falling heads, bikes, and death machines...or.. (what is easter island all about?)

some of the damage done after falling off the scooter MANY times

some of the many moai statues that pepper easter island. almost all of them face the island so as to watch over the land and people...

me, trying to pick up one of the moai statues with my feet...it was remarkably easy actually...i am quite strong

annette in utter defeat at about mile 22

the bluest waters of rapa nui

the gnome gets a piggy back ride from annette whilst we explore easter island

i honestly had no idea what to expect from easter island. all i knew was that it was surrounded by water and annette wanted to go there. needless to say, i was pretty indifferent about going. at least as indifferent as one can be when traveling. the day before we were supposed to go i also got sick with a terrible head cold. argh!! so i was not in the greatest of moods...but i have to say easter island (also known as rapa nui or la isla de pascua) was a great place to visit, especially when sick, simply because the chill island culture is so soothing...to the soul and body...i had a marvelous time. it is definitely a place you only need to spend a few days at because it is pretty small, but it is beautiful. the water was the bluest i have ever seen and the island is peppered with the moai, which are heads that the indigenous islanders made from stone as an homage to their ancestors. they are crazy to see. i am constantly amazed at how much cultures have been able to accomplish without modern conveniences. these are heavy little buggers and not only were they carved out of stone, but they were also moved...wow!

so...in addition to taking in the beauty of theisland, annette and i also had some adventures...the 2nd day we were there, we decided to rent a scooter. mind you annette and i have never driven scooters...but this guy, who rents them out of his house, and is also a berkely alum, just gave us a crash course (pun intended) in how to turn it on, start, stop, and go... and we were off. annette took the 1st shift and it started out very smoothly...mostly because we were on a paved road, which i seriously appreciate when on a motorized 2 wheeled vehicle. i took over for a while, which was mostly fine, although i did fall twice, taking annette down with me. what is really confusing is the accelerator being on the handle bar right next to the brake. so when one is first starting out and nervousness attacks, confusion ensues. there was one point when i swore something was running out in fromt of me (turned out to be a shadow) and i meant to brake, but instead accelerated way too fast. then braked. then got so confused, so i just jumped off the scooter while it was still going and bam! crash! boing! then it was smooth sailing for a while...

riding a scooter s really fun and a wonderful way to see an island. what a scooter is not, is a fun way for 2 novices to see an island on rocky, unpaved roads. annette and i pulled over to see some of the moai off a beaten path ( i had annete ride on the dirt roads....not enough trust in myself)...then looking at our map, it seemed that the dirt road would connect bck to the paved road a different way...so we decided to take the road less traveled, which may make all the difference, but the diference doesn´t always turn out the greatest...in fact, it can downright suck...we fell so many times trying to cross teacherous terrain...seriously i was not sure if we were going to mske it. there were times we had to push the scooter up the these hills because we were to scared to start the motorized death machine to fall yet again...annette definitely gets the rock star award because she powered through...i refused to ride on the dirt road...looking back on it, i am sure the road was not bad for someone with skill...but for our first day, it was not the best choice...it probably took us 2 hours to go half a mile. we were so scared, dazed, and confused about how to get the death machine to get us back to civilization...the funny thing is that it was such beautiful scenery, but we could not fully appreciate it...at one point we had a group of wild horses on our left and a rainbow came out on our right (seriousy i am not making this up)...when i pointed this out to annette, i was pretty much met with silence...

we did manage to survive the death machine experience (with one more fall when i took over and tried to turn left...so much easier when you go straight)...but man, were our spirits tested!! the speed limit on the island is 60 km, which is about 40 mph, but we never broke 30 miles an hour and when we went that fast, i thought we were in the indy 500...but we did survive... so yay!

the next day, we thought it a good idea to slow down our pace a bit and rented bikes. i was elated...i love seeing things by bike...and it was a glorious day for bike riding...little did i know, it was going to be the longest day of annette´s life. she hasn´t owned a bike since she was 8 and was not really ready for the 34 mile excursion we were about to embark on. our plan was to bike to the beach, lay out, then bike back with gay songs and sunshine following us all the way. tra la la la. but alas, expectations are meant to be met only sometimes (refer back to previous scooter paragraphs)...

getting to the beach was along a nice paved road...we went through beautiful shady tree lined areas and the terrain was not so bad...some hills, but really a lovely little jaunt. one small travesty when annete´s chain came off, but easily fixed. then we got to the beach...which was picturesque...but it was not the most amazing day to lay out...a bit cloudy and chilly...and sadly annette kept getting attacked by flies and ants while we were laying out, so it was not quite the relaxing experience we had anticipated. so we cut this part of our day short and headed back. i wanted to do a loop instead of going back the way we came and annette, being the trooper that she is, agreed, despite the ever growing sorenes in her bum. sadly, the first part of our ride back was the painstaking rocky dirt road again...but it was along the water, so that made up for it (at least to me)...it is a lot easier riding a bike on a dirt road than a scooter, i can say that much. sadly for annette, there was a hawk´s nest along the road and the hawk kept swooping down to keep her away, almost taking off her head...at the end of the ride, a hawk came after me and seriously grabbed at my hair with its sepulchral claws. i was terrified and my only response was to start cawing at it. i didn´t know what else to do. at this point, annette got attacked again, but instead of trying to get it away, she was so tired that she was willing to let it eat her. some of us have a stronger will to live than others, i guess...

so we had adventures...we had a bit of spirit broken, but like the phoenix rising from the ashes, we persevered and triumphed. we are both still here and happy...albeit a bit tired...so we are now in santiago, which is a lovely city. we did a walking tour yesterday and it was divine...i will make a confession and say that my pinnacle of happiness was when i saw a starbucks. i know it´s pathetic to be the american who gets excited about something as evil as starbucks, but i have not had one decent cup of coffee since i have been here. seriously every cup of coffee so far in south america is instant and that fucking sucks. so i proudly oredered a venti iced latte and drank it like a true, spoiled american, while walking down the street. i will probably get another cup today. don´t judge...it´s nice when something familiar makes its way into the unfamiliar...

hasta luego...