a great debate

We just had the good fortune of watching the democratic debate on CNN between Senator Barack Obama and Senator Hillary Clinton.

Their words and their poise have given me hope for the future of our country and renewed my faith in the power of politics. Thank you, Barack and Hillary, for the respectable manner in which you debated difficult issues and for articulating your visions for this great nation. Finally, something to look forward to.

My favorite moments from the debate:

Senator Clinton, in response to a question about the legacy of presidents in the past 24 years, remarked that it took a Clinton to clean up after the first Bush, and it may take another Clinton to clean up after the second.

Senator Obama, discussing the next steps in the war in Iraq, said that he not only wants to change the policies that surround our foreign affairs and involvement in Iraq, but he also wants to change the mindset of our country that got us into the war in the first place.

Word. I'll take either of you.

more pics of the best vacation EVER

Sorry, I got a little sidetracked in posting the pics from our patagonia trip.

I knew it was good at the time, but now in hindsite, I think I could say that this short excursion to Argentina and Chile ties with New Zealand for the best trip ever. Great company, beautiful place. Loved every minute of it. Even the part when I stepped through the ice into the river.

Day two of this trek was absurd. Up an enormous hill of snow (did I mention I was wearing running shoes -bad call) and awesome bouldering fields to reach Lake Schmoll.






The view from up top

tom and matt, feeling the love.

over the peak (where, incidently, you can also arrive by cable car if you wish to avoid using any leg muscles or will power)

Then down, down, down a 45 degree slope of scree to drop 2,000 feet into the valley. You don't walk this part, you pretty much ski, and pray that you don't ass over tea kettle into one of the boulders below.


Then you're in the valley, which is nice and warm and cruel at the same time. Because you're looking around at the impressive wall of mountains surrounding you, wondering how one gets out of the valley. And the answer is straight back up.








Those light brown peaks off to the right are the scree fields we just came down, then through that nice green valley. And back up again, through snow and over boulders. Steep. Very steep.





And, three hours later, when you finally reach the top, you think you've made it.



But then you see a tiny little lake down in the valley on the other side, and there is a tiny little house that you can barely see because it's so far below. And that is where you're going. Legs ask to be left behind. I almost barfed on this last stretch. Freakin exhausting day.

But we finally made it down to Lake Jacob and the adorable little refugio there (the picture at the very top), where we made camp and ate like royalty and slept like the dead.

Patagonia is really stinkin' beautiful

We all looked so dashing and rugged. Couldn't help but do some posing.

Prom pose.





The valley, posing by itself




Sketchiest river crossing ever. Skinny rope to hang onto, white water swirling around your feet, sixty foot waterfall right behind you. Best not to dilly dally. We all made it across without catastrophe, but man, it made your heart kick.




Better crossing. We came down through the valley on the fourth day of the trek. It was a beautiful and (comparatively) relaxing 18k stroll. This trail went mostly through the forest and crossed over the rivers that are fed by the snow capped peaks we'd be playing in for the past three days. Legs were grateful for the break.


Once we made it out of the valley and back into civilization, we headed to Colonia Suisa, an uber charming little swiss village an hour southwest of Bariloche. When we arrived it was getting dark, we were mud covered and soaked and a little less than amped to set up our soggy tents in the rain and sleep in our own filth. So we splurged for a hostel, which had hot showers (thank you god) and served fresh baked bread and coffee in mugs bigger than my head. It was awesome.

Argentina is pretty much perfect. When you want to be outside roughing it, climbing things that seem unclimable, you can. And when you want to pamper yourself and eat delicious chocolate and drink drinkable wine and sleep in style, you can. Someone should tell Bolivia about this.


Once we'd gotten our papmer full, we went in search of a place to pitch our tents and bring in the new year.



We found a little isolated beach on the far side of Little Brown Dog Lake, just a mile or so from Colonia Suisa. Beautiful, quiet, perfect. The sand there was made of tiny pebbles of granite. How many thousands of crushed kitchen countertops had to go into making this place?



Tom, chilling by the lake on new year's eve.


And his right foot, sporting an epic blister.

There's our arses, Mags. We brought in the new year with a midnight dip in Little Brown Dog Lake, and then thawed our frozen buns by the fire. What an awesome way to start the year.

and then we was in chile

From Colonia Suisa we headed back to Bariloche, where we feasted on steaks and wine and chocolate and got our fill of civilization. Then we rented a car and headed to Chile to see the other side and catch a glimpse of the pacific.

Didn't think about not being able to take food over the border, so at customs we had to stuff our faces full of all the avacadoes, tomatoes, bananas, sausage, and other road snacks we'd packed. As good a place as any for dinner.

Then we drove west towards the pacific, saw some beautiful scenery, and bought some fresh raspberries from a nice lady at a roadside stand along the way.

We spent the night in Puerto Varas, a cool little town by a beautiful lake with one of the umpteen volcanoes in the area looming behihind.

mmm, volcanos.

lots of em.

Then we headed west as west we could go. Saw some penguins. Rad.

And we spent a few hours in Carelmapu, an awesome little fishing village, where we ate some super dupe sea food and hung out on the beach with a few hundred fishing boats and a few chileans.











And then we saw Jesus, who's been hanging out in a little glass house in a boat by the pacific all along. Who knew?

We had to give the car back so some other people could enjoy a ride in it, so we headed back to argentina.

