Dear Flyers

Dear Fellow Flyers,
We are about to spend a period of time ranging from 30 min to 18 hours in a pressurized metal tube as we travel from point A to B. Thus I would like to offer some suggestions on little things that could make it a more pleasant journey.

Upon boarding:
- please watch the 8 carry-on bags you are schlepping, I am not keen on them hitting my face.
- when you put this 15 bags in the overhead bin, please watch your body parts, I'm not keen on your rear or armpits being in my face either.
- when you finally drag your self into your seat please watch the arms, bags and jackets that you drape over the seat in front of you. again I am not keen on them hitting me in my face.
- oh and please don't pull back my seat like it's a roller coaster bar - I am sure the pilot will do his best to give me whiplash via turbulence. You do not need to help him, neither does your child every 10 minutes.

Now speaking of your offspring, please remind them that:
- I really do not appreciate the massage effects on my chair every time they kick it.
- the tray table is not a toy to be opened and closed repeatedly.

Lastly I wish to remind you that we share the arm rest, please react accordingly.

Thank you very much for taking the time to read these tips. I appreciate that you give them just as much attention as you give to the flight attendants during their safety lecture.

With greetings from the friendly skies,
Your fellow traveler.


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Location:Any airplane, anywhere in the world.

I need yet another napkin

And once again I feel the need to write about food - I love the foods in foreign countries. I was treated to so many tasty things in Brazil it was amazing.....

Queijo d Coalho:
This is a cheese that Brazillians love. It is served at breakfast, with snacks and at dinner. I had it on bread, but most soften it had been pan fried, allowed to melt a bit, then recongeal. With breakfast, I ate it with eggs (that may have been very American of me, but both were on my plate...) one day at coffee I had it over some bread, and at dinner I had it just by itself.

Speaking of meals, lunch tends to be the big meal in Brazil. Dinner is typically served a bit later and is often coffee with bread and cheese and sweet things (cake, pastry etc)

Many restaurants are self service. You walk in and get a plate. These plates are huge! Even American plates are smaller. Then you fill your plate with whatever you want and before you eat it is weighed. You pay by the weight. It's not just for meals. Ice cream shops are very similar. We went to one with over 70 flavors - you scoop your own ice cream into the bowl and then weigh it and pay.

And back to foods.....

Pamonha:
This is a sweet mixture of cornmeal, sugar and juice. Daniel's Mom made it herself and described the process to me. She described it in Portuguese and I asked questions in Spanish, so I may have missed some information....
The cornmeal mixture is cooked into a mush. It is then squeezed to remove excess moisture from it. At this point several corn husks are rolled together and tied with string at one end (think sausage casing). Then this corn husk casing is filled with the mixture and tied up at the other end with string. These are then cooked by submerging them in hot water. If done just right, they are a bit sticky, but not pasty - and they are sweet.

Cous-Cous:
Corn is a staple ingredient in the Brazilian kitchen. Many varieties of Cous-Cous exist. Some have cheese or vegetables in them. Often hot milk/cream is poured over it before eating.

Arroz Dulce:
A sweet milky rice dish with cinnamon. Delicious!

Arroz Tropical:
Rice cooked with mango and bits of papaya.

And on to the drinks....

The stereotypical Brazilian drink is a Caipirinhas. Its a sweet, lime flavored drink with a strong alcohol content. Very nice, but there are other drinks to mention.

Coconut Water:
It's exactly what it claims to be. Sometimes it's even served directly out of the coconut with a straw.

Kuat:
This is a soda with the flavor of Guarana. It's a favorite drink of the locals. Foreigners tend to not like it, but I fell into the small group that DOES like it. It reminded me of a really sweet Ginger Ale.



Sucos:
These are fresh fruit juices made of tropical fruits and mixed with sugar and milk. My favorite is Suco d Caju. I saw a picture of this fruit, I don't recognize it - so I really have no die what it is that I so like!

