August 21st, 2009 by Rachel | Country: Israel | 2 Comments »
In less than 24 hours, I will be on a plane heading to Israel. My being Jewish sure does somewhat influence my decision to venture to Israel, but that’s not the main reason that I embrace Israel. Israel is an extraordinary country with so many wonderful cultures and historical sites and a very unique lifestyle. On my last trip to Israel two years ago as a Birthright student, I gave myself a biggest slap on my face for believing in what I was seeing in the news in my home country. People were moving on with their rich and delightful lives by going to work, school, parks, shows, and whatever we, the Americans, would normally do in our hometown. By this means, we should take the news with a grain of salt as journalists have the tendency to look through a tube and only feature the events that would grab the readers’ attention in order to earn money. News media is a business and by that means, they’re all about making money…period.
I’m not saying that there are no wars in Israel because I didn’t see any. There are certainly a few occasions, but they only occur in certain spots, not in every inch of the country, according to my friends and family living in Israel.
As I look back from two years ago, gazing out the window on the bus and feeling overwhelmed by the beauty of the landscapes was a serious cultural shock. Attending a dance show with some friends in Tel Aviv, dancing on a cruise at a lake in the Golan Heights, crawling inside the pre-historic caves, exploring the ancient Roman ruins in Caesarea, going out for an ice cream on Friday night, and driving through the Carmel Mountains are all activities of which I never imagined doing prior to my first trip to Israel. This what I am looking forward to – envisioning the beautiful life that is not portrayed in the newspapers.
Aside from choosing to go to Israel to embrace their magnficent culture and view their astonishing landscapes, I’m very delighted to be part of my first cousin’s bar mitzvah and to see my family and friends.
August 17th, 2009 by Rachel | Country: Peru | 1 Comment »
Waking up every morning to bright sunshine, strolling on the decaying sidewalk in hot turquoise boots, learning how to say “how are you” in Spanish, living through the hell of strikes, and admiring the scintillating landscapes of Peru are the reminiscences of my time of my life, which occurred only a few weeks ago on my first trip to South America. I can never close my journal without writing a conclusion of my trip. I just needed some time to digest my thoughts.
When I first came home and stepped into the shower, I was overwhelmed by the amount of water gushing on my back. I was so used to the feeling of little water pouring on my body because, in order to have hot water in Peru, I had to turn on very little water. When I crashed into bed, I felt as if I was sleeping on a giant fluffy pillow. I never realized how soft my bed was because I slept on a harder mattress in Peru. I’ve been getting compliments from so many people about how much weight I have lost thanks to Peruvian’s eating style. So far, I am managing to stick with Peruvian’s style of eating, which is not eating a five-course meal twice a day like the French. As always, every time I come home from an overseas trip, I always live through a reverse culture shock.
The advantage of the reverse culture shock is that some of the changes of the lifestyle from foreign countries that I have brought with me to the States stay with me forever because they improve the quality of my life. For instance, in France, people rewear their clothes until they smell unlike the Americans who wear their clothes once before putting them in the washer. My mother always tease me about why I have so little laundry! Why do I need to put my clothes in the laundry if they’re not smelly? It’s a great way to conserve water and of course to save money on water bills! Therefore, in Peru, I’ve learned the best style of eating daily, and because it has created such a positive outcome, I plan to keep it up 
.
As for my experience with Spanish, I was truly amazed by how fast I could learn a new language by simply living in the country where its language is spoken. As of now, I can have basic conversation in the future, present, and past tenses. I personally feel that there are many other forms of grammar that I need to learn, such as conditional and subjunctive. However, I will get there at some point in my life as I would very much like to plan a trip to Argentina with Greenheart Travel and attend a language school there too!
Before I close up my journal of my trip to Peru, I would like to post a never-seen-before photo that everyone should see. The woman in the middle is my darling host mother and the girl on the right side is Jana, a student from Slovakia.
In four days, I will be heading off for another adventure – A three-and-a-half month trip to Europe! I will be heading to Israel first, then to Greece, and then to France, and at last, Germany! I will certainly be keeping you all updated!
