Sunday, September 25, 2011

Back to Reality

My weeklong vacation came to an end today.

Saturday evening was spent going on a stargazing tour.  San Pedro has something like 330 clear nights, and you can see so many of the stars with the naked eye on any given night.  When I was in middle school I had a really bad teacher that left me with a really bad attitude about astronomy becuase of how difficult she was, but I decided that this would be a cool way to learn about astronomy in a different way since it was right in front of me.

The guide was a Canadian that moved to San Pedro almost 2 years ago.  He explained everything in detail, starting with how people began thinking about stars through the history with Copernicus and Galileo up to modern day discoveries about the solar system.  We got to see the major stars and constellations, and he had about 10 different telescopes set up so that we could see stars (and even Jupiter) up close.  The night ended with a question and answer session inside while we sipped on hot chocolate.  It was a really cool experience, and I just wish that digital cameras could have captured the night sky as I saw it.  It was definitely a nice way to spend my last night in San Pedro.

So, what are my impressions of San Pedro? It's a small and nice city that is a gateway to some amazing adventures in the immediate area as well as Bolivia. During the day it seems overpopulated by tourists, but by evening it develops a charm with the lamp-lined streets lighting the area while people chat and socialize at cafes or while they take a stroll in the pedestrian area. The downtown area is nicely paved, while the outskirts are rundown buildings with dirt roads.  Depsite that, I didn't once not feel safe during the day or night there.  Oddly enough, the entire city is also connected with free wi fi for all its residents.






I'm not sure where my next trip will take me, but I definitely want to be traveling again from time to time to give myself a break.  That's all for now.

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