Having a blast! This entry includes 1) me raving about the scenery (probably no one else will find this at all interesting), 2) bus stories, 3) people I’ve met and the things we’ve done. End of short version! 🙂

So since I last wrote… On the way home from the internet cafe, I happend upon an artisan’s market in the Plaza de España (much like Saturday Market for those of you in Oregon). I still hadn’t found a “wedding ring.” I finally found a little booth with a guy selling jewelry; he had this perfect little silver band for three pesos! For an Argentinian, that three dollars, but with the exchange rate, it only cost me a buck! It’s a good thing, too, because I’ve already lost it twice. That’s part of the reason I hate wearing jewelry; I always lose it. It’ll never do for me to have some fancy wedding ring… it’d be the biggest waste of money imaginable, because I’m sure to lose it.

Before I got on the bus Friday night, I kicked off my shoes at the hostel and realized that I’m destined to have a permanent layer of dirt on my feet while I’m down here. It’s kind of funny because my feet look like they have Chaco tan lines, but it’s dirt instead of sun-struck skin.

The bus ride wasn’t terrible like some travellers make it out to be. I slept well, it was warm, the food was tolerable, and I had a seat all to myself for the whole night. The bus kept pulling over, though, completely at random. When we got to Nequen (5 hours from Bariloche) at seven in the morning, they made everyone get off the bus for “10 minutes”. I assumed it was to fuel, but when the bus still hadn’t returned an hour later, we found out the bus was actually broken. So they got a new bus,  transferred  all our stuff onto it, and then picked us back up. Very interesting! I’m glad I don’t have that much stuff to worry about as far as it being lost in the shuffle of something like that.

During the unexpected layover, I met Effie, Martin, and Peter who were all travelling to Bariloche as well. Martin (from England) and Peter (from Scotland) knew each other from a bar where they met in Santiago, Chile, and Effie (from Australia) was travelling by herself. They’re all older than me and all seem to be  permanent  travllers. Peter is funny. He’s the Scot who’s spent the last ten years of his life working on cruise ships as a photographer. He boasts that he’s been to 120-some  countries   and he’s very sarcastic and  judgmental   but in a hilarious way. Martin is the Brit, who looks very much like Hugh Grant and behaves very much like the characters Grant plays in movies. Effie, the  Australian   has the best Spanish of us all. She’s been living in Argentina for a few months taking classes. Her  intonation  makes her sound  Italian, though.

Anyway… the the countryside from the bus window was absolutely amazing. Until we got very near Bariloche, it was mostly desert, but nothing like I’ve ever seen. Tons of purple-ish, reddish, brown-ish cliffs and valleys and scrubby sagebrush-like plants. The colors and scenery around Dubois, Wyoming is the closest I can come to describing it. When we finally got close enough to the foot of the mountains, it was incredible. The Andes are absolutely breathtaking – the colors are similar to those around Maupin, OR, but the majesty of the mountains is much like the Wind Rivers in Wyoming. The river we followed in was full of crystal clear, blue, glacier colored water like the Upper McKenzie. I can’t believe this place. The photo I found doesn’t do it justice. Bariloche itself is on the short of this HUGE lake, miles and miles long. It’s so beautiful. Kind of like Jackson Lake in the Tetons, but the flora is more like that of Oregon. And there are lots of monkey puzzle trees, which are really funky.

Bariloche is on the shore of a huge lake (not me in the photo)

The hostel I’m staying at is really neat. It’s built to look like a cabin. Lots of nooks and crannies. Reminds me of the Teton Science School buildings. I hated it at first when I got here. It seemed like everyone was very clique-ish and had been here awhile. I felt like I was intruding on some really established social scene. But, that’s nothing a bottle of wine won’t solve! After a bottle of cabernet shared with Peter, Martin, Effie, and a couple from New Zealand, the four of us (Peter, Martin, Effie, me) headed out for a steak dinner at a restaurant that had been recommended. It was so incredibly delicious, and so cheap! For seven bucks, I got the best steak I’ve had since I’ve been here, fries and my share of two bottles of wine. Mmmmmmm….good! We headed to the bar afterward, and made it home “early” (2a.m.). People stay out VERY late here in Argentina. Dinner is usually around 9 or 10, and the bars don’t even get busy until 1 or 2. It’s completely common to stay out drinking until 6 a.m. I guess if I was still into the party life, I might give it a try.

