Saturday, March 22, 2008

Arica, Chile... Beach Daze




Aahhh, we´re still not sure what was more relaxing- lounging at the beach, or buying a hamburger at McDonald´s! After 2.5 months of mystery whenever we ordered food, it was a rare pleasure to see the golden arches- a moment of ecstasy for Cullen and a moment of joy I never imagined I would feel at the sight of a fast food place!

We climbed the nearest plateau to take in the scenery, went for morning runs along the coast, lounged on the gritty sand beaches, and spent little on food so that we spend more on cold drinks. The currency and time zone changed when we crossed the border, so now the sun sets after 8pm and we are spending thousands of pesos to buy a sandwhich- a drastic change in both actual and apparent cost after leaving Peru.

We bumped into Jim again in Arica on our way out of town (American amigo from the US who we met in Colca Canyon)... small world! We just landed in Santiago this afternoon and had our first Starbuck´s sighting... amazing how familiar the city feels- so close to a large American or European city, but somehow we are missing Peru. We want to wish everyone a very Happy Easter! We hop the plane to Easter Island in the morning where we will be a long, long way away from McDonald´s and Starbucks again!

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

Thanks for the new pictures. What a surprise when I turned on the computer. Have a memorable time in Easter Island on Easter Sunday. How funny. We love you both and miss you but love hearing about the next chapter in this adventure. Love to you both
Mom in Fallon :)

Anonymous said...

hello again. funny to see you parked outside of the mcdonalds. i´ve kept myself out of there since. so good to run into a couple of familiar faces. i took a long walk to the fish processing plant this morning and am off to la paz en la manaña. i´ll probably hang in bolivia the next couple of weeks taking a few spanish classes and just being a gringo. hope you are having fun on rapa nui!

Anonymous said...

pretty sophisticated the beach has a life guard! Any south american jelly fish? Not may people in the water ? temp? Centigrade please. Enjoy your adventure to Easter Island, when money runs short head back to Peru and have Big Guinea Pig and an order of fries at Grande Mac, do they have a happy meal for the kids?. Miss you and have fun Love Muy Grande D

KC said...

Happy Easter, Joneses! We missed you guys while hunting eggs yesterday.

I didn't realize you all were going to Easter Island. My envy-level continues to rise with each blog posting, but now, it has reached an all-time high. Enjoy your travels, & keep sharing updates and photos with all of us back in the States.

Abrazos!!!!
KC

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ciao.