#I WOKE UP AT 6AM TO FINISH PAINTING THIS AND FINISHED 4 HOURS LATER ;-;

[lorastyrels]

You ever think, what if Death did catch us?

[moldy-mold]

Diary Post: My Thoughts and Processes on Making “Silent Strength” It’s lengthy, taking place over long period of time. Mainly written for my future-self to remember what I went through, but also for anyone who is curious. Now that the project is over, I can post without reservations. There are certain things I need to keep secret though, so if I’m vague I do so intentionally!

Basically, a lot of number-crunching, physical labor, and psychological labor.

It started off as kind of a joke tweet I made. I had enough content to make a Tales Of art book and people were receptive to it. So… I thought maybe I could go somewhere with this. A few weeks later, I suddenly had a lot of Kratos art. Like. 80% of all my Tales art was Kratos. It didn’t make sense to make a broad Tales Of book when really most of it was Kratos.

I hadn’t made a book since I was in college despite it being one of my favorite things to do. They were never art books, just some editorial design projects that totally didn’t count. This book… would be my first-ever art book.

Several times, I came close to having enough art to print a book - the last time was my large collection of Yusuke Kitagawa, but the quality wasn’t where I wanted.  At that time, I was still experimenting with my iPad Pro and figuring out Procreate, so that was what I used him for.

NGL, I was pretty afraid of looking like a clown. After doing all this work, what if no one actually buys it? I was talking to some friends and they said they would buy it. It was enough for me. In the end, I’m creating something that I love. - The first thing I really wanted to work on was the cover. It needed to be epic but also mysterious (lol)… It was a good time to practice lighting and backgrounds. The cover had to be freaking Fantastic. I spent 3 days drawing nonstop. I was on vacation so I could spend full days just drawing. It was really intense. I would stop in the evenings to go for a run or else my legs would never get circulation again.

The hardest part was keeping it secret. I wanted to share it with the world right away bc I was so proud of it. Well, all I could do was show it to my parents and some close friends. They didn’t know who Kratos is, but it was obvious I was crazy about him.

Initially, I was doing some hand-lettering for the zine title instead of using a typeface. Tbh, I was so sure I was naming this zine “Blame Your Fate!” bc that is such an iconic line. But it just didn’t work with my cover, which looked… a little too serene for that. So… Silent Strength or Divine Strength? I asked around and got my answer.

But what size? All of my art has been on letter canvases. I wanted it to be large so you could see the details in the art. I’ll just start with that. - Luckily, I had all my Kratos-related art in one place. I started my InDesign file and threw everything in there just to see what it looked like. Man, I draw a lot of boxes… But I didn’t want them all next to each other. I also wanted to kinda organize it by the people Kratos hangs out with. There’s a Yuan section LOL… and a Lloyd section… and an Anna section. Idk, I tried to get some kind of order in there with a sprinkling of full spreads here and there to keep it fresh and interesting for the eyes.

I hadn’t worked with InDesign on such an intense level since college. I forgot all of the tips and tricks we learned in class. Spent some time reading on how to do things again… like adding page numbers. - I started drafting my pre-order form. It’s my first time making a google form like this. It’s kind of fun? I spent a long time on it, despite how simple it was. This was going to be my “Store” so it had to look and sound good. - My friend introduced me to charm-making. It seemed easy enough, and I wanted to give my zine more oomph. Besides, I’ve always wanted to make a charm.

I remember someone saying they’d buy a book of just the 4 Seraphim if it existed. I like them too and they lack art imo. In the end, I decided to do a polaroid charm. It’s not really that unique but I wanted Kratos to have actual friends to hang out with for once LOL.

She was going to do a group order to try to reduce the costs. I thought maybe 4 weeks would give me enough time. In the end she said I only have 2. I work well under pressure, so needless to say, I did make that deadline. I actually sketched the whole thing on the plane headed home. - After playing the game the second time, watching the OVA again, and reading “Offerings to a Star,” I have gained a real soft spot for Yuan.  My friend once said, “If you weren’t stolen away by Kratos, you would be in love with Yuan.” Lol. I’ve been in a “Kratos and Yuan hanging out” mood lately, so of course I needed something good for the zine. They’re so cute together! Now… what is the bro-est thing I can draw?

I was currently in Florida for my friend’s wedding. I was friends with the groom and his best man since high school, so that makes it 10 years now. Seeing how they’re still friends after all this time, despite living in opposite sides of the country, was really moving to me. Of course, me being me, I could see Kratos and Yuan’s long friendship being similar to this, if they had gone to school together. I just had to draw it. - When I got back from vacation, I did some research on zine sizes. Mine was HUGE compared to others. I just didn’t quite realize it until I held a magazine in my hands. It really is huge…

I settled for a medium size. 7x9. I really liked how it looked. Petite but not too petite. Unfortunately resizing my book had messed up my artwork placement so I spent hours rearranging all the text and resizing my images. I found out afterwards that there’s a way to retain the format while changing the document size. Gee, that would have been helpful 4 hours ago.

Sadly, choosing a custom size booklet makes printing more expensive. But I wanted it badly enough that I’d be willing to pay for it. Letter size is just too large… - I decided to stop dragging my feet and post a promo. I just really needed a deadline for myself to get this all done before July ended. I’m happy it was well-received. A lot of people like Kratos huh…

Anyway, the pre-order is due in a week and I still don’t know what all the costs are yet. I need a physical proof ASAP to weigh at the post office! - Something possessed me one day to do another drawing. I don’t usually do painterly style (mainly because it’s really difficult and takes 10x longer) but I just REALLY wanted to push myself on this Final Piece to the zine. I wanted it to be… radiant. Almost religious. I worked on it obsessively. From breakfast to sundown. The only time I would stop was at 7pm to go running or else my legs would give out on me.

Call me crazy, but I would save my progress on my phone so I could examine it for errors during my warmup. I also spend an hour examining it for errors before going to bed. It’s a miracle I hadn’t dreamt of the painting. - I sent my files in on Sunday in hopes that they start working on it first thing on Monday…. and it HAPPENED! They finished before I even woke up. I think they start work at like 6am…

Of course, I drove over there as soon as I heard so I can get a look. “Please… please let the colors be okay,” I prayed as I was driving. I barely remember driving there, I was so lost in thought. It would be another long ordeal if I had to fix all the colors.

Thank the stars. The press proof looked BEAUTIFUL!! I was screaming to the client coordinator how much I loved it. I mean, I worried for a looooong time that everything would turn out too dark (it usually does) but it was PERFECT. I was especially worried about the cover, which contained a lot of yellow and I def did not want it to come out mustardy… But it was great in the end!

The press operator is a quiet man. He’s got a scary face and never smiles but I think he’s secretly nice. He has done a lot of favors for me in the past without my asking. He was the one to print, bind, and trim the book for me. Obviously he had to have seen what I was drawing. I wonder what he thought of it…? He walked away before I could express how happy and thankful was. He didn’t need to hear it. It was like he already knew. So cool…

I immediately took it to the post office to weigh it. I needed as much info as I could get and plus, I was dying to know for myself. This is the week I was supposed to open pre-orders and there was still a lot I needed to do. Take pictures, create mockups, pricing, etc.

NGL, all of these costs were building up fast. It was so darn expensive to make a zine while also keeping prices down. But I wanted so much more for my baby. Extra glossy cover, perfect binding!! I knew by the end of this, I probably wouldn’t make much money. It hurt a little, but I tried to think that it was for the greater good. Learning experience and all that. And creating something beautiful. Especially something beautiful of Kratos. - Pricing was really the hardest part. I pretty much threw profit out the window. However, I definitely did not want to be losing money. My dad and I had worked together to create a spreadsheet of expenses to make sure my head was above water. I followed it… loosely.

My friend came to talk to me at the right moment. I was sort of panicking at the prices. She made me realize I was thinking way too hard about it and gave me some tips based on her own experience. It really put my mind at ease talking to someone who understands my woes.

The truth of the matter is, the book is wonderfully made and has a lot of pages - countless hours of drawing. There is only so much I can do about pricing. It is what it is… I just needed to come to terms with my own worth. - Boy, what am I going to do once the zine is done? My friend says that I’ll be so over Kratos that I’ll stop drawing him (but the love remains). It’s like… all of the intense planning, working, struggling nonstop will just suddenly… stop. TBH, I’m running out of ideas. I spent it all on the zine. - Photoshoot today. I had to paint my nails purple for this occasion. Unfortunately, I couldn’t get the look I wanted in the apartment. It’s just so naked without props. I think I’ll take it to a cafe for some nicer backgrounds. I talked it over with my friend and decided to do a quick flip-through of the zine as a promotional video. I used the most professional video program I had on hand… Snapchat. It actually turned out pretty legit and of course I slapped stickers on there because it’s Snapchat.

I had to tape/hide some of the pages for the video because I wasn’t actually done with the drawings. I had the printers print it anyway so I could examine it for color accuracy.

I’m really stressed about pricing now. It turns out I had a lot more international fans than I anticipated. I wish I took notes on interest earlier in the game to cater to them. I had a list of “possible buyers” and I only just now decided to check where they live? Foolish.

I did another cost analysis on paper to figure out what my goal was to make up for the charms. Right now they’ve cost me a fortune for something that was supposed to be giveaway. Other things that rack up are packaging costs, PayPal fees, and some other supplies I needed for this project.

Maybe I shouldn’t have made it 40 pages. It is an impressive number, but no one is really paying for quantity. I think 25 is a better number lol. If I had done that, I could have had my super-gloss cover like I wanted. :’(

There is hope though. And I’ve placed it in the hands of my followers to come through for me. I think I’ll open pre-orders on Saturday or Sunday, depending on what I finish. - “Losing your cool will only lead to poor decisions.” 
Thanks, Kratos twitter bot. You always know what to say.

I read this post today on what makes people buy zines. Very interesting!
 https://twitter.com/andythelemon_/status/1141469048653398019 - Photoshoot part 2 today. My friend and I went to a cafe nearby that had some nice atmosphere in hopes of finding the right shots. I brought all of my Kratos merch just in case. I’m glad I did though, since the tables were pretty sparse and it was difficult to capture the backgrounds without getting a bunch of random people in it too.

I would have been the photographer, but I definitely wanted my hands in the shots. In a way, it was meaningful - to show that this was made by my own two hands. Plus, I wanted to depict natural interaction with the product. It made it feel real.