Cerveja:
Aka cerveza in Spanish.. There are of course Brazilian beers - some are better than others. What I thought was really neat is that when you ordered a beer it always arrived in an insulated container that not only prevented large sweat rings, but also kept it fairly cold. Clever idea!



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Location:Maceió, Brazil

And lest we forget

Brazil is making headlines.....paying off international debt early, hosting the 2014 World Cup, hosting the 2016 Olympics. Brazil is known for it's party atmosphere (Carneval in Rio anyone?), Capirina's, amazing nature and tropical paradise. This positive image paints in ones mind the idea of a perfect country. But Brazil is also known for it's high crime and poverty. Seeing the extreme poverty, I feel the need to make sure that my corner of the world remembers.
Travel is about experience. Some experiences will light up your life, explode your senses and blow your mind. Others are a big shock yo your system, the face of reality.
I only experienced a small part of Brazil, the city of Maceió, the capital of the state of Alagoas. Located on the coast, it's a tropical paradise. The beaches are picture perfect. The area where I was, was near the beaches. This is the area that attracts tourists and thus it is the area of affluence and prosper. It's beautiful, fairly safe and the people who live here can basically say: I live where you go for vacation.
The houses in Brazil are different than those in America. (note: my generalization of Brazil is only referring to this area and I do not claim to know anything about other parts of Brazil.) they tend to be one story, but even if they are two-storied, they are more squat and flat. EVERY house (no matter the neighborhood) has a gate and bars on the windows. Some are surrounded by high fences, some of the fences even have glass or electric wire on top. The houses are generally close together, appearing to share side walls. From the front they look smaller because they are long rather than wide. They are painted many colors and often the gates and par have a design.
My friend Daniel P. lives in the well-to-do section of Maceió. His house is one of the rare two-storied ones that is a bit wide as well. He has a high fence with glass and electrified wire. His house is gorgeous. Inside is open and airy, decorated nicely. He is very fortunate.
We went to visit a friend of his. The area that this friend lives in was a poorer section of town. The houses were smaller and closer together. The paint was a bit faded and the area was a bit shabby. It did not feel dangerous, just obviously poorer. They were a bit further from the ocean. Visiting his friend we went into his house, the front door opened directly into the living room. There was a hall to the back of the house. I saw no more. The walls were bare, the furniture a bit shabby, but the friend and his family were warm and welcoming. This is an area where some poverty is evident but not extreme either. The people are most likely (basing this on the 2 that I met) hard working, proud of their house and it shows.
Going a bit further and further from the ocean we drove into a very poor area of town. Daniel teaches a Spanish class in a community education center once a week. It's a course for enrichment and his students range from about 10 to 70 years. This area broke my heart. The poverty here is extreme. The houses are even smaller and in a state of disrepair. Driving past, looking in the windows, I could see a lot of the houses did not appear to have much furniture, maybe just folding chairs. Many of the curtains were bedsheets. A lack of furniture is not what made me so sad. It was the environment around these houses. Trash and pools of dirty water were everywhere. Many kids of all ages were running around without shoes or supervision. The paint was peeling and there was a lot of graffiti. Again there were gates on everything. I observed at more than one store that the store was gated with the employee on the inside. The customers did not come into the store, instead they passed money and products through the gate. People stood around, watching the police who were watching them. It was as if they were all waiting for something to happen.
The most extreme poverty I saw was a Falavel (like a shanty town). I only saw this from the highway and not close up, but the houses appeared to be constructed of scrap metal, cardboard etc. It was so far from the ocean i wondered if it's inhabitants have been able to see it. I've never been to India, but this reminded me of photos of India that I have seen.
Poverty does not make people bad, nor do I think that tourists should expect that everything will be the same as at home. Poverty exists in every country, just in some it is stronger than others.
As you celebrate the beauty of Brazil, don't forget to help those in need.




