21 Julio 2009

I go to class every morning at 9 am.  My spanish is slowly getting better, but I started with absolutely zero spanish before my arrival.  This has probably been the most difficult part of my trip thus far.  Trying to over come the embarrassment of not catching on or undterstanding in class and when talking to other people is challenging sometimes.  My motivation is so I can talk to the locals and meet more  people.  I try to push through the uncomfortable feelings in order to progress, and I am, slowly but surely.

I shared a bottle wino rojo en una restaurante last night with a new amigo, Joe, a math teacher in Oakland.  He was really nice and quite helpful for my spanish.  He would talk slow…depacio… in spanish which was great but repeat himself in english afterwards.  I learned a lot.  I regret not living with a family in Bariloche versus with my classmates because it would force me to speak spanish all day.  When I get enough money….

It is snowing for the first time in Bariloche today!  Ahh I really love the snow.  It´s so beautiful…. muy linda.  Time to cozy up with some matte, haha homework and hopefully a fire place. 

18 Julio 2009

Ahh my primera el fin de semana … first weekend… en Patagonia!  I went on my first over night hike with my friend Fipoo …. Philip deSwise ….. up to refugio frey.  Ahh it was absolutely wonderful!  I really feel so free and happy completely enclosed by nature in the winter time especially.  We hiked 5 1/2 hours with our packs first around the bottom of the mountain over looking a huge lake I cant remember the name of.  Haha lo siento.  It was quite windy and a decent amount of the hike was through mud and creaks.  Very fun!  As we ventured up the mountain into the clouds, the mud turned to ice, which made it a bit difficult to hike.  The bamboo sticks turned into very helpful walking sticks.  The ice eventually turned into deep, hard packed snow which was more fun to hike through.  It felt really great to hike for so long in such conditions.  I enjoy walking in the winter with the right gear compared to the summer time. 

The refugio at the top was so cute!  Haha I want one!  A small stone hut with a kitchen, wood stove, kitty, mountain man to maintain it and bunk beds in a solo room upstairs.  The bathroom was outside in another stone building.  Haha I never used such toilets before.  There was a plastic platform on the floor with footprint to stand on.  You squat and relieve yourself into a deep, plastic hole that goes into the ground.  You bring a bucket of water with you to “flush” the hole with.  Haha it was awesome!  It was completely white at the top of la montana and the hut was next to a frozen lake.  Enormous, staggering rocks surrounded the refugio.

Fipoo and I made lentils y sauce tomate for dinner.  Soon other hikers arrived to stay the night with us from California, Argentina, Canada and France.  We all ate, talked and drank vino rojo which…. you can get a bottle made in Argentina for 7 pesos, equivalant to 2 us dollars!  ow ow!  Mmm its so good! 

In the morning we hiked down a different route.  It had snowed that night, thankfully, so the ice was padded for our descent.  Haha it was still very slippery so I kept falling.  Fipoo didn´t help with his constant funny jokes.  My legs turned to jello for a bit and haha we had a blast!  We ended up hiking the rest of 4 1/2 hours with a few Argentinians.  When the slush came, haha they would slide down on their butts.  Once of that was enough for me. We walked over waterfalls which you could drink from and muddy creaks.  Thank goodness for my balancing skills, let me tell you! 

Such a great weekend!  I really want to get into backcountry.  This is only the beginning my friends.  Haha that was your camp counselor in trainng!

15 Julio 2009

Today I took a solo trip to Cerro Catedral to ride.  Although the conditions werent the greatest, I had a lot of fun.  The best part….. the view by far…this keyboard is crazy wack.  I was completely surrounded once again, by the beautiful Andes and bright blue lakes.  Ive never riden looking out onto water before.  Quite breathe taking.  Apparently, the snow is better en agosto.  According to the locals within the past three years, they are getting nieve…snow…later and later every year.  Very unfortunate.  Haha I have no idea how I made these words so big, nor do I know how to make them small again.  Haha enjoy

a hot mess

The 20 hour bus ride to Bariloche, Patagonia was surprisingly enjoyable. Mucho snacks, cookies, te, vino y movies. Made friends with Tomas, a 19 year old going to visit el familia en Bariloche. Once again, very nice and my housemates and I might go see him play jazz in town. I woke up surrounded by beautiful snow capped mountains and lakes! The stars are so vivid and refreshing after never seeing any in Philly. Bariloche reminds me of Boulder, CO without spoiled rich college kids (although I hear the wealthy Brazilians get on the natives nerves). So far, so good! My housemates are a trip. I am living with people from all over the world. South Africa, Switzerland and all throughout the US. Meeting more new people at the school right now. Im excited to improve my spanish! Haha why I´m a hot mess….. When I arrived, the cab driver did not know my address to my house so I had him drop me off at my school. I didn´t except anyone to be here because it was Sunday, but I had to directions from the house to the school. But, when the taxi left, I realized my directions were in his car! Shit! So, I hukked all stuff down many a blocks in search for internet. Nice, found one! Oh but yes, it´s Sunday! It was closed. Managed to find a hostel which was super super nice and let me use their internet. Got real directions, another cab and made it. Always gotta spice things up a bit you know. Haha I thought of you Veronica. ¨Trishy, you´re a hot mess.¨ I´ll be going snowboarding this week at Cerro Catedral. Doesn´t seem that impressive, but I´ll take anything! I´m going to try and make it to Las Lenas after Bariloche. Ill keep you posted. Abrazos y besos, Trishy

The beginning of it all

¡Hols Amigos!

Smooth sailing so far.  I sat next to a nice Buenos Aires native on the plane named Ignacio.  He was 29, a corporate lawyer and we discussed food, healthcare (free for all in, he loves it), government (everyone in AR must vote) and of course, Michael Jackson whom he saw in concert in BA!!  Arriving in AR at 7:30 am was the perfect time for the most amazing sunrise!

I arrived at Hostel Arrabal, which is quite cozy with a great laid back atmosphere.  I ventured into the city, saw some tourist spots and relaxed.  Haha ate my first vegetarian sandwich.  It was so funny.  The wheat bread was falling apart and on top of it laid lettuce, shredded carrots and tomato.  I am in meat lovers heaven!  And Ignacio informed me heart disease is the number one killer in AR…. Interesting.  The weather here is perfecto para me.  Cool and crisp.  It felt a bit warmer then 30 degrees F.  The city and weather reminds me of NYC in Thanksgiving.  It was quite lovely.

While walking I met a 23 year old Venezuelan girl, Umma, when she was translating para me with a local jewelry maker.  They were both very nice, funny girls.  Umma and I ventured around the city and then went and got te’ caliente at a local cafe’ for her birthday.

Back to hostel.  Stayed with a Canadian and British woman who were both traveling all through S America for over 6 months solo.  Chilled, so close to winning a pool game and then noche noche.

Today…. off to Bariloche.  A 20 hore pampered bus ride to the Andes mountains!!

Abrazos!