The photos were cute! I feared it would look a little amateurish with all the merch in there, but I think fun was what I was really going for, not “professional.” And plus the flip-through was a Snap anyway LOL. As long as the photos have good lighting and tasteful composition, you really can’t go wrong with “fun.”

Now that I’ve finished editing my photos, there really isn’t anything holding me back from opening pre-orders. I’ve pretty much come to terms with my pricing. If I fail to break even, I’ll just have to open commissions to try to make up for it. I was telling my friend on the way home, “I gave this zine EVERYTHING I had to give. So at the very least, I won’t be disappointed in myself.” No stone left unturned, no detail left unchecked. It was perfect according to my standards. I really love my zine okay?!

I thought I was crazy for not only choosing a small fandom, I narrowed it down even further by picking ONE GUY to make this zine about. She replied, “Even if it’s small, those people who love him now must be EXTREMELY LOYAL to still be in love with a character from a 15-year-old game. All of them will want your zine.” - I went to bed that night with the intention of making the pre-order post live in the morning. I was so nervous I couldn’t sleep. I was wide awake until at least 5 or 6 am. Luckily, I was able to doze off for a an hour or two before I would shake myself awake again. It was a mixture of anxiety and excitement. It was the moment of truth - to see if all my effort made a difference. Was it going to sell? - The pre-order post looked really freaking good. I’ll give it that. I even made a YT account just to post that darn preview video on tumblr lol. It was definitely fun seeing everyone’s excitement and we all just freaked out together.

I broke even! That’s what really matters. Honestly at this point, I couldn’t care less if I made profit or not. I now know how much people really like the zine and that alone made me so happy I could die.

I was particularly fascinated at Google Form’s ability to transfer all the data collected into a spreadsheet. That is extremely helpful. I spent hours organizing the data. It was really fun…?! Now I can tell who gets invoiced and who paid and separate them into categories. IT’S FANTASTIC!

Stayed up late researching how much adding tracking could be. I had a slight panic attack thinking “what if my books got lost in transit?” It would really hurt me to have to reprint books and ship them again. And then I realized I will need to fill out customs forms for all international orders. Yikes, I’m gonna be living at the post office lol. You can print them out at home if you fill out the form online but there are still some things I’m uncertain about. I may visit the post office later this week to ask all my questions. - This morning I sent out everyone’s invoices. I gave the international people the option to purchase tracking. It’s expensive… but I need to provide that option just in case.

I received a nice message from someone who offered to advertise for me on Instagram. Of course, I gave them the OK! I’m really so shocked they would do that… They said the liked the zine so much it deserved more exposure. My dude… I love you… T_T

I thought about advertising on insta myself earlier in the week. For some reason I felt it was going to be fruitless since I don’t have an art account on there with a following. So, I gave up on the idea. Hey it worked out in the end.

I’ve never been so organized in my entire life. I want this zine experience to be perfect. The people have placed their trust in me, so I cannot mess up. - Edited some pages in the zine. The typography must be perfect… It made me think back to undergrad days in graphic design school. Man, if only I can present this as a project - photos, videos, matching accessories and all. I’d probably get an A lol. - Orders slow down after the first day. The rest is just about getting new people to see the post and giving other people more time to decide.

I finished my Kratos stationery today. It’s going to be so cute. My friend said people would want to buy it but I don’t have it in me to do more products at this time. Plus, I want it to be a surprise.

Why make stationery? Well my real job (no, I don’t draw Kratos all day for a living) is a stationery designer! It would feel really wrong not to put into practice what etiquette I’ve learned in this business. Plus, I felt that it was necessary to properly thank all those who ordered. And it’s fun?

I started designing the shipping labels for the domestic orders since I don’t need to fill out a customs form for those. I wish I had sticker labels but… it’s okay. It will still look good in the end. - Every so often, I would get nervous at the amount of money I’m responsible for. Perhaps, if I had a store with existing products I wouldn’t feel this way, but the fact that the books haven’t been printed yet made me scared. I know, I need this money to even print the books in the first place, but I’m just baffled at my customers’ trust in almost a total stranger. I felt pressured that I could not let them down and lose that trust. It probably didn’t help that I watched a documentary on Elizabeth Holmes (Theranos) that day.

So, I prayed every single day that nothing would go wrong. I’d check my spreadsheet constantly for any mistakes. It was a little obsessive, but I would rather be that than overlook something.

I began collecting cardboard boxes. My plan was to cut them up to protect the books during transit. I would have preferred hard envelopes but they were a bit pricey. If I have to do more work myself, so be it.

I’ve been getting nice DMs from some buyers. I think my invoice due date scared them… I really did not intend to be strict, but I wanted people to pay now if they can rather than forget about it. This happens at work all the time, so the best thing to do is have it due immediately. It would not look good to have to wait on stragglers when I close pre-orders, so I’ll probably reach out when there is one week left. - My Kratos stationery arrived! Aww it is SO CUTE!!! My babies… I have a lot of notes to write so I got started right away. It’s going to be a lot of work trying to come up with creative ways to say “thank you,” but I don’t mind. I said I was going to put my all into the zine experience so I will.

At long last, the charm order has been put in motion. My friend said it could take a while… I hope it won’t be longer than 3 weeks. I really do not want to keep everyone waiting. I may ship out the ones who did not win a charm first. I mean, there is no reason to make those guys wait. I should ask the charm winners if they still want to wait and see if anyone wants to give it up for someone else who is more patient. Hm. - I finally stopped by the post office today to collect customs forms. I have my work cut out for me since I’m filling all of them in by hand. D:

I’m not used to international addresses so I think I’ll ask for help in checking them for spelling errors and typos. Heaven forbid I mess up on the very last part of the zine experience.

In my nervousness, I decided to reach out about invoices early on. If someone wanted to cancel, I would rather find out sooner rather than later. Everyone was really nice about paying and thank goodness they’re still excited.

Feeling kind of overwhelmed by all the things I need to do, but it’s a good thing. If I don’t know what to do, I can either: cut cardboard, write letters, type shipping labels, draw more Kratos for a… possible volume 2? Someone I talked to today already said they’ll pre-order a second book if I make one. Omg I think I’ll die. But we’ll see. It’s just a joke right now haha… - Preorders end today. I had another nightmare last night that the books could not be printed properly and there was nothing I could do. Why do I keep getting nightmares about the zine! I had one a few days before about people canceling their orders when I asked them about the invoices. I’ll take these dreams with a grain of salt. I’m probably just stressed/worried but everything is going to be okay. When I open my eyes, nothing is on fire.

I received my final proof a few days ago. With all of the artwork completed and changes applied. The book looks good, no doubt about it. There was only one thing I was nit-picky about but it can be fixed. The press operator offered to print another book for me to inspect. I’ll go see it on Monday and then submit the rest of the orders. I also asked to to have a meeting with the press operator so we are on the same page. It would be beneficial to have an understanding of how my book is made so that I may be more helpful to him.

I spent the day preparing shipping labels. I hate to admit, I am not too familiar with the format international addresses so I had an address validator open as I was typing them in. For the most part, everyone was helpful in already formatting their addresses in the preorder form! - My parents called me the day after preorders were closed. They wanted to say congratulations on my success. No one thought it would do this well. I couldn’t be offended by that since I was also guilty of it. I’m happy though. It feels like my love spread across the world and was contagious.

I tried to think of what advice I would give to others. Obviously, genuine love for the subject and hard work were a necessity. But it would be good to consider value. If I were selling it at this price, I had to make sure my pieces and presentation looked the part. I ask myself, if someone else sold it, would I buy it?

I sent out messages to all the charm winners in the morning. I wanted to apologize profusely at the ridiculous amount of time it has taken to get them made. But no, I’ve got to stop apologizing. I stated the facts and left it at that. Everyone was really kind and patient⁠—to which I was thankful for. I don’t usually get that when I’m working customer service. - All the books were done printing in one day. Wow! I went to pick it up immediately of course. I can’t believe all of this is coming to an end. I finished preparing the mailers. All that was left was to stuff and seal the domestic orders. They were the easiest to do so I’m going to ship those first. The rest will need customs forms, which I haven’t filled out just yet. It’s going to be a while for those…

The mailers were quite sturdy with the cardboard cutouts I slipped in them. I have nothing to worry about. I’m sure my babies will be okay! - I took a whole box of domestic orders to the post office today. Wasn’t sure what to expect. But my clerk had to input every single address one at a time while I checked for errors. Omg, why are the post office shipping labels SO HUGE. I thought it was going to be half the size. And they’re ruining my designer labels! Slight panic but oh well…

I had a long long line behind me. I’m so sorry, people. Luckily there were two clerks or I would be really sweating. Despite my intimidating box of zines, the clerk and I had Synergy and we managed to ship all of these in about 15 minutes. I received a very long receipt and quite the bill lol. - Shipped the international orders today. I was kind of a mess since I had no idea what to do. I keep wondering if I can help speed up the process in any way but I don’t think I have the option to ship first-class at home.

When shipping international, keep the post office copy of the customs forms together with the package since they use that to type the address info into the system. Also, we get free tracking, which I did not know about. The other clerk told me that we did not get tracking for international first-class but I guess he was misinformed. It’s good to know for next time. - The charms finally arrived!! And THEY’RE HOLOGRAPHIC?! It was pretty awesome, but it makes picture-taking kind of difficult!! Anyway, I was a tiny bit disgruntled that they got my order incorrect, and I even asked for a reprint. But they said no, so I left it at that. Besides, it seems the holographic effect was well-received.

I like this size that I made. It’s really cute! Larger than your normal charm but not too huge. It’s almost like an Instax photo! - There was one customer who I found lives near me! I asked her if she wanted me to hand-deliver it to her in a public setting and she agreed (to my amazement). We finally met a few days ago and talked for hours and hours lol! I’m glad to have finally made a new friend here in this town but of course she’s moving away in two weeks. <:’3

We’re going to meet again to make the most of her time left. - I shipped the rest of the orders on the following Monday. I HAD to get these out. The poor guys have been waiting over a month! I think I picked a bad time to go because I had a huge line behind me and only one guy working. People in line were getting antsy or mad. The clerk at the other post office was super fast but not this guy…

For some reason shipping to the UK and Japan nearly doubled in price since the last time I checked. RIP. T_T - Omg I finally made a mistake. I wrote a letter to the wrong person. And the contents of that letter are too personalized!!! I am dying of embarrassment!!!!! Screams!! Had to apologize to both customers too!!! Luckily they were good sports about it but I’m seriously kicking myself AAAAAAAA!!!! - The most rewarding part after sending all my babies away is seeing the commentary on my project. It is so so nice to receive positive feedback. People are happy! Happy with something I created out of thin air. Everything was worth it 1000 times over. I can die happy!

