Buenos Aires

I'm in Buenos Aires now (flew in yesterday) and finally getting over my jet lag. It took a little time (and copious amounts of sleep) but I'll be off and running and ready to see the city tomorrow.

The North Island of New Zealand was AMAZING. I stayed with Holly, a friend of my sister's who lives in Auckland and she was wicked to hang out with. She took me to Bethells Beach which is an amazing black sand beach about 20 minutes from her house that gave me one of the greatest sunsets I've seen on my trip thus far (Africa was also a land of fabulous sunsets). I went zorbing and black water rafting in a glow worm cave (basically floating in a rubber inner tube down a serene river in a cave) on the North Island and basically just re-charged my batteries and got ready for South America. I should be off to Patagonia in a few days and I'm exhilirated and also a bit scared. My Spanish is coming back a bit (I talked to a Chileno at one point and had no idea where I was pulling my words out of but we understood each other, so that's good from a Spanish-speaking viewpoint).

I am excited to be almost home though. Less than 2 months and I'll get to see my family (I'm really excited about seeing my dog because she can't talk to me over the phone so I miss her terribly). A little over 2 months and I'll be in Columbia visiting quite a few of my friends (April 7th to 14th, so mark your calendar, Mai) before beginning my yoga teacher training in San Fran the week after. I'll also know where I'm going to law school at that point so that'll be nice to have set up. I'm ready to live it up in South America and then get myself home!

New Zealand (South Island)

I'm in New Zealand now, steadily working my way up to the North Island. I went skydiving (again) yesterday and have done 3 bungy jumps over the past 2 days as well. In Australia, Melbourne was a fantastic city and I got to meet up with friends from my time in Greece and Africa. I stayed in a really beachy neighborhood, which was glorious to relax in. I also bought a few new clothes and some cute jewelry to make me feel like less of a hobo backpacker.

In Sydney I stayed with one of my friends from Africa (Katy) which was GLORIOUS. She has a really nice family and they were willing to put me up for the week and have me at their bbqs and just in their lives. I got to see the Opera House, Harbor Bridge, and visit the zoo and aquarium with massive discounts. It was wicked to hang out with a family and have some normalcy in my really hectic life. I can't wait to see my family and friends in 2 1/2 months. It'll be great to see everyone. I have yoga teacher training when I get back too, but to see people for the first time in a while will probably be the best bit.

South America is looming so I'm starting to freak out a little bit. It might be time to practice my Spanish a little more.

Also, Mai, going to Santorini? That's going to be AWESOME. You go, girl!

Australia

Ok, so I'm in Australia now (Melbourne to be precise). I just finished diving the Great Barrier Reef, which was FANTASTIC! I really want to watch Finding Nemo again now because I saw so many fish from that movie (and sharks and sea turtles, which was awesome). Also, my debit card problems will hopefully be cleared up soon, so I'm excited for that. Visa has given me provisional credit now so I'm solid footing in paying for the rest of my trip and I should have a new debit card waiting for me when I get to Sydney, so yay! I've just uploaded some photos from Africa onto my facebook and hopefully I can put some on here soon.

Also, on the good news front, my friend Laura might come backpacking around South America with me, so I'm excited. I'll be calling her tomorrow and hopefully it works out.

Bangkok

I'm out of Africa and in Thailand now. I spent the past week learning how to scuba dive and now have my Open Water Certification, so I should be able to dive the Great Barrier Reef in a few weeks (I might even get my Advanced Open Water license there as it's only $70 more).

Africa was glorious and Cape Town is quite possibly the most beautiful city in the world with Table Top Mountain dominating the skyline and glorious white beaches nearby (plus penguins!). It reminded me quite a bit of San Francisco which in turn reminded me of Kate and Alex, so it was nice to think of the family for a while (also, I can't believe Alex is going to race for charity in an ice cream truck -- he's crazy!) It was nice to run around a real city with set prices and to not barter for at least a little while. I definitely want to go back and spend more time in South Africa because the country is fantastic. Hopefully I'll get there sooner rather than later.

It's a bit weird to be somewhere warm for the holidays. Even when the family has gone somewhere tropical for Christmas before it was still cold in the run-up to leaving. That's not the case now and it's a little weird (although I'm the tannest I've ever been -- though that's still pretty white). I'll be in Malaysia in a few days and then further South again and back in the Southern Hemisphere again soon. Wow. Anyway, Merry Christmas, Mai! I miss you darling and I hope you're having a wonderful time in SC. Eating spicy Thai food just reminds me of you something fierce (the cup o' noodles here taste like your delicious Vietnamese ones).

A quick African update

This is just a quick update from Namibia. The internet in Africa has been absolutely crap so I haven't been able to get on here or even facebook for about 3 weeks now. Zanzibar was AMAZING and the snorkeling was unbelievable. It was like diving in the big tank of the Atlanta aquarium. At Victoria Falls I went gorge swinging, walking with lions, and white water rafting on a load of grade 5's (I spent a lot of time outside of the raft). I'm off to go feed and pet Cheetahs now and will write a more substantial post from Cape Town in a week and a half.

