Day 7 and 8 - Laguna Esmerelda y LOS PINGÜINOS

I made a little solo trek to a beautiful, greenish laguna outside of the city. First you take a bus and then the hike is about an hour and a half, although I was able to do it a little bit faster. Part of the trip is in the forest, and another part is over peat moss which is oddly mushy and fun. I only slipped a little bit into the mud along the way. haha.

Made friends with two older women from Bs. As. on the trip too, but kind of made my own way as they needed to stop and rest a lot. Good conversation though.

Ultimately, I wanted to hike up to the glacier close by, but I didn´t make it in time. So I just sat by the water and began (later finished that same day) The Alchemist. Fantastic little read I must say. Hence finishing it so soon.

Came home and did some laundry. Ate pizza. Chill.

Today was Penguin Day!! I can´t begin to describe the excitement that I had, am having, etc. It was great leading up to the moment, an amazing time on the island, and I already can´t wait to go again! Of course, I won´t, I´ll have to cherish this time I´ve had. But it will last. Because not only did we (Carlito the penguin and I, wink wink) see the typical Magellan penguins that are crazy adorable, but we saw some Papua penguins, and get this.. a King Penguin! You know the last one is a big deal when even the guide says, "I have no idea what that King Penguin is doing here." haha


Once again, blessed by the experiences the Lord has allowed me to have. I can´t describe it as well as I can show it to you once I´m home and can upload the pictures. In other news, I´m excited by the potential to eat king crab tonight, si Dios quiere... Chau!

Day 5 and 6 - Rest and 4x4s

Rest. Relaxation. Almost finishing a book. Buying myself a buzo.. or sweatshirt that is quite beautiful if I do say so myself.. But mainly we just stayed indoors on day 5 which was perfect for recovering from the bike riding. Plus it rained, so it was like Jesus knew we didn´t need to go outside or something. At least I like to think so :)

But day 6, now that´s a different story. Short, for now, as I have some other things to take care of online here, so I´ll say this: 4x4s are intense. As are beaver dams and giant lakes where we canoe a little. And finally asado. Yummmmmmm!!!


Chau!

Day 4 - Parque Nacional

The bike rental place is close. Just a couple turns around the block and bam. We met up with our new Córdoban friend, Vane around 11am and made our way. It´s twelve kilometers to the park, and then several more throughout. My main issue was getting used to the gears. Rosita, as we know, is just a plain, yet beautiful, gear-free bike.

Both Vane and I struggled really, while A.D.D. Cleto made circles around us.

Our first mistake upon entering the park was taking a nice downhill trek to a beautiful bay. While the view was worth it, the return trip was not--ha! But I have two feet, so at least I could drag the bike with me back to the main entrance. And like I mentioned, I wasn´t alone.

I told Cletis, as he was very interested in watching the Real Madrid - Barcelona game to go on without us. It allowed us girls to go más traquila. Mejor...

And we did enjoy it all. Both of us adjusted well to the gears in time, and we saw a little of everything. Perhaps the most intriguing, aside from the view of the mountains, the Castorera, or Beaver Dam. Very impressive! Or maybe my ability to draw the zorros (foxes) to me. I almost ran into one when I came off a bridge. He stared me down, and then continued on his way. Well then...

We went to the end of Ruta 3, and snapped the cliché photo from there. Took the trail to Lake.. um.. Animkasdghje7asgdh. Yeah, I don´t remember what it was called, but more interesting was introducing Vane to jumping pictures. She absolutely loved them! And wanted to take as many as possible. It cracked me up! We also took a few together which was sweet. We had one where we were sitting near the water and it splashed all over us! Justo! And hilarious. For the Spanish speakers, take note of the alliteration right there :P

From the lake, it was time to turn back. We timed the return trip, especially as we were about as far as you could be from our destination point. I proudly tell you that we made it back in 1 hour and 55 minutes!! Not without a lot of pain, but definitely worth it! Mainly it´s my backside that is killing me, because that bike seat was NOT comfortable.

Shower.. new roommate in the hostel from Germany.. a little internet time.. and Chau!

Day 2 and 3 - Boat and Long Beach

I have less than ten minutes to account for everything in these past two days?? Impossible. So here come the cliff notes.

Yesterday afternoon, Cletis and I joined three others on a 4 hour boat ride in Beagle Channel in order to see sea lions, lots of birds, and a lighthouse way WAYYYY out there. Hence the four hours. The boat shook like crazy, but it was sort of like riding a rollercoaster, so I enjoyed it. The wind, la causa de las ollas, kicked my butt on a short walk in one of the preserved islands where the natives used to live and hunt the sea lions.

We came back exhausted, but I still spent time with my Brazilian friend who taught me a new version of Truco. Then I rented The Spirit to which I ended the night.

