My first week in Chile

Chile. On May 31, I arrived with my friend Rowan (a lovely Scottish girl who I met in Ushuaia) in Puerto Natales, Chile, a nice little town on a beautiful lake. This town isn´t the attration though...it is a hub for the massive amounts of people who come through to get to Torres del Paine, the best national park in all of South America with incredible hiking. We arrived and did the same as many others...took the day to prepare for our 5 day hike through this park, stocking up on granola bars, dried fruit and oatmeal. We left on April 1 and started walking. The route we took is quite popular...a 50 mile trek called the W. We met people from all over the world who had come to do it. Thankfully we were there in the off season so we got to know all of the people on the trail doing the same route or a variation. The trip was unbelievable...full of adventure. I will spare you the description and just let you look at the pictures.

Album 1
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2023406&id=157000967&l=1e4c7ffc68

Album 2

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2023407&id=157000967&l=3660fa3275

Enjoy!

March

Ok here we go...all of what this month has held thus far...

NEOCHEA
Spent the first week in March in Neochea- a tiny little beach town on the coast with my friend Emmanuel and his family. We had really bad weather for the first couple of days so we replaced beach time with playing a lot of wii, eating incredible meals, drinking incredible wine, watching movies and spending lots of time with his parents. It was a great trade off.

BARILOCHE
I said goodbye to Emma´s family and got on a bus but for 18 hours I was completely content...a little buddy all wrapped up with my blanket, pillow, munching on snacks, watching movies, sleeping. it was wonderful. From Neochea I got to Bariloche - a magnificant but mountian-ski town in the lake district. I stayed for a week with a woman I found on couchsurfing and spend the days wondering and having adventures.

Moments:

Taking a cable car up to the top of a mountain, and for hours sitting in a quaint rotating restaurant feasting...Then walking down the side of this mountain ...incredible views!!

Spending a day on the beach and then going for freeezing cold lake swims in the middle of mountains... perfect.

Good talks about life with my host named Diana

24km hike to a forest that was famous for this rare type of tree but I found was kind of lame and then a hellish hike back that gave me the blisters of my life...

speaking spanish all the time that I feel like speaking English is weird.


El BOLSON
I arrive in a small hippy town of El Bolson 2 hours south of Bariloche and stayed with an old hippy and his mother for 2 nights- on a rather nasty mattress....

Moments:
a wonderful afternoon at a lake in the middle of the Andes
a great afternoon shopping at an open air market eating local greatness
hitching a ride with some Isreali´s I met who had bought an SUV to travel from the north to the south of Argentina, and spending an afternoon jacking their car up offroading in the mountains

CHALTEN

From Bolson to Chalten was epic. We traveled on route 40 which is like this mystic road from the north of argentina down to the southen most tip.. like Route 66 but not paved...it was fantastic.

I met a few European friends: We spent this 30 hour bus ride drinking mate, chatting, sleeping. We arrived in Chalten. I took off for a 4 day trek through the mountains. Unbelievable sights and adventures on glaciers, with wind, cold, rain and mud but it was fantastic hike. Can´t describe it can only show the pics.

USHUAIA
from there I headed south. On my way I stopped to see a famous glacier called Perito Moreno and then hopped on 14 hour bus ride to get to the city where I am right now Ushuaia- the southen most city in the world. On this bus besides meeting an Argentinian boy band who were really quirky, weird and gave me one of their cheesy CDs (score), I met 2 lovely french guys who have been my buddys for the last few days. We took a few day hikes, and a boat excursion to see penguins and artic animals. great great times.

enjoying all the conversations about life and living with fellow journeyers. enjoying moments alone. enjoying that the next moment everything can change. enjoying that I can choose where to go and how long to stay. enjoying the nature. enjoying resting. enjoying laughing alot alot alot. enjoying being at the end of the earth.

Movin' on out...

My time in Buenos Aires is coming to an end. It has been a wonderful two months here, really truly wonderful. Time to see the sights, meet people, eat, study, dance, play,...just live.

The rest of Argentina is now calling my name. I've mapped out a rough itinerary- basically a big loop around Argentina-beginning in the south and working my way up towards the north, swinging into Chile for a time .

Tomorrow I am heading towards the area that they call Patagonia: rugged mountains, ferocious rivers and looming glaciers. Well..ok this is what it is like in the best parts... the rest is just an expanse of nothingness. Trips between cities border on 15-25 hours on a bus. Nothingness. Nothingness. Nothingness and then incredibleness.

Destinations in March:

Mar del Plata (for some beach time)
San Carlos de Bariloche: (west side of Argentina in Andes: mountains, lakes, beautifulness)
El Calefate (more beautifulness and killer glaciers)
Ushuaia (the end of the earth- literally- remember Strait of Magellan from history class...yeah go past that! the southern most tip of the earth before you hit Antartica)
Puerto Natales (back up north on the Chilean side to this port)
*3 day boat ride from Puero Natales up the pacific coast to Puerto Montt in Chile

Then in April I will head north into Chile, eventually crossing over to Argentina to do the northern part of Argentina until returning to Buenos Aires on May 31.

