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Around and about San Francisco

March 14th, 2007

After nearly 24 hours of flying and sitting, I arrived in San Francisco where I am visiting my cousin Lacy and her boyfriend Robbie. With numerous phone calls and various forms of public transporation, I arrived at their apartment which is in an Art Deco building in the Marina district. I first had to catch the BART into the city and then walk a few blocks to catch a bus. It was the bus that went through Chinatown. Being only 1 of 3 non Asian people on the bus led me to realize that I was on the right path. After arriving at the apartment, I went do some shopping and then hung out on the marina while Lacy and Robbie went with a realtor to do some house hunting. From the marina, I had great views of Alcatraz and the Golden Gate bridge. After they got home we went eat and then did some grocery shopping. I bought lots of power bars as I planned to do some hiking around the area. As my stay here is during the week, Lacy and Robbie are working. This means that when I leave in the morning, I can’t come back until they get home from work as they have the only keys. Read the rest of this entry »

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Being lazy around Easter Island

March 9th, 2007

My first entry for Easter Island was full of adventure and daring do. On Easter Island there are only so many things to do so it was inevitable that I slow down. Most of Wednesday was spent reading a book at the guesthouse to try to avoid the heat. I did go out and buy some food as I decided to try to “cook” in the kitchen. Food here is 2-3 times more than it is in the US. Restaurants are very expensive. I first found the fruit and vegetable market and bought eight bananas from the back of a truck. The owner of the truck took me to a scale, weighed the bananas, and told me the price $2. He then disappeared. As with everything else I have done here, finding someone to pay is a hassel. I tried to give money to several people who shook their head no. I finally saw the guy back at at the truck and he took the money. I next went to the supermarket and bought bread, mustard, cheese, and hotdogs. My supper for the next three days consisted of bananas and hotdogs which I had to boil hence the “cook” part. Lunches have consisted of chicken and cheese empanadas which are the closest thing to fast food on the island. There is a stand next to a park that sells huge empanadas for about $3. Read the rest of this entry »

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Ola de Isla de Pascua (Rapa Nui, Easter Island, The Navel of the World)

March 5th, 2007

Friday afternoon Tyson came to pick me up and we drove to the New Orleans airport. We checkecd in at the American Airlines counter. They only had record of my ticket to Miami and said I would have to check with LAN in Miami for the rest of my ticket. Needless to say this had me a little worried. All of Tyson´s tickets were available. Our plane left New Orleans at 14:00 and we arrived in Miami. In Miami things got a little interesting. We headed to what we thought was our gate for the flight to Santiago. We soon discovered that this flight was going to Santiago, Dominican Republic not Chile. We were directed to the LAN terminal. After waiting a few hours, someone finally showed up at the ticket counter. We checked in. They had tickets for me but unfortunately it was on the wrong flight. After numerous phone calls in Spanish, the gate attendant got me on the right flight. Tyson also had some trouble. The gate attendant said he should have paper tickets when in fact all the tickets should have been electronic. He was also on the wrong flight. American Airlines had supposedly canceled all connecting flights for some reason. More calls in Spanish resolved this issue. We boarded the right plane and had an uneventful trip to Easter Island. The landing was a little exciting as the plane used a steeper descent path than I was used to (lots of stomach turning drops). We got great view of the island though as we landed. Read the rest of this entry »

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1 day to go

March 1st, 2007

Well I am pretty much ready to go. My bag is packed. My head is shaved. Now I am just counting down the hours. I will leave home tomorrow morning around 10:00 to catch a 14:00 flight out of New Orleans to Miami. My friend and I will drive to the airport together. My trip to Easter Island will be a long one so I am glad to have company. I fly from New Orleans to Miami, Miami to Santiago, Santiago to Easter Island. I will arrive on Easter Island at 12:50 pm nearly 24 hours after I leave New Orleans. This is still not my longest series of flights as I have a 12.5 hour nonstop flight from Santiago to Los Angeles. One interesting fact about Easter Island is that Chile, of which Easter Island is a part, has made Easter Island use the same time zone as the mainland even though it is very far away. As a result, the sun rises at about 9:00 and set at about 21:00. Time on Easter Island is currently equal to that of the East Coast of the United States.

Today was spent running several errands. I got a haircut (my hair is cut really short, slightly longer than military boot camp cut). I mailed my sleeping bag and air mattress to my cousin in San Fransisco. My tent is on its way to Australia. I will pick these items up as I arrive.

