El Bolsen Dec16-19,2008

From El Chalten to Bariloche it is 24hrs on a bus. We actually stopped half way in a town called Perito Moreno and yet this is not where near the actual "Perito Moreno" Glacier is...gotta love it. People actually go here thinking they will see this glacier and are obviously disappointed. To get to Bariloche you can take Ruta 40. For some reason this ruta is famous and I am still not sure why. There is NOTHING on this road. Even the scenery said, "what the hell are you looking at?" However there was the occasional armadillo (which i did not see becasue they were so tiny) So often I used my wonderful imagination to change a rock on the side of the road into one. I got a couple of ppl on the bus that way (he he).
I sat next to this guy named Dan. Dan the dud as I grew to call him (and then later the paper stealer). I thought we would hit it off becasue I asked where he was from and he said San Fran and I said where and he said San Carlos and I said my sister used to live there. That was the end of it, no more talk from him. I asked Dan if I could read his paper and he said yes but, "I need it back because I made some notes" Okay dud(e). He underlined words like Beer, and cool and crazy, and young (he was 42). Okay those are some crazy notes, dud. I kind of made fun of him which is maybe why he did not really want to talk with me...hmmmm. I think Dan wanted to be mysterious on the bus...whatever.
What was great about this boring bus ride was the music being played. One of our bus drivers looked really rough and mean (could have not been farther from the truth) but he popped in his favorite CD. First song I sh&t you not was "I had the time of my life" yes Dirty dancing. Gets better, Like a prayer, girls just want to have fun, and then later a lil G&R, (I can´t think of anymore but they were good - Esther help me out!). Esther is the woman who was sitting in front of me and we we were laughing so hard and everytime we got off the bus for a break a new song would come on Esther would start dancing. It broke up the very boring bus ride.
I decided to get off at a town not far from Bariloche called El Bolsen. It is supposed to be this hippy town where they make jams and granola and crafts etc...why not. Esther who was now my bus mate got off as well. Ester picked a great hostal. El Pueblo (the girl who worked here=Sky (of course) worked in a Hostel in San fran). So as we are deciding what we will do the next day Ester reads about parachuting off a mountain...."yes we will do this I think" - She is from the Netherlands so you must say this in a Dutch/English accent. I said why not. I believe fate brings ppl in and out of your lives for a reason, not sure this is a good thing but you only live once! Sign me up.
IT WAS AWESOME. I honestly thought the ride up in the taxi was more dangerous. The jump was great. We were up there for about 25min and I was actually getting a little bored (yes those who know me are not surprised) and I told my guide this with a fake yawn. Should not have done that...he said "Listo" (ready). For what don´t know so I said Si. We do several spirals descending and I nearly lost my stomach. That was the BEST rollercoaster ride I have ever been on. Then he said are you still tired. Ahh No sir, check please. Esther...Thank you!
Next day we have a jam packed day. There is an open air market that begins at 10am and then we are going on a bike ride to see some waterfalls. We get our bikes and are out the door on time. What were we thinking. It is South America AND they are hippies. The market did not really get started until 11:30am. Whatever we had some coffee. After the market we set off on our bike trip. We got the map from our hostal. "sure, sure you can do a loop, pick up the trail here, yep bikes are no problem on this." Please remeber this sentence. First part was the Indian head. Looked more like a baby crying. Hopefully this was not sacred ground becasue of the picture to your left. Somehow with the way the day ended up I think it may have been (foreshadowing). Then there was a big sign that said Waterfalls this way, so natually we take this route. Somewhere we made a wrong turn. I am going to blame Ester on this becasue I was holding on for dear life. Bikes and I really do not get along especially on a really rocky road. We end up on a horse trail. How do I know this becasue as we are riding down a very narrow path I hear Esther yell "S#$T" and then I say "WHAT?" as I feel a warm sensation all over my leg..yes I just rode through horse pooh. You ask why I did not see it well perhaps it was becasue of the rose bushes scratching my face and arms and me holding on for dear life as we rode down a very small path where a small swerve would end your life. Suddenly a guacho shows up out of nowhere and tells us, "les pierden" (You are lost). So now that we have just takin these F&%$ing bikes up a mountain we have to back track. Ah yes we did miss the TINYEST arrow telling us which way to go which in the end was also NOT for bikes. When we finally did reach the waterfall we both gave a sigh that said...so thats it. Huh. We practically laid down on the ROCKY road home for this pick up truck to give us a ride to our Hostal. Whoever you are I thank you!
Off to Bariloche.