I think I like the semi-drinking life better, though. We managed to make it out of bed and into town to look for rental cars by 11 a.m. We’re renting a car to do “the drive of the seven lakes” tomorrow. It’s supposed to be absolutely gorgeous, and we save 100 pesos doing it ourselves instead of going on a tour. I think I might leave tomorrow night for Chile. I was considering going all the way to the tip of South America where all the explorations to Antarctica depart, but I think I’d better save that for a trip in the South American summer.

Today, after we got our rental car reserved for tomorrow and ate breakfast, we attempted to climb Cerro Otto (Otto Hill), which rises about 2,100 feet above the town and the lake. We missed the fork for the trail, though, and ended up 2 miles farther than we expected. I think we walked about 8 miles today, which was really quite a bit. It didn’t seem like it at the time, for me, because everything is in kilometers. So, I have this psychology that a kilometer is less than a mile, and therefore not that far. We walked at least 12km in all. Although we didn’t make it anywhere near the top of Cerro Otto, the views were still amazing.

When we got back to town, we tried out this ice cream place that had been recommended. I have never had better ice cream. And those of you who know how much I love ice cream will understand what a huge statement that is. Ben and Jerry’s can’t hold a candle to this place. I wonder if it’s healthier?

Some backpackers, Dan, Dave, and their crew, have just arrived and invited me to dinner. All you can eat for $7. I’m starving, but I can’t eat that much at once. I think I’ll probably go just to get to know some new people. Maybe they’ll want to take me camping!

Oh man. Today has been awesome. I got up early enough to have the free hostel breakfast (bread and jam, but still it’s free!), and then Eleanor and Jared and I went back to the huge park in Mendoza (acres and acres of trees and lawns). There is a big hill at the very back of the park, and some awesome views from the top. We did a ton of walking. For those of you familiar with Eugene, it would be like walking from my house to Spencer’s Butte, going up Spencer’s, and then walking back. Several miles, for sure. And it was so gorgeous today. The sun was shining, the temperature was perfect… I just can’t say enough about it! The flora, as my padre says, is really neat. There’s lots of cactus and aloe and eucalyptus, but also some ponderosa pines combined with palm trees. Oh, and some awesome succulents that are really short and scrubby.

Mmmm… and about that awesome vegetarian restaurant that I was going to avoid in the name of new experiences everyday. Yeah… my will-power is pretty much non-existent when I’m hungry. But it was so good! (again!)

Non-stop hiking/walking combined with delicious food. Now that’s my kind of day! I leave in a few hours for Bariloche, and am leaving Eleanor and Jared behind in Mendoza. Let the adventure begin!

So actually this entry has nothing to do with grape stomping. We did just return from a wine tour, though. This entry includes stuff about: the amazing lunch I ate yesterday, the cool people I’ve been meeting, the cute stuff I’ve seen, how I’ve been spending my time with Eleanor and Jared, and the neat wine tour we took today. End of short version.

Yesterday for lunch I had the most amazing, filling, and delicious meal I’ve had since I’ve been here. There is this great vegetarian buffet here called the Green Apple. I was skeptical at first, because when you try to make EVERYTHING without meat, sometime you have to get a little “creative” with the substitutes. And sometimes I can’t stomach creative. But it was so, so, so good. If I wasn’t so insistent on new experiences every day, I’d go back!

Like I said before, Mendoza is much more my speed. More so than Buenos Aires, but I’m ready to move on. I just got back from buying my bus ticket to Bariloche, in the Lake District in the mountains in southern Argentina. There should be plenty of beautiful trails to hike. I just hope I beat the snow! In the name of packing light, I only brought my trusty Chacos. However, those of you who know me well, know they’ll hold up even in snow for me, as long as it’s only a couple inches!

