The Brian Hopkins Project

Hi.  This is going to be my blog… The Brian Hopkins Project.  The original posts were from when Ashley and I went to South America.  Then I stopped.  The new idea to start writing again came out of two seemingly contradictory thoughts.

1.  I’m really interested in a lot of different subjects and I enjoy writing, so this is a way for me to do something different than what I am currently discussing at work or school.

2.  The explosion of social networking sites is full of people writing about things that they care about… but maybe not a lot of other people do.  I’m not as excited to know that you just checked in to your local convenience store.  Hopefully this becomes a conversation.

I have an amazing amount of diversity in my friendships- everybody from business school professors to anarchist welding inspectors- so it will be fun to see your respective perspectives.  I’m probably going to be wrong a lot, but your feedback is not only going to make me more accountable in my initial research, but I’m also going learn from you along the way.

Why would anybody do this?

So in an earlier post I inferred that the scariest part of this trip was not the possibility of running into Maoist rebels in Peru, nor street criminals in Rio, but rather skiing down a mountain in Chile. I was wrong. Pictures of us hang-gliding over the beaches of Rio are at: http://www.flickr.com/photos/48052163@N00/sets/72157606379874818/

While soaring past Christ the Redeemer was the highlight of Ashley´s life, mine was probably landing. This of course was after flying for a couple minutes, hearing the guy piloting the ´plane´talk to himself in Portugese, and then look over at me and mutter in broken English, ¨turbulance¨ as we headed toward the high rise hotels on the beach. This is a word that terrifies me in a real plane, never mind in something that looks like it was possibly made from Legos.

Rio

We have been in Rio for 2 days now and I already think it is my favorite city. We climbed Pau de Acucar this morning and then spent the next couple hours sipping coconuts on the beach of Ipanema. Life is good.

Another border crossing

Just finishing with Argentina. Pictures are at:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/48052163@N00/sets/72157606169863219/

Iguazu Falls is maybe the most spectacular thing either of us have ever seen. Ashley had a great Birthday today celebrating here in the park on the Argentine\Brazil border. After an icredible week in Buenos Aires and a great two days on this side of the river, we are off to Foz do Iguacu tomorrow to see the Falls (or Foz) from the Brazilian side. Then a plane on Tuesday to our last stop on the tour in Rio.

BA Arrival

We just arrived in Buenos Aires this morning. The city looks great and we already went for quite a walk. Just spent 3 days in Mendoza, Argentina which is in the center of the Argentine wine country. We did a pretty cool wine tour yesterday after renting bikes and riding around the town of Maipu. We´ll be here for the next week until taking a bus up to Iguazu Falls.

Chile Pictures

Colorful houses, more Plaza de Armas', and somebody thinking it was a good idea to put Brian in skis. All at: http://www.flickr.com/photos/48052163@N00/

Pictures

Pictures of Peru are now up at
http://www.flickr.com/photos/48052163@N00/sets/72157605960621608/