El Chalten

As you come into El Chaten (on a clear day) you see the famous Fitz Roy Mountain. The town is nothing to speak of...but the mountains were awesome. The park Ranger said that this had never happened before, they were on their 4th straight day of sunshine and clear visibilty of the mountains that are normally clouded over. So he said def. do the Fitzoy hike today (it was 2PM but they have sunlight until 10PM). You can enter all trails from the town...it was great. No park fees, just you and the mountains.
1st day 5 hr hike. Clear skies.
2nd day 8 hr hike. The last part of this hike was straight up for 45 min and on loose rock, oh my knees ont he way down. It was a tough hike but the view was...
3rd day I had booked a glacier walk, hopefully the weather would hold for tomorrow. It did not. However it was pretty cool walking on the glacier ( Glacier Viedma). I would have liked a clear shot of the mountain but the hike was incredible. This was a 12 hour hike. We had to canopy over the water. That was a lot of fun. Everone was so serious becasue I guess if you dropped into the water you would die of hypothermia, but it was just so much fun. Then on the ice we displayed our ice climbing abilites. Which mine were none. Thank god my guide had muscles becasue he was def. doing all the work, it was tough hike but well worth it. The weather we were told was very normal. On the glacier we repeatedly had sun, rain, wind and snow (ice rain), at least now I really can understand what they mean when they say, "This weather is so unpredictable"
Next stop....Bariloche.

