Sorry it has been so long since i have written, its been a crazy past few weeks. Since i last wrote…we have made another couple of adventures. first of all, after my week of midterms (which went really well:) ) MY PARENTS CAME TO VISIT! it was so great to see them and we had a really good time. while they were we had a big asado at the house in their honor, and i invited friends, professors and family. it was a really fun time, then after that, we (Mary Marshall, Shino and I) accompanied my aged parents (just kidding) to Buenos Aires. while there, we did more shopping, adventuring, and many of the same touristy stops we made when i went for my first visit there, like the Boca, and Recoletta Fair/Cemetery. We also went to see a really great tango show and ate at some really good restaurants. The time flew by way to fast. i could barely believe it. I was so happy they were able to make it for a visit. They stayed for a few more days in Buenos Aires after we left, because my dad had a meeting there. I am a very lucky guy to have some pretty sweet parents. it was a blast to hang out with them and watch them interact with my parents and siblings here, and my friends and everything. it made for an awesome time.

Now this past weekend, was another extended weekend, so Mary Marshall, Frances and I went to PATAGONIA! it was the big trip of the “big trip”. Probably my number one place i wanted to go. and it was amazing. lots of similarities (surprisingly ) to Alaska and Grand Marais Minnesota…ill explain as i get there…

Wednesday night the 10th, we left on overnight bus to Buenos Aires. We have decided to “rough it” and take the Executive buisness class from now on when it comes to the buses because for 20 pesos more ($6 US) we get a “full cama” which is a “full bed” seat, plus dinner and whiskey. neither of which are very good…but a perk none the less…and the full cama makes for a much more comfortable night of sleep..but for other opinions you can ask my parents their opinion on that…

We arrived at about 6:45am in Buenos Aires Thursday morning, and headed directly to the airport. Our flight was not until 10:40 or so so we had some time to relax in the airport. AKA i crashed on the airport chairs and slept until the last possible moment to board the plain…cutting it sorta close…oops. We arrived in Ushuaia at about 20 after two, and we were greeeted by a guy who was hired to drive us to our hostel. (I forgot to mention this was the first trip we took where we went through a travel agency. The agency was actually started by my friend Marcelo that i know through ELdB Concordia Language villages, but he sold it a few years back, but was still able to help connect me to the right people) I felt like such a big shot with someone waiting with a sign that said my name. it was sweet. and it happend the whole weekend. We got to the hostel which was really really nice and comfortable and dropped off our things. We had the rest of the day to explore the city, shop and eat. We found a hiking trail where it was supposed to lead to a good view, so we headed there. the girls went down half way up, because it was full of snow and we were all getting wet, but i kept going for about half an hour more just hiking on my own and taking it in. it was a really nice, peaceful time. the whold day was a lot of fun. we ate at a diente libre parilla again, where its all you can eat asado. then we called it an early night because it was another early morning the next day.

Friday morning, we got up and had our breakfast at the hostel and then were picked up again to start a day filled with excursions. First we were picked up by a tour guide who took us to the Tierra del Fuego National Park, where we hiked, saw wildlife, where the two oceans meet, ports, and saw some really beatiful scenery. We also rode the “train to the end of the world” which is ushuaia’s claim to fame, because they are the furthest south city in the world but in reality there is one more spot further south. the only catch is that there are only 3,000 inhabitants, where as ushuaia has a little under 70,000, and the technicalities are that to be called a city, you must have 10,000 residents. After the end of our tour through the national park, and our (first) lunch, which consisted of coca cola and lemon pie, we headed back into the town. we did have enough time to grab a real bite to eat at a little seafood restaurant, and then it was off to the next excursion.

