Hanna Jankowska´s Report

After my first studies I wanted to go on a journey far away from Europe. I could not afford to go on a journey around the word and therefore I tried to get an internship in an institute Goethe (where German language and culture is taught in many countries around the world) and I applied via Email. Finally I was invited to complete my internship in San Juan in Argentina from 1st August until the end of September 2005. I planed this trip for one year. To organise a scholarship for the flight took about eight month. I bought travel guides and planed the journey with a map. I had no idea about the distances in Latin America and decided to go to many places and many cities in Argentina and Chile. During the journey I realised that it was not possible to visit all I had planed because the distances are too large. In Europe it takes one night to travel from one country to another. In Latin America one travels two or three days by bus. Beyond it I organized many trips within Argentina spontaneously because it was impossible to plan all like we do in Europe. In Argentina people have another rhythm of life and often act on impulse.

I departed already on the 11th of July because I wanted to travel around Argentina during the first three weeks. I took a flight from the airport of Frankfurt via Buenos Aires. This was my first long flight, so I wasn't sure what to expect. More over I knew that nobody would pick me up at the airport in Buenos Aires and I did not know how I will manage to get to the hostel where I had booked the first three nights via internet. I only spoke a little Spanish and hoped that people understand English. Later I realized that not many people in Argentina speak English and at the beginning it was difficult for me to communicate. With the time I ...

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Photo: Sunset with the oven
Courtesy of Beatrice Velarde (www.beatricevelarde.com)

Chiara Sinclair´s Report

01 January 2006

Happy New Year!!! Or as they say in Brazil, Feliz Ano Novo!!!

We have managed to arrive in Brazil safe and well, despite a nice 6hr layover at Madrid airport where all we could do to pass the time was set each other stupid dares. There is a great picture of Marge doing a headstand by some escaltors, oh the excitment! The flight was fine, 10 hours but seemed to pass fairly quickly. On arrival we managed to get through customs without being searched and even get on the right bus to Copacabana. Using our skills, we even found the hostel! Things were clearly too easy as they had never heard of us and had no room, as it was NY and the city is full of backpackers. Luckily they knew somewhere we could have a bed so we trekked again for aggggges with our packs in 35 degree heat to finally get here.

A few days of aclimatising and seeing the Florest de Tijuaca and the Corcovado (Chrsit the Redeemer statue) and it was NYE. The Christ statue was truly awesome, you almost cant look at it as it is so high and so bright!!! You can see the entire city from every angle and the Floresta from above, a great site! Met some Portuguese men on the way up there and chatted away to them. No easy task as they happened to speak no English and be deaf, we managed to muddle along with my Spanish and they mobile phones message editor! Very amusing indeed, the whole train was rivetted with our conversation!

Last night the boys (Marge´s friends) finally arrived just in time for the NYE celebration. The whole of Copacabana was closed down and everyone hit the beach to drink and eat. The atmosphere was awesome and we managed to find a great spot near a Samba stage. It has rained in Rio everyday for the last month until we got here and despite a grey looking sky the celebrations didn’t stop. Everyone was dressed in white and offering flowers into the ocean to the goddess Lemanja. It was a fab site, we counted down from 45 and midnight was great!!! We managed to also celebrate NYE from all the timezones we could think of on the hour every hour! We were drinking Caprhinas ...

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Photo: Grapes
Courtesy of Beatrice Velarde (www.beatricevelarde.com)

Kathleen O´Brien´s Report

Surprisingly enough, I never left the United States until the summer after my freshman year of college. I realize that many people never leave the country during their whole life but I yearned to travel since as long as I can remember. So I guess it’s only really surprising if you know me and know how I’ve spent the past few years of my life. Who knows how I ever got it into my head that I had to travel because my parents never traveled internationally while I was growing up. I mean, my dad traveled around Europe when he was in his twenties and was just kind of over traveling by the time he met my mom. Poor lady, she wanted to travel so much. To go to Paris, visit Spain and Italy, travel around England, but Dad wasn’t interested so she never got to go. I guess because Dad wasn’t interested we just never went anywhere out of the States. Not even Canada or Mexico.
I finally got my first taste of international travel at age nineteen, when I manipulated the use of my college fund by taking a 3 week class about the European Union in Western Europe. All and all, not really what I was hoping to get out of the trip (I mean who wants to listen to lectures for eight hours a day when they’re in Paris for the first time?) but a good starting point. From that trip on I gradually worked myself up to real traveling. The type that takes you out of your comfort zone and forces you to do things you never thought you’d be able to do. I got good at manipulating the use of my college fund by taking another three week class in South Africa and then studying abroad in Beijing. After college was over, I was on my own when it came to funding my trips. I spent four months working in a posh dance club in Edinburgh where I took several side trips to Spain, Morocco, and England. Then I saved money working at a ski resort in Montana so that I could backpack for four months around South America by myself. Then I was poor again and had a very unglamorous stint working at a department store and living at home. Still poor, I flew to Hawaii with my frequent flier miles and worked on an organic farm for a few months and then ...

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Photo: Convent

Courtesy of Beatrice Velarde (www.beatricevelarde.com)