This morning, I had no ganas to leave my bed. But when I finally rose, I took a bus with a friend and we enjoyed a nice hike through Playa Larga. There was semi-mountain climbing involved, so it was pretty sweet. We saw more cool birds, but the best sighting was a Zorro!! That is, a fox. I felt so proud for catching sight of it, and even happier when we were able to get real close to it for some photo op! Thanks God!

Took the bus back, but not without running into a fellow Cordoban! We exchanged numbers, and she might be joining us tomorrow for the bike ride to the National Park!

Please pray for safety on this trip, and no rain! I´m excited for the many adventures to come!



Phew.. three minutes left.. what to do... chau!!

Day one - Glacier Martial

It´s an adventure.. Cletis is sick, so I just make my way alone. The alarm sounds at 9 but I remember it´s a vacation, and stay laying down just a little longer. The hostel provides a breakfast, so I grab some toast and an orange. I thought they had boiled eggs as well, but they were raw. Guess how I figured that one out..

Chairlift view

More importantly, I met two others wanting to trek the Glacier this morning so I saved 20 pesos taking the taxi. We ride to the top in a chairlift and find out it´s about an hour trek to touch ice. It´s no question to me, I´m making my way up despite the difficult breathing and the inability to feel my backside once we reach the top. Only Carlos made it with me; Georgiana had to quit at the halfway mark. I slid down the ice a couple times. Video proof to come. Just a little cold, and I thank God I remembered to pack my gloves.

Take the chairlift back down, but I decided to hike all the way back home. I´m told it´s about 6 kilometers, but hey, downhill is easy as pie. Speaking of pie, I rewarded myself with a slice of carrot cake as my lunch. Again, I´m on vacation. ha!

Quite the hike!

Finding the hostel wasn´t as difficult as I thought it would be once I reached the city, but I will say the hike down was a little confusing. I found myself backtracking a few times, but not without cool rewards such as some exotic fauna and birds. Even came to a fork in the road where a woman came out of her home to tell me that I was walking the wrong direction. Again, thanks God!

Came home to see the last goal of Messi´s hat trick. If the day ended here, you could call it a good day. I mean, meeting a Brazilian, Venezuelan and now sitting next to me is someone from Israel, how could one not want to consider staying in hostels more often? Fun conversations to commence!

Here´s just praying that the rest of the vacation is as exciting, and that Cletis feels better later. Chau!

I've lost count

I don't remember how many times I've been to Bs. As. by this point. That's a really strange thought. Nonetheless, while I saw a lot of the same things, I was able to see them in a different light. Specifically, at night time.

I plan on uploading the pics when I get home, but for now the list:

• Puerto Madero
• Casa Rosada
• Obelisk
• Recoleta
• Shiny metal flower (not sure of the precise title)
• San Telmo

They are the classics (minus La Boca), and mainly because I don't know much else to this place. While I would love to see a show, for instance, I have never planned in advance enough for that sort of thing. Makes me regret not going to see Jack Johnson with the girls last time I was here. Rats!

You can add that we ate at Fridays in Puerto Madero; that a woman coughed smoke on us while asking for money; that I have now tried the Dulce de Leche Frappaccino from Starbucks; and zzzzzzfffffffffONE. Inside jokes. I'm afraid they've only just begun.

I can't wait for cold weather. Just a few more hours... Chau!

Los jovenes

Every night was a surprise.

We started at Mauro's home until about 6 in the morning one of the first evenings. The events ranged from  eating, Truco, Playstation, music, chatting, etc.

There was a night of Mexican food, where I got to teach some how to make tortillas from scratch, as well as how to appropriately fold the burrito.

Another night we grabbed late night Grido (which was also the night I said hello to our artesan friends who gave me my first "trenza").

On a more serious note, they had asked me to prepare a couple meetings on group dynamics and leadership. We acted out various group roles with a certain task to complete. Eze the Charlatan was the most interesting (read, "hilarious"), and I believe it helped everyone start thinking about what people are like, why they are that way, and how to respond. The chat about leadership focused on the example of Moses, who seemed to be training up Joshua to follow in his footsteps. We too, need to think about those who follow us, how to encourage them in their journey toward leadership.

In general, the young adults wanted to help with the other ministries. Less events planned for them (did I mention that there was a Bible reading one night?), and more serving the others. Pretty neat to see their willingness to volunteer.

Back to playtime, we played more cards (including Uno); with a few I got to play paddle ball for the first time which was a lot of fun; more asado; more Fernet; driving around the city center during the wee hours of the night.

Laughing. Sharing stories about the accidents we've been in. Sharing lives in general. If I could survive on less than 3 hours a night, I think it would be worth it with the young adults in Saenz Peña. Chau!