¡Verano ha llegado!

Well I've been absent for quite a while, which can be explained in a number of ways. First, after my last blog, I was very busy finishing up the school year with all my classmates, and between end of the year concerts, parties, and finally graduation, there was little time in between. Then, after my last day of school on the 28th, I had an exchange student meeting the 29th where I finally got to meet all the exchange students in my district. Moreover the next day, I left on a trip with about 35 exchange students from the greater Buenos Aires area for a 15 day trip to Patagonia and the south of the continent. Needless to say, I was out of reach there, and have spent the first days of this week recooping away from an Internet connection. Anyhow, enough of my excuses of negligence, I hope to give you all a very thorough recap of the last month or so of my life here in Argentina.

The Monday before graduation, I had a unique opportunity here in Pilar. My host mom and a couple other ladies of the Rotary Club here have an hour long radio talk show in which they notify community members as to the happenings of our Rotary Club here. And I had the good fortune of being interviewed on said program. Completely in Spanish. Luckily, I was able to conduct a fairly coherent 5-10 minute Q & A. It was really at this point that I realized that I am competent enough to understand and respond in Spanish (fluency is still a ways off I think).

The radio station from which they broadcast is a kind of community station where people can rent a time slot, and the 20 something year-old guys scheduled after the Rotary show came in early and caught part of my interview. They were hosting a sports/comedy/shoot-the-breeze show and so, when we finished our show, they yanked me in and started asking me questions about differences between Argentina and the U.S. and their respective women, nightlife, etc. Needless to say, it was interesting.

It was these events, combined with the onset of my understanding of the Spanish-dubbed Simpsons that it really dawned on me that I could communicate in Castellano.

Throughout the next week, we finished wrapping up school, meaning we spent most of our time at school watching movies, playing on the computers, playing a card game called Truco, or battling it out on a board game called T.E.G. in which you try to conquer the world. The last few days were not too taxing to tell you the truth. Anyhow, Thursday was the day of our graduation of which I am going to try and include a few pictures. And to my surprise, I received a nice certificate saying I participated throughout the year. It was a very nice ceremony, and due to the small size of our class, each student went up individually with his/her parents and received their diplomas, a medal, and some flowers. Then, my host mom had prepared a video slideshow of all the students, starting with baby pictures, and showing their progression. I was even included, although my pictures were only from the last two months, so it showed my progression from long hair to short as I recently got a haircut to survive in the terrible heat. Afterwards, there was asado, cake, and refreshments.

This is a picture of most of my class before the graduation ceremony.

The next day, we went to school late, and during lunch, we participated in the tradition of every graduating class, in which we go into the yard and throw mud, paint, and eggs all over the school uniforms that the opposite sex is wearing. So, after we were all nice and dirty, we left for the day (and the year) ready to start summer.

The next Sunday, I departed aboard a two level bus headed south on a 5000 mile journey. Due to the length of the journey, we spent a good portion of the two weeks on the bus that we all came to resent to a previously unforseen level. And while the trip was amazing, and I saw incredibly unique places and sights, the best aspect of the trip was the people I was with. After two weeks I felt like I had known some of these exchange students for years. It was a great experience for me to finally get to know other people in a situation like mine. I also met people from all over the world and the Buenos Aires province so I can now travel a lot of places where I know people.

While about half the time was spent travelling, we stopped and saw sights on the way so as to get out of the bus every once in a while. One of my favorite of these stops was in un bosque petrificado, which is a petrified forest. The scenery reminded me a lot of Eastern Washington around the Columbia River, Vantage, and Gorge area. It was quite nice to be out of the bus and I managed to get a good picture of un zorro colorado, or a Colorado fox.

On our trip our main stops were for three days in Ushuaia, and four days in Calafate. And really everything in between was pretty barren due to the fact that it is Patagonia. Highlights of the in between include crossing the Strait of Magellan in a ferry while black-and-white dolphins swam alongside and passing through Chile and seeing flamingos, llamas, juanacos, and wild horses.

Jonas from Germany, David from Denmark, and myself on board the ferry on the windy estrecho de Magallanes.

And here are the dolphins alongside the ferry.

The first major stop was in Ushuaia which is the most austral (southernmost) city in the world. It is located on Tierra del Fuego, the large island on the tip of South America shared by Chile and Argentina. Although it is called Tierra del Fuego, which means land of fire, it is actually quite cold. It got the name when Magellan crossed the strait at night and saw the indigenous people's fires on the south side of the strait. I think its name should be Tierra que Necesita un Fuego. So, despite its hot name, it is actually quite cold, but full of verdant woods and lakes at the Southern tip of the Andes. And for all of us from the roasting hot Buenos Aires area, it was a very pleasant break to breathe cold air and not be in a constant state of sweating.

Ushuaia is right on the Beagle Canal which runs on the southern side of Tierra del Fuego, and above is a picture from the Canal. It is named the Beagle Canal after the Beagle that Darwin sailed on around the world collecting specimens which would lead to his theory of evolution.