El Calafate

A Hiking I will go...Stayed at a wonderful hostal in El Clafata. Every staff member remembered everyones name. I became friendly with the morning guy Juan because when I said my name was Mo he said (say in a very think SA accent), "well what do you know my name isa Lari (Larry)" he is the only South American who has done that thus far so we got along great.
Okay Hostal living 101. Yes you can sleep in your underwear but I repeat you should NOT, NOT walk around your SHARED dorm room in your underwear! I don´t know why but it only seems to be the Australian & German men who seem to do this. If it was boxers (and good looking men) I would not mind so much but these guys I have been fortunate (unfortunate) to share rooms with always seem to be older, not so good looking and ALWAYS wear the little bikini briefs. Now there is not much room in a 4 person dorm so when you all are getting ready for your day and there is this guy in his small blue underwear combing his hair in front of the only mirror...jeez get some pants on! I felt like Father Harry was right there in the room! (those who know my father harry stores will get this others will have to wait for the book).
Okay let me get back to El Calafate. The only thing really near here are the glaciers. They were incredible. My first tour was on a big boat with about 50 other ppl. Side note: If you ever go there try to get on a small boat. They seem to have more leverage getting up close to the smaller glaciers). It was a rather comincal ride. So when we would come upon a small glacier everyone would rush over to get a picture so if you were not on the "right" side of the boat the chances of you getting a good shot of yourself in front were slim...and I got frustrated the first few times and then I started to laugh at the ppl. This is ice we are taking a pictures of...froen water. Then I got the hang of the boat. The captain would hang around some of the big ones a while so you just had to be patient until ppl got cold or bored and then you had a great shot. I met a man from Germany and we formed a picture taking bond. He would take my camera, I his and take pics of each other. It worked great. The first glacier (it was an all day boat trip where we went to 3 huge glaciers) was great I got some great photos...then I reformatted my camera to get better quality pics and erased everything I had on the camera...yep that would be something I would do. Luckily my German friend said he would send me his. So lets hope he remembers!. I still had two more Glaciers to go...
Sitting behind me were two women from Ireland. Susan and Mary. Can´t get any more irish than that. They were great and we hit it off. On the boat trip there was a lot of down time traveling to each glacier so we got to talking. very funny they kept saying they needed a glacier romance. Our chances on this boat were slim.
The last and most famous of the three was Petito Morano. It is famous because it is the most vocal, meaning that you can hear and see big chunks of ice fall into the the water and the site sounds are amazing! Loud booms and gun shots. Okay so the boat is just kind of hanging out in one spot. I have a great spot that I am NOT about to give up so I wait patiently becasue it seems we are waiting for something. So a lilttle piece of ice falls into the lake and everyones camera goes up to that spot and waits...camera´s aimed and ready. Looking around I see a lot of NICE cameras with huge lenses that can get 100 shots in 5 seconds...I feel so inadequate with mine and the small lense and I get about 1 shot every min (as soon as I get back I am getting a better camera!!!). So I flip mine to the movie setting and waited. You kind of feel foolish waiting, so I started taking bets with the people around me where the next big piece was going to fall. The woman next to me said right in front of us will drop next. So I told her we had to "Be the glacier, imagine it falling in..." Right then a small piece dropped I switched on my camera and then a HUGE chunk of ice fell into the water. I am not sure you can hear it on my camera becasue of my "holy shit" right next to the mic but it was amazing. Then the boat gunned his engine because a massive wave was headed our way. It was amazing and well worth the wait. Then we all had our camera up and ready to go for the next one but alas no.
After our glacier dventure we went out for drinks. Along the way to the bar I met my blue bikined roommate Alex (again late 50´s in age - picture it blue bikini underwear...yep my roommate). They invited him along...I could not say NO HE is the one who WEARS BLUE BAKINI UNDERWEAR. I had mentioned it to them nd then they figured it out. However he SEEMED like an okay guy so we all went out for drinks. It was agood night and then we decided to meet up for Dinner the next night. It was an awesome dinner (La Tablitha). Good conversation UNTIL Alex started down a conversation path one should not take with 3 women. It was rather a bizarre conversation and I am not sure I want to put it down. So ask me about it when you see me...