The hostel here is better than the last. It’s much easier to meet people and cheaper, too! I was reading in the courtyard yesterday afternoon and noticed the lawn mower. It plugs in! As in, it’s electrically powered! How funny! Speaking of reading… I’m wondering if I’m being too thorough with my guide book. I like to be really prepared… I’m very thorough (did someone say anal retentive?), and I wonder if it’s eating up too much of my time. Maybe I won’t be so insistent about reading EVERYTHING about a country before I decide where I want to go and what I want to do. But then again I have several 24 hour bus rides ahead of me. 🙂

Yesterday afternoon, while Eleanor and Jared were napping, I went to check out the “central park” of Mendoza. It’s called Parque del San Martin. It`s huge, and really pretty. It was really interesting to see the leaves of deciduous trees changing color side by side with the palm trees. I spent a lot of time reading by the lake where there were crew teams rowing. Made me kind of nostalgic! Oh! And it was so cute… this little girl walked by with her parents when I was eating a grapefruit, and she asked her parents what I was eating. But when she asked, she called me “señora,” which is only used for women who are either married or over forty. Any female who`s spent time in a spanish speaking country will understand how weird it is to be referred to as señora instead of señorita when you’re as young as I am.

When I got back to the hostel, Jared and Eleanor were watching “Along Came Polly” in the common room with some other folks. I’ve never seen it before, and it was so funny. Also, it’s about following your heart and taking risks, so it definitely had a message I could relate to. Plus it’s really great to watch it with the Spanish subtitles, because you get to learn the different expressions that are used. It’s different in other languages. Just for example, to say “I’m 22 years old” in spanish, you actually say I have 22 years. If you said it any other way, no one would understand you. So, it’s good to learn how to keep people from being entirely confused when they talk to me.

The hostel also has a ping pong table, which is fun. And it’s nice to play with someone other than my cousin who is really vicious about it. We went out and had pizza and beer for dinner. The beer here is great! Later that night, I was hanging out on the roof and I ended up meeting this woman from New Zealand who taught me how to fire dance! It was awesome! It’s where you have a ball of fire at the end of a rope and you swing them really fast and dance while you cross them around your body. I have a hard time getting my arms to go different directions and to keep the ropes from getting crossed, but I managed to learn how to turn, cross, and I learned one side of a fancy trick. I also met two other women who were my age travelling alone. They both had come from Peru and Bolivia. Both said to go as fast as I could through Chile because it’s so expensive and that I would love Bolivia because the people are so nice.

Speaking of people being nice, the woman who sold me my bus ticket was really sweet and very helpful. I’m not worried at all anymore about my mediocre spanish. Where there’s a will, there’s a way!

The wine tour we went on today was really neat. We visted a very industrialized winery where absolutely everything was mechanized. It’s the biggest in Argentina, and it was really impressive. Then we went to another, smaller but much cuter place. They had a more thorough tour and did a better job of describing what you’re looking for when you’re wine tasting. The tours were in Spanish and then in a very accent-laden English. It was great, because I got to find out how much I actually understood once they said it in English. And the good news is, I got most of it! What a relief! We also drove out into the country where the dam is for the water for the vineyards. The countryside was beautiful with all the leaves changing colors at the foot of the Andes. I can’t wait to get closer! I leave for Bariloche tomorrow night!

We have arrived in Mendoza! It’s a city, too, but much smaller than Buenos Aires. I still am longing to get myself to a teeny little pueblito where I can learn the layout of the entire town in five minutes, where they have an amazing view of the Andes, and where I can just hang out in the garden and read books for a few days.

Our last day in Buenos Aires ended up being much different than I thought. My plan was to go to a museum where they had catacombs, then to the clock tower with the free view, then to the cemetary where all the rich people (including Evita) are buried. We made it to the museum, but the catacombs were a little bit of a let down; they were entirely empty. Then we had the most fantastic pizza for lunch. It was so delicious, and you can get a small for $1.50!