Destinations in April:
Valdivia (meeting up with a friend here)
Santiago de Chile (capital- why not?)
Valparaiso (cool name, why not)
* crossing over to the Argentinian side
Mendoza (moutain town- incredible)
Cordoba ( in the middle of the country- college city, great people)

Destinations in May:

Salta (crazy terrain)
Jujuy (crazy terrain)
Corrientes (friend of friend who live here)
Iguagu Falls ( over in that little arm of Argentina bordering Brazil- makes Niagra Falls look like Brush Creek)
Rosario (on the way back to B.A.)

Definately hoping for at least one Sound of Music moment, twirling and belting out "The hills are alive...." in spanish of course.

Changes in Feb...

I made a few life changes last week- like leaving university and moving to a different apartment.

A little over a week ago, I decided for February, I needed a change of pace and different type of immersion. I found a great apartment in a different part of the city living with young people with whom I can practice my Spanish more intensively. My housemates are great. Right now there are 5 people including me. Laura is my roommate from Holland, here studying Spanish and linguistics. Flo is a German, here working on his thesis on aerospace engineering at the university of Buenos Aires. Paris is Argentinean a DJ, who works at a call center during the day and Cabe is Argentinean as well, the owner/"father" of the house, and a lifeguard. They are all super great. The first thing I saw when I walked in to my new room last Monday were freshly folded towels on my bed, keys and a hand-made card welcoming me to my new home. Hospitality- at its best…

For Spanish study, in place of university classes. I am doing my own self-study for about 4 hours each day. My classes are...
for listening: 1 hour of TV Spanish
for reading: newspaper/magazine articles/short stories
for vocabulary: make flashcards and review the new words from the TV and newspaper,
for grammar: study from my uni textbook, write out sentence structures.
for writing: writing out journaly type pages
for speaking: I pace in my room and read articles outloud or make up conversations in my head.

But the real speaking class doesn't begin until 6:30 when the roommates get home. Sitting around in the living room, eating, talking. I am still adjusting to the new rhythm of being home all day studying, but each day I try to get out of the house to explore another thing and practice on the streets. Lots of small grocery shopping trips to get fresh fruit or to a bakery for bread, running, sitting in a park, long walks, sitting in a café. etc.

I have also set up a few other Spanishy outlets. Katelyn (the American who I met here) and I are meeting 2 times a week to review grammar. Also I am meeting for private classes with one of the Spanish professors from the university I attended, once per week. We have already met once and it was such a great time. We watched documentary on the economic crisis in 1999-2002 and discussed the current situation of Argentina. For next class we are analyzing some literature and discussing it- a great opportunity to exchange of ideas.

On the weekends, I explore other parts of the city- there is always something new to do or see. This past Sunday I actually went to a small town about an hour outside of Buenos Aires. One of the famous places in this town in the country is an old pulperia- on other words a hole in the wall family owned pub/eatery. It was like walking back 75 years. We pulled the curtain back from the door and walked into this concrete, high-ceiling room, covered with pictures and memorabilia from the last few decades. A bar,floor to ceiling,of bottles of old wine. A stoic gaucho sitting behind the bar. His wife, the senora, offered us the food for the day- empanadas or a plate of meat. While eating them, two older men came in with a guitar and began singing at the top of their voices tango and cackling as they recounted stories. Such a moment. Had to pinch myself.

I am continually impressed with how wonderful the people are and how comfortable I feel here.
(pictures on facebook)

The last weeks of Janaury

The end of the month...already such great experiences here...

To start, Uruguay was a dream.

After several hours of planning, “the girls” and I left Buenos Aires last Thursday, ready to escape the city for the beach. The trip started with an hour ferry ride from Buenos Aires, across the massive river “Rio de la Plata” to the city of Colonia, Uruguay. We immediately hoped on a bus for a 4-hour ride the city of Montevideo. We spent the night in a comfy hostel on a busy street- my official entrance into the world of hostelling. Woke up the next morning to catch another 4 hour bus up the eastern side of the surprisingly very small country of Uruguay to our final destination- Punta del Diablo, a old fishing port turned cute, quaint, beach town. We arrived around noon in this “whoa-cool-this-is-gonna-be great,-look-at-the beach!” haven, and started are search for accommodation i.e walking throughout the beach houses and poking our heads in asking if they knew of anywhere to stay. At one point we were on the search for someone skinny with long hair named Estaban who seemed to have several places for rent. We never found him, but we did wander up to a nice guy whose girlfriend’s mom rented a house on the other side of town. Perfect. We ended up in funky house 10 mins from the beach with the nicest and most helpful neighbors. The next two days were a blur of sunbathing, long walks, hours of spanish study, good conversation, seafood filled empanadas, incredible swims, windy, sandy days and cool nights. On Sunday, we returned to Colonia via Montevideo with a few hours to spare before our ferry left back to B.A. I took off to explore the streets. This city is named for its colonial style buildings, left over from those great Spaniards. It was such a fun hour of finding the greatest little areas with incredible restaurants, lots of cute-moped-riding couples, and beach view of a great sunset.