Along the way, we bought two more pounds of raspberries and four pounds of cherries, all of which we had to eat within the two hours before we got to the border. And Matt and Tom wouldn't help. Maggie and I ate it all. It was a little hard on the belly, but man that fruit was good.

Back in Argentina we stopped for the night by Lake Angostina, just a little ways outside Bariloche. We found this awesome little cabin to stay in up on the mountainside overlooking the lake. From our enormous comfy bed we watched the Iowa primaries and felt the rumble in our bellies.

Obama 2008!!!!


Then it was time to mosey back to Bolivia. It was a good trip. A fine trip. Sad to see it end. And sad to leave the good company of our friends. But patagonia is still there, and Maggie and Matt are still out there somewhere. And we'll see them all someday not too far from now.


Until the next adventure, make peace and enjoy yourselves.

Cooler weather at last

Putting together a puzzle on a chilly rainy day in Cochabamba, Two peace corps friends Ryan Plank and Erin Mitchell (one of three married couples in our group)and Erin's brother Graeme and my beautiful puzzle genius Anna Bird.

We have arrived in Cochabamba after a hellish bus ride yet again and the weather, as always, is fantastic. We arrived this morning to a strong cold rain, which after the heat of Okinawa was a welcomed respite. We should be here for the next week or so. Anna will be at meetings of the volunteer action committee, I'll be doing a little extra spanish training, we will both be helping out in the Cochabamba office and we'll both be welcoming the next crop of volunteers who will be flying in on the 30th of January. The next group of volunteers will be agriculture focused and then the group after that is our replacement group in basic sanitation.

A bit of news......I maybe planning a trip in early March to good ole Virginia for some paramedic recertification classes, unfortunately it'll be all work and no play and I think I'll be going solo, four days of classes jammed into five or six days of being back home. We'll see, no telling if my higher ups will approve this leave for professional reasons or if I'll have to take vacation time. Hope all is well at home, we miss you all. Tom and Anna.

Some Goings On.

Here in Oki Doke it is hot, very hot. One of the common sayings here is “Hace Caloooooor, pue!” which essentially functions as a hello and means “it is hhhhoooot”. Hot it is, and the ways we confront and deal with the heat is avoidance, showers (sometimes three to four a day), fans, and drinking lots of water. Of course heat usually isn’t bad all by itself, but here we like adding the jungle humidity to the mix, it just makes for a more interesting heat. I washed my clothes yesterday at roughly nine in the morning and they were still wet by ten o’clock that evening, and no, it did not rain. Like I said, ‘interesting’.
I will never live in such a climate again. Give me freezing sleet, blustery winds, snow and ice any day over this mosquito steam bath. The skeeters here are relentless and there breeding grounds of standing water are now all over the place with the heavy rains we’ve received as of late. Thank the gods that Peace Corps gives us ‘OFF’ insect repellant and hydrocortisone for the bites when we don’t apply enough ‘OFF’.
I’m not sure if it is apparent in the blog pictures but my hair was getting fairly long, about six inches or so. I’ve always thought it would be cool to have long hair, not forever but for a short time and that short time is up, having long hair feels like I’ve got a stocking cap on and it just too much in the heat. So in the next couple of blogs I’ll be sporting a new cooler hairdo.
As for Anna and I we have a lot of fun together although, being in almost constant proximity can be a truly wonderful thing but, to be honest it can also be a bit demanding. Constant proximity is for honeymoons and honeymoons do not last two years for a reason. Time apart is important and if I remember correctly makes the heart grow fonder. We are starting to focus more of our time on separate projects which, I prefer for a number of reasons but namely because it keeps us more in touch versus being in constant contact throughout the day. It sounds counterintuitive but it works.
Sounds as though are projects are starting to gain some momentum. Our little meetings are starting to turn into bigger meetings enveloping more important people in the community. Hopefully in the next couple of weeks we’ll be presenting the topic on how to pay for the water testing lab that Anna and I proposed this week. Ideally, I would love if the money was available around June of ’08 when we are tentatively planning a return to the great ole “yoosa” (that’s how USA is pronounced here) and when we return from the trip we’d bring the lab equipment back.
Well that about settles it for what is going on here (a few pic's down below). We hope all is well in good ole yoosa and we miss you all. Tom.


Playing volleybal with the Catholic Volunteers and a couple sisters. Even with God on our side we lost all four matches.

My 29th birthday party.

Big frog.

All that hair on the ground was mine. My shorter haircut feels much better in the heat.

happy birthday tom!

i love you bad.

up into the frey

This is the view from our hostel in Bariloche, looking over Nahuel Huapi Lake. Those mountains to the left are what we're about to climb.



There first day of this six day backpack extravaganza was a gentle climb up to the frey. So gentle I only had to stop for about two hours to catch some air and give a pep talk to my legs along the way. We haven't seen nor walked upon a hill in five months. I'm little out of shape. But it sure was pretty.

Once we got to the top, Tom dropped dead, I soaked my feet in the cold lake, and then we made camp, where we enjoyed a beautiful afternoon in the sun.




Tom and Matt, chillin and laughing by the lake.

Anna and Maggie taking a bath.

Our trusty tents.



Cookin some stuff.



The refugio at the frey (that's what they call mountain cabins where they sell beds and food and booze to weary travelers) .

the next morning we headed straight up a mountain to Lake Schmoll, which I almost fell in. But didn't.

If it looks badass, that's cause it is.