August 2nd, 2009 by Rachel | Country: Peru | No Comments »
A very cute Peruvian paddled a very simple boat made of logs on a small lake in the middle of a rain forest. As the cool air dispersed, I sat behind the paddler and appreciated everything I saw surrounding me by taking pictures. I headed to the other side of the lake to climb up to the top of a tower to view the rain forest above my head. There were a group of birds swooping through the trees. Long blades of grass were swaying along with the wind. The sun was just beginning to set, which was creating a nice warm tone to the atmosphere. The water was reflecting a ripple effect of the landscape as if I was looking at an impressionist painting.
After the ziplining and repelling activity and lunch, I headed off to a section of the rain forest down the river where not only I saw a magnificent lake, but also a scary looking snake that made me want to run away. Fortunately, I was brave enough not to run away and stand by the snake to get some snapshots. On the way to the lake, I also encountered logs resting on the ground to be used as trails, and on some of the logs, there were mushrooms growing on them.
The adventures to the rain forest was incredibly a worthwhile experience as I learned to appreciate the need to conserve the rain forest. It’s just a beautiful phenomenon filled with a large collection of animals and plants.
On the fourth day, I spent eight hours in a big van heading back to Cuscu. I certainly didn’t mind the drive as I absolutely love seeing the foreign landscape that I get to see once in a life time!
July 29th, 2009 by Rachel | Country: Peru | 3 Comments »
Here is my day three adventure of the rain forest:
An army of ants crosses the trail in a perfect rhythmic line as I walk in the rain forest. While I’m not a big fan of insects, I found this to be astonishing! In fact, I always thought this scenery is a fantasy because it reminded me of the movies, Ants and A Bug’s Life where there were scenes of insects lining up perfectly and walking in a group like an army.
Also, yesterday afternoon, I took a short walk through the rain forest, and I saw an even more astonishing scene! There was an army of ants holding green leaves that were bigger than their bodies! Because ants were so small, it seemed as if the leaves were walking by itself!
****
As I screamed high above the trees, I flew on top of the rain forest seeing a beautiful view of blankets of trees and a sky in the horizon. I felt as if I was on top of the world! I was zip-lining through the rain forest on several meters worth of ropes! It was such a surreal experience to see everything above the trees and even the sky as I can barely see the sky when I’m in the rain forest! It was such an incredible opportunity to see the rain forest above the trees besides under the trees!
Once I was at the end of the rope line, I rapelled down the tree.
Please excuse me for my looking very groovy with my bright red baggy pants, my bright yellow helmet, and my bed hair! They were my protection gear! My red baggy pants were a life saver as they kept the bugs away from my body! Plus, there was no point in my bringing a hairdryer and a hair iron to the rain forest with all that dense humidity!
July 24th, 2009 by Rachel | Country: United States (home) | No Comments »
This blog will be moved to a new server in the next few days so that instead of misstravelgirl.com being forwarded to filmmakersdream.net, it will strictly be misstravelgirl.com. If you try to come to my blog, replace filmmakersdream.net in the address with misstravelgirl.com .
Thank you for your understanding!
July 24th, 2009 by Rachel | Country: Peru | No Comments »
Water was sprinkling my face. Cool winds swayed by my face causing my hair to flap. I was moving several miles per hour through the river on a boat, and I felt as if I was flying through the rain forest. I was feeling the enjoyment of relaxing. I was heading to another section of the rain forest to enjoy an early morning observation.
When I arrived, I was sitting on a piece of land with a bounty of rocks enjoying the cool breeze and feeling my hair being flapped by the winds. Rays of orange, blue, pink, and purple glistened in the sky as the sun was rising. The sounds of birds tweeting traveled to my ears. It was a very soothing morning.
As wide awake as I could be at 6 AM in the morning on Sunday, I ventured off by taking a boat ride to an area of the rain forest to watch the birds. There were red birds sitting on branches. There was a group of dark blue birds flying across the sky. While my camera lens was not effective in getting up close, I spent some time admiring the beautiful sunrise and the landscape.
Please be on the look out for part III on my Manu adventures soon!