I’m especially thankful to those who show understanding for how much effort went into it. It definitely wasn’t easy and I poured way too many hours into it… not that I regret that.

I don’t want to jump the gun but I would really love to make a volume 2. Because I know I can do better than last time. New and improved art and comics! But we’ll see if I make enough pieces for another book. I was against printing 40 pages before but now I kind of like it. It feels more worth it than a 25-page zine. If i’m going though so much effort, might as well bring in the entire package.

I’ll be printing more of this volume for Aselia Con 2020. Now I know people will appreciate it.

[goodlawdmaude]

Colombia and Peru 2019

3/7 SAN FRANCISCO --> BOGOTA

3/7-3/8

J and I ubered from ASF to airport, got through security, grabbed a drink at the terminal, then waited at our gate to board. Alarmingly, we heard our names over the intercom, but we just had to show our passports at the desk - no problem. A flight attendant on our flight got sick, so the flight needed 9 volunteers to get off the plane. This delayed us, but we eventually got off the ground. Slept some on the flight, had to go through customs in Mexico City, then through security to our gate. It was around 6am and light outside. Jarod resolved to start the day, but I wanted to sleep more. I slept for 30 great minutes on the flight, then watched Bohemian Rhapsody. The third person in our aisle was sketchy: late, on the phone (free WhatsApp), and importing a lot (per his customs form). We got through customs pretty quickly, then grabbed a taxi and made it to our hostel around 3pm. We rested briefly, then went out for lunch—arepas, chaufa arroz con pollo, and a special combo with seafood and rice in a divine yellow sauce. Jarod was starting to feel the full effect of his cold, but we went for a brief walk anyway through the center of town and the Museo de Botero. Lots of street vendors with various crafts and snacks, some alpacas, police with dogs with muzzles, cobblestone roads, sanitation workers in blue jumpsuits, green mountains in the background. While driving, we saw stark constrasts between shoddy roadside structures and the grand skyscrapers just behind them. Roads were paved and nice. We walked back, buying water at a nearby market, then took naps, showered, and went to sleep very early (8pm). On two instances, we were awoken by rowdiness in the hostel. Overall, slept 11(!!) hours.

3/9 BOGOTA-->MEDELLIN

3/9 Bogota-->Medellin

After our long sleep, we ate breakfast (eggs, fruit, bread, homemade jam, pancakes, lots of fruit) at the hostel, then asked reception to call a taxi for us. We made it to the airport and ultimately made it to the gate smoothly (despite one snafu: struggling to follow arrows to find el bano). Flight was super quick, it was hot when we landed, and we grabbed a taxi from a line outside. The ride to El Poblado was pretty green and undeveloped. It reminded me of driving in Costa Rica (narrow, windy roads), but the roads were paved and in better shape. We tried to drop our bags at the airbnb but couldn’t. We grabbed lunch at El Florez a couple doors down—very yummy healthy food. We tried the airbnb again to no avail. We walked around to take in the town. It was very green, hot and trendy - peppered with new-looking bars, restaurants, and shops. Dying of heat, we stopped for lemonades at a restaurant by the airbnb then went to get our key. We got in and hung for a bit--the airbnb was plenty spacious but nothing super fancy. We grabbed a drink at El Jenun(??)--J built his own gin and tonic while i had a fancy cocktail. We walked for a while--through some slightly seedier roads--to a gypsy/fox-themed pizza place for dinner. Grabbed a beer at Medellin beer company and J accidentally ordered a pitcher. Waitresses were scantily clad and hot; there was an old weird white dude who knew them all far too well. We came home, showered, and went to bed around 11pm.

3/10

After sleeping in until 9am, I straightened my hair (big deal) and then we went to El Pergamino for coffee and breakfast. I had a milky delicious chai latte and eggs with tomato and pesto roasted in a little crepe brûlée pan. The coffee shop was super trendy and cute. From there we walked to the Poblado Metro station and found our way onto the metro. It was very hot and pretty crowded but a really nice system. We got off to transfer to a gondola which took us over a poorer area--tin roofs, lots of graffiti, kids and dogs running everywhere. Then we got on a second gondola which took us over a final stretch of town and over a few miles of forest. The view was unbelievable. We were squished in with a Spanish family of 6 who were talking about how hot it was here and elsewhere. We got off and started exploring El Parque Arvi. It took us a while to realize we couldn’t hike the trails without a guide, and we couldn’t get a guide without booking online. We walked around and down the road where there were lots of street vendors and a couple restaurants. We got overpriced mangos. We headed back and went to grab lunch before seeing the botanical garden. There was mostly fast food. We got two empanadas to go and sat by the main area of vendors and performers in front of the garden. We went in, admires the flora, saw some iguanas, then headed out. We intended to walk to Cerro el Volador, but then the area we were walking through got a little sketchy and we turned around. We went to Explora Park--walked through the aquarium, reptile exhibits, and a room dedicated to the mind. By the time we were ready to leave, it was pouring. We ran to a taxi, had some confusion with the address, but made it back. We rebounded out for dinner (kebab house - mediocre) nearby, then got dessert across the street and wine and waters at exxito 

3/11

Woke up *early* 720 to get ready for our free walking tour through Real City Tours. Jarod made breakfast (scrambled eggs and an arepa) while I got dressed. We left a few minutes later than hoped, but hustled down Calle 10 to the poblado metro station and made it with time to spare to meet our guide. He wore a hat and a red shirt and directed our flock of 23 gringo ducklings onto the metro (which Jarod and I had already mastered the previous day), and we took it three stops north to Alpujarra. We got off, regrouped, and headed off to start the tour. It began with a roughly 20min history of Medellin. Julio told us how a big alcohol tax led the entrepreneurial locals to find smuggling routes to bring it into Colombia and how coffee grew well in its fertile soil and was a major export that bolstered the economy. He talked about the rise of cocaine and Pablo Escobar--how he and those over 30 remembered the terror and the violence and danger, but that younger people thought he was good because he “gave houses to poor people.” He talked about how the metro system showed the people that things could be better, and Medellin started its resurrection. We saw the old train station, the main government offices, the plaza of light (which used to be a crime hotspot but is now beautiful, adjacent to a library and the center of education). We walked through El Hueco, taking in the vendors and street scene to a church, empanada (with orange juice), and the Botero museum and plaza. We learned of the Belgian architect who had left his project because of all the shit-talking of the local people; the Paisas said they would finish it themselves... and did so very abruptly without following his complex blueprints. At this point, 4 members of our tour got lost. We walked to the metro stop from whose stairway a grenade had been tossed into a crowd; Julio explained Colombians’ short term memory as a necessity of resilience--and that one grenade wasn’t so bad compared to the volcano that killed 20k the next day. We walked down Junin street (a popular date night spot) and to a plaza where Botero has two bird statues- one that was partially destroyed by dynamite detonated during a concert; the other new to represent triumphing over that evil. There were cool murals of African American faces--allegedly the first freed slave in Colombia who ran away and beat up everyone that came to catch him. This plaza--especially the birds--was really powerful. A strong symbol of all that Medellin went through and rose above. After the tour, we grabbed lunch in the palace in El Hueco (creamed corn soup, salad, pork, rice and juice for roughly $5). We took the metro home and did a Nike workout and I thought I would die. We showered, hung out, then went to El Chagra for a 6-course tasting menu (we actually went for a drink, but were surprised by and obligated to do the tasting). All the dishes were focused on Amazon themes and resources- specifically the giant fish, Arapaima. The first course was a smoking drink that tasted spicy and cinnamony--a bit like fireball. The second was a delicious soup that was creamy and cheesy with yucca crumbs. The third was a potato/fish ball eaten with our hands and dipped in a spicy fruit sauce. The fourth was fish and chaufa rice. The fifth was sausage with fruit preserves and cherry tomato. The sixth was dessert--a brownie-like thing and a fruity ice cream. The whole meal ran 300COP (with cocktails which had a dazzling presentation of liquid smoke and a sandbox.. and tip). Before the final course, a man dressed as an indigenous Amazonian came to our table chanting and we didn’t know what to do. He spoke some dialect and then Spanish and offered us to use his pastes to paint on ourselves. We respectfully declined and he moved on. We went to a restaurant down the street for a drink. Jarod got a shot of gin *sin huelo* loll. The restaurant was upscale with several birthdays happening. They gave us hand towels which they made expand amazingly by pouring hot water on them. We went home to bed.

3/12 MEDELLIN-->LIMA

3/12

We woke up around 730 and did a Nike work out at home. Jarod made breakfast of eggs and arepas, then our taxi came and took us to the airport. When we got there, we couldn’t check in at the kiosk--it said we were on standby. We waited in line and the woman seemed to have some issues, but eventually gave us our boarding passes. We got through security, grabbed El Pergamino coffee/chai, and waited at the gate. Jarod got us sandwiches, fruit, and a chocolate donut thing to eat. We were sitting apart during the 3h flight :(. I read the whole time. We were fed on the airplane and I ate the meal despite being full. We got through customs easily and got a taxi to our airbnb in Miraflores (45min away... And during rush hr). We got keys from our concierge and went out for dinner. We had to wait a bit, but the food was delicious. Jarod are a risotto in squids ink with seafood. I had a pumpkin soup with shrimp, corn, and yucca. I was so full afterward and felt kinda sick but not too bad. Being in Miraflores felt like being in Santa Monica--it was an upscale beachside community with a nice mall. We went to bed HOT and I woke up once with an upset stomach, though it wasn’t too bad.