After lunch we headed for the clock tower which ended up being permanently closed. Bummer. But it’s located near the bus station, so we went to see what time the morning buses left for Mendoza. Well, guess what. There are no morning buses. Daytime travel here is considered a waste of time, I guess. So it was either leave in four hours or spend another whole day in Buenos Aires. I suggested we leave, pronto. I think I would have gone anyway… I was really tired of trekking about the city. I just didn’t feel like I was accomplishing anything.

We got to take the subway back to the hostel. Compared to the other subways I’ve been on, the sub in Buenos Aires is really pretty. All the stations are tiled and have lots of colorful murals, and it’s really clean.

Before we got on the bus to come to Mendoza, I got my first taste of Argentine ice cream. It was SOOOOO good. More liquidy than my Ben and Jerry’s, but instead of piling the scoops on top of one another, they have a cone designed to hold two scoops side by side. Smart!

The buses here are really comfortable. I’m told, except for Chile, they’re the best in South America. I got a surprising amount of sleep on the 14 hour ride. I also decided that I’m buying a “wedding ring.” I was having an ongoing debate with myself about whether it would be better to wear one to fend off the men or if I would be putting myself in an equally compromising situation because it’s jewelry. After last night, I’ll take my chances with the jewelry. The story is this: I moved up front to an empty seat (the buses are double decker, and we were sitting on the top level) so I could look out the big picture window at the stars and the countryside lit up by the moon. Alejandro, this guy from Buenos Aires who was sitting across the aisle started talking to me, which is all well and good, but he wouldn’t let the conversation die. I was glad for the opportunity to practice spanish (the chilean and argentine accents are almost impossible to understand!), but he was obviously interested in me for the wrong reasons. Anyway… so I think I’m going to spend 25% of my daily budget today on a left hand ring. 🙂

The hostel we’re staying at here in Mendoza is really cute, really safe, and about $3 less than the one in Buenos Aires. The showers are warm and the bathrooms are clean. Today I think we’re going to go to el Jardin de San Martin (kind of like the equivalent of Central Park). Tomorrow, I think we will maybe go wine tasting. Or, if that doesn’t work out, I am either going to go rafting or horseback riding. By Thursday for sure I think I am going to start heading south. There is already snow on the mountains up here, and it’s colder the farther south you go on this continent, so I better hurry before the passes close and I can’t make it across into Chile. I’d hate to backtrack.

It’s almost lunch time and my belly is letting me know it. Hasta luego!

Midnight, day two. It already seems like I’ve been here forever. My spanish is improving by leaps and bounds. Today I struck out on my own to buy a little pocket notebook to write down all the vocab you’d never find in a dictionary. People are so nice to me! Especially when you are alone, everyone wants to talk to you and know all about you. And they’re so patient!

Anyway… here’s the short version: this entry includes 1) night #1 and day #2, 2)my fascination with the city, 3)my evaluation of the hostel, 4) short report on the events of the day. End of short version. 🙂

So, Buenos Aires. I like it about as much as I can like a city. It’s huge and polluted, but there are lots of things to see. I feel like I’m in New York when I’m walking down the big avendidas (streets where the pedestrian crossings are almost always a football field long – it’s crazy!). The billboards are huge. No, bigger. It’s wild. When I’m walking down the tight pedestrian streets, it feels like we’re in China (not that I’ve ever been to China).

On my first night, after I spent a few hours trying to shed my jet lag, we tried to walk to a clock tower (the Argentine version of Big Ben) where it’s free to see the view from the top. Unfortunately, we didn’t make it by sundown, and it was Sunday when everything is closed. So, we just ended up seeing a lot of the city, which is all well and good, but I{m tired of the city already. If I’m going to that much trekking around on foot, I want to be surrounded by trees and rivers and la naturaleza.

The hostel we’re staying at… well, I guess I haven’t explained “we” yet. My friend Eleanor and her boyfriend were also staying here in Buenos Aires when I arrived. Eleanor has to be in Santiago, Chile in six days to fly to La Paz, Bolivia where she has an internship. So, I’ve been hanging out with them for the most part. Either tomorrow or Wednesday, we’re going to Mendoza or Cordoba (wine country). From there, I plan on splitting off from them and heading south to see the Lake Districts of Chile and Argentina before winter kicks in. For more on itinerary updates, keep checking out the itinerary link.

