Only 6 more days until I am finally leaving the US and entering South America. I am SO excited that all my fears have slowly diminished. It might hit me the day that I leave but for now, no worries, just full of excitement! This is definitely the biggest adventure that I will ever experience so far in my life! IT'S FREAKING SOUTH AMERICA and THE AMAZON! I'd like to start off my traveling BIG! And what my friend was told, once you travel in South America, you can travel anywhere! So it looks like we will be expert travelers by the end of February!
We are pretty much ready for the adventure to begin! We are picking different places to stay so we can get a feel of Buenos Aires. Maybe a day or 2 in Mendoza/Andes! And with luck and time we can make it to Patagonia, the Pampas, and maybe even the Falklands! Then we'll get 2 days on the border of Argentina/Brazil/Paraguay. 1 day in Iguazù on the Argentina side and 1 day in Iguassu on the Brazil side. Then we will have 4 days in the Amazon! We picked a good tour that will be full of adventure and excitement and get as much as we can from it in the 4 days that we have. Then we will have a whole day in Manaus to sightsee and take in the city before the remainder of the trip in Rio. We did get the hostel in Rio during Carnival, which we were extremely lucky because we got it right in Copacabana near all of the action during this out of control celebration! We have plenty of time after Carnival is over to spend sightseeing and checking out the food and everything Brazil has to offer.
The ONLY thing I have been freaking out about is the rabies. There is a moderate chance that we can get it in the Amazon and to me, moderate=high! So I went to talk to a doctor about it just to voice some concerns and she said, which I had known already, that the vaccine is in short supply and that we wouldn't be able to get it before we left. I ended up leaving the office with the polio vaccine and meningitits vaccine (she wondered how I got away with not getting that vaccine during the college years!) So that leaves a total of 6 vaccines for this trip/needed to update a routine one as well. I did start the malaria Rx today. One down, 7 more to go. I was expecting it to affect me but I didn't have any side effects or anything. I'm hoping this won't be an issue for the next 7 weeks and throughout my life that the drug is maybe known to produce. I am also relieved because I found 3 different bug sprays (with DEET) that are 3-4 oz so that I can have them in my carry-on backpack. I will definitely be emptying those bottles in Iguazù and the Amazon! Other than that feeling great and I really need to start packing!
On to more good news...I got a job!! I didn't even have to interview for it! Although it is not something I wanted to do, career-wise and location-wise, I am willing to take it to get me back in the workforce with more experience. Especially now with the economy in bad shape, I think experience will be a major factor in the jobs that I am looking for, so I don't mind anything that gives me the opportunity for more experience.
¡Hasta luego!
Wednesday, January 28, 2009
Monday, January 12, 2009
The Anticipation is Killing Me
3 weeks from tomorrow I will finally be living it up in Argentina, Brazil, and even a few days in Florida! I am so excited, anxious, nervous, scared, ecstatic, etc about this trip! I'm sad we had to cut out Guyana, the Falklands, and even Chile, but that's ok, I'll be there someday. I'm hoping that we will have plenty of time to do all of the things that we want to do while out there. In Argentina, we are hoping to have plenty of time in Buenos Aires and still have time to see Patagonia, Mendoza/Andes, the Pampas, and everything else worth seeing in the little time that we have there. In Brazil, I cannot wait for the AMAZON RAINFOREST!!! If there was one place that I have ALWAYS wanted to go, it was the Amazon! I am so excited that I cannot even express how good I'm feeling about going there! Then we will be flying out to Rio for Carnival and of course Copacabana, Ipanema, the tropical beaches, Corcovado Mountain, the Reedemer, Sugarloaf Mountain, and everything else Brazil has to offer us!