For the more touch feely of you out there, here is a run down on my feelings. My main emotion right now is one of nervousness. The closest I can come to describing it is the feeling one gets when one is about to do something exciting yet it is a big fear for them. An example is skydiving for someone who doesn’t like heights. I am a little puzzled by this feeling as I am not scared per se (getting sick being my main concern). I think it’s more likely that it’s just me trying to cope with the big life change I am making. I have never not had a job. I have been continuously employed since I was fifteen. It will probably take me a while to get adapted to this. I have always been very careful about spending money and it is hard for me to spend money when I don’t have a job. I obviously have to get over this as this trip will cost money and I will be miserable if I try to nickel and dime the whole trip.

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5 days until trip begins and packing list

February 26th, 2007

Here is my long awaited packing list. Read the rest of this entry »

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7 days until trip begins and movie references

February 24th, 2007

Time is really getting close. I must admit I do experience bouts of cold feet. Living in Louisiana for the last two months has been great in the fact that I have gotten see family and friends, but it also makes it harder to leave. I have once again gotten use to having all my family and long time friends around me. During my five years that I lived away from home, I had adapted to not having them be as big a part of my life as they have been for the last few months. Despite all this, I doubt I will be reenacting a scene from “Runaway Bride” at the airport. Picture it. I slowly make my way up to the ticket agent while looking all around me. I hand her my ticket. She scans it and attempts to hand it back to me. As she does, I turn and run leaving her standing at the gate with a bewildered expression on her face. Read the rest of this entry »

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15 days until trip begins

February 16th, 2007

Time is getting really short but the reality of the trip still hasn’t set in yet. I have one week of work left and then one week after that to wrap everything up. It’s been a while since I have written, but I wanted to wait until I had something interesting to write about so as not to bore all of my loyal fans.

My pre trip chores are pretty much complete. I have some reservations that I need to make for Fiji. I plan to work on that next week. Last week, work sent me to the South Haven plant in Michigan. I was supposed to spend two days at the plant but the curse of the Atlanta airport got me again. Two out of my four flight segments (including return) were delayed. My bag was misplaced and in addition to that the luggage office was out of toiletry kits. I got to South Haven much later than I expected so instead of going to the plant, I decided to try to get some pictures of Lake Michigan. Read the rest of this entry »

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40 days until trip begins

January 22nd, 2007

Since I last wrote, I have made significant headway in my trip preparations. I have decided not to get the rabies or Japanese encephalitis vaccines for the time being. Reservations have been made at the Ana Rapu Guesthouse for my stay on Easter Island (www.anarapu.cl for those of you interested in seeing the place). I was originally going to camp but the price was not that much more for a bed and breakfast. Ana Rapu is the name of the guesthouse proprietor. Supposedly she will pick us up at the airport. I am supposed to just ask for Ana when I get there. I guess this works on an island of 3800 people where everyone knows everyone. It kinda of like “Cheers” (everybody knows your name). Read the rest of this entry »

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55 days until trip begins – post Christmas update

January 7th, 2007

Well I am back in Louisiana and have returned to work after spending 1.5 weeks in Indianapolis. My parents and I left for South Carolina during a torrential downpour which apparently extended all the way South Carolina making the 12 hour drive there slightly short of fun. In an attempt to save what few possessions I have left, I rented a U-haul trailer at the last minute instead of trying to prevent my things from getting wet in the back of my father’s truck on the way to Indiana. My parents and I loaded up my things, went to bed, and then woke up early and drove to Indiana in more rain I might add. We put my things in the basement of my sister’s house. During the week and half there, I spent time visiting family and consuming large quanities of unhealthy foods. I got to visit my niece and godchild who is growing up very fast. my niece and me Read the rest of this entry »

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76 days until trip begins – Hi from Louisiana

December 17th, 2006

Well I made it to Louisiana about 12 hours after I left South Carolina last Sunday. I spent the weekend up to that point packing and saying goodbye to friends. On Saturday before I left, I had to make the hard decision of which possessions to keep and what to get rid of. I basically managed to get my possessions down to about 13 boxes and what could fit in the trunk and anorexically small back seat of a Mustang GT. The boxes will be going to my sister’s basement for storage. Read the rest of this entry »

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