PLACES WE'VE BEEN...

Hi everyone it is Gus. Since this is my last blog about my adventures in South America I will be talking about the five most important things I learned on this trip

The first was the secret of Machu Pichu and what it was used for. It really is not understood. No one knows what it was used for and that’s why it is such a mystery. Some of the theories of what Machu Picchu was used for are: It was used as a royal retreat; or a place of worship; or a home for the virgins of the sun, the women who were going to be sacrificed. Because of this mystery it is very interesting.

The second thing I learned was how to put on cramp-ons and walk on a glacier. It is very complicated. First while you are getting used to your cramp-ons you start to walk on slick ice. then you continue on up walking like a penguin. On the way down you march like a soldier. It was fun.

The third thing I learned was that a place called Torres del Paine in Chile was formed by glaciers. We hiked around there and saw that the rocks and mountains were all very twisted and jagged proving that they were different from other mountains.

One of the interesting things I learned in Bariloche was the history of chocolate. We went to a museum of chocolate. It was there because there’s a lot of chocolate made in Bariloche. And out of that the two most interesting things I learned were that the tree used originally to make chocolate was first discovered in Mexico. They should probably have a chocolate museum bigger than the one in Bariloche in Mexico City or something. The other interesting fact is that chocolate was outlawed by the Catholic Church in Spain in the 1700s because they thought it was a stimulant or a drug.

In Buenos Aires we went to a weapon museum. The main thing I learned there was that there are millions of ways to kill people. And that’s frightening. But I was impressed that they had so many weapons in such a small museum. Anyway I had a good time there.

My trip to South America was great and I would like to go again. If I ever went back to South America, I would probably want to go back to Machu Picchu and do the hike again. I have a new meaning for flat now that I’ve done that hike. Stairs in our house–they seem flat to me. And I’d like to go back to do some scuba diving in the Galapagos.

Catch or write to you all soon.

GUS

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