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Location:Maceió, Brazil

Superrrrrmarket

Ok I admit it, I get excited about daily life activities when I travel. It's fun to see and learn how others live their lives. Sometimes it's the tiniest differences that make you say "wow".
That being said, one of my most favorite tourist attractions is not a tourist attraction at all. I love to visit supermarkets in other countries. I love to see the products that are the same or similar, but even more so to see the ones that are completely different. Im curious about flavors, packaging and presentation.
The supermarket I visited in Brazil is called: Bompreço which basically translates to: good prices. My friend Daniel P. Described it as the "Aldi of Brazil". And now I am going to treat you to a photographic visit of this supermarket.













































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Location:Maceió, Brazil

I need a few napkins...

I've been enjoying Brazil and have been remiss in updating the blog....
But it's about 2am Brazilian time and why sleep? (I'll regret this in the morning)

Let's talk about one of my favorite topics: food!
Now my dear friend Daniel P., who I am visiting, chides me for not eating enough - but I am stuffing my face with wonderful foods here in Brazil....



Let's start with Pexce Agulha:
They are small thin fish that has a mouth that ends in a long beak. These fish are coated in a batter and fried. We break off the heads (beak included), squeeze a bit of fresh lime juice and eat them down to the tail. The bones are so thin that you eat them without generally noticing them. This is an appetizer.



Camerónes de la Laguna:
Shrimp cooked in a coconut sauce. Served with rice and pirão.
Pirão:
A thick yellow sauce that is served over rice. It reminds me a bit of a Turkish sauce - or a weak curry.
I did not care much for the Camerónes, because I don't like shrimp much, but I loved the Pirão and want the recipe!




Saco de Cachju
there are so many fresh fruit juices here. They often mix them with a bit of milk and blend it like a smoothie. I don't recall what a


is, but it was delicious!

Cocadas:
For the Americans out there reading my blog, this is the Brazilian version of a rice crispy treat. These are sold at stands on the side of the road, made at the homes of the women who sell them. It is a gooey patty of shredded coconut held together by a sugary paste. There are many different flavors. My friend Daniel insisted that I try them all (except Platano - banana because I don't like bananas!). The flavors I tried were:
Quemado (it's chocolatey)
Manga (that's mango in Portuguese)
Abacaxi (no idea, but tasty)
Leche (milk - my favorite one)
Goyaba(this might be guava)
Coco (traditional plain coconut - my other favorite)
The lovely ladies at the stand also gave me a baggie of Suspiros, which are meringues. Yum!








Pexce Pexcada:
This is a dish with a white fish that is cooked in coconut milk with spices, tomatoes, spinach and peppers. It was savory and again the flavor reminded me of the foods I had in Turkey. I think this has been my most favorite food in Brazil. It was served with rice and pirão! Yum!




Dulce de Leche or Ambrosia:
This sweet treat is made with milk, eggs (scrambled), sugar and juice of a lemon or orange. Sadly it was eaten too quickly before it could pose for a photo...

Tapioca com Coco:
This was an interesting dish that appeared at breakfast. It looked a bit like a tortilla. It was nothing like a tortilla. (other than shape, color and size). This was a round patty of shredded coconut held together with tapioca. It was very chewy and a bit bland in flavor, but I liked it :)

I have tried a number of foods here - not all have been documented, but all have been enjoyed. I especially love all the fresh tropical fruits!



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Location:Av. Dr. Antônio Gouveia,Maceió,Brazil

I scream..you scream....

It's frigidly cold in Chile right now, people are bundled up from head to toe...
But one place is still as crowded and busy as ever: ice cream stands and shops! Chileans love their ice cream and have some amazing flavors... My favorite was arroz con Leche! I hear that in the summer the flavors expand and include things like tomato! I *need* to come back in the summer (southern hemisphere summer) for that!



My friend Néstor and I enjoying our ice cream at Bravissimo!