3/13

7 YEARS!! We set alarms around 730am but didn’t get out of bed until 830 or so. We headed out for a work out- running through several beautiful green parks on the coastline, then plopping in the shade for a circuit. After the workout, we went to a beachside cafe and ordered a coffee and a nutella/banana crepe to share. We stopped at home, rinsed my sunscreeny body, then headed to the mall, Larcomar. We popped into a cafe for parfaits and quiche, then went to the bike rental stand upstairs and got two bikes for one hour. After we paid but before we left, the bike attendant crashed/fell off his bike nearby. The irony was overwhelming. We biked along the beautiful coast, to the Bridge of Sighs, then back up a city street of Barranco. The Barranco main square was beautiful, with statues and beautiful plants peppered throughout the plaza. We rode back, returned our bikes to the attendant who was squirting Purell on his scraped knee, and went home. We did laundry, showered, and got ready for our walking food tour. (Snacked on plaintain chips and beers from the market downstairs while we waited.) A driver with an unexplained passenger picked us up around 520pm. He was very kind and gave us two (hot) bottles of water. We drove through traffic into the historical center, where we met our guide Ximena. We walked to a churro place that had a long line, Ximena scurried to the front, then returned with two churros--one with caramel (apparently an ancient sweet in Lima) or a sweet cream. They were scalding hot. We took them to a nearby monastery, with a gated plaza full of pigeons. Ximena told us that the plaza used to be a common place to sell goods that the pigeons and vultures were brought by the Spanish, and that it was still an important place of worship although only 20ish ppl were a part of the monastery (friars?). We went inside and saw into catacombs full of skulls and big bones. There were no cemeteries, so if one had the money, one would pay to be buried in that sacred space. From there, we went to the center of literature (which used to be a big train station, but now only one train goes and it runs maybe 2x/month). Across the street was the oldest bar in Lima. We went in and ate ham sandwiches with onion (pan con chicharron con sarza) and purple juice (chicha morrada - corn juice with cloves and cinnamon). From there we walked to the main plaza. Xime told us about the history of the buildings--the bell towers of the old church had been destroyed by earthquakes and rebuilt... the (some politician’s) mansion had been burned down (by ppl who wanted to scare him, but accidentally destroyed it) and rebuilt. It was a beautiful square full of light and life. From there, we walked to a nearby coffee shop where we talked with the brewer of Peru Uno, Oliver. He let us taste two of his beers--a Belgian trippel and an homage to Peru with chamomile and other local herbs/spices. With the beer we had fried bites called tequenos. Oliver was half Peruvian and have Belgian and very focused on sustainable business practices. He was super friendly and cool. From there, we walked a way to find a stop full of people--vendors with their carts as well as big mats on the ground for gambling and big circles around storytellers or dancers. We are mazamorra morada with rice pudding and another sweet rice that was brown from the sweetener. We then had the healing herbal drink emoliente and anticuchos. At each vendor, xime explained the prep in depth, asking the vendor details in Spanish then relaying the answers to us in English. From there we walked to an old bar for “supte artists” where we had papas a la huancaina, yucca rellena (my fave), and chilcano de pisco. People around us were getting TURNT--an old asian man could barely walk, a guy and girl had 8 beers (large) between them, 3 men had 14, and a table of three had a whole fifth of pisco (45% alcohol). Quite full, we struggled through our food. I finished my share, but J did not finish his! We then met our ride (after Xima first approached the wrong car), dropped Xime off, and made it home. During the tour, Xime said the most protested issue in Peru was gender ideology. We went to bed around 11.

3/14

We woke up around 730. I was feeling sicker than I had, but we set off for a workout anyway. We ran for 20min and did a 30min Nike training. We were dripping with sweat. We then headed down our street for breakfast. Jarod’s came with papaya juice and coffee and he got a water--so much liquid to go with his double decker grilled cheese (basically lol). We walked to Kennedy Park which was beautiful with lots of flowers and cats. We went to a supermarket nearby and bought waters, nuts, plaintain chips, and yogurt. We walked back to our place and chilled for a while. We snacked on yogurt and plantain chips during the afternoon, showered, took a nap, and enjoyed the beautiful patio of our airbnb. We watched a little bit of Coach Carter hehe. Then around 6 we set off for dinner at the ancient ruins Huelca Pucllana. It was a long walk during rush hour, but we made it (slightly sweaty) and were seated immediately (in the room not immediately adjacent to the ruins). We got Topeka? Appetizer—4 from the menu for two people--some delicious bread, and our meals (salmon and risotto for me; tuna and veggies and rice for J). We had pisco sours which were strong and delicious. We admired the ruins for a few minutes before walking back down a central strip of park-like walkway. We made it to park Kennedy and stopped for picarones-fried pumpkin and sweet potato dough. I thought we would get one donut, but we got 6, drizzled in syrup. We carried these home, smacked on a few, and packed up. We went to bed by 10pm in prep for our early travel day the next morning.

3/15 LIMA-->CUSCO

3/15

We woke up around 430 and started getting ready. We snacked on leftover picarone and banana, then went to head downstairs at 515. We were stopped by the man next door (Gerard?) who said he owned the building and worked at Cheesecake Factory in gheridelli square in SF and owned a house in Oakland. We talked for a few minutes and gave him the key (a relief to me; I was worried the doorman might not be there for a hand off). The doorman was there and called a taxi for us--though it took a while, our driver spoke some English and warned us (in spanish) about being robbed at gunpoint in Cusco. I slept during some of the ride and was very groggy when we arrived. We got through security and onto our plane smoothly. I slept against the window the entire flight, but felt super weird--and anxious about altitude sickness--when we arrived. We got off and found our way to a crowd of desperate taxi drivers, all in our face asking if we wanted to ride with them. We said no gracias to them all, then realized we did need one. Jarod was haggling with one guy for a 15s ride but he wouldn’t budge; another driver jumped in and said he would take us for 15s. We rode through more modern Cusco into the more ancient part where we were staying. We arrived at our hostel around 10 and sipped coca tea in the lobby while they prepared our room for us. (Very early but convenient!) our room was beautiful and spacious Jarod lay on the alpaca blanket at the foot of our king bed so as not to get it dirty. We hung for a bit, then went down the street for lunch, back home for the bathroom, then out again to the main plaza. A very friendly man outside a different restaurant said “ah hello guys, we have been waiting for you come on in.” We told him we had already eaten and pressed onward, making our way through people pushing massages, trinkets, and art prints at us. The main plaza was beautiful. Green and surrounded by old churches and hills. We went around the shops at the edge--with lots of aggressive vendors and high end alpaca clothing shops. We stopped to buy sunglasses, then went to the Inka museum. We learned about the pre-inkan people who used basic tools and made basic ceramics and relied heavily on llamas and alpacas. The Incas themselves didn’t develop until ~1100 AD (news to me). They too made lots of ceramics and basic tools as well as little sculptures of animals and foods to sacrifice to the gods. The section on Spanish conquest was unclear because all the signs were in Spanish. It seems they put into power lots of Incan leaders who were pro-Spain and then screwed them over. When we were finishing up, it started pouring rain. We waited briefly for it to let up, then hurried home in the rain. We were struggling to breathe pretty often (>11k feet). At home, we got snuggly and took a nap. We found a dinner spot and went there around 5pm lol. Jarod ate alpaca for the first time. The place was empty and the chef was very sweet and cute and fed us aguaymanto which were delicious. The food was really excellent. We did have some comedy with the light above us--she turned it off to set the mood, then a young girl Came in later and turned it on above us without saying anything... we turned it back off, then the chef asked if we wanted it or not. On the way out, she asked for a tripadvisor review which i will happily write. We went to scope out prices of (fake) alpaca products and desserts. We went to a few stores and saw small “alpaca” blankets ranging from 40s--35s. We will go back to buy one or two before we leave. We bought a brownie and slice of chocolate cake nearby, then took it back to our room to feast on in our king bed. We watched some Simpsons in spanish, then read for a while. We went to go to sleep around 10, but I couldn’t sleep. Felt like I didn’t sleep all night--was up thinking. Maybe too much coca tea (inulin is stimulatory).

3/16

We woke to our alarms around 630, but didn’t get out of bed cuz I felt like I hadn’t slept. Finally got up around 9 and got breakfast at our hotel, which was delicious-especially the cornbread. We chilled in our room and prepped for the day, then ventured out. First, we went to San Pedro market. The streets outside were overflowing with vendors selling hard boiled quail eggs and slices of various fruits. Inside the main market place was literally everything. There was a hot food area, a line of juice vendors, butchers bakers, herb-sellers, woven goods vendors, and more. On the far side, we walked down a street lined with shops selling whole chickens (their naked bodies and weird feet displayed prominently). We then found a second, less touristy market place with more hot food, some dye stands, and even a haircut shop. We walked back and stopped for tamales, but didn’t have small enough bills so the woman sent us away. We found our way back to the plaza des armes and sat down for lunch--Jarod got pizza and I got chicken. From there, we started walking (steeply up) to Sacsayhuaman. We found a nice church with a fabulous viewpoint, then continued along the road to the main gate. There was a guard who said the ticket office was closed and we had to buy tickets in the plaza des armes. We were not motivated enough to walk there and back (still constantly out of breath from the altitude), and it was starting to sprinkle, so we headed home. We hung around home until we had to go to our pre-trek meeting. There were two people missing at the start--who came in 20minutes late absolutely breathless. The guide went over the plan for the next couple days. Everyone was young and seemed outdoorsy and ready. This trio of Australians had bought a lot of the recommended items on the packing list. I felt anxious and a little intimidated. We went to inkazuela for dinner, where we are delicious stews and fresh baked bread. A group of maybe 20 annoying Americans came and sat down and were so loud as we were paying. Embarrassing. We went home and packed and tried to go to bed early because we were waking up at 330 for a 4am pick up to start the drive to start the hike for Salkantay!!