Planning has gone smoothly. We are almost done and finally able to start planning on what to bring. We are just looking for a place to stay in Rio during Carnival, which is extremely hard now because everything gets booked up quickly during Carnival. I have also narrowed my choices for which Amazon tour I want to do and should be taking care of that soon. And also looking for the best price for airpasses to get us going from Buenos Aires to Manaus to Rio. This is starting to become a little challenging because the prices are coming up a little expensive, but I won't give up until I find the best and cheapest way to get to all three locations. If anyone has ANY advice, it would be gladly appreciated!
Other than all that, everything is going smoothly. I should be picking up my visa/passport at the end of next week so I am relieved about that. I'm still a little frustrated about Kaiser and having to get my vaccines for the trip. I got the Hepatitis A vaccine and Tetonis shot (which by the way my arm is still really sore!) yesterday. Now just have to worry about the yellow fever vaccine and might also be stuck getting the typhoid vaccine too. I did get the malaria Rx yesterday so I'm covered with that as well. Scared to have to start taking it soon! The only thing now is that I have to wait to make an appointment for a consult with an Infectious Disease doctor so I can get my travel vaccinations and then I have to make another appointment to get my remainder vaccines. This process is a little frustrating because I really want everything to be taken care of by this week so I can stop worrying about my trip and relax before I go and have a FABULOUS time out there! I guess that's what I get for being the queen of procrastination (both a good and bad thing!).
But I think in the end, this trip will be so amazing and I will come back with a new appreciation for life! And the feelings that I want to travel even more! I have already been talking to my mom about going to Cyprus, an island in the Mediterranean near Greece! I looked it up and it looks beautiful so I may be doing that this summer. I think I also want to plan a trip to Australia and New Zealand sometime in the winter of 2009/2010. And also maybe even thinking about going to France, Italy, Greece, and Turkey on a cruise with a friend sometime in the summer of 2010! Anyways getting to ahead of myself, but I just can't help it! Stay tuned for my upcoming Argentina, Brazil, and Amazon blogs!
Fun and safe travels to everyone!
Planning has gone smoothly. We are almost done and finally able to start planning on what to bring. We are just looking for a place to stay in Rio during Carnival, which is extremely hard now because everything gets booked up quickly during Carnival. I have also narrowed my choices for which Amazon tour I want to do and should be taking care of that soon. And also looking for the best price for airpasses to get us going from Buenos Aires to Manaus to Rio. This is starting to become a little challenging because the prices are coming up a little expensive, but I won't give up until I find the best and cheapest way to get to all three locations. If anyone has ANY advice, it would be gladly appreciated!
Other than all that, everything is going smoothly. I should be picking up my visa/passport at the end of next week so I am relieved about that. I'm still a little frustrated about Kaiser and having to get my vaccines for the trip. I got the Hepatitis A vaccine and Tetonis shot (which by the way my arm is still really sore!) yesterday. Now just have to worry about the yellow fever vaccine and might also be stuck getting the typhoid vaccine too. I did get the malaria Rx yesterday so I'm covered with that as well. Scared to have to start taking it soon! The only thing now is that I have to wait to make an appointment for a consult with an Infectious Disease doctor so I can get my travel vaccinations and then I have to make another appointment to get my remainder vaccines. This process is a little frustrating because I really want everything to be taken care of by this week so I can stop worrying about my trip and relax before I go and have a FABULOUS time out there! I guess that's what I get for being the queen of procrastination (both a good and bad thing!).
But I think in the end, this trip will be so amazing and I will come back with a new appreciation for life! And the feelings that I want to travel even more! I have already been talking to my mom about going to Cyprus, an island in the Mediterranean near Greece! I looked it up and it looks beautiful so I may be doing that this summer. I think I also want to plan a trip to Australia and New Zealand sometime in the winter of 2009/2010. And also maybe even thinking about going to France, Italy, Greece, and Turkey on a cruise with a friend sometime in the summer of 2010! Anyways getting to ahead of myself, but I just can't help it! Stay tuned for my upcoming Argentina, Brazil, and Amazon blogs!
Fun and safe travels to everyone!
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