(See pictures on facebook)

We arrived back in BA in the wee hours of the morning and ramped up for the week of classes. The week was marked by intensive study for our final exam with a few great outings to museums,shops and a few new restaurants.

As of yesterday,I am finished with my January course. I received my passing grade and took that classic class picture with the professor. All too cute. 2 of “my girls”, the Australians are going back home in the next few days, so the 4 of us celebrated and said goodbye last night. Marks the end a fantastic month, lots of memories with the girls, rich time in the country. February awaits.

Things done, places been...

Some things I have done in the last week...or so...

-Tried their local beer Quilmes: quite good.
-Went to the city of Tigre - a small town north of Buenos Aires. Took a river taxi up for a few miles and stop in the little neighborhoods and such along the way. Spent the whole day with Joanne and another crazy Australian lady in a little town called Tres Bocas: a network of houses along the river with such a chill vacation-y feel. No cars, just little paths, through the trees and bridges along the stream to get from one house to the next. Everyone was fishing or swimming, boating or kayaking, laying out. Such an amazing relaxing time. We had a great meal there and just sat in lawn chairs by the river.
-Spent a morning with Elsa walking in park and talking.
-Went to the artsy little town of San Telmo full of old colonial buildings and a great market.
-Listened to Tango and watched the dancers in the streets
-Saw the "Pink House" which is their White House and the Plaza de Mayo where much of the political movement takes place. 
-Went out with "the girls" to try a few new restaurants.
-Saw a two different crazy, rhythmic, Stomp-like dance/drumming performance that were incredible.

-Went to the famous town of La Boca- a southern neighborhood in the city- great tango dancing, historic houses and a fun market.

Some funny little things I have noticed:
-Soda water is the norm. You have to specify if you don't want bubbles.
-Things are a bit inefficient. At the bank there is the person who directs you to the floor you want.  The person at the bottom of the stairs who welcomes you. Then the person who you actually deal with. And the person who gives you a receipt.
-Dog walkers- a common and noble profession.

-There is no rule for dog defecation in the street. Its a new game of hopscotch walking down the street.

-Also have to watch yourself from up top- people like to water their plants on the balconies.
-PDA is EVERYWHERE. In the buses, trains and subways. On the street corners. In the parks. And sometimes the couples will just stop while walking down the street, go at it for a few while you walk around them and then keep walking. Haven't learned how to make that one not distracting.
-They love their beef and pork. Chickens and turkeys are largely forgotten.
-Hair styles: Little trails and patches of hair growing long on men is quite in. But only on the back of the head.
-The clothes and shoes are fantastic.
-Can't decide if the bidet is for me.

1/16/09: In General...

At this time two weeks ago I was sitting next to Jim from San Diego on a Continental flight realizing that I was actually, finally, in the air to another continent.  

My flight and arrival into Buenos Aires, Argentina was flawless with Fernando, a friend of a

 friend, finding me in the midst of dozens of people at the airport, loading my stuff in his car and driving me into the a part of the city of Buenos Aires called Belgrano.

My current home is apartment 17 A on a more residential street lined with apartment buildings. I live with Elsa, 73 year old widow, who among many things is incredibly talkative, feisty, generous, outgoing and has the greatest cackle of them all. And by apartment number 17 A, I mean, Elsa's apartment is on the 17th floor which means I get a beautiful view of the city, an incredible breeze in my window and a quieter version of the street noise. 

I walk 1o blocks to my intensive Spanish classes at the University of Belgrano every day. 

There are 11 students, all girls, in my class- most from USA, 2 from Australia, and one from Italy. I have been hanging out

 with the Australians and a 2 of the American girls. 

One of the Australians is a girl named Joanne, who is my go-to and travel partner. She and I walk to and from school together every day, explore the city, etc.

There are such distinct and different parts of the Buenos Aires each with their own characteristics. The older parts with the colonial style buildings, the artsy areas with the pubs, the richer parts with the lovely cafes...so fun to explore.

The people are incredibly friendly. Any stops for directions have turned into little conversation about where we are from, and recommendations about where do go. I have felt so welcome by the people I have met.

So much more to explore and do, but for now I am enjoying the heat, the sun, the walks in the parks and constant bombardment of Spanish in my brain.