3/17 BEGIN SALKANTAY 

3/17 - Day 1 Salkantay 

We woke up at 330, finalized our packing, and waited in the lobby briefly before our guide, Erick, arrived to pick us up on foot. He lived nearby our hotel in San Blas. We waited with him for the van, which didn’t seem to be where it was supposed to be. We got everyone picked up (including 3 bonus ppl who were doing a separate one-day trip. They were Thai but our guide Erick had told us they were Chinese lol.) We drove for about 2h on a windy bumpy road, I tried to sleep, but it was fitfull. When we stopped for breakfast I felt like actual shit and was worried I was getting altitude sickness. Jarod didn’t feel well either. I looked at the trekking route and realized we wouldn’t be much higher than Cusco, and this relieved me. We had a big breakfast (eggs, bread, fruit and yogurt, juice, coca tea), and sat by ourselves while the rest of the group bonded. We both started to feel better with the food and fresh air. We got back in the vans and drove another hour before getting off, sunscreening up, officially doing intros with our hiking group, and hitting the trail. Jarod and I were at the front with the other Americans, Chris and Alex from Buffalo, New York. The Australians, Emma, Ben, and Nick, were in the middle, with the Austrians, Anna and Patrick at the end. The start of the hike required some elevation climb, but then it evened out and we walked along an aqueduct in the mountainside for the majority of the trek. I accidentally called Emma Anna when asking her to take a photo. We made it to camp around 12? We were assigned Sky camps, which were tiny but beautiful glass comes with little twin beds in them after a 3-4ft doorway. I read and fell asleep for 7min before it was time for lunch). Lunch was a huge feast--the food was good but a bit cold. We then rested for half an hour and then hiked up to the lake. It was a relatively short hike, but quite steep. I was very out of breath, but led the charge alongside Chris. Anna and Patrick were lagging so far behind, Erick told us to go ahead and then wait at the half way point. Chris and Jarod and I led, waited for the group, then went on some more. The field we were walking through was full of cows and horses grazing, flanked by giant hills on either side. We walked up and over the top and found ourselves at a stunning blue lake. It was breathtaking, with streams from a snowy mountain running into an aquamarine reservoir. We took some photos, then climbed up a ridge along the side, from which we could see the lake as well as the grassy valley we came up through. It started to rain and we saw a beautiful rainbow in the valley but also needed to hurry back down. Everyone put on our ponchos and took a picture. I got my walking sticks for the way down, and they helped on the muddy parts but made me very slow. Jarod and I lagged behind the group as we all charged down the hill. We made it back, met as a team for tea time at 530, then dinner at 630. They had given us snacks, but we didn’t really need them because we were fed so often and so well. (I still ate my cookies earlier.. because they were delicious hehe). We got ready for bed after dinner around 8. I had a swig if Nick’s pisco before bed, then crawled into my sleeping bag and tried (but struggled) to sleep. I got up at 1am because Jarod was getting up. I hissed after him that I wanted to come to the bathroom, but he didn’t hear me. When I stepped outside, he was standing there. (He has walked toward the bathroom and been startled by a cow and come back loll). After that, I had a very hard time sleeping.

3/18 - Day 2 Salkantay

Started to climb, through some grassy fields, up the “Gringo killer” and to Salkantay summit, where it started raining. Emma had to breathe from an oxygen tank at the top (she had had severe altitude sickness in previous visits), and the Austrian couple took horses to the top to save their legs. On the far side of the summit, our trek got truly miserable. Steep decline. Soaked head to toe. I remember thinking, “Wow, we paid to do this.” We got to our midway lunch spot, where I tried to dry my socks, and we commiserated with our group. Thankfully, the rain let up, and the rest of the hike descended into warmer, more tropical forests. For tea time, they made us a freaking cake. We paid to use a shower and went into our little thatched-roof huts, a tiny space with one large bed. I had a dream that I had no feet (likely brought on by the extreme pain I felt in all of my joints!).

3/19 -  Day 3 Salkantay

Started the trek with Erick painting our faces with berries. By this time, felt VERY bonded with the group. The hiking this day was much tamer, flatter roads, less extreme climbs/drops, and a fun little cart that we rode across a river. We stopped by a coffee plantation and had lunch there. We took a van some stretch of the drive to end up at the trailhead to Machu Picchu. We went out with our group for dinner, and I felt excited but also sad to be so close to the end of our time with them. 

3/20 - Day 4 Salkantay (Machu Picchu!!)

Got up to start the trek to Machu Picchu around 5am(?). It was pitch black, and we CHARGED up the mountain, often annoyed that the people in front of us were not immediately letting us pass them. By the time we arrived at the gate, there were maybe 20 people in line, and we were drenched in sweat but also STOKED to be there. It was pretty chilly and very misty, so we had a few minutes of great visibility, but lots of fog other than that. Erick gave us a tour and some history, then (VERY SADLY) left us. Our group was a little devastated. We explored on our own a little, then headed back down as droves and droves of tourists poured in. We took a bus back and ate lunch (and many beers/pisco sours) at a small cafe while waiting for our train back. We eventually got on a train, which took us to a bus, which took us back to Cusco. We had booked a nicer room so that we could soak up the luxury after some very tough days on the trail. We met the Australians and the Austrians for drinks, and ended up staying up pretty late playing games and chatting with them in a Cusco bar.

3/21 CUSCO-->BOGOTA

3/21

We were awoken at 8 by a mysterious knock. I had some stomach trouble, then came back to bed. We got up at 845 to get breakfast. We ate the hotel breakfast, then went to our room to pack. I was feeling very sad to be leaving, nostalgic for our time on the trail. We packed, left our bags at the front, and went to go buy some “alpaca” blankets. We got two bracelets for J, three small paintings, and two alpaca blankets. The lady told us they were 50s even though we had been to the store before and been told 40, and had seen them elsewhere for 35. Jarod got her down to 40 and we left with them. By now I was hungry and emotional and tired, so I started to tear up over indecision with where to eat. We sat at a cafe and had 11s sandwiches. We went back to the hotel and had them call a cab. We arrived at the airport and checked in, then strangely waited in a room before being allowed through security (not many intl flights out of cusco... seems to require its own protocol). We made it to our gate and onto the plane. I was happy to be sitting next to Jarod (he was K and I was E... but for whatever reason those two are adjacent...) we had steak and vino tinto on the flight ;). We took a taxi home - a man lifted our bags into the trunk then asked for a tip. When we got there, our hosts were nowhere to be found and it was pouring rain. A property manager came out and started talking at us in Spanish very quickly--I think saying that our hosts hadn’t told her anything. She somewhat angrily escorted us outside, and I thought we were going to have to wait there. She then showed us how to work all the locks on the door, then let us inside. We got wine and cheese at the grocery store and snacked on those for dinner

3/22

We woke up around 8 with plans to eat breakfast at home then head to la candelaria for a bike tour at 1030. All appliances rebelled against us. The eggs stuck to the bottom of the pan, and the eggs that didn’t stick barely cooked. I tried to put laundry in but the timer never went down; it just perpetually washed. The toaster oven was a mystery of its own. Regardless, we eventually dined on eggs and arepas, and Jarod got the washer to switch to rinse then dry. We called an uber and got dropped off by the bike shop. We waited in a plaza and chatted with some other travelers. We embarked as a large group and found our way to a plaza with a statue of Simon Bolivar... talked about journalism... then split into two groups and departed. We biked to “the time square of Bogota” and talked about Germans convincing Colombians to drink beer instead of chicha... saw street art and discussed the battle between more/less formal forms... we biked through a neighborhood of mixed architecture and talked about the identity crisis in bogota... we rode to a park and snacked on fruits, then admired a giant map of bogota before riding past more street art (Jarod got a flat as usual), and to a big memorial for those killed in the civil war- tears streaming down the side of a building into a pool of water. We went to a coffee shop and talked some with our guide, Mateo. He talked about working in social services in London and suggested those services weren’t helpful. He showed impatience with others’ inability to learn english. We talked about the education system a bit then started our coffee tour. We biked down a more colorful street--with gov-commissioned art on all the walls. We rode through the red light district to a market for fruit tasting. We then ran across the street and learned how to play Tejo. It was really absurd and fun even though I was bad at it. Then we went back to the bike shop and paid. We got what was supposed to be a light lunch of ajiaco and a tamale to share - it was heavy. We walked to the main plaza and Gabriel Garcia Marques cultural center. We tried to stand outside our lunch spot to get WiFi to order an uber. Instead we went to a cafe and bought banana bread to get  their code. We went home, hung out, then headed to el chato for dinner. The host asked if we had a reservation, which we had a hard time understanding. Eventually we were sat at the bar. We got cocktails, the best order of chips and guacamole ever, lamb (Jarod), and fish with mushrooms (me). When we finished dinner, we went to the grocery store to buy more coconut cookies and then we headed home. We went to bed around 11.

3/23

We were slow to start in the morning. We made breakfast and did some research on Monserrate before calling an uber to go there. The uber got lost in a nearby national park and asked several ppl for directions but apparently few of them were helpful. We finally made it to the trail head and hiked the (very tough) ascent of 2000m. It took us about 50min; we arrived around 12. The view was beautiful but there were lots of ppl- even a mass going on. There were lots of stands for foods and trinkets. On the way down we got queso fresco con fruta. We then walked all the way home, zagging through la candelaria, stopping for bunuelos and empanadas, and then by the park for fruit and carrot cake. There were countless street vendors with hot dogs, coconuts, fruits, cell phone minutes, dried food, etc. We got home, napped and snacked, then showered. We went to Bogota Brewing Company around the corner. The waitress talked to us a lot very quickly and we were totally lost. She then brought us four drinks to try -- we were worried we needed to say something about them but didn’t even really know what they were. We ordered beers and a pizza and reflected on the trip and plans for going home. We went to the store for more coconut cookies, then home. We sat and ate for a little, then packed up and went to bed around 10.

3/24 BOGOTA-->SAN FRANCISCO

3/24

345am wake up - was awoken a little early by drunks in the street. Got ready and Jarod called an uber. Rode to the airport, got through immigration and security, wanted crepes and waffles but couldn’t find them. Had to go to the desk to check in (after hearing our names over the speaker). Alarms were going off while we waited... no one seemed to care.

[ahntravels]

Des Petits Trous...Toujours Des Petits Trous...

Sorry I have been absent from the blog. Blogging takes a lot of time, and Nic and I were trying to make the most of it before we had to fly away.

Okay, so last blog of France...

Epernay. We caught the late bus (3:00 PM) to arrive in Paris around 6 PM. I rented a place through Booking.com. What is the difference between Airbnb and Booking.com?

I’m going to go on a rant about Airbnb. 

I am writing this post at 10PM on Sunday, 9/29 in Paris. I’m going to jump around a bit in time, but I am need to address Airbnb upfront.

So, when Nic and I first arrived in France on 9/15, we stayed ONE night in Paris before driving to Saint-Malo and doing the road trip. Because we just needed ONE night to stay in Paris, I rented a ROOM via Airbnb. The photos of the apartment looked nice, and the apartment was in a really nice location.

Before we arrived, I received a BUNCH of messages from the host. Literally 4 messages. I’m going to post them here because I want a record of this (btw, homeboy needs to update his photo because he does NOT look like this, but that is besides the point):

Okay, looks innocuous enough, right? Then I received a SECOND message:

RED FLAG: #2: More than 30 minutes? #4, really? And then he says he looks forward to seeing us? 