Ushuaia - Fin del Mundo

Ushuaia is the southernmost city in Argentina hence the name...end of the world. It sits on the Beagle Channel and Chile is a stone throw away. Anartica is a couple hours away. I spent two weeks here learning Spanish. I am really not sure I learned too much more however it is so beautiful I really did not mind. My housemates were a guy from France, Gerard, who spoke little Spanish (with a very thick French accent and no English) and Tia (aunt) Maria who lives in the casa and makes my desayuno (breakfast) which consists of the typical south american breakfast of Pan(bread), jelly and coffee (Nescafe -however she makes REAL coffee for me ;) con leche (hot milk). God I would kill for an egg mcmuffin.
Gerard and I actually went out to dinner. Because he speaks very little Spanish (w/a thick French accent) and no English and I speak very little Spanish and French for that matter, it was a comical conversation. The waitress, who spoke English and Spanish translated half of our conversation and was laughing at us the whole time. She ended up having some wine with us.
Ushaia sits at the bottom of Glacier Martial. I hiked up there one day, had some glacier water which was very nice and then a nice bowl of pumkin soup! Yum. Ushuaia also is near of Tierra del Fuego National Park. It was awesome. There are so many trails and long hikes (my knees do not like me) and it is where the end of Ruta 3 ends which runs the whole of Argentina. I actually could spend another week here.
I was here for Thanksgiving. No one here has or had been to a "USA" thanksgiving (I can no longer say American because we are ALL Americano here) dinner.
I HAD to remedy this. One problem I have NEVER done this before by myself. Who am I kidding I never have. Of course I have helped with a wonderful side dish or two. Normally I am in charge of decor. Bless Google and my family who helped me through this.
They actually do have Pavo (Turkey) here, albeit only one size, but it did the job. I was making dinner for 8ppl. Thank god patatas (potatoes) are big here. Herbs and spices another matter. They do not seem to add anything to anything. The mashed potatoes (patatas trituradas) are pretty bland here, so of course everyone was in for a surprise with what I was going to make.
I did a very basic "USA" Thanksgiving. Normally in my family we have very extravagant dishes but since this was their first...Igiv`em a good ole meat and potatoes dinner with some stuffing. (Never heard or had cranberries here so none of that).
Menu: Butternut Squash Soup to start (IT was OUTSTANDING if I do say so myself), Turkey, Stuffing (two kinds one with meat one without -we had one vegetarian which is rare in these parts), TWO kinds of patats triturdas; garlic and sweet potatoes w honey, grilled asparagus with a light balsamic reduction and of course pan(bread). ALL this was made with 3 pots, and one pan for the turkey). The turkey was cooked in an oven that had NO temperatures only two icons a big and little flame. Everywhere on Google: "it is very important when cooking a turkey to keep it at a certain temperature". Whatever...I stuck it in there and hoped for the best. The dessert was made by Ana the woman who owns the school (and the house I lived in for two weeks and who drank wine with me practically every night...no I am not losing any weight on this trip...I wonder why?): Choco torte, it is made with the staple "Dulce de leche". It is sold in the stores here and it is sooo good (hmmmm stocking stuffer?). The Frenchie of course brought the Champagne and everyone else vino.
By 9pm everything was ready to go...9 PM you say? Yep. Actually the normal time to eat dinner is 10pm, they made an exception for this special night.
They had many questions about what I did, what was normal etc...and how Thanksgiving came to be. Why ask me? I am an "American".
Do we all know the story of Thanksgiving and how it came to be? No...GOOGLE IT. That is what I did and then I Babel fished it for the Spanish translation...oh yeah I looked really good. It is actually not what I thought. Especially on how it came to be on the last Thursday in November, politicians, gotta love em.
Then I told them that my family normally holds hands and goes around the table and says what they are most thankful for...I should have explained that this is normally just a few things and what you are MOST thankful for. 30min later, the soup is cold and needs to be reheated. I am not really sure what they said or what they were thankful for because it was all in Spanish. However, I think they really got into it and were very happy to share.
Dinner actually went off without a hitch. Turkey was muy perfecto. Finally at 12AM we were ready to have dessert and Champagne. By 2:30 am the wine was all gone and I had to get up for school at 8am, luckily my professor was drinking as much as I was so I told him I did not do my homework (tarear) and I would be late for class the next day. No problema.
Next stop is El Calafate and El Cheltan for some more hiking.

San Julian

So my idea was to visit the small towns along the way from Commodoro Rivadavia to Ushuaia. Pick a few and go and see what they have to offer (by bus) The busses here are quite the way to travel (if you go with a good company). The first company Don OTTO was okay. The "executive seats" go almost all the way flat so you can get some sleep which is good becasue my busride began at 7PM and ended in the town of San Julian at 2AM. Now my stomach was not feeling so hot and I feel really bad for those ppl on my bus who were near me. However I was asleep so I no nothing. I landed in San Julian and got dropped off at my hotel. Mind you the conversation I previosly had to reserve my room was completely in Spanish which is why the hotel I thought I booked was completely sold out for that particular night but not the next (technically it was the next day but how can one explain that at 2AM). Anyhoo (in Spanish) he explained that they were full but he owned the hostel next dorr. At this point my stomach was making noises and I did not want to shart in front of him (JG you can relate) so I said sure no problema...lead the way rapido. It was an okay joint BUT behind door number 2 was a completely NEW bathroom that was ALL mine. I could have kissed him. Garcias, Gracias I said over and over again as I shoved him out the door. I won´t go into the details but I was a very happy girl.
Next day I awoke feeling much better and excited to see what this small town had in store for me...not much. Okay I was not deterred I walked around and I found a small shack that did "excursions". It said you had to have 4 ppl to go out (so basically everyone in the town??). I started talking with the captain and he said he was going out to pick up his wife who was doing rersearch at one of the islands and he would take me out...for a little more money than the standard price...whatever, i had nothing else going on. The other girl on the boat was a guide who spoke perfect English and she said we would be going out pretty far and we shall see some dolphins, seals, penguins and many birds. Great! There were Penguins everywhere. Their little heads popping up everywhere we went. On the way out no dolphins but as soon as we hit an hour out about 30 of them were surrounding the boat. They are called commerson dolphins. They were not very cooperative with my photo skills so I took some really nice pics of the water hoping for the perfect shot. After this we went to one of the islands and hung out with the penguins. They are completley trusting creatures. It was the season for hatchlings - did not see any but they were all on their nests and you could get really close. So cute.

