NatalieCarina

North Carolina is….Breathtaking

I visited Winston-Salem NC and ALLYEARAROUND it was beautiful. True, many people smoke there, but surprisingly, the air actually felt CLEANER then the air in MA. the sky was always blue, unless it was about to rain. But even the rain was beautiful. The people were extremely friendly…overall, I loved it.

I LOOOOOVE this place!

Last time I was there, I was 10, but I’m going back in a few weeks! wahoo!

Any tips?

its fun for a field trip as a little kid, and also fantastic if you get lost around Boston.

:-D I went to Junior Prom here, and spent the 4th of July here a while back too…GREAT view for the 4th of July, and everyone is extremely nice.

This is a wonderful country—I lived there for two months with a family. It’s great for a visit, but a hotel stay wouldn’t do the country justice, and you probably would get a very skewed impression of it.

Managua—big city, kind of like a less sophisticated NYC. Lots of stuff going on there every night, doesn’t sleep, BUT, there is also more crime.

Masaya—More like a Boston in comparison…Less crisp, but people are a little warmer to eachother and less paranoid of others attacking them hah. if I had to choose a city—it’d be Masaya.

But, while traveling from hotel to hotel is nice…this is more of a country to embrace and spend a month in. People are a bit garded to get to know you, but once they do you will have a friend for life…

Also, another thing to nore, here there government has skrewed them over many times, 99.9% of the population DOESNOT hold it against an American anything that Bush or any other president has done to theit country (and we’ve done an awful lot of bad things there). They are open to political debate there but they don’t believe that you represent your government by any means, it’s quite nice.

I was there for a day, but what I saw does not make me want to go back, there are much more interesting Latin American countries to visit.

I was there in..er…it was either 2002-2004…I really forget the date

ANYWAY

Lima, not so nice, too smoky, never rains but always feels like it’s about to

However, the REAL gem of Peru is Cuzco. It’s surrounded by jungle and is on a mountaintop, with a beautiful view all around. It’s a nice place for people who don’t want to be in the tourism sceen, as well as people who do…what I recomend is going on a few tours, then having a local show you around. There is a lot of artwork here, and nearby is Machu-Pichu (DEFFINATELY worth the climb).

There are some nice nightclubs here as well as bars, but by no means does this make it a city like atmosphere. If you can, try to go during las Carnivales—it’s a water fight between males and females that goes on in the whole country.

While there, Tea de Coco or Mate de Coco helps a good deal with altitude sickness(amongst other things)—just make sure you don’t bring any leaves back to the US with you—when refined they make cocain. UNREFINED, the plant has a multitude of delightful healing properties.

My Dad’s side of the family lives here…I didn’t get to go to La Costa, but I did get to stay in Quito for a while. I’ve got LOOOOTTS of family there—somewhere in the range of 300 living just in the Quito area. Otabalo is nice, and there are a lot of Incans there(also some of my family).

One thing to REALLY watch out about though in ALL of Ecuador:

You skrew up, you go to jail. It’s an EXTREMELY corrupt system. Judges get paid off in either direction all the time, and so do cops.

You may also notice a lack of speed limit—BEWARE of this, people use their horn to communicate a lot more then anything else. Another danger is there there ARE a rew places with a speed limit, and if you get caught speeding, you may just have to pay off a cop. These places usually are things like tunnels or bridges—in the mountains there aren’t any really because physically, it’s harder for the car to run faster so they don’t need to be imposed.

WEARSUNBLOCK. You are on the equator—I’m a local in my skin ytpe and everything yet I even wear 50-70SPF this is ESPECIALLY true in the Quito area

If you are a Gringo, be careful with your passport (as you might in just about any country) and make sure your embassy knows you are there. The currency is in US Dollars, but that doesn’t mean you should flash it around. In just about any Latin American country (save Argentina and Costa Rica) it is EXTREMELY easy to spot and take advantage of a gringo—if you are at a hotel, be sure to ask one of the people about places you should stay away from and any extra local events going on.

ALSO, I know I didn’t get to do it my last time around, but the Galapagos is BEAUTIFUl—be sure to visit.