Anyway, I was like, okay...I get it. He wants to make sure we can get in and etc. For the sake of completeness, here is message #3 (nice details, to be honest):

Message #3:

Message #4 (notice the timetable of letting him know about our arrival has become even more tight...it was 30 minutes earlier, and now it’s 20 minutes?):

Also, he said in the advertisement we could get into the apartment after 12:30, now it’s 12:45 PM. 

All that being said, we did our stay on September 15th. We left less than 24 hours later (see my blog post about our first stay in Paris) and moved on. The way Airbnb works is that you leave reviews for the host and they leave reviews about you as a guest. Let’s check my previous reviews:

Nic and I literally arrived at this guy’s apartment, didn’t cook, didn’t use the kitchen, drank 2 COFFEES using his Kurig machine/coffee pods, washed the 2 freaking cups we used,  and took 2 SHOWERS TOTAL. We arrived at 2PM and left before 10AM. 

Why did we arrive at 2PM? Because when I contacted homeboy when we arrived in Paris, he was out RUNNING, missed my call, and then was grocery shopping and said we couldn’t come to his place before 12:30. 

What review did he leave me?

Nope. I don’t play these games. Nic and I came to the apartment at 2 PM, I took a shower, and we took a nap. No lights were on. We LEFT, got dinner, and came back around 9 PM. We went to sleep, woke up at 8 AM, packed, drank 2 COFFEES, and LEFT. What lights? What electricity? And WHY AM I PAYING YOU?

My response:

Conclusion: FUCK. YOU. Sorry, that is harsh, but seriously? I am not sure if he can respond to my response, but if he can, good luck. I have said all I needed to say on this issue so that’s it. 

Nic had the issue with Airbnb in Arles (read that entry) so I will say: Booking.com your apartments/hotels if you can. It’s more professional, people purely rent their spaces to guests so understand what to expect, and don’t act like entitled assholes. Airbnb at your own risk. 

Okay, so I woke up to this bad review, so I just had to address it. But backtrack to Friday after we got off the train and entered our Paris apartment (which, btw is gorgeous; through Booking.com):

I have been in contact with the host the whole time. We have the whole apartment, and the host has been amazing in terms of being in contact with me. Our arrival time changed, and no issues. The kitchen is stocked with supplies, the sheets and bathrooms immaculate, and a complete 180 from asshole. 

Friday night, Nic and I just hit up a bar/art space and hung out:

We went walking through Paris, before returning to the apartment for some tapas dinner:

What is the name of the orange cheese? I’m testing you!

So, the plan was that we we were going to host a dinner party for Nic’s friends on Saturday. I planned a menu which went through some revisions due to the market availability, but I’ll address that. 

The original menu was:

Apertif: -Sausage (bought) -Sardine spread (homemade) -Nuts -Chips -Sparkling wine

Starter: -Red Cabbage and French Radish salad w/mustard vinagrette

Main: -Roast pork with an onion and grape sauce

Dessert: -Something bought

Cheese: -Up to Nic

Drinks: -Rouge

Saturday’s plan was to include antiquing (I wanted to buy some plates or glasses) and then to buy the food for the dinner party. Guests were to arrive at 6:30/7:00 (which meant 7:00 or 8:00 in French time). Guests were to include: Nic’s best friend (consultant), Nic’s brother (officer in French military) and Nic’s brother’s friend (historian). And me and Nic, of course.

So, now we are at Saturday.

We woke up and went antiquing! The oldest “flea” market in Paris is right outside the city. When you get off the train, you are greeted with a bunch of stalls selling fake Louis Vuitton and designer wares. Nic needed a belt, so he bought one:

Once you walk through the outdoor market, you walk through these antique, rich stalls that are selling really expensive items. Like, people literally have magnifying glasses examining signatures, construction, and the quality of the glass on items. 

I wanted wine glasses, and bought 2 crystal Baccarat wine glasses for a good price (15 Euros each):

Plates and silverware were a wash since I couldn’t find matches or the plates weren’t hand painted. Anyway, when I have money I would love to come back and buy a complete set of glasses or silverware. 

Okay, after the day at the market it was time to get lunch and then go shopping for the dinner party. Nic used to live and go to university around the area, and knew of a really good vegetarian Indian restaurant (thank ____. I can’t wait to go back to being vegan!!!!)

Nic is probably literally gaining so much weight because of me. I eat half the food and he eats his portion and then finishes mine. On the menu was samosas (the triangles on the photo before) and then this meal was vegetarian biryani (rice), some yellow pea dal (to the left of rice), and then chickpea dish (far top left) and egglplant (far top right)  

After lunch, we went to a supermarket and bought all the food for the dinner party. Then I started cooking!

So, menu became revised because the store didn’t have any purple cabbage for the cabbage salad. Red cabbage salad became a Belgium endive, french radish, and fresh walnut salad (same dressing). Here is Nic cracking the walnuts for me:

I made a sardine spread a la David Lebovitz. We couldn’t find fresh sardines, so I had to buy canned sardines (just sardines, no oil). You have to remove the spines and bones, but that is fine. I just removed the spines and bones and baked them with a little bit of olive oil in the oven. Then follow the recipe. 

We served that with some Spanish chorizo (bought), pistachio nuts, mustard flavored potato chips, pretzels, and some baguette toasts along with sparking wine. 

Salad was the endive salad:

Belgium endive, sliced French radishes, some salad greens, fresh cracked walnuts, and a mustard vinaigrette. 

Main:

Roast pork with a pearl onion/grape sauce with roasted fingerling potatoes. How I did the pork:

-Melt some butter in a dutch oven -Sear pork on all sides that has been coarse salted and peppered (I did 1kg for 5 people, and we had leftovers) -Remove pork, add a cup of white wine to the drippings -Add 2 cups of chicken broth, peeled pearl onions, garlic, and thyme -Add pork back in -Cook on low on the stove for an hour -Remove pork; cover with foil -Raise heat and reduce the onion sauce for 40 minutes -Another pan, add some butter -Add 1 cup grapes whole (French grapes) -Grapes will burst and become its own sauce -When ready to serve, add pork back into reduced onion sauce -Cook for 20 minutes to heat pork and finish cooking -Remove pork, slice -Top with onion sauce -Top with grape sauce -Sprinkle with chives

For the potatoes: -Clean and cut potatoes in half -Sprinkle with garlic and some olive oil -Roast for 1 hour -Serve

Dinner was a success! Dessert was an apple tart we bought. Nic’s brother is the forward right; he had to take the 6AM train to be back in the morning. The person I am talking to is the historian who went to school with Nic’s brother, and we were talking about politics (of course) and the differences in curriculum between France and America. Nic’s best friend Julien is a consultant, so we talked about our needy clients. After dinner, they all went out to meet other friends, but I stayed back to clean and just go to sleep. I was tired!

Next morning (SUNDAY):

I loaded the dishwasher from the night before, but we needed to do another load of dishes. Nic graciously said he would clean from the night before, so he unloaded and reloaded the dishwasher. The plan was to visit Musee d’Orsay, so we cleaned (he cleaned) and we left!

On our way to the museum, we passed by Serge Gainsbourg’s old house. Remember the small holes song from Saint-Malo? It has followed me here!

Nic’s mom loves the song, and I promised I would learn it in French. 

Anyway, museum! 

After the museum, it was around 6:00PM. We went on a walk, and then went to the store to buy dinner and food for our flight tomorrow. We have to leave the apartment by 11:00 AM, and our flight is at 2:15 PM. 

Last dinner! Store bought pizza ($5) and leftover endive radish salad. And a quiche. 

I can’t can’t can’t wait to be vegan again. Tomorrow, the meat and cheese will be gone.  

I have lots of trinkets I have bought along the way: mustards, salts, a St. James wool sweater, soaps from Marseille, art from Caylus, crystal glasses from Paris, candies, and of course all the memories. 

On our walk home, this rainbow greeted us. I’ll miss France, but it is time to come home. 

[iwasnthere622]

Zack Taylor Designated Driver Squad

AO3 Link: Chapter 4

AO3 Link: Chapter 3

AO3 Link: Chapter 2

AO3 Link: Chapter 1

Tumblr Link: Chapter 3

Tumblr Link: Chapter 2

Tumblr Link: Chapter 1

CHAPTER 4: THURSDAY

Zack climbed up the rocky slope, moving slow, thoughts still back in the trailer with his mom, fingers curled loosely around his notebook -- Billy's mom always made sure he had all his stuff when she took him home, and Trini would just make him walk back home and get it if he forgot it.

"Hey."

Zack jumped a bit, looking up only to realize he'd made it to the abandoned train car and Trini was waiting for him.

Trini raised an eyebrow. "You okay?"

"Fine, Crazy Girl, still half asleep, that's all," Zack lied, grinning and dropping his notebook next to her bag on the ground. "Dunno why you insist on doing this before school, what time do you even get up to beat me here?"

Trini studied his face carefully, mostly ignoring what he was saying -- Zack could talk his way out of a paper bag, so if you wanted any kind of real answer, you had to know how to read his body language instead -- watching him tense the longer she studied him, deciding to leave it for now. If she pushed too hard, he'd react just the same as he did to Jason, and the point of this was to get him more involved with them, not push him away.

"Dawn," Trini answered eventually, crouching to turn on her music, the rock jarring compared to the peaceful and quiet setting.

"That's my bedtime," Zack teased, relaxing when Trini didn't push, bumping into her slightly as she stood.

"You're ridiculous," Trini said, standing and putting some space between them so she could start stretching and moving through her poses.

"Says the girl doing death metal yoga at 6am," Zack teased.

"Muscle memory is totally a thing, homeboy. So's being flexible."

"Ooh, right, gotta twist into a pretzel for the ladies."

Trini kicked a rock into his leg.

"Ow!" Zack hopped around on one foot, hands clutching his no-doubt bruised appendage. "Sheesh, someone woke up on the cranky side of the bed today!"

"Shut up and start moving," Trini ordered, giving him a look.

Zack rolled his eyes, but he did start mimicking her movements, because as much as he hated to admit it to her face, this stuff was helping him during their practices in the pit.

The playlist that Trini had set up ended a half hour later, signaling that they needed to start the walk to school to make it on time. Zack stretched out slowly, feeling a bit more relaxed and a bit more capable of shoving his worry down for now.