Also, Happy Thanksgiving!

Egypt/Africa

The cruise around the Greek Isles was glorious (Santorini is gorgeous). I actually just realized that Google has a photo service, so I might be putting my photos on there, but for now, I have my 5 favorite photos from Europe on the left hand side (well, hopefully, Egypt has been crappy about letting me upload pictures, so we'll see). These aren't even up on facebook yet, so rejoice! The first in the Blue Mosque in Istanbul, the second is from the longest remaining stretch of the Berlin Wall left, the third from the Ancient Agora in Athens (the old marketplace), the fourth is a building's painting decoration from Ljubljana, and the fifth is the old Roman Coliseum in Pula, Croatia. They were all fabulous places to visit, although the picture from Ljubljana is sideways.

Egypt is/has been a wicked time. I traveled down to the bottom of the Nile and worked my way up through Aswan and Luxor (at one point I was reeeaaally close to the Sudanese border, but didn't know it at the time). I cruised down the Nile in a felucca and got something that made me really sick (I think that's just known as 'eating in Africa'). The tour group wasn't too bad, which was nice (same as the cruise group). Both groups were pretty small so I got to actually know everyone. On the cruise I clicked well with Catherine and Dave who are my age and backpacking around Europe. They'll be back to Australia by the time I get there so we've made plans to see the penguins on Phillips Island the Sunday I'm there when they're off work. It should be awesome.

Anyway, I'm glad to be back to an internet connection that allows me to update the blog (that's why it's taken so long -- I've gotten internet someplace and then I can't upload to blogger). Hopefully I can get on again soon once I'm in Dar es Salaam and preparing for my safari.

Athens

In Athens (and Greece in general) now. It's lovely and warm, and even if crowded and polluted, I love it. It has history and character (and isn't as dirty as Skopje was). I'm hoping to run around and see some historical sights today and then to hit museums tomorrow (I helped someone with is rail pass so he gave me his paid-for pass to the Acropolis and other historic sights up on the hill today). There's a rail strike going on here though, which means the metro is closed today. Europe and quasi-socialism are all fun and games until you're here and there's a freaking rail strike. Ugh. My time in Thessaloníki was cut short as well by the rail strike because I had to take an earlier train to Athens in order to avoid it.

Oh well, I get on a cruise ship in 2 days and then I don't have to worry anymore. Someone else will deal with it. That sounds lovely. A break from backpacking.

Skopje

I'm in Macedonia now. I had a hellish night bus ride from Sarajevo to get here, through Croatia, Serbia, and then into Macedonia. I have no idea why Croatia was involved because if you look at a map it's pretty out of the way. Also had an old grandmother next to me who snored over the 16 hours and would periodically jab me in the ribs in the middle of the night. It will be fine though, because I get to GREECE tomorrow (hoo-ray!). My favorite cities/countries thus far are Slovenia (Ljubljana was amazing) and Bosnia (went to Mostar and Sarajevo), which I didn't expect. I really want to come back to the Balkans now and I'm already mentally planning my next trip (I want to start out in the Middle East and work my way up through Turkey to Southern Europe). If I manage to get a whole lot of time off (like 3-4 months) I'd want to work myself all the way over to Barcelona along the Mediterranean. i guess that's my future goal now -- maybe during a summer between law school years.

I also experienced culture shock for the first time here in Skopje. They use the Cyrillic alphabet so I can't read anything (or guess at it), I have no guidebook, and I'm just kind of winging it. Between that and the long bus ride, when I got in yesterday I was just kind of dazed and overwhelmed. It's certainly fun and a new experience. The last time I was this overwhelmed was Japan and I had Kate there with me. It's entirely different to be on your own feeling like you have no idea what's going on. Anyway, I'm going to wrap this up, but hopefully I'll get on again before I go cruising in Greece (at that point, you probably won't hear from me here or on facebook for at least a week).

Ljubljana

In Ljubljana now (pronounced Lube-li-ana as I learned on the train yesterday). From Berlin I hit Krakow (not really a fan, went mostly for Auschwitz), Prague (fun and gorgeous), Vienna (very, very cultural), and now here. I'm thinking of making a change to my generally planned route, but we'll see if it happens. That's the benefit of backpacking, that I can decide to come to Slovenia or wherever on a whim. I'm looking forward to doing the same in Argetina-Chile-Uruguay next year.

I'm a little worried about the kidnapping of Europeans in Egypt, but hopefully I'm not going to that part and will therefore be safer (fingers crossed). Well, at any rate, I'm not going there now. It doesn't make the tour group seem neccessarily safer, either. I'll miss the relative security of Europe.

Berlin

Just a quick update from Berlin. I'm taking the night train to Krakow tomorrow, so I'm still on my hectic pace. Climbed the Reichstag dome here, went to the Holocaust Memorial, have seen Checkpoint Charlie and what's left of the Berlin Wall by the river, and seen the site of Hitler's old bunker, which is now apartment buildings. Copenhagen was fun as well, and I'm still alive so all is well. When I get to a proper internet cafe and am not just in a hostel I'll do a more thorough update.