My Last Day in South America

August 22, 2008 · Leave a Comment 

On my last day in South America, I wake up to the calm sound of rain falling atop the metal roof.  Two days before I was tanning on a cushioned lounge chair along the water of Mancora Beach, Peru my mind dizzied, almost drunk, on sun and relaxation. But now I am in Quito, Ecuador on a rainy morning and my mind is dizzying from the prospect of leaving this great continent.

As the rain taps, I work to fall back asleep,... [Read more]

Strangers in the Night

August 13, 2008 · Leave a Comment 

On a lonely Bolivian intersection, the streets as wide and empty as an abandoned landing strip, we collided like two freight trains in the night. Midnight, and nobody here knew each other. Two dozen people in total, no one even thought of stopping when the groups combined and began mixing like magical ingredients in a witch’s cauldron. We kept walking, I hoped I was not the only one who didn’t know were we were going. Half, including me, just got off a twelve-hour bus ride, the others – who knows. Irish,... [Read more]

See Salt Sea

August 12, 2008 · Leave a Comment 

Imagine a flat solid sea that reflects the mountains that frame it. Islands in that sea stand small but tall, with thousand year-old cacti raising their bristly arms towards the sky. Waves would wash over the island banks if only the ripples were not already frozen in crystallized patterns of white and bronze.

Driving from Bolivia’s town of Uyuni though this sea of salt, one can’t imagine that the sparkling surface,... [Read more]

Down the Death Road

August 1, 2008 · Leave a Comment 

“Sarit!” my husband turned to me all excited, “Wanna go up to 4700m in a van and then ride a bicycle downhill 64km on the most dangerous road in the world?”

“Ahem… No! Do I look like I have a death wish?” It was an honest response. I haven’t been on a bike since the fifth grade! I thought this was the end of it, but when we got to La Paz in Bolivia there wasn’t that much of a choice but surrender to peer pressure – apparently, to be in La Paz and not... [Read more]

A Poem for the Sacred Lake

July 31, 2008 · 2 Comments 

Lake Titicaca was known to the Incas as a sacred lake. Over the last few days, I have been able to visit islands on both the Bolivian and Peruvian sides, and walking the stoney paths, looking out to the ruins, marveling over the breathtaking views, it is easy to find the sanctity of the place. This lake inspires a holiness with the land, and even now at a computer in Puno, I continue to feel the affects of the ancient waters.

Isla del Sol

Sun warms my skin

thawing winter away

from snow... [Read more]