Trini packed up her things, waiting for Zack to pick up his notebook before taking off down the path, letting him reach out and tangle their fingers. She squeezed once but otherwise held his hand loosely, letting him know she was here without putting pressure on him to talk and joke around.

Zack loved hanging out with his friends, he did, but Trini was the best, because she got him. Maybe it was because she was a loner before all of this Ranger stuff, too, but she understood the pressure he felt sometimes when they were with the whole group, the outsider feeling that made him feel like a phony and clogged his throat.

They walked the whole way in silence, only letting go of each other when they were a block from the school.

"You good?" Trini asked, once they'd dropped each other's hands.

"Yeah," Zack said, bumping into her. "I'm good. Don't worry, I won't mess up your streak as the best DD."

Trini smiled a little. "I do like winning."

Zack laughed, slinging an arm around her shoulders. "Then win you shall," he declared. Sometimes, even with them bringing him to school and checking with him throughout the day, it got to be too much and he skipped out. But so far, he'd never skipped out on a Thursday, a fact Trini liked to occasional rub into everyone else's face. And if something as dumb as him staying in school for the day made Trini happy, then he'd do it.

"Us outcasts have to stick together," he murmured, letting go of her so they could walk into the school, meeting any stares coolly.

Trini ignored everyone and kept to the edges of the hall so she could go where she needed to go, heading to hers and Kim's locker, Zack trailing her.

The Pink Ranger wasn't there, and Trini couldn't help but notice the way Zack shifted, body betraying the fact he was not in the mood for people today, not even Kim.

"Go to homeroom. Your homeroom," Trini ordered.

"Spoilsport," Zack said, but his heart wasn't in it, all these kids laughing and flashing their care-free lifestyles all while staring and judging him making his skin crawl and the ball of worry, guilt, anxiety in his gut tighten.

"Go," Trini said, softer, nudging him. He could hide in a desk, doodle in his notebook, escape.

"...go Power Rangers," Zack whispered back, kissing Trini on the cheek before leaving her at her locker, heading to his real homeroom and ignoring everything, sinking into the back desk by the door and taking a slow breath.

--

He made it to second period before he couldn't anymore, the teachers, the kids, these fucking walls, he just couldn't. But it was Thursday so he had to stay, for Trini, so instead of going to math he went to art.

He saw a patch of yellow and felt like he could breathe again, bee lining for it and taking the empty seat next to her.

"What're we drawing today?" Zack asked Trini as he sat down.

"You have math now," Trini said, but in a resigned tone, knowing there was only so much even she could get Zack to do.

"Are you still on still-life, or have you moved on?" Zack continued.

Trini sighed, opening her sketchbook. "Still-life," she answered, nodding at the cart in the corner, covered with a variety of paint cans and paint brushes and pallets.

"Snoozer," Zack muttered, drumming his fingertips on the table.

The teacher stood at the bell, wheeling the cart to the center of the room. "All right, everyone, resume your drawings -- you should be about halfway done!" She looked around and only paused slightly at seeing Zack, humming to herself and moving to the clay shelves for her ceramics class.

"Don't watch," Trini mumbled, trying to use her arms to block her sketch from Zack's view while also working on the piece.

"Aw, c'mon, lemme see!" Zack teased, nudging her, pulling back and blinking when a brick of clay landed on the table right in front of him, looking up. "Ah, hey, Ms. Bucala..."

"Zack," Ms. Bucala said, amused smile at her lips. "I think you can entertain yourself with this, hm? I'll even fire whatever you decide to make."

"Cool!" Zack grinned, that constricting feeling loosening, fingers grabbing the clay and squishing it curiously.

"Don't overwork it," Ms. Bucala advised, offering Trini a smile before moving on to guide the other students in their work.

Trini made a mental note to have Billy hack the school systems and give Ms. Bucala a raise, drawing and watching Zack play around with the clay, the cloud that had been over his head slowly fading.

Zack played around with the clay, realizing the art teacher was right that he couldn't overwork it, because the small ball he'd been mashing was starting to dry out and crack. He frowned, setting it down and staring at the rest of the brick in front of him, thinking... He glanced around the room for some inspiration, spotting some racks near the front of the room and getting up to take a look, realizing this must be the ceramics class's work, looking at vases and mugs, some with designs scratched in or clay designs lumped on.

There were even some smaller pieces, what appeared to be key chains, and then he knew what he was going to do.

He went back to his seat and got to work, slipping out of his jack and breaking off a chunk of clay. He was nowhere near done molding when the ball rang, but he didn't stop.

"Zack," Trini said, uncertain, glancing at Ms. Bucala. "You have science and then lab..."

"'m busy, I'll see you at lunch," Zack answered, pausing only long enough to offer her a smile.

Trini hesitated, but when Ms. Bucala nodded her head at them and then told Trini to get to class, she gave in, ruffling Zack's hair and grinning at his squawk of protest, heading to class.

Zack huffed, shaking his head to try to settle his hair, the next class entering and taking their seats, eying him warily and whispering to themselves, but Zack ignored them all. Two down, three to go...

It took him the whole period to finish molding, sitting back with a grin when he was done, carefully taking his pieces to show Ms. Bucala.

"All done?" she smiled, looking them over. "Did you want them to be ornaments like this, or key chains?"

"Key chains," Zack answered immediately, letting her show him how to make a hole that'd be stable enough to support the weight. "All right, did you want to paint them?"

"Yeah," Zack said, nodding.

"Hmm... they need to dry out a bit first," Ms. Bucala said, watching his face fall. "I know, here," she said, standing and leading him to the counter along the wall, setting his pieces down and opening a cupboard, taking out a hairdryer and plugging it in. "One minute on each side," she told him, leaving him to it and checking on her class, dismissing them with the bell.

By the time the next class had settled, Zack was done drying out his pieces enough to paint, settled back in his seat with the colors he needed and brushes and some water.

The lunch bell rang just as he was finishing the last one, forcing himself not to rush, and then they were done.

"I'll fire them and you can pick them up tomorrow," Ms. Bucala said, sharing a smile with Zack, waving a hand when the boy thanked her and urging him to go to lunch before Trini came looking for him.

Zack laughed, washing up and grabbing his notebook and jacket, heading for lunch, where sure enough Trini was standing by their table and it seemed like the others were arguing with her to give him a few more minutes to show up.

"Miss me?" Zack grinned, punching her shoulder lightly and taking a seat with her.

"You missed lab," Trini said flatly.

Zack shrugged. "Was working on a project."

"What project?" Kim asked.

Zack grinned. "You'll see tomorrow. Now, c'mon, someone feed me!"

Trini watched him eat and joke around, and she relaxed a bit. Whatever had been eating at him, it was gone. For now.

[illicitamour]

Medellín

Day 3: Monday April 15th

Medellin

On our third day, we followed recommendations given by Jeremy’s friend. It was neat thinking that we were following the footsteps of someone who had experienced these sites before. I could almost imagine this person feeling the same wonderment we felt as we walked along the streets of Medellin. Our first stop was Joaquín Antonio Uribe Botanical Garden, where the central pavilion consisted of large geometrical structures built to provide shade and designed to create a feeling that you were walking among the trees. We walked along the lake, framed by overhangs of tree branches touching the water, discovered the orchid collection, and finally, the succulents. Afterwards, we had a *bit* of trouble with our Uber; they either could not find us or it took 15 minutes for the Uber to get to us.

When we finally made it to Parque Berrio, I found a local vender to buy traditional woven bracelets from, then we began to wander. We went to the Botero Plaza, which was filled with fun Botero sculptures (in which our tour guide from later in our trip pointed out to look out for where the tourists and locals like to touch). We went inside of Palacio de la Cultura Rafael Uribe Uribe. This edificio was initially designed by Belgian architect Augustin Goovaets in a Gothic Revival style, but the original plans were disputed and Colombian architects took over. They modeled the building to look conservative and provides a stark contrast to the original gothic design. When inside, we walked all over, trying to discover interesting nooks and crannies, finding abandoned art work (that I so sorely wanted) and getting in trouble (what else is new with me).

We continued to El Hueco (“The Hole”), where locals bustled around, children hustled tourists (namely, us), and elders sat around drinking tintos. Police were everywhere, scanning the environment for pickpockets and speaking idly to locals. On Carrera 49 Junin, we stopped at a locally recommended restaurant called Hacienda to have the famed bandeja paisa (translated as tray/platter of the people from the region); a dish consisting of chicharron, ground meat, red beans, white rice, fried egg, plantain, chorizo, arepa, blood sausage (morcilla), and avocado. Oh my goodness. Every bite was pure heaven, from the chicharrónes to the patacones, it was perfect. Little did we know we were going to have an even better bandeja paisa later on.

After lunch, we took an Uber to Las Palmas with a younger man by the name of Andrey, who we would REALLY get to know in a few hours. This is where the real adventure started. We were dropped off at an arbitrary location at the top of Medellin. We walked around in circles for few minutes before asking a local where to go to catch the views of Medellin. With beverages in hand, we climbed to the very top of the mountain. Once we found a local restaurant to sit down and enjoy the scene in front of us, I realized that I left my phone in the Uber. For the next two hours, Jeremy graciously helped me contact the driver, we left Las Palmas, found a bus to take us to the nearest metro station, rode the metro to the location of the driver, and finally met up with Andrey, our driver, to get my phone back. I truly didn’t think that we would get it back, but thankfully, Andrey was willing to go out of his way to help us. We ended the day eating a fresh pan de bono and watching the city light up in front of us while we waited for yet another Uber ride back to our place.

I didn’t mean to write this much for just one day in Medellin. ONWARDS.

Day 4: Tuesday April 16th

Medellin

We started the day at Pergamino Café by our AirBnB in El Poblado, just people watching and enjoying our first (and one of the only) cup of coffee. We took a guided walking tour (Real City Tours; highly recommended), where Carolina, our guide, taught us about history, politics, and the local opinion of Pablo Escobar (dubbed P.E., or He Who Must Not Be Named or Voldemort). She took us through Parque Barrio, gave us tips on how to protect our belongings (“Don’t give the locals papaya”, or an opportunity to steal”) and where to eat, and taught us that Colombians are happy people who want to forget their past. They simply want to erase the stigma of their past and demonstrate to the world that Colombia is a beautiful place to be. They are proud to call Colombia home.

