What AM I doing going to South America?

Quite a lot of things, actually. Here's a brief run-down:

Ecuador
It all kicks of with a 4-week Spanish course in Quito, Ecuador. English isn't very well-spoken in South America, so I'm going to need it. (January 22 - February 16)

If I've not had enough of the country, I've got a 15-day hiking, biking, rafting tour of Ecuador. Have to satisfy my exercise cravings when I can. (February 18 - March 4)

Peru
Then I'm being a goody-two-shoes with a month of community work with orphans in Trujillo, Peru. Hopefully I'll get some time off to flake out on the beach! (March 9 - April 7)

After all my selfless hard work, I'm going to do the touristy thing on an Inca Discovery Tour, including hiking the Inca Trail and visiting Macchu Picchu - yay! (April 11 - 18)

Argentina and Chile
Next, it's down to the very southern tip of the continent, via Buenos Aires, for a trip round the End of the Earth, doing some hiking and general sight-seeing round the icy and mountainous Patagonian region and visiting the southernmost city in the world, Ushuaia. (April 21 - May 5)

Bolivia
I'll be flying into La Paz, the highest city in the world. Bit scared about that, because flying straight up to a location 3,600m high carries a risk of altitude sickness. Think I'll be taking the Diamox left over from doing Kili with me just in case! I'll be doing a 2-month journalism placement on an English newspaper in La Paz. With my time off, I'd love to visit Lake Titicaca (if only for it's comedy name) and do some hiking in the mountains... (May 10 - July 8)

Chile, Paraguay and Brazil
Limited flight routes means I've got 5 days in Santiago de Chile, in the Andes. What can you do in 5 days?

Then I'll be flying to Asuncion in Paraguay, to make my way overland to the Iguassu Falls (3 times bigger than Niagara), and then on to Sao Paulo, from where I fly home at the end of July.

Hi!

So this is my first post. The opening page in my journal; the launch of my blog. A momentous event.

It's Boxing Day 2006. Not sure why I chose this day to start the blog. But it's as good a day as any. Except perhaps New Year's Day, thinking about it. Hmm.

I'm still enjoying the festive period at home in the bosom of my family. You know, watching naff telly and eating far too much, catching up with old friends over lots of drinks, falling out with my brother over who gets the best chair in the living room. Good times. And yet, in the back of my mind wondering how long it will be before we stop doing the family thing at Christmas, how long before friends move away...

But in terms of the more immediate and certain future, South America looms pretty large. I'm in the process of booking my language course, but other than that everything is pretty much booked and sorted -as much as it needs to be, pre-departure. I am excited, definitely, but I'm surprisingly calm about it I think. There's lots I should be doing. I want to be up on South American history (I've got enough reading material from my brother this Christmas), I'm supposed to be getting a head start on learning Spanish with my teach yourself course, and I really ought to get familiar with the Lonely Planet, since it's going to be my bible when I'm out there. And then there's packing. How to get 6 month's worth of stuff into a rucksack? Answers on a postcard...

In fact writing all this is making me realise how little time I have left. Better get cracking on those books.