July 24th, 2009 by Rachel | Country: Peru | No Comments »
A strike happened again! Yes, for real. Fortunately, the strike only affected the taxis. So, I had to be picked up by the travel agency 40 minutes earlier as the agent didn’t know how long she could catch a cab as there were many fewer cabs. The travel agent took me to the tour group in the city center. From there, they took us to the train station. Once we got to the train station, we were on our own until we met a tour guide at the train station at Machu Picchu.
Now here’s one of the highlights of this event! The train ride was three hours LONG, and it was the SLOWEST train I have ever taken! It was literally going at the speed of a turtle walking! Talk about lack of technology to allow trains to go as fast as a speeding bullet like the trains in Europe! So, I just plugged my iPod headphones into my ears and tuned myself to music and looked out the window to see the landscape and the rural life of the Peruvians.
Once I arrived, I found the tour guide who was holding a yellow flag, a sign that I was supposed to be on the look out. Once the tour guide checked off everyone on the list, we headed to the bus to head to our destination.
About ten minutes into the guided tour at Machu Picchu, I decided to walk away from the tour group and tour on my own. The tour guide was just holding a flag and blabbering about things that I already knew by researching Machu Picchu prior to visiting. There was no need for me to hear the same information, and plus, the group was moving too quickly for a photographer to take photographs! I also wanted to take the time to admire the architecture and sit on the giant steps by the hills to marvel at the stunning view of the Incas’ incredible work of art. Plus, I had the train ticket to return to Cusco and so, I already knew what time to be at the train station. So, I had nothing to lose by leaving the tour group. Traveling with tour groups is absolutely not my favorite way to travel. I just happened to have a tour guide as it came with the package that I paid for the trip to Machu Picchu.
Machu Picchu is one of the most incredible wonders of the world. I personally think it’s more astonishing than the Sydney Opera House, Eiffel Tower, Colosseum, Great Ocean Road, and Canadian Rockies. I seriously wonder how the Incas were able to carry stones up the mountains, create walls, stairs, roofs, and design the incredible architecture. They probably did have more patience than the architects and construction workers today as today’s designs are based on a lack of patience and limited time. The Incas also chose one of the most beautiful places they could have as the empire was situated on top of a mountain surrounded by pure green mountains.
July 23rd, 2009 by Rachel | Country: Peru | No Comments »
Watching the transformation of the landscape as I ride through the Andes Mountains to the rain forest on the unpaved road, hearing the crickets chirping, watching bright red birds fly through the trees, sailing through the river, and sleeping in rustic lodges are memories that will not be forgotten. This past week, I spent four days and three nights at Manu, a rain forest reservation.
On the first day, I spent probably about eight hours in the “buggy” van. Why am I calling it the “buggy” van? It’s because it looks like a bug! All of the passengers’ suitcases were placed on top of the van making it look like the van had a shell on the top! Not to worry, the driver placed a cover on top of the bags to prevent them from getting wet due to the massive humidity in the rain forest.
As I was riding through the mountains, my iPod was going bonkers as it was making clicking noises that sounded as if the hard drive was going dead! All of a sudden, it stopped working, and I got a blank screen saying, “Contact Apple for iPod Support.” I though, “Oh great! The drive is going to be boring without music! Why does technology have to make life so much more complicated?! So, I shook the iPod thinking maybe the hard drive was out of place. Of course, it was still not working. So, I just stared out the window and admired the beautiful landscapes. After we made a stop for lunch, I decided to check my iPod thinking that miracles can happen. Lo and behold, it started working again! Unreal! The rest of the ride was very enjoyable as I was able to enjoy listening to soothing music of Norah Jones, Carly Simon, and Edith Piaf while staring at the beautiful landscape and photographing and videotaping the moments!
Just seeing how the landscape transforms is astonishing. At the beginning of the road trip, I saw very dry mountains with dried brown grasses and very few green plants. Along the way, I began to see bright lime-green mountains with more plants. Then toward the end of the road trip, I saw pure green mountains packed with trees and plants! I also had a taste of the farming communities as we passed by them. Fortunately, we made a pit stop at one of the farming communities, and I sure did jump out of the van to take a few snapshots!