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Location:Viña del Mar, Chile

Flightmare

I boarded the flight like any other......excited to be boarding a flight to a new country and old friend. It was my first flight on LAN - the Chilean airline. I like the look of their planes with the Chilean flag and star. It looks like Texas to me. The plane was nice and new, things looked good. It was only about 3/4 full, so I was not sardined anywhere - nice!
We took off.i know that the Andes surround Santiago but the fog was sodense that visibility was about zero. I worried for a moment then remembered that pilots depend more on radar than vision so I was ok. Just after take off it was announced that for safety reasons while we were flying over the Andes we will have to keep our seat belts fastened and even the flight attendants will stay seated. At first it was smooth sailing, I thought this to be overkill. I saw the beautiful peaks of the Andes rising above the clouds. Gorgeous! I relaxed, enjoying the view until the person in the window seat closed the shade. Then we began to shake a bit, nothing alarming until all of a sudden.... Drop, drop,drop. We dropped three times in a row. I screamed out at one point (several passengers stared) we shook and shook....and even when we stopped shaking, my hands still shook. My stomach churned in response gurgling, protesting, threatening to explode. We tossed about in the air more. At this point it was not that bad, but I was so shook up (no pun intended) that I wasn't very relaxed. The flight attendants came around with the meal. I thought food might settle my stomach. It just protested further. We experienced fairly regular light turbulence. The flight attendants came by collecting The used trays and offering tea or coffee. My row was skipped. After a while I went back and told the flight attendants about the trays, got some ginger ale for my stomach and asked for tea. They told me they'd bring me mutes and come get my tray in a moment. That moment turned into minutes and more than an hour. I gave up. We were getting closer and closer to Rio. I began to relax although my stomach was still churning in protest. The onscreen map showed we were along the coast of Brazil over the Atlantic. Turbulence picked up and the fasten seatbelt sign went on. Then suddenly - drop, drop. Again the plane dropped twice. We shook and shook on our descent to Rio. My stomach protested more. I seriously thought I might be sick. Eventually, after what seemed to be a very long 3.5 hours we touched down upon landing I was so happy....for a moment. The engine then began to emit a very high pitched whine. As we taxied for nearly 15 minutes this whine never let up..... Finally in the park position, the whine stopped and changed to a drilling noise for about 2 minutes...until blissful silence. I have never been so happy to disembark!


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Location:LAN Flight 772: Santiago to Rio de Janiero

Valparaiso....paradise in color

This blog post is well overdue, but better late than never.... Saturday a week ago I went with another student from ECELA to Valparaiso, or Valpo as it's known for sure. The other student was Ken, a 23 year old from a southern state in the USA. He had previously had big rings in his earlobes, currently letting them heal (with reparative surgery planned), a chain smoker, a bit overweight - the hills in Valpo were a bit more of a challenge for him than for me ... But overall a nice kid and an enjoyable day.

The visit began in Viña at Castillo Wulff. Inside was an exhibit of plants and tables from the Viña del Mar garden club. I soon discovered that Ken knew a lot about plants (I must admit surprise here). The things these ladies did with plants were amazing - living, breathing decorations. I want plants like that! The cool part about the Castillo was the glass floor that you could look through and see the ocean crashing on the rocks below.









After this, we walked to the Reloj de Flores - the flower clock. I don't have much to say other than this clock is featured on most Viña postcards.



Then onto Valpo. In Chile, there are many forms of transportation for the traveling public. One of which is a Migro - which is a small bus that appears to be about 30+ years. The Migros are great - the drivers are fast, perhaps a bit reckless and they get you just about everywhere you want to go. The journey from Viña to Valpo costs 350 - 400 Chilean Pesos (400 if you are levied a "gringo tax") which is just under a dollar.



We took a Migro into Valpo and set off on foot to find the acensor (funicular) to Cerro Bellavista. A Cerro is a hill and most of the neighborhoods (barrios) in Valpo are in the cerros. Bellavista is famous for the open air museum and Pablo Neruda's house. The open air museum consists of a series of streets with amazing graffiti. The pictures are bright and vivid and the houses match with their bright colors as well. As the funicular was closed, we climbed about 100 stairs up to the Cerro and explored the streets admiring the artwork, heading further and further upwards to Pablo Neruda's house. Neruda had three homes in Chile - one in Santiago, another in Valpo and the last one in Isla Negra. Looking out (and down) from the top of the Cerro, it was clear as to why he built one here. The view was amazing. The house was said by some to look like a ship, but only by a real stretch of the imagination.















