II. That's Yenny Lynn to you!

South America 2003, email II

According to several Latinos, Yenny is my new first name, Lynn is my new last name. Sounds more like a porn star to me, but maybe that is why Im so popular here. Well my friends, its time for another update from your beloved. I have been having a great time since last writing you, and I hope to convey this great time in my email. so....

I am currently in the town of Vicuña. It is pleasant, the home of Gabriela Mistrals (the poet). We had a wonderful celebratory lunch for Tina's birthday and have enjoyed our few hours here. But before I tell how we got to this sleepy town, lets go back...back in time.

This past weekend was very relaxing. We spent most of it with my family in Chile. We were staying with my aunt, who was very hospitable, as well as spending time with cousins and Grandma. There probably isn't much I can say about them that would be super interesting to those of you who don't know them. The time with them was interesting in a super way.

So after many days in Santiago, we decided to get the hell out and see some sights of Chile. We decided to go to the North of Chile to the city of San Pedro de Atacama. It was a 20 hour trip via bus. But we splurged and got the salon cama, which has seats that pretty much turn into beds. They even serve meals. This makes it possible to over look their movie selection which includes but is not limited to such titles as Ernest rides again and Carriers. If you haven't heard of these movies, there is a good reason. San Pedro is in the middle of the desert, the driest desert in the world. San Pedro may be one of the coolest towns I have ever been in. They haven't discovered (or if discovered, haven't chosen to utilize) pavement or blacktop of any kind. Everything is dirt, clay, and dust. The houses are all adobe style and awesome. Our hostel was nice, although the 24 hours of hot water was a lie. It is a hippie town with charming restaurants with fires and music everywhere. From this town, we took two tours. The first left at 4am and took us to see the sunrise in the Geysers of Tatio. Awesome but fucking cold. Im serious. Like Chicago in the dead of winter cold. But as soon as the sun rose, it was sweatshirt weather. Before sunrise, it was cold, like 0 degrees Farenheit cold. But the steam from the geysers and the sun was a beautiful expereince. Then we took a tour of Moon Valley or Valle de la Luna. Also very cool. We walked around some other desert mountains before ending up in the Valle de la Luna for sunset. While the sunset wasn't much, the color it created on the mountains was beautiful. After that we got to plunge down the sand dune type thing to our van. Let me say they don't have many roads (any roads) to these places and these mini vans weren't made for off roading, so my ass was sore.

Yesterday we hoped on a bus ( not salon cama this time, semi cama, which is much cheaper and much lesss comfortable, but with the same movie selection). We ended up in La serena this morning. We also ended up with sore throats and colds from either a. inhaling around 3 tons of dust, b. being contaminated by sick cousin, or c. being contaminated by sars infected bus travelers. Tylenol cold has solved most problems. We quickly rented a car and headed east. What is East of La serena you might ask. Well, Cerro Tololo is east of La Serena. It is an observatory about 80 km east. The view from the top was beautiful, and we met some chilean high schoolers who were on a field trip. They all kissed and sang to Tina for her birthday. At least she had some suprises. Then we drove up this super windy dirt road sans guard rails. Thankfully, there weren't many cars. One thing we did learn from this trip, don't tell people you are Canadian if you need to show your US passport.

And that brings us to Vicuña, 15 km east of Tololo. We drive back to La serena tonight and then leave at 1130p (or 23:30) for Santiago, arriving at 6 or 7a. I think sleep shouldn't be a problem. On Monday we leave for Ecuador where we will be meeting family members (that I don't know), whales and horses. I can't wait. Thank you to all of you who wrote me emails. They made me feel so loved. Keep it up. And for those of you who didn't write...well, you've broken my heart and you'll get your comeuppance. But you still have to weeks to rectify the problem. I miss you all, but can't say Im ready to come home just yet...well see after the malaria or yellow fever kicks in.
Take Care
Yenny