After the tour, we raced around the city to buy souvenirs (Centro Artesanal Mi Viejo Pueblo), shopped at the local mall, and finished the day at Pueblito Paisa to catch yet another viewpoint of Medellin. Since Semana Santa had arrived, the top of the hill was filled with locals enjoying their time off with the families. Pueblito Paisa housed a small village on top of a mountain, ideal for looking over most of the city. Unfortunately, it wasn’t the best for catching views of the sunset, but we enjoyed ourselves nevertheless.  I also tried a Colombian classic cake, Torta Negra, and it was BLEGH. Fruit cake is the worst.

Day 5: Wednesday April 17th

Guatapé

It took about an hour to get to Guatape from Medellin. We woke up at around 6am that day, so we started off tired. During the trip, my eyes were glued to the windows. We passed by the greenest pastures and valleys, farms that extended up mountains and hills, and local businesses promoting their fresas con crema. My only wish was to memorize the scenes that flashed by as we drove by. When we got there, we were presented with a mountain (El Peñon, which I dubbed the pimple of Medellin) with a daunting set of stairs the led us straight up to the top. The views from the top were absolutely breathtaking. Land was cut by calm bodies of water, outlined by orange clay. All I saw for miles around were hues of blue, green, and orange, intertwined to make an art piece that would inspire Salvador Dali.

Afterwards, we explored the town of Guatape, which was adorable collection of mismatched, brightly painted buildings all glued together. We had our second bandeja paisa and tamale at a restaurant recommended by the taxi driver and wandered through the endless alleys of Guatape. After Guatape, we got back to our AirBnB, freshened up, and went to the best restaurant to have the best bandeja paisa of our lives, at El Rancherito.

[andy-abroad]

Luxor_02

June.10.2017 Hello hello- Today has been a great day, and a long day, but a great day! It started this morning at 6am. My alarm went off. I was pretty tired, but super excited. I didn't have the best night's sleep. Although there is a ceiling fan in the room that works very well, it was still so hot. The sun sets in the direction of my room (like at home) so it turns it into an oven. The walls, and even the mattress just retain heat. It took a while to fall asleep, but I got some rest and woke up ready for the day. To beat the heat, I asked the tour to come at 7am, instead of 9. 6am was also an option, but I thought that was a little aggressive. I woke up and immediately forced myself to eat the burgers I had saved from last night. It wasn't the most pleasant, but I knew I needed energy, so I washed it down with some water. I got ready and packed a few things in a bag. I knew I wasn't going to sketch. It just wasn't going to happen due to the heat, so I only brought my Polaroid, my external charger, water, and sunblock. I applied sunblock all over and before I knew it, it was 6:55. Also, side note, so glad I bought these linen pants. They breathe so well, and protect my legs from the sun. They were so awesome in Egypt. I definitely didn't want to wear shorts out of respect, even though they know that I'm a tourist. I met my driver downstairs and my guide. One is Muslim (driver) and the other is Christian. We started the day by driving to the mortuary temple of Queen Hatshepsut. It's about a 40 minute drive, as the bridge is located away from the city. This was done to protect the purity of the waterfront, and to preserve the atmosphere of Luxor. There used to be a ferry, I was told, but they stopped its use as it stirred up the river too much. On he way there, the guide sat with me in the back and explained a bit of history and a bit of Luxor as it is today. They are still a huge agrarian based economy, with one of the largest sugar cane industries in the world. They are also known for their fruits, especially bananas. Mangos, dates, figs, grapes, all thrive in the fertile soil. It's true. When I was flying in, the Nile was like a cut in the dry sand, with green all around it. Upon arrival at the temple complex, we took a small train (like the ones at the mall for kids) and rode up to the entrance. It was cut deep into the rock. Here I learned that Christians actually used it as a monastery, and had destroyed some parts of it. Also, I learned that it was the polish people who restored the temple. It is a three story complex, and until about 100 years ago, the bottom two floors were buried in sand, which actually preserved the paint quite well. All the paint I saw today was original, meaning thousands of years old. They don't restore the paint out of respect to the passage of time. I was really... in awe of the structure, not because of its presence physically, but more due to the fact that like other works, it's something I studied for so long and finally got to walk and see. My guide was very knowledgeable and took me around the whole complex. At the end, he gave me free time to wander and see it at my own pace, which was awesome! It was here that I walked into the last chamber. One of the docents pointed at something on the wall. I looked. He kept trying to get me to take photos, and when I turned to leave he asked me for a tip. Very annoying. He just pointed. I walked briskly away and met back up with my guide. As a side note, my guide was very good, but I think he was not feeling well? I am not sure. He was very out of breath and just had a hard time throughout the day. It was a bit troublesome at times, as I know he, like so many others, are more than a little desperate for job stability. More on that later. Our next stop was the valley of the kings, or where the Pharos were buried in secret as to protect themselves from grave robbers and such. This complex is still being excavated, but has recently been abandoned, more or less, because the government will not spend money on it. It was also here that I learned the location of king Tut's funeral mask is not in Luxor, but at the Cairo museum!!!! I am definitely regretting not going to see it, as I didn't have the time. I do have that 5 hour layover in Cairo tomorrow morning, maybe I'll try and go! Haha. In the valley of the kings, I got to go into the burial chambers of several kings, including king tut's but no photography was allowed, and they were strict about this. It was impressive to see all of these tunnels cut out of sheer rock. The labor it must have taken, the treasures they must have held. My guide told me that the ancient government stopped paying these craftsmen well, so they rebelled and started robbing the graves. The funerary rites and beliefs of the afterlife were so intricate and really played out on the walls and paintings. After the tombs, we walked back to the car and I drank water. I learned from my precious mistake of not bringing my own water and quickly downed it all. At this point, my guide wanted to take me to where "local artisans" paint and sculpt in the inherited style, but I strictly told him I wasn't interested. I said I didn't want to buy anything and he kept telling me That it was mostly for cultural value, but I held my ground. I could tell he was disappointed or annoyed, but I really just wasn't up for being sold more things. He also Said this was a chance for him to drink water and take a rest, as out of respect he didn't like to drink in front of people during Ramadan, which I felt badly about, but I chose to be selfish. We drove back to the east bank, the bank of life, which took about another 40 minutes. During this time I looked up how much I should tip a tour guide. I found out that I grossly over tipped my woman in Cairo. I was also upset because I began to realize that she didn't do a good job at all of explaining. Even if my guide today was being a bit repetitive, he asked me questions and really wanted to have a conversation about what I wanted to learn about. Anyways, we got to Luxor Temple, which I had walked around yesterday but didn't enter. Here, he gave me a ton of information about why it was built, how, and by whom. It took two hundred years to complete, and was worked on by several Pharos. It even depicted events from the Bible, like Joseph's time in Egypt and the collection of grain in preparation for a famine. Like so many other structures, the Muslims, Christians, and other invaders all did their part to destroy or reuse these spaces. A mosque was built on top of one of the gate walls, as it used to be buried in sand, while the christians painted frescoes of the last supper in one of the back rooms. It was really interesting to see the layers of history and of conquest. At the end of this, I needed to get some money from an ATM (one located right across the street). I grabbed my cash and went to get water. The price for 1.5L of water is 4 Egyptian pounds, here, it was 15! I couldn't bring myself to buy it, even in dollars it's 25 cents vs. 75. In retrospect it's silly. My guide agreed that it's a steep price, but that it's not just because I'm a tourist, but also because his shop is right across the street from the temple and rent is higher. I felt very foolish. We got to our final destination, Karnak temple, which is where I was last night. While my guide was paying for the tickets, I grabbed a bottle of water. It was 20 Egyptian pounds, which I happily paid. My guide and I laughed about that. Again, my guide took me through all the rooms, explaining the importance of each, and showing me really interesting things cut into the stone. Here, there were depictions of slaves and of conquests. There was also a portion showing soldiers cutting off hands. The soldiers cut the hands off of their prisoners to keep count, but also to torture and kill them slowly. Yikes! I took a ton of photos, had some free time to wander, and then it was time to get lunch. On my way out, I picked up two post cards and a stamp. The man tried to charge me 50 Egyptian pounds. If I were alone I would have haggled down to maybe 25, but I settled at 40. Throughout the day my guide and I had a conversation about the tourism industry and the economy. It was really sad to hear that many guides that went to school for it had to go and work in the fields because they get no support from the government, and not many people come on holiday. We got to lunch and originally my guide was going to go home to eat, but he decided to stay. We went to a nice restaurant. I was also really mad about eating falafel, because I think the woman took me somewhere cheap and pocketed the rest of the money in Cairo! I ordered some chicken, and a lot of 반찬 came with it. A great lentil soup, some pickles the way mama makes, a cucumber salad, and really delicious grilled eggplant. It also came with pita bread. I enjoyed my food and my guide and I continued to chat. He didn't eat which was kind of awkward. He told me that he's in the process of trying to immigrate to Canada with his family as the job situation is not so great in Egypt. He says more and more people are seeking to leave, especially Christian's, as the government is somewhat oppressing them. I finished my meal, tipped the waiter, and we were on our way back. We dropped the guide off at the train station down the street from my hotel. I tipped him and thanked him for his time. I over tipped him as well, but he deserved it, and earned it! We then made our way to the hotel I tipped the driver as well and headed inside. I saw the man who took me on the boat and just hurried to my room. I quickly took off my money belt and sat for a bit. I drank water and wrote a post card. I wanted to send it before I left so I searched for a post office, and luckily there was one down the street. It was closed but it had s little slot to drop off mail. I really hope any of my post cards make it. I also hope that slot was for mail. It was in Arabic so I couldn't tell! I walked back to the hostel, grabbed some waters and a mango juice, and took a nap. The heat is super tiring. I know I keep saying that, but it's true! I woke up from my nap, went downstairs to pay for my cab (only 75 pounds in comparison to the 150 I paid at the airport...), showered, packed and organized, and now I'm here! While cleaning, I realized I drank 14L of water (4 gallons) in two days! I learned my lesson from last night and have opened my window. The ventilation is helping regulate the temperature. I think yesterday the fan was just pushing the hot air around, that didn't really have anywhere to go. The downside is that the street is noisy, and I'm trying to sleep early as my flight tomorrow is at 5:30a. I have a. 5:30a flight to Cairo, a 1:25p flight to Kuwait, a 9p flight to Mumbai and I arrive at 4a. It's going to be a long day. Anyways, I will leave it here. Until tomorrow--