Uraguay and Punta Del Diablo

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, AMY, TRICIA AND AUNT SUZANNE.
I took the ferry over to Uraguay which was nice. I landed in a small town of Colonia. It is a very historical town that took all of 20 min to cover on foot. I met two guys in the hostel who were going to rent bikes and tool around...I should have informed them but it was not my place.. -with a smirk i said have fun (half the town is in cobble stones". I saw them at lunch - needless to say they got off the bikes after 10 min. I was killing time - my bus for Del Diablo left at 1:30. It was a full day of traveling and I emailed the girl who owns Tranquillo el diablo and said I would be there around 9:30Pm and i hoped there were taxi´s. The bus ride was uneventful. Silly me i had thought the bus route was along the coast but no it was just cows and more cows. I thought crap i am wasting a whole day traveling...
At 9:30 PM I got off the bus and I just laughed. There were no cabs, no ppl, hadly anyone had eñectricity, it was a VERY small town. I thought I am screwed becasue me thinks not very many ppl will understand my poor spanish. However another girl got off there two and we both looled a little nervous at out surroundings. I looked at her and said in my poor Spanish, " where are you headed"? Tranquilla del Diablo - she responded in perfect English. Thank the stars for her. In perfect Spanish (becasue she is from BA but her sister lives in manhatten - crazy) she asked a local where are place was and he said it is not very far and you can walk. Well it is a VERY small town and we managed to get lost a few times but we had a great conversation and when we found it I thought...AHHHHH what a great place. It is owned and operated by a young couple from Wisconsin. Everything was very American in this hostel which I did not mind a bit. My plan was to stay here two days and then a night in Montevideo. I stayed three days and hung out like a beach bum. Everyone said you are not missing anything in Montevideo. It is a smaller version of BA - I thought good enough for me. It was so peaceful. (I will upload pics soon). I met some great people and they had a great resturant. Becasue their summer does not really start until the middle of dec - their hostel is the only one that is opened year round so they were the only game in town. It really reminded me of what those small towns in CA would have been like before all the developers moved in. I think if I went back here in a year or so it will be different but still quaint. I had a beach all to myself and fell asleep and got very burned. That will teach me to get cheap sunblock- when I read the sunblock after the fact it said and I quote, "This is very, very water resistant" shame on me #1. After 3 days I am still burned. Sadly I left for a flight for Commodore Rivadavia from BA (which means I had to travela full day and then a flight) - It was still worth it. Commodor was only supposed to be a brief stop over to get a bus ticket to the next place (Puerto San Julian). But the busses do not run until after 6 pm (my plane landed at 8 Am in the morning) so I am stuck in this pitiful town for several hours. Shame on me #2. I did not plan this part of my trip out I wanted to play it by ear...well so far not so good but at least I got to update my blog!!

Yo Ho Yo Ho a hostel life for me...