Please excuse me for the extreme camera shakes! The roads were EXTREMELY unpaved!
We also made a stop at a bird watching dock where we could watch the birds flying and listen to them tweeting.
Afterwards, we headed to a lodge that was located just on the edge of the rain forest zone. I almost had a disaster getting to the lodge. The lodge was located DEEP in the forest, which meant that we had a lot of walking to get there. It was already dark and there were NO lights by the path to the lodge. I pulled out one of my two flashlights from my suitcase, and the tour guide took my suitcase. As I was heading to the lodge, the flashlight was uncooperative! It would not stay on, and because this flashlight had three levels of lighting, it wouldn’t go on any higher than the first level which is EXTREMELY dim. There was no way that I could get through the forest without a flashlight! So, I yelled, “HELP! My flashlight is broken!” I yelled a few times -
“HELP! My flashlight is broken!”
“HELP! My flashlight is broken!”
“HELP! My flashlight is broken!”
“HELP! My flashlight is broken!”
Thankfully two tourists came back and got me. Fortunately, when I arrived at the lodge, there was electricity, but only for a few hours. So, at least, I had some time to get settled before finding my other flashlight.
Sleeping in the rain forest was an experience! There is NO glass on the windows. Just screens to keep the bugs out! In fact, I had to sleep with a net hanging over my bed to keep the bugs from stinging me! I was very grateful to have it as, unfortunately, I seem to have genes that cause my body to taste very good to bugs!
The following morning, we took a stroll. What amazed me more than just the beautiful landscape was that there was trash all over the place left by previous tourists. A tourist from Mexico, who is a big-nut advocate for global warming, collected bottles, and I picked up plastic bags. It was just disturbing as the animals and plants don’t deserve to be left with pollution!
Thereafter, we packed up and headed for another two hours drive to go deeper into the rain forest.
After lunch, I went for a big splash in the river! I went white-water rafting, which was unbelievably fun! Feeling the splashes from the river was very soothing. On top of that, I admired the beautiful mountains filled with pure green trees and plants. I felt as if I was living in a scene from the Pocahontas movie where a group of Native Americans paddle on a boat through the river through stunning scenery.
After rafting, the driver and the van met us, and we headed to a boat to sail through the Rio Madres de Dios. Riding through the river was very relaxing and beautiful. I felt as if I was traveling inside an advertisement for a Caribbean Islands vacation!
Part II will come tomorrow.
July 22nd, 2009 by Rachel | Country: Peru | No Comments »
I’m just posting a quick update to let everyone know that I had a fanastic four day trip to the rainforest and a day trip to Macchu Pichu. I will write all the details tonight and upload the writings along with videos and pictures tomorrow. Here is a preview for now…
Manu – Rainforest
Macchu Pichu!
July 16th, 2009 by Rachel | Country: Peru | No Comments »
I’m off to Manu, a rainforest reserve in Peru, from tomorrow until Monday night. So, don’t expect to hear from me at all until Tuesday. Well, actually Wednesday because I’ll be at Macchu Pichu on Tuesday! There is absolutely NO internet access where I’ll be staying in the rainforest as electricity is VERY VERY VERY VERY limited! The hotels have electricity only from 6 PM until 8 PM – TWO hours per day! I’m sure it’s because they want to minimize the disturbance of the rainforest. It will be fine because I’ll be getting up by 5 AM in the morning when the sun first comes up, and I’ll pass out by 8 PM, for sure! Also, there are NO cell phone towers – only radios for emergency purposes. I know my parents and grandparents are going to be biting their nails about this situation, but if they have any emergency issues, they can just call the Spanish school, and the school will get in touch with me through the radio. Of course, if I have any issues, the tour guide will use the radio to reach someone in Cusco. Anyway, it will be a fun and fascinating experience! I’m looking forward to getting a real taste of the Amazon rainforest! I will definitely post my thoughts and photos when I come back from the rainforest, and also, Macchu Pichu!
To view more information about where I will be this weekend, click here.
