Hola, so after pretty much just chilling in the hostel in the morning, Clara and I booked ourselves a spot on the afternoon "cruise" through the Beagle Channel. A must do when you are here! So without further ado.. i will let the pictures do all the talking. Needless to say that we were once again lucky with the weather and had sun almost the entire 6 hours that we were out on the water! For you trivia people, the Beagle Channel is one of three passages connecting the waters of the Atlantic and the Pacific Oceans. (Panama Canal and the [View Full Entry]

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Oh the mountains! Hiking in Patagonia just like I pictured it! After a very restful night in my Freestyle hostel and a great breakfast, a bunch of people from the hostel took a bus to the Tierra del Fuego NP to go hiking. The bus drops people off at various trails, which makes it really easy for those independent travelers without cars. Carla, a geologist from Spain, and I had decided that we would use the great weather (sun and not to windy) to attempt a hike up the Cerro Guanaco Peak in the park. It is a very steep uphill [View Full Entry]

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Hello from Ushuaia, Tierra del Fuego, Fin del Mundo! I arrived in Ushuaia this morning, after a 3.5 hrs flight from Buenos Aires, and after the heat in BsAs, the 7 degree Celsius temps here in Ushuaia are a welcomed changed! It is awesome to see the snow on the mountains all around and this touristy, little, most southern city on earth, is bustling with life. The spring tourist season is in full swing, and people from all over the world are in town, preparing to embark on their cruises towards Antarctica from this port town in Tierra del Fuego! Aside [View Full Entry]

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The last week of school is here, and with it my last days in BsAs, and in the interest of seeing as much as possible before I head south later this weekend, I went to La Boca yesterday with two fellow students! La Boca is a must see-neighborhood in BsAs, and it lived up to its reputation! Colorful houses, a bit run down, close to the "projects" and the very low income squatter areas around the harbor, the La Boca barrio also is home to lots of artists, tango dancers, small shops, lots of petty thieves who hang around at every [View Full Entry]

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After a full day on Friday with lessons and planning for the onward travel later this week, Jerry and Nicole (both from Colorado) and I took the late ferry for the one hour ride to Colonia del Sacramento in Uruguay, just across the Rio de la Plata. Our B&B was just four blocks from the ferry terminal and once we checked in and dropped our bags off, we ventured out for dinner to celebrate Nicole's birthday! The old town of Colonia is a Unesco World Heritage site and with its cobblestone streets, old city wall, old sycamore lined calles, right on [View Full Entry]

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Another week has flown by once again! After two weeks of classes, I almost felt like a Porteno this morning as I was reading the daily newspaper on the train into the city! Well reading might be exaggerated more like skimming the headlines... but there was the article about President Bush inviting Obama to the Casa Blanca for a Monday meeting that I actually read! The news even here have been dominate by the elections in the US. But since I am literally on my way to Uruguay for the weekend, I am going to keep this blog very short and [View Full Entry]

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A day in Tigre After sleeping in to 'recover” from a week of learning and socializing last night (I could not believe how many people get all dressed up for Halloween even here, loco!) I made pancakes for the family! Yeah a real breakfast! I had brought a packet of pancake mix and maple syrup as a little “typical American breakfast” gift for the family and so Cristina asked me to show her how to make them. What a good start to the weekend! In the afternoon I met one of the teachers who wanted to join me on a short [View Full Entry]

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Sunday - A day at the Estancia La Cinacina This morning, 6 of the Linguatec Students met for a day excursion with our teacher Sylvia to an Estancia in the Pampas region! The 120 km trip took about close to 2 hours on the minibus, but was very much worth it. We arrived in the little pueblo of San Antonio de Areco around noon. San Antonio de Areco is the symbolic center of the Gaucho culture. Every year in November, Gauchos from all of Argentina gather here for a festival celebrating their nomadic lifestyle and ancestry. The Gaucho is the cowboy [View Full Entry]

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Has it really already been a week since I arrived in Buenos Aires! Unreal, timed just flew! After 6 hours of formal Spanish lessons in the school every day and then an added couple of hours during afternoon excursions around town, and conversations with my family, I must say that Language Immersion is the way to go when you want to learn a new language! Amazing what I have been able to learn thus far! It gets me really fired up for the weeks to come and I am almost sad that we are at the weekend already; although my brain [View Full Entry]

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Day 2-3 During a jog through the neighborhood on Sunday morning, I was lucky to come upon a bunch of little boys playing youth soccer in an old and dingy gym (all of them thinking that they are little Diego Maradonna's) . I joined their enthusiastic parents in the stands, and while they were all drinking “Mates” and eating little pastries, I just enjoyed the morning and marveled at their kids soccer skills at age 8. No wonder the Argentine National Team is always a contender in the world cup. After lunch I decided to go for yet another walk through [View Full Entry]

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