Yeah...I don't think so. I arrived at Iguazu and went to a great hostel which had an awesome pool. That is the reason I chose it as well. I shared a room with 2 girls both from holland and it was really quite nice. It is a weird thing hostel living and those who stay there. You have the older Europeans who always travel in packs; the Frenchies who you don't really know what they look like until the smoke clears - if it ever does, the Brits (and Germans) who are paler than Casper and always wear dark socks. Then you have all the "kids", yes I will say kids becasue that is what they are...not that I am that much older but damn, I wish i did this when i was their age. They truly think they are rockstars. You have your clicks but all with a hippie vibe about them, reminds me of highschool. All in all- I met some really great people.
The Falls were incredible. Eleanor Rosevelt said in comparing Niagra to Iguazu, "Poor Niagra". I have never seen Niagra but one would have to think the same. They were truly amazing. I felt like a fool clicking 100's of pictures at water and rock formations TRYING to be artistic...but you can't get enough. I took the "Gran Adventure". Gran adventure my ass. The "sales" guys (there were two), the first was are cabbie and he kept telling us we need to do this it is great...i should have known then. The second actually worked for the tour company and the cabbie got a kickback etc...I was totally NOT going to do it but the group of girls i was with were all doing it so i did. What a joke. The "ride" through the "jungle" was a dirt road that lasted 15 min with the loudest engine so yeah...don´t think we are going to come up on any wild animals. Then we get on a boat and go through some "crazy rapids" (the sales guy again) I have better rapids when I fart in the bathtub. However they take this boat into the falls - you are getting soaked by these incredible water falls. The louder you scream the captain keeps going back for more. Afterwards when you look at it you think the boat could have been pulled in and we all could have died - totally worth it! Then for the last part of the "gran adventure" you got to walk the FREE trails and FREE train up to devils throat. It was still awesome despite the "Gran Adventure"!!

Good Bye Buenos Aries!

My three weeks has ended in BA ' time flew by. I am now fluent in spanish when getting into a taxi other than that I am still in kindergarden. On Novemeber 4th we went to a bar that was having Americano specials = cheap beer. I have to say with all honestly it was great to speak english for a night...well lets be realistic i still am speaking english everywhere but TRYING to speak spanish. Here you did not have to try with everyone there being American or english speaking. It was a very exciting night. Everyone was cheering when the states came up with blue or where blue was winning. Obviously this was an "O" bar. The McCain bar was on another street. A sad pitiful steet. Of course the official result was not going to come in until much later but that really did not stop anyone from staying there until 5am. It was pretty cool. The Buenos Ariens )???) were all very excited about O.
I am now in Iguazu to see the falls. Anyone who knows me knows how I like to travel so this will be an expierence because I am doing a shared hostel dorm room. Not sure what the outcome will be but it is cheap and I need to make the $$$ stretch. We shall see how long this dorm / hostel/sharing things lasts with me. I know i owe pictures and after i go to the falls i will try and upload some.

Futbol anyone?

So we went to the BOCA game last weekend. Wow these people love their futbol. I sat next to this guy who I swear was related to us. He looked like the South American Andrew Duffy. He was just as loud too! (sorry Uncle Andrew). They (the crowd) sang the whole time and it was not chants it was full blown songs.
So there are actual assigned seatis or the cheapos in which you stand the WHOLE time - this is where all the fanatics sit. two sides for the fanatics: the trañquillo loco side or the loco loco side. We opted for the trañquillo side of it. We made the right choice (i would have preferred a seat but I am immersing myself, Si?).
I could not wait to settle in and get a beer etc...no beer ONLY cocacola. Not even water was sold (doesn't CC own water companies???) like many things in SA it did not make sense. I can understand not serving alcohol to these fans but water??? That did not pose a problem as mucho sodas were consumed and there was that "funny" cigarette smoke that filled the air. That is the kind of second hand smoke you do not mind too much. Mom-i did not inhale.
The game was great they were so passionate. Even when BOCA did something wrong there were songs and shouts of encouragement. In the states u r in one min out the next.
Okay so this is the best....the game is over so they let everyone out except the two crazy sides (which are at either end of the stadium). When I say this I mean they actually LOCKED the doors to keep the fanatics in until the rest of the ppl got out and away. 1/2 later we were let out. The stadium was empty except the fanatics and the songs kept coming there was no one on the field. On the big screen they stated to replay the game and the crowds went crazy like they were seeing it for the first time. LET ME OUT!!