A this point we headed back downhill to town.... And off to our next destination (with a quick lunch break) - the double Cerro experience: Cerro Conception and Cerro Alegre. We took the short Funicular up. This pair of Cerros was by far my favorite. First of all we met a friendly ice cream vendor who gave us a bunch of samples and advice on what to see. Secondly the houses looked like they were straight out of the 1920's. I loved their charm. There was a church that looked like it would have been interesting, but it was closed for reconstruction. The only negative of this area was when I got trapped in a small gateway while two street dogs fought each other inches from me.









The final Cerro we visited was Artilleria. It was not the one we wanted - well Ken wanted to go to the longest funicular, but we couldn't get there the way we wanted, so we thought if we went up the other Cerro, we'd be able to cut across. The stairs up were colorful, painted with many messages and designs. Up top we saw the longest funicular that Ken wanted to ride. It was closed. So we rode the funicular of Artilleria down. It was a fairly long funicular as well. Like the stairs it was decorated.









To conclude our day we wanted to go eat at the fish market restaurants, but they were closed, so we went back to Viña and had bad Tex-Mex.



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Location:Valparaiso, Chile

San Antonio!

I am a San Antonian - born and raised. Every time I book a ticket to San Antonio online, I am given a choice of San Antonio, TX or San Antonio, Chile. Never did I ever think I'd one day go to San Antonio, Chile.
It started like this.....about a week ago I looked at map and realize just how close I was to San Antonio - so I searched Couch Surfing for any San Antonians - of the Chilean variety. There were four and the most recent login was about a month ago. So I posted a question to the general Chile forum. (it might be worth noting that I'd searched the Internet and come up with very little touristic information) The response to my question on CS was dismal - everyone said it wasn't worth it. So I threw the idea out of my mind and focused on Isla Negra. A few days later, a CS member from France, Cassandre, sent me a message asking if I wanted to day trip to the Isla Negra / San Antonio together. And that is how I ended up going to San Antonio today.....
Maybe I am biased, but I loved my experience in San Antonio! Actually Cass really liked it to, so I'm not totally biased.
It started with a pastry. We bought and split a pastry called Colegial. The conversation with the sales girl went much like this: (en Español)
Us: What is this?
Her: Colegial.
Us: Yes, but what is Colegial?
Her: Cake.
Us: What kind of a flavor does it have?
Her: It tastes like Colegial.
So basically we had no idea what we were getting....but it was good! I'm pretty sure it was sweetened with Manjar.


We walked around a bit and the impression of San Antonio was just so-so.... But then we decided to find the beach...
Well actually we found the port.
We found the life of San Antonio! The port had vendors, performers, lots of people, a fish market and more...












The most surprising part though were the animals! Pelicans and seals! I took about a million photos.... They were crowded around the port, eating fish heads thrown to them by the fish market, sleeping and playing. The seals (or are they sea lions - I'm not sure of the difference) are amazing creatures! Huge, loud and expressive... You knew when they were happy and when they were not, I heard a noise something between a growl and a roar and saw teeth that could probably take off a hand without even trying. But mostly they appeared to me to be content and cute.

Cassandre and I took a boat tour of the harbor. It was really interesting and we learned a lot. For example, San Antonio was the first major port of Chile. The port of San Antonio is the third largest economic industry of Chile (copper is number 1 - no idea about 2) and was integral in rebuilding after the earthquakes of 1985 and 2010 because it sustained little to no damage. It's an active port. Fishermen fish for fish, frequently catching anchovies, barges come in from around the world carrying products for the entire continent and tourists appreciate the blue water and beautiful view. Yes, San Antonio is worth visiting!












Now that I have visited two San Antonios, I want to visit the other ones in the world. I know there are at least 3 in South America - Chile, Argentina and ummm... Bolivia? Guess I need to make some travel plans!

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Location:San Antonio de Chile