La Boca'' district (where all the immigrants settled when they originally came tot he city many years ago). After BA, Matt and I split ways for one night. We both left for Lima, Peru, but he had a direct flight, whereas I had an 11 hour layover in Santiago, Chile. Thus, by technicality I´ve gotten a fourth country out of this trip...but it was only for one night. I tried to make the best of it though, and I took a taxi into the city after checking into my hotel. I got to talking to the taxi driver (with my God-awful Spanish) and he agreed to take me around and see some of the city at night and then take me back to the airport. I got hungry while we were out there in the city, so we ended up eating out together too. Therefore, Jose, the taxi driver, ended up being my Chilean tour guide and friend for my one evening in Santiago.

So, after arriving in Lima, Matt and I immediately took a bus down to Pisco. We´ve been here in Pisco working with the organization for about two days now. It´s really great here. It´s well organized with several projects around the town and something to do for everyone. After working it´s all really laid back. We´re free to do what we want, sleep, read, visit, drink, go out, play football (soccer) or basketball, there´s even a circus in town right now. The best part is just visiting with the people here because they´re from all different walks of life with all different futures ahead of them. Most the people seem to be from Australia or Great Britain, but there are people from Germany, Belgium, New Zealand, Indonesia, Ireland, Sweden, and maybe some other places too (there are many people and I´ve only been here two days). The turn around on people seems to be quick. Even though Matt and I have only been here a short while, we´ve seen many come and go. Then again, there are some staple people here too, and I´ve been told that a great number of people end up staying here longer than they originally intend to. Of course, Matt and I have no choice but to leave because we have a reservation for hiking the Inca Trail immediately after our time here.

I´ll put pictures up on the next post! Love yas!