The second exursion of the day was a boat tour of the Beagle Canal, where we saw the island of the birds and the island of the sea lions. while the sea lions were great, i really was bummed the whole weekend we didnt get to whale watch or see penguins, but i got over that pretty quick. haha. we had the boat almost completely to ourselves, because it was still a week day and there was not a lot of tourists. it was awesome.

after the long day we went back to the hotel and crashed. it had been a very long day. but filled with beautiful sights, cool animals, and lots of laughing. so we decided the best way to end the day, was to rent a movie and order pizza, becuase we had another early morning the next day, and the only night life they had was a club and some bars…neither of which would be good choices for early mornings…so we ordered some amazing stone baked pizzas, and rented the movie Match Point and relaxed in the hostel, warming up and resting up for the day ahead.

Saturday morning, we were picked up to go to the airport and catch our next flight to El Calafate. To take the buses down to ushuaia from cordoba is about a 3 day journey, and from ushuaia to El Calafate is about 8 hours, so we decided to fly, and through the agency had gotten some really good deals. after the flight, we once again had the afternoon to explore and do our own thing. El Calafate is a town that is actually about 80km away from its one major tourist attraction which is the Perrito Moreno Glacier. The town survives mainly off of the tourism, so it was a very different feel from Ushuaia (ushaia had a big feel like Grand Marais, because the two main roads were the two nearest to the shore, and from there inland was all up hill. i m not sure what else, but the feel was very similar). So we did a lot of our tourist shopping and gift buying that afternoon and just walked around. Then we went back to the hostel, got directed towards some good restaurants, had a really nice dinner and then had another early night.

Sunday, we had our excursion up to Perrito Moreno, which was absolutely beautiful. we had a really interesting tour guide, and were able to see the glacier from multiple sides, and we had a few little things with in the excursion. we were able to take a boat ride to the glacier and see it from the water. it was really incredible. but when we went back to the dock, we had found that two large icebergs from the glacier had moved so that we could not dock. after trying to pull them (the first time) with a rope out of the way, we went for another lap around to see the glacier. then we returned and tried again. luckily this time, after lots of patience, and pulling , they were able to move them enough to get the boat in. the whole time it was very windy and the water got choppier and choppier…it made for a pretty interesting ride. after the boat ride, we had time to walk around the national park, and go to the “viewpoints” to take pictures. while we were at one, we were looking at the glacier, and we were able to see a chunk of the glacier, no kidding the size of a building break off and fall into the lake. that was really cool to see. it is always breaking, every day, but they said not usually pieces that size, so that was really neat to see. it is one of only a few glaciers in the world that are growing, and so its always breaking off pieces and regenerating. it was absolutely beautiful. the colors it had were really neat.

after that, we returned to the hostel, and took about a 3 hour nap, and hten went out for dinner at a nice little place filled with locals, and then went bed. it was an exhausting but yet again amazing day.

Monday was Frances’ birthday and the beggining of the journey back to Cordoba. we left the hostel early to get ot the airport and wait some more…and then flew back to bs. As. where we had about 8 hours of layover, so we went back to our friend peter’s cousin Mary’s apartment (where i have stayed everytime i go to Bs As) and hung out around there walking around and just killing time. which is alway fun there. we found our little sandwich shop we like, and people watched for two hours. always a good time. almost comparable to people watching at the MN state fair… then we took the allnight bus again, and arrived this morning at about 6:15 and by 7am i was back in my “own” bed, and asleep till noon.

sorry this one has gotten long..

the countdown has begun. As of tomorrowmorning i will have 38 days left (not counting tomorrow) which is absolutely crazy. Only four weekends left to adventure. 1 i am going to Iguazu falls, one of the 10 wonders of the world…another, back up to the sierras with my family here, and then who knows….ill keep you all up to date!

I hope all is well with all of you where ever you are and with what ever you are doing! now i just gotta live as i have been, by the advice of my uncle paul “Be careful, but do it all!” and thats what i plan on doing.

Lots of love, and thanks so much for reading!

PICTURES BELOW IN BLUE! CLICK ON THEM TO GET THE FULL PAGE

“Train to the end of the world”

thats where i was! follow the line on the bottom

tierra del fuego National park

Glacier Perrito Moreno