Anyway… about the hostel. It’s really cute. Our room has eight beds, but there is only one other guy staying in there with us. His name is BerñaBé. He’s from Perú, and really nice. We just got back from dinner with him. The whole building (they whole city, really) is very European. I’m told to expect that even more in Chile, so I think I’m going to make my way to Perú and Bolivia faster than I expected.

Today, Eleanor and I walked down the river in the blazing sunshine and had a nice heart to heart about life. We ended up in the Plaza de Mayo where the madres de los desaparecidos (the mothers of those kidnapped during the dictatorship) still hold vigil for their lost children on Sundays. We also got to see a cardinal giving mass at a church on the plaza. And I got to walk through a sea of pigeons. They’re like my mom’s cat! They never move, even when you’re about to crunch them!

My spanish is improving really rapidly. Eleanor and Jared are both much better than I, of course, since they’ve been here longer. When I go somewhere alone, I do just fine. People are much much nicer to you when you’re by yourself (except the bank woman at the airport. She was mean and impatient with me).

Anyway, dinner is eaten really late here, so we just got back from dinner. We invited our dorm-mate out. Actually, when we left the hostel, we went for free tango lessons. The teacher never showed up, however (go figure). Fine by me… I can dance just fine if I get to make it up myself. If I have to remember steps… my brain just doesn’t work like that. But, we did meet a German guy (Andreas) in the process of trying to tango, so the five of us ended up going out to dinner. We went to a parrilla where they serve steak. We all shared “dinner for four,” which was more like dinner for eight. The first course is intestines and organs. I had blood sausage, I think for the first time ever. I also ate what was essentially compressed intestines…like sausage, but without anything inside it. It was nasty. The eggplant sauce and lengua de vaca (cow tongue) were appetizers. The cow tongue was okay… I don’t think I’d ever order it as an entreé. Eleanor was traumatized. She’s a vegetarian. The main course was far less to talk about… just lots of steak. Mmm… delicioso.

Tomorrow I think we are going to try and see the sights instead of trekking aimlessly about the city. Perhaps I will leave early for Mendoza. I think I’ve definitely had my fill of all these cars and buildings. I need some trees!

Wow. So I’m finally here! I was and am looking forward to the challenges this adventure will bring, but so far my maximum stress level has been with preparing to come and not actually being here. My plane ticket was a three-day hassle, my immunizations were completely by the seat of my pants, I was sick the entire week I was getting ready, I had to cram a month and a half of preparations into five days, and my ride to Portland (the airport) fell through last minute!

My good friend Ben ended up shuttling me to Portland Friday eve where I stayed with my friends Garrett and Maria. Maria travelled alone in Europe, so she had lots of great advice to offer.

I didn’t check any baggage (I highly recommend this method to all international travellers), but because I didn’t, I had no choice but to carry on my tweezers, finger nail clippers, matches, safety pins, etc. Surprisingly enough, I made it through the TSA screening unscathed. They didn’t take a thing! Maybe they’re finally realizing that you can’t hijack a plane with a stick pin.

My plane rides were awesome; I snagged window seats both times. The Florida coastline looks like a carnival at night! We were flying over the Andes as the sun came up this morning; it was so gorgeous! Oh – and the clouds! Shortly after sunrise, we flew into some clouds that were SO cool. Giant, billowy thunder heads made it look like we were flying through some kind of surreal mountain range hecho de nubes (made of clouds).

So, after nearly 10,000 miles in the air, I arrived in Buenos Aires @ 9:30 a.m. local time. I hooked up with another woman on the airplane and she and I shared a taxi into the city. So far all I’ve done is shower and try to sleep my way into this time zone. Tonight should bring, at the very least, my very first Argentine steak dinner (for $6!) and maybe some Tango dancing.

That’s all for now! Besos y abrazos!