Che knows best

For my sister, who is suffering through the final days of her third pregnancy in as many years, a message from one of Argentina's most famous historical figures: "Por amor, usa preservativo." Translation not required.

Hang in there Biff! Te amo y te extraño

mi primer pingüino

el pingüino ya había muerto

(corrected... thanks a lot steve)

don't let the photo's decieve you...

I'm living in a huge city filled with traffic, noise, bars, clubs, sirens, tango, dogs, and 13 million people.

I've been here for more than 3 weeks, which is more than enough time to formulate thoughts/opinions about almost any other city, but I'm still trying to wrap my head around this place.

It's been an especially difficult adjustment after spending a month in Patagonia. Hiking a glacier and crossing a 16 lane "avenue" are two very distinct challenges.

I didn't arrive here without friends, which has helped with the adjustment. Until yesterday, I had been exploring the city with Heidi, my house mate from Bariloche. She has left me once again, but we will hopefully reunite in Cordoba in April and/or in Buenos Aires in May. I have also been hanging out with Hadas, my friend from GW who is here on a different program but lives close by. We traveled to Mar del Plata together about a week ago, which is a big beach town about 5 hours south of BA. I wouldn't go again for the beaches, but the 'lobos del mar' (see previous post) were really cool. We also met a fun group of students in the hostel, which made the trip worth it.

Since my classes have only just begun, I'm still working on my normal 'routine'. My commute to school takes me from my apartment in Recoleta, a nice neighborhood north of the central financial district and south of the trendier Palermo, along Avenida Santa Fe to IES headquarters about 14 blocks away, right across Avenida 9 de Julio, the aforementioned 16 lane avenue.

To be fair, 9 de Julio is only 12 lanes wide, but it is lined on both sides by parallel 2 lane streets, which is a distinction without a difference when you're trying to cross.

So far, my experiences in the city have consisted of wandering through a massive and lively street fair in the old neighborhood of San Telmo (see dog attacking cow, previous post), eating/drinking/dancing the night away in Palermo, and navigating my way to and from IES and Universidad Museo Social Argentino (UMSA), where I'm taking a class this semester.

With no classes on Friday's and a national holiday pretty much every week, I'll be quickly adding to my adventures in BA and will keep you posted. In the meantime, enjoy some pics from my trip last weekend to Punta del Este, Uruguay, which was a great little get away. The trip involved a boat and two bus rides, but I got to pass through Montevideo which was awesome because for some inexplicable reason I've always wanted to be able to say I've been there.

I've been to Montevideo. Ha! Awesome.

dogs barking at things they have no business barking at

A terrier, attacking a fake cow. A mutt, picking on a sea lion. Ian, probably getting a little too close. Enjoy!

querés ver mas fotos?

For those of you without facebook (mom, dad... actually that's pretty much it), you can view my albums there by following the links below.

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2006832&id=1474080112&l=d4cc1

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2009805&id=1474080112&l=23123

I'm off to Mar del Plata for a weekend at the beach before the semester starts on Monday. Hasta luego....

walking on thick ice

The highlight of Calafate was definitely the glacier trek. Perito Moreno is the glacier everyone goes to Calafate to see, and it was immediately clear why. It's hard to do anything except just stare when it comes into view. The day of my trek was rainy, foggy, windy, and probably about 40 degrees F, but it all added mystery and wildness to a place that already seemed like it belonged on a different planet.

The trek was surprisingly mundane... I was hoping for at least a little danger/adrenalino, but it was still and incredible experience. It was like its own ice planet, with hills and canyons and lakes and waterfalls, all radiating a deep blue light. The trek lasted about 4 hours, but the rain forced me to use some restraint with the camera. On the boat after the hike the guides offered whiskey poured over glacier ice, which was the perfect way to end the day and my travels in Patagonia.

El Calafate

Hola! Sorry for the lack of posts this past week... I promise to make up for lost time in the next couple of days. So... when I posted last I was in El Calafate, a town pretty far south in Argentina. In fact, Pops pulled out an atlas one day while we were talking and determined that I couldn't really get further south unless I went to Antarctica.

Calafate is famous for its proximity to Glacier National Park, which sits on the border of Argentina and Chile. The Andes mountains squeeze a ton of precipitation out of the air, mostly snow, which piles up, compacts into solid ice, and slides down the mountains. The melt water from the glaciers flows into Lago Argentino, the largest body of water in the country, which is where I took a glacier peeping cruise my first day there.

The icebergs left over from the crumbling ice are fascinating to look at... each one is so unique and they appear to be carved into abstract sculptures. I probably spent 5 hours just staring at ice and was still upset when we returned to port.