Lessons Learned

--I am not graceful. Not even a little bit. Watching a video of me rapelling down a 37 foot waterfall would probably make you wince at my clumsy technique. But no video exists, and the photos... well, we paid six times more for them than we were told originally, and they are still worth every penny.

--Israelis, love `em or hate `em, have got to be the most travelling group of people in the world. Three nights ago they came in at two in the morning, turned on all the lights, laughing and talking and carrying on like it was daytime. Two nights ago they woke up at three (or rather I was woken at three by an Israeli only wearing a towel, who needed to get into my room to wake the other Israelis) to hike the volcano and again turned on all the lights and talked loudly. Last night was quiet finally, but I woke up with an extra bed and two extra Israelis blocking access to the kitchen in my room. I can go days without interacting with another American, but Israelis are everywhere.

--Travellers will always try to distinguish themselves from tourists. My apologies to the travellers reading this, but we´re no different. We stay longer and spend less money, but we still speak english all day and gawk at the same sights on the same tours. Stop putting yourself on a pedestal.

--There is no such thing as a 'typical' tour. Even in Pucon, where we did a volcano ascent that was exactly like every other tour company, we returned to town and pulled into the guide's driveway so that his family could gather our neon orange uniforms and hiking boots and helmets and assorted junk to be washed and sorted for the next day's trip. It's fascinating to see where the locals live, what condition they live in.

--Touristy locations are not just like home. Sure, they have some of the same stores and restaurants, but just this morning I was walking past a mechanic shop that was playing Twisted Sister´s We´re not gonna take it in Spanish. And for whatever reason, when you hear western pop songs they´re as likely to be covers as originals. I´ve heard Oasis, Alice in Chains and Green Day covers in the last week, and all in english no less.