After that we went to the town of La Boca which is very touristy and you can eat and walk around while gazing upon the dirtiest river in BA. I am not making it up they actually say it is the dirtiest...is that supposed to be an attraction? It consists of resturants with tango shows and the houses were all very colorful reminded me of a carribean town. There is a house here that is pictures in all the books of BA - muy famosa.

First day of School

HAPPY Birthday Archer!!

The family I am staying with is very nice. A grandmother (Abuella) nombre Monica, her daughter Ceceila and her two kids; Nacho (that is his nick name but I still have not figured out his real name) and Lucilla (LooLi). Luli is 6 and she is actually learning English. So I do her home work for her and she does mine...just kidding. I actually am reading her books and I am getting pretty good. Their abuella LOVES - SEEEE ESSSSS Eye. (CSI). We have a little downtime- her and me -watching the show together. It is in English with Spanish subtitles. So I am cheating...my brain likes it after along day.

First day of school. i have to look cool i have to look cool. Whatever. I was late. You have to take a test the first day so they can put you in the right level. I already knew I knew nothing so I came a little later. Already a rebel. It was a good class and it became clear in a matter of mins that I was the only one who was really a complete beginner. Most of them "just cam frum my studies at university" or "just got done my under learning (means highschool)." Three girls are from Holland and they ..."you see vwee pic langveges up quite easuly because vwee hav tou..." Ahh no did know that. One German guy who is all of 18. One guy from India who speaks better English than I do and one Russian..actually they all speak perfect english. Joke-what do you call someone who speaks 3 lang=trilingual, what do you call someone who speaks 2 lang? = Bilingual. What do you call someone who speaks 1 lang. = American.

Upcoming blogs (with photos) i promise);
Futbal game-yep they are´fíng crazy as they seem
How do you say....discotecha

I have arrived.

Hola amigos! Well Buenos Aires is a blast. I arrived on the afternoon of the 18th. My plane ride was uneventful. I was very surprised I was not seated next to my future husband who owns a vineyard in Mendoza..No i sat next to a very nice man named Carlos and his 5 kids (hijos) were seated across from him. He was happy to be next to me. I slept (Yo dormo) the whole way.

I arrived with no problems. My hotel was...umm lets just say because i was a "tu solo?" Si I am alone...I got a great room that was just big enought to fit the bed let alone my big (granda) ass bag. It was only one night and I never leave anywhere with out my slippers so no problema. My hotel was right on Ave de Mayo. I will try and upload some photos later. This street is rich in architecture.
Okay here is my first BA Bash. Dog poop everywhere and yet hardly any dogs.... Instead if looking up enjoying the beutiful buildings you have to always look where your going or else... However I have not yet fallen to the PerroPoop. No one seems to mind so you go with the flow...

With not a lick of Spanish I proceed to go out to dinner. I "talk" with the waitress (moza) -(from time to time, when I remeber the word, I will inject it so you can all learn as well). With my great pictionary/charade skills, I proceed to tell her I want a salad (ensalada) with meat (carne) - I figurd out they do not really have a word for med-rare. It did not really matter- I got a big steak with a piece of lettuce and a tomatoe. Ah well.

In the morning I went down to breakfast thinking I had all the time in the world but no... BA´s clocks jumped an hour ahead so I was rushed out of breakfast and had to check out in a matter of mins. Thankgod the clerk spoke english and was very nice. He letme use his phone and computer. I call teh host family i was going to stay with and they were waiting for me. The school had never told them I would be coming at 10am (which if you are following was now 11). >So I got in a cab and made my way there. It was mothers day on this particular Sunday so we were going to the home of Cece´s grandmothers (abuella) in the middle of nowhere (I did not know this at the time) called Belle Vista. It was a fun day. No one spoke English but like my family their were hugs and kisses saying things to me I did not understand. Cece was kind enough to translate for a period of time but then I think she got tired and I sat blissfully unaware of what was being said. There is some freedom to this. The grandmother I swear looked like the cutest Mrs Doubtfire. She would say things and then laugh and laugh. It was contagious.