Traveler or Tourist?

We arrived home Tuesday morning after the red-eye from Sao Paulo. It is strange that three and a half weeks have gone by already, but it is great to have the comforts of the USA.

Our trip to South America was such an experience! Doreen, Stephanie and I maneuvered our way through each country better than I ever expected. It was easy to find our way and make new friends when so many people were willing to go out of their ways to help us. My favorite thing about South America was the local people- even with the language barrier, we were never taken advantage of by the locals.

Things about South America that make me want to book a trip back:

· the stares from people on the street when they see my blond hair (I liked the attention..)

· struggling with Spanish and loving it

· fruit stands

· everything looks like a postcard

· meeting locals

Things I will NOT miss about traveling South America:

· the stares from people on the street when they see my blond hair (it got annoying)

· dog poop on the street

· throwing away toilet paper instead of flushing it

· flip-flops in the shower

· being cold

Pictures of the whole trip (except for some that were lost…) can be found at the following links:

PERU: http://s201.photobucket.com/albums/aa296/carlygralak/Peru/
CHILE: http://s201.photobucket.com/albums/aa296/carlygralak/Chile/
ARGENTINA: http://s201.photobucket.com/albums/aa296/carlygralak/Argentina/
BRAZIL: http://s201.photobucket.com/albums/aa296/carlygralak/Brasil/
*To view each album, follow the link and click on "view as slideshow"