we got to travel!!!! ..... outside of santa cruz :)

so we all finally got to get out of the city of santa cruz finally. i´m not saying i dont like the city, i´m just saying its nice to be in the freshcountry air, no cars, no micros. just dirt roads and mountains and ahhhhhhhhhh. yeah so this last weekend we SALTers had the chance to get out and see Santiago de Chiquitos where on of the SALTers will be working this year. Santiago de Chiquitos is about 13 hours by train to the east, i think. dont quote me on that :) we left last friday at around noon. the time here is never exact so everything is "around". with our luck we were all, almost all of us, feeling sick when we stepped on the train. and the train was, i dont want to say terrible, thats harsh, but it was rough. that friday it was hot, muggy, and mix that with nausea and stomach problems, it was an interesting ride. and by the end, i think we were all a bit grumpy, at least i was. but oh man, we got some beautiful rain when we arrived at 1 am in the blessed am. it was heaven sent rain. thick cold drops that just feel good :) we then fell down on our beds and slept like babies, till the morning, had breakfast at 8 am, and then fell back asleep for a few more hours :) it was a great day :) then in the afternoon, we went on a hike on a mountain that was nearby. let me tell you a little bit about santiago de chiquitos. it is a beautiful small town with barely any cars, so its very fresh and there are mountains surrounding it. all the roads are red dirt roads, and at night, its pitch black. there are not many street lamps, so it is really dark, and when its clear, the stars are quite something. its is awesome!! ok
anyways, the mountain. we hiked up it. i would say it was a good several hour hike. we had to climb some rocks, and then some of us salters kept going up some rugged paths to the top. the view was amazing!!!! then, when we got down, we at supper and icecream and then relaxed. sunday was a day to relax, and we just walked around the town a bit and played cards in the evening. the monday, early in the morning we went for another hike to some water holes in the mountain. i think it might be some freshwater springs. it was really sweet, and we swam in the hole that supposedly has no bottom. it was freakin´ sweet. we all burned a bit, i especially burned quite well. i guess no sunscreen helps with that :) but yeah, at least i´m not soo white anymore :)
yeah than that evening we left to head back to santa cruz. another 13 hour train ride with virtually no sleep. but it comes with the experience :)
all in all it was great!! i really enjoyed seeing the country side.
now with the week almost done, and this coming monday with work starting and all. things are starting to set in that i´m really doing missions here in bolivia. its quite cool i would say :)
peace out and God bless
toni