This is me protecting myself from the cold and the ocean spray in front of a famous lighthouse that guided the ways for boats passing through the Beagle Canal .

The town of Ushuaia itself was, although touristy, full of lovely little shops and restaurants. It was great to duck into a little hole in the wall cafe and grab a hot cocoa with some friends or to peruse the shopping options. All in all, it had a feel not unlike that of Leavenworth, Washington, (minus the Bavarian theme of course).

After Ushuaia, we retraced our steps aways and then headed up the west side of Patagonia along the Andes to Calafate and el Lago Argentino where numerous glaciers are located, including the famous Perito Moreno glacier, which is one of the few glaciers still advancing in the world.

The first day in Calafate we took a boat tour of Lago Argentina which is touched by four or five different glaciers. This was also a lot of fun because we drove by tons and tons of icebergs that were such an intense blue that a photo couldn't accurately capture it.


So I finally figured out how to put text on the side of my photos which I am quite happy about (and I'm sure you are too).

This one is in front of the Upsala glacier, named after a town in Sweden actually.

We were very fortunate as the weather in the Calafate area during our stay was a great 70 degrees or so and sunny. This helped to add to the majesty of the sights during the boat trip and the glacier hike.

Here I am in front of Perito Moreno before we start on our excursion over the famous glacier.

I was trying to capture the immense size and color of the thing, but I'm not sure if it is accurately portrayed. The glacier at the edge is about 30 stories high, and incredibly blue.
And below is a picture of me faking climbing up part of the glacier.

I wasn't too worried about the hike because our guide was Jesus. Haha actually, no this is just a water accumulation that is frozen over on top by a thin layer of ice. Below is a great view of the lakes and hills surrounding the glacier.


















At the end of the hike, it is a tradition to drink some whiskey with glacier ice in it, so the guides lead you to this little table close to the edge of the glacier and take out their pick-axes and chop up some ice and hand out a glass of scotch to each hiker.

The day before, I had also bought a very cool-looking hat that made me the envy of everbody on the trip if you will notice.

All in all, this was definitely the highlight of my trip as it gave me a chance to see something really unique in the world, and with my love for the outdoors, it proved to be an awesome experience. I really could see myself being a guide for something like this for a summer in Alaska maybe.

Another fun fact about the glacier is that where we were hiking, was in fact closer to the Pacific Ocean, as the bird flies, than Calafate, where we were staying. It really shows how narrow Chile is at some points as it was only a thirty minute drive to the glacier from Calafate. But although the proximity was close, the surfing had to wait as we would have had to hike over these mountains called the Andes to get to the Pacific.

Perito Moreno is also the glacier that forms huge arches on one side that touches land during a span of four years, and then, like clockwork, every fourth summer they come tumbling down. That is the main reason for its famek, and if you every see videos of a lot of people watching a glacier fall, you can tell your friends that I've been there.



I also really enjoyed the town of Calafate itself apart from the glaciers, which was full of people, restaurants, and tourist stores. Most of our time in town was spent walking around with friends, looking at things, or grabbing a sandwich in a restaurant.


This picture was taken on the side of the road between our hotel and the plaza. Being that we were all Rotary exchange students, we thought it would make a good shot.

These three were also some of my best friends on the trip and we live quite close to each other here in Buenos Aires.

The one with the sunglasses is Ray and he's from Lake Tahoe, the one on the left is Oliver from Sweden, and the one on the right is Jonas from Germany. We all plan on getting together here soon for a barbecue or something of the sort.


After our stay in Calafate, it was time to return home and we got on our way. One of our stops however, was just south of Trelew at a breeding site of pinguinos magallenos. This was another eagerly anticipated stop for me, as it is a rare opportunity to see live, wild penguins. They are very noisy and inquisitive creatures, coming up to you (although we weren't allowed to touch them), looking at you strangely, and then making strange honking noises. It was very interesting to see these particular penguins in their native habitat which is a far-cry from the typical picture one holds in their head. But all the same, it was fun to see them interact with each other and their young: fighting, jumping in the ocean, or simpy waddling around.

And after the penguins, we travelled home, saying our goodbyes to people who got off the bus before us. All in all, it was a great trip that I really enjoyed full with people, glaciers, dolphins, and penguins.

Now, I find myself here in Pilar, in the midst of a hot summer although I can now wear shorts and sandals everyday. There was a Rotary Christmas Party last night at my next host family's home, and we all had a great time. I should be changing families here just after the beginning of the year. I get along well with everyone in the family, and I think it should be an excellent situation. But right now, the focus is on Christmas, which is quite strange for me with the hot weather. I really am missing the snow of Washington right now (although it sounds like they have more than they can handle right now). I hope everyone finds themselves with loved ones around the holidays.

I will try to be a little bit more prompt with my next blogs. Again I apologize for the absence, but I hope you all find the time to read.


¡Felicidades todos!

Besitos,

Andy

P.S. I apologize for the spacing in the blog, the pictures mess around with it a bit.