Hi Everyone! Right now Dain and I are at the front desk of our hostel in the city of Salta waiting for our car rental to show up, its already a half hour late. We are going south to visit the cities and national parks south of the town of Salta. First we will head towards Cachi, making a stop halfway to trek and explore. Then we´ll move towards Cafayate again stopping at a halfway point to get a good look around. After Cafayate we head north back towards Salta stopping to see the dam. We have the car for 3 [View Full Entry]

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This year for fourth of July, Dain and I did something no other North American did to celebrate Independence Day. We traveled to the east coast of Patagonia to get some fresh air and winter time beach activities. During this time of year, the Southern Right Whales arrive to mate, as well as the Elephant Seals. Later, in September & October Orcas arrive to feast on seals; in fact, Patagonia is the only place in the world where Orcas will swim full force onto the beach of sunbathing seals to grab a snack and then flop their way back to the [View Full Entry]

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Dain and I were both in our traditional "Saturday is a rugby day," mindset as we headed to the Argentina vs. Scotland rugby match by means of taxi. The most exciting part of the rugby match, honestly, was (as usual) the outside events happening on the stadium grounds. First of all, it was beyond shocking to learn that all the grocers anywhere in the vicinity of the stadium all block off their booze section and refuse liquor sales 4 hours prior to any match! On the booze-free stadium grounds, lines of people shouting and singing, dancing and moving, were all over [View Full Entry]

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Meet MC and Joe, the friendly pair from Wyoming! The flight attendant, MC, and buddy pass holder, Joe, stopped by Buenos Aires for a short 4 day visit. It was a treat to have part of the Wyoming family in town and we spent a good deal of time partying in the true Argentine fashion. The first attempt to party until the sun came up, was a backfire because of an early start with dinner at 7pm. In our midnight wanderings we did find a couple of pizza joints and a pub that served micro brewed beer! Of course, I can't [View Full Entry]

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We are at the half way point with our time in South America and thus the trip to Uruguay to renew the visas. We were reluctant at first, most of our students warned us that the country is very boring and dull. The trip started off on a bad note, when we were fined $100 pesos for staying 4 days past our visas allowed. But, we had no choice to go and arrived in Colonia de Sacremento after a 3 hour boat ride. By the way, I spent most of the time on the bus waiting around in the duty free [View Full Entry]

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I don't know if the big city blues made Mendoza my favorite side trip, but I do rank this city second to our Patagonia hiking excursion. Enjoying the beauty of the fall weather in Mendoza was a real treat; Sunny days, falling leaves, colorful surroundings and exceptionally friendly people, who spoke at a tempo other than a presto. Our activities were somewhat limited due to time. Regrettably, we didn't tell our language institutes, (where we work,) to bugger off. Instead, we did something completely North American and bended to the schedule of work and only had 3.5 days in this wonderful [View Full Entry]

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The first impression of the San Telmo market, was a draw dropping amazement at the astonishing amount of people and vendors packed into a street stretching for at least a mile. My favorite part of the San Telmo market experience were all the street performers. Apologies in advance for the somewhat shakey videos I've posted. Like I said, the market was packed with people and getting bumped from side to side was nothing I could avoid. [View Full Entry]

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Despite the rumor of La Boca neighborhood being overrated, Dain and I had to check it out for ourselves. The long, crowded bus ride and consumption of diesel fumes was enough to give Dain a headache before we even arrived. The short amount of time we spent (2.5 hours) in the area was enough to realize the crafts market was overpriced and the restaurants were desperate for customers. In fact, they forced flyers and verbal advertisements in our face relentlessly. Beyond the tourist are called Caminito, the streets were typically very poor. Most of the colorful photos (below) were taken with [View Full Entry]

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A very exuberant weekend in Mar de Plata followed the relaxing Easter Holidays. Over the Easter weekend my friends from Colorado and the CU Women's rugby team arrived bearing necessities and gifts from up north. The most exciting of them being a stockpile of peanut butter! A care package my Mom put together included a birthday gift of a fully loaded MP3 player (thanks Bro!), a lot of Tabasco, magazines in English, various spices to heat up our otherwise very sweet palate of food, my favorite snack foods including Craisins and Luna Bars and, of course, extra underwear. Thanks Mom! Thanks [View Full Entry]

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My long lasting birthday weekend was followed by an even longer Easter weekend, Semana Santa. Below you will find pictures from the St. Patrick's Day celebration and the side trips from